novelcrest Chapter 201 A Longing Across the Stars and the Suit Battle
Chapter 201 A Longing Across the Stars and the Suit Battle
Ultraman Dyna is about to air!
The production cycle for episodes 45 and 46 was not too long.
The behind-the-scenes filming and production of episode 46 was arguably the most "torturous" attempt in terms of prop scheduling since the founding of Light Chaser Animation Studios!
Now, let's rewind the timeline a little over two weeks.
Inside the large costume and prop warehouse of Chasing Light Film Studio in Jinghai City.
The air was filled with a faint, distinctive smell of latex, neoprene, and pigments.
Gu Nan, dressed in a simple black windbreaker and holding a thick manuscript of script revisions, stood in front of rows of tall steel shelves.
Behind him, Chen Bo, Zhang Zhao, the action director, and several core screenwriters were sweating profusely as they inventoried the items on the shelves.
"Brother Nan, are you sure you want to go all out with this episode? It's practically like running a zoo!"
Chen Bo frantically wiped the sweat from his face with the towel hanging around his neck, pointing to the rows of monster suits carefully protected by dust covers in front of him, his voice trembling slightly.
The shelves are densely packed with countless classic suits created by Light Chaser Animation Studios from the Ultraman Tiga era to the early Dyna series, all produced at great expense!
Half-fish man Digon, Ginjadaru, Bishumer, Lebik aliens (crow people), cosmic overlord Isilis, Neozalus, Gonza, computer demon Desfasa, fake Dyna, and even that monster Mozhi that devours fear under the moonlight!
Many of them were taken down from the exhibition.
"It has to be done this way."
Gu Nan's gaze was sharp, his eyes revealing an undeniable determination. He paced back and forth in front of the shelves, his fingers gently brushing over the leather cases that carried the memories of countless viewers.
"The core theme of episode 46 is 'the manifestation of fear.' The cosmic plant, the Black Flower, absorbs and materializes what people fear most deep down. Since it's manifestation, what could be more visually impactful and oppressive than having the old adversaries who once drove the main characters to the brink of despair return?"
However! You absolutely cannot force a cobbled-together outfit just to "show off the suit".
The soul of tokusatsu dramas lies in the self-consistency of the characters' logic.
Gu Nan continued to review the manuscript in his hand, making a decision.
In his original script from his original world, the distribution of this hallucination was extremely chaotic, even somewhat inexplicable.
For example, in the original manuscript, Koda was shown the monster Gonzalez.
Is this reasonable?
The claim that Koda was ever psychologically traumatized by Gonzalez is completely unfounded.
It would be better to let Mai do it.
Each character's unique "fear illusion" is tailored to their real, painful past experiences.
Only in this way will the audience suddenly understand and feel that the script is perfectly coherent.
Gu Nan then began to assign specific filming tasks.
"The first round of initial hallucinations, that is, when the Black Flower just took effect. Xin Shouya, let him see the Jinajindar, he had been punished by these things before; Zhong Dao and Xing Xingtian, arranged for the half-fish Digon, they were almost beaten offline by half-fish in the Kurak Call in the sea, this is definitely an unforgettable shadow; Gong Liang, let her see Bishumel!"
Chen Bo, who was frantically taking notes, suddenly raised his hand and asked, "Brother Nan, what about Asuka? In the initial hallucination, you arranged for him to be a Lebik alien, also known as a crow person, who appeared in Ultraman Tiga? Asuka doesn't seem to have had any direct contact with these things, right?"
Gu Nan's lips curled into a sly smile as he patiently explained, "This is an Easter egg left for the audience to fill in the blanks! The Crow People in the Ultraman Tiga era specialized in capturing humans. Asuka was just a child then. Think about it, what do adults say to their children when they're trying to put them to sleep? 'If you don't behave, the Crow People will take you away!' These kinds of fear stories deliberately instilled in a person by their parents during childhood often stay with them throughout their life! Asuka seeing the Crow People perfectly matches the subconscious fears of someone his age!"
After hearing this, everyone suddenly realized what was going on.
"I can't hold it in anymore! Why is this involving old man Jia?"
"Indeed, I remember that episode kept me up at night!"
"Tokusatsu (special effects) reflects reality, huh? Haha!"
