Hiroya Narumi is a guest character who appeared in Ultraman Dyna. He is a playwright.
Personality
Narumi is considered an exceptionally imaginative and highly creative playwright. He possesses a deep understanding of bizarre events and literature related to the occult, both ancient and modern, and has an indescribable passion for monsters. It is this kind of madness and dedication that sets him apart as a truly unique individual. He views the real world as his creative stage and employs unconventional methods such as alchemy to try to blend fantasy with reality in an attempt to create the ideal ending he envisions.
However, it is precisely because of his unique obsession and paranoia that ultimately led to his disappearance.
History
Pre-Ultraman Dyna
In the past, Narumi was a renowned playwright who viewed the real world as a vast stage, positioning himself as the director within it and earning the admiration of the audience. He once authored a drama piece titled "Kaiju Play", which was featured in theatrical magazines. However, this work remains unfinished to this day, primarily because he abruptly disbanded his troupe of actors a year ago and mysteriously vanished, resulting in the play never being publicly performed.
According to his diary entries, it appears that he attempted to use a method resembling alchemy to recreate the image of the monster "Bundar," mentioned in the story of "Kaiju Play," in the real world. According to the diary, the summoning method for Bunder involved placing a twisted pearl along with horse dung into a flask, then heating it to Fahrenheit 451 degrees over the course of 40 days. Simultaneously, over the next 40 weeks, he continued to infuse the flask with elements of blood, flesh and bones from the story, while also providing the root of a mandrake plant. The method for defeating this monster seemed to be entrusted to what he regarded as a "daughter," a doll.
At this point, he successfully established the conditions to stage the "Kaiju Play" in the real world, allowing his fantasies to manifest in the tangible reality.
Ultraman Dyna
One day, a man who had been likened by Narumi to the 19th-century German amnesiac "Kaspar Hauser" caused a disturbance on the street. He loudly proclaimed, "The monster Bundar is coming!" This occurred shortly after a mysterious tower-like object descended from the sky. The man subsequently fell into a coma and was transported to TPC for treatment. After conducting an investigation, it was discovered that he had lost his memory. However, upon confirming that this man was in fact Narumi's butler, Kariya and Asuka from Super GUTS went to Narumi's home in search of clues. During their investigation, they also came across Narumi's diary. Unknown to them, something was watching them through a teddy bear sitting nearby.
When Kariya returned to the medical center to deliver the script to the man, Asuka who remained at Narumi's house for further investigation, accidentally fell into a trap set by Narumi and entered another world. Upon seeing the man with the script whisper, "I see it," Kariya asked him what he saw, to which he replied, "A stage." Narumi had already regarded the entire city as a massive stage, and by allowing his creation, Bundar, to wreak havoc, he and his troupe members would together bring this play to completion, attempting to realize the ending of the "Kaiju Play," which involved Bundar destroying humanity.
The reason he kept the ending a secret was that in his script, the only one capable of defeating Bundar was Ultraman Dyna, resulting in a single grand finale. However, he was dissatisfied with this ending and set traps in an attempt to prevent Dyna's appearance, all in order to allow Bundar to destroy humanity and fulfill his own theatrical vision. When Narumi appeared before Asuka, who had awakened in the mysterious space, he realized that Asuka was the true identity of Dyna and restrained him, intending to personally witness the extinction of humanity from the audience seats. Meanwhile, the events of the Narumi's script continued to act themselves out in real life, resulting in Bundar shooting down Super GUTS fighters.
However, Kariya and Mayumi through hidden words and foreshadowing in the theatrical lines, discovered the concealed pictorial ending within the script by rolling the silver paper into a tube shape on the cover, revealing a transforming image. This allowed them to unveil the hidden resolution within the script. As a result, Dyna was successfully rescued and confronted Bundar. Bundar mistakenly used its "distortion space ability" and became ensnared by the illusion it had created, ultimately leading to its self-destruction.
As for Narumi, he remained missing after this incident, perhaps continuing to craft the sequel to his drama somewhere unknown. Monster Drama
SPECIAL EPISODE: New Tale: Monster Drama, Prologue
In this special episode, Narumi returns to the stage to narrate the monsters that appeared in the Ultraman Dyna series from his own perspective.
In his narrative, he mentions that due to humanity's inability to respond correctly to monsters, understanding the truth of suffering has become exceedingly difficult. As humanity ventures into space and modifies the existing environment for survival in a new era, it has also turned the fantastical cosmos into reality. However, the former fantasies have lost their value, giving way to the emergence of new delusions. Reveling in the pleasure known as "destruction" has become the process he takes enjoyment in.
Regarding his feelings about the existence of Ultraman Dyna, Narumi expresses that, even though he understands that Dyna's presence embodies the truth of safeguarding this world, for himself, who consistently opts for "creation," Dyna represents a natural adversary. This world does not possess the eternal power to permanently subdue monsters or aliens; only gods or orders from the grand cosmos can accomplish this. Since Dyna effectively wields the power of a "god," it constitutes a significant heresy for him. Typical stories often conclude with Dyna defeating monsters and providing closure. Narumi believes that, even though Ultraman possesses the power to "turn the impossible into the possible," he takes an opposing stance to reduce it to the "power to seal monsters and erase delusions." He begins to question whether Ultraman can only serve as a concluding role in a television drama.
To create unexpected developments for the audience and showcase stories never seen before, he decided to break the limitations of "reality" on the mechanism of delusion. All forms of justice, evil, and truth will eventually turn into nothingness. Narumi believes that his delusions are on par with the all-encompassing cosmic order, intended to pierce the curtain of the "end."
However, without an audience, the story is devoid of meaning. It is precisely because people continually pursue the "beyond today" that stories can acquire substantial significance. Narumi ultimately grasped the meaning of "Ultraman." He realized that Ultraman's power is not a closing act but rather a presence that leaves memories in the hearts of the audience to unveil the curtain once more. This way, people can use these memories as a continuous goal to move forward.
In the end, Narumi announced his firm resolve to make the world where Ultraman, monsters, and visitors from other dimensions exist the stage for his stories and turn his delusional tales into reality. As a great playwright, he also decided to pen a story entirely his own, one that no one had ever seen before. He bowed to the invisible audience once more and disappeared from the stage. New Tale: Monster Drama, Prologue
Gallery
Ultraman Dyna
SPECIAL EPISODE: New Tale: Monster Drama, Prologue
Trivia
- According to an interview with Akio Jissoji, Narumi is based on the Japanese novelist Tatsuhiko Shibusawa.