Hello and welcome, Ultraman Connection readers! As is usual with this point in the season, Ultraman Omega has come down from a huge, climactic battle against a powerful new Kaiju threat, and now we all need a chance to rest, relax and gather ourselves for the next challenge. Now, that would be a lot easier for our heroes Kosei and Sorato, if they managed to keep their roles as the heroes who fight Kaiju secret from Ayumu. Coincidentally in the last episode, Ayumu came across Kosei caught red-handed with his Meteokaiju friends!
She – understandably – has a lot of questions for the two, so what better way to kick off an annual tradition for modern Ultraman series, the mid-season recap episode!
These have been in every Ultraman show since Ginga, and even show up occasionally in the older, longer-running series in the franchise’s history. Sometimes serious, but frequently humorous, there’s many opportunities for the main characters to regroup and reflect on the events that have brought them to their current position.
This time, in Ultraman Omega, the episode isn’t framed around Kosei and Sorato just recapping their prior battles to Ayumu. The first half shows the two of them conspiring to get their story straight before they face her interrogation! So much of the charm of Omega comes from these two goofballs playing off of each other, and that’s no different here.
It’s also predictable to see that Kosei is the one member of the duo primarily concerned about keeping up appearances – ironic, since he’s the one who got caught by Ayumu in the first place! Even though he’s regained his passion for fighting to protect other lives, as seen from episode 12, he still seems overly anxious about what other people think about him. In Kosei’s defense though, things might become very difficult for both of them if Ayumu finds out about Omega’s identity, and that he’s been living on Earth among humans since the beginning of the show!
Keep in mind, Ayumu also has an official position now working for the newly-formed defense force as a scientific advisor. But given her professional credentials, her eye for detail and investigative problem-solving when it comes to various Kaiju, it does seem odd that she hasn’t pieced together the reason for Sorato’s strange knowledge and behavior…
Anyways, as I mentioned, there are many examples of other recap episodes through the New Generation series of Ultraman, and beyond , but this week reminded me strongly of episode 13 in Ultraman Z. I’ve mentioned the show a few times, mostly because I think Haruto and Kosei have a lot of similarities as protagonists, along with their dynamic with the titular Ultraman hero of each season. In both of their recap episodes, the characters are forced to voice their problems, and work through them out loud in the process of reviewing the first half of the show.
Both episodes also involve a friendly alien showing up at their workplace for no apparent reason! Haruto comes across a Kanegon who eats his Ultra Medals by mistake, just another strange thing that happens in a universe where Ultraman and Kaiju and aliens exist. The strange occurrence gives him an opportunity to vent about his concerns and struggles from previous episodes in a new way.
Kosei already has an alien to talk things over with: Sorato, aka Ultraman Omega himself. But a stray Pigmon hiding in the Taiyo Warehouse where the two of them work may have accidentally clued Ayumu into Sorato’s identity as the Giant of Light himself. Like I said, Kosei was always more concerned about keeping that secret than Sorato. He doesn’t seem to care if people know he can fly or fight monsters, judging by the casual way he talked about a short trip to drop the Pigmon back off at its Pacific island home.
The Pigmon’s appearance wasn’t the shocking part of this episode, and Sorato’s slip isn’t the one moment that changes everything going forward from here. The most shocking part of this recap was Ayumu’s reaction to all this. She’s obviously confused and more than a little bewildered, but she speaks of the confidence the new defense team has in Omega, believing him to be an ally.
She shares that trust as well, which is why she can continue her friendship with Kosei and Sorato, even after learning that one of them controls giant extraterrestrial Kaiju with a telepathic bond, and the other also happens to be a giant silver and red alien who can summon said kaiju to become armor, and also blow up other Kaiju with huge laser beams. In fact, her conversation with them implies that she’s known – or at least suspected – Sorato was Ultraman Omega for some time now. Her willingness to see the humanity in him, a shared bond of friendship, speaks more powerfully to that trust than any official investigation or scientific study could verify.
All three of them will need each other as allies as new threats seem to be headed their way. What new secrets, and what new battles will unfold for our heroes in the second half of Ultraman Omega? You’ll have to stay tuned here at Ultraman Connection for more!