Then, Gu Nan continued:
"Next comes the second round of deep hallucinations, the stage where fear completely erupts!"
Gu Nan meticulously planned out the main event, word by word.
"Xin Shouya, let him see the cosmic overlord Isilis! The despair of being forcibly possessed and having control of his body taken away is definitely the biggest nightmare of his life!"
"Kawa Mai, arrange for the monster González! It's a biological weapon brought by that scumbag alien who deceived her feelings!"
"Xing Xingtian, let him face Neozales directly! Back when we fought Neozales, Dr. Otomo was trampled to death right in front of Xingtian, and Asuka almost died in a plane crash! That feeling of helplessness, watching lives slip away without being able to do anything, is what Xingtian, as the vice-captain, fears most!"
Gu Nan turned his head and looked at the suit actor who played the stunt double for the flying bird.
"As for our male lead, Shin Asuka, bring out all our best stuff!"
"Desfasa, the computer demon! He's the only mechanical reaper who, on the front lines of battle, utterly obliterated him with a single shot, leaving him with severe PTSD!"
"The fake Dyna! That cosmic fighter who tried to strip him of his reason for existence and replace him!"
"Finally, add the demonic beast Mozhi! Pure psychological horror!"
Gu Nan let out a long breath and clapped his hands: "Brothers, this suit expo is not only a visual feast, but also a thorough dissection of the inner workings of the entire Super GUTS team! Special effects team, max out the spatial distortion filter at the edge of the illusion! I want that extreme sense of oppression, that blurring of reality and illusion, that leaves you breathless!"
"Roger that! Let's get to it!"
Chen Bo and the entire production team roared in fury.
With this group's almost obsessive pursuit of perfection, two episodes were born!
……
Let's turn back time to the present.
Friday night, 7:50 p.m.
Old Tang's live stream room was already packed with people.
"Good evening, guys!"
The live stream chat is scrolling:
[Hurry up! Hurry up! It's 8 o'clock!]
[Shouldn't we get some main storyline this week?]
【Coo coo coo!】
"Time's up! Refresh the page!"
Old Tang skillfully pressed the F5 key, and the screen instantly changed.
The exciting and passionate opening theme song of "Ultraman Dyna" started playing right on time.
Then, the title appeared: Episode 45, "Chunisa's Tears"
"Chunisa's tears?"
Old Tang stroked his chin, raising an eyebrow slightly. "This name... it sounds like a romantic, tragic love story. And it's a foreign name, isn't it?"
The main feature begins.
The scene flashes to the Super Victory Team's command center, where the atmosphere is unusually cheerful.
It turns out that today is Staff Officer Miyata's birthday.
Asuka, Ryo, Mai, and others secretly prepared a cake and ribbons, giving this usually stern executive a huge surprise.
Amid cheers of "Happy Birthday," Advisor Gondo grumbled sourly, saying that he hadn't received this treatment on his birthday a few days ago.
While everyone was gossiping about why Advisor Miyata wasn't married yet, Mai revealed with a grin that Advisor Miyata had once said that his girlfriend was like Chang'e in the sky, living on the moon.
[Hahaha! Chang'e? Staff Officer Miyata is quite romantic!]
[Gondo is jealous again!]
[This is hilarious! Nobody remembers Gondo, which just shows how unpopular this old man is!]
The team atmosphere is amazing!
However, Gu Nan's scripts never allow for much comfort.
The cozy birthday party was not over when an extremely piercing alarm suddenly shattered the tranquility!
"Abnormal life activity detected! A monster has appeared!"
Mai loudly reported to the leader.
On the big screen, a massive, ferocious cosmic behemoth—Tronga—suddenly descended upon the city!
Upon seeing the monster, Staff Officer Miyata, who had been smiling, turned deathly pale, his eyes filled with extreme fear and shock.
"It's...it's come to Earth?!"
Staff Officer Miyata shoved everyone aside, rushed to the control panel, snatched the communicator, and, incredibly, bypassed Captain Hibiki, issuing extremely insane orders to Shin Asuka and Shin Kariya, who were piloting their fighter jets at the front lines!
"Listen up! This monster is indestructible! Except for its right shoulder, which is its weak point, all other attacks are ineffective! At all costs, attack its right shoulder at close range! Closer! Closer!"
Gong Liang was dumbfounded in the command room.
