Tokyo Unnatural Forensics

Chapter 291, Ultraseven

Koji Moritsugu's Moritsugu Curry Shop is located on the road from Yokohama to Hakone in Kanagawa Prefecture. The shop is on the ground floor of his own house, which is surrounded by residential areas. There are signs indicating the way to "Moritsugu Curry Shop".

In autumn, scattered leaves in Fujisawa City, Kanagawa Prefecture, are like scattered gold embedded in the stone pavement. The maple trees on both sides of the stone steps are burning brightly—the crimson and ochre leaves intertwine to form a dome. Occasionally, a corner is lifted by the mountain wind, letting in a few rays of sunlight. At this time, the sun has not yet risen, and under the overcast sky, a layer of misty fog covers the sky.

After parking the car, Erina Ikeda and Muneyuki Uesugi held Minami Watanabe's hand, and the three of them prepared to have lunch together at a curry restaurant.

It's worth mentioning that Minami is really petite. Her feet are only size 32, and the length of her fingertips only reaches the second knuckle of Uesugi Muneyuki. In addition, with her height of 1.6 meters and without high heels, she looks two or three sizes smaller when Uesugi Muneyuki is holding her hand, and they even look like father and daughter.

Especially with the 1.7-meter-tall Erina Ikeda next to them, the tall beauty is already tall, and she has been exercising and is also quite plump. The three of them walking together look like a family of three.

Of course, they are indeed a family of three, but not the kind of family of three that people usually understand.

"Is this it?" The three walked side by side on the streets of the outskirts of Kanagawa. One was voluptuous and alluring, the other sweet and charming. They were like two beauties, each with their own unique charm. Naturally, they attracted the attention of many passersby, but most of them were elderly people. The young people were all at work (in fact, most of the elderly people under the age of 75 in Japan are also working).

With her delicately made-up face, Erina's features were sharp and strong. Her piercing eyes were full of intimidation, and her pupils were clear and affectionate. She seemed to be on vacation and relaxing, but also exuded a hint of mature fruit fragrance. It was clear that Uesugi Muneyuki's development over the past year had been remarkable.

Wearing a cool, dazzling star-studded leather jacket over a red turtleneck sweater, she exudes a heroic spirit. Her leather skirt, which is 20 centimeters above her knees, is adorned with shimmering silver patterns, making her resemble a strong-willed and indomitable female investigator. Her shoulder-length brown hair falls over the shoulders of the leather jacket, and a rose gold cherry blossom pendant (a gift from Uesugi Muneyuki) adorns her chest, adding a touch of sexiness to her cool demeanor.

Naturally, Ikeda's miraculous figure, along with the pendant, pushed the neckline of her sweater into a fatal curve. Her slender waist and the defined abs were perfectly connected by a slightly exaggerated curve and her plump, perky buttocks. Her round breasts swayed from side to side with her light steps, which was incredibly alluring.

A pair of long, slender, and proud legs were clad in black diamond-patterned semi-sheer Wolford pantyhose. The pantyhose made her legs appear even more flawless and proudly upright. Her thighs were full and her calves were slender, with a well-proportioned, straight, and powerful figure. Paired with a pair of black chain knee-high leather boots, her near-perfect figure was undoubtedly the most eye-catching feature.

Even Minami, the young lady, couldn't help but want to reach out and pat Erena's butt when she saw it from behind.

Others are destined to only watch. This dashing woman in black stockings, leather jacket, and boots has long been Uesugi Muneyuki's possession, both physically and mentally, and has long since become Uesugi Muneyuki's exclusive property.

“Yes, this is it.” Uesugi Muneyuki nodded.

The restaurant's main hall is a three-story detached house, which has the feel of a century-old shop in the Japanese countryside. The interior furnishings are not very new, but they are very clean. The furniture and chairs are placed in a very narrow space. Every slightly empty corner is filled with Seven elements: Seven figurines, Seven headgear, Seven models, monster models, Seven autographs, Seven defense team planes, and various photos of Ultraman actors. They are old objects from the old era.

