The Storm Hunter is the fourth episode of Ultraman: Towards the Future. It is also called Winds of Degunja in Japan.
Synopsis[]
Jack and Lloyd headed to investigate a tornado that attacks people with intention.
From the story of Lloyd's old friend, it turns out that the genie Degunja passed down in the Mujari family went out of control due to Gudis Cells.
Plot[]
One day, a couple of hunters were hunting kangaroos when a dust devil picked up their car and dropped it causing an explosion, but nobody was killed. Since there wasn't a cloud in the sky, UMA suspected the Gudis virus. Jack and Lloyd tried looking in one of the taverns, but no luck.
Just as they were about to leave, a small tornado appeared. After it vanished, a local storm chaser appeared and promised to help out. That night, a odd low pressure system formed, making the UMA send Charles and Jean to investigate. The next day, the dust devil reappeared and was heading for Jack and Lloyd. A trap was set, and the dust devil stopped in its tracks.
UMA shot it, revealing Degunja. Degunja the proceeded to attack the plane Jack and Lloyd were in, making Jack turn into Ultraman Great. Degunja, howerver, had the upper hand and kept deflecting Ultraman Great's beams and shooting him down with his own. Ultraman Great would not give up and absorbed some of the beams Degunja fired and used the Energy Beam to purify him of the Gudis virus and destroy him, returning peace to the outback.
Cast[]
- Jack Shindo: Dore Kraus
- Jean Echo: Gia Carides
- Arthur Grant: Ralph Cotterill
- Kim Shaomin: Grace Parr
- Charles Morgan: Lloyd Morris
- Lloyd Wilder: Rick Adams
Guest Actors[]
- Mudjudi: Ernie Dingo
- Dave: Alec Wilson
- Robbo: Stephen Horne
- Bartender: Betty Sumner
Voice Actors[]
- Ultraman Great: Matthew O'Sullivan
- Narrator: John Bonney
Japanese Dub[]
- Jack Shindo: Masaki Kyomoto
- Jean Echo: Yoshiko Sakakibara
- Arthur Grant: Akiji Kobayashi
- Kim Shaomin: Fumi Hirano
- Charles Morgan: Koichi Yamadera
- Lloyd Wilder: Shingo Yanagisawa
- Mudjudi: Ryusei Nakao
- Narrator: Hiroshi Fujioka
Suit Actors[]
- Ultraman Great: Steve Apps and Robert Simper
- Monsters: Mike Read and Johnny Halliday
Appearances[]
Ultras[]
Kaiju[]
Trivia[]
- According to a 2017 interview with the Japanese production staff, series writer Noboru Aikawa revealed that the initial story was a complete adaptation of Return of Ultraman episode 34 "The Life That Can't Be Forgiven." Aikawa's version focused on Lloyd's biologist friend, whose experiments with small organisms led to them being possessed and transformed by Gudis cells.[1]
- It was only after revisions by Chiaki J. Konaka that the story evolved into its current form, which included additional elements related to Indigenous Australians. In Aikawa's original script, only the part about Lloyd reuniting with his old friend was retained. Notably, Konaka, who has always excelled at condensing scripts, wrote the episode 4 script in just 15 pages, perfectly aligning with the filming requirements.[2]
- The original concept provided by Chiaki J. Konaka was written on May 15, 1989, with the first draft submitted on May 22, the second draft on May 29, and a revised draft with an unspecified date. This version was reportedly inspired by Peter Weir’s film The Last Wave. and it added elements such as indigenous australians, a black tornado, cave paintings, and wildlife killed in frequent car accidents. The script tells the story of a "God of Wind," a manifestation of the anger of wild animals killed on the roads.[3]
- Terry Larsen’s script introduced some original elements, including Arthur attending a fundraising party and Jack initially suspecting Gary to be Gudis. Additionally, in the original concept, the hunters were merely victims, but in Terry's version, the hunters become the instigators who shoot at Degunja’s cave, awakening it. In the original draft, the rain that falls when Degunja dies was reinterpreted in Terry’s script as the beginning of the rainy season.
- In the original concept, the detector that Jean gives to Jack was disguised as a cross-shaped charm.
References[]
- ↑ Entertainment Archive : Ultraman G & Ultraman Powered pg 68
- ↑ https://ayamekareihikagami.hateblo.jp/entry/2015/05/24/194402
- ↑ Entertainment Archive : Ultraman G & Ultraman Powered pg 72
| Ultraman: Towards the Future Episodes | |
|---|---|
| 1. Signs of Life | 2. The Hibernator | 3. The Child's Dream | 4. The Storm Hunter | 5. Blast from the Past | 6. The Showdown | 7. The Forest Guardian | 8. Bitter Harvest | 9. The Biospherians | 10. Tourists from the Stars | 11. The Survivalists | 12. The Age of Plagues | 13. Nemesis | |