Hayao Sato

Professor Sato (サトウ教授, Satō Kyōju) is a supporting character in Ultraman: Rising. He is the estranged father of Ken Sato, as well as one of the world's foremost Kaiju experts. His real name is Hayao Sato, although in reality, he is the human form of the previous Ultraman, now known as Ultradad.

Conception

Design

According to The Art and Making of Ultraman: Rising, Shannon Tindle explained that the character's initial design was inspired by Hayao Miyazaki. However, as the design process progressed, he wanted the character to convey a more vulnerable expression, with a quiet but steadfast strength. To achieve this, he drew inspiration from the famous Japanese actor Takashi Shimura. For the proportions of Professor Sato, Tindle was influenced by the character designs in Pixar's The Incredibles, particularly the contrasts in character proportions. Tindle mentioned that he wanted Professor Sato to appear shorter with age, creating an interesting contrast with Ken, who inherited his mother’s tall stature.

Character designer Keiko Murayama noted that Tindle referenced the 1952 film Ikiru, especially the melancholic aura that Shimura brought to his role. This sense of gravitas, along with the iconic beard, age, and physique, was also reflected in Professor Sato's Ultra form, "Ultradad."^[3]

History

Pre-Ultraman: Rising

Sato's past remains unclear, but it is known that he is actually the human form of Ultraman, the protector of Japan. He lives with his wife, Emiko Sato, and their son, Kenji, in an apartment building in Tokyo's Odaiba area. He also has close connections with the KDF and Dr. Onda. For thirty years, Sato has secretly protected Japan as Ultraman, using his incredible powers to ensure everyone's safety. He refers to this mission as "maintaining balance."

One night after Kenji was born, Sato and Emiko were making curry at home. Just as they were about to eat, they received a report that "Gomora is attacking Shirokanedai!" Sato remarked to Emiko, “Wouldn’t it be a shame if I die tonight and never get to enjoy this curry?” Emiko responded, “If you die, I’ll be heartbroken. I’ll grieve for weeks. But I promise this curry will not go to waste.”

Before that night, every time Sato transformed into Ultraman, his Color Timer would start beeping after a few minutes. However, during the battle with Gomora, Sato’s mind was filled with thoughts of Emiko and Kenji. The intense desire to protect his family caused his color timer to remain silent for the first time.

As Kenji grew up, Sato began to have great expectations for his son. He frequently interacted with Kenji, teaching him, "The most important task of Ultraman is to find balance." He also encouraged Kenji to consider, "If you could become anyone, who would you choose to be?" However, one night, a Gigantron attack dramatically altered the fate of their family. Realizing the imminent danger his identity as Ultraman posed to his family, Hayao decided to distance himself. He asked Emiko to take Kenji to the United States, while he remained in Tokyo to continue investigating Kaiju, searching for Kaiju Island, and fulfilling his mission as Ultraman.

Twenty years later, Kenji finally achieved his dream of becoming a baseball player, thriving as a star player in Major League Baseball under the name "Ken Sato." Due to Sato's near absence during Kenji's upbringing, Kenji harbored deep resentment towards his father, finding it difficult to fully open up to him. Despite this, Emiko hoped that the father and son could reconcile. During Kenji's growth, she sent all his medals and game recordings to Sato, ensuring he did not miss his son's peak moments.

A few months later, Sato was injured due to physical strain, making him temporarily unable to fulfill his duties as Ultraman. He contacted Kenji and Emiko, hoping that Kenji could take up his mantle to protect Japan. This meant that Kenji would have to inherit the role of Ultraman.

However, one day, Emiko went missing in an accident and remained out of contact for a long time. Sato converted their old vacation cabin into a laboratory in an attempt to find Emiko's whereabouts, but ultimately, he was unsuccessful.

Ultraman: Rising

When Ken arrived in Tokyo, he inherited his father's powers, becoming the new Ultraman, and began defending against Kaiju attacks. However, the father and son remained distant in their relationship. Sato closely monitored Ken's battles as Ultraman during each Kaiju attack. When Ken approached the battles with a lack of enthusiasm, Sato tried to reach out to him, urging him to take the fights seriously, but Ken repeatedly ignored his calls and hung up.

