Koichi Sakamoto is a Japanese director, producer and stunt actor, who is prominent in tokusatsu. He is known for being the main director of Ultraman Ginga S, Ultraman Geed, and Ultraman Trigger: New Generation Tiga.
Career[]
As well as the Ultraman Series, Sakamoto is well-known for his work in the Kamen Rider, Super Sentai and Power Rangers franchises. He worked on several episodes in Gokaiger, and was principle director for Kyoryuger. In Power Rangers, he directed fight scenes for Mighty Morphin, directed more, until becoming a producer and drafting storyboards for In Space. He continued work on the series after Ninja Storm, but not as stunt coordinator.
Directing Style[]
While directing the series, Sakamoto is fond of action female characters and demonstrated affinity for the characters' own movement and coordination. His inspiration comes mainly from Chinese action films, including those of Jackie Chan.
Personal Life[]
He is married to actress Motoko Nagino and has a daughter named Matilda and a son named Yuri.
Works[]
- Mega Monster Battle Ultra Galaxy: The Movie (2009) - Director
- Ultraman Ginga S (2014) - Main director,[1][2] directed 5 episodes
- Episode 1 "The Opening Force"
- Episode 2 "Ginga VS Victory"
- Episode 3 "Pride of a Warrior"
- Episode 15 "The Adventure Called Life"
- Episode 16 "The Fight for Tomorrow"
- Ultraman Ginga S The Movie: Showdown! The 10 Ultra Warriors! (2015) - Director
- Ultra Fight Victory (2015) - Director
- Ultraman X (2015) - Director, 5 episodes
- Episode 4 "All for One"
- Episode 5 "When the Aegis Shines"
- Episode 12 "End of the Rainbow"
- Episode 13 "Sword of Victory"
- Episode 14 "The Shining Sky, and the Land Beneath It"
- Ultra Fight Orb (2017) - Director
- Ultraman Geed (2017) - Main director,[3] directed 8 episodes
- Episode 1 "Welcome to the Secret Base"
- Episode 2 "The Girl Who Cuts Monsters"
- Episode 3 "Salaryman Zero"
- Episode 4 "A Job Where You Investigate Aliens"
- Episode 16 "The First Day of the End of the World"
- Episode 17 "The King's Miracle! Time to Change Fate!!"
- Episode 24 "The Fragments of Hope"
- Episode 25 "The Symbol of Geed"
- Ultraman Geed The Movie: Connect the Wishes! (2018) - Director
- Ultra Galaxy Fight: New Generation Heroes (2019) - Director[4]
- Ultraman Z (2020) - Director, 5 episodes
- Episode 6 "The Man Returns!"
- Episode 7 "His Majesty's Medal"
- Episode 8 "The Mystic Power"
- Episode 22 "Individual Tomorrows"
- Episode 23 "Prelude to a Nightmare"
- Ultra Galaxy Fight: The Absolute Conspiracy (2020-2021) - Director[5]
- Ultraman Trigger: New Generation Tiga (2021-2022) - Main director,[6] directed 8 episodes
- Episode 1 "Connection of Light"
- Episode 2 "Leap to the Future"
- Episode 3 "The Ultra-Ancient Light and Darkness"
- Episode 14 "The Golden Threat"
- Episode 15 "Operation Dragon"
- Episode 23 "My Friend"
- Episode 24 "The Ruler of Shadows"
- Episode 25 "To the Ones Who Believe in Smiles / Pull the Trigger"
- Ultra Galaxy Fight: The Destined Crossroad (2022-2021) - Director[7]
- Ultraman Decker (2022) - Director, 5 episodes
- Episode 7 "The Light of Hope from the Red Planet"
- Episode 8 "Light and Darkness, Again"
- Episode 9 "Standing Tall for Someone Special"
- Episode 18 "Invitation from Another Dimension"
- Episode 19 "Warriors on the Moon"
- Ultraman Regulos (2023) - Director
- Ultraman Regulos: First Mission (2023) - Director[8]
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- His favorite Ultraman series is Ultraman Leo and even considers directing its reboot should he be given the chance. His favorite Ultras are Ultraman Leo, Ultraman Zero, and Ultraman Geed. His favorite Kaiju is Zetton.
- His father runs an aluminum factory and had planned to have Koichi inherit the company should he be unsuccessful in his career by the age of 30.
- Sota Fukushi (the actor of Gentaro Kisaragi in Kamen Rider Fourze) mentioned that Sakamoto is just "a young boy growing up".
- Sakamoto is bilingual, as he speaks Japanese and English, due to his nationality being in USA.
- When watching the first episode of Ultraman Blazar as a reference to record a promo for the series, he was surprised to learn that Hideyoshi Iwata was voicing Ultraman Blazar, as he recognised Iwata's voice and wondered why it had been left in the final product before being informed by staff.[9]
References[]
- ↑ https://v-storage.jp/talk/210488/
- ↑ https://natalie.mu/eiga/news/559121
- ↑ https://m-78.jp/news/n-4686
- ↑ https://mantan-web.jp/article/20190725dog00m200035000c.html
- ↑ https://m-78.jp/news/post-5596
- ↑ https://m-78.jp/news/post-5839
- ↑ https://mantan-web.jp/article/20210925dog00m200015000c.html
- ↑ https://m-78.jp/news/post-6787
- ↑ https://v-storage.bnarts.jp/talk/210488/