Satomi Hayakawa

Satomi Hayakawa
Data
Type	Protagonist
Gender	Female
Family	Ichirou Hayakawa (Father, deceased) Unnamed Aunt
Affiliation	UG
First Appearance	Ultraseven 98 episode 1 "Lost Memory"
Latest Appearance	Ultraseven EVOLUTION episode 3 "Neverland" Ultraseven EVOLUTION episode 5 "Akashic Records" (Flashback)
Portrayed by	Kaoru Ukawa

Satomi Hayakawa is one of the main characters in the Heisei Ultraseven series. She is a new member of UG.

Personality

In the beginning of the series, Satomi shows a dashing, courageous, and just spirit and participates in battles with UG's new members. She maintains her idealistic stance to protect the peace of Earth, but as the series progresses and the events of the Omega Files occur, her ideals towards TDF are completely shattered. After this, her behavior becomes more mature and serious in character.

Initially, she often teams up with Kazamori and the two often argue and cooperate, gradually developing a crush on Kazamori as the series progresses. whom was perhaps the first to suspect Kazamori when he was replaced by Ultraseven, perhaps showing concern for him when the two switched places, since Seven would be going into a dangerous situation.

Additionally, her relationship with Rumi is also very good and they communicate like sisters in their daily lives. Toward newly joined team member Yuki, she shows a sincere and helpful attitude in communication.

History

Childhood

Satomi as a young child

During her childhood, her father, who was the owner of Sci-Fi only publishing house, brought a man, named Yoshiya Heimi, to Okinajima island, as part of their collaboration in publishing Henmi's book, The Large Flying Iron Lump. When Satomi's father left Okinajima for work, Henmi became Satomi's uncle-figure and they read his book together as part of her bedtime story.

At one point,she witnessed her uncle-figure revealing his true form behind the slide doors. Despite this, Henmi's story and his beliefs about "Science being used for justice" became part of her motivations in joining UG. ^{The Sky-Flying Iron Colossus}

Ultraseven 30th Anniversary Trilogy

Years later, Satomi officially joins UG as a new member and under the arrangement of Captain Shiragane, acts as a partner with Kazamori to investigate potential monster, alien, and mysterious phenomenon missions.

During an investigation into a large amount of gold appearing in Miyashin village, upon learning that Banderas's goal is to absorb energy through human greed, desire, and various negative thoughts, and to revive his life to save the lives of another galaxy, she expressed sympathy and protested the TDF upper echelons to destroy the wormhole connecting Earth and Banderas.

Satomi and Dan witness Banderas' rampage

However, when she learned that even negative emotions were important for humanity's existence, Satomi began to hesitate about exploding the wormhole. However, when Dan returned from the Banderas System, she learned the truth about everything: all civilizations in Banderas had already left the System and gone to another planet, so the Banderas System was no longer inhabitable. Unable to accept the fact that he was abandoned by the residents, Banderas turned into a huge monster and fought with the UG. Satomi was affected by the accident and fell into a coma. Finally, Dan transformed into Ultraseven and stopped Banderas.

After the crisis was resolved, she and other members paid their respects to Seven as he left Earth.^{Betrayal Sun}

Ultraseven 1999: The Final Chapters Hexalogy

Kazamori and Satomi went to stores for a gift for their superior's upcoming retirement. However, they were interrupted by Shima reporting about the destruction of Moon Base, where Furuhashi became part of the casualties; and were called back to the headquarters. ^{Legends and Glory}

Like her fellow members, she was disgusted in Kaji's and, by extension, TDF's actions in conquering the galaxy, and she thought of quitting Ultra Guard. Later, she and Rumi went to Okinajima for a vacation. There, she found her uncle-figure's published book and read during their sleep time. The following day, she told Kazamori about the story but he didn't understand about it while he and Shima encountered a strange metallic object in the mountain. When Satomi and Rumi went back to the boat, she encountered a mysterious man who was interested with Henmi's book.

Satomi and Heimi meet again

However, he caused her to fall into the cliff leaving the book behind and she was rescued by Henmi himself. Upon awaken in the cave, she met Henmi and she was able to remember about her childhood past with Henmi. Henmi revealed to her that not only he was an alien but also he intended to rebuilt his spaceship by using his book as a hidden blueprint. He also mentioned that Alien Galos became interested with his book and were responsible for her father's death.

Upon sensing that three Galos approaching, he left her his drafted second part of his book, in which she read. Later, she met Rumi and used Ultra Hawk No.3 to go back to Ultra Guard headquarters. However, Satomi landed on a area where Ultraseven and Daitekkai were battling, and tried to convince Ultraseven to stop battling it, unaware that Henmi, who was absorbed into Daitekkai, convinced Seven to destroy the core part of the robot. After the robot's defeat, she, along with Ultra Guard members, mourned about Henmi's death and Satomi made a monologue about his story's epilogue. ^{The Sky-Flying Iron Colossus}

Satomi attempted to arrest Kazamori for suspiciously being an alien

Under TDF's assignment based on the charge of "crime," she and other UG members attempted to arrest Kazamori, and thus learned that Kazamori's true identity was Seven. When the higher-ups ordered Kazamori to be executed immediately, she finally collaborated with her companions and broke into the facility to save Kazamori, who was imprisoned in prison.

