Hello and welcome, Ultraman Connection readers! Previously, Ultraman Arc left off with a huge cliffhanger facing the threat of the alien robot “Givas”, and the mystery of its arrival and purpose on Earth. This week, we’re taking a closer look at that mystery, and its spectacular conclusion with our review, so make sure you’ve seen episode 12, “You Are Givas” before proceeding!
All caught up? Great… So what does “Givas” actually mean?
This was the central question of the last episode, after Givas appeared out of thin air, single-handedly drove off a Kaiju attack and thrashed Yuma and Arc so hard that they were knocked out of the powerful Luna Armor! After some code-cracking, it seemed like Rin had come up with an answer. She determined that “Givas” means something that “obstructs” a path, and would be synonymous with an enemy.
The GDF wasted no time in calling for Givas’ destruction after that conclusion, but Yuma and the others weren’t so certain that the translation should be taken in such an explicitly literal sense. It was true that Givas had immediately attacked Oka-Gubila and lashed out at Arc himself. It was also true that Givas had put himself in front of two children, caught in the midst of their battle, in order to shield them from danger.
Yuma couldn’t bear the thought of destroying Givas without understanding it, or without even trying to communicate with it to learn more about its mission and its origins. The same determination which had inspired the rest of the SKIP team around him, and even Shu himself in his official position as a GDF representative, seemed to drive him away from the mission in this case however. When we last left off, Yuma was forced to walk away from the team, despondent and desperate for a path forward.
It seems as if that’s where we pick up this episode too… but not for long.
Turns out, all Yuma needed was a bit of hope for himself. He had served as that beacon of idealistic optimism to others, so it was rewarding to see his friends – both old and new – rally behind that idealism to find a way to communicate with Givas. By the time Yuma comes back to headquarters, the rest of SKIP (including Shu!) were already hard at work.
I think it’s important to note the difference between SKIP’s angle and the rest of the GDF in this case. The larger defense organization is acting pragmatically, understandably so, and sees any possibility of danger as a threat that must be eliminated. Their primary goal is defense after all. Meanwhile, SKIP’s mission, as stated in their title, is Kaiju Investigation and Prevention. Their experience and resources aren’t geared towards eliminating threats, but learning more about them in order to prevent those threats, or keep them from escalating!
This theme of communication, or more specifically the effort required to learn about strange or seemingly threatening things around us, is a key part of this double-episode plot. SKIP’s own efforts uncover some new discoveries, suggesting that the alien robot is actually a ship, or a craft of some kind from a civilization called “Meguma”, and is searching for a “new moon”. None of those details seem to fit with the GDF’s knee-jerk conclusion that Givas is merely a dangerous rogue weapon. Unfortunately for SKIP, it seems like the only way to get more answers is to stop merely speculating, and start doing some real work on the ground.
Or rather, suspended 200 feet in the air, climbing up Givas to access its electronic systems directly.
I think it’s now a running gag in this show for other characters to remind Yuma not to try anything “too risky” before it slam-cuts to him doing exactly that.
It works though, and Yuma gets the answers to Givas’ origin… in a totally unexpected way.
Ironically, for all the effort SKIP put into trying to decipher the Meguma language and Givas’ message, Yuma gets his answers straight from Givas’ former pilot and partner in the most plain words possible. They also do nothing to stop Givas’ rampage, and only bring about more questions. The long-dead pilot’s last will and testament mirror Yuma’s own desperate, emotional plea from last week’s episode, to understand Givas’ mission.
The number of parallels and reverse interpretations, reflecting on similar words in different contexts, really drives home that theme of communication. It also brings to mind the moon itself, and how it reveals different parts of its face through its phases and season. Givas was once a protector, designed to carry its pilot safely through space and find a new “moon” to save its civilization. But without its purpose, without anything to protect, it had become an obstruction and enemy to the people of Earth.
After all, what is a shield, except an obstruction against danger, to protect those behind it? For a moment last week, Yuma saw Givas’ true nature, which still remains hidden to the rest of the GDF. And, in some ways, it is also hidden to Givas itself.
Yuma doesn’t make a connection to Givas by simply defeating it as Ultraman Arc. Instead, he speaks to its mission by also showing his desire to protect others. He shields Oka-Gubila, and even willingly transforms back into a human, standing steadfast while facing down the point of its sword, in order to make his point. And fittingly, in the light of the full moon, Givas understands the other meaning of its own title.
“Givas” doesn’t only mean “enemy”, but in the right circumstances, is also a “friend”.
At this halfway point of Arc, I think the most impressive thing about Yuma’s character is the fact that he remains so determined to understand these huge alien and Kaiju threats in this manner. He could have easily become jaded, angry and bitter over the tragedies he has survived as a result of attacks from giant monsters or invasions from space. He could have joined the GDF with the goal of stopping those attacks with brutal force. But the power given to him by Ultraman Arc allows him to retain his imaginative hope, seeking a better future, even when it seems impossible in the face of threats like Givas.
And so far, despite the challenges and setbacks, it has yet to fail Yuma or his friends. This week, it also did not fail Givas, and hope remains for it to return as a true ally and protector in the future.
