Shine! The Five Ultra Brothers (輝け! ウルトラ五兄弟, Kagayake! Urutora Go Kyōdai) is the first episode of Ultraman Ace. It features a special appearance of the previous four Ultra Brothers. It also marks the second appearance of Zoffy since the final episode of the Original Ultraman Series.
Set on invading Earth, Extradimensional Being Yapool sets Verokron on an industrial complex. Verokron destroys the city while Seiji Hokuto and Yuko Minami lay down their lives trying to save others. However, a miracle is about to happen!
Plot[]
In 1972, one year after the Second Age of Monsters came to an end, a new threat is approaching the Earth in the form of the Yapool, an interdimensional race of alien masterminds. They bring with them genetically altered creations called Terrible-Monsters, alien kaiju far stronger than any seen before. The first such creature leading the attack is Verokron, which arrives in Fukuyama and begins attacking the city.
As the JSDF is powerless to stop the monster's advance, Seiji Hokuto, a bakery delivery man, and a nurse named Yuko Minami are killed while trying to help fleeing citizens. Ultraman Ace, accompanied by the other four Ultra Brothers, appears and revives the two, selecting them as his hosts. Hokuto and Minami become members of TAC, an organisation founded specifically to counter the Yapool and their Terrible-Monster creations.
Verokron reappears, and TAC is sent out on their first mission to fight the monster. In the midst of the battle, Seiji is shot down, but he ejects and transforms with Yuko into Ace for the first time, who defeats Verokron. Though Verokron is no more, the mission to stop the Yapool has just begun.
The cover of the script for the main series, still titled Ultra Ace.
The script of this episode still retains the series title from the final stage: Ultra Ace.
With a rating of 28.8%, this was the highest rated episode of Ultraman Ace.
This episode features the return of Ultraman Jack immediately after his finale and the return of Zoffy after five years since the finale of Ultraman.
The original plan for this episode was to have Verokron appear in Hiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture. Scenes were even shot of Verokron attacking the city and destroying the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, depicting the agony of a monster destroying a symbol of peace. Some of the special effects filming for this scene was also completed. However, out of consideration for the feelings of the victims of the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and local stakeholders like RCC Broadcasting, this scene was ultimately deleted in the final version, and the location of the event was changed to Fukuyama City. Currently, only a few postcards and still photos of this scene are preserved.[1][2]
The script of the first episode involving Hiroshima City.
Initially, the role of Yuko Minami was given to another actress, Kaori Seki. However, before filming began, Seki suffered an accident, leading to Mitsuko Hoshi being chosen as her replacement. Some behind-the-scenes photos from the first episode, featuring Kaori Seki's version of the role, remain as a result.
According to Shunichi Okita's testimony in 2022:[4]
At the time, Okita was unaware of the casting change for Yuko Minami, so by the time of filming, it was already Mitsuko Hoshi playing the character. It was not until later that he learned Kaori Seki had originally been cast, but had been replaced due to an injury. Okita remembered director Kakehi mentioning the cast change, but since he was not involved in the matter, he did not pay much attention to it. The change occurred around episodes 3 or 4.
The director for this episode was listed as both Kakehi and Kazuho Mitsuta, though Okita noted that Mitsuta seemed less involved. In reality, it was Kakehi and Eizo Yamagiwa who co-directed the episode. Since the episode featured some of the Ultra Brothers characters, and Kakehi was not familiar with them, Producer Yoji Hashimoto had Mitsuta act as a consultant to assist in the collaboration.
![[3]](/wiki/File:Verokron_lost_media_1_.png "Verokron lost media 1 .png (1.43 MB)")