Seven~ Seven~ Seven~ Seven Seven Seven~ Seven Seven Seven Seven~ A distant planet is my home~
Uesugi Muneyuki unconsciously started singing, and when he saw Minami and Erina looking at him with strange eyes, he touched his nose a little embarrassedly.

This is my childhood from my past life.

At the same time, Ultraman Seven is also the favorite science fiction character of Grandpa Kuninori Uesugi, without exception.

Many people find it hard to understand why Tsuburaya Productions is so fond of the character Ultraman Seven, making sure to emulate him in every project, to the point that the emulation of Ultraman Seven has become somewhat annoying.

In fact, this is largely due to the times.

From the perspective of Chinese people, the Ultraman series was introduced all at once in the 1990s and became a part of our childhood. However, this is not the case for Japanese people. In terms of the Showa era alone, the first Ultraman was released in 1966, and Ultraman 80 was released in 1980, which is a full generation apart, a total of 14 years.

For Kuninori Uesugi's generation, the original Ultraman and Ultraseven were undoubtedly groundbreaking masterpieces. In particular, the profound humanistic meaning in the story of Ultraseven and the deep philosophical reflections and intense clashes brought about by the identity misalignment formed by the intersection of Ultraman's perspective and human perspective perfectly reflected the vibrant and thriving life of the Japanese people in that era, as they went from hardship to prosperity.

Therefore, many people still believe that Ultraseven is the best science fiction work in Japanese history, especially older viewers like Kuninori Uesugi who have status and influence.

To put it bluntly, Ultraman Seven is probably the only work by Tsuburaya Productions that can be considered respectable and worthy of being presented in a savvy manner. Naturally, we take every opportunity to reminisce about it, pay tribute to it, and idolize it like crazy.

But that's about it. Kuninori Uesugi's favorite characters are Ultraman and Ultraseven. He thinks the third Ultraman series is watchable. After that, his evaluation is always "this is crap." As for Leo and Ultraman 80, he says "this is the worst crap." Especially in Leo, his beloved Dan Moroboshi was turned into "Super-intelligent Captain" and "Jeep Demon," which made his evaluation of Leo extremely bad.

The same applies to the evaluation in Japanese society. Starting from the third Ultraman series, the tokusatsu genre began to become completely child-friendly and entertainment-oriented, and Ultraman's reputation began to decline, falling into the ranks of second- or third-rate IPs. Even Shinoda Saburo, who later played the human form of Taro, and Hasegawa Hatsunori, who played the human form of Ultraman 80, disliked being labeled as "Ultraman series actors." Shinoda Saburo never played Taro again for the rest of his life, while Hasegawa reconciled with himself after many years and ultimately only returned for a guest appearance.

Ironically, these two are the highest-ranking actors among all the main actors in the Oku series, and they have also appeared in the most Taiga dramas.

The remaining few could only perform in stage plays or appear in other tokusatsu works, playing supporting roles and saying things like, "The end of Kamen Rider has come!" Just as Uesugi Muneyuki arrived, Moritsugu Kouji was squatting at the door smoking: "Welcome!"

"Hello, Moritsugu-san, I am..." Uesugi Muneyuki greeted him politely.

“I know who you are, Uesugi Muneyuki, Kunihiro-san’s grandson.” Grandpa Moriji joked, “I watched that episode too.”

Starring in Ultraman might be a remarkable achievement, but for a professor from the University of Tokyo, it's nothing.

"Yes, Grandpa asked me to bring you something." Uesugi Muneyuki handed a large gift box to Grandpa Moritsugu, inside which was a Daiginjo sake carefully selected by Uesugi Kuninori and a pair of sake glasses.

"You're too kind, Mr. Kunihiro." Old Master Mori immediately returned the favor with a box of Ashigara tea.

"I've come here to try your cooking, Madam," Uesugi Muneyuki said with a smile.

