Directed by Koichi Sakamoto. Written by Hirotoshi Kobayashi. Airdate Dec. 19, 2013.
We launch into the final two episodes of Ultraman Ginga S with the biggest action spectacle yet in the New Generation Heroes era. Ultraman Ginga and Ultraman Victory, their abilities to transform almost depleted, take on “Vict Lugiel,” Alien Chibull’s monstrous tool created from Dark Lugiel’s body. Their big-city battle looks like it cost more than the entire budget of the first season.
Sho and Hikaru supposedly have the energy to transform into their Ultras only one more time — though the script is a bit fuzzy on how much “one more time” really means — so they develop a tag-team strategy against Vict Lugiel to conserve what power they have left. There are numerous power-ups, but they’re paced so fast that they end up energizing the fight rather than slowing it down as often happens. The tokusatsu action is legitimately exciting.
The battle against Vict Lugiel takes up roughly the first half of the episode. The second half has some crunchy character drama as it shifts focus to Android One Zero/Mana, finally making good on the promise of the character since she escaped Chibull’s control back in “Desperate Battle in the Sunrise” — seven episodes ago. The delay in getting Mana back into the action had been a bit irritating, but this story at last delivers on what was promised. The episode then pops in a genuinely nasty surprise that not only lures viewers back for the finale, but also ensures the last episode will have something interesting to do besides a long kaiju battle with the final boss.
The episode’s dramatic throughline is about Mana and whether she has a soul, autonomy, or a reason for existing. These are questions the show has avoided since the android found herself free from Alien Chibull in “A Life to Regain,” when Misuzu gave her the name “Mana.” Back then, we were promised interesting character development, but it’s taken until now for the show to circle back to this topic. This left Android One Zero stranded for a long stretch, doing nothing but watching the action from hilltops. Even the name “Mana” hasn’t fully stuck; most of the dialogue in this episode still refers to her as “Android One Zero” or simply “the robot.”
However, credit where it’s due: now that the creative team has pulled Mana back to center stage and made her the linchpin figure of an episode, they handle her well. The emotional center of this episode is Mana’s conversations with Tomoya and Queen Kisara, where the android grapples with what she is and what purpose she may have.
Tomoya, who’s mostly been hanging out on the fringes of Ultraman Ginga S with little to do, steps up and tries to define for Mana what it means to have a soul. His definition isn’t a standard one; it’s certainly not one I recognize. He says that if Mana has the desire to change, that means she has a soul because the soul is the desire to pass down experiences to the next generation. I don’t follow this reasoning: it sounds like Tomoya’s talking about the basic will to survive, not the more abstract religious/spiritual concept of the soul. Or maybe I’m confused because I can’t quite concentrate over the din of Ginga, Victory, and Vict Lugiel bashing each other in cutaways. Not actually a complaint: this is how to keep thematic exposition from bogging down the action.
Tomoya’s questionable personal philosophy does get somewhere as he transitions to telling Mana why she must have experiences — to go on the “adventure of life” to seek answers. (Ah, there’s the title!) This is enough motivation to keep Mana wondering and to move into the second half of the episode, when the triumphant Alien Chibull starts to seek even greater power: the previously unmentioned Victorium Core buried 6,400 km under the Earth. Queen Kisara summons Mana and explains that she’s the only one capable of reaching the Core before Chibull discovers it. According to Kisara, this is the reason for Mana’s existence. Victorian, human, and android must work together to prevent the destruction of the planet. At last, Mana is ready to become a hero and find her purpose…
Or is she? Here is where the story tosses in the nifty twist that leads to the cliffhanger. It also leads to Gouki getting violently kicked. I don’t have any antagonism toward Gouki, but it’s amusing to me how much random physical abuse he keeps taking compared to the rest of UPG. Poor guy.
This is the best episode of Ultraman Ginga S so far that hasn’t been a unique one-shot. The fight with Vict Lugiel is excellent. Ginga and Victory now operate smoothly as a team. Most of the supporting cast has something to do. Various threads come together, or finally get cut, as with Koyama. And the cliffhanger with Mana does its job of prepping audiences for an even grander finale … if the show can pull it off. We’ll find out soon.
Rating: Great
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