Hello and welcome, Ultraman Connection readers! For many seasons, the thirteenth episode has marked a point where we can relax, kick back, and take stock of the story so far. This year is no different in Ultraman Arc. Last week, Yuma Hize and his partners with the SKIP team faced their most dire threat yet, facing down a terrifying and mysterious attack from the alien robot called “Givas”. Thanks to Yuma’s ambitious idealism, that they would be able to communicate with this giant mecha from a completely unknown civilization, they were able to turn a seemingly hopeless struggle against Givas into a new hope for the future.
Maybe in the second half of the show we’ll see Givas show up again, this time as an ally and friend, rather than an obstacle. In the meantime, our heroes – including Shu Ishido, the GDF agent working with SKIP – have an opportunity to reflect on their many battles along with the audience. We start the episode literally looking over Shu’s shoulder while he’s writing the report for these events!
Despite the happy ending from last week though, the mood around much of this episode is oddly… ominous. The fact that Shu is typing his report while humming In the Hall of the Mountain King certainly doesn’t help either. Even more ominous is the mention of something called “Onyx”. We don’t yet know how it’s connected to Givas’ arrival, the unknown Megura civilization which created it, or any other events from Arc to this point, and it seems Shu can only speculate on any connections as well.
His work is soon interrupted by Rin, YouPi, and the rest of SKIP arriving at the office to start their workday. Unlike Shu’s typical secretive and professional demeanor, working with everyone else always seems to bring out a different side of him… particularly when coffee is involved.
Together they all start to reminisce on other Kaiju and alien appearances, and even weirder events like the time the city’s economy was held hostage by a rogue Kanegon computer program.The conversation eventually shifts to address the 48-meter tall elephant in the room – Ultraman Arc himself.
There’s no doubt that Arc has made a huge impression on everyone within SKIP, and even the GDF itself has taken note. But while Arc’s battles have been spectacular from the sidelines, the more the team discusses these appearances, the more they realize they don’t know anything for certain about Arc’s origins, goals or identity. In some ways, Arc seems just as mysterious as Givas, and could be seen as threatening in the same way.
This conversation clearly shakes Yuma when he shows up unexpectedly on his day off. His own flashbacks in this episode, to the times he’s encountered Arc in previous episodes, carry a much more surreal and foreboding atmosphere than we’ve seen before. The sparse soundtrack accompanying these scenes and a more muted color filter emphasize an almost cold sense of distance and tension. It was an unexpected choice of direction that contrasts the brighter sense of optimism, idealism and imagination that has been impressed upon throughout the rest of the show.
Or, another way of thinking of it, you can see Yuma and the others now imagining a worst-case-scenario. What if Arc turns out to be a threat to the Earth after all?
Thankfully, they quickly reject that idea. After all, Yuma was convinced of Givas’ heroic spirit based on one specific action, saving the lives of two children caught in the middle of their fight. They all come to a similar conclusion about Arc, considering how many times they had been saved by this mysterious giant of light so far. Yuma, in turn, is cheered up by their faith in Arc, and seems to clear his doubts by the end of the episode.
Even Shu seems to trust Arc's heroic intentions. After all, he was the one so captivated by Arc’s appearance that he gave the Ultraman hero his name in the first episode! Does the rest of the GDF share his opinion? We don’t know for sure yet… but the episode ends on an even more ominous note with the unknown “Onyx” program which seems to be the basis of Shu’s continued reports to his supervisor.
The second half of Arc will most likely hinge on this mystery, and Unit Chief Nibuya who commands Shu’s mission at the moment. Time will tell whether the GDF will stand with, or against Arc and Yuma. Until then, readers, stay tuned here to Ultraman Connection!
