Say it in Red Episode 67: uuultraC

Say It In Red

A NEW ERA OF HEROES!

A WORLD EMBATTLED!

THE PASSION OF RIVALRY AND HEATED DRAMA BETWEEN MEN!

The sirens sing like soft jazz pumped through shopping mall speakers. Children look on, their eyes gleaming with excitement to see a glimpse of the masked heroes who will defeat the evil, rampaging Kaiju. Every day, the heroes will kill parents, children, and lovers... perhaps even their own. The crowds always cheer when the siren plays, even when the heroes have no heart for cheering.

This month, Sara and Runa rush into the world of superheroes, kaiju, and conquering aliens from beyond the stars in the tokusatsu-inspired BL, uuultraC! Set in 1969, uuultraC takes us to a world where humans can become Kaiju and heroes are tasked with killing them publicly and without mercy. Becoming a Kaiju is fairly simple - the infection can spread through contact with Kaiju blood or sex with a Kaiju, and then it's as simple as raising your heartrate high enough that your body twists and transforms into a gigantic, monstrous form. Sometimes it happens when a Kaiju is enraged and lashes out in fury. Sometimes it happens when a defenseless Kaiju is attacked by a wild animal. No matter the case, their sentence is death, to be carried out as soon as the hero Icarus arrives.

Adelta's uuultraC(2022) takes us through the story of three different protagonists and their relationships to Superheroes, Kaiju, gender, sexuality, the expectations of society, and their own futures. Shoutarou has always longed to be an actor in superhero dramas, but is that even possible for him after he's splashed with Kaiju blood? His boyfriend, Kozuka, has also been disappearing more and more recently, leaving Shoutarou wondering where the two of them really stand. Choutsugai is haunted by the memory of a young girl he fell in love with on the set of a movie when they were both children. As an adult, however, he discovers that the Belle he loves so dearly is Suzu Isshiki, a drag queen and Kaiju who wages a brutal war against the heroes. Standing above them all is Juurou Sayashi, the current suit actor for Sun-mask Icarus and the star of the hero shows that inspire and entertain the nation. He has always been the perfect, stoic hero... even though his true wish is to live quietly with his childhood friend, Yomi. Yomi, however, is hiding a secret that sits at the core of the conflict between Kaiju and Superheroes. Each of their stories explores the ways in which stigmatization and marginalization, especially of queerness, resonates with the stylized and idealized conflicts that play out between Heroes and Kaiju.

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Content Warnings for this episode:

Discussion of homophobia (internalized and otherwise), transphobia, sexual assault including child sexual abuse, and gore.