Stone of Legends

Stone of Legends
Ultraman Tiga, episode 2
Information
Airdate	September 14, 1996
Directed by	Shingo Matsubara
Written by	Masakazu Migita
Special Effects Directed by	Koichi Takano
Viewer Ratings	8.9%
Continuity
Previous	Inheritance of Light
Next	The Devil's Prophecy

Stone of Legends is the second episode of Ultraman Tiga.

Synopsis

In the island of Kurara Island, a series of bizarre incidents have occurred where humans are turning into stone. All of these are the doings of a monster named Gakuma, which inhabits this island. To combat the rampaging Gakuma on the ground, GUTS has armed itself with the reinforced GUTS Wing 2 in an attempt to crush it. However, the relief was short-lived as another Gakuma suddenly emerged accompanied by rumbling tremors.

Plot

At Kurara Island, two miners were seen running in a cave, when suddenly a monster emitted a blue flash and turned them into stone. While the TPC workers tell the other miners to calm down, their boss protests as he didn't believe that a monster named Gakuma exist and thinking it as the workers' excuse to skipping their jobs.

However, it was proven true when three of four TPC investigators turned into stone as one survived and managed to escape. Meanwhile at the Dive Hangar, when Iruma and a TPC staff discuss the matter about Tiga's Pyramid, they were interrupted by Chief Sawai whom now converts GUTS (Global Unlimited Task Squad) from a rescuing team into a defense team in response to the appearance of various monsters threatening humanity.

At the mining site, General Sawai asks what Gakuma looks like. One said that it has one horn (alpha) and another said it has two horns (beta). At the Dive Hangar, Yazumi and Daigo made a scan on Ultraman Tiga and signifies that the giant's time limit is three minutes, judging on when witnessing him letting Golza escape. Back at the mining site, Gakuma arises and the TPC tries to kill it with nearby detonator but fails. At the Dive Hangar, Yazumi was still trying to replay Yuzare's missing tracks only for it to reach Daigo without Yazumi noticing.

Yazumi decides to leaves and gets lunch while Yuzare's hologram appeared to Daigo, revealing the mystery titan's name is Ultraman Tiga. The hologram is also revealed to be an A.I. and can only can be seen by Daigo. She explains that Daigo is the successor of the Ultras and that he must become Ultraman Tiga to save humanity. As she leaves, Sawai launches the GUTS into combat as Rena and Munakata ride a GUTS Wing 1 to combat Gakuma.

While Gakuma turns all construction vehicles to stones and eating them, GUTS Wing 1 appears and attacks but later crashed. As Gakuma tried to chase Munakata and Rena, GUTS Wing 2 appears and fires the Dexas Beam, blowing the monster to pieces. Everyone cheers for their victory, but another Gakuma (beta) appeared and rampages. Daigo finally transforms into Tiga but Gakuma proven a challenge for him. He transforms into Power Type and finally defeats it.

At the base, while everyone tries to suggest a name for the titan, Munakata calls it Mountain Gulliver but nobody liked that name. Daigo decides to name it Ultraman Tiga, which is accepted by everyone.

Cast

• Daigo Madoka : Hiroshi Nagano (V6)
• Rena Yanase : Takami Yoshimoto
• Megumi Iruma : Mio Takaki
• Seiichi Munakata : Akitoshi Otaki
• Masami Horii : Yukio Masuda
• Tetsuo Shinjoh : Shigeki Kagemaru
• Jun Yazumi : Yoichi Furuya
• Souichiro Sawai : Tamio Kawachi
• Masayuki Nahara : Take Uketa
• Reiko Kashimura : Takako Kitagawa

Guest Actors

• Yuzare : Minako Osanai
• TPC Development Authority Clerk : Katsuhiko Narita
• TPC Expedition Captain : Toru Kodama
• TPC Member : Koichi Toshima
• Kurara Island Miner Worker : Tomoya Akashi
• Kurara Island Miner Leader : Shinji Nomura

Voice Actors

• Ultraman Tiga : Yuji Machi

Suit Actors

• Ultraman Tiga:
  • Multi Type: Shunsuke Gondo
  • Power Type: Koji Nakamura
• Gakuma:
  • Alpha: Ryuki Kitaoka
  • Beta: Toshio Miyake

Appearances

Ultras

• Ultraman Tiga
  • Multi Type
  • Power Type

Kaiju

• Gakuma
  • Alpha
  • Beta

Home Media

• Ultraman Tiga Volume 1 features episodes 1-4.

Trivia

• Hiroyuki Okano was credited for playing Gakuma (Alpha) by mistake.
• According to the testimony of the scriptwriter Masakazu Migita, the production manager Kazuho Mitsuta once explicitly mentioned the need to fully present the image of the monster in the second episode. Therefore, the episode primarily follows the traditional monster route. As the budget was still being explored, initially the setting of the episode was overseas, but it later changed to Japan. However, due to insufficient time to create city building scenes, it was suggested to use a quarry setting instead.
• In the draft, the planned subtitle was originally "Myth of the Stones," but some felt that this subtitle was somewhat boring. As a result, it gradually changed to scripts such as "The Great Reversal of the Divine Beasts ". However, the production side felt that this change was too drastic, and ultimately reverted back to the original title.