Thoughts on Ultraman Ace Episode 52: Tomorrow's Ace is You!
Hey everyone! With the conclusion of Ace's series on Tsuburaya Youtube and his 50th anniversary, I wanted to reflect on what made the final episode so memorable to me. Even watching it as a kid, it left me with a conflicted and sad feeling, which felt strange for a hero's finale and shaped years of my impression of Ace as a tragic warrior.
It's the final battle, but *what* was the battle being fought? What was won, and what was lost?
It's a 49-year old series, but spoiler warning nonetheless!
Episode 52: Tomorrow's Ace is You! or Yapool's Last Deception
The key point of this episode is the plot twist around Alien Simon.
This episode pulls a lot of twists on the viewer, whether it's upending conventional moral lessons ("protect the weak") or children's storylines. It sets up the premise that Hokuto and the children work together to protect an innocent alien from Yapool. It almost has an ET vibe to it, complete with a children's base of operations.
Just another kid-focused story like the last 20 episodes in Ace! Ho hum!
We later learn that Simon was a disguised Yapool all along, and this was all part of its plan to destroy the kindness in children and force Ace to leave Earth. Yapool executed it brilliantly by turning Hokuto's own principles against him, binding him in the the snares of his own morals and forcing him into a corner.
There are some things you just have to take at face value (why do Hokuto/Ace have to leave Earth once his identity is revealed? why couldn't he find other ways to convince the kids? etc.) but they create the stakes behind Hokuto's decision.
What were Hokuto's key principles/moral lessons and how were they used against him?
1. Protect the weak
As Hokuto sternly admonished the children who bullied Alien Simon at the start, the Ultra Brothers are friends of and protect the weak. There's an assumption that the "weak" are always victimised by the "strong" and require protection.
But as Yapool shows, by taking the identity of Simon, there are evil people who would pretend to be weak (or actually are weak, as the individual Yapool Men seem to be) to take advantage of this sentiment.
By identifying Simon as "weak = needing protection" without any checks, Hokuto has already fallen for Yapool's ploy.
Furthermore, when you think about who is the "protector" and "weak" in this scene, the image of the children (as Ultra Brothers, no less!) bullying Simon is upsetting. Their assumption of automatic righteous justice (I am Ultraman = Ultraman fights aliens = aliens are bad = aliens deserve to be killed) is scary.
Spurred by a sense of justice without kindness, it's a thin line between "protector" and "bully".
2. Never tell lies
\"I can't tell a lie\" ~ Seiji \"George Washington\" Hokuto
Throughout the series, this has been Hokuto's strongest principle (King Kappa ep 19). Hokuto himself has always been direct with everyone - man, woman, young, old - sometimes to the point of harshness. This is an important principle that sets him opposite Yapool, a creature of illusions. This also parallels "Hokuto/Ace vs Yapool" as "God vs the Devil", going back to Ace's religious roots.
(It also makes thematic sense that Yapool's primary means to attack/torment Hokuto is through illusions, as seen in the Giant Yapool and Revenge of Verokron eps.)
(It's also tragic for Hokuto, who values truth so highly, that he was often doubted, i.e. seen as untrustworthy, by TAC. "Doubt"/"lies" run through much of Ace's series and leads to disaster, i.e. massive chouju attacks.)
But in the case of Simon, he had no way of proving that Simon was actually Yapool, since the children did not believe his reason of "telepathy".
If he did nothing, he would have to live with being seen as a liar by the children, thus breaking their trust in TAC and adults (related to point #3).
Or even worse for Hokuto, he would have to deliberately lie to the children on how he knew Simon was Yapool, and lying to children was simply something he could not abide.
3. Protect the hearts of children
Not only Ace and Hokuto, but even Zoffy reinforced this principle! (Dreamgillas ep 35)
This point is so crucial it gets more photos!
Protecting the innocence and idealism of children was paramount to Hokuto and TAC, for children are the future, and their loss is even worse than the attacks of chouju (Kaiteigagan ep 34)
While Ace is commonly criticised for being very kid-focused in its 2nd half, Yapool has always targeted children throughout Ace's series. One of its biggest attacks being the kidnapping of all the children in the world in the Giant Yapool episode.
Trust all children vs trust no children
Yapool has also used humanity's bias for children to its advantage, using child disguises or agents to attack. "Only humans think children have pure hearts" (Vakishim ep 3). It disguised itself as the CHILD Alien Simon, who looks innocent and harmless, getting TAC's sympathy immediately. Yet many enemies hide under friendly guises (Bad Baaron ep 33).
This supremacy of children makes sense for Ace's series that is geared towards kids (compared to its predecessors). Yet the series also upends this, showing that children are not always right (which makes what Yapool said right... and that's just scary).
The series has, more than once, compared children to chouju. Just saying!
The boys were bullying Simon earlier, under the guise of "justice"; and the series has shown many instances of children hurting and bullying others. The series shows that children are, by no means, angels whose feelings are always correct.
As Yamanaka candidly stated in Bad Baaron ep 33, "You'll fail if you respect kids' feelings too much" (in direct contrast to Zoffy's statement!)
