X in Peril

X in Peril (狙われたX（エックス）, Nerawareta Ekkusu) is the eighth episode of Ultraman X. It features the debut of Ultraman X's Zetton Armor and the guest appearance of Kaito Touma/Ultraman Max, in tribute to the tenth anniversary of Ultraman Max.

Synopsis

Daichi and the rest of Xio meet the esteemed Dr. Touma Kaito, even as Zetton rampages through the city. Dr. Kaito and Xio work on a way to stop the kaiju, but it is revealed he is an imposter, as X is overtaken by a form of a virus and forced to fight alongside Zetton. However, as the real Touma Kaito appears and turns into Ultraman Max, X is forced to fight him.

Plot

In the middle of battling Zetton, Ultraman X was defeated, even when using Eleking Armor. X tries Gomora Armor but the Oscillation Wave can't penetrate Zetton's Zetton Shutter, even Xio's assistance proven futile. As the monster advances to a weaken X, it instead teleports away. Daichi ends up burns the midnight oil to create a new armor to counteract Zetton, but since he lacks its Spark Doll, the ingredient to create the Cyber Card and Armor is not enough.

The next day, Dr. Kaito Touma, a Spark Doll expert from the UNVER visits Xio and offers them his help as he presents the Zetton Spark Doll, knowing such threat would rise. Interestingly, he was also a friend of Daichi's father and the two were once studying Spark Dolls together. Sayuri and Kamiki excited that Daichi meets a person that knows his father but cautiously doubts on their age. After the completion of Cyber Zetton Card, Zetton wreaks havoc in the city again, prompting X to appear.

The Lab Team sends the Cyber Zetton Card and X uses it but suddenly, the Zetton Armor renders him immobile and worse, the armor can't be removed. Soon, another Kaito Touma appears and attacks the black coated person, revealing him to be Alien Sran Quila. Kaito transforms into another Ultraman and saves a mother-daughter pair from falling rubble. Dr. Guruman identifies the Ultraman as Ultraman Max, and the giant tries to remove X from the armor but instead, the cursed armor controls X and the enslaved Ultraman assist Zetton. Asuna approaches Quila as he revealed that he wanted revenge on Ultraman Max for killing one of his brethren back then. Studying Xio, UNVER and Daichi, he used the man's background and perfectly uses this camouflage. With X's mind completely fells under Zetton Armor's effect, Asuna fought Quila and the alien enlarges to assist Zetton. Daichi uses Cyber Eleking's card and purify Cyber Zetton's corrupted programming, saving Max on time. Now having X back, Ultraman Max finishes off Alien Sran Quila with Max Galaxy and Ultraman X attacks Zetton with the armor, greatly wounding it with Zetton Tornado before freeing himself and defeated it with a mid-air Xanadium Beam.

Approaching Daichi at a sunset, this man reveals himself as Ultraman Max and that he borrowed the appearance of the person he used to fight with. Wanting to help Daichi and X in the future, he lends a portion of his power in a form of a Cyber Card before leaving.

Daichi's Monster Lab

• Daichi: Daichi's Monster Lab! This time, we're looking at this monster...
• X Devizer: Analysing, Zetton!
• Daichi: Space Dinosaur Zetton, he was a fierce foe whom had X on the ropes.
• X: And the Zetton Armor we get from its Cyber Card contained a nasty trap set by the Alien Sran. But thanks to Daichi's use of the Zetton Armor, we were able to blast through the dangerous foe.
• Daichi and X: Well, see you next time!

Cast

• Daichi Oozora (大空 大地, Ōzora Daichi): Kensuke Takahashi (高橋 健介, Takahashi Kensuke)
• Asuna Yamase (山瀬 アスナ, Yamase Asuna): Akane Sakanoue (坂ノ上 茜, Sakanōe Akane)
• Wataru Kazama (風間 ワタル, Kazama Wataru): Yoshihiko Hosoda (細田 善彦, Hosoda Yoshihiko)
• Hayato Kijima (貴島 ハヤト, Kijima Hayato): Ukyo Matsumoto (松本 享恭, Matsumoto Ukyō)
• Mamoru Mikazuki (三日月 マモル, Mikazuki Mamoru): Hayato Harada (原田 隼人, Harada Hayato)
• Rui Takada (高田 ルイ, Takada Rui): Haruka Momokawa (百川 晴香, Momokawa Haruka)
• Takeru Yamagishi (山岸 タケル, Yamagishi Takeru): TAKERU
• Chiaki Matsudo (松戸 チアキ, Matsudo Chiaki): Chiaki Seshimo (瀬下 千晶, Seshimo Chiaki)
• Sayuri Tachibana (橘 さゆり, Tachibana Sayuri): Sarara Tsukifune (月船 さらら, Tsukifune Sarara)
• Shotaro Kamiki (神木 正太郎, Kamiki Shōtarō): Yuu Kamio (神尾 佑, Kamio Yū)

