One night, Furuhashi is attacked by a mysterious woman during patrolling. Seemingly, her real target is Dan Moroboshi. But why would she do that? During an investigation, Dan meets an old man who sells toys. Is this old man related to the woman? Dan figures the true identity of them both...
Plot[]
Soga and Furuhashi are on routine patrol one evening. They are stopped in the middle of the road by a mysterious woman looking for Dan Moroboshi. Furuhashi, pretending to be Dan, shakes hands with the woman and receives a severe electric shock. The woman runs away, leaving a brooch containing cryptic symbols.
Back at the base, the symbols are decoded into the phrase "Android Command Zero" and Dan and Soga are sent to investigate its meaning. They pass through a playground where several children are playing with realistic guns, and Dan notices that both the guns and the children are brandishing patches with the same symbol found in the brooch. The children point them towards an old toy seller, who closes shop early and leaves when he notices the Ultra Guard members looking at him.
Dan and Soga follow the old man to an abandoned home and stop to question one of the neighbors, who tells them that he started living there about a year ago. A group of children pass by, and one of them drops their patch. Dan sends the patch to the lab for analysis and the team learns that both the brooch and the patch are made of the same signal-receiving space metal.
At his home, the old toy seller activates a life-sized doll, revealed to be the woman that shocked Furuhashi, and orders her to stop Ultraseven. She intercepts Dan and Soga on the road and they chase her into a closed shopping center. Taunting them over the PA system, she repeatedly announces that "Android Command Zero" will begin at midnight.
When Dan angrily demands answers, the old man reveals himself and explains that Android Command Zero is his plan to take over the world using Earth's children. At the stroke of midnight, the toy weapons he gave out will activate, becoming real guns, and the children wearing his patches will be hypnotized into becoming his personal army. He then activates several toys in the shopping center, which attack Dan and Soga.
The two flee into a storage area, where they contact HQ and brief them on the situation. The old man and the doll woman burst into the room, forcing Dan to knock Soga out in order to transform into Ultraseven. He chases them outside and destroys the doll woman with his Emerium beam. The old man sheds his disguise and attacks him, revealing himself to be an Alien Chibull. Ultraseven kills it one minute before midnight, putting a stop to Android Command Zero just in time.
Ultraseven Volume 3 features episode 9-11, and 13.
1999 release
2009 release
Trivia[]
Director Kazuho Mitsuta said that, while most of his works began with discussions and were built from scratch, this episode was the first to fully reflect his intentions.
Anne's role in this episode was minimal. She only appears in the opening scene of the main operations room and does not speak.[1]
Mitsuta explained that, early in production, Yuriko Hishimi, who played Anne, often drank whiskey and smoked without considering the next day's recordings. Following this incident, her role was significantly reduced as a disciplinary measure. Hishimi seemed unbothered, noting, "Fewer lines make it easier."
According to Hishimi's memoir, she recorded post-synchronization audio for her scenes in this episode, but it was never used.
When Mitsuta first saw Yukiko Kobayashi at the Toho studios, he recalled that her face seemed expressionless, almost like a mask. Yet, she had a cold, mechanical beauty. Impressed, he asked Shozo Uehara to write a script centered on an android character.
The confrontation between Ultraseven and Alien Chibull was filmed on the rooftop of the Matsuya department store in Ginza. The amusement park on the rooftop has since been demolished.[2]
Only one complete script for this episode has been confirmed. In an interview with writer Uehara conducted by Yoichi Iwasa:[3]
Uehara said that budget limitations required Ultraseven to appear as a life-sized character. Compared to Ultraman, there was more freedom to cast female actors, which motivated Tetsuo Kinjo to put in extra effort. Consequently, the story included several aliens disguised as beautiful women who set traps. Uehara noted that his experience working on Ultraman later helped him when writing for Inazuman and Space Sheriff.
The name "Alien Chibull" comes from the Okinawan dialect, meaning "head." Kinjo often included Okinawan dialect in character names.
Like the Alien Cool, the Alien Chibull is a highly evolved, intelligent species from outer space. Their design reflects this. Uehara suggested that this idea may have influenced the creation of "Great Emperor Kubilai" in Space Sheriff Shaider, which he wrote in 1986.
This episode is known as "Toys in Crisis" on the TNT English dub.
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