Takao, a young man exhausted from being chased by work, had harbored a fascination with the mysteries of the universe since childhood, nurturing dreams of space exploration.
A mysterious mass of light appears in his room, inviting him on an eternal journey through the cosmos. Jin, who had known Takao before he lost his memory, rushes to his aid, but...
When it was decided that ULTRASEVEN X would be set in a near-future controlled society, Kobayashi initially considered writing a story about "escaping from a regulated world." He even thought about incorporating this theme into the first episode's draft.
The original idea involved aliens abducting those who longed to flee from such a society and taking them into space. However, this concept closely resembled Ai Ota's episode 2 "CODE NAME "R"," which was being developed around the same time. Since both ideas emerged independently without knowledge of each other's work, Kobayashi was completely unaware of the overlap until he heard about it from director Takeshi Yagi. To differentiate his episode, he decided to approach the theme in a distinct manner—focusing more directly on the act of escaping Earth itself. He aimed to depict the pure and earnest desire of a young man determined to leave this world take a new step toward the future.
The protagonist, Takao Hidata, played by Mitsuru Karahashi, was initially named Meguru in the script stage.
This episode was influenced by Fujiko F.Fujio's sci-fi short story "The End of the Elders" and also serves as a tribute to it.[3]
Alisa
A deliberate choice was made to include the perspectives of ordinary people—Takao and Alisa. Though their knowledge of the bigger picture is fragmented, they are among the few characters who possess some insight into Jin's past. Since the series had not yet explored how Jin had lived up until this point, depicting scenes from his everyday life provided a glimpse into his humanity.
In an early draft, a pre-amnesia Jin confided in Alisa that he had a lover who loved the stars (Elea). Consequently, when Alisa mentioned this fact to him in the final scene, Jin was left speechless in shock. However, to keep his relationship with Elea slightly more platonic, this detail was removed in the final version—though it still remains part of the underlying lore.
Regarding Takao's fate, Kobayashi explained that, under normal circumstances, he might eventually be abandoned by the Soul of Light. However, what he truly wanted to depict in this episode was the positivity of yearning for the universe. Takao's pure desire to venture beyond was the central theme of the story.
