Following the defeat of Geegon, Yapool's most recent Terrible-Monster creation, a juvenile Alien Simon appears on Earth. Meanwhile, Yapool sets his grandest plan yet into motion, and creates the chimeric Terrible-Monster Jumbo King! It turns out that Alien Simon has a greater connection to the chaos than first thought, and Yapool soon places Hokuto into an awful dilemma that may decide his existence as a human being...
Plot[]
A flying saucer crashed after being hit by another from the back. While examining the saucer's remains, TAC discovered an Alien Simon and took it from the children playing as the Ultra Brothers. In the middle of returning to base, Yapool summoned the souls of the deceased Terrible-Monsters: Unitang, Cowra, Mazaronian and Mazarius and fuse them into Jumbo King. As the TAC members fend for themselves, Hokuto spirited the young alien to the stable. Through their radio, Yapool demanded the young alien with their city's safety as a bargaining chip. Despite TAC's best effort to lure the Terrible-Monster away from the city, Jumbo King persist and destroyed half of it and spared the other half for the next day. The Alien Simon injured Hokuto on purpose and planned to surrender itself to spare the city from Yapool.
At TAC's headquarters, captain Goro Ryu explained that the formation of Jumbo King was made possible due to the fact that past monsters defeated by both Ultramen and attack teams had their molecules remained on Earth, thus Yapool was able to gather most of the defeated Terrible-Monsters in the past into his recent creation. In order to save both the city and the children's hearts, the captain suggest using a Cell Decomposition Missile despite being at the prototype stage. Outside, Yuko contacted Hokuto, and warned that should he get his identity exposed, the possibility exists that he may never be able to return as a human.
In the next day, TAC attempted to use the missile, but Jumbo King managed to resist and continue rampaging the second half of the city. While alone in the stable with a group of children, Hokuto noticed something amiss with Alien Simon's antenna. Jumbo King appeared again, and the truth was finally revealed; Alien Simon was just a disguise of Yapool. The alien mastermind taunted Hokuto, telling him that if he were to shoot him, the trust of the children Hokuto was protecting would be forever ruined. Having no choice, Hokuto shot Simon, defeating Yapool once again, but at the cost of the children's trust.
Horrified, the children asked Hokuto why he would do such a thing, and didn't believe him when he said that Simon had told him the truth through telepathy, saying that only the Ultra Brothers had this sort of power. Hokuto was able to restore the children's faith in him by revealing that he was Ace's host. With this issue resolved, there was now only one thing left to do.
"In order to tell them the truth, this is the only option I had. Goodbye Earth, goodbye fellow TAC members, goodbye Seiji Hokuto."
―Ultraman Ace
After Hokuto transformed, Ace fought valiantly against Jumbo King and killed the last Terrible-Monster after a long struggle. However, his act of exposing his identity forced Hokuto to forsaken his humanity and prepared to leave Earth. After Ace giving a few parting words and flying towards the sunset, the children bid their farewell and the episode ended with shots of the TAC members.
"Don't lose your kindness. Take care of the weak and help each other. And don't stop trying to be friendly with people from other countries. No matter how many times you're disappointed. Those are my last wishes."
The ending of this episode features the theme song "Ultraman Ace," with the screen showing each of the seven TAC members in turn, followed by an image of Ultraman Ace and the words "The End."
According to writer Shinichi Ichikawa, had Minami not returned to the Moon, the series might have ended very differently.[2]
Ichikawa stated that he never intended for Ace to exist forever. In this alternate scenario, Hokuto and Minami would return to ordinary human lives, losing the ability to transform into Ace. Through their battles, they would realize their love for each other and choose to live as an ordinary couple, willingly giving up their transformations. Their genuine love would make them no longer need the so-called "power of the gods", the power of Ace. Thus, the two would retire from TAC, either starting a new life on a ranch or returning to their hometown in Hiroshima, where they would eventually have a child.[3][2][4]
Ichikawa also saw Yapool as a manifestation of humanity's self-inflicted psychological wounds—an illusion that vanishes once conquered. In the end, Ace would defeat Yapool, while Hokuto and Minami, through their struggles, would awaken to their love for each other. Ichikawa hoped to convey the message that only love can triumph over the demons born from human desire.[4][2]
In the opening scene of this episode, children are seen bullying Alien Simon and asking Hokuto, "Is this alien going to be executed?", Ichikawa explained:
"In the finale, I wanted to show the darker side of Ultraman's legacy, its failures as well as its successes. While the Ultraman series taught children to fight for peace, I asked, 'What does justice truly mean? Is it right to harm the weak under the guise of justice? Can any killing be justified? Does a simple 'good vs. evil' perspective really capture the essence of justice?"
Inspired by these questions, Ichikawa depicted children in Ultraman masks bullying a weaker. He added, "If the Ultraman series has encouraged children to adopt a simplistic view of good and evil, then that reflects a failure by the production team, and it's something I deeply regret."
Producer Yoji Hashimoto recalled that during the development of this episode, he encouraged Ichikawa by saying, “Feel free to write as you like,” and noted that the ending could follow Ichikawa’s vision. Whether Ultraman Ace returned to his home planet or died on Earth was secondary; what truly mattered was that Ichikawa, as the writer, could bring the story to a close in his own way.[6]
According to critic Risaku Kiridoshi, Ichikawa no longer remembered the plot of this episode in his later years. However, he vividly recalled a specific scene where children wearing Ace masks bullied an alien, a moment he found particularly striking in its irony. When rewatching the episode for the DVD commentary, Ichikawa was reportedly astonished, exclaiming, "I can't believe I wrote such a profound story back then!"[7]
In a 2004 interview, Mitsuko Hoshi said she didn't remember filming the episode and wasn't in Japan when it aired. Minami's cameo is believed to come from unused footage originally shot for Episode 38 "Resurrection! Father of Ultra."[2][8]
In 2020, this episode was selected for screening as part of the Ultra Science Fantasy Hour on Ultraman YouTube channel, with its main slogan being "Don't lose your kindness"(優しさを失わないでくれ, Yasashi-sa o ushinawanaide kure).[9][10]
Error[]
Suit actor's eye
In the scene before Alien Simon reveals his true identity, when he is helped to his feet, the suit actor's face can be seen through the mouth.
