This past weekend, Ultraman Connection had the honor of meeting thousands of fans of Ultraman and tokusatsu film and television at the Kaiju Brooklyn 3 convention in Industry City, Brooklyn, New York! John Bellotti, Jr. (aka Robo7) and Anthony Marino of BKOne Productions have poured their love of live-action Japanese monsters into this annual gathering and to all our surprise and delight, it becomes more popular every year. Ultraman Connection was there big-time, along with the Ultraman Card Game team and today we’ll be reliving the best moments with you.
VIP PARTY!
The event kicked off on Friday evening with a VIP party, deejayed by Jen Jones and Peter Paid. Vibrant lights bathed costume-clad attendees as kaiju, aliens and heroes from colliding worlds danced to disco remixes and electro-beats. Iconic monster movie clips played on the big screen and the walls were lined with original Kaiju art for sale. The first print to sell was of Ultraman Zero designed by none other than Ultraman Card Game artist and Kaiju Brooklyn organizer himself, John Bellotti Jr!
Fans cheered when the Ultraman Connection team arrived at the party, with Jeff Gomez, EJ Couloucoundis, Chrysoula Artemis, Mark Pensavalle, and Evangelia Artemis-Gomez swinging right into the spirit, handing out Ultraman Card Game cards and greeting some of our most loyal Ultraman fans and friends.
ULTRAMAN CONNECTION PANEL: TSUBURAYA 2025
Saturday morning, still radiant from the previous night, attendees gathered in the same event space for the Ultraman Connection panel. We were joined by host John Bellotti, who whipped the crowd into a frenzy and got us ready for the reveals to come. The first one was super cool: the world premiere of the new “Three Generation” Ultraman key art, now featuring none other than Ultraman Omega leading the New Generation Heroes team!
Next, Jeff Gomez reminded everyone of Tsuburaya Productions’ quest to provide access to Ultraman to everyone in America, celebrating the arrival of several Ultra Series not just to The Ultraman Channel on Amazon’s Prime Video, but also onto such channels as Tubi, Roku, Plex, and Pluto TV.
We also assured everyone that Mill Creek Entertainment will be continuing to release an onslaught of Ultraman content, with at least three more Blu-rays this year (Ultraman: The Adventure Begins and Ultraman Decker this summer and a mystery release in the fall), with more to come in 2026.
And, of course, we talked Ultraman Omega and got into the details on what a “Meteokaiju” really is. Jeff and EJ hinted at the fact that they’ve seen the first episode but they could not hide how enthusiastic about it they were. “The perfect entry point for new Ultraman fans,” said Jeff. “Bring your friends, your kids, your brothers and sisters to it. They will love this new Ultra!”
Then, EJ ran down the latest on the Ultraman Card Game and shared the fact that Sunday’s panel will reveal some never-before-seen previews of the card art for the BP04 Series, releasing August 1st, 2025.
Next, we hit the books, announcing the upcoming release of Pat Cadigan’s Ultraseven: The Official Novel of the Series, the sequel to her award-winning Ultraman novelization. As a sweet surprise, we revealed the fact that the books were on sale right there at Industry City’s Powerhouse bookstore courtesy of Titan Books, who also publish The Art and Making of Ultraman Rising.Believe it or not, the entire stock of Ultraseven novels sold out within a few hours of our panel!Don’t worry though, if you didn’t get your mitts on it at KB3, it’s available for preorder online.
Another destined page-turner will be Rebbeca K. Reynold’s Ultraman: Ultra Academy book series. We unveiled the cover art to the first of these action-packed young readers novels, Beware the Baleful Baltan, which will be perfect for Ultra-noobs and middle-grade kids. Of particular interest to veteran Ultraman fans is the fact that this will be the first ever storyline featuring American recruits to the SSSP via the Ultra Academy. Book 1 will go on sale sometime this fall and in the meantime we gave out hundreds of Ultra Academy pins courtesy of publisher Sky Turtle Nova.
