sinovels Chapter 202 Farewell! Goodbye, Hanejiro!
Chapter 202 Farewell! Goodbye, Hanejiro!
Time flies.
Another week has quietly passed amidst the agonizing anticipation of countless tokusatsu fans.
With the finale of Dyna drawing ever closer, Dyna's audience has recently seen a new surge.
For the production team at Light Chaser Animation Studios, the post-production of Ultraman Dyna Season 2 had already entered its most intense and demanding phase, which also tested the team's industrial capabilities the most.
Let's rewind the timeline a little over a month.
Inside Studio One of Chasing Light Pictures, Gu Nan stood in front of the monitor, his brows furrowed as he stared at the screen.
What's being filmed today is a highlight scene from episode 47 of "Ultraman Dyna".
Those familiar with tokusatsu know that this is not just a regular monster-fighting episode, but also one of the most emotionally charged moments in the entire "Dyna" series.
"Cut! Stop!"
Gu Nan picked up a megaphone and interrupted the filming.
He strode to the center of the set, pointed to the "Hanetjiro" prop on the control panel, and said to Lao Zhang, the head of the props team, "Lao Zhang, this micro-expression is wrong! Hanetjiro's eyes are too rigid now; they completely lack the struggle and sadness one feels when facing parting!"
Old Zhang wiped the sweat from his brow and explained with a pained expression, "Director Gu, this is the limit of what we can do. This little thing is so tiny, with over a dozen miniature servo motors crammed inside to control its ears and mouth, and LED light modules for its eyes—there's just not enough space!"
In the original world, the filming of Hanejiro actually relied heavily on simple puppet manipulation and post-production voice-over.
But in Gu Nan's parallel world, since he's touted it as "Hollywood industrial-grade," he absolutely cannot allow the props to be subpar in such an important emotional episode.
"If there's not enough space, find a solution! Make the external signal receiver smaller!"
Gu Nan's tone left no room for negotiation: "Hanaijiro isn't just a simple mascot in this episode; he's the absolute core of the plot! He'll undergo a psychological transformation from 'pet' to 'partner' in this episode!"
In order to present the most perfect Hanaijiro, Gu Nan simply waved his hand and added more than a million yuan in special funds.
The props team collaborated with the top domestic bionic robot team to painstakingly recreate a high-precision mechanical Hanaijiro with independent bones, bionic silicone skin, and requiring three experienced puppeteers to remotely control it from the sidelines.
One controls the frequency of the ears, another controls the opening and closing of the mouth, and the most crucial one is specifically responsible for controlling the contraction and relaxation of the pupils and the slight closing of the eyelids of those large eyes.
Only in this way can we capture the incredibly lively and endearing sense of life of Hanejiro without using simplistic CG.
Besides this extremely expensive and adorable mechanical device, the monster costumes and special effects in this episode also put the team through a lot of trouble.
Inside the special effects studio, Chen Bo, sporting dark circles under his eyes, stared blankly at the rendering progress bar on the screen.
"Brother Nan, the rock armor of Debilfras is way too rigid in its design, isn't it? The kind of physical fracturing you requested is going to be a nightmare to render."
The monster appearing in this episode is Debilfras, a mutated form created by the Fras aliens after being bewitched by a magic stone.
To showcase its extremely high defensive capabilities that caused Dyna to suffer setbacks, the suit was actually fitted with an extremely hard, specially made resin rock shell on the outside of the heavy monster suit.
The actors in the suits were in unbearable heat inside, and every step they took felt like carrying a heavy burden.
What tormented the special effects team the most was the final scene where Dyna used a beam of light to destroy the "magic stone" on its chest.
Gu Nan didn't want the cheap feel of a beam of light exploding instantly; he demanded that it be made to resemble the energy overflow caused by the high-frequency vibrations when a beam of light cuts through a magic stone.
"Double the number of particles in the rock fragments!"
As the client, Gu Nan kept issuing modification instructions behind Chen Bo, all in order to better present the style of the next episode.
……
Friday night, 7:50 p.m.
In Lao Tang's live stream, the popularity had already surpassed the top spot in the same time slot.
"Hey guys! Good evening!"
He opened the show, thinking, "The progress bar is getting shorter and shorter; every episode I watch is one less I can watch!"
Old Tang skillfully pressed the F5 key, and the screen instantly changed.
The exciting and passionate opening theme song of "Ultraman Dyna" started playing right on time.