Finally, she and the other members witness Ultraseven defeating Zabangi and through its monster capsule, returning the true Kazamori to UG.^{I Am an Earthling}

Ultraseven 35th Anniversary: EVOLUTION

Five years after the Omega Files event, Satomi left the UG team as a reserve member and lived in a villa, writing novels. However, after Rumi disappearance, she returned to her position to assist her team in battle. ^{Dark Side}

Three weeks later, UG was officially disbanded by TDF without warning or consultation. Upon learning of the TDF's internal infiltration, Satomi decided to secretly act with all former UG members. To prevent extraterrestrials from acquiring the technology of other TDF global branch organizations, they devised a plan to destroy the Far East base and, with the assistance of Kazamori, the other members of the team promptly left the exploding Far East base.^{Perfect World}

Satomi, who had been shot by a TDF staff, died in Kazamori's arms

Several months after the destruction of Far East Base, the residents of Japan were brainwashed and returned to normal life without considering the existence of UG. During a shopping trip at a grocery store, Rimi and Yuki discovered a girl named Mayuko, who was the only resident not under mental control. However, they did not know that Mayuko was actually a spy of a new human group. When Satomi and Yuki found that all city residents were brainwashed, their entire team was held captive by Saijou's troops.

Due to Yuki's influence of care, Mayuko decided to defect from her peers to the side of humanity. She used her growing strength to defeat her former comrades. However, to protect Yuki and Mayuko, Satomi was accidentally shot and critically injured by a revived TDF soldier. Before her death, she told her beliefs and feelings about the Earth to Kazamori who had rushed to the scene. She then left this world at the cost of her life.

Satomi briefly appeared before the Dragonic Saucer disappeared

Under Kazamori's intense wailing and crying, the Dragonic Saucer who had been observing the Earth decided to accept Satomi's soul, bringing her to where Seven was imprisoned. This successfully awakened Seven, and Kazamori acquired all of Seven's power.^Neverland

In the series finale, before Kazamori embarks on a journey of her own, she briefly saw the Golden Dragon and Satomi's soul on the beach. Eventually, as the Dragonic Saucer left, Satomi's soul disappeared.^{Akashic Records}

Merchandise

NAMBU model

• Satomi as Kaoru[sic] (1999)
  • Release Date: 1999
  • Price: 7,700 yen
  • Materials: Resin
  • Accessories: Helmet

Produced by NAMBU with Tsuyoshi Takigawa in charge of prototyping, this Satomi is a 1/8 scaled resin-cast figurine that needs to be painted (all parts must be washed beforehand) and assembled to achieve the look from the finished product. She is about 20cm high and is equipped with a helmet, and comes with a small Ultra Guard waterslide decal.

Gallery

Ultraseven 1998

Satomi's first appearance

Ultraseven 1999

Ultraseven EVOLUTION

Miscellaneous

Satomi and Rumi

Satomi endorsed Karaoke beckoning cat and Ultraman in 2019.

Satomi endorses ZE3000 Ultra Guard Model in 2022.

Satomi and Kazamori attend TSUBURAYA CONVENTION 2023

Trivia

• According to the information in Captain Shiragane's review of Kazamori's personal file, Satomi stands at a height of 165 cm, weighs 46 kg, and has a blood type of A+.
• In a 2002 interview, Kaoru Ukawa stated that in EVOLUTION, Satomi has become a reserve member and is depicted writing at a villa over the five-year period. Ukawa believes that Satomi is not someone who enjoys fighting. When contemplating the concept of peace, she likely feels frustrated by the associated issues. She hopes to protect all beings, whether they are aliens or life forms on Earth, as long as they do not harm humanity; they too should have the right to live in peace.
  • However, considering Kaji's plans, her personality tends to be forward-driven, which makes her weary from the gap between ideals and reality. Thus, she decides to take a break. Over these five years, her mindset may have matured, and she might have realized that being noisy or disruptive does not help. Therefore, she inherits Hemmi's will from "The Sky-Flying Iron Colossus," and begins to write.
• Since 2018, Satomi's actor Kaoru Ukawa has often endorsed Ultraman Series's official merchandise, TV commercials, and exhibitions as Satomi and has appeared in related events many times.
• Satomi's actor, Kaoru Ukawa, cameoed in Ultraman Taiga in 2019 as Honoka Kanzaki.
• Based on a 2022 joint interview with Kaoru Ukawa and Katsuyuki Yamazaki, Ukawa recalled that during her initial audition, she had been practicing boxing for nearly a year. During the audition, she performed shadowboxing, which she later learned impressed the interviewers, leading to her casting. This impression also influenced the script, gradually shaping the character of Satomi.
  • Ukawa mentioned that she didn't feel like she was "acting" as Satomi because the character's essence closely matched her own, allowing her to portray Satomi naturally, without any preconceived notions. Additionally, during the selection process, there was no mention of there being two female UG members.
  • Regarding Satomi's fate in Ultraseven 35th Anniversary: EVOLUTION, where her character was planned to die, Ukawa shared that producer Masahiro Tsuburaya had informed her about the series and Satomi’s inevitable demise. This was something Ukawa initially struggled to accept. After discussing with scriptwriter Junki Takegami, it was mentioned that at the end of the previous series, Ultraseven was imprisoned, and bringing him back required a significant reason. The production team decided that the death of Satomi, as the leading female character, would serve as this important reason, forcing Ukawa to ultimately agree with the decision.
  • In the interview, Ukawa expressed that she always believed Satomi didn’t truly die; rather, she still lives on inside the Golden Dragon.
• In the novel version of the series, Ultraseven EPISODE: 0, the events surrounding the Normalt incident caused TDF's image and ideals to diverge significantly. Additionally, Satomi developed romantic feelings for Kazamori, who had transformed into Ultraseven. These factors contributed to her decision to leave the UG.
• In the death scene of Ultraseven 35th Anniversary: EVOLUTION, the original script described Satomi being killed by a stray bullet, and the scene was filmed according to this plan. However, Ukawa, who portrayed Satomi, felt that this manner of death was not in line with Satomi's character. She directly suggested changes to the director, leading to the scene being revised so that Satomi sacrifices herself to protect others.