Hello and welcome, Ultraman Connection readers! We’re right at the halfway point of Ultraman Omega, and it’s been a heck of a ride so far, following the adventures of an amnesiac Ultraman and his unlikely best friend on Earth. The dynamic between Sorato and Kosei has been a highlight of the show for me personally, and for many fans, at least in part because it’s quite unusual for the franchise! It’s been almost a decade since we’ve seen a show with an Ultraman hero who was an alien hanging out on Earth, rather than an otherwise-normal human being who happened to stumble upon the power to grow 50 meters tall and shoot lasers out of their hands.
Some readers might quibble over that distinction, but that’s not the purpose of this article, and to say more would require spoiling some things from previous shows. Believe me, we’re going to be dealing with enough spoilers between episode 11 of Omega, and the brand new Kaiju it introduced with a lot of similarities to one of the biggest threats in Ultraman Mebius.
Yes, that means we’ll be discussing some big spoilers in Mebius, particularly from the first half of the show. So if you haven’t seen it yet… Well, you should watch it regardless. Think of it as getting caught up on one of the most prominent fan-favorite seasons in time for its 20th anniversary next year!
I’ve referred to Mebius a few times before when talking about Omega, because the main duo of Sorato – the titular Omega – and Kosei reminded me of the main duo from that series. Mirai – the titular Mebius – joins the defense team immediately after arriving on Earth, and is hilariously naive when it comes to living amongst human beings on the planet. In the same way, Sorato starts off oblivious to those expectations and customs, but also has the added challenge of amnesia. He doesn’t even know why he’s on the planet in the first place!
But he does know he is Ultraman, and dedicates himself to helping people in whatever way he can, even if he isn’t sure of his specific mission.
In contrast to Sorato’s easy-going nature, Kosei is passionate and impetuous. He also wants to help people in whatever way he can, usually by throwing himself headlong into danger behind – or ahead – of Sorato. It’s like he feels he has to prove himself as a hero, where Sorato is already assured of that fact despite his questions about how that role plays out on Earth.
That drive to prove himself is a character trait which also defines the secondary protagonist of Mebius, the only veteran of the GUYS Japan defense team, Ryu. Despite his brusque attitude – or maybe because of it – Ryu and Mirari become close friends through the events of the series. However, Ryu’s own passion almost drives a wedge completely between himself and Mebius, even the rest of the defense team, when they face down their first major threat on Earth, the Kaiju Bogarl.
Many of the Kaiju in Ultraman shows are simply big creatures, but act in a way that fits in with a natural ecology, either on Earth or elsewhere in space. Bogarl is worse than that. It’s an apex predator, but also one with a vicious, cunning intelligence and an insatiable hunger that drives it to consume any living being in its path. This includes other Kaiju, of course, but even entire planets of living beings. Bogarl’s destruction of the planet Arb was the catalyst for Ultraman Hikari’s fall into darkness, to become Hunter Knight Tsurugi out of his desire for vengeance.
I won’t recap the whole story from Mebius here. (Because you should watch it yourself, seriously, you can stream it right now!) Suffice it to say, this terrifying threat causes a lot of drama amongst the members of the defense team, not just between Mebius and Tsurugi. Everyone wishes to fight their hardest against Bogarl, and shows the courage to stand up against this seemingly impossible challenge – as the ideals of Ultraman are meant to be illustrated.
But not everyone does it for the same reason.
In the end, fighting just to prove yourself as a hero, or just to kill a Kaiju is never enough to truly live up to those ideals. I suspect that Kosei is going to have to learn that the hard way in next week’s episode.
I’m not sure how intentional these parallels to Mebius were in this episode, however there are quite a number of similarities between our two Kaiju, Bogarl and Eldeghimera introduced this week. First of all, it’s clear that Eldeghimera is a step above the usual class of Kaiju, even before it literally bursts onto the scene. Sorato had been able to “sniff” out most of the Kaiju up to this point. He recognizes something different about this scent, enough for him to warn Kosei away from this fight. It’s a huge contrast from his normal laid-back personality, and makes it very clear that this is a danger beyond just a giant stompy monster.
The reason for that unfortunately becomes clear very soon after it appears aboveground. Eldeghimera, like Bogarl, also consumes other Kaiju, and even seems to steal their traits to use as weapons. The method by which it feeds also bears a remarkable – and remarkably gross – resemblance to Bogarl, with fleshy appendages.
In Mebius, it took many episodes to devise an audacious plan to bring Bogarl down, with the help of two Ultramen and the combined force of the GUYS Japan defense team. This week, the brand-new defense team that just got government approval was seemingly annihilated in a single attack from Eldeghimera. Was this the reason why Ultraman Omega was sent to Earth? Has he already failed in his mission?
Well, I don’t think that’s the case, because otherwise this would be a very short season. Until next week though, I’ll be on the edge of my seat to see how Kosei, Sorato, Ayumu and everyone else rallies to beat a Kaiju threat that seems on par with one of the most memorable and fearsome enemies in Ultraman history.
And until then, stay tuned right here at Ultraman Connection for more.