After a brief blackout, a line of bold white text slowly appeared in the center of the screen—
Episode 47: Goodbye, Hanaijiro
"Holy crap?!"
The moment he saw the title, Old Tang almost spilled his Coke all over the floor, his eyes widening like saucers.
After a brief pause of 0.1 seconds, the live stream chat exploded with an unprecedented frenzy!
【？？？？？】
What the hell?! Goodbye Hanejiro?!
[You old bastard Gu! What are you doing?! Are you trying to send our beloved pet away?!]
【I won't accept it! Hanaijiro is so cute, he absolutely can't leave!】
[A knife! This is definitely a forty-meter-long broadsword! I already had a feeling!]
"Don't panic, brothers! Let's watch the main feature first!" Old Tang tried to remain calm.
The main feature begins.
The opening scene, however, contrasts sharply with the somber title, appearing incredibly light and joyful.
The narrator, in a low voice, explained that ever since Asuka brought Hanejiro back to the TPC base from the Phantom Planet, this adorable but intelligent little guy has not only become the darling of the Super GUTS team, but has even created his own website, which is loved by children all over the country.
In the command room, Kawamai walked in with a little boy wearing a hat.
"Hello everyone, my name is Kawahiroki." The little boy greeted timidly.
It turns out that this is Mai's younger brother.
Asuka has always been an easygoing and overly enthusiastic idiot who desperately needs validation.
He saw the little boy holding a bouquet of flowers, immediately straightened his clothes, and approached him with a smug look on his face.
"Oh, it's okay, it's definitely for me! I'm the young ace of the Super GUTS team!" Asuka grinned so wide his mouth almost reached his ears.
However, Hiroki completely ignored Asuka's outstretched hand, walked straight to the table, and handed the bouquet of flowers to Hanejiro, who was lying there.
"So it was meant for Hanejiro after all!"
"Why is it so popular lately? It's completely taken over!"
Koda, Nakajima, Miyako, and the others in the command room burst into laughter at the sight.
[Hahaha! Asuka's being delusional again!]
[Asuka: Don't I have any dignity? I, the mighty Giant of Light, am less popular than a plush toy?]
[Hanajiro is definitely cuter than you, hahaha!]
The atmosphere within this team is so warm and cozy, but the warmer it is, the more anxious I feel.
Looking at the screen, Old Tang couldn't help but laugh: "That kid Feibiao can't stand not getting his comeuppance every day."
Right in this moment filled with a joyful atmosphere.
"Waaah—! Waaah—! Waaah—!"
An extremely piercing red alarm suddenly blared throughout the entire command center!
Zhong Dao immediately rushed to the computer, his hands flying across the keyboard: "Captain! Extremely strong anomalous cosmic radio waves have been detected in region S! It seems something has broken through the atmosphere!"
"Koda, Kariya! Immediately pilot your fighter jets to investigate!" Captain Hibi made a decisive decision.
"clear!"
The scene shifts, and Xing Xingtian and Xin Shuya arrive in the forest of the S region.
The two men, armed with laser guns, searched cautiously.
However, a strange breeze blew by.
Before they could react, two dark figures darted out from the shadows.
"Bang! Bang!"
With two muffled thuds, Koda and Kariya were knocked unconscious before they even had a chance to fire.
Immediately afterwards, in the distorted dark green light and shadow, the two unknown enemies transformed into the appearances of Koda and Kariya!
The extremely eerie background music and bizarre distortion instantly created a tense atmosphere in the live stream.
Holy crap! Two powerful allies were given to us right at the start?!
[Disguise and infiltration! These aliens are incredibly intelligent!]
[Oh no, oh no, the base is going to be in serious trouble!]
The last person to be that dry was Mei Zhulang.
Inside the TPC headquarters.
Kawamai anxiously called out into the communicator, "Vice-Captain Koda! Please respond! What's the situation on your end?"
A moment later, Koda's emotionless voice came through the communicator: "Nothing special was found. We're back."
This extremely unusual and harsh tone sent a chill down Mai's spine.
Soon, the aliens, posing as the two, easily bypassed the access control system with their faces and swaggered into the core area of TPC headquarters—the main control room!
Without a word, they pulled out their weapons and quickly destroyed the base's main computer, which controlled its communications and defense systems.
They then swaggered into the command center and launched an attack.
"Who are you people?!" Asuka roared, gun raised.
