Ichika Kirino

Ichika Kirino
Data
Type	Ally
Gender	Female
Age	20 years old
Affiliation	GUTS-Select
First Appearance	Ultraman Decker episode 1 "Day of the Attack"
Latest Appearance	Ultraman Decker Finale: Journey to Beyond
Portrayed by	Yuka Murayama

Ichika Kirino is a member of the newly-reorganized GUTS-Select, appointed as the team's Ground Assault Operative . Bright and optimistic, she is hot-blooded with a strong sense of duty and responsibility. She is athletic and though small in stature she can dodge and maneuver quickly. She tends to overthink things leading the captain to call her a "headstrong genius".

History

Ultraman Decker

Ichika who is still a student of Special Training Division

Ichika initially joined the TPU so that she could enter a career in space development. However, she somehow ended up as a security staff instead. She and her colleague Soma Ryumon first met Kanata Asumi when he was delivering a package of rice crackers to the spaceport at Sorafune City, before the Spheres attacked and Ultraman Decker appeared. ^{Day of the Attack} With the Spheres forming the Sphere Barrier over the Earth and isolating the planet from the rest of the solar system, Ichika's dreams seemed to have been crushed, but that gave her the resolve to join the TPU's new training regimen to form a new anti-Sphere team, in order to take back the world where people could chase after their own dreams.

After a year of training, the TPU was about to reassemble a new GUTS-Select team by choosing members from among the trainees. Kanata, Ryumon and Ichika were put together for their final patrol exercise, which took a sour turn when Kanata injured his leg, causing an argument to break out between him and Ryumon as Kanata wanted to keep going to push his limits while Ryumon insisted they call off the patrol and return, but Ichika broke up their argument before they started fighting. A Deathdrago suddenly appeared from the underground and the principal Taiji Murahoshi ordered all the recruits to evacuate. However, the three of them stayed back to help the people get to safety instead. After Decker defeated the monster, the trio were approached by Murahoshi who decided to place them in GUTS-Select, but they would not go unpunished for ignoring orders to evacuate prior. ^{Kanata's Resolve}

When a monster disaster evacuation was performed, she accidentally rescued a stranded Alien Pitt Yuko, and from an initial distance, they gradually became close friends. She also tried to find a way to prevent Yuko's pet Eleking Elly from overeating. When Elly returned to its original form, she often visited Yuko's accommodation to take care of Elly together. ^{Glutton of the Lake}

Ichika enters another world to try to save Urasawa

During an investigation into a mysterious incident where construction company officials and city hall employees in Haito Village were attacked, she and Sawa Kaizaki visited a local historian, Nagi Urasawa, who was familiar with the relevant knowledge. They learned that 70 years ago, Urasawa and Ragon had become friends, but she was falsely accused of being possessed by a Ragon spirit by the Ragonites at the time, and as a result, a ceremony was held to send Ragon to the other side of the world.

After finding out that Urasawa wants to escape the world with Ragon, she desperately tries to convince her to stay and even goes into the other world to try and save her. But with the help of the Decker, they were able to escape safely. She witnessed Ragon saying goodbye to everyone.

Afterward, she visited Urasawa's house and frequently interacted with her. She also received a cherry blossom shell that Ragon had given to Urasawa. ^{Lord Ragon}

Ultraman Decker Finale: Journey to Beyond

Six months after the Spheres were defeated, Kanata, Ryumon and Ichika became instructors at the TPU training facility. While Ryumon was made the new captain of GUTS-Select and Ichika was about to go on a journey through space to follow her dreams, Kanata was still lost about his own future. While going out to celebrate Ryumon's promotion, Dinas appeared form a portal and landed on Kanata, sensing something strange from him, not yet aware that he used to be Ultraman Decker.

GUTS-Select was deployed to investigate when Gibellus used his invasion device to render people in the city unconscious. When the team encountered a squad of alien villains, they struggled until Dinas came to help, using her Mons Dimension Cards to drive them off before Alien Pedan summoned King Joe, which forced Dinas to transform into Ultraman Dinas to fight it while GUTS-Select destroyed the device making people fall unconscious. They then regrouped on the Nursedessei where Dinas explained the situation to the team, telling them of Gibellus' motives. Kanata, Ichika and Ryumon were then sent out to investigate, during the course of which Dinas discovered Kanata's former ability to transform into Decker. Gibellus then unleashed another one of his invasion devices, this time a much larger one that affected the whole of Japan as he took the life essence of humans, intending to combine them with monsters to make his personal army.