One day, Ken, attending the first game of the season at New Tokyo Dome as a star player for the Giants, watched eagerly by his father Sato from their home laboratory via live TV broadcast. When Ken hit a home run, Sato cheered joyfully. Midway through the game, Gigantron suddenly stormed into the stadium, attempting to seize an object closely monitored by the KDF. Sato witnessed the KDF's attack on Gigantron, and along with other citizens, saw Ultraman and Gigantron hit by missiles and fall into Tokyo Bay.

Afterwards, Mina called Sato, prompting him to visit the Ultra Base where Ken was located to check on his well-being. However, Ken rebuffed his arrival, responding dismissively to Sato's inquiries and masking the cries of "Kaiju baby" in the underground base with electronic music. Sato expressed his frustration: "The greatest creature on Earth is dead. The last of its kind, and you're here throwing a party?" Ken, enraged, retorted that he had chosen this city and real monsters over family for the past 20 years. "Now I have to come back and clean up the mess you caused."

Sato tried to explain that he only wanted to protect his son, but Ken accused him of never trying to find Emiko when she disappeared. Sato eventually resignedly said, "We share the pain of losing her," and after suggesting Ken take some time to calm down, he left Ultrabase in his car on a rainy night.

When the KDF troops fired tranquilizers to subdue the baby, an accident caused the baby's right arm to be injured. Ken evaded KDF's pursuit and returned to Ultrabase. At this point, the only person he could turn to for help was his father. After Sato arrived at the base, Ken asked for his assistance in treating the baby. Sato handed over the potent tranquilizer dart fired by the KDF to Mina for analysis. Upon examination, they determined the baby had a midshaft humeral fracture with hematoma. To calm the baby, Sato used Ken's favorite childhood plush toy "Ollie" and sang "Bingo" softly to gradually soothe the baby's emotions.

Sato decided to stay at the Ultrabase and assist Ken. Initially, Ken was unwilling to reconcile with his father, stating that their relationship wouldn't suddenly become close. Sato then showed Ken news reports of the KDF's extensive search for the Kaiju baby and Ultraman, pointing out that the KDF, led by Onda, typically aimed to counter and eliminate Kaijus attacking the city. However, this time was different—they wanted this "baby" alive, leading Sato to speculate on the KDF's undisclosed plans.

To facilitate Emi's recovery, Sato and Ken had to consider returning her to her natural habitat and plan wilderness survival training to protect her from predators. In honor of his wife, Sato named the baby "Emi". As the recovery training progressed, their father-son relationship gradually improved.

Soon after, Sato, Ken, and Mina piloted the Ultra Jet and brought Emi to the forest cabin that had been converted into a laboratory, where Sato's family had once lived. There, Ken finally understood the efforts his father had made to search for his missing mother and affirmed that Sato had always been striving to maintain a connection with his family.

That evening, Ken approached his father and asked about the responsibilities that come with being Ultraman, gaining a deep understanding of their importance. Sato explained that when he entered into battle, he never knew what would happen or if he would even survive; his only goal was to ensure the safety of Ken and Emiko.

Despite spending their lives researching and bridging the gap between humans and Kaiju, Sato and Emiko eventually realized that being Ultraman was not just about combat, but about achieving inner balance. It meant using their powers to maintain that equilibrium. By successfully caring for Emi, Ken accomplished something his parents couldn't, marking a moment of genuine reconciliation between Ken and Sato.

However, their peace was short-lived. When the KDF forces located Emi and launched a drone attack on Ken and his family, Sato was injured and fell into a coma during the process. As Sato was taken back to Ultrabase for treatment, KDF deployed Mecha Gigantron, which unleashed missiles on Ultrabase, causing extensive damage and leading to Sato's disappearance amidst the chaos.