Just as tensions were running high and a major battle was about to break out.
Hanejiro, who had been following behind Asuka, suddenly poked his head out and let out an extremely clear cry:
"Pa-m!"
Upon hearing this voice, the two once arrogant Frass aliens trembled, their legs even going weak.
"This...this is?!"
They stared in disbelief at the furry little creature.
"Mukite?! It's the sacred beast revered as the god of peace on our planet, Mukit!"
It turns out that Hanaijiro is not an ordinary cosmic creature at all. In the culture of the Frass aliens, he is a supreme being worshipped as a god!
Faced with encirclement, the two "Koda" and "Kariya" finally dropped their disguises.
In a flash of light, two aliens with peculiar appearances, clad in heavy armor, revealed their true forms.
"We are the Frasians."
One of the blue-skinned Frassians spoke in a cold voice, tinged with an arrogant condescension: "Because our home planet suffered an irreversible impact, we were forced to wander the universe."
Later, in his account, everyone learned that their compatriots had been killed by biological weapons on the planet Melani!
That biological weapon was none other than Mos'ajia!
It was around that time that Asuka and his friends met Hanejiro.
"And now, we've set our sights on this planet."
Another alien from Frass pointed at the crowd and made an absurd demand: "Shrink all the native inhabitants of this planet and put them into our spaceship! We want to take over Earth!"
"Don't joke around! We will never hand over Earth to you!" Asuka roared angrily.
The Frasians, however, were not afraid at all. They coldly played their last trump card.
"We have 80 billion of our compatriots in miniature on our spaceship. And your two team members are currently in our hands. We're giving you 24 hours to consider. If you refuse, we'll use our most advanced weaponry to turn the Earth into scorched earth and kill the hostages!"
[80 billion?]
Goodness, there are as many as humans!
[Suddenly remembered, the last one that was that dry... seemed to be Baltan...]
Ah! That crayfish company with a combined value of 20 billion yuan, whose entire family was wiped out?
[I was so scared I cried!]
……
What's even more despairing is what Hanaijiro felt after seeing these two "compatriots" from his hometown.
It ignored the bird's plea to stay and instead slowly walked towards the Frass aliens, following them onto the huge spaceship that hovered above the city.
Holy crap! This plot twist is incredible!
Why did it go with the bad guys? Doesn't it want to fly anymore?
[It's over. They have the hostage, and the mythical beast has been kidnapped. TPC is now on the defensive.]
Old Tang frowned deeply in front of the screen: "Brothers, this situation is difficult. Hanaijiro's actions are likely to cause internal conflicts."
as predicted.
At the subsequent emergency meeting of TPC senior officials, Shiina, an officer from the intelligence agency, bluntly pointed out the suspicious points.
"The fact that just two people could so easily infiltrate the base's core and cripple the system means there must be an inside agent!"
Staff Officer Shiina's sharp gaze swept over the crowd. "And Hanaijiro, who is a creature from Planet Frass, is undoubtedly the prime suspect!"
"You're not allowed to say that about it!"
Like a cat whose tail has been stepped on, Shin Feiniao slammed his fist on the table and stood up, arguing with the higher-ups with bloodshot eyes.
"Hanaijiro is definitely not a traitor! It's been through so much with us, it's our partner!"
Seeing Asuka angrily confront her boss to protect her friend, the viewers in the live stream also voiced their support:
[Well done, Asuka! This is a time to protect your own!]
[Hanaijiro is so cute, how could he possibly be a mole? This strategist must be out of his mind!]
[Acting on emotions won't solve anything; Asuka is too impulsive.]
Meanwhile, inside the Frass alien spaceship, hovering in the clouds.
Through Gu Nan's extremely skillful use of camera language, the audience saw the hidden story behind this invasion.
These two Frass aliens are not actually a united front.
The relatively mild-mannered alien looked at the plant in the petri dish and sighed, "Do we really have to use force to buy peace? Our race has never advocated violence."
But the blue alien's eyes were flashing with an extremely frenzied red light.
"Everything changed after we obtained that magic stone on Planet Muzhen!"
The blue alien roared hysterically, "What does it matter if we seize other people's planets, as long as it ends our wandering! That magic stone is calling me; let the blood flow!"
【Mokujin Planet?! Isn't that Hunter Planet from the episode with Tiga and Lucia?!】
[Is this Mu Zhenxing's doing again? This magic stone amplifies the dark side of one's heart!]
