The Monster Won't Move

The Monster Won't Move
Ultraman X, episode 10
Information
Airdate	September 22, 2015
Directed by	Suguru Tomita
Written by	Sachio Yanai
Continuity
Previous	We Are Nebula!
Next	An Unknown Friend

The Monster Won't Move is the tenth episode of Ultraman X and features a guest appearance of Misato Hirata, the actress that portrayed Konomi Amagai from Ultraman Mebius.

Synopsis

The monster Houlinga appears at the edge of Sakane Village, but it does not show any intention of harming the village. The village's people then make the monster a tourist traction, however when Houlinga seem to be growing weak the village's mayor asks Xio to help the monster.

Plot

A little girl named Hana Suda is spending her time at her village's prayer shrine, anxiously waiting for her father to return while looking at an old piece of paper that tells an old folk tale. When her friend Chizuru comes to take her home, Hana refuses. A shock wave suddenly occurs, and when Hana and Chizuru leave the shrine they see a strange monster at the edge of their village. Hana names the monster Houlinga.

One month later at Xio HQ, Daichi Oozora presents the information of Houlinga; since it's appearance at the village, named Sakane, Xio has investigated the monster and learn that it only stays in one place at all time and won't move from it, acting as a plant, other than that it seems docile and Xio see no reason to consider the monster a threat to the village people, and have Sakane's approval to monitor and protect Houlinga. However Houlinga suddenly seems to be getting weaker, and the people of Sakane have now requested that Xio help Houlinga.

Daichi, Asuna, Wataru, Hayato, Rui, and Mamoru are sent Sakane Village with the medical supplies provided by Xio's Research and Development section. The people of Sakane have made Houlinga into their village's prized tourist attraction, and the village's Mayor, Yamato Suda, Hana's grandfather, is anxious for Xio's help. When Xio prepares the ampule full of the nutrition for Houlinga, Hana interrupts them saying that the monster isn't sick. Daichi tries to stop the operation but is unsuccessful. With the added nutrients forced into it body, Houlinga's roots begin to grow at a rapid pace, causing destruction in Sakane. Even worse, the nutrition injection given to Houlinga begins to accelerate and resulting impact would cause its tentacles covering the whole Sakane village in 24 hours. Gourman reveals that an antidote does exist but the effect would take about 2 days.

Remembering Hana's words, Daichi goes to find her while Asuna discovers an empty lot for Houlinga to be placed on while waiting for an antidote. At first Mayor Yamato refuses due to the monster being a centrepiece of his village until the destruction of Sakane village's other attractions (observatory tower, bridge and the mayor's statue) changes his mind. Daichi learns of Houlinga's name origin from Chizuru and warms up with both Hana and Houlinga but when Xio officers tries to relocate the monster, Hana pleads Daichi to stop them as Houlinga likes sitting next to Sakane. Hana drags Daichi to the shrine and shows him an old caricature of Houlinga. In the past, Houlinga's species came to Sakane and turn into the very mountains of the village. Hana shows him three mountains which were once his ancestors.

Angered by Xio, Houlinga turns aggressive and releases pollens on a wide scale, affecting the villagers. Daichi unites with Ultraman X and first encases Houlinga and himself in a barrier to prevent its pollen from spreading. He later unleashes Purify Wave to remove the medication. Finally, the cured Houlinga peacefully turns into a mountain, allowing it to join its brethren. Yamato and Chizuru approach Hana as they inform her of her father's return.

Daichi's Monster Lab

• Daichi: Daichi's Monster Lab! This time, we're looking at this monster.
• X Devizer: Analyzing, Houlinga.
• Daichi: This is Houlinga, it appeared in the Sakane Village. A peaceful monster whose pollen can be a bit unpleasant for humans.
• X: And this Cyber Card is Ultraman Max. The same Ultraman Max who fought alongside us before. I'm sure the card he gave us will help Daichi and I again some other day.
• Daichi and X: We'll, see you next time!

Cast

• Daichi Oozora : Kensuke Takahashi
• Asuna Yamase : Akane Sakanoue
• Wataru Kazama : Yoshihiko Hosoda
• Hayato Kijima : Ukyo Matsumoto
• Mamoru Mikazuki : Hayato Harada
• Rui Takada : Haruka Momokawa
• Takeru Yamagishi : TAKERU
• Chiaki Matsudo : Chiaki Seshimo
• Sayuri Tachibana : Sarara Tsukifune
• Shotaro Kamiki : Yuu Kamio

Guest Actors

• Yamato Suda : Yu Tokui
• Chizuru Ueki : Misato Hirata
• Atsuyuki Kusano : Tadashi Mizuno
• Hana Suda : Ai Nakamura

Voice Actors

• Ultraman X : Yuichi Nakamura
• Alien Fanton Gourman : Yasunori Matsumoto

Suit Actors

• Ultraman X : Hideyoshi Iwata
• Alien Fanton Gourman : Hiroyuki Fukushima
• Houlinga : Hiroyuki Arai

Appearances

Ultras

• Ultraman X

Kaiju

• Alien Fanton Gourman
• Houlinga

Trivia

• Misato Hirata made a guest appearance in this episode, playing the role of Hana's mother. This marked her return to the Ultraman series after her previous appearance as Konomi Amagai in Ultraman Mebius.
• According to Sachio Yanai, the initial proposal for this episode's storyline involved the elderly Cloudos arriving on Earth, where there was a conflict between the side of the village that had become annoyed due to tourism and the side that remained in the shadows, resulting in the village being divided into two opposing factions. However, the idea was eventually changed, and a new monster was created instead.
  • Houlinga, originally named Hilkonda, was based on the Japanese mythological figure Ebisu. However, as the monster resembled a creature from Hiruko the Goblin (1991), this concept was abandoned.
• This episode marks Suguru Tomita's directorial debut in the Ultraman series. The opportunity came when Tomita was working on another production and was invited by producer Tsugumi Kitaura to transition from assistant director to director.
• During filming, Ultraman Cosmos episode 11 "Move! Monster" were used as references for comparison, as it was considered that if the monsters remained still, the special effects sets would not require changes.
• This episode was made available on the official Ultraman YouTube channel from March 10, 2021 for two weeks as part of the Ultraman Foundation's Springtime stay-at-home support initiative in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.