The Light of Fear

The Light of Fear
Ultraman Arc, episode 16
Information
Airdate	November 2, 2024
Directed by	Tomonobu Koshi
Written by	Toshizo Nemoto
Continuity
Previous	At SKIP Miyako City Branch
Next	Demon Slicing Meteor Sword

The Light of Fear is the sixteenth episode of Ultraman Arc.

Synopsis

The conclusion of the Onyx incident meant Shu would be leaving...

As his departure approached, a mysterious case emerged! The victims seem to be afraid of something unknown, and the source of it seems to be the beams released from a certain kaiju's hands.

What will Shu see when he too becomes a victim? And a mysterious alien appears in the middle of the chaos!?

Shu Ishido's Diary

Expand to read Shu Ishido's diary entry.

I’m finally home. By the time I had dinner, it was already late at night.

It was a long day. In reality, I was supposed to simply say goodbye to everyone at SKIP, leave Hoshimoto City and be done with my day.

However, once we learned about the incident at the campsite, Yuma, YouPi and I ran over there for a quick investigation. It was there that Mogusion, the vision kaiju, appeared. For some reason, its body was semi-transparent and the Elemagun attacks passed right through it. On top of that, when I was hit by the beam that came out of its hands, I started to hallucinate. It was a truly horrifying vision. No, this hallucination actually showed me my worst fears.

Mogusion, who had previously disappeared, reappeared later on in the city. Everyone at SKIP and I headed to the scene to help with the evacuation.

At that point, we had already established that Mogusion’s beam affected the brain’s amygdala, which controls our fears and anxiety. Using that stimulus, it drives its enemies into a panic state, taking away their mobility and preying on them. This is Mogusion’s terrifying practice. To be able to go against this kaiju, your eyes need to be covered.

So before we headed to the scene, I went to the shopping district and got some items to assist us. The fear from my previous experience seeing the hallucinations still stuck with me, so I got a pretty sturdy-looking helmet. As I did so, the old man manning the store said, “You’re from SKIP, right? Don’t worry about the bill. You’ve got a place you have to be,” and willingly gave it to me. I don’t think I’ll ever forget his goodwill (I do plan on returning there tomorrow to pay, of course).

When we arrived at the scene it was sheer chaos. There was a massive crowd of people in panic, the GDF missiles were passing straight through Mogusion and Ultraman Arc had arrived at the scene.

And Mogusion’s attacks only got fiercer and more frequent. When I learned that the ground units were delayed, I asked everyone from SKIP to continue helping citizens evacuate. Even now, the reassuring voices of everyone responding to my call still echo in my mind. Right after that, there was a huge explosion. Arc risked his life to protect me from it and nodded at me. Or maybe it was just my impression. No, Arc definitely protected, looked and nodded at me.

When I realized what he had done, I made sure to tell him to leave the rest to us. What happened after was honestly something out of a movie. A new giant appeared in front of Arc and I still wonder who it was.

Was it an alien, or a completely new being beyond our imagination? We still don’t know his true identity or goals, but his power granted Arc’s victory by materializing Mogusion’s body and allowing our attacks to be effective against it.

It was an incident filled with mysteries, but Arc, the new giant and us were able to protect this city by working together. That is all that matters.

After that, I had an intricate exchange with the recently arrived ground units and Kaiju Control Unit―reports on the situation and about the samples collected―and between the confusion, I had no time to say my goodbyes to everyone at SKIP, so I headed straight to the HQ. On the way there, I thought about how it was just like the day I first came to Hoshimoto City. I also left that day without greeting anyone. Speaking of it, it was also the first time I met Arc and he saved my life. Everything was the exact same and yet completely different. What changed most was probably me.

In fact, just a moment ago, as I was leaving the HQ, I handed my written report to Mr. Nibuya with conviction. It had details about my wishes for the future of my career, so it had been prepared a few days ago, but I made sure to add my thoughts from today as well. Mr. Nibuya flipped over the pages and told me that, at the earliest, I might get a reply tonight.

Will I be able to meet Yuma, Rin, the Chief and YouPi tomorrow with a smile? Or will I simply pass through those doors to say my goodbyes? My fate is in the hands of others.

And yet, I still have a baseless good feeling. I’ll drink my last cup of coffee for the day, relax and boost this feeling. Tomorrow morning I’ll meet Yuma on the same usual road and report to him. A good report.

Ask TsuPi

This week's "Ask TsuPi" is about Mogusion!

Yuma's Ultraman Arc Navi

Yuma's Ultraman Arc Navi #18

Today, Yuma discusses Mogusion's Illusion Flash and speculates about the illusions that Shu has seen, and introduces the Kaiju of the following episode, Zangill.

Cast

• Yuma Hize : Yuki Totsuka
• Shu Ishido : Sho Kaneta
• Rin Natsume : Kaho Mizutani
• Hiroshi Ban : Koichiro Nishi

Guest Actors

• Male : Joey Sakurai

Voice Actors

• YouPi : Yuya Hirose
• Zangill : Mitsuru Karahashi

English Dub

• Yuma Hize : Paul Castro Jr.
• Shu Ishido : Micah Solusod
• Rin Natsume : Dani Chambers
• Hiroshi Ban : Tony Oliver
• YouPi : Brandon McInnis
• Zangill : J. Michael Tatum

Suit Actors

• Ultraman Arc : Hideyoshi Iwata
• YouPi : Daiki Yazaki
• Mogusion : Hiroyuki Arai
• Zangill : Satoru Okabe
• Hellnarak : Yoshiki Kuwabara

Appearances

Ultras

• Ultraman Arc

Kaiju

• Mogusion
• Zangill
• Hellnarak

Trivia

• This episode is the first in the series to have a clear connection to Ultraman Blazar.
  • Mogusion appears in this episode (episode 16), which coincidentally corresponds to its initial appearance in episode 16 "Terror from the Underground" of Ultraman Blazar.
• According to this episode's director, Tomonobu Koshi, the script was completed prior to the airing of Ultraman Blazar episode 17 "The Wandering Zangill". The overall storyboarding meetings, however, took place after that episode had been broadcast.
  • In this episode, Shu’s line, "The GDF won’t make it. We have no choice but to act without them. Or rather…We’ve got this!" was actually an improvisation by actor Sho Kaneta, who added it to better convey Shu’s determination, deviating from the original script. This change was encouraged by the production team to strengthen the portrayal of Shu’s resolve.
  • Initially, the storyboard had GDF fighter jets arriving on time, but to enhance the impact of Shu’s line, the final cut instead shows missile support arriving instead.
  • Since this episode centers around Shu, specific contrasts were crafted to highlight his partnership with Yuma. For example, Shu first protects Yuma by stepping in front of him during Mogusion’s attack. Later in battle, Yuma, transformed as Arc, returns the gesture by shielding Shu. The beginning and end both feature similar camera angles on the duo’s interactions, creating a visual callback.
  • At the end of this episode, much of the SKIP team’s reunion interaction was the result of the cast’s spontaneous improvisation.

References