"Welcome! Welcome!" Mr. Mori was very welcoming, gesturing for us to come in and have a seat. He said he would cook for us himself!
Uesugi Muneyuki and the others had a simple meal at the Ultra Seven Curry Restaurant. It has to be said that the cooking skills were just average, only not bad. A meal cost nearly 1000 yen, which was not cheap. However, Mr. Moritsugu was very hospitable and even talked about his stories when he was filming Ultra Seven.

Filming conditions were extremely difficult at the time, and the budget was very limited. Renting a location could take up half of the production budget. Many staff members had to take on multiple roles, and they didn't receive much pay after filming was completed. Despite these hardships, Mr. Moritsugu finished filming Ultra Seven and left his mark on the history of Japanese science fiction.

“I was very poor at the time. Every day I had to take a two-hour train ride from here to Tokyo to film. Tsuburaya Productions often delayed paying my wages, which made me afraid to socialize. I could barely make ends meet by eating cheap boxed lunches every day,” Koji Moritsugu said dramatically. “But I have never regretted playing the role of Dan Moroboshi.”

Holy crap, how could Tsuburaya Productions be so mean!

Minami and Erina, who were standing nearby, both thought of it subconsciously.

"What about Leo's Dan Moroboshi?" Uesugi Muneyuki asked with a smile.

"That was a problem with the script. The original design was for the captain to be named Kawakami Tetsutaro, a tough, stern father-type captain with a strong will. But at the time, I said that I had already played the role of Moroboshi Dan (in Tsuburaya's early scripts were written as Moroboshi Dan in kanji), so I temporarily replaced the role without rewriting the whole story. As a result, the performance was not satisfactory." Moritsugu Koji shook his head and sighed beside him: "It was said to be the culmination of the 15th anniversary, but in the end, the ratings dropped below 10%, almost causing the Ultraman series to end."

"For a long time afterward, I didn't want to play this role again, until the late 90s when the Seven OV series project was restarted..."

Mr. Moritsugu and Uesugi Muneyuki chatted for a long time about the past. Whenever Seven was mentioned, the old man's eyes would open wide and light would shine, the wrinkles on his face would smooth out and a smile would appear on his lips, showing that he truly loved the character.

What a pity... Uesugi Muneyuki could only sigh.

During this period, Koji Moritsugu was still very talkative and willing to chat, but by his previous life, Mr. Moritsugu's mentality had changed drastically. No photos, conversations, or autographs were allowed in the curry shop, and a minimum charge was imposed. A photo with him cost 500 yen, and Chinese text was printed on the back of the menu to emphasize this. Even when he was in the shop, he kept a straight face and didn't say a word.

Some say that some Chinese resellers traveling to Japan came to Japan without making any purchases, but instead asked for a large number of autographs and photos to resell. Others say that after relations between the two countries deteriorated, some Chinese deliberately asked leading questions to try to get Mr. Moritsugu to make political remarks and recorded it.

Of course, there are also claims that Moriji's wife and daughter were cold to guests, clearly disliked Chinese people, required reservations and communication in Japanese, and that the prices were exorbitant, essentially exploiting customers (indeed, the prices were high and the taste was mediocre).

In short, from then on, this place was only operated as a regular themed restaurant, and it was no longer so welcoming to Chinese people.

Ultraseven ultimately met an inevitable and cold end.

After lunch, the Moritsugu family came out to see him off. Uesugi Muneyuki took the initiative to take a photo with the old man, and together they held up their Ultraman glasses and shouted "囧~", bringing the meeting to a perfect end.

Just before getting into the car, that sentence popped into Uesugi Muneyuki's mind again.

A warm heart should never be extinguished. Show compassion to the weak, help each other, and you can become friends with people from any country, even if this friendship has been betrayed a thousand times.

This is precisely the spirit that the Ultraman series wants to convey to everyone, and it is also the reason why the battle between the suited characters has remained so popular and captivating to this day.

(End of this chapter)