No wonder the people from that planet are so warlike.
[The key to breaking the deadlock lies in the internal conflict between the dove and the hawk.]
Just as the two were arguing.
Taking advantage of their absence, Hanaijiro, who was enshrined as a "god" on the altar, displayed its amazing wisdom and superpowers.
Its large eyes suddenly shot out two beams of light.
The beam of light binding the two disappeared.
Not only that, when the two Fras aliens returned and discovered this scene, Hanaijiro actually used his eye projection to show the laughing daily life he had with the GUTS team.
Accompanied by Hanejiro's innocent and pure smile.
The gentle alien completely broke down. He knelt on the ground, sobbing uncontrollably, "I remember... we used to be like this, with happy smiles. The years of wandering made us lose sight of our most precious selves..."
He decided to abandon his invasion of Earth.
but!
The blue alien, completely controlled by the magic stone, was utterly deaf to any advice.
"Since none of you are willing to lift a finger, then I will destroy everything!"
Driven by the terrifying power of the magic stone, the blue alien let out a shrill scream, and his body began to swell and mutate rapidly!
Finally, amidst the deafening thunder.
A colossal monster, covered in thick resin and rock armor and resembling a demon, crashed onto the earth!
The city was engulfed in flames once again.
Koda and Kariya, who escaped the spaceship, immediately contacted headquarters and explained the truth.
Hanaijiro was not a traitor at all; on the contrary, he was their savior!
Upon learning the truth, Asuka's feelings of self-blame and anger reached their peak.
"Unforgivable..."
The fighter jets were unable to take off because the base system had not yet been restored.
Without any hesitation, Asuka jumped into a Seret patrol car, floored the gas pedal, and sped off in the direction where the monsters were rampaging!
Even though the light firepower on the patrol car was like child's play in front of the monster, and even though it was directly overturned by a fireball from Debilphras.
Amidst the towering flames of the exploding tanks!
Asuka roared and drew her Flash Sword!
"Dyna—!!!"
With a blinding flash of light, Ultraman Dyna rose from the flames and delivered a powerful flying kick that slammed into Debirphras's chest!
The great battle has begun!
However, the battle was extremely difficult.
With the magic stone's enhancement, Debilfras's thick rock armor was practically indestructible.
Dynamike unleashed a series of extremely powerful punches, but instead of breaking through his defenses, the impact left his arms numb.
"Sizzle—!"
Dyna created distance, crossed his arms, and unleashed his ultimate move, the Solgent Ray!
However, the devastating blue-white beam of light struck the monster's armor and was deflected, leaving only a shallow scorch mark on its surface.
"roar!"
The monster swung its claw back and knocked Dyna to the ground.
Wow, those suits look really heavy, yet their fight scenes are so fluid!
[Wearing costumes must be really tough!]
[This armor is so thick! It's completely impenetrable!]
[It's over, 6 sets of divine power!]
[Kids, this wave doesn't have armor penetration, so even a pedicure won't kill them!]
【Oh no, how am I supposed to play this?】
[This magic stone is too powerful; we need to find a way to remove it!]
Just when Dyna was in a desperate situation with his lights flashing red, he was in the middle of a tough battle.
In the sky, Hanaijiro's small figure arrived at the battlefield.
As it watched Dyna struggle, a divine light once again shone in its eyes.
The tiny yet highly penetrating ray of light struck Debilfras's chest with perfect accuracy.
Under the light, the evil red magic stone that had been hidden beneath heavy armor was finally exposed!
"So that's where the weakness was!"
Dyna understood immediately.
Without any hesitation, he abruptly crossed his hands over his forehead!
A holy, silvery-blue light instantly enveloped his entire body.
Miracle Dyna makes its dazzling debut!
Faced with the monster charging at him again, Miracle Dyna did not fight head-on. Instead, he transformed into a blue afterimage and used teleportation to nimbly appear behind the monster.
"Whoosh!"
An extremely sharp beam of light converged at the edge of Dyna's palm, like an indestructible lightsaber.
With incredible speed and precision, he slashed at the exposed magic stone on the monster's chest!
"Snap!"
A crisp cracking sound rang out, and the magic stone, radiating evil power, was shattered on the spot!
Without the support of the magic stone's power, Debilphras let out a mournful cry, and the seemingly indestructible rock armor instantly dimmed, its defensive power greatly reduced.
