Legend in the Woods

Ultraman Arc, episode 2
Information
Airdate	July 13, 2024
Directed by	Takanori Tsujimoto
Written by	Jun Tsugita
Continuity
Previous	Arc to the Future
Next	Unleash Your Imagination!
Continuity

Legend in the Woods is the second episode of Ultraman Arc.

Synopsis

A construction site is razing a forest and comes across a relic thought to be an ancient ruin. As Hayato, the site manager's son, anxiously warns Yuma that the construction is in danger, the legend of the forest unfolds.

Now it's Yuma's time to respond to Hayato's feelings.

Shu Ishido's Diary

Expand to read Shu Ishido's diary entry.

It’s been a while since my first entry to this diary. My initial intention was to write about my first day stationed at the Hoshimoto City branch, and all the things related to Leodo, the ancient kaiju. However, due to the unfamiliar environment and intense work, I faced many sleepless nights, which left me no time to write. I now admire the mental strength of those who manage to write in their diaries every single day. I will work hard not to slack off from now on.

With the Leodo incident, I was able to expand my knowledge of SKIP and Hoshimoto City quite a lot. I especially can’t forget Yuma’s words: “It all starts with a little trust.” If they came from someone in the GDF, I might have brushed them aside for being too naive. However, Yuma’s eyes conveyed his almost overly innocent straightforwardness and deep desire to protect people, making quite an impression on me. Inspired by him, I put in a request to the Space Science Division to use the SAR Satellite, but that might have been a bit overkill. No, if it were not for that decision, not only Hayato and his father, but the entire city of Hoshimoto would have been on the verge of a more severe crisis under the threat of Leodo. Therefore, no matter how much Mr. Nibuya reprimands me (honestly, asking me to write a 30 page written apology was unnecessary), I want to believe that was the correct course of action.

On the other hand, the Leodo incident certainly brought up a lot of issues regarding how we handle kaiju disasters. One of the issues was the fact that the ground survey, which should have taken place before the construction started, was unable to detect Leodo. This is because these current investigation methods (drilling survey, surface wave analysis, etc) weren’t used on the premise to detect kaiju in the first place. It’s been 16 years since K-Day and kaiju appearances have become part of our daily lives, so it’s essential to improve the Building Standards Act to match the current state of affairs as soon as possible. Another issue that came up was the “altar discovery” that delayed SKIP’s first response. The bottom of Leodo’s feet had a distinguishing shape…

Truly an imaginable turn of events. Now, I understand there are construction rules regarding relics, in order to protect cultural assets, but ironically this also became an obstacle to us when trying to contain the damages. Thanks to Yuma discovering a 1200-year-old medicine, YouPi You-bot and Pi-body’s actions and the reappearance of Ultraman Arc, we were able to avoid the worst, but it’s just that we had enough manpower to handle it this time. These rules were created to protect people, but ended up doing the exact opposite.This paradox reveals a difficult and complex issue that SKIP, and consequently Hoshimoto City and society needs to overcome. After seeing Hayato and his father holding hands under the arc of light, I fully believe this can become a reality.

Nevertheless, this new incident happened not long after the Shagong appearance. The frequency of kaiju appearances in Hoshimoto City is, indeed, considerably higher compared to other cities. Considering the readings I got from the new measuring instrument at Leodo’s appearance’s location, the reason for this might be… No, this is related to top secret information from the GDF. Even though this diary is private, I should refrain from carelessly writing down my personal conclusions when the analysis results are not even out yet.

PS: The smell of Leodo’s medicine stunk up the office for several days. It was so bad I made sure to evacuate the coffee beans to safety so that the smell would not transfer to them. Yuma and the other members did not seem to mind it much, so I also feigned ignorance, but… It might sound presumptuous coming from me, but I just think my palate and sense of smell are more sophisticated.

Thank you, Hayato.

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Ask TsuPi

This week's "Ask TsuPi" is about Ultraman Arc!

Yuma's Ultraman Arc Navi

Yuma's Ultraman Arc Navi #2

Today, Yuma talks about the SKIP's autonomous support robot, YouPi, and introduces the Kaiju of the following episode, Monogelos & Digelos.

Cast

• Yuma Hize : Yuki Totsuka
• Shu Ishido : Sho Kaneta
• Rin Natsume : Kaho Mizutani
• Hiroshi Ban : Koichiro Nishi

Guest Actors

• Hitoshi Ohtawara : Taketo Kubota
• Hayato Ohtawara : Fuma Kusunoki
• Sugiyama : Hiroshi Tagami

Voice Actors

• YouPi : Yuya Hirose

English Dub

• Yuma Hize : Paul Castro Jr.
• Shu Ishido : Micah Solusod
• Rin Natsume : Dani Chambers
• Hiroshi Ban : Tony Oliver
• YouPi : Brandon McInnis
• Hitoshi Ohtawara : Aaron Roberts
• Hayato Ohtawara : TBA
• Sugiyama : TBA

Suit Actors

• Ultraman Arc : Hideyoshi Iwata
• YouPi : Daiki Yazaki
• Leodo : Hiroyuki Arai

Appearances

Ultras

• Ultraman Arc

Kaiju

• Leodo

Trivia

• A photo of Takkong can be seen pasted above a desk.
• In this episode, a shot from the car window features Leodo. The scene with Leodo was filmed using a green screen. The background was created by cinematographer Murakawa Satoshi based on his own imagination. During filming, the screen was blank, and Murakawa envisioned the presence of a kaiju in that empty space. The director made adjustments from behind.
• The boxing scenes with Leodo were filmed using a special effects set. When the punching action shifted to an upward angle, an open set was used for the shot. This segment was also filmed by Murakawa, who used a GoPro to simulate the perspective of Ultraman Arc. He lay on the ground while pretending to be hit and filmed from the perspective of being stepped on, moving the camera to capture the effect.
• The excavator used in this episode is the same one from the "Tsujimoto-Group" that has been a long-standing prop in the series since Ultraman Taiga. It was used in this episode for explosion effects.