SEC Chapter 194 Monster Drama, Alchemy That Breaks Down Dimensional Barriers!
Chapter 194 Monster Drama, Alchemy That Breaks Down Dimensional Barriers!
(This episode is still abstract. I remember this episode quite well when I was a kid, and I thought it was a computer malfunction. To be honest, the author didn't understand it either. I looked up a bunch of explanations but still couldn't figure it out. This episode is terrible.)
It was another uneventful week.
7:50 p.m.
Old Tang's live stream was already bustling with activity, and its popularity easily surpassed the top spot in its time slot.
"Good evening, guys!"
Old Tang sat in his gaming chair, taking a satisfying sip of his iced cola. "I know Gu Laozei's tricks all too well. He was just moved last week, so he's definitely going to pull something different this week!"
The live stream chat was flooded with comments like a waterfall:
[Finally updated!]
Children, I'm home!
[Selling sunflower seeds, peanuts, and bottled water in the front row!]
[Will Asuka continue to get beaten up this week, hahaha!]
"It's here! Time's up!"
Old Tang skillfully pressed the F5 key, and the screen instantly changed.
The rousing and energetic opening theme of Ultraman Dyna began playing right on time. After a brief black screen, a line of bold white text appeared in the center of the screen—
Episode 38: Monster Drama
"Monster Theater? That name sounds a bit artsy." Old Tang stroked his chin.
The main feature begins.
Busy staff are setting up the stage.
A moment later, the white lights faded, and a chorus of buzzing and applause rose. A mysterious audience member vanished into the shadows.
Suddenly, colored lights illuminated the stage. A thin man dressed in black appeared on stage.
He looked panicked and cried out, "It's coming! It's...it's coming! The monster Buenda is coming!"
The scene shifts to the outdoors.
The man in black staggered down the street, muttering that a monster was coming. A moment later, his eyes glazed over, and he collapsed to the ground.
Passersby were all very surprised, when suddenly a countdown began.
With a "beep," a dark vortex appeared in the sky. A strangely shaped object emerged from it and fell to the ground.
A colossal object descended, shaking the heavens and earth. A monster, shaped like a towering pagoda, stood majestically amidst the steel jungle!
[Holy crap! It's already happening right at the start?!]
This monster looks like the Tower of Babel!
This fisheye lens looks really weird.
[This filter... well, it feels like Gu Nan is about to start doing some lens art again.]
The location is TPC Medical Center.
Asuka and Kariya meet with Mayumi.
They wanted to know about the man in black. Mayumi explained that he had amnesia and could only mutter the names of monsters in his sleep.
Mayumi then took out a camera and said it belonged to the man in black.
Kariya took the camera and examined it; it contained many photos: a storage floppy disk, strange patterns, a teddy bear wearing a team uniform, a keychain…
Seeing these unrelated photos, Kariya seemed to understand something and borrowed the key from the man in black.
Soon after, Kariya, who was repeatedly searching with his camera, decided to go to the P region with Asuka.
After a dramatic, comic-book-style transition, they arrived at a mansion exuding an eerie atmosphere.
Kariya began his explanation: "The manager of this apartment building is named Narumi. He's a playwright and a genius who's well-versed in dark and heretical literature from ancient times to the present."
That enormous creature called Buenda is the name of the monster from Narumi's play "Monster Theater".
Soon, Feiniao found a floppy disk labeled TPC and S/GUTS.
After the contents were read, a strange pattern flashed on the computer screen. It turned out that the floppy disk contained detailed information about the defense team's specific structure and all the members of the Super Victory Team.
The scene then shifts to the TPC base command center.
Captain Kibi is listening to a report.
According to the diary found in the mansion, Narumi uncovered the mystery of creating life after studying alchemy, and the monster Buenda was born.
Kawamai immediately began searching for information about alchemy on her computer.
The scene returns to the mansion, where Asuka investigates alone and discovers a path leading to the attic.
With questions in mind, he resolutely stepped inside.
The next instant, amidst Narumi's unrestrained laughter, Asuka lost her footing and plummeted into the black hole.
[What kind of cyberpunk unboxing scene is this?!]
The room was decorated like a ghost town, with books and bottles and jars scattered all over the floor.
Why is that raccoon on the table wearing a Super GUTS uniform?!
The scene changes, and Kariya and Mayumi are looking after the man in black.
It turns out the man had lost his memory. Narumi found him and gave him the name Casper Hauser.
The alarm suddenly went off.
Buenda, shaped like the Tower of Babel, grew a large head and began to move.
Narumi began her speech on the stage.
He said the man who lost his memory was the mother of Buenda.
He wants to breed monsters in the real world and dominate the entire real world with his delusions.
Narumi fiddled with the equipment on the stage and revealed the method of creating the monster: put this twisted pearl called "Radiant Baroque" into a flask along with horse manure, and heat it continuously at a high temperature of 451 degrees Fahrenheit for 40 days, adding the blood, flesh and bones of the story.
451 degrees Fahrenheit? The ignition point of paper?
[Using the heat from burning books to alchemy?]
I can handle color-changing ink (just kidding).
This playwright is a complete madman, treating reality like a stage.
In the secret room, Narumi's assistant tells the trapped Asuka that the Super GUTS team does not exist in this world, and becoming Dyna is just his dream.
