Hello and welcome, Ultraman Connection readers! Previously on Ultraman Omega, our heroes faced their most dire challenge yet. I know I say that quite a bit in these pieces, but it really does seem like Kosei, Sorato and Ayumu have come out of each challenge this season, only for something brand new to drop out of the sky, or come out of the ground to upend their latest achievement. Even so, each of those achievements have given them the courage, confidence, and strength together to face new challenges regardless.
Where does that strength come from this time? Well, you’ll just have to read on to find out, but do be aware of major spoilers for Episode 15 of Ultraman Omega from here on out.
The episode begins with Sorato waking from a cold sweat after experiencing a nightmare… which actually turns out to be a flashback, depicting his initial fight against Zovaras on the Moon. I’m always impressed by the characterization and storytelling layered in Ultraman battles, even when there’s no dialogue between the combatants. The audience can clearly see the threat that Zovaras poses in this fight, as well as his dreadful ability to take control of Omega’s Meteokaiju allies. The truth of this flashback also becomes apparent to Sorato, who regains his memories and fills us in on the rest of the story.
I won’t recount all the details here — you should watch the episode for yourself! But with Sorato’s newly-remembered mission, the threat against the Earth is now clear. He has to succeed in the fight against Zovaras this time, or life on Earth will be wiped out to make way for the “Geness” aliens to take the planet for themselves.
One thing that stood out to me the most was his blunt assessment of their chances of victory. Sorato admitted that alone he didn’t have the strength to defeat Zovaras, even disregarding the fact that his opponent now controlled the third Meteokaiju, Valgeness.
It’s a good thing Sorato isn’t fighting alone against Zovaras this time! Our trio of heroes even has some extra backup, Sayuki, her scientist mentor and fellow Kaiju researcher! With their expertise – and Sayuki’s connections in the newly-formed National Defense force, they can put together a more effective plan to fight back.
This episode provided by far the best example of teamwork between Sorato and his friends in the leadup to this point. In fact, I would argue that Kosei, and Ayumu and Sayuki’s contributions were more important to their victory. Sure, Sorato supplied the information, and a gut instinct as to where Zovaras would show up next, but to create an audio signal that weakened Zovaras? And managing to wrest control of Valgeness back from Zovaras? Sorato couldn’t have struck the final blow without all of those pieces coming together first.
Seeing this group work together as true equals and friends made it the most rewarding episode of the season so far, and I’m excited to see what else they can accomplish as a team. Apparently Sayuki is excited too, since she immediately recruits them all to the “KSCT”, or “Kaiju Special-Countermeasure Team”. That’s quite a job promotion for Kosei and Sorato, to say the least!
It’s also a funny bit of irony that Sayuki has managed to enroll an alien into her newly-formed defense team, but it wouldn’t be the first time that’s happened in the Ultraman franchise! Setting aside examples where Ultraman bonds with a human being who already is a member of the defense team – because that would include basically every series – there’s several instances where an Ultra hero in a human disguise has joined the team. There’s Ultraseven, Ultraman Leo, and 80, but the example of Ultraman Mebius and the GUYS Japan team once again comes to mind first.
Why? Well, like in this episode of Omega, the team forms around Ultraman first.
The GUYS Japan team in Mebius was forced to rebuild from the first episode, when the initial kaiju attack they faced destroyed the entire team except for one member, Ryu. Aside from Mirai – Ultraman Mebius himself, everyone else was recruited from their civilian lives and were offered a place on the new squad. Convincing them to work as a team was a challenge for the second episode of the show, but they came together in a unique way.
Even though each member of GUYS Japan came from dramatically different backgrounds, had dramatically different personalities, interests, experiences, and so on, they all shared the most important thing – the reason why they asked to join the team in the first place. They all refused to be bystanders, and put their lives at risk to protect others’ lives in turn. Once they realized that, and their stake in the defense team to protect the Earth from new threats, the new GUYS Japan team was born.
It was much the same for Sorato, Kosei and Ayumu in this episode of Omega. As I said, they had worked together before this point, but their battle against Zovaras really was the first time they acted as a team of equals, each contributing their passion, their knowledge and talents to save the day. Even Sorato discovered his “mission” on Earth. As he stated in this episode, it wasn’t about what he wanted to do personally, but that he wanted to protect happiness for all the other lives on Earth, to allow each of them to find their own happiness in turn.
In many ways, this feels like a “first” episode. The battles up to this point have prepared our heroes for their new roles in the KSCT, and who knows what new battles they will face in upcoming episodes together. Regardless, I’ve come to enjoy and appreciate all these characters and will be excited to see them face those battles and new challenges with their newly-forged teamwork. Until then, stay tuned right here at Ultraman Connection for more!
