The Snow of Venus

The Snow of Venus
Ultraman Dyna, episode 44
Information
Airdate	July 11, 1998
Directed by	Hirochika Muraishi
Written by	Keiichi Hasegawa
Special Effects Directed by	Hiromasa Mitsudome Hirochika Muraishi
Viewer Ratings	5.0%
Continuity
Previous	Captain Long-Legs
Next	Tear of Churasa

The Snow of Venus is the forty-fourth episode of Ultraman Dyna.

Plot

The episode started of with a project by TPC to rehabilitate Venus for humans to expand as a new frontier. A machine developed by a TPC scientist with a goal that one day Venus will be bustling with life. Unfortunately, he lost contact with his machine and the Super GUTS had to deploy the Clarkov NF-3000 to investigate. When Shin Asuka was sent on the GUTS Eagle Alpha, he discovered that the machine had been destroyed. It was then known that this was caused by the work of Sphere, which merged with the destroyed machine and rose as Graikis.

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
• Seiji Miyata : Hiroshi Tsuburaya

Guest Actors

• Mark Asakawa : Michael Tomioka

Voice Actors

• Sphere : Ikuko Tatsu
• Narrator : Yuji Machi

Suit Actors

• Ultraman Dyna :
  • Shunsuke Gondo
  • Kazuhiko Shimizu
• Graikis : Kohji Mimura

Appearances

Ultras

• Ultraman Dyna
  • Flash Type
  • Miracle Type

Kaiju

• Sphere
• Graikis

Home Media

• Ultraman Dyna Volume 11 features episodes 41-44.

Trivia

• Based on an interview with Keiichi Hasegawa in 2000, the content of this episode was as follows:
  • Considering the nature of Ultraman Dyna, this episode was initially conceived as a story that focused more on "offense" rather than "defense." The concept for the episodes was proposed during the early stages of the series. However, due to budget constraints and the complexity of handling a space-themed storyline, the plot was rejected twice, causing a delay until the later stages of production.
  • Hasegawa mentioned that stories set on Venus are quite rare in most science fiction works. Given that Venus is closer to Earth than Mars, yet remains an environment inhospitable to human life, the episode aimed to depict how humanity would challenge such extreme conditions.
• During the filming of the Venus scenes for this episode, the decision was made to set the story on a nighttime Venus due to the difficulty in accurately portraying the planet's harsh environment and the challenges of realizing the plot.

• The episode portrays the characters fighting in an extremely harsh environment, almost like being trapped in the depths of hell. To create this atmosphere, the production team hung white cloths in the dimly lit background, using lighting to cast lines and creating a heavy, oppressive mood with fog. Art assistant Toshinari Ichihara also conducted repeated experiments in the snow to make the scene more realistic.
• The director Hirochika Muraishi, explained that the Venus scenes were shot entirely in a closed-set style. Two cameras were placed in different positions to capture each shot precisely. All of the footage was processed during post-production, and the special effects scenes were completed within a single day of shooting. The remaining half-day was dedicated to filming the cockpit scenes of the Clarkov NF-3000.