Four-Dimensional Capriccio

Four-Dimensional Capriccio
Ultraman Z, episode 14
Information
Airdate	September 26, 2020
Directed by	Kiyotaka Taguchi
Written by	Kota Fukihara
Continuity
Previous	I'll Feast on Medals!
Next	A Warrior's Duty

Four-Dimensional Capriccio is the fourteenth episode of Ultraman Z.

Synopsis

With the sudden appearance of the Four-Dimensional Monster Bullton, the STORAGE base is thrown into chaos! Time and space become warped and twisted, transforming the STORAGE base into a dimensional prison. Meanwhile, Haruki is confronted with a mysterious phenomenon!

Plot

Following the success of King Joe STORAGE Custom's battle against Grigio Raiden, the other branches of GAF have been very interested in utilising the same robotics technologies as STORAGE. With King Joe now the flagship of Storage, Sevenger can finally be retired, and is now destined for preservation at a museum to promote STORAGE's Special Airborne Armor units. STORAGE holds a party to celebrate Yuka Ohta's work in upgrading King Joe. Even Mr. Bako arrives back at the base early, carrying a large tuna to add to the party food.

A short distance away from the facility, Celebro's host, Shinya Kaburagi arrives, carrying two halves of a strange-looking rock. After putting the pieces together, then hurling it towards the facility, the rock enlarges, revealing it to have been the small form of the dimension-manipulating monster Bullton! Inside, the party continues, but soon everyone begins to float off the ground, as Bullton's Four-Dimensional Willpower begins to take effect.

Yoko and Haruki head off to activate King Joe and Windom as the base's alarms sound, but as soon as Haruki scales the stairs to Windom's hangar, he suddenly finds himself transported back mere minutes before, though no one else seems aware of the brief rewinding of time. This happens several times, with Haruki getting all the more confused with each repeat. Outside, Shinya is confronted by Jugglus Juggler, who tells him to reconsider using Bullton now, as today is an important day for STORAGE. Before Juggler can take action, Shinya uses Bullton's warping powers to teleport Juggler inside the building (specifically, the male toilet), allowing the host a chance to escape.

Yuka then discovers, in the midst of another loop, that Bullton's Willpower ability is linked to the desires of those it targets; During each loop, Haruki was reverted back to just before he ate some of Bako's tuna and rice, due to a comment he made after eating it that he wished he could turn back time to enjoy it again. With this in mind, Haruki and Yoko head out to confront Bullton, but this time Haruki verbally announces his desire to 'go outside'. However, instead of finding himself outside the facility, Haruki is transported back in time again, at a time when his father was still alive. After he learns the value of trying to protect those 'within my reach', Haruki returns to the present, as Bullton uses its abilities to levitate buildings into the air and cause chaos, easily overpowering King Joe by use of its energy blade.

Z arrives on the scene in his Gamma Future form, and begins slowly advancing on Bullton, though the four-dimensional monster's abilities to make Z's attacks vanish mean that he isn't making much ground. To make matters worse, Bullton opens up a hole in the ground underneath Z, and traps him up to the neck in the floor, then rolls over him twice! On the third roll, King Joe arrives to try to stop Bullton, but the rock-like monster simply warps out of the way, then attempts to roll over Z for a fourth time, but Z managed to escape, transforming into his Beta Smash form.

With Z's Beta Smash far more suited to combatting Bullton up close, Z closes in, and rips out Bullton's feelers and crippling its Willpower abilities, to which Bullton warps on top of him in an attempt to crush the hero. Z manages to get back to his feet, and impales Bullton with the Z Lance Arrow before launching the monster into the air and transforming into his Alpha Edge form.

With Bullton unable to react, Z used his M78 Style Shining Tornado Slash at the monster, seemingly destroying it for good. Later that day, the STORAGE crew finally enjoyed the party with no interruptions. However, unbeknown to anyone there, a strange rift had appeared in the evening sky, heralding the arrival of an extremely strong being...

Haruki's Ultra-navi

• Haruki: Haruki's Ultra-navi! 'Kay! Today we're showing this!
• Z Riser: Tiga.
• Z: Mr. Tiga appears when I use Gamma Illusion! The ultimate attack he release is his Zeperion Beam!
• Z: Next up is...
• Z Riser: Jugglus Juggler.
• Haruki: He's stolen the Z Riser but also saved us from aliens. He's the mysterious Alien Spikey.

Rerun episode segment

Haruki is late to work and requested Z's help, but the Ultra refused and reprimanded Haruki for attempting to abuse an Ultra's strength to mundane problems and his refusal to take responsibility for his misdeed.