"Now!"
Miracle Dyna's hands moved rapidly across her chest, causing deep black spatial energy to converge wildly.
Lipolum light wave!
A stream of blue-white light, carrying the power of the black hole, roared out.
But this time, Dyna did not devour the entire monster; instead, he displayed an extremely terrifying ability to control energy!
The light wave precisely swept across Debilfras's reinforced armor, stripping it off along with the remnants of the magic stone and sending it into the black hole!
Having lost their evil powers, the aliens returned to their original forms, collapsed wearily on the ground, and were eventually retrieved by the guiding beam shot down by the spaceship.
The battle is over.
The afterglow of the setting sun, like a golden veil, was sprinkled on the shimmering sea.
However, amidst this breathtaking scenery, an inescapable sorrow of parting pervades.
The Frass aliens' spaceship hovered silently in mid-air.
The gentle aliens have apologized to Earth, and they are about to embark on another journey of wandering in the universe.
Hanaijiro also had to leave with them.
It is the god of peace for the Frasians, a wandering race that has lost its home and needs its guidance to find new hope in the vast sea of stars.
This is its responsibility.
"Could it be... that they're really going to take Hanaijiro away?"
Mai's eyes were red and her voice was trembling.
The bird didn't speak; he simply watched quietly as the little creature floated in mid-air, getting further and further away from him.
Hanaijiro looked at Asuka, and there seemed to be tears glistening in his large eyes.
It waved its little arms vigorously.
"Pa-m..." (I'm leaving, Asuka...)
That extremely childish cry, at that moment, was like a heavy hammer, striking the hearts of every audience member.
"goodbye……"
The bird looked up at the disappearing spaceship.
Goodbye, Hanaijiro.
All good things come to an end.
As the spaceship transformed into a streak of light and disappeared into the horizon, the little guy who had always been with the Super GUTS team and brought them countless laughs was truly gone.
In the final scene, Captain Hibiki comforts Asuka:
"Where there is meeting, there will be parting; that is life."
"Because of this separation, it also means there's still a chance. I believe Hanaijiro will definitely come back to see you..."
Just then, Hanaijiro's website suddenly sent a message:
"Asuka! We'll definitely meet again!"
This episode is over.
……
"Brothers... this knife, even though it didn't draw blood, really hurt like hell."
The screen was filled with tearful comments:
[Waaaaah, Hanaijiro, don't go!]
[They clearly won, so why does it feel so painful to watch?]
Asuka didn't even utter a word of urging him to stay; he knew Hanejiro had his own mission.
This episode made me cry; farewells always seem so sudden.
Old Tang sat up straight, looked at the screen, and began his extremely heartfelt post-match analysis.
"On the surface, this episode of Gu Laozei is about fighting monsters, but at its core, it portrays the themes of 'responsibility' and 'letting go'."
"Think about this carefully, everyone. On Earth, Hanaijiro is a beloved mascot, a carefree little pet. But in the eyes of the Frasians, he is a symbol of peace, a deity guiding the survival of their race!"
Old Tang's voice trembled slightly: "From the moment it awakened the kind nature of its fellow birds, it was no longer that little creature that would only tremble behind the birds. It shouldered its own heavy responsibility!"
"And our protagonist, Shin Asuka, is usually so impulsive, always the first to jump in when injustice strikes. But this time, why didn't he rush to rescue the person?"
Old Tang pointed to a screenshot of Fei Niao's forced smile on the screen.
"Because the bird has also matured. He understands that love is not about possession, but about fulfillment. When his friend finds the meaning of his life and the mission he must undertake, no matter how reluctant he is, he can only smile and wave goodbye, watching it fly to a higher and farther sky."
"And those two aliens—this is the contrastive writing style that Director Gu is extremely good at! Faced with the pain of losing their home and wandering, one chooses to redeem himself with innocent memories; the other chooses to be devoured by power and becomes a demon who only knows how to kill. This is actually a warning to us that no matter what kind of desperate situation we are in, we must not lose our original smiling heart."
Old Tang let out a long sigh.
"Where there is meeting, there will be parting. That's life."
"But separation also means there's still a chance to meet again. Just like the email Hanejiro sent at the end of this episode."
We will meet again. We definitely will.
With this farewell anthem, "Ultraman Dyna" once again deeply touched the softest corner of the hearts of all viewers on this night.