Dinas gave each of the GUTS-Select members a copy of her Gagi card to protect them from the effects of Gibellus' device before they were sent out to deal with an Alien Icarus, who lured them into an area to trap them within a subspace field controlled by two of Gibellus' devices, and grew giant. Without the ability to transform, Kanata was set on the run from Icarus until the GUTS Gryphon could pick him up, allowing him to destroy one of the subspace control devices, thus setting them free from the dimensional anomaly. Meanwhile, Gibellus and his forces infiltrated and seized the TPU headquarters, leaving them without backup. Gibellus then transformed into Gigalogaiser and defeated Dinas, badly injuring her and forcing the group to take refuge in a cabin.

After Dinas had recovered enough, the group made an attempt to take back the TPU headquarters with Kanata, Ichika and Ryumon fending off the aliens while Dinas sneaked in. They were helped by Kaizaki, Murahoshi, Nigel and Grace, who then assisted them in turning the situation in their favour after Kanata and Dinas were captured. Kanata then used the Terraphaser in the battle against Gigalogaiser while Ichika and Ryumon piloted the GUTS Falcon and GUTS Hawk with Murahoshi and Kaizaki in the Nursedessei, but they were eventually overwhelmed when the monster combined with Gibellus' ship, Zorgaus, to form Zor-Gigalogaiser. Kanata took the brunt of a powerful beam meant for Dinas, and died inside the Terraphaser. However, Dinas and his fellow teammates' strong desire for him to live caused the Dinas Ultra Dimension Card to combine with the other Dimension Cards that the others had, reforming the Ultraman Decker Ultra Dimension card, whose light somehow brought Kanata to life. He then transformed into Ultraman Decker to fight Zor-Gigalogaiser, forcing Gibellus to retreat after the Zorgaus was successfully destroyed by the Nursedessei and GUTS Gryphon. Still baffled at Kanata's strength and determination, Gibellus tried to attack Decker once again but was overwhelmed by his Selgend Beam, destroying him and ending his threat forever.

Later on, Kanata became the captain of his own squad in charge of exploring space, going on a journey towards the ninth planet of the D97 nebula with Ichika, Dinas, HANE2. ^{Ultraman Decker Finale: Journey to Beyond}

Profile

Powers and Weapons

• Select Hyper Gun : A handgun issued to GUTS-Select members.

Merchandise

• Ultraman Decker Deformed Pattern Acrylic Charm (2022)
  • Release Date(s): October 2022 (Premium Bandai)
  • Price: 550 yen for each piece
  • Materials: Acrylic, metal (chain)

Released as part of the Decker-themed Deformed Pattern Acrylic Charm series, Ichika (which is drawn in an Anime-fied style) is one the items to be produced as hanging acrylic keychain.

Ichika (and the rest of the characters) is available as a made-for-order item (where the customers can choose one during purchase) for Premium Bandai in October 2022.

Gallery

Ultraman Decker

Ichika's first appearance

Ichika and Yuko

Ichika and Yuna

Ultraman Decker Finale: Journey to Beyond

Miscellaneous

Trivia

• According to an interview with Yuka Murayama, this was her first time auditioning for a television drama. Since her nephews and nieces all love Ultraman and she admired Hikari Mitsushima, who had previously appeared in Ultraman Max, she set a goal to become the lead actress in a tokusatsu series. For her portrayal of Ichika, she felt that the character was very similar to herself, as both share a determination to pursue their dreams, face any challenges head-on, and continue to hope and never give up.
• In the flashback of Episode 5, Ichika's pet Shiba Inu, "Mu-chan," is actually the pet dog of the episode's director, Takanori Tsujimoto.
• Ichika's family runs a temple and she likes motorcycle touring. ^{Move Out, GUTS-Select!}
• Ichika's surname is believed to be inspired by Kaoru Kiriyama, a main character from Ultraseven.