Mina is an AI (Artificial Intelligence) character in the film Ultraman: Rising. She is Ken Sato's personal supercomputer assistant and is also responsible for managing the Ultra Base system.
History[]
Pre-Ultraman: Rising[]
Mina in the past.
Mina is believed to be a supercomputer created by Hayao Sato. Twenty years ago, she was installed in the Sato household as a small-scale model. Programmed to resemble Emiko Sato’s personality, she was designed to act as a “mother” figure, even adopting Emiko's tone of voice. Nearly all information about various matters was programmed into Mina's system.
When Ken Sato and Emiko moved to the United States, Mina apparently went with them. Especially after Ken became an adult, Mina became his personal AI assistant, managing his daily life and taking care of him. After Emiko went missing, Ken sought Mina's help to track his mother’s last known GPS location, but it was to no avail.
Ultraman: Rising[]
Twenty years later, Mina accompanied Ken back to Tokyo and stayed at the Ultra Base to maintain contact with him. Since Ken had to take on the role of Ultraman, Mina remotely guided him on how to gain the upper hand in battles against kaiju, providing insights into the surroundings and helping him devise winning strategies. However, due to Ken's lack of enthusiasm for fighting, these suggestions were largely ignored. When Mina suggested that Ken plan a route back to the battlefield to stop the KDF from using excessive force against Neronga, Ken refused. Mina also received dozens of missed calls from Hayao, but at Ken's request, she silenced these calls.
When Ken returned home, Mina showed him media reports on television, emphasizing that it was Ultraman's duty to save lives and warning him of the potential consequences of leaving the kaiju to the KDF. Despite Ken's reluctance to become Ultraman, Mina did not force him; instead, she ensured he got the rest he needed and used various entertainment facilities at Ultrabace to try to make him happy.
One day, when Ken went to New Tokyo Dome as a player to participate in his first baseball game held in Japan, Gigantron suddenly stormed the scene, causing severe destruction. Mina learned about KDF's intel and told Ken that he had already witnessed KDF's actions against Neronga. If Ken didn't help, they would kill Gigantron. This compelled Ken to transform once again into Ultraman and battle.
After evading pursuit from the KDF, Ultraman/Ken returned to the Ultra Base. Mina conducted an emergency scan to assess his injuries and was astonished to discover a second heartbeat in Ken. He promptly showed her a kaiju egg he had obtained from Gigantron, which had hatched into a "baby," much to Mina's surprise. After conducting initial analyses on the baby, Mina confirmed it was female. However, due to the complete lack of specific data on infant kaiju physiology in the database, Mina couldn't draw detailed conclusions immediately. Nevertheless, based on the baby's behavior, Mina believed that the baby had already identified Ken as its "mother."
Ken felt resistant to the responsibility of raising the baby and wished to immediately send the baby to "Kaiju Island." However, Mina explained that no one had discovered the geographical location of the island so far. When Ken, overwhelmed by the pressure, reverted to his human form, the baby became distressed and started crying loudly in the base, prompting Mina to activate the Containment unit and confine the baby there. Facing the baby being pursued by the KDF, Mina believed only kaiju expert Hayao could help and promptly contacted him. However, Ken ultimately rejected this suggestion.
Now, Ken had to care for the baby alongside Mina. During this time, Mina discovered that the baby could use echolocation to hunt prey. Sometimes when Ken was away from the base, Mina played children's songs to keep the baby happy.
When Ken returned to the base, Mina attempted to show him the baby's dancing performance, but Ken reacted with disdain. Mina firmly told Ken, "Until we find Kaiju Island, we need to take care of the baby." Despite Ken still having a baseball season to face, Mina expressed that taking care of the baby was now Ken's responsibility since he brought her home, and she would do her best to assist him.
However, as a novice caretaker, Ken not only failed miserably in looking after the baby but also faced frequent defeats in his baseball games. When he was scolded by the coach, Mina comforted him and suggested he relieve stress by calling someone. During a conversation with Ami, Ken and Mina discovered the baby learning baseball stances. After initiating a simulation, Ken interacted with and taught the baby, eventually fully accepting her.
