Masked Rider & Ultraman

Ultraman Ace

Code : 9555108803486

Ultraman Ace takes the genre in a different direction. At the beginning of the series, it takes a man and a woman to change into him, giving Ace the courage of a man and a woman's love for peace. Ace also has a various array of laser weapons. There is a recurring villain (the Yapool), and there are a lot more guest appearances from the other brothers. Zoffy visits frequently, as does the Ultra Father. The five (Zoffy, Ultraman, Ultra Seven, Jack and Ace) are now known as the Five Ultra Brothers (gokyohdai), and they come together on at least three occasions. Ace is by far the youngest. And finally, the monsters (kaiju) are now Yapool creations known as "Super Beasts" (chohju), supposedly more powerful than the monsters previous Ultra heroes had to contend with.

Ace's head fin has a great big hole in it and a Beam Lamp up front. Other than Ultraseven's detachable fin, Ace's is probably the most useful fin. The Beam Lamp can fire his Punch Laser, and the hole is a place where energy can be gathered, stored, or released (it is the nexus for his most powerful weapon, the Space Q). It is also where he emits Ultra Signs into the sky to communicate with other Ultramen.

Ace is also the first Ultraman to introduce hand-waving as part of the laser-emitting ritual. To fire his Metallium Beam, he must first twist his torso to the left and snap to center. This type of action was influenced by other tokusatsu series of the day.

The Five Ultra Brothers arrive on Earth together in episode 1, where they resurrect Hokuto and Minami. Ace gives them the Ultra Rings and merges with them. Whenever the need arises, he tells them, the rings will shine and they can transform into Ultraman Ace.

As for the circumstances of their death, Hokuto is originally a bakery employee who is delivering bread to a children's hospital in his van. He tries to prevent the bread from being destroyed by Yapool's first creation, Velokron, but his van and said bread are destroyed by the fire-breathing monster. Belokuron then starts attacking the hospital. Hokuto runs there to see Minami trying to save a wheelchair-bound kid. He jumps into a tanker truck and does a suicide run, killing himself and scaring Velokron away. Minami is also dead for reasons unknown.

Hokuto and Minami are both born on July 7. Hokuto has a spunky and goofy personality, which is a grand departure from his constipated predecessors. Minami is a lot more gentle and reticent (but she wields a mean gun when necessary). They often make googlie eyes at each other.

At first, Hokuto and Minami jump up in the air to transform, by spinning and touching their rings together (the Ultra Touch), but they stopped doing that, because it was feared that children might hurt themselves trying to imitate the move. In episode 2, they jump up together with motorcycles for a "Rider Touch" (perhaps an influence of Kamen Rider). When Hokoto is in a spaceship and Minami is still in the TAC base in episode 14, he and Minami transform by touching their rings to their respective video monitors.

Minami leaves halfway through the series, in episode 28, and Hokuto has to change into Ace by himself from then on. Minami is actually from the Moon, and when Ace defeats Lunatyx, her mission on Earth is done. In episode 29, the Umezu family is added to the cast. Dan, the younger brother, has the special ability to see the Ultra Star with his naked eyes even in the daytime, and thus qualifies to be the sixth Ultra Brother. (This is a notion that was brushed away with the introduction of Ultraman Taro, also dubbed the sixth Ultra Brother.)

The chohju designs are more colorful and powerful than in Return of Ultraman, and are genetic crosses (for the most part) between creatures of the Earth and outer space. Chohju is officially translated as "Terrible Monsters", but a more direct translation of the characters could be "Super Beasts" or "Mega Beasts." Bakushimu, Dorogoris, Ace Killer, King Crab, and Black Pigeon, to name a few. Since these are all creations of the Yapool, some are equipped with missiles and other synthetic weaponry. One drawback about the chohju is that they are rather hyperactive, and tend to move a lot faster than monsters from days of yore. Cameos of several monsters from previous series include Murochi II, Metron-seijin Junior, (complete with hip bell-bottoms), and Woo.

In the last episode, a Yapool disguises himself as the child of Simon-seijin and reassembles parts from previously defeated chohju (Corwa, Steal-seijin, Unitang, Mazarius, et al.) to create a grand masterpiece, Jumbo King. As the kid of Simon-seijin, Yapool takes advantage of Takeshi, a kid who tries to protect him. Hokuto sees through this ploy and shoots him, and must reveal his true identity as Ultraman Ace to regain Takeshi's trust. Ace defeats Jumbo King using a variation of his Ultra Guillotine, which severs the monster's head. The children bid farewell to Ace as he flies back to the Nebula M78.