Individual Tomorrows

Ultraman Z, episode 22
Information
Airdate	November 28, 2020
Directed by	Koichi Sakamoto
Written by	Sotaro Hayashi
Continuity
Previous	D4
Next	Prelude to a Nightmare
Continuity

Individual Tomorrows is the twenty-second episode of Ultraman Z.

Synopsis

As Haruki and Yoko are strolling through town, they once again run into the Space Pirate! Alien Barossa boasts that he will get his revenge for the defeat of his brothers. In the face of this powerful enemy's attack, SAA-1 Sevenger, which was headed for a museum, shows activity for the first time in a while!

Meanwhile behind the scenes, Juggler seems to have something else in mind...

Plot

Three days have passed since the D4 incident and STORAGE's disbandment, and Haruki Natsukawa is training alone, remembering his time as part of the STORAGE team during his sessions. Yoko Nakashima gives him a call, and asks him to come along for an urgent favour.

Meanwhile, GAFJ has taken control of the STORAGE HQ, and staff are in the process of restructuring, taking down and putting away banners and flags associated with STORAGE. Shota Hebikura snoops around the base, and notices a new flag on the flagpole, that of the 'SAAG', the 1st Special Airborne and Armored Group.

It turns out that Yoko's request was a lot more casual than the urgent favour she made it out to be, and the two former STORAGE agents meet at the park before heading out for a walk through the city. Back at the base, Hebikura manages to sneak inside by pretending to deliver pizza. Once inside the base, he notices something new; the enigmatic robot Ultraman, Ultroid Zero, has been loaded into the base's hangars along with the other Special Airborne Armor units! He gets into cover as Strategic Manager Mai Yuki and a team of scientists and engineers arrive to look over Ultroid Zero's data.

Mai explains to the scientists that Ultroid Zero was constructed in response to the sheer destruction created by King Joe STORAGE Custom's D4 Ray; rather than be hesitant to use the weapon again after the destruction it caused, GAF has only intensified its research into the weapon, and, building on Mai's thoughts as to what could happen if GAF had access to weapons on par with that of an Ultraman after seeing Ultraman Z seal the dimensional collapse, have come to the conclusion that the secret to controlling the D4's energy must lie within the way Z and other Ultras fire their beams. All GAF needs is data gathered from Z's next fight, and they will surely find the information they need for this to be possible.

Meanwhile, Yoko and Haruki come across GAFJ's publicity division setting up a photoshoot, and Sevenger is on display there. Yuka Ohta and Bako have both been reassigned to the publicity division, and the four meet up for a chat, though before long Haruki gets up from the table, blocking a thrown Goron Rod from a third Alien Barossa! Yuka asks the Barossa if he is the third generation, and the Space Pirate responds by saying that the second Barossa was his little brother. Haruki and Yoko prepare to fight hand-to-hand, and Barossa exclaims his intention to fight for his elder and younger brothers in a legendary fight.

The two humans and the alien enter into a scuffle, and seem to be evenly matched, though Barossa has the upper hand and knocks down both his adversaries, when suddenly Bako steps into the fray, and sends Barossa sprawling to the floor! Shocked by this sudden turn of events, Barossa runs out of the room, and Haruki gives chase. In another room in the building, Haruki is caught off guard by Barossa, and transforms into Z's original form.

Z boasts that he doesn't need 50 seconds, and that he'll defeat Barossa as quickly as possible. The two continue to fight, when suddenly Jugglus Juggler appears, and slashes Z with his Jashin Blade, saying that he can't let Z win so easily! This distraction gives Barossa time to drink a cup of bubble tea, explaining that starch from Earth energises the cells of his body. Using this energy, Barossa grows to his giant size, and immediately begins wreaking havoc, kicking buildings over and shooting beams of energy from his eyes. From within Z's Inner Space, Haruki asks Juggler why he is doing this, but the Majin dismisses him, simply replying with "Who knows?"

Z tells Haruki that it's time to use Ultra Fusion, and Haruki uses the Z Riser to transform Z into his Alpha Edge form. Yoko and the others run out of the building to see the fight in front of them, and Yoko laments that she can't use Sevenger. Bako replies that Sevenger has been properly maintained, and he's good to go. Yoko sets off to pilot Sevenger, while Barossa and Z continue to fight, with neither side gaining ground. Sevenger arrives on the scene, and together with Z - who transforms into his Beta Smash mode - the duo charge the alien. Sevenger manages to deliver an impressive clothesline after Z throws Barossa his way, but Barossa manages to knock Sevenger down shortly afterwards. Z successfully distracts Barossa for long enough for Sevenger to deliver a flying kick, and then King Joe STORAGE Custom arrives on the scene, sporting a pilot from GAFJ. At the base, Mai is overseeing the operation to gather data on Z for Ultroid Zero. The pilot of King Joe tells Yoko to withdraw, but Yoko refuses, and the two machines and their pilots get into an argument.

Without Sevenger beside him, Z's fight with Barossa becomes a stalemate yet again, and Barossa, angrily exclaiming that "only a fool turns their back on a Space Pirate!" slams Z to the ground, catching the attention of Yoko and King Joe's pilot! The two humans briefly stop their squabble to return to the fight, with King Joe firing a hail of Pedanium Missiles at Barossa. Sevenger then launches his Rigid Iron Core Fist Rocket, knocking Barossa into Z, who then suplexes the alien to the floor!

Since Barossa isn't winning the fight, Hebikura announces that he will have to do his job for him, and transforms into Tri-King. As the skies grow dark, Tri-King marches into battle, easily knocking Sevenger down, before turning his attention to Z. Meanwhile, King Joe has Barossa on the ropes, but the alien manages to get to his feet, and catches King Joe's pilot off guard with a few swipes of his Goron Rod. True to Yoko's counterpoint, King Joe's pilot is inexperienced, and she makes her way over to help him.

