Kazamori was reaching out to Seven, who was imprisoned in the distant reaches of space, seeking answers about what he was becoming. But what came back from Seven was an image of an entity seeking to dominate humanity. Could it be none other than the children of humanity...? And finally, the time for the resurrection of Ultraseven arrives!
Plot
Kazamori fell into an existential crisis over his status after the discovery of Seven's essence in his body, making him a part of the Ultra. Through a temporary bonding, Kazamori was relayed of the information that mankind's enemy is themselves. Tashiro noticed the increasing number of muons heading to Kazamori and met the youth in his true form, Alien Garut, to explain that he is a fixed point observer whose wish is to be the eyewitness of evolution on Earth.
Several months after the destruction of TDF Far East Base, an entire population in the city was brainwashed into resuming their normal lives without regarding the Ultra Guard's presence. After a grocery shopping, Satomi and Yuki discovered a little girl named Mayuko that was the only townspeople not to be mind controlled, retaining her free will and cried after her parents no longer noticing her existence. Yuki took pity of the little girl and brought her along to UG's temporary refuge. Saijou joined the team as well at some point after TDF's destruction, while Mizuno revealed that the townspeople were mind controlled using cell phones imbued with Zelta Chips that transmitted hallucinogenic waves brought by the new radio tower in the city. Unaware to UG, the little girl that was with them was actually a spy to a group of new humans.
After the loss of TDF's base, a jobless Inagaki was approached by Suwa over the matters regarding the alien invasion in their city. Suwa tipped him that a new race of mankind shall replace the older ones and that Inagaki has no purpose after his role as the mole for the aliens was rendered invalid. Mayuko confide to Yuki that even if her parents no longer recognized her from the brainwashing, they were already abusive to her before the alien invasion took place. Yuki saw Mayuko as a kindred spirit and quickly comforted the little girl. Kazamori met Satomi to hypothesize that the invasion's purpose is to drive the old mankind to a silent destruction before the new humans took place as the new population of the planet.
Kazamori visited a Buddhist temple the next day and is captivated by the Buddha statue, especially its third eye that opened up to those who obtain enlightenment. He compared this situation to Seven and asked what would happen to him if he was chosen by the third eye. On the day of Ultra Guard's war against the aliens, Saijou's team of TDF survivors were hypnotized by the new human children to attack their own allied while Rumi was paralyzed by Mayuko. The new human children quartet is prophesied to be the new inheritors of Earth despite the aliens already subjugating their city's population into a trance.
Kazamori confronted Garut over his role as the mastermind of the alien invasion and the new human children's attempt at conquering Earth by masquerading himself as a fixed point observer. Mayuko puts both Saijou's forces and UG's men into a sleep to prevent the confrontation, having decided to defect from her comrade to side with the old mankind. Mayuko used her growing power to knock down her former comrade and was nearly killed by one of Saijou's men had it not for Satomi, who shielded the little girl at the cost of her own life. Kazamori arrived too late to save Satomi, only to be greeted by the dragonic saucer who introduced himself as a fixed point observer like Seven did. The saucer absorbed Satomi's lifeless body, allowing her spirit to reach and freed Seven from his prison.
Pandon burrowed itself out to attack the surrounding area. At that moment, the Buddha statue's third eye reacted to Kazamori and enveloped the youth in a beam of light, effectively fusing him with Ultraseven to fight Pandon.
Each episode was originally released on a separate DVD. The complete series was later released in a DVD box set titled Ultraseven 1994～2002 Perfect Collection on April 18, 2012.[1][2]
Ultraseven 35th Anniversary: EVOLUTION disc 3
Ultraseven 1994～2002 Perfect Collection DVD-BOX
Trivia
The brochure accompanying the DVD release of this episode mentions the concept that stands in contrast to "EVOLUTION"—that of "devolution." The term "devolution" refers to the return of something that was once progressing back to its original, primitive state. Humans seem instinctively reluctant to choose the path of "devolution," and this concept forms the core of the group of characters known as the "new humans" in the episode.[3]
In the script, these characters are portrayed as bearing the responsibility of the next generation, but from another perspective, their actions are essentially aimed at "leading their era." Thus, their existence can be understood as a driving force for the progress of the times. However, this progress also reflects a certain degree of reflection on the abandonment of old values. This is particularly evident in the Ultra Guard, who do everything in their power to showcase their survival as "humans."
A key challenge in this episode was how to depict Ultraseven's resurrection, particularly how to present the space where Ultraseven is imprisoned. The production team discussed ways to make this space more tangible. Akihiko Iguchi believed that space should not have a "point of contact," while Toshiyuki Takano wanted to visually concretize the imprisoned location to better connect with the narrative of The Final Chapters. This design discussion continued from October 2001 until late December, just before filming began.[4]
The most crucial moment in this episode is the death of Satomi.
According to producer Hiroshi Chikasada, the intention from the beginning was to create scenes for each character that would express their thoughts and emotions. For Satomi, a special scene was crafted to convey her feelings and thoughts. Ultimately, to create the greatest emotional impact, the decision was made to include Satomi's death in the storyline. Although this approach was somewhat risky, as the death of a character should not be taken lightly, the production team believed it was the best way to handle the narrative.[5]
According to a joint interview with Kaoru Ukawa and Katsuyuki Yamazaki in 2022, Ukawa shared that producer Masahiro Tsuburaya had informed her about the series and the inevitable death of Satomi. This was initially something Ukawa found difficult to accept. After discussing the matter with scriptwriter Junki Takegami, it was revealed that at the end of the previous series, Ultraseven was imprisoned, and bringing him back required a significant reason. The production team ultimately decided that the death of Satomi, would serve as this crucial reason, which led Ukawa to eventually agree with the decision.
In the interview, Ukawa expressed that she always believed Satomi didn’t truly die; instead, she continues to live on inside the Dragonic Saucer.[6]
In this episode, Pandon and Dragonic Saucer make their appearances.
The decision to bring back classic monsters from the past was made during a meeting between Tsuburaya Productions and VAP. Initially, they wanted to feature both Pandon and Nurse, but due to technical challenges with Nurse , only Pandon was successfully brought to life.
Initially, the team intended to use the original Pandon design, but Akihiko Iguchi raised an objection: "Is this really the right approach? Should we just reuse a monster from 30 years ago without any changes? Let me at least contribute!" This led to the updated design we see today.
They even found the design drawings from 30 years ago, which revealed that the original Pandon's head was separated. When they asked director Koichi Takano why the final design didn't follow this, he laughed and said, "Hmm... I don't remember." They then asked if they could go ahead and use this original design, and permission was granted.
Dragonic Saucer was designed by Akihiko Iguchi. When asked about the inspiration behind the design, Iguchi revealed that he had seen a photograph of a broken Buddha statue during a shoot with the Ohara team, which instantly sparked the idea. Although Iguchi had already designed two or three other monster concepts, none of them felt right until he saw the photograph. The design of the monster's body being pierced by a snake was also, in some sense, a tribute to Nurse . Iguchi even joked, "This could be the original Nurse."
As for why Nurse didn't appear, Takano explained that Nurse 's design had always been a challenge. To physically manifest the monster, its total length would need to be at least three rooms long (around 5.4 meters) to create the proper visual effect, which would interfere with scene design. Furthermore, if traditional wire manipulation was used, it would require the fewest number of wires to prevent them from tangling, or post-production would become extremely difficult. In the digital compositing era, while wires could be removed in post-production, the process could take up to a month to complete. Despite the possibility, there were many practical considerations that made its execution challenging.
