Welcome back, Ultraman fans! In honor of the upcoming Ultraman Decker Finale: Journey to Beyond and its new hero, Ultraman Dinas, we’re taking a look at some of the most notable female Ultra Heroes to have fired a beam in the series’ 56-year history. Last week, we took a look at the matriarch of the Land of Light, Mother of Ultra. Today, as befitting a series like Ultraman Decker, we’re jumping ahead decades into the future to meet a much newer heroine: Ultrawoman Grigio!
Though the current alter-ego of this golden heroine is currently Asahi Minato, and we’ll get to her story, we have to go much, much further back in time to discuss the origins of Grigio — the first Grigio, as depicted in the popular New Generation series Ultraman R/B.
Countless millennia ago, far away from Earth, a trio of siblings received power from the mysterious Ring of Light on the planet O-50. They were two brothers, Rosso and Blu, and their sister Grigio. Rosso and Blu were able to use the power granted to become Ultraman, while Grigio, for unknown reasons, could only transform into a Kaiju.
Despite their heroic forms, the siblings were anything but — forced into mercenary work since their youth, the three were burdened with blood on their hands, something Rosso and Blu could handle, but Grigio had difficulties with. Nevertheless, the three attempted to make a life for themselves, aiming to achieve Grigio’s wish of “peace without sacrifices.”
Unfortunately, this dream would perish along with Rosso and Blu when the Ring of Light sent them to battle the rampaging interstellar antibody known as Leugocyte. In a clash with the monstrous creature, the two Ultras were struck down by its beam, falling to Earth and shattering into the R/B Crystals that empowered them. Grigio was alone.
Desperate to avenge her brothers, Grigio threw away her compassion and took on the name Saki Mitsurugi, preparing a 1300-year plan to destroy Leugocyte, regardless of the costs.
That was, until she met the Minato brothers, who inherited her brothers’ powers, and Asahi Minato, their sister.
When Saki found her brothers’ Ultraman forms being used by some new upstarts, she was enraged, and she attempted to shatter the bonds of family that empowered them, through both monster attacks, and by interacting with Asahi. However, it was meeting Asahi that began to change Saki’s heart.
Asahi’s genuine kindness and real affection for her new friend, as well as her family, began to eat away at Saki. She found herself caring for the girl, seeing the person she always wished she could be in her sunny disposition.
Nevertheless, she fought Ultraman Rosso and Blu as her own empowered form, the monster Grigio Regina, in an attempt to keep them from interfering with her plan — a plan to use the Earth, and the Ray Energy she’d been gathering within it for millennia, to destroy Leugocyte when it returned. Such an act would obliterate the planet, but it would also grant her vengeance as Leugocyte, her brothers’ killer, would be gone.
Unfortunately, due to the interference of the Minato family, and having run herself ragged for so long, Saki’s plan failed, and Leugocyte’s rampage continued. Nevertheless, seeing the R/B brothers battle against Leugocyte so fiercely, as well as her warm memories of Asahi’s care, caused her to have a change of heart, and in the end she sacrificed herself to protect the Ultras from the same beam that killed her brothers. Saki Mitsurugi passed away in Asahi Minato’s arms, thanking her for everything and telling her her real name — Grigio, as well as giving her the Gyro she had used to transform.
Ultraman R/B The Movie: Select! The Crystal of Bond takes place a year after Leugocyte’s defeat. The evil Ultraman who corrupted Leugocyte in the first place, Tregear, set his sights on the Minato family and their loved ones, attempting to destroy them through trickery and corruption of the things they held dear. Rosso, Blu, and even a hero from another dimension, Ultraman Geed, found themselves in dire straits against the powerful villain and his corrupted monster servant, Snake Darkness.
Asahi herself was not a human, instead born from the Makoto Crystal, a powerful artifact created by the inheritance of power from the original Rosso and Blu to their successors, Katsumi and Isami Minato. Using Grigio’s Gyro, she was able to become Grigio Regina, the apex of the monstrous power that her predecessor had been able to use, but it was not enough.
It was when things seemed darkest that a miracle happened — Grigio’s spirit, having been watching over Asahi all this time, came to her through the Gyro, comforting her and encouraging her to fight alongside her family. The bond between the two became a miracle, as Grigio Regina cracked open like a cocoon, revealing the true form of the power that Grigio had been granted by the Ring of Light so long ago — the power of Ultraman.
Ultrawoman Grigio was able to help overwhelm Tregear alongside her brothers, utilizing incredible healing and energy manipulation powers, as well as the ability to fuse with her brothers into Ultraman Groob, a being so powerful that it struck fear into Tregear’s heart.
Since that battle, Asahi has embraced her role as Grigio and become Earth’s primary protector as her brothers deal with both their human lives and their roles as part of the greater New Generation Heroes. When trouble calls, however, the young heroine joins the battle wherever it may be!
Next week, we’ll take a look at the Messenger of Delacion themselves, the mysterious Ultraman Justice! More importantly, however, Ultraman Decker Finale: Journey to Beyond premieres in just over a week! Be sure to order the TVOD when it becomes available! And for more Decker and Ultraman Series news, stay close to Ultraman Connection!
