Hello and welcome, Ultraman Connection readers! This week, Ultraman Arc continues with a new episode, and we’re here to break it down for you like always. The previous episode was a bit of a break from the expected set-up of the show, however. It took place entirely within a series of flashbacks, showing the viewers how Yuma originally encountered the being which would later be named “Ultraman Arc”, and their first battle together after he joined the SKIP team in Hoshimoto City.
We’re back to the traditional “Monster of the Week” plots in this episode, but as we’ve seen before with the show, “traditional” doesn’t mean “boring” in the slightest! The first two episodes used the arrival of unusual Kaiju threats to illustrate how SKIP operates, and to build the characters of the team, as well as the setting around them. The story this week is no different, and focuses on Rin, Yuma’s more experienced teammate, who specializes in mechanical and computer systems.
The plot this week also was funny to me personally, since I have a story that starts out pretty similarly. I wasn’t always a writer, and one of the first jobs I had as a teenager was working the cash register at a store in our local mall. We got an unexpected day off when the power went out across the mall, and we later found out – like the shopkeepers in Hoshiomoto City this week – that a rodent had chewed through a bundle of wires! I still feel sorry for that poor creature, but I wanted to mention this story because it illustrates something I enjoyed very much about this episode.
Sometimes Ultraman shows keep defense teams in their own little bubble of context, and we don’t really get a chance to see them out and about, interacting with ordinary citizens and the world around them. I love that SKIP is being established not just as “the” defense team, but as a group of individuals with a specific mission, positions which fit into the concerns and context of the show’s universe.
Their mission this week starts out with a fairly unremarkable problem, and like episode 2, it might have been something that would be easily overlooked and downplayed. Once Rin and Yuma start investigating, however, they realize that they’re not dealing with any sort of rat problem. Rather, this is a rodent of quite unusual size, one capable of chewing through a steel plate to feast on electric cables!
So far in Arc, the Kaiju have been either strange creatures who typically live away from civilization, alien monsters which are completely unknown, or legendary beasts who have only been preserved in stories and fairy tales. Nezutron starts out as a – mostly – ordinary rat with a completely natural explanation for its preference for electrical energy as a food source. It only became a giant threat as a result of our meddling and experimentation. Just like the unknown rodent who got fried at the mall in my hometown, I really do feel bad for it in this episode. Nezutron was just trying to survive, the same as any other normal-sized rat; it just happened to absorb enough energy from an experimental power plant that it risked causing a massive explosion in the middle of the city.
Even though Rin was very clearly terrified by this situation, she threw herself back into the wreckage of the power plant in order to desperately try and shut down the energy source. It was really incredible to see her obviously scared by the falling debris, flames and risk of an imminent, deadly explosion at any moment, but still pushed on to finish her job and even encouraged her partner, YouPi, to do the same! Yuma seems right at home on this team, if everyone has the same sort of commitment to protect lives even if it means putting their own life on the line for it!
Yuma, fighting with Ultraman Arc’s power, seemed like he reached his limit in this fight as well. However, just like how Rin’s courage and her determination to protect the townspeople helped her pull through and shut down the source of Nezutron’s energy just in time, Yuma was able to muster his own determination in a different way. After hearing the cheers of the townspeople, Yuma once again uses his creative vision, shown in his childhood sketchbook, to summon a new power for Arc!
“Form changes” have been a part of many Ultraman series, but Blazar last year notably did not have any apart from the fiery Firdran sword and armor he used in the latter half of the show. Arc seems to be doing something similar. The Solis Armor, which debuts here, is an addition to Arc’s set of abilities, instead of a completely new suit and appearance. Based on Yuma’s sketchbook, it looks like there will eventually be a blue set of armor we’ll see too. I hope it also winds up looking as cool as its fiery counterpart here – a pretty impressive glow-up from a seven-year-old kid’s crayon drawing!
As the story this week wrapped up, I really liked a comment from Rin, after she saw her favorite shopkeepers overjoyed after Arc defeated the Kaiju. She remarked that their mission, the reason why they put their lives on the line as members of SKIP, is to protect ordinary people and ordinary lives. Even Yuma, who also fights as Ultraman, I think has a similar motivation. For someone who had his own ordinary life ripped away by a Kaiju attack, and then miraculously had his life restored to him by Arc’s power, the thought of protecting others from such a fate must drive him as well.
That just leaves the team captain, Hiroshi Ban. Next week, we’ll get some insight into his past and motivations as part of SKIP. Until then, stay tuned right here at Ultraman Connection!
