The Musician's Forest

The Musician's Forest
Ultraman Dyna, episode 39 (unproduced episode)
Information
Airdate	Unproduced
Directed by	Akio Jissoji (scheduled)
Written by	Ai Ota
Continuity
Previous	Monster Drama
Next	The Light and Shadow of the Youthful

The Musician's Forest is the unproduced thirty-ninth episode of Ultraman Dyna.

The episode was originally intended to be one of the three directed by Akio Jissoji for the series. However, due to time constraints for scriptwriting and budgetary considerations, it ultimately couldn't be produced. Instead, "The Light and Shadow of the Youthful" was created in its place.

Synopsis

Ena, blessed with a voice as beautiful as that of a woman's, found solace in singing secretly deep within the forest, enduring the prejudices from those around him. Suddenly, three men and women appeared, joining in with their instruments to accompany his song.

The next day, thinking it was all a dream, Ena returned to the forest and encountered the three individuals again. However, they were not human but rather monsters. Asuka transformed into Dyna and confronted the revealed monsters, but struggled in the battle.

Ena chose to go with the monsters who had accepted him more than humans, and disappeared into the void, his expression filled with happiness.

Cast

• Shin Asuka : Takeshi Tsuruno
• Gousuke Hibiki : Ryo Kinomoto
• Toshiyuki Kohda : Toshikazu Fukawa
• Ryo Yumimura : Risa Saito
• Kouhei Kariya : Takao Kase
• Tsutomu Nakajima : Joe Onodera
• Mai Midorikawa : Mariya Yamada

Guest Actors

• Toshikazu Ena
• Miyamoto
• Woman
• Man with Lute
• Small Man with Bells
• Handa
• Sakamaki
• Male Student
• Female Student

Suit Actors

• Ultraman Dyna :
  • Koji Nakamura
  • Shunsuke Gondo
  • Kazuya Shimizu

Appearances

Ultras

• Ultraman Dyna
  • Flash Type

Kaiju

• Demon (tentative name)

Trivia

• In the preparation draft of this episode, opera was cited as the background music theme, including George Frideric Handel's Rinaldo (HWV 7), specifically Act I Scene 7: "Cara sposa, amante cara".
  • Regarding the existence of the "Demon", they are described in the script as "living in a way so different from ours, full of suffering but also filled with joy."
• According to an interview with the episode's writer, Ai Ota, in 2000:
  • In the script, Ena is regarded as an existence that transcends ordinary human understanding and is even rejected due to her exceptional singing talent. Ota believes that, to some extent, Ena can be seen as a "Oni". She explained this view by citing performers in Misemonogoya (freak shows) commonly seen at festivals and temple fairs during the Showa era. When these performers took the stage, the audience would throw coins at them, but when they stepped down to eat or shop, they were often met with strange looks. Ota believes this is similar to the ancient Japanese concept of "Oni," whose ethical views and behaviors are fundamentally different from those of ordinary people.
  • To further illustrate the concept of "ethics," Ota referenced a story: In the story, a beggar plays a pipa in front of a poet's house when a Oni suddenly appears and kills him. The Oni, holding the beggar's pipa, sings the beggar's inner thoughts, then bows in front of the house before leaving. This "bowing" represents a completely different ethical expression, showing that even those who are indifferent to life can approach music or other forms of expression with great ceremony. This behavior, which deviates from the "conventional ethics" of ordinary people, constitutes the essence of "Oni." As a result, such "Oni" are often rejected by society and even destroyed.