The sky has shattered like glass! From the alternate dimension on the other side, a Terrible-Monster, Baraba appeared! As Ultraman Z and the others struggle in the face of Baraba's persistent attacks, Ultraman Ace rushes to the scene to help!
What is the surprising relationship between Z and Ace?
A heat signature is detected by STORAGE directly over Tokyo. Soon afterwards, the source of the heat signature is made clear; Bemstar, descending covered in flames caused by his re-entry into Earth's atmosphere, has arrived! The giant monster lands in an oil refinery and sets his sights on the fuel there, consuming an oil storage tank with his gorge, but is soon confronted by King Joe STORAGE Custom and Windom, and the three giants begin to fight. Bemstar manages to knock King Joe down with a volley of shots of his Bemstar Beam, then use his gorge to trap Windom's arm, forcing Haruki to transform into Ultraman Z. However, as the host gazes upon the medals used to transform into Z's Beta Smash form, he notices Ace's medal is flashing. Unsure of what to do next, Haruki hesitates on starting the transformation into Z.
Bemstar notices something happening to the sky, and soon Yoko does as well after getting King Joe back to its feet. The sky has cracked, and pieces fall away, revealing a red background! As everyone at STORAGE's HQ also sees the strange phenomenon, Bemstar is overcome by fear, and releases Windom's arm. As the monster flies off to safety, Haruki gets another look at Ace's medal, which continues to glow brightly.
Back at the HQ, Yuka theorises that the crack in the sky is a portal to another dimension, and notes that it's not fully opened. Whatever scared Bemstar off will surely emerge from the portal when it is complete. With STORAGE on standby to counter this new threat, King Joe and Windom are deployed to the streets of Tokyo, much to the fascination of the citizens, who observe the giant machines up close. Haruki is contacted by Z, who explains that he is sure the crack in the sky is Yapool's doing. There, he informs Haruki of Yapool's first attempt at conquering the universe with his Terrible-Monsters, and how this plan was foiled by Ultraman Ace, the fifth Ultra Warrior of the Ultra Brothers, and that Z owes Ace a personal debt for something. When Haruki asks why Ace's medal is flashing, Z explains that it's possible the Medal had detected a Terrible-Monster approaching Earth. Z hasn't fought a Terrible-Monster before, but he is sure that with his strength and Haruki's combined, they cannot lose.
Haruki leaves the inner space just as energy levels from the portal begin to spike, and the portal is fully opened. Deployed from the portal in a massive explosion, the Hitman Terrible-Monster, Baraba, has arrived! Without a second thought, the monster immediately goes on the offensive, firing a jet of flame at a highway overpass in front of him and triggering an explosion that destroys countless vehicles. King Joe and Windom confront Baraba, but Haruki is caught off-guard when the monster turns towards him, and begins repeating Ace's name! Shoving King Joe out of the way, Baraba throws Windom to the ground, and begins whaling on the machine with his Mace and Hook Claw, exclaiming "I've found you, Ace! Die... Die!". Haruki deduces that Baraba seems to think Windom is Ace, and has specifically come to Earth to fight him.
King Joe attempts to get Baraba off Windom by firing its Pedanium Guided Missiles at the Terrible-Monster, but Baraba opens a portal to lose the projectiles, then launches a blast of energy from the portal to knock King Joe back to the ground, the same energy that had been released by the larger portal just before Baraba appeared. With Yoko unconscious inside the fallen King Joe and Windom critically damaged, Haruki transforms into Z's Delta Rise Claw, blasting Baraba off his feet with a shot of Beliarok's eye beam. After stating that he will defeat Baraba in Ace's stead, Z takes up a fighting stance, but Baraba knocks Beliarok out of Z's hand by firing his sword at the sentient weapon, lodging it in a building. Before Z can reach Beliarok, he finds his arm tangled in Baraba's grappling hook and chain, and is pulled away from Beliarok's position, putting him in range of Baraba for a wicked ram that sends him plummeting to the ground.
As a trio of excited citizens attempt to snap a photograph of the battle happening right in front of them, Z and Baraba continue duking it out, though Z is unable to get to his feet and has to knock Baraba down with his Delta Cross Shot before he can do so. Z attempts to fire his Zestium Beam, but Baraba pulls the same tactic he had done with King Joe, taking the energy in through a portal, then firing a beam through the aperture. With Z temporarily knocked down against a building, a missile shot from Baraba's face hobbles the hero, causing his Color Timer to blink and reverting Z back to his original form. As Z was unable to maintain his Delta Rise Claw form, Beliarok vanished.
Yoko awakened to see Baraba attempt to execute Z, firing his sword high into the air, and then commanding it to come straight down at his chest. In the nick of time, a purple energy blade knocked the sword off the mark. Instructing Z not to give up, Ace was here at last, having used his Circular Guillotine to move the weapon out of the way! The energy from Haruki's Ace Medal had helped guide Ace to Earth, and just in time. As Ace explains that normal monsters lower their guard briefly when in pain, he follows by stating that Terrible-Monsters don't have this limitation, allowing them to fight for much longer. Ace battles Baraba with every extent of his abilities, before getting in range to use his Metalium Beam to briefly daze Baraba after getting into a beam lock with the Terrible-Monster's Eye Beams.
