Wataru's brother, Isamu always looks up on a dream of playing rugby. He was soon visited by a trio of aliens and gradually accepts them but the party were challenged by a group of evil aliens in a rugby match.
Plot[]
Xio members Daichi, Wataru and Asuna are watching a rugby tournament with one of the players is Wataru's brother, Isamu. While Isamu performs well at first but he accidentally hands the ball to the opposing player and made his team lose. After the match, Isamu felt into despair and quits his career as a rugby player, much to Wataru's surprise.
While walking outside, Isamu comes across a rented house and offers a place inside by three residents, office worker Nackley, convenient store worker Icary and craftsman Halky. At night, while they are having dinner, Isamu falls asleep and the three residents reveal their true forms as aliens Valky, Icarus and Nackle respectively. While they are tired from assuming human forms, but at least they glad to find a "kind" human as a housemate.
Meanwhile, Chiaki picks up a recording from a security camera at a warehouse, featuring Alien Babarue, Kemur, Dada and Alien Zetton. According to Guruman, they are known as the Dark Star Cluster, an intergalactic crime network. The next day, while Isamu remembered the day where he became a rugby player upon looking up on his brother, the three alien borders finally recognize him as the rugby player that gave up his career. As they accepting him as a friend and willing to counsel his problems, Isamu likewise discovers their true nature but decides to keep quiet after witnessing their kindness over others.
During their snack time, a meteor crashed their house, which turns out to be Halky's pet, Jolly, missing his owner. But the meteor impact made them and Isamu on the run from Xio until Isamu tells Wataru of what really happened. Suddenly, the Dark Star Cluster appear, wanting Halky's Jolly for being a perfect monster weapon. Valky challenges them for a rugby (funny enough, Babarue is a former champion of the Space Rugby League). Seeing Isamu as an equal match, the Dark Star Cluster agree and gives them three days to prepare. Encouraged by his brother, Isamu agrees to teach them while Xio prepares an empty rugby field and for Daichi to guard the Samekujira.
At the day of the tournament, Isamu's team and the Dark Star Cluster play while Isamu's rugby team watch from behind. However, the Dark Star Cluster cheats with their own power until the second half, where Isamu's care for his alien friends spikes his fighting spirit and lead the team to victory. Isamu offers them a handshake but feeling mocked for being treated equals after the game ended, the Dark Star Cluster enlarge and begins on a rampaging spree until Ultraman X appears and use Gomora Oscillatory Wave to send them above the sky.
After the match, Isamu rejoins his team as they head to London.
Daichi's Monster Lab[]
Daichi: Daichi's Monster Lab! This time, we're looking at this monster.
According to Takao Nakano, the original title for the episode was "Fly Out! Nebula"(飛び出せ!星雲, Tobidase! Seiun), inspired by the 1973 drama Tobidase! Seishun, which featured a scene where characters "kicked a soccer ball" in a strikingly dynamic manner.[2]
The original concept for the episode was to incorporate a pun involving Gubila and rugby. Initially, it was not Samekujira Jolly but Gubila who was supposed to appear as the character kicked around like a ball. However, considering the idea of a baby being used as a ball seemed too cruel, the kaiju was eventually changed to Samekujira Jolly.
Nakano admitted that this episode wasn't entirely written as he had initially envisioned. Yuichi Abe, the writer, also incorporated his own perspective. The original script was meant to depict three aliens who hadn't given up on their plan to invade Earth. Though they were villains, they were portrayed as miserly workers. However, Abe wanted the story to have a more emotional ending, so he rewrote the aliens as ultimately good characters. The idea of the aliens giving a wallet to the police officer was also Abe's concept.
The protagonist of this episode was originally considered to be either Wataru or his younger brother. In the initial script, there was a storyline where Wataru would be emotionally conflicted during an undercover investigation. However, Nakano hesitated on this direction. Ultimately, Nakano decided to focus on the younger brother as the main character, as Wataru had already made a firm decision about his own life path.
Yuichi Abe revealed that an episode featuring rugby had already been planned for Ultraman X, but it was handed over to him for final development. Upon reading Nakano's script, Abe found it full of interesting elements but was particularly fond of the idea of aliens living together in a shared house. He decided to focus on that concept and created a story.
The aliens were chosen to be of a species with a rugby-appropriate physique. Interestingly, the suit actors were able to catch the ball while wearing the suits, which surprised the rugby association members who helped with the filming.
The character of Alien Akumania, the referee, was added by Nakano. Abe wondered if the character could blow a whistle, and the art department immediately created a whistle for the character.
The rugby match scenes were not just about filming passing shots; instead, the entire flow of the game was carefully constructed. This approach was taken to ensure the scene felt authentic, as simply filming isolated moments would have made it seem unrealistic.
In this episode, the shared house where the three aliens reside is named "Nebula House." This name was later carried over into Ultraman Geed, where it serves as a major backdrop.
