We shared the fourth and fifth entries of Shu Ishido’s Diary from Ultraman Arc the other day, and just like the three before it, each entry held oodles of mysterious facts and hints at a greater story. To help unleash your imaginations, we’re going to collate a few of these facts into points we consider interesting — so read on!
Entry 4
The first point is of a name — specifically, the Ultraman Arc-related FAct Management unit, or “Arc FAM”. Perhaps that name could be used for all of us — we are all, in fact, Arc’s fam (or at least his fans!)
Once again, Shu is the one to name Arc’s new trick, being the one to suggest the “Solis Armor” to Yuma as a title for the powerful vermillion armor. Shu’s really an Ultraman super-fan, going so far as to describe Arc’s fight with Nezutron as divine — nobody appreciates Arc like Shu!
We get a brief, but important peek into Shu’s past near the end of the entry, as he confirms that he grew up abroad, mostly in the United States. Shu has many hidden depths, and is far more worldly than we would have expected — but that means that he’s never gotten a chance to visit a shopping district in Japan, finding it deeply homey for him. How sweet. He even found a coffee shop!
Finally, Shu, you still haven’t put together a report on Leodo? That was weeks ago, in and out of universe!
Entry 5
The entry starts with a deceptively sober note — that being that Livyjira’s aquatic assault could have been much worse. Its ability to burrow under the ground, never actually seen on-screen, could have resulted in the Kaiju creating more seas, and significant damage to the area. Thankfully, Arc’s intervention prevented that from coming to pass.
The word “imagination” is used a lot regarding Arc, but we get a chance to see what imagination actually means to Shu. “Using knowledge and experience to rapidly interconnect different events.” What a clinical way to define it — perfect for the professional Shu. This doesn’t mean he doesn’t respect more creative iterations of imagination; he goes so far as to positively call out how keeping a youthful mindset in regards to imagination is important, even if he acknowledges that he doesn’t exactly do so himself.
Shu of course gushes about Arc’s latest Arc Trick Technique. If you didn’t know, that’s the term for the ultra-creative uses of his various traditional techniques, like the propellor made from the Arc Giga Barrier and Arc Exa Slash from this episode.
Finally, a bit of a continuity nod rather than a true secret, but Shu talks about his late grandfather, a legendary physicist. That man’s name, theoretically, would have been Professor Ishido. In Ultraman Blazar, Emi Aobe’s father Tatsuki once greatly admired a physicist named Yasunosuke Ishido… We don’t think it’s actually the same person, since the dates wouldn’t match up and this is obviously a different Earth to Blazar’s, but isn’t it an interesting coincidence…?
