RED MOON is the ninth episode of Ultraseven X.
Synopsis
With a total lunar eclipse looming large, an incident occurred where a woman in a white dress was attacked by a beastman. According to folklore researcher Ogata, a century ago during the year of a total lunar eclipse, a similar incident happened where the daughter of the Saginomiya family was attacked by a beastman.
During the investigation, Jin finds an old pair of binoculars that were supposed to have disappeared a hundred years ago.
Plot
DEUS Leader reported that a target approached a girl in white dress. The culprit itself had involved in three killings lately. Several DEUS agents prepared to apprehend the target. Witnessing a cloacked figure ran away, Jin chased him but he quickly vanished, with what's left is his binoculars. Jin took a look on the binocular and witnessed several pictures (a bungalow, a woman in white dress at a lake, the culprit's claw and an eclipse). Agent K chased the culprit (labelled Jyuujin (Japanese for Beast Man)), whom at that time managed to knock out his target.
It ran away after two other DEUS agents fired him. With S chased it, K also tried to cornered him but failed. The news revealed that there will be a full lunar eclipse where the moon not turned visible but it turned into red due to the red sunlight reflected it and this is extremely rare since it only happened once in a 100 years. Interestingly, a case where the werewolf appeared at the same year of the lunar eclipse was highlited.
K interrogated the victim as she revealed that while she was about to drink her water, the culprit attacked and her drink splashed out but when it saw its reflection, it got scared and ran away. Agent J contacted S, suspected that all four incidents form a square shape. As he about to made a further discussion, she stopped their conversation as a client awaited her. A man named Toshiyuki Ogata appeared at her office, revealing several files about the similar incident that occurred 100 years ago.
On the same day where a total lunar eclipse happened, Jyuujin attacked Mahiru Saginomiya, a young woman from the Saginomiya family. The file also possessed a carricatur of Jyuujin. Jin visited the lake that pictured from the Jyuujin's abandoned binocular. K visited a professor where an old man comfirmed of Jyuujin's fear of water. He also aware of K's theory that the Jyuujin is somewhat related to a simple werewolf but in truth, he revealed that the figure was originally human until it turned into Jyuujin and rampaged. Meanwhile, Jin approached the Saginomiya family household area and found Agent S with Toshiyuki. The man enraged that Jin is in the possession of the binocular, which actually a glass memorial that was supposed to be missing since 100 years ago.
With the party joined by agent K, Toshiyuki revealed that 100 years ago when the total lunar eclipse occurred, a mysterious man named Nozomu stayed at the Saginomiya family household temporarily while on his journey to an unknown destination. The only info known is that he is a person with a peculiar trait: he was afraid of water and will stay away from it even if its only a drop. He fell in love with Mahiru Saginomiya but unfortunately, everyone around her protested their relationship and their marriage plan.
Nonetheless, Nozomu swore that he will always stay by her side. On the night of the lunar eclipse, the Jyuujin killed her beside her household's lake and Nozomu disappeared. The binocular, Glass Memorial was said to be one of his belongings. On some time before he disappeared, he said something unusual: "See for yourself..." and then he gave the binocular. On its previous use, it played the pictures of a yellow desert, a foreign castle and a solar eclipse. The Glass Memorial was actually captured every moments that the man saw with Jin gave it to Toshiyuki for him to further investigate.
K hypothetically figured that when Nozomu touched the pond's water, it turned him into Jyuujin and unintentionally and unconciously killed Mahiru whom was nearby him as he vanished later on. According to his investigations, Jin remembered that there is a large underground tunnel underneath the city. He probably slumbered in there for 100 years and the eclipse will finally awakened him. In the Glass Memorial, Mahiru was seen wearing a white dress, so the previous murders he made was to search Mahiru and on night, he would searched her on her mansion.
At that night, Jin, K and S were ready at the mansion. But Jin instead wanted to searched Toshiyuki as he suspected that actually there might had some information where he didn't revealed and as seen in the binocular, the Jyuujin's arm was visible so Nozomu might not be the monster and that there's another person alongside him in the mansion 100 years ago. As Jin went to Toshiyuki's office and read his documents, a man appeared and revealed it wasn't only Nozomu who came to the mansion but another one also appeared as Saku, his older brother.