ULTRAMAN CARD GAME RISE CUP TOURNAMENT
To celebrate the Ultraman Card Game, editor-in-chief of Ultraman Connection, EJ Couloucoundis, hosted a massive card game tournament at Brooklyn Game Knight hobby store in Industry City. The Rise Cup dazzled with two dozen players knocking their decks and climbing through the ranks. The winner of the tournament was Joel Diaz, who took home an exquisite Ultraman Gaia winner card, the first in North America.
DEALER ROOM ACTION
On the exhibitor floor, dozens of vendors sold tokusatsu collectibles of all kinds, including official Ultraman licensees Robo7 and Seismic Toys.
EJ challenged over 200 brave attendees to beat him at the Ultraman Card Game for the chance to win a free premium card. His Belial Deck was maybe a bit too formidable, because his winning streak was only broken a handful of times by determined players.
While the adults got serious in the game room, the mini-Ultra-fans got to coloring special Ultraman-themed pages in the Kaiju Lounge and sang karaoke of their favorite Ultraman theme songs. It was seriously too cute.
Back in the dealer room, we met with the iconic Keone Young who voiced the villainous Dr. Onda in Netflix’s Ultraman Rising. We had the honor of presenting Keone with a gift from Bandai Namco Tamashii Nations. Excitement rose in our corner of the room as Young unboxed a gorgeous figure of Dr. Onda’s Mecha-Gigantron. We have to admit, there was a sparkle in Keone’s eyes when he realized what he was opening and for a moment, the gruff actor seemed…pleased.
ULTRAMAN CARD GAME PANEL
On Sunday morning, the Ultraman Card Game panel started up, featuring Jeff and EJ hosting fan favorite artists Klenda V, Jamie Noguchi, John Bellotti, Jr., and Chrysoula Artemis, who doubled as the art director and project manager for the American artist contributions to the game. Each of the artists were born Ultraman fans who expressed how much working with Tsuburaya Productions was a dream come true for them. They spoke about the challenges and rewards of creating the card art as well as their artistic processes as they actualized their ideas.
Klenda V even unveiled the gorgeous original watercolor painting for her upcoming Ultraman Z card, which will debut this August with the rest of BP04.
EJ then discussed the next Ultraman Card Game set, Gleam of Eternal Hope, and dramatically unveiled a never-before-seen card representing a hero new to the game: Ultraman Victory by John Bellotti Jr.! To tip the audience off, EJ even pulled a sheet from over a glass box, revealing a replica of the Victory Lancer transformation device. We at Ultraman Connection are so proud that many people in the audience actually recognized it and cheered Ultraman Victory’s name!
EJ then announced that a championship tournament called the Ultra League US Open 2025 will be held at this year’s GenCon game convention in Indianapolis, Indiana, July 31 – August 3rd. Be there!
ULTRAMAN ARC THE MOVIE SCREENING
And finally, the event that packed the house to overflowing—the world premiere of the English dubbed Ultraman Arc The Movie: The Clash of Light and Evil!
As guests piled into the theater, the team handed out free Ultraman Card Game promo cards and hosted a quick Q&A about the film and upcoming projects. (No, there is currently no release date for the film on home release, but there may be a surprise or two yet for American fans.) Everyone settled into their seats and watched with unblinking eyes as the movie commenced. Once it was over, the crowd broke into a raucous standing ovation and everyone on our team shed a sweet little tear. Watch for our review of Ultraman Arc The Movie right here on Ultraman Connection next week.
As Ultraman continues to make his way in the West, it is our duty to welcome him with open arms. Those of you who stay connected and show up to events like Kaiju Brooklyn make all the difference and you know we love you! Transmedia Producer Jeff Gomez reminded us all that if we all love Ultraman it is our duty to introduce our friends, relatives, and every kid we know to the noble Giants of Light and grow this community into a power that must be reckoned with! Join us again at the next Kaiju Brooklyn and stay tuned for more updates here on Ultraman Connection!