At the front lines, Asuka and Kariya, in order to carry out this extremely radical order, flew their fighter jets almost touching Troonga's face.
Ultimately, although the weak point was hit, the fighter jet was also fiercely countered by Troonga, and both crashed in black smoke!
In a moment of crisis, Asuka decisively transforms into Dyna!
A flash of light, and Dai appeared!
Dyna quickly fired an energy blast at Troonga in front of him.
But its powerful regenerative abilities allowed it to recover from its injuries almost instantly.
Strangely, after recovering, Tronga did not choose to continue fighting Dyna, but suddenly disappeared.
"asshole!"
Acting team leader Xing Xingtian was furious.
After the fighter jet crashed, Koda rushed back to the command center, grabbed Staff Officer Miyata by the collar, and roared with bloodshot eyes, "Our Super GUTS members aren't bullets for you to vent your anger on! You didn't care about their lives at all!"
"If Dyna hadn't arrived in time! Who knows what would have happened to Asuka and Kariya!"
[Holy crap! Koda's a real man! He's going head-to-head with the higher-ups!]
[Asuka: You're right, I want to thank Dyna]
[What's wrong with Staff Officer Miyata? He's completely lost his mind!]
[He must have some grudge against this monster.]
Old Tang, his face grave, said in front of the screen, "Brothers, this is a story! For a high-ranking staff officer to completely lose control, what happened ten years ago must be anything but simple!"
With the intervention of Director Fukami, a ten-year-old secret finally came to light.
The scene flashed back ten years.
At that time, Miyata was a pilot who participated in the testing of the new Magus power system.
During a test, Miyata lost consciousness due to excessive G-force and disappeared into space along with his fighter jet.
When he woke up, he found himself on an unknown planet with air and a suitable environment—the planet Kigal.
And it was at that moment that the cosmic super beast Teronga appeared.
Just when Miyata thought he was going to die, a dashing blonde alien female warrior wielding a beam gun descended from the sky and saved him.
She is Chunisa.
The two spent a short but unforgettable time together on that strange planet.
Ultimately, it was Chunisa who risked her life to send Miyata back to the vicinity of Mars in the solar system, which allowed him to be rescued.
However, aside from Captain Kibi Tsuyoshi's unconditional trust in this bizarre experience, Staff Officer Gondo and others scoffed at it, considering it utterly unbelievable and demanding that Miyata provide evidence.
[Hero saves the damsel in distress... oh wait, I mean the damsel in distress saves the hero!]
So Chang'e refers to an alien girl! Staff Officer Miyata is quite the romantic!
My first love from ten years ago was so devoted.
Children, I've made a vow.
[666, there's a second level!]
To prove himself, and to finally get rid of the nightmare of Teronga.
That night, Staff Officer Miyata went alone to the forest on the outskirts of the city to lure Tronga out as bait.
And in that dark forest, a miracle occurred.
Accompanied by a soft light, the figure that had haunted his dreams for ten years—Chunisa—truly appeared before him!
"It really is you..." Miyata said, tears streaming down his face.
With a smile, Chunisa placed a necklace that emitted a faint glow in Miyata's hand.
"These are Trunessa's tears."
Before Miyata could even understand the meaning of those words, Troonga's furious roar had already echoed throughout the forest.
It turns out that after sending Miyata away, Truissa was tragically killed by Troonga's claws!
What appears before Miyata now is not a living person, but a being of longing formed by Chunisa, who crossed the boundary between life and death due to her extremely strong longing!
Troonga came to Earth this time to completely eliminate Miyata, the one who escaped from the net back then!
[Waaaaah! The knife is killing me!]
[The embodiment of longing separated by life and death]
She's dead, but her love continues to protect him!
If longing had a voice, it would surely be Truness's call across the stars.
In the critical moment, Asuka transforms into Ultraman Dyna and engages in a life-or-death battle with Troonga.
However, this super beast's regenerative ability is extremely abnormal.
Just as Dyna was struggling, Staff Officer Miyata on the ground looked at the "Tears of Truissa" in his hand, which was radiating golden light.
Guided by this light, Miyata raised the laser gun left behind by Chunisa and accurately shot through Troonga's deeply hidden true heart!
The super beast was instantly weakened.
Dyna seized the opportunity and used a Solgent Ray to completely destroy it.
