The Distant City: Uqbar

The Distant City: Uqbar
Ultraman Gaia, episode 29
Information
Airdate	March 27, 1999
Directed by	Masaki Harada
Written by	Ai Ota
Special Effects Directed by	Masaki Harada
Viewer Ratings	4.3%
Continuity
Previous	The Advent of the Heatwave
Next	The Demon's Cocoon

The Distant City: Uqbar is the twenty-ninth episode of Ultraman Gaia.

Plot

A member of Team Hercules, Yoshida, has a friend who believes himself to be an alien. But is it fact or fantasy?

Cast

• Gamu Takayama : Takeshi Yoshioka
• Satoru Yoshida : Masaru Matsuda
• Mitsugu Shima : Kei Kagaya
• Takanobu Kuwabara : Koji Nakamura

Guest Actors

• Nagata : Mansaku Fuwa
• Teruo Shoji : Susumu Terajima
• Chief of Rakuda Express : Masanori Machida
• Shimizu : Kazuhiko Shimizu
• Rakuda Express Connections : Takanoshin Seki
• Kurokouchi : Mika Kurokouchi
• Oden Stall Customer : Ai Ota

Voice Actors

• Narrator : Hiroshi Isobe

Suit Actors

• Ultraman Gaia : Takeshi Takeyasu
• Rukulion : Junpei Mukaihara

Appearances

Ultras

• Ultraman Gaia

Kaiju

• Rukulion

Mecha

• Government/Military
  • XIG Fighters
    • Exciter (x1)
    • Sky Surfer (x1)
    • Sky Gainer (x2)
  • Bermann (x1)
    • XIG Variant; GEO-999-X
• Supernatural/Extraterrestrial
  • Uqbar

Home Media

• Ultraman Gaia Volume 8 features episodes 29-32.

Trivia

• With only four principal actors appearing, this episode has the fewest main characters of any in the series.
• According to an interview with the episode's writer, Ai Ota, in 2000:
  • This episode is aimed at adults, exploring how human thoughts can manifest as an alien presence. The line 'Uqbar exists—it exists in your mind' suggests that, although they are often dismissed, such ideas reflect our unconscious acceptance of our own identity as 'ordinary humans'. This question lies at the heart of the episode.
• This episode features a calendar from Uqbar's artwork showing the year as 1966, the same year that Ultraman first aired.
  • Initially, Ota considered setting the series roughly twenty years earlier. However, someone suggested, "Just pick any year you like." During production discussions, someone else proposed, 'Why not choose the year Ultraman was born?' This idea became the final choice.
• The name "Uqbar" is believed to derive from Jorge Luis Borges work Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius.
• Regarding the fictional city of "Uqbar", Ota said that her concept was influenced by the fictional country 'Ibaradu' in the artworks and manga of Naohisa Inoue. Meanwhile, director Masaki Harada pictured Uqbar as being similar to the cities he had photographed in Spain and Italy.
  • Harada initially showed travel photos to art director Yuji Terai to express his vision. Terai then combined elements from these images to design the city, unintentionally drawing inspiration from Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. This made it difficult to integrate the imagery with the city's towers. The idea of 'the sea beneath Uqbar' also came from Terai.
• Harada noted that this story marked the end of his one-year hiatus and the beginning of his collaboration with Ota. Since Ota was keen to produce it, the project was able to move forward. The production design and special effects aimed to create a retro feel. The battle scenes were filmed slightly faster to create a deliberate rhythm.