Sascal

Spoiler warning! This article contains plot details about an upcoming episode.

Sascal (サスカル, Sasukaru) is a character appearing in Ultraman Arc The Movie: The Clash of Light and Evil. He is an Alien Diggle (ディグル星人, Diguru Seijin)^[4] from Planet Diggle, who claims to travel through time to bestow wisdom upon the righteous.

Subtitle: Space Sage (宇宙賢者, Uchū Kenja)^[4]

History

Ultraman Arc The Movie: The Clash of Light and Evil

Sascal, a space sage from the Planet Diggle, who is on a mission to travel through time and space in search of those who are worthy of “entrusting their wisdom” to him. During one of his journeys, Sascal learns of a rumor about Ultraman Arc/Yuma Hize. In order to judge for himself whether or not Yuma is worthy of becoming a "hero", he descends to Earth and arrives in Hoshimoto City.

In his first appearance, Sascal meets Yuma while wandering the streets of Hoshimoto City and asks him for a drink of water. Afterwards, they return to the SKIP branch. There, Sascal reveals that he knows Yuma's identity as Arc's host, then introduces himself and his purpose. In order to test Yuma's qualifications to become a hero, Sascal set up three tests. Each test corresponds to a key topic, and whether or not one can realize the key from the test is the criterion for passing or failing: the first test "The Dog-Wolf Kaiju and the Boy" (犬狼怪獣と少年, Kenrō Kaijū to Shōnen), the second test "Mystery! The Space Plant Incident" (怪奇！宇宙植物事件, Kaiki! Uchū Shokubutsu Jiken), and the third test "Decisive Battle! Arc vs. Guil Arc" (決戦！アーク対ギルアーク, Kessen! Āku tai Giru Āku).

Since Sascal and his kin are born with the ability to manipulate time, these three trials are actually parallel worlds that diverge from the same point in time, each being contained within their own respective timelines. Whenever Yuma successfully passes one of the trials, Sascal shouts "Sascatch!" - This is the Diggle word for "pass", symbolizing his recognition of Yuma. If Yuma fails, he will lose his power as Arc.

In the third trial, when Guil Arc's out-of-control rampage made the situation too dangerous to continue, Sascal decides to summon Yuma from the future to help him. The future Yuma temporarily hands over his Arc Ariser to his past self, allowing the past Yuma to work together to stop the threat of Guil Arc and Repodios. After the crisis is resolved, Past Yuma successfully passes the trial. When Sascal talks to the future Yuma, he reveals the fact that the two of them were reunited in the future - after defeating Sweed and leaving Earth, Yuma took part in the battle against Ze Su, and met Sascal again on the battlefield. At that time, they also fought against the Alien Repo and other groups.

When Sascal asked the future Yuma if he remembered the revelation he had received during this trial, Yuma replied, "As long as I have irreplaceable friends around me, I can keep running no matter how hard the odds are." After hearing this, Sascal declares that Yuma has passed the trial and leaves the current time with the future Yuma.

Data

Stats

• Height: 168 cm^[4]
• Weight: 58 kg^[4]

Powers and Weapons

• Temporal Manipulation: Sascal and his kind possess the ability to manipulate space and time. He can create parallel worlds branching off from the main timeline—hypothetical alternate realities that allow others to experience various possible futures.
• Teleportation: Sascal is capable of appearing and disappearing at will, reappearing in different locations as the scene requires.
• Time Travel: He has the power to traverse across time and dimensions, freely moving through different temporal and spatial planes.
• Fourth Wall: Sascal can actively interrupt the flow of the opening sequence by switching between shots.

Gallery

Ultraman Arc The Movie: The Clash of Light and Evil

Miscellaneous

Trivia

• Naoto Takenaka, who plays the character Sascal, previously worked with writer Jun Tsugita on the 2009 film Yamagata Scream. This marks their first collaboration in 16 years.
  • The decision to make Sascal a male character was deliberate. Since the main antagonist of the TV series, Sweed, is female, the production team chose to go in the opposite direction to create a contrast. Additionally, the character of the "sage" needed to have a commanding presence, which made the casting process more challenging. It was during this time that Tsugita recalled his past connection with Takenaka and proposed him for the role to the producer. With successful coordination, they were able to bring Takenaka on board.
  • The term "Sascatch," used by Sascal, originally stems from Takenaka's personal catchphrase.
• Takenaka has shared that he watched the Ultraman series as a child, with Return of Ultraman being his favorite. He was especially moved by the transformation pose of the protagonist Hideki Go, played by Jiro Dan. He also noted how the series had a distinct visual tone—darker and more somber than the usual brightness of previous entries. He praised the casting of Shin Kishida and Rumi Sakakibara as particularly memorable.^[6]
• Yuma's actor, Yuki Totsuka, stated that he had been looking forward to sharing scenes with Takenaka ever since he first read the script. Reflecting on the experience, Totsuka explained that the atmosphere on set became lively and energetic as long as he responded naturally to the performances Takenaka delivered and followed his rhythm. He noted that he didn't need to do anything in particular—simply catching what Takenaka gave him and reacting genuinely was enough to make the scenes engaging.^[7][8]
• Director Takanori Tsujimoto, in his first collaboration with Takenaka, admitted he was initially uncertain about what to expect—wondering if Takenaka would jump straight into his signature improvisational style. However, he found that Takenaka followed the script faithfully unless specifically asked to make a moment more entertaining or exaggerated. According to Tsujimoto, the sense of improvisation in Takenaka's performance was usually the result of such direction.
  • Tsujimoto also noted that the dynamic between Sascal and Yuma closely resembled the real-life chemistry between Takenaka and Totsuka, contributing to the natural and authentic feel of their scenes.
• While Sho Kaneta did not appear in scenes with Takenaka, he observed the filming and was impressed by Takenaka's powerful on-set presence.

References

1. ↑ https://m-78.jp/news/post-7313
2. ↑ https://natalie.mu/eiga/news/604427
3. ↑ https://tsuburaya-prod.com/news/8068
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3} https://cocreco.kodansha.co.jp/telemaga/news/feature/arc/Tkrfx
5. ↑ https://hjweb.jp/article/1879964/
6. ↑ https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2360033/full/
7. ↑ https://www.excite.co.jp/news/article/AnimagePlus_anime_62454/
8. ↑ https://hjweb.jp/article/1975520/