RATS! RATS! WE ARE THE RATS! Ethan and Sean are back again to see what Yuma and the gang have been up to! Let’s jump into it!
Recap
The episode opens with the ending of Arc’s fight with Digelos, and a small recap of the flashback from episode 3, before we jump straight into the present day. Yuma and Rin are getting lunch at a Sozai shop, but, suddenly, the power in the shop goes out and multiple people, including the shop owner, start chasing what they all assume to be a rat. Rin and Yuma ask what the situation is and the shop owner explains that a rat has been causing hassle in the shopping district. They suspect it’s a kaiju and beg Rin to get SKIP to do something about it.
YouPi gets a communication from Rin and tells Captain Ban and Shu the situation. Shu quotes what Yuma told him in episode 2, with Captain Ban giving the okay for YouPi to go and help. We then see Yuma, Rin and YouPi investigating an electrical distribution board that had both the wires and the door gnawed through. Yuma points out that it must have been electrocuted too. Rin promises the people that SKIP will get to the bottom of the situation, after they confirm the area has had multiple blackouts. Back at SKIP HQ, Shu tells Captain Ban about how a university discovered a new species of rat that carried bacteria that eats electricity. As this explanation occurs, we get a montage of Yuma, Rin and YouPi checking out more electrical sources, which Rin states are the only areas where damage has occurred. Just as the trio are walking, Rin sees the building for Kawami Heavy Industries. Rin realises that it’s at the centre of the damage and notices that the gutter the creature ran into leads to the sewer system.
Yuma, Rin and YouPi later arrive at the site, where a worker explains that they’ve created a new type of generator field with a mineral called “Daimode”. Before everyone splits up to search, Yuma gives Rin a portable net launcher. As Rin searches, the worker tells her the Daimode plant is off limits, however Rin tells him that no stone can be left unturned, so he lets her through. As the pair search, the creature, a rat Kaiju, finally shows itself, running at Rin as she has the worker get out of there. Rin fires a net to capture it but the Kaiju manages to free itself, running at Rin, who quickly jumps out of the way, causing it to crash right into the Daimode generator. Shu then calls Rin with some data on the creature, it’s scientific name being “Electricamus”. Captain Ban adds that it goes berserk after being electrically shocked but it’s a bit too late to learn that, as the creature has grown to giant size. Rin meets back up with Yuma and YouPi, and tells them what happened. YouPi gives the giant version of the Kaiju the name “Nezutron.” Rin then sees the Daimode cable and the worker reveals that if the mineral is forced to produce too much electricity, it will explode, with the blast radius being unknown.
Rin tells Yuma to evacuate everyone while she and YouPi go to shut the generator down. Outside, as Yuma evacuates the rest of the workers, he runs and finds a secluded area. Yuma transforms into Ultraman Arc and starts to fight Nezutron. As Arc fights Nezutron, YouPi and Rin work on shutting down the generator, but it’s temperature is slowly rising. Arc tries and fails to rip the cable out of Nezutron, leading to a funny moment when the Kaiju tries charging at Arc, but the cable restrains it. The generator temperature reaches critical, as the energy overloads Nezutron but, in the nick of time, Rin and YouPi shut the generator down! Nezutron then has a look on it’s face, probably realising at that moment, it’s done for, as Arc does a little cheer before firing an energy blast at the Kaiju. Ultimately, it’s Nezutron who rips the cable out, as Arc creates a series of energy shields the Kaiju rams through.
Even though Arc is down, the cheers from the civilians and Rin allow him to get back up. From within, Rution commands Yuma to “unleash his imagination”, leading to the first transformation into Ultraman Arc: Solis Armour! With the added boost in power, Arc makes quick work of Nezutron, finishing the Kaiju off with the Arc Finalise beam.
We then see Captain Ban discussing Arc’s new armour with Shu, as Captain Ban says that he wished he knew who Arc was. Meanwhile, Rin, YouPi and Yuma walk back to the shopping district, where the people all cheer for her, with Rin revealing that she used to move a lot before she began working at SKIP, and that a happy life is what they’re protecting.
Extra Lore and Fun Facts
Hey all, Sean here again, back on recap duty, but still here to provide you some extra lore and fun facts!
Starting off with a very special fun fact, Eric Schroeder, who voiced Rena Yanase in the 2002 4Kids dub of the 1996 entry in the Ultra Series, Ultraman Tiga, voiced Kazuko, the Sozai Shop owner in this episode. I wonder if more voice actors who worked on prior Ultraman dubs will return in this show, we’ll have to wait and see.
Now onto the lore, we have our Kaiju of the episode, the Electro-Rat Kaiju, Nezutron! Scientifically known as “Electricamus”, this Kaiju feeds on electricity and can go berserk if shocked too much.
Finally, we have Arc’s new powerup, the Solis Armour! Based on the sun, this armour increases Arc’s strength but prevents the use of beam attacks or flight.
Ethan’s Thoughts
What a fun episode, especially Seeing Arc fight a legally distinct Gigantamax Pikachu (giant electric rodent, I can’t be the only one to see it right? Can we get Boonboomger’s Bundorio in a room with it somehow?) Also, so much of this episode had a very JoJo vibe, especially the “electricity eating bacteria” conversation between the Captain and Shu. Enough of the “thing reminds Ethan of other thing” section, I really enjoyed this episode; a big shock, I know. The focus on Rin was great and it seems we are also getting a focus episode for the Captain next week, too. I imagine before we get a big episode paying off the suspicious behaviour Shu has been up to, likely with a type of plot line like “who are you more loyal to, the GDF or SKIP?”
If I had to find any issue in this episode it would be, unlike past episodes, the fight this week felt a little more… standard? It was fine, no real complaints, but compared to past episodes it felt more run of the mill. I think this was mainly because they needed to create an opening for Ultraman Arc’s new debuting power, their Solis Armor, which I have to say is very cool! It’s interesting to see an Ultra whose forms have such clear weaknesses. For example, the Solis Armor – due to its weight and the restrictions it puts on his movements – needs to be unequipped to even be able to use his beam attacks. This is pretty interesting and I’m assuming his other armours will have similar drawbacks. I’m also curious to see how these will be balanced in future fights, working around these restrictions, and it could lead to some really cool creative power/form uses. I’m here for it!
Expanding more on what I said about Rin, she had a really great energy this week and the dub performance from Dani Chambers really did a good job capturing that I feel. Also something I’m really enjoying about Arc is the crowds cheering our men on. It’s all just great and I hope we get more of it. It’s always extremely hype to cheer along with everyone.
Sean’s Thoughts
Like Ethan, I enjoyed this episode. |I’m glad we got some focus on Rin this episode and we got to learn a little bit more about her. The transformation for the Solis Armour had me quoting Alfred Molina’s Doc Ock from Spider-Man 2… “The power of the sun, in the palm of my hand.”
I also liked how we got to learn the scientific name of Nezutron and I hope we get to continue this trend with other kaiju that appear in the show. Another cool thing was the returning voice actor from the infamous 4Kids dub of Tiga to voice a minor character in this episode. This gives me some hope that other past Ultraman dub actors will return in future episodes of Ultraman Arc.
All in all, I’d rate this episode a solid 8/10.
What did you, our readers, think? Did you enjoy the episode? Let us know your thoughts! Until then, this has been Sean and Ethan: Writers, reviewers and professional rat catchers for The Toku Source, and we’ll see you all next time!