But back to Simon -- Hokuto faced the conundrum of wanting to honour and protect the children's feelings in protecting Simon. Yet this same desire was itself built on Yapool's deception. How would Hokuto reconcile their idealism with reality without betraying their trust?
Yapool's trap
The crux of the Yapool's plan lay in using HOKUTO to carry it out.
Building the children's trust through Hokuto's advice to protect Simon, then breaking it by making Hokuto shoot Simon in front of them, was the most effective way to crush their kindness.
It was a nice touch when Simon/Yapool stopped Hokuto from leaving the cave the first time. If Hokuto had left then, he and TAC would have sortied, Hokuto would have secretly transformed into Ace, and the battle would have carried on much like any previous episode.
Yapool needed Hokuto to stay back and shoot him in front of the children to fully execute its plan.
So, having been painted a hypocrite, lost the trust of the children, and with no means to convey the truth, Hokuto was backed into a corner.
Just as when he confronted Verokron II with nothing but himself (no TAC, no weapons, no Minami), so he now has to confront Yapool with nothing but his words.
Hokuto's Response
As he always had, Hokuto chose to respond by the principle he always lived by - the truth.
"You can't have telepathy if you're a human."
Then he would admit he is Ultraman Ace to show the truth, even if it meant sacrificing his humanity, his life on Earth; and leaving everything behind!
Ace's wish reads like a response to Yapool's duplicity that had twisted Hokuto's principles earlier.
"Don't lose your kindness. Take care of the weak, help each other, don't lose the desire to be friends..."
- Protect the weak, but not blindly. For kindness without justice is liable to be abused by others.
- In the reverse, justice without kindness can also lead to abuse by the "protector". Hence it is important to keep one's kindness, and build empathy by making friends with others.
- Ace himself takes a stand against Jumbo King, the culmination of the grudge of Yapool + four chouju, to protect the true innocents in this world, the children.
"Even if that feeling is betrayed hundreds of times..."
- Sometimes truth can hurt, and it may create a sense of loss/betrayal, but it is needed to move forward (Kaiteigagan ep 34).
- Despite such hurt, you must have the strength to continue being kind and believing in others.
It feels especially poignant that Ace and Hokuto, who have been doubted and betrayed many times (see: almost every chouju sighting by Hokuto, and Ace himself was quickly abandoned by humans to Hipporito), have the right and the experience to say this.
I will never get over alternate world Seiji, Yuko and their daughter 😭
Hokuto makes the ultimate sacrifice to protect the children's kindness. When he speaks here as Ace (I believe this is his first time), it's to bid goodbye to his life and identity on Earth, and the life he might have led.
When Ace speaks again at the end, it is in Ace's (Goro Naya) voice, the voice that Ace introduced himself with in the first episode and subsequent interactions.
Hokuto's voice, and it feels like Hokuto himself, has disappeared.
(This doesn't include future appearances where Keiji Takamine voices Ace, of course. During Ace's series itself, the distinction of Hokuto vs Ace's voices seem quite distinct.)
In the end, the children run after Ace, calling out his name and waving goodbye. Only Captain Ryu whispers "Hokuto..." at the end.
No doubt, Ryu remembers the feeling, all the way in episode 2, when he sensed Hokuto in Ace.
This small whisper was the last goodbye to Hokuto Seiji, who gave up everything for the Earth and its children.
Whither Ace and Yapool
In summary, I think the finale brings together the themes of both halves of Ace's series very well, which had often seemed like two separate shows. I was impressed how many callbacks there were to themes in previous episodes, some of which are listed here.
It is the culmination of Yapool's invasion of Earth through manipulating the human heart, especially the hearts of children who are the future of Earth.
Unlike previous Ultra finales that grew in scale (from Zetton's lone attack on the SSSP in Man 66 to an alien invasion across Earth in Seven to an intergalactic war in ROU), this battle was an emotional and psychological one, taking place in the hearts of a small group of children. It is both smaller in scope yet more spiritual in nature (again hearkening back to Ace's religious roots).
I also think this is why Ace's actual battle against Jumbo King was secondary. When Hokuto transformed, the outcome was already decided.
Yapool won by forcing Ace to reveal himself and leave Earth. Even if Jumbo King was defeated, chouju and Yapool's grudge live on.
Although Ace won the fight against Jumbo King, by leaving Earth, he lost the psychological battle with Yapool and can no longer directly protect Earth's children. (In this way, this is another "Ultraman is defeated" finale, much like Man 66.)
https://i.redd.it/ihrxh3ckfbra1.gif
All Ace can do is leave his last wish to the children of the Earth. It feels like guidance, but also a plea.
As Zoffy told Man in his finale, humans need to fight for themselves. Hence the episode title, "Tomorrow's Ace is You", with every human having to become "Ace" and face "Yapool" on their own. That fight is in the form of fighting one's own human weakness and darker thoughts everyday.
Your final view of the ending may depend on your opinion of human nature. Perhaps it is heartening that despite our frail, fickle and fearful nature, Ace believes in the kindness of humans and continues to watch over Earth from afar.
The end! If you read this far, thank you! And Happy 50th anniversary, Ace! ✨
Posted Apr 1, 2023, 6:57 PM UTC · edited