Ultraman Z and Ultraman Zero Voice Drama

Spark Dolls Theater Z

Zero and Z find themselves being trapped in their Spark Doll form and meet Thunder Darambia and Black King from Spark Dolls Theater series.

Cast

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

Guest Actors

• Masaru Natsukawa : Norihito Kaneko
• Maintenance Crew Members :
  • Yuki Nanjo
  • Tomomi Ichinose
  • Kana Arai
  • Erika

Voice Actors

• Ultraman Z : Tasuku Hatanaka
• AI Voice : Katsumi Fukuhara

Suit Actors

• Ultraman Z: Hideyoshi Iwata
• King Joe STORAGE Custom: Satoru Okabe
• Bullton: Hiroyuki Arai

Appearances

Ultras

• Ultraman Z
  • Original
  • Alpha Edge
  • Beta Smash
  • Gamma Future

Kaiju

• Jugglus Juggler
• Bullton
• Sevenger
• Windom
• King Joe STORAGE Custom
• Red King A & B (Stock Footage Flashback)
• Greeza (Cameo)

Trivia

• Rihito Noda, who plays Shinya Kaburagi, joked on Twitter that the scene where Kaburagi put the two Bullton pieces together resembled the 2016 viral Japanese song "PPAP (Pen Pineapple Apple Pen)" meme.
• According to Kiyotaka Taguchi’s interview, while the typical storyline often introduces a powerful adversary in the first half of an arc and resolves the conflict by having the protagonist’s final form defeat the enemy in the second half, this episode deviates from that pattern by introducing Bullton. Taguchi explained that as the series’ lead director, he saw this as a rare opportunity he couldn’t pass up, thus deciding to feature Bullton. After Bullton was defeated, the resulting dimensional distortions trigger a series of anomalies that set up the story for the next episode.
  • At the same time, Taguchi discovered that Greeza was included on the "Kaiju Suit Modification Candidate List." Considering that Ultraman X had concluded five years, he felt it was his responsibility to bid farewell to Greeza. As such, he reimagined the creature as a manifestation of the cosmic rift created after Bullton's defeat.

• Once Bullton’s appearance was confirmed, Taguchi aimed to use this episode to explore a "dimensional dislocation loop-style" narrative he had always wanted to try. At the same time, he sought to resolve Haruki’s inner turmoil following the Red King incident. Scriptwriter Kota Fukihara crafted a plot that traversed time and delved into the protagonist’s psyche, allowing Haruki to revisit a significant day from his past—playing catch with his father as seen in episode 11.
  • Given Bullton’s ability to transport anyone to any desired location, it made sense that Haruki’s subconscious would wish to return to that moment. The scenes depicting Haruki’s reunion with his father were the first to be filmed by Taguchi’s team after the COVID-19 lockdown was lifted. During the lockdown, Kohshu Hirano experienced restlessness but also used the time for introspection, which enhanced his performance. The filming day involved shooting not only episode 14’s scenes but also flashback sequences from episode 11.
• The episode opens with STORAGE hosting a celebratory banquet to mark the completion of King Joe SC. This detail was included as a nod to scriptwriter Kota Fukihara’s passion for baseball. As for the humorous "tuna" moment during the banquet, it originated from an inside joke that was once popular among Kiyotaka Taguchi’s friends. The phrase "Look forward to the tuna" had gained some niche traction in their circle, and they thought it would be amusing to incorporate such an obscure gag into the episode.

• • The tuna props used during filming were divided into three parts: sashimi, the fish head, and the tail. The tuna held by Inaba featured a real prop only for the close-up shots of the tail, while the wide shots of the entire fish were created through compositing techniques in post-production. After all, it would be absolutely impossible to lift a real tuna with just one hand.

• For the scenes where Haruki and Yoko are trapped in a time loop, the production team pre-determined camera angles and completed filming in a single take. Haruki’s performance had to vary slightly in each loop, while Yoko’s acting required consistency, particularly in the closing moments of each sequence, where even subtle changes in delivery could disrupt the flow. The team even discussed Yoko’s tone of voice beforehand, but achieving perfect uniformity during shooting proved challenging. The final edit intentionally reflects the escalating intensity of the characters’ emotions as the story progresses.
  • The staircase sequence was particularly demanding for the actors. The camera remained fixed while the actors repeatedly climbed and descended the stairs, an exhausting process for them, even though the fixed setup made it less labor-intensive for the crew.

• • The scene where Hebikura is teleported to the restroom was inspired by brainstorming comedic elements. The team thought it would be funny to turn the casual line “Hold on, I’m going to the restroom” into an actual scene, leading to the decision to send the character there, adding a lighthearted and unexpected touch to the episode.