The Sky-Flying Iron Colossus is the second The Final Chapters episode of Heisei Ultraseven.
Synopsis[]
The Friendship Plan has finally entered the implementation stage. Satomi, a team member who has consistently disagreed with the plan, decides to visit Ojima Island with Rumi during her vacation to visit relatives. Satomi remembered the science fiction novel "The Sky-Flying Iron Colossus" that her father used to read to her often when she was a child, but strangely, the same events as in the story actually occurred in real life. Who exactly is the author of the novel, Yoshiya Henmi?
Plot[]
TDF once again fired their warheads at the Taurus Binary System after viewing the planet as a potential threat, much to UG’s dismay. Satomi had a flashback of her younger self alongside her father meeting another man. That person turned out to be a science fiction novelist who decided to leave on a ferry. Satomi and Rumi went to the former’s hometown, Okina Island to spend their holiday from the stresses in dealing with TDF. Satomi was revealed to have kept her job as a secret from her aunt and feigned working in a commercial company. A man in black constantly kept an eye on Satomi for reasons unknown.
Rumi learned that Satomi used to have a father, Ichirou, who ran a publishing company until it was caught in a fire, rumoured to be the work of an alien saucer that a few people had noticed. Satomi obtained the book that was the last work of her father’s company; The Sky Flying Iron Colossus Part 1, written by Yoshiya Henmi. The book chronicled about the fight between an alien robot named Daitekkai (Iron Colossus) and the TDF. It was a book wich Staomi used to enjoy during her bedtime as it was read to her by her father. Satomi joined the UG after being inspired by the story’s protagonist as the Earth’s protector. But with Kaji running things in the office, the thought of quitting crossed her mind again. In her dream/flashback, Satomi’s father read the book about how TDF opened fired on a mountain that revealed Daitekkai’s appearance. As she awakened from her sleep, she discovered her father’s silhouette from behind the sliding door turned into a monster, but he exited from it as a seemingly normal human.
Satomi was awakened by Kazamori calling through her Video Ceiver, telling her that at a clump of metal was found at Mt. Narusawa and ordered her to get into action. She connected the dots together and warned her colleagues to prevent the iron colossus from getting underground, but to no avail. While attempting to establish contact, Satomi spotted the same man in black from yesterday and chased him. He was revealed to be a puppet controlled by a spider-like Alien Galo, demanding the second part of the book that her father published 20 years prior.
UG received a fax copy of the entire Iron Colossus novel from Satomi upon the incident. Kazamori’s thorough investigation revealed that the novel is more than it initially seemed, especially when a portion of a plan was printed on the illustrations. The book was dated way back in 2 decades prior before TDF would even had the idea of putting said system into use. Kazamori departed to Ultra Hawk 3 to Okina Island, and actually recognized the aforementioned plans came from Planet Kyuloo. According to Mizuno, Daitekkai empowered itself by feeding on energies to be stored as particles before it could be used as energy projectiles. The novel also added that at full power, Daitekkai could possibly destroy a city. Upon arrival, Kazamori met with Rumi and sensed another nearby alien in his vicinity.
Satomi was tended by and reunited with Henmi after being separated for a long time. Yoshiya revealed that his true identity is an Alien Kyuloo, whose spaceship (Daitekkai) crash landed and befriended Satomi’s father. Seeking help of a scientist who could repair his ship, Henmi published his story and schematics through Ichirou, but the ones taking interest on this were the Alien Galo. Their true intention is to use the ship as their invasion weapon, but since the book is incomplete, they try to search for him. Ichirou hid Henmi in his hometown, Okina Island before the Galos killed him in arson. Alien Galo at first were willing to be patient with their invasion plan, but as TDF became infamous for the Friendship Plan, they became desperate to protect their own skin. Despite Satomi’s declaration that UG will protect him, Henmi ordered her to stay behind and gave her his manuscript for his novel’s second part.
Henmi was confronted by a trio of teenagers possessed by Alien Galos before Kazamori saved him. Kazamori and Henmi revealed their respective identities and the former sought the latter’s help in stopping Daitekkai. Henmi however revealed that their chance of stopping it is low, and that he himself would volunteer to stop them from within. Daitekkai assumed its robot mode, but without the necessary component, all it could do was fighting with beam attacks. When Kyuloo offered himself as the final part, the Galos forced him into using his strong emotions to empower Daitekkai’s movements. As it appeared that Seven was about to lose, Kyuloo regain control by ripping off the chest compartment to reveal the robot’s weak point. Despite Satomi’s protest, Seven ripped the core off and destroyed the robot, killing all of the Alien Galo in the explosion, as well as Henmi/Kyuloo.
UG gave their final respect to Henmi for his sacrifice, as Satomi quoted his belief of how science should not be abused for war before they head home.
"I have pondered that science should always exist for justice, never to be used for killing or destruction. This may be a very difficult thing. But it is not impossible. As long as we do not forget that childhood day, the day we flipped through the pages of science fiction, the day we dreamed of science..."
- ―Satomi Hayakawa
Cast[]
- Dan Moroboshi : Kohji Moritsugu
- Sanshiro Shiragane : Koji Nanjo
- Masaki Kazamori : Katsuyuki Yamazaki
- Keisuke Shima : Kunio Masaoka
- Takuma Mizuno : Wataru Koga
- Satomi Hayakawa : Kaoru Ukawa
- Rumi Honjou : Rieko Adachi
- Kaji : Shigeki Kagemaru
Guest Actors[]
- Alien Kyuloo /Yoshiya Henmi : Shoichiro Akaboshi
- Ichiro Hayakawa : Shiro Namiki
- Mysterious man /Alien Garo : Akitoshi Otaki
- Auntie : Yuko Miyauchi
- Fishing youths : Koichi Toshima , Kohji Mimura
Suit Actors[]
- Ultraseven : Hiroyuki Okano
- Daitekkai : Takenori Ito
Appearances[]
Ultras[]
Kaiju[]
Home Media[]
Each episode was originally released on a separate DVD. The complete series was later released in a DVD box set titled Ultraseven 1994～2002 Perfect Collection on April 18, 2012.[1][2]
Trivia[]
- Writer Toshinobu Oi originally proposed the script titled "The Hometown of My Thoughts" for this episode. The final story, however, focused on Mizuno as the main character and added a figure named Ichinotani.[3]
- Both early and final drafts listed this episode as number 5. Early versions also included Windom and showed its fight against Daitekkai.
- Screenwriter Toshinobu Oi had a strong personal connection to the story. Oi passed away in 2022, and his wife shared insights about the episode's production on social media:
- She revealed that Oi was diagnosed with lung cancer while writing the script and had to stop midway due to hospitalization and surgery.[4] The script reflects the emotions of a father forced to leave his daughter behind, possibly mirroring Oi's own thoughts on mortality during the writing process.[5]
References[]