GUTS to the Sky Part 1

GUTS to the Sky Part 1
Ultraman Tiga, episode 19
Information
Airdate	January 11, 1997
Directed by	Hirochika Muraishi
Written by	Chiaki J. Konaka
Special Effects Directed by	Hirochika Muraishi
Viewer Ratings	8.5%
Continuity
Previous	Golza's Counterattack
Next	GUTS to the Sky Part 2

GUTS to the Sky Part 1 is the nineteenth episode of Ultraman Tiga. The episode marks the debut of the Artdessei.

Plot

A woman is walking on a street at night, when she sees a robot stalking towards her. Panicking, she runs away, as it and another robot, named Steel Mask, patrol the streets.

Rena is testing the Maxima-Overdrive in space, and is having problems controlling the craft. As she is returning to earth, she spots an island in orbit, but it soon disappears. The professor who had been overseeing the project leaves the room and Daigo tails after him, asking him what his intent is. The professor, before he gets out, tells Daigo he is trying to reach the Light. Daigo follows him to a secret hanger where he spots a huge aircraft with Maxima-Overdrive technology.

Later, Daigo and Shinjou are patrolling when they spot one of the robots in the street. When it advances on them, Daigo confirms it's a robot so Shinjou shoots it. Examining it when it falls to the ground, they find it's empty and take it back to their base for research. More robots then are seen around the city, and are collected into a big pile. Daigo runs into Rena and asks her to tell him what Maxima-Overdrive is. She explains that it's a new way of propulsion that Professor Yao had created, based on how light travels through space. Alarms then start to blare as all officers are ordered back to the Control Room.

The island Rena had seen in space has now been detected by scanners, and Shinjou has been sent to investigate it. He spots it launching an attack, and decides to attack it, despite Munakata telling him the GUTS Wing won't be able to do much to it. The lightning bolts the island shoots down cause trouble on earth, so Shinjoh tries an attack which proves futile. A robot then starts to follow him, and despite his evasive flying is forced to eject right before the robot crashes into his plane.

The Artdessei is ordered out, even though it's not finished, with the robots coming back to operation in the base. The GUTS officers get into a battle with them as the robots start to destroy the materials around the Artdessei, and, with Daigo staying behind to keep the robots' attention, manage to get it into the sky. It heads towards the island in space which is launching more lightning attacks.

Daigo is leaving the hanger when he sees the robots activate jet packs on their backs and fly into the wall, starting to flood the room. The robots then combine into a large robot and start heading towards the base. Daigo, trying to swim out of the flooded room, transforms into Tiga to fight the robot. It ignores him and continues on its way, so he starts attacking it. Tiga's efforts don't affect the robot as it shrugs him off and elbows him, eventually falling on him to attack him more. Tiga is unable to move from under the robot as it starts to choke him.

Artdessei is almost to the island, and starts attacking it, seemingly destroying the island. Tiga switches to Power Type and is able to throw the robot off of him. He throws it around and lands some hits on it, but then it latches onto him and starts a self-destruction sequence. Meanwhile, the Artdessei finds that the island is still there, and it starts to come towards the ship.

Cast

• Daigo Madoka : Hiroshi Nagano (V6)
• Rena Yanase : Takami Yoshimoto
• Megumi Iruma : Mio Takaki
• Seiichi Munakata : Akitoshi Otaki
• Masami Horii : Yukio Masuda
• Tetsuo Shinjoh : Shigeki Kagemaru
• Jun Yazumi : Yoichi Furuya
• Souichiro Sawai : Tamio Kawachi
• Tetsuji Yoshioka : Ken Okabe

Guest Actors

• Naban Yao : Ichiro Ogura
• Gobnyu's Witness : Midori Sugiyama

Voice Actors

• Ultraman Tiga : Yuji Machi
• Narrator : Issei Futamata

Suit Actors

• Ultraman Tiga:
  • Multi Type: Shunsuke Gondo
  • Power Type: Koji Nakamura

• Gobnu: Toshio Miyake

Appearances

Ultras

• Ultraman Tiga

Kaiju

• Gobnu

Home Media

• Ultraman Tiga Volume 5 features episodes 17-20.

Trivia

• It is revealed by Rena that Daigo used to receive bad marks in physics.
• This episode was produced as a Heisei-era reinterpretation of the "The Ultra Guard Goes West" concept. According to screenwriter Chiaki J. Konaka, the episode's storyline was the result of a competitive selection process. Initially, he wrote an absurd and intricately plotted story featuring an enemy who manipulated magical disciplines, resulting in a complex and tangled space-time narrative. However, the core concept: an enemy seeking to extinguish the "light of human evolution", remained consistent throughout development. The opening scene drew inspiration from the imagery of The Bronze Devil by Edogawa Ranpo.
  • Regarding the character of Naban Yao, Konaka explained that throughout the series, he aimed to portray scientists in a positive light, and Yao embodied that ideal.
• Director Hirochika Muraishi noted that the F4 hangar set for this episode was filmed at a shipyard owned by Hitachi Zosen. The sheer scale and the height of the ceilings made the shoot particularly challenging. The design of Gobnu underwent two or three drafts before it was finalized. Murakishi explained that for a creature like Gobnu, they aimed to evoke an atmosphere of antiquity. He further remarked that if one imagines the mechanical island as akin to Laputa, the result might resemble Independence Day.