Midnight, a police patrol officer was beaten to death by an ape-like big man. Dan and Anne visited the Monkey Center for investigation and was welcomed by Professor Mayama, Anne's old friend. However, Mayama and his woman assistant were both brainwashed by Alien Goron. The aim of Alien Goron was to exchange humans' brains with that of apes', making Earth a planet of ape-men!
As Ultraseven entered its final stages, the production budget became increasingly tight. Around that time, an opportunity arose for a collaboration with the Japan Monkey Park (formerly known as Inuyama Monkey Center/Inuyama Line Park) in Aichi Prefecture.[2] This collaboration prompted the production team to consider, "Why not incorporate a story in Ultraseven reminiscent of the film Planet of the Apes?" This idea became the foundation for the episode's concept.[3]
As part of a staff excursion, Ichikawa and Shozo Uehara traveled to Aichi Prefecture to conduct research for the episode. Initially, Ichikawa had invited Tetsuo Kinjo to join them, but Kinjo was too busy juggling other projects and overseeing the final episodes of Ultraseven, so only Ichikawa and Uehara went.
When Ichikawa and Uehara arrived in Aichi Prefecture, they had an excellent time, enjoying drinks together every evening while also conducting thorough research at the monkey center. It is said that their guide at the center, an elderly caretaker, bore an uncanny resemblance to a monkey. While he was a kind and friendly person, his monkey-like appearance left a strong impression on them. This led Ichikawa and Uehara to joke, "Do people who take care of monkeys start to look like them?" Over drinks in the evening, they speculated further, imagining that the monkeys in the cages might actually be aliens and that the caretaker himself could have been transformed into a monkey. These playful conversations ultimately inspired the creation of Gorry.
In the initial draft, Gorry was conceived as an ape-like human whose brain had been transplanted with a monkey's. However, in the final script, his character was reworked to involve a brainwave-switching device that altered his consciousness.
According to Yuriko Hishimi, while filming the river crossing scene at Japan Rhine,[4] she suffered heatstroke and developed a fever of 40°C.[5][6]
After filming wrapped, she returned to Tokyo by train with Junji Masuda, who played Dr. Mayama in the episode. Masuda suggested, "Hishimi, would you like to stop by Meiji Mura on the way?" Although Hishimi wasn't feeling unwell at the time, she declined the invitation. Later, she admitted that she somewhat regretted turning it down.[7]
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