Looking at an old photo, Jin rushed to the mansion and contacted K telling that Toshiyuki Ogata was actually Saku, Nozomu's older brother from 100 years ago. As agent S in white clothes walked outside and found the Glass Memorial, she took a look where she saw Mahiru with Nozomu and realised it was her who made him touch the water and fell into depression. As Jyuujin approached her, he realised it was agent S while dropped a lily he picked and angrily attacked with K dueled him. He retreated after being fired with Jin's Ultra Gun. Chasing Jyuujin to the underground, the trio had realised what actually happened: while Nozomu and Mahiru fell in love with each other, she determined to know so much about the secret behind his fear of water and to do it, she tricked Nozomu to get the water lily from her household pond. Jin transformed into Ultraseven X and approached the stressful Jyuujin.
The Ultra launched his Eye Slugger to the fiend as it fell and died into Saku's arms while vanishing into light particles. Jin realised it was him whom left the binocular yesterday for him to seek Jin's help. Saku disappeared with the binocular. The trio still thinking whom were they actually as Jin revealed that the binocular which projected a solar eclipse was actually the lunar eclipse's true form that viewed not from Earth but from a distant place elsewhere revealing that they are actually aliens.
Cast
- Jin : Eriku Yoza
- Elea Saeki : Saki Kagami
- K : Tomohito Wakizaki
- S : Anri Ban
- Government Broadcast Newscasters :
- Kenichi Miyamoto
- Yoko Azami
Guest Actors
- Toshiyuki Ogata/Saku : Hassei Takano
- Mahiru : Kaori Nakamura
- Nozomu/Jyuujin : Hiro Ogasawara
- Professor Shikishima : Masami Horiuchi
- Woman Attacked by Jyuujin : Satomi Yoshida
- Library Staff : Hiroaki Nagai
Voice Actors
- DEUS Commander : Yosuke Natsuki
Suit Actors
- Ultraseven : Hiromi Shinjo
Appearances
Ultras
Kaiju
Home Media
- ULtraseven X Volume 5 features episodes 9-10.
Trivia
- According to screenwriter Ai Ota:[1]
- The placement of RED MOON within the episode order was initially undecided. After director Takeshi Yagi read the script, he told Ota, "I'll take this one." During the writing process, Ota originally completed the episodes sequentially—starting with episode 2: "CODE NAME "R"," followed by "RED MOON," and then episode 4: "DIAMOND "S"." While she briefly wondered whether such a story was appropriate for the series, she received script orders for multiple episodes almost simultaneously and had no knowledge of what other writers were working on. Thus, she decided to proceed with it at that moment.
- Ota noted that RED MOON was her first melodrama since "The End of the Contract" in Ultraseven The Final Chapters. Director Yagi focused on capturing the contrast between the near-future setting and the Taisho Romantic aesthetic woven into the world of the episode.
- The binoculars in this episode played a high-tech role despite their seemingly low-tech appearance. Ota had long wanted to explore such technological gaps, conveying the idea that the device functions as both a record and a memory. By choosing binoculars—an object that doesn’t inherently evoke advanced technology—she aimed to preserve the sensation of touch and warmth in the storytelling.
- The episode's ending, where Jyuujin and Saku watch a lunar eclipse on an unknown planet in the past, was a scene Ota had envisioned from the very beginning. Because of this, she once hoped to expand the story further, considering a one-hour runtime to depict it in greater depth.
- As for water, a recurring creative motif throughout the series, Ota admitted that while she would like to say it was intentional, it was actually a coincidence. She found water to be an intriguing scientific subject—not only does it sustain life, but given enough time, it can even dissolve the hardest of metals. The gentle yet terrifying nature of water was something she sought to depict in this episode.
- In addition to its Taisho Romantic aesthetic, Ota’s script also incorporated elements from The Name of the Rose.
References
- ↑ Ultraseven X Volume 5 Brochure