Reunion With Light

Reunion With Light
Ultraman Cosmos, episode 1
Information
Airdate	July 7, 2001
Directed by	Tsugumi Kitaura
Written by	Shinsuke Onishi
Special Effects Directed by	Kazuo Sagawa
Viewer Ratings	5.3%
Continuity
Previous	Ultraman Cosmos: The First Contact
Next	Chaos Header's Shadow

Reunion With Light is the first episode of Ultraman Cosmos.

Synopsis

A mysterious light suddenly descends, destroying the city in an instant and possessing the giant bird Lidorias, causing it to rampage. Musashi, a pilot cadet at the Outer Space Development Center, heads into the city to protect Lidorias. There, he encounters Ultraman Cosmos.

Plot

A beautiful glowing light appears over a city. Meanwhile, SRC (Scientific Research Circle) is called to assemble. They catch an energy reaction and pull up the area, seeing the glowing light collect. They look at its structure: that of life, and deduce it to be some sort of virus-like lifeform.

Just then a column of light shoots down. There is a gigantic explosion and the entire city is levelled.

Years later, Musashi Haruno flies with his giant monster bird friend, Lidorias, at the monster protection center. When the bird kaiju rests, two representatives from EYES (Elite Young Expert Squad) arrive and tell him they detected the light virus coming from the island.

Lidorias then flies up and transforms into its infected chaos form. Fubuki notices the light on it. It breaks through the shields on the island, and EYES flies in pursuit.

Musashi also flies after it, swinging a pendant that the bird likes to listen to. As Lidorias is about to attack the city, he confronts it and swings it, and the light's influence leaves. He begins to fly away with it, back to the island, when the military attacks it.

This brings back the light's influence, and it attacks the military with a beam. Musashi drives his plane in the way, and it hurtles from the sky. Just then, EYES detects a tremendous lifeforce approaching the earth, when a ball of fire from the sky crashes into Musashi's plane, leaving only a few burnt, black shreds on the air.

Unknown to the observers, Musashi is in a ball of light, and he is being reunited with his childhood hero, Ultraman Cosmos. Resolving to be a true warrior, Musashi transforms in order to save Lidorias.

The two fight, and Cosmos purifies Lidorias. Lidorias then flies home as Cosmos flies off into the sky.

Cast

• Musashi Haruno : Taiyo Sugiura
  • Child Musashi (stock footage): Kounosuke Tokai
• Harumitsu Hiura : Daisuke Shima
• Shinobu Mizuki : Kaori Sakagami
• Keisuke Fubuki : Hidekazu Ichinose
• Koji Doigaki : Koichi Sudo
• Ayano Morimoto : Mayuka Suzuki

Guest Actors

• Director Ikeyama : Hyoei Ichikawa
• Refugee : Hideki Oka (uncredited)

Voice Actors

• Ultraman Cosmos : Hiroyuki Sato
• Narration : Hiroshi Isobe

Suit Actors

• Ultraman Cosmos :
  • Hiroshi Nekomata
  • Daisuke Terai
• Lidorias : Toshio Miyake

Appearances

Ultras

• Ultraman Cosmos
  • Luna Mode

Kaiju

• Lidorias
  • Normal
  • Chaos Lidorias
• Chaos Organism

Home Media

• Ultraman Cosmos Volume 1 features episodes 1-4.

Trivia

• The episode was originally scheduled to premiere on July 7, 2001 to mark the 100th anniversary of Eiji Tsuburaya's birth. The initial plan was to introduce the story through the film Ultraman Cosmos: The First Contact, followed by the TV series. However, when the release order was reversed, the production schedule was adjusted accordingly.
• Producer Hiroyasu Shibuya stated that the TV series was never intended to strictly adhere to the setting of the film. He and screenwriter Shinsuke Onishi first collaborated on story outlines for the opening two episodes. Although the main theme centres on Musashi’s reunion with Cosmos, the reversed release sequence meant that the first episode was written to create a sense of mystery and engage viewers as the story unfolded. One challenge during production was the portrayal of Chaos Header.
• Special effects director Kazuo Sagawa aimed to create unprecedented explosion scenes, using an inverted set to intensify the scattering of debris. The series also introduced the concept of 'secondary transformations' for monsters infected by Chaos, a visual idea established from the very first episode.
• Principal photography began in early March 2001, with special effects filming starting approximately two weeks later. During production, Taiyo Sugiura celebrated his birthday, and the crew held a small on-set celebration.
• As one of many selected to celebrate the Ultraman Series' 60th anniversary, this episode was made available on the Ultraman YouTube channel from November 5, 2025 for two weeks, following November's theme of "The Story of Hope."