Ultraman: The Mystery of Ultraseven seems to be getting more mysterious with each new release! The second issue of the series, written by Kyle Higgins and Mat Groom, illustrated by Davide Tinto, and colored by Espen Grundetjern, answered so many of the questions I’ve been compiling… But not before bringing up a hundred new ones! Tread carefully, spoilers ahead.
We begin in the hospital room alongside Shin Hayata, Kiki Fuji, Mitsuhiro Ide, and Executive Director Morheim. Shin, exhausted after having his Ultra essence drained by Dan Moroboshi, is yearning to go home, but Morheim insists he stays onsite considering the emergency situation they’ve been put in with Ultraseven gone rogue and on the loose. Illustrator, David Tinto, does a fantastic job of conveying the tension of the situation through the characters’ expressions. The all-encapsulating art leaves us just as disoriented and frustrated as Shin and, at the same time, just as stressed about maintaining order as Executive Director Morheim.
We are then pulled out of the grounded space of the hospital room and thrown into a flashback. Although the memory seems to belong to Shin, it becomes clear that it is not his own. When his power was tapped, it seems Moroboshi’s memories were left behind in Shin’s mind. Shin is “remembering” what Dan went through.
We are in the year 1966, Dan Moroboshi is caught in the crossfire between Ultraseven and the epic Kaiju Eleking! Against all logic, he miraculously survives and after defeating Eleking, Ultraseven gives us an explanation.
We learn that Ultraseven and Dan are trapped in Kaiju limbo and since their collision broke the device Ultraseven had crafted to temporarily send Kaiju in and out of there during battles, there is no longer a way to escape. On top of that, back on Earth, it seems the humans have fixed Ultraseven’s device and are using it haphazardly to send Kaiju away without understanding the fatal consequences untrained use might have.
Although he is panicked, Dan accepts his reality and agrees to work together with Ultraseven to make the best of their situation. I found this exchange very touching and a great example of how important it is for these characters to willingly stick together in the face of overwhelming adversity. Dan and Ultraseven refuse to give up, largely for each other’s sake despite being total strangers and, in my opinion, the ordeal that follows forges the truest part of their bond.
After witnessing the genuine goodness of Dan’s alliance with Ultraseven, Shin begins to understand that there must be something deeper going on. Someone capable of kindness to the extent of Dan Moroboshi wouldn’t betray Shin for no good reason. This realization, along with some bizarre imagery of Executive Director Morheim from Shin and Dan’s shared memory, motivate Shin’s skepticism toward the powers that be, and a plan is hatched.
I won’t give too much more away, but I will say, the twists and turns these characters have been taking thus far has made for an engaging, high-energy narrative that has me eager for each new page. Learning about the lore of the Ultras and Kaiju, the moral codes of each character, the calculated dynamics, and the way the timeline pieces together has been a wild ride to say the least and we’re only on the second issue! I’m eager to see what’s to come, especially with this issue’s seemingly random ending. It’s a bird! It’s a plane! Nope, it’s Shin Hayata barreling out of an airship! What could he possibly have in mind? I guess we’ll find out together, stay tuned here on UltramanConnection.com for more.