The battle is over.
Staff Officer Miyata held that tear in his hand, looked up at the starry sky, and completed this redemption that spanned ten years.
With touching background music, episode 45 came to an end.
……
A week later, the airing of episode 46 meant that Dyna was one step closer to the finale.
The main feature begins.
The scene then shifts to an extremely tranquil planetarium.
A man named Hirao is observing the starry sky with a telescope; he is Miyara's childhood friend from her teenage years.
That night, Hirao witnessed a strange meteorite fall near the city and turn into glowing powder that filled the sky.
He immediately called TPC to report the incident, and Liang happened to answer the phone.
However, after reviewing the monitoring data, Ryo concluded that the meteorite had already burned up in the atmosphere and hung up the phone in a very perfunctory manner, even complaining that Hirao was idle all day long.
【Oh, right, Miyako still has an ex-boyfriend!】
[That's so heartless of me, Senior Liang! We were childhood sweethearts, after all.]
[Poor Hirao, he gets yelled at for calling the police.]
[There's definitely something wrong with this meteorite! It wasn't fully burned!]
as predicted.
Late the next night, extremely terrifying paranormal events broke out in full force!
The once quiet streets have suddenly been sprung up with countless monsters and aliens that were once wiped out!
Super Victory Team rushed to the scene.
However, when they raised their guns and aimed them at the monster in front of them, an extremely bizarre and chilling scene unfolded!
At the same time and in the same place, different team members saw completely different monsters!
The camera focused on Shinjuuya's perspective.
Standing before him was the very man who had nearly killed him!
"It's a Kinaijindar! There's no mistake!" Kariya shouted, veins bulging on his forehead.
The camera then cut to the perspective of Chung Dao and Xing Xingtian.
In their eyes, on the dimly lit street ahead, a group of merfolk, covered in slime and emitting a foul stench, were writhing!
That was the terrifying nightmare that almost drove them to self-destruction in the underwater Kurak Call!
"Nonsense! That's clearly a half-fish!" Chung Dao was so frightened that his fat trembled, and he immediately raised his gun.
Then switch to Miyako's perspective.
In her eyes, what appeared before her was none other than Bishumer, the demonic beast that had devoured human fear in the darkness!
"He looks better than Schumacher no matter how you look at it!"
Liang's voice trembled slightly.
And when the camera finally focuses on Shin Asuka.
What Asuka saw was a Lebik alien with a huge crow's head and wearing a suit!
"Those are Lebik aliens!" Asuka exclaimed, her eyes wide.
[Holy crap! Holy crap! Holy crap! A huge giveaway of leather suits?!]
Why is everyone seeing different things?! It's a complete mess!
[I get it! It's an illusion! This is definitely an illusion!]
Wait! Isn't that crow-man that Asuka saw a monster from Ultraman Tiga?
Old Tang chuckled and immediately offered an explanation: "You guys just don't understand! The Crow People during Ultraman Tiga's era specialized in capturing Earthlings at night! Asuka was just a little kid back then!"
"Think about it, his parents must have said to him when they were putting him to bed at night: 'Flying Bird, if you don't behave, the crow people will kidnap you in the middle of the night!' That's definitely a childhood trauma! Director Gu's attention to detail is absolutely amazing!"
[Hahaha! This is totally a childhood trauma!]
[This is so true! When I was little, my mom also said that if I didn't sleep, the big bad wolf would come and bite me!]
[I can't hold it in anymore!]
The plot continues to unfold.
When the fighter jet's lasers struck these monsters, they instantly disintegrated into fragments, confirming that it was indeed an illusion.
Meanwhile, in his own home, Hirao unexpectedly sees Yoshimi from Girls' Generation.
Following the phantom, Hirao discovered a white flower emitting a faint glow.
He told Liang about it.
After emergency testing by TPC, the truth finally came to light!
This is a strange plant from outer space.
The black flowers absorb human fear and turn illusions into powerful, destructive objects!
White flowers, on the other hand, can neutralize this fear and allow people to see the things they have always loved deep in their hearts!
[So that's how it is! Black represents fear, and white represents love and hope!]
[An idealistic alien flower!]
This premise is both incredibly romantic and utterly devastating.
At that moment, the energy of fear in the city center had reached its peak.