Z uses his Beta Crescent Slash on Tri-King, then uses his Zestium Beam, but before the beam can hit, Hebikura has Tri-King grab King Joe, pulling him in front of the monster as a giant human shield! As the beam hits King Joe, Mai instructs her scientists to begin gathering data. King Joe is blown apart into its component ships, but fortunately the pilot escaped with his life, flying away on a jetpack. The moment of truth has finally arrived - with this information, Ultroid Zero can finally be completed!

Tri-King fully transforms into Five King, and fires the Catastrophe Spark. Without a moment to lose, Z transforms into his Delta Rise Claw Form, blocking the attack with the Beliarok. Beliarok comments that the scene looks interesting, and Z tells him that he fought Five King once before. Beliarok then announces that he's "lost interest", and becomes extremely heavy, falling to the ground. Without Beliarok to help him, Z charges Five King, and the two battle in extremely close quarters, neither side letting up their attacks. Z uses the Delta Giga Ripper on Five King, engulfing the monster in a huge explosion!

As Sevenger and Barossa continue to fight, the robot makes his way over to Beliarok's position, and falls on one knee due to a slight malfunction of a leg balancer, inadvertently reaching towards Beliarok. The sentient weapon asks Sevenger "Once you take hold of me, what will you do?", then tells Yoko that she's "20,000 years too soon for you to use me" when she orders him to help her fight. After using a bit of reverse psychology, Yoko manages to convince Beliarok to be wielded by Sevenger, and immediately turns the battle in her favour, knocking Barossa down with a strike from Beliarok. Yoko has Sevenger climb atop King Joe's Leg Carrier, and asks Yuka to take control of the carrier remotely from the Core Ship. Climbing aboard, Yuka finds the Core Ship to be fully operational, and activates the Leg Carrier, sending it at high speed towards Barossa with Sevenger on top. Yoko then has Sevenger use an improvised technique with Beliarok's help, the Sevenger Wave Riding Special Slash, cutting straight through Barossa! As Beliarok comments "That was rather enjoyable", Barossa, mortally injured, proclaims that his family will avenge him, just as he had avenged Barossa II, who in turn had avenged the first Barossa, and dies in a gigantic explosion. Watching the scene before her at the base, an impressed Mai pulls up Yoko's file.

However, the battle is not yet over, as Five King is still active! After the Chimera briefly knocks Z down with another shot of the Catastrophe Spark, Z retaliates by assuming his Gamma Future form, raking Five King with his Zestium Drive. He then uses his Gamma Illusion and Gamma Through techniques to disable Five King's Gan-Q shield, preventing the monster from absorbing his attacks. Finally, using the X, Orb and Ginga Medals, Z defeats Five King with a shot of the Galaxy Burst, leaving Hebikura exhausted after reverting back.

After Z departs, an unknown person locates the medals used for Five King, and takes them.

Many staff who formerly worked at STORAGE, including two mechanics who worked under Bako's group, are now joining the 1st SAAG. Bako congratulates them on their new jobs, and tells them to look after the Special Airborne Armor units. The STORAGE crew reunite, and tell each other about their plans; everyone's headed to new divisions of GAF; Yoko is a candidate for Ultroid Zero's pilot, and Yuka is going to be working at the Monster Research Center. Haruki is torn about the news, as it's unfortunate STORAGE is being split up after the memories the group made together, and that it felt as if everything he had done was being denied by GAF, but Hebikura reassures him, saying that he should prove them wrong, as he will too, and there are many ways of going about this. Before Haruki can ask Hebikura what he plans to do next, he leaves with only a single word of farewell.

Haruki's Ultra-Navi

• Haruki's Ultra-navi! 'Kay! Today we're showing this!
• Z Riser: Windom.
• Z: STORAGE's robot, Windom! He's the robot that was developed after Sevenger.
• Haruki: He's the powerful ally that Yuka, Bako and the maintenance team made, Mr. Z!
• Z: Yeah. He's helped me a lot! Thank you, Windom!

Ultraman Z and Ultraman Zero Voice Drama

Recruitment Examinations ①

Z is frustrated after failing a recruitment test. He complains to Zero and asks him questions he cannot answer.

Cast

• Haruki Natsukawa : Kohshu Hirano
• Yoko Nakashima : Rima Matsuda
• Yuka Ohta : Hikari Kuroki
• Shota Hebikura : Takaya Aoyagi
• Kojiro Inaba : Jun Hashizume
• Satoshi : Reo Satou
• Seiji : Fuuma Tsunoda
• Hiroshi : Daichi Takaoka

Guest Actors

• Mai Yuki : Maya Hayashi

Voice Actors

• Ultraman Z : Tasuku Hatanaka
• Beliarok : Yuki Ono
• Alien Barossa III: Tatsuya Hashimoto

Suit Actors

• Ultraman Z: Hideyoshi Iwata
• Sevenger: Kenji Kajikawa
• Windom: Yuto Nagachi
• King Joe STORAGE Custom: Satoru Okabe
• Alien Barossa III: Shinnosuke Ishikawa
• Five King: Hiroyuki Arai

Appearances

Ultras

• Ultraman Z
  • Original
  • Alpha Edge
  • Beta Smash
  • Gamma Future
  • Delta Rise Claw

Kaiju

• Sevenger
• Windom
• King Joe STORAGE Custom
• Ultroid Zero
• Alien Barossa III
• Tri-King/Five King

Trivia

• In this episode, Ultraman Z's suit actor, Hideyoshi Iwata also portrays the unnamed GAFJ officer piloting King Joe STORAGE Custom during the fight with Alien Barossa and Tri-King.