Bao-on from Afar

Bao-on from Afar
Ultraman Dyna, episode 8
Information
Airdate	October 25, 1997
Directed by	Hirochika Muraishi
Written by	Ai Ota
Special Effects Directed by	Hirochika Muraishi
Viewer Ratings	7.6%
Continuity
Previous	Friend Inside the Box
Next	2000 Attacks

Bao-on from Afar is the eighth episode of Ultraman Dyna.

Synopsis

Super GUTS investigates the giant meteorite that fell in Furube Village, puzzled by the strange fact that the villagers lost consciousness immediately after the meteorite's impact. Suddenly, a monster named "Bao-on" appears. It is revealed that with just one cry from the monster, everyone is put to sleep simultaneously... What will be the outcome of Super GUTS' efforts?!

Plot

It is another peaceful day in Furube Village; the villagers enjoying the slow life. Suddenly a strange meteorite crashes into the ground nearby. Super GUTS' Asuka, Kohda and Nakajima head to investigate it. Upon arrival the trio discover that all the residents have inexplicably collapsed onto the ground into a state of sleep. After waking everyone up and gathering them together, Super GUTS question the villagers. However, as they were all knocked unconscious, nobody could pinpoint exactly just what had happened. It was at that moment that a villager reveals that Grandpa Otokichi, a partially deaf man, had seen a kaiju to be the cause.

Otokichi claims that he witnessed a kaiju, Bao-on, yawn widely before the whole village collapsed into sleep. As if history was repeating itself, the exact same chain of events had just occurred again at that moment; and Super GUTS were put to sleep.

After waking, Asuka stayed behind to keep watch over Bao-on while Nakajima develops the Voice Breaker back at HQ. This would modify the sounds produced by Bao-on such that its yawns would no longer induce sleep. Just then, General Fukami introduces Dr. Mustafa Ali - a genius zoologist who is assigned to assist in the operation.

Super GUTS begins their first operation against Bao-on. Firstly, they attempted to stimulate Bao-on's senses with different colors. It turns out the color red excited Bao-on. Asuka attached a red balloon to the TPC4WD jeep and led the kaiju to a designated point where Kariya would fire a tripwire to trip Bao-on. This state of confusion was planned to allow the easy attachment of a mask that would release sleeping gas into Bao-on's respiratory system and hence put it to sleep. Unfortunately, in this state of confusion, Bao-on had eaten the mask instead. But fortunately, this still put the kaiju to sleep - albeit for a limited time.

The next day at daybreak, Bao-on awakens earlier than expected and frolics towards another red balloon. However, there was a highway nearby and a yawn from Bao-on would cause unprecedented damage. Asuka destroys the balloon in Alpha while Ryo fires a tranquilizer at the kaiju. But it had grown accustomed to the sleeping gas, and the missile only served to agitate Bao-on - who was know charging towards the tent of Mustafa Ali. In order to save him, Asuka transforms into Ultraman Dyna. he immediately transforms into Strong Type to gain Bao-on's attention. Dyna is completely overwhelmed by Bao-on's unorthodox antics and is unable to do anything against it. Finally, Dyna creates a red energy sphere and lures Bao-on into space with it. Though it caused some disruption to the village, the villagers bid Bao-on farewell as if it were a good friend.

Cast

• Shin Asuka : Takeshi Tsuruno
• Gousuke Hibiki : Ryo Kinomoto
• Toshiyuki Kohda : Toshikazu Fukawa
• Ryo Yumimura : Risa Saito
• Kouhei Kariya : Takao Kase
• Tsutomu Nakajima : Joe Onodera
• Mai Midorikawa : Mariya Yamada
• Kouki Fukami : Toshiaki Amada

Guest Actors

• Old Man Otokichi : Kan Yanagiya
• Mustafa Ali : Majid Shayesteh
• Stationed Officer : Hideya Maruyama
• Villagers :
  • Hoichi Shinmoto
  • Machiko Ito
  • Saburo Kadowaki
  • Akiko Togawa
  • Ro Naruse
  • Nen Kuki
• Otokichi's Grandson : Ryosuke Kira

Voice Actors

• Narrator : Yuji Machi

Suit Actors

• Ultraman Dyna :
  • Shunsuke Gondo
  • Koji Nakamura
• Toshio Miyake

Appearances

Ultras

• Ultraman Dyna
  • Flash Type
  • Strong Type

Kaiju

• Bao-on

Home Media

• Ultraman Dyna Volume 2 features episodes 5-8.

Trivia

• In designing Bao-on, the production team aimed to create a visually striking monster. At the same time, they wanted to design a more understandable combat strategy, allowing the audience to easily follow Super GUTS' tactics. To better align with this goal, the initial drafts featured Bao-on in a quadrupedal form. Bao-on's roar was enhanced by adding the sound of nasal breaths to intensify the atmosphere.
• Director Hirochika Muraishi noted that this episode represented an attempt to explore fantasy themes, which he found very interesting upon his first read-through. Although many of his friends felt this genre wasn't his strong suit, Muraishi confidently remarked, "I can make a work like this!" He also expressed a desire to showcase his diverse talents, especially in portraying heartwarming family themes, an area he believes he excels in.
• Regarding the elderly character in the story, Muraishi specifically chose Kan Yanagiya to play the role, though this was not directly connected to Yanagiya's appearance in Ultra Q episode 7 "S.O.S. Mount Fuji."
• The episode was filmed at a location in Tsurukawa.