A terrifying energy demon with an extremely large size and unpredictable appearance—Mulvaia—has finally materialized completely in the city center!
This monster, having absorbed the fear of countless people, is extremely agile and possesses astonishing strength.
"We absolutely cannot let it continue to absorb fear!"
After the plane crashed, Asuka didn't hesitate to pull out her Flash Sword!
"Dyna—!"
In a dazzling light, Ultraman Dyna makes his appearance!
However, the real psychological torment had only just begun.
During the battle with Murwaya, this extremely cunning monster actually used pollen to directly launch the deepest level of fear mental attack on Dyna!
The scene then shifts dramatically to the bird's subconscious perspective.
Under the terrified gaze of the birds.
The Murwaya ahead suddenly transformed into a computer demon god, Desfasa, who was hundreds of meters tall!
That mechanical Grim Reaper who once blasted him to pieces with a single shot and made him experience the deepest fear of death!
"What?!"
Dyna's movements suddenly froze.
Desfasa charged straight at them!
Before he could react, Desfaza's figure twisted and turned back into the extremely arrogant fake Dyna who was trying to completely replace him!
Amidst the exchange of punches and kicks, Dyna retreated repeatedly!
Immediately afterwards, the fake Dyna twisted again, transforming into the eerie monster Mozhi, which devoured the fear of warriors under the moonlight!
[Holy crap! Asuka's nightmare has struck three times in a row!]
This is devastating! It's like reopening a wound that had been painfully exposed!
[Desfasa almost crippled Asuka that time!]
[That old scoundrel Gu is really trying to squeeze every last drop of value out of the suits! This episode was so satisfying to watch the suit battle!]
Under this relentless psychological pressure, Dyna's movements became extremely slow and chaotic, riddled with flaws.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Murwaya nimbly leaped behind Dyna, opened his blood-red maw, and bit Dyna's neck fiercely!
"Ding-dong... Ding-dong..."
The red light was flashing wildly, and Dyna found himself in an extremely dangerous predicament.
At this critical moment!
The roar of fighter jets echoed through the sky!
Miyagi piloted his fighter jet, his eyes filled with determination: "Hirao, lend me your power!"
As the fighter jet roared past, an "NK missile" loaded with the essence extracted from the white cosmic flower was launched with unparalleled precision!
"boom!"
The missile exploded on Murwaya's body, and white powder of hope instantly covered the monster's entire body!
Under the influence of this power representing innocence and love, Murwayana's body, which was made of fear, began to tremble violently, melting away rapidly like ice and snow, and eventually degenerating into a huge white seed sphere.
Fear has been completely dispelled!
"Now!"
Dyna broke free of his restraints and crossed his arms.
A dazzling Solgent ray burst forth, completely pulverizing the white seed!
The crisis was over, and the city returned to tranquility.
The end of the story.
Ryo asked Hirao to help him create a website for the class reunion.
While looking through old photos, Hirao finally realized the truth.
It turns out that white flowers can make people see the person they've always loved.
The reason he saw Ryo in her teenage years that morning was because deep down, he had always been deeply in love with his childhood sweetheart.
The scene freezes slowly as the ending theme song plays, accompanied by Hirao's relieved and gentle smile.
……
"That felt great!"
Old Tang typed rapidly on the keyboard, bringing up screenshots of the various monsters that had just appeared.
"On the surface, episode 46 is a 'suit extravaganza,' a feast for the eyes. But Director Gu's logical arrangement is simply perfect!"
"Every hallucination that appears represents a real life-or-death crisis that the characters have actually experienced in the past! This not only greatly enriches the psychological portrayal of the characters, but also perfectly connects the previous plot points!"
The live stream chat was filled with praise:
You're right.
[Filling in the gaps and reviewing the past]
[A tribute! All of them are tributes!]
White flowers represent love, black flowers represent fear. As long as there is love in your heart, you can overcome fear!
Old Tang looked at the camera, his eyes gleaming, and gave his final summary.
"Fear is a human instinct. Just as a bird feels fear when it sees the powerful enemies that once defeated it, even a giant of light will feel fear."
"But just like that white flower, what can dispel this endless fear is always the love and hope deep within our hearts for the world, for our companions, and for our loved ones!"
"Facing fear head-on and using love to dispel darkness. This is the true romance that Ultraman Dyna wants to convey!"