Ace summons his Ace Blade, then insists Z fight on. With some renewed energy, Z agrees, and Haruki does as well. As Z takes on his Beta Smash form, he brings his own weapon to the battle, the Z Lance Arrow. With Baraba now confronted by two Ultras at close range, the Terrible-Monster fights the two heroes in a melee, blocking the Ace Blade and Z Lance Arrow quite effectively. When a strike by Baraba's mace shatters the Ace Blade, Ace goes on the offensive, charging Baraba and grappling with him. Z discards the Lance Arrow and goes in for a hand-to-hand fight as well, assaulting Baraba with flying kicks and heavy punches.
Ace and Z then take to the air. While Baraba uses his sword in combination with his Eye Beams, the two Ultras counter with hit-and-run uses of the Arrow Beam, Timer Shot and Beta Laser. Z is eventually knocked to the ground by a barrage of missiles, but manages to get to his feet again, remarking on Baraba's resilience. Ace tells Z to focus his energy on the Ultra Holes in his crest, then blocks Baraba's energy with the Ultra Neo Barrier. While blocking the beam, Ace then addresses Yapool directly, recounting a time when the alien mastermind once said that the victors of a fight "must live on bearing the malice of those who have fallen." Ace counters this statement by replying that "the Ultras will fight on until the day this universe is at peace!" With Ace now having stalled Baraba's energy for long enough for Z to transfer the energy he needs, Ace uses his Stop Ring to trap Baraba, then commands Z to use a new ability, the Space Z!
Ace then summons his Space Q Technique, and sends it to Z's crest. With energy pulsing through his body, Z hurls the Space Z at Baraba, simultaneously bisecting him and causing his eyes to burst out of their sockets. In his dying breath, Baraba exclaims that though Yapool may die, his Terrible-Monsters shall live on. The two bisected halves of Baraba fall to the ground and explode, leaving the Terrible-Monster's sword behind.
As the two Ultras look at the setting sun, Ace asks Z if he remembers why Ace gave him the name Z, much to Haruki's surprise; Ace is Z's godfather! On Earth, Z can mean "the last". Ace, proud of how strong Z has become, recounts that he had given Z's name to him with the hope that the young warrior will rid the universe of conflict and bring about peace, effectively becoming "The Last Hero". As the two Ultras depart, Yuka gets a closer look at Baraba's sword from STORAGE HQ, where she excitedly deduces that it has the power to breach dimensions and gain access to other ones.
This episode marks Keiji Takamine's return as Ultraman Ace after last appearing in Ultraman Saga in 2012, eight years prior. When he was asked to record the lines, he had just undergone oral surgery and was uncertain, but decided to do it with encouragement from his wife.[4]
Originally, they simply wanted one of the Ultras on Z's Ultra Medals to appear, with notes suggesting it could be Ultraseven or Leo. Main director Kiyotaka Taguchi told Tsujimoto he could make the decision, and he chose Ace as a big fan of his series,[5] as well as considering that Jack and Taro had appeared in Taiga.[6] He was very happy for the opportunity, partly because he felt that Ace was not the most popular of the Ultra Brothers and knew this was a rare opportunity to feature him.[7]
He contemplated whether or not Ace should shout the names of his techniques, and an edit without it was even made for comparison, but he ultimately felt that it better conveyed that Ace was showing Z how he fought,[5] as well as to "capture Keiji Takamine's passionate voice on film for future generations."[8]
At the time, the only available Terrible-Monster suit was Aribunta. They thought about creating a new Guironian suit to go with it,[6] or a new Chameleking suit,[5] but chose Baraba as someone at LSS wanted to make its suit.[5][6] Additionally, the new suit's tail better resembles original concept art.[9]
The pun involving "Baraba" and "Barabara" was an impromptu joke created on set.[9]
The prop for Bemstar's opening stomach gorge was reused from the time of Ultraman Mebius.[9]
When in the air, Bemstar and Ace were depicted with models instead of suits.[9]
Tsujimoto strongly insisted on Ace and Z being in front of a sunset, in spite of a tight schedule.[6]
He thought of the idea for Ace to write an "A" using Z's trail on the spot.[6]
According to an interview with the episode's writer, Toshizo Nemoto:[6]
Tsujimoto wanted to reduce narrative elements and focus most on showcasing Ultraman Ace. Nemoto was given notes on the general flow without specific details and wanted to ensure Ace's appearance was not too abrupt.
For Ace's scenes, Nemoto wrote that he would "emerge from the light," then Tsujimoto conceptualized most of the rest.
They chose for Yapool's residual consciousness to become a Terrible-Monster as they felt it would be complicated for Yapool himself to return. It was Tsujimoto who suggested Baraba speak.
Baraba being able to sense Ace's presence came from his subtitle as the "Hitman Terrible-Monster".
He wrote Ace's words about Terrible-Monsters not feeling fear or pain to both reference Ace's combat style and reinforce the difference of Terrible-Monsters.
The battle features music from Ultraman Ace originally composed by Toru Fuyuki.
According to the surveillance camera that recorded Bemstar, this episode took place on August 4, 2020. In real life, this is three days after the series' seventh episode.
Series directors Kiyotaka Taguchi, Masayoshi Takesue, and Tomonobu Koshi cameo as the bystanders attempting to get a photo of the fight between Ultraman Z and Baraba.[2]
As one of many selected to celebrate the Ultraman Series' 60th anniversary, this episode was made available on the Ultraman YouTube channel from September 26, 2025 for two weeks, following September's theme of "The Story of Trust."[10][11][12]