Guest Actors

• Kaito Touma (トウマ・カイト, Tōma Kaito): Sota Aoyama (青山 草太, Aoyama Sōta)

Voice Actors

• Ultraman X (ウルトラマンエックス, Urutoraman Ekkusu): Yuichi Nakamura (中村 悠一, Nakamura Yūichi)
• Alien Fanton Gourman (ファントン星人グルマン, Fanton Seijin Gourman): Yasunori Matsumoto (松本 保典, Matsumoto Yasunori)
• Navigation Voice/Announcer (ナビ音声/アナウンス, Nabi Onsei/Annsunsu): Hibiku Yamamura (山村 響, Yamamura Hibiku)
• Alien Sran Quila (スラン星人クワイラ, Suran Seijin Kuwaira): Kenta Matsumoto (松本 健太, Matsumoto Kenta)
• Ultraman Max (ウルトラマンマックス, Urutoraman Makkusu, Grunt): Kazuya Nakai (中井 和哉, Nakai Kazuya) (Stock footage)

Suit Actors

• Ultraman X (ウルトラマンエックス, Urutoraman Ekkusu, Suit Actor): Hideyoshi Iwata (岩田 栄慶, Iwata Hideyoshi)
• Ultraman Max (ウルトラマンマックス, Urutoraman Makkusu, Suit Actor): Shinnosuke Ishikawa (石川 真之介, Ishikawa Shin'nosuke)
• Alien Fanton Gourman (ファントン星人グルマン, Fanton Seijin Gourman): Hiroyuki Fukushima (福島 弘之, Fukushima Hiroyuki)
• Zetton (ゼットン): Keita Rikimaru (力丸 佳大, Rikimaru Keita)
• Alien Sran Quila (スラン星人クワイラ, Suran Seijin Kuwaira, Suit Actor): Satoru Okabe (岡部 暁, Okabe Satoru)

Appearances

Ultras

• Ultraman X
  • Eleking Armor
  • Gomora Armor
  • Zetton Armor
• Ultraman Max

Kaiju

• Zetton
• Alien Sran Quila

Trivia

• This is the first time that a Cyber Armor was used against the Kaiju the armor was based on.
• According to the episode's scriptwriter, Sotaro Hayashi, among the team of scriptwriters for Ultraman X, only Yuji Kobayashi and himself had previously worked on Ultraman Max. Therefore, when Kobayashi reached out to him, he mentioned that "the current process of designing the monster armor was too simple. It would be better if we could depict situations where risks emerge during usage..."^[2]
• The decision to feature the Alien Sran was made because it was the first enemy alien to appear in Ultraman Max, and Kobayashi wanted to bring it back for further development.
• According to Yuichi Abe, the story in Ultraman Max explored many possibilities, and it was difficult to keep the narrative coherent while ensuring the characters appeared strong. This time, the opponent was Zetton, and Abe wanted to portray it as a formidable enemy. Ultimately, the challenge was overcome by focusing on the impact of the momentum and visual effects.
• Since Kaito Touma's story had already been completed in Ultraman Max episode 39, "Hold On To! Future," and he had also separated from Ultraman Max, his appearance in this episode was achieved by having him appear in the form of Ultraman Max's human persona, the "Young Man Who Seizes the Future."
• According to a 2021 interview with Abe, while directing the battle scenes for this episode, he accidentally forgot to switch Ultraman Max's Color Timer to red during a tough fight. However, when the episode aired, it received strong and positive feedback from the audience for Max, and the mistake ended up turning into a success.^[3]

References

1. ↑ https://m-78.jp/news/n-3304
2. ↑ Ultraman X Blu-ray BOX I Brochure
3. ↑ Ultra Tokusatsu PERFECT MOOK vol. 33: Ultraman Ginga / Ultraman Ginga S, pg 33