"Behold! The sun setting there is me. The sun which will rise again tomorrow... is you!"
―Ultraseven speaking to Leo
The Terrifying Saucer Creature Series! - Farewell, Leo! Setting Off for the Sun(恐怖の円盤生物シリーズ！さようならレオ！太陽への出発, Kyōfu no Enban Seibutsu Shirīzu! Sayōnara Reo! Taiyō e no Tabidachi) is the fifty-first and final episode of Ultraman Leo. It is also the twelfth and last episode of The Terrifying Saucer Creature Series(恐怖の円盤生物シリーズ, Kyōfu no Enban Seibutsu Shirīzu!) story arc.
Toru wants to go to the Izu Sea which holds an important place in his heart so Gen takes him there. As they head for the sea, Saucer Creature Black End comes out from underground and calls Leo's name as it destroys the city.
Toru thinks it's okay because Leo will take care of it, but Gen wants to teach Toru about strength so he reveals his identity and takes on his final battle!
Plot[]
Black End departs from Black Star towards Earth. Meanwhile, the Miyama's go to visit the grave of the man of the family. Toru quietly mourns Momoko and Kaoru when an earthquake strikes. The incident is forgotten when Toru asks Gen to take him to the beach because Momoko would take him and Kaoru there.
They are interrupted on their trip when another earthquake strikes, and Black End rises from the ground. It calls Leo's name as it looks around. Gen tells Toru to run, and the boy refuses, believing Leo will always come to save him. Conflicted, Gen does not transform, and Black Directive calls the monster back.
Izumi continues to suspect the saucer beasts are after Leo. Ayumi and Sakiko defend him. That night, Gen wonders if he should leave Earth. Seven appears to Gen's dream and tells him that he must decide whether or not to live alongside the humans. Seven tells Leo that to win, he needs to tell the humans he is an alien.
Toru and Gen train, but Toru falls behind. Gen tells him to go to the beach to be strong in a place by himself. They do not notice Black Directive sneaking up behind them. Black End rises from the ground.
Seeing the saucer monster, Ayumi wonders whether Gen and Toru are OK. She gets the other students and they go to search for them. Meanwhile, the monster pursues the two. Gen reveals his identity to Toru, and transforms.
While Leo is battling Black End, Black Directive sees Toru on the ground and captures him, holding a knife to his throat. Distracted, Leo is beaten down and his Color Timer start to blinking and he gets flashbacks and also hears Seven encouraging him to fight.
Meanwhile, Ayumi leads her band of children to where Black Directive is holding Toru captive. They attack him, lead by her. She bites his hand and Toru grabs the ball, and throws it to Leo. Black Directive collapses.
Leo throws the ball into Black End and it dies. The children back off in horror as Black Directive melts in front of them. Black Star appears in the sky hurtling towards Earth and Leo destroys it.
Later, Gen bids farewell to the children, Toru, and the Miyamas. Sakiko tells him that if he was an alien, they wouldn't care because they all love him. Gen takes his Leo Ring off his hand, then says that he wants to see the world before setting off. Toru runs after him and waves goodbye as Gen's boat drives towards the sunset, hoping to explore Earth from the perspective of a human.
In this episode, Ultraseven is not voiced by Kohji Moritsugu but by Tetsuro Sagawa.
Momoko Yamaguchi and Kaoru Umeda appear in this episode in photograph form, while Takeshi Nomura is mentioned in a conversation between Gen and Toru.
The opening scene features Gen Otori training at the Jonan Sports Center, confirming that he continued visiting the location even after MAC's destruction.
The article titled "Goodbye, Ultraman Leo" was published in the April 1975 issue of "Shōgaku Ichinensei."[1]
The article titled "Goodbye, Ultraman," published on March 13, 1975, by the Mainichi Shimbun, reported on the conclusion of this work and the end of the second Showa Ultraman series.[2][3]
Yamagiwa was not involved in most of the production of Ultraman Leo. At the time, he was working with producer Yoji Hashimoto on another TV series, Japan Sinks, and working under those circumstances proved to be quite difficult for him. After being asked to return, he contributed some ideas and directed the final two episodes.
Due to the high production costs of special effects, TBS was no longer able to support the budget for Ultraman shows. As a result, the atmosphere at Tsuburaya Productions during Ultraman Leo was one of resignation, with many feeling that the series had reached its end. Everyone at Tsuburaya believed it wasn’t worthwhile to produce another episode, as the income didn’t cover the costs. This left the production in a very difficult situation, with the conditions for Ultraman Leo being extremely unfavorable.
This is the final live-action episode of the Ultraman franchise for now until Ultraman 80 episode 1 "Ultraman Teacher" premiered on April 2, 1980 returning the series to its original live-action format, after Leo’s conclusion - the timeslot was occupied by Kamen Rider Stronger being the first time since Gekko Kamen back in 1958/1959, that a series by Toei Company was aired on TBS instead of NET (now TV Asahi).
According to Ryu Manatsu in a 2018 interview, he does remember the scene where Gen and Toru depart by boat after their farewell. However, the details have become blurry over time, as it was more than 40 years ago.[5]
Additionally, in the subtitles released by Netflix, Gen is simply labeled as "male," while Toru is referred to as a "boy."[7]
Errors[]
The same ball prop is used for Black Directive's crystal before and after Toru throws it to Leo, making it appear as if it suddenly grew immensely offscreen.
