The Ultraman Gaia Theme Song Was Written by a J-Pop Legend
One of the more surprising pieces of Ultraman trivia: the Ultraman Gaia! opening theme was composed by Miki Matsubara, best known internationally for the city-pop classic "Stay with Me."
An Unexpected Songwriting Credit
Tucked into the credits of 1998's Ultraman Gaia is a detail that surprises a lot of fans discovering it for the first time: the show's opening theme, "Ultraman Gaia!," was composed by Miki Matsubara — the same artist internationally famous for the 1979 city-pop classic "Stay with Me," a song that found a huge second life decades later through global city-pop revival playlists and internet music culture.
The Song's Actual Credits
"Ultraman Gaia!" carries a genuinely notable credit list beyond Matsubara's composition: lyrics were written by Chinfa Kang, arrangement was handled by Kazuya Daimon, and the vocal performance was a duet between Masayuki Tanaka and Daimon himself. That combination of a city-pop composer writing a tokusatsu opening theme is an unusual crossover even by the standards of a genre that has drawn music talent from well outside the anime and tokusatsu songwriting world.
A Song That Outlived Its Original Series
"Ultraman Gaia!" didn't stay confined to its own show. The track was reused as the ending theme for Ultraman Tiga, Ultraman Dyna & Ultraman Gaia: The Decisive Battle in Hyperspace, the crossover film uniting three Heisei-era Ultra heroes, giving the song a second prominent placement beyond its original run. It also crossed language and franchise borders in an unusual way: the Korean dub of Ultraman Tiga used a Korean cover of this same song as its opening theme, with the lyric "Ultraman Gaia!" swapped out for "Ultraman Tiga!" to match the show it was actually being used for.
Why This Trivia Matters to Collectors and Fans
Beyond being a fun piece of franchise trivia, this kind of composer crossover is a reminder of how porous the line was between mainstream Japanese pop music and tokusatsu production even in the late 1990s — a period sometimes assumed to be more insular than it actually was. For fans who came to Miki Matsubara through "Stay with Me" and city-pop revival culture, discovering she also wrote a Heisei-era Ultraman opening is the kind of connection that makes both fandoms feel a little smaller and more interconnected than expected.
Where You Can Still Find It
The song remains a recognizable entry in Ultra Series music history, occasionally surfacing in rhythm and music games — it notably appeared in DanceDanceRevolution KIDS, extending its reach even further outside the tokusatsu space it originated in.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who composed the Ultraman Gaia opening theme? Miki Matsubara composed "Ultraman Gaia!," the opening theme to Ultraman Gaia (1998).
Is this the same Miki Matsubara known for "Stay with Me"? Yes — the same artist behind the internationally known 1979 city-pop track "Stay with Me."
Was the song used anywhere else in the franchise? Yes, it was reused as the ending theme for the crossover film Ultraman Tiga, Ultraman Dyna & Ultraman Gaia: The Decisive Battle in Hyperspace, and a Korean cover version was used as the opening for the Korean dub of Ultraman Tiga.
Who performed the vocals on "Ultraman Gaia!"? Masayuki Tanaka and Kazuya Daimon performed the track as a duet, with Daimon also handling the arrangement.