Narumi laughed as he left, determined to witness a different kind of "happy ending" in the face of humanity's demise.
In the stage-like hospital room, Kariya's thoughts were clear, and he believed that the daughter entrusted with protecting the secret in Narumi's diary was a doll named Francesini.
Mayumi did not respond, but slowly rolled a piece of cellophane into a cylindrical shape.
She turned around and placed the cylinder in the center of the illustration on the script cover.
The strange pattern on the script cover, reflected by the cylindrical cellophane, reveals the true nature of the mystery!
That's Ultraman Dyna!
The moment Dyna's image was reflected on the cellophane, a surge of golden energy erupted, ignoring the barriers of time and space, and instantly arrived at the place where the bird was trapped.
Ultraman Dyna, the Warrior of Light, makes his appearance!
Holy crap! This decryption method is ingenious!
[Curved surface reflection! Using visual traps to hide the answer, Gu Laozei's imagination is unparalleled!]
Mayumi has done a great job!
Dyna fell from the dark clouds, and the violent shockwave struck the stage built by Narumi.
The first shot is a Soljet at 0 frames.
The following fight scene is characterized by an extremely abstract style.
The background music begins with the first movement of Vivaldi's Violin Concerto "The Four Seasons - Winter".
Multiple perspectives stacked, mirror refraction.
Dyna first made his appearance in a backlit pose, and then performed an illusory movement technique.
In this battle where time and space intertwine, Buenda is pierced by his own tentacles. The chaotic scenes fall silent amidst a merciless explosion, and the monster dissipates into scattered specks of light.
Everyone reviewed the situation in the command center.
The bird smiled and closed its eyes, and then the camera came into focus.
The image of the bird gradually faded, and the man in black took his place.
The doll leaned to one side, its eyes glowing red.
Only the playwright's laughter echoed in the room, as if he had never been finished.
The scene freezes, and the play ends.
……
"call--"
Old Tang let out a long breath in front of the computer, a hint of shock in his eyes.
His expression was very conflicted.
"I don't understand it, but I'm deeply moved.jpg"
"Guys, this episode is giving me a headache."
Old Tang sat up straight. "On the surface, this is a story about a playwright trying to turn the world into a stage. If the previous slice-of-life episodes were comedic, then this episode is pure art and metaphor!"
"If the screen is filled with comments like 'I don't understand it, but I'm deeply impressed,' then that's how it is!"
Old Tang typed rapidly on the keyboard, pulled up a screenshot, and began his extremely hardcore analysis.
"First, let's talk about Director Gu's highly personal aesthetic visual language in this episode! The fisheye lens at the beginning, the black circular frames in the first city scene, and the ubiquitous mirrors!"
"Mirrors not only represent the chaotic fluctuations of space, but also carry the meaning of 'nothingness.' That black circle is actually the director's use of 'misaligned perspective.' This suggests that the rules of the real world have been broken by a monster that suddenly intruded, and it has begun to evolve into chaos and disorder."
Indeed, the cinematography in this episode is a bit dizzying to watch.
The reflections in those mirrors were so eerie, they really set the mood.
"Let's take a look at the key reveal of this episode! Mayumi uses cellophane rolled into a cylinder to show the picture!"
Old Tang slammed his hand on the table. "In the art world, this is called a 'curved image distortion' visual trap! Viewers need to use a specific angle to see the hidden information in the painting. Director Gu used this ancient Renaissance technique to hide the key to breaking the deadlock on the script cover..."
The live stream chat was flooded with comments:
[Wow! I learned this in art class!]
How come that old scoundrel Gu always manages to come up with so many weird and wonderful things?
Old Tang took a sip of water and continued, "Not only that, look at the steps Narumi took to create the monster. He continuously heated it to 451 degrees Fahrenheit. Does that temperature seem familiar? It's the ignition point of paper in the science fiction novel of the same name, '451 Degrees Fahrenheit'! The novel is about burning books to suppress thoughts."
"Narumi wanted to create not just monsters, but the entire story of the play. He specifically used the heat of burning the written medium to heat it, hoping to imbue the script with free thought! This mad playwright fused alchemy with the very essence of his stories, comprehending a world-making method unique to him!"
Can the heat of burning books give a story its soul?
[A cultured person's analysis of the plot is truly unique; Lao Tang, you shone today!]
But I still don't quite understand it.
[This feels a lot like the "Dream" episode from Ultraman Tiga]
No, no, no, this is much harder to understand than the dream episode!
Old Tang's eyes brightened considerably: "Finally, let's talk about the ending. Many people found the ending chilling; Narumi's laughter still echoes—does that mean he won?"
"Actually, Narumi believes that Ultraman's ability to eliminate monsters is a delusion. But he will eventually understand that a story without an audience is meaningless. Ultraman are not mechanical deus ex machina at the end of the stage; they are the light of miracles that burst forth when humanity fights with all its might to break the chains of fate!"
"Just as humanity strides towards tomorrow with anticipation for the unknown, creating their own next story, moving towards the future—this is the unchanging core spirit of Ultraman Dyna!"
"This is what makes 'Monster Theater' truly so sophisticated. It not only features fantastical and bizarre elements, but also delves into the exploration of the unknown and the creation of stories."
That's all for today's analysis! See you next week, guys!
The live stream concluded successfully amidst a screen full of comments like "I was deeply impressed" and "Director Gu is awesome."