When enraged Ken decided to transform into Ultraman once again, determined to rescue Emi and seek vengeance against Mecha Gigantron, Dr. Onda commanded Mecha Gigantron in an attempt to defeat Ultraman. Fortunately, Sato transformed into Ultradad and intervened just in time, saving his son and providing Gigantron with an opportunity to break free from KDF's control and regain its sanity. Ken regained his morale and transformed into Ultraman once more, engaging in a final showdown with the Destroyer. During the battle, Ultradad employed precise boxing and free combat techniques against the Destroyer, but suffered a severe blow upon being exposed for his injured right leg.

At the crucial moment, Ultradad assisted Ken/Ultraman by supporting Ultraman's right arm vertically with his left arm horizontally. Together, father and son unleashed the Spacium Beam towards the Destroyer and successfully defeated it with the assistance of Gigantron and Emi.

However, inside the Destroyer, Dr. Onda activated the self-destruct button, putting the cities surrounding Tokyo Bay at risk of destruction. Ultimately, Ken decided to sacrifice himself against Ultradad's objections, deploying the Force Shield to the area where the Destroyer was located.

After the battle concluded, Ken was confirmed to have survived. In the final scene of the film, Sato, along with Ken, Emi, and Gigantron, successfully located "Kaiju Island."

Gallery

Ultraman: Rising

Concept Art

Miscellaneous

Trivia

• Sato owns some of KDF's old mechas, including Ultra Jet and Ultra Ship.
  • In the original plans for the film, Sato owned a Defense Turret. According to concept artist Khang Le and the illustrations provided in the concept art, it is an old technology hidden in Sato's forest cabin/lab attic.^[14]
• Director Shannon Tindle cites Dan Moroboshi as the inspiration for Professor Sato's character, being an Ultra who took human form after coming to Earth. ^[15] This is briefly alluded to when he describes his wife as having shown him "what it means to be human."
  • In Shannon Tindle's responses to questions during the AMA, it was confirmed that Professor Sato is Ultradad's human disguise. He comes from the Land of Light.^[16]
  • The reference to Dan Moroboshi is further reinforced by the reason for his retirement as Ultraman being a leg injury, which parallels Dan's situation in Ultraman Leo.

• Professor Sato's car is a Mazda Cosmo Sport (L10B), which is the same model as the MAT Vehicle.
  • His license plate even references Ultraseven (M78-U7).
• Sato kept Ken's favorite childhood doll, "Ollie," as a memento to remember his son. Ollie is a character from the earlier work Lost Ollie, in which Shannon was involved.
  • Initially, when treating Emi, Shannon intended to use another character doll, Mattel's Sing-a-ma-jigs, as a substitute. However, due to not being able to secure the rights, John Aoshima suggested using Ollie instead.^[17]
  • As a result, the production team brought back Jonathan Groff, the voice actor for Ollie, to reprise his role. They also asked the composer, Scot Stafford, if he could incorporate the theme music from Lost Ollie into the scene, making it sound as if it was being played from an old pull-string toy.

References

1. ↑ https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/ultraman-rising-release-date-photos
2. ↑ https://m-78.jp/news/post-7079
3. ↑ The Art and Making of Ultraman: Rising, pg 70-71
4. ↑ https://www.sunmininn.com/zozbqdtmsd5spkz6itl95ilwzdxyzz
5. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYwsMv3DJAE&t=73s
6. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/C8Sqv9OyoQE/
7. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/C8Vn2SEPWiv/
8. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/share/p/q8qMxZjedKHcFkxB/
9. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/C8SLNezK09l/
10. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/C8Pioxzx4u_/
11. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/C8SaYe6xsN2/
12. ↑ https://x.com/sunmininn/status/1807508280748773802/
13. ↑ https://x.com/BobaFettANHSE/status/1820180600864870778/
14. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/C8aCKjCP27J/
15. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZLu_ZYYxT8
16. ↑ https://x.com/ShannonTindle_1/status/1803815505083695159
17. ↑ https://x.com/ShannonTindle_1/status/1829172779922665679