The next evening, when Ken went on a date with Ami Wakita, he entrusted Mina with babysitting. However, when the baby woke up, acid reflux triggered her attack abilities, causing chaos in the base. In her search for Ken, the baby escaped the designated area and headed towards downtown Tokyo. Mina immediately notified Ken and blamed herself for being a terrible babysitter.
Ken rushed to Tokyo Tower in an attempt to rescue Emi, but his actions resulted in Emi fracturing bones from a fall. Seeing the little kaiju in intense pain, Ken felt deeply guilty and urgently asked Mina to contact Hayao for medical help. Upon Hayao's arrival at the base, Mina chemically analyzed the medication left by the KDF, discovering it to be a potent yet harmless sedative, which aided Hayao in performing the necessary treatment.
To assist Emi in rehabilitation and wilderness survival training, Mina utilized the capabilities of the Ultrabase and analyzed Emi's genome to protect her from enemies. Shortly after, Mina, Ken, and Hayao piloted the Ultra Jet to Sato's family's childhood vacation cabin and camped there. However, the KDF located Emi and launched drone attacks. In the ensuing chaos, Hayao was injured and fell unconscious, while Emi underwent a metamorphic transformation, forming a cocoon, further complicating the situation.
Mina's functions ceased due to severe damage.
After Mina and Ken brought the unconscious Hayao and Emi's cocoon back to the Ultra Base, the KDF pinpointed the base's location using Mecha Gigantron and launched missile attacks, resulting in the destruction of the base in explosions. Amidst the ruins, Ken found Mina, who was severely damaged and on the brink of system shutdown. In their final moments together, Mina expressed her thoughts to Ken. She recounted how she had watched him grow up and despite his doubts about following in his father's footsteps, she saw qualities of both his father and mother in him. She informed Ken that Emi's tracking device was still active, indicating that Ken still had a chance to save her.
"Now go get our girl. B-i-n-g…"
- ―Mina's last words.
Mina ultimately shut down permanently due to severe damage. While this caused immense pain for Ken, it also ignited his determination to rescue Emi. Whether Mina was repaired afterwards was not depicted.
Powers and Weapons[]
- Inner Maintenance: As the Artificial Intelligence of Ultrabase, Mina is capable of manipulating the base's inner workings, including accessing radar systems, maintaining the base's fundamental operations, playing music, activating mechanisms within the base, activating protective shields, and scanning the surrounding areas for activity.
- Mechanical Arms: Mina features automatic control devices with human arm functionalities, enabling her to perform various tasks and interact with Emi or Ken.
- Color-changing Displays: Mina's eyes can change colors to convey emotions: red indicates anger, orange suggests mild irritation, yellow signifies joy, green represents vigor, blue denotes calmness, and purple indicates solemnity.
- Remote Communication: Mina can engage in remote communications with Ken through her systems and can also contact individuals connected to Ken.
- Biological Analysis: Mina can detect life forms, conduct emergency analyses, understand biological physiology and injuries, and provide detailed data assessments.
- Chemical Analysis: Mina is capable of analyzing chemical substances, detecting components, and synthesizing compounds.
- Micro Tracking Device: Equipped with a micro tracking device, Mina can observe biological movements and responses, as well as pinpoint the location of organisms.
Gallery[]
Ultraman: Rising[]
Concept Art[]
![Concept art by Mark Anthony Austin[3]](/wiki/File:Mina_art_1.jpg "Mina art 1.jpg (43 KB)")
Miscellaneous[]
Trivia[]
- Considering the invention of Mina by the Sato family and their interactions with the KDF, Mina's technological design appears to have influenced the KDF to create a large number of similar subsequent models, which have become the current drone attack weapons of the KDF.
- Coincidentally, Mina shares many similarities with RE.M. from Ultraman Geed, including feminine programming, a spherical design, control over base operations, and the ability to scan and analyze organisms.
References[]