Emi (Ultraman: Rising)

is a Gigantron hatchling and later the foster child of Ultraman/Ken Sato, who attempts to protect her from the machinations of the conniving KDF in Ultraman: Rising.
Subtitle: Baby Kaijuhttps://tsuburaya-prod.com/encyclopedia/Emi
==Conception==
===Etymology===
In real life, Emi was named after the daughter of one of director Shannon Tindle's good friends.https://x.com/ShannonTindle_1/status/1763966378581897371 In the movie, Emi was named after Ken's mother, Emiko Sato, by Professor Sato.
In Emi’s model & texture sheet, her full name is written as Emi Sato.https://x.com/sunmininn/status/1806783244882633032/
===Design===
In 2001, the project which would eventually give rise to Ultraman: Rising was first conceived with the working title of Made in Japan, which told the story of a superhero raising a baby monster. The design of the baby monster would undergo an evolutionary change over the years, notably a redesign pitched in 2015 which most resembles Emi's current appearance after adding additional highlights and colors.https://x.com/ShannonTindle_1/status/1785682053541085569
The character design of Baby Monster was directly inspired by the octopus character Takora from Toho's 1973 children's tokusatsu show Kure Kure Takora. Tindle was deeply impressed by seeing a vinyl toy of this character during a past trip to Japan. Additionally, considering Emi needed as many ways to communicate as possible, Tindle gave Emi the ability to change her skin color to reflect her emotions.https://www.cartoonbrew.com/feature-film/how-ultra-man-rising-found-a-fresh-take-on-tokusatsu-and-kaiju-genres-241469.html
To keep to the franchise's Tokusatsu roots, Tindle incorporated human proportions into the naturalistic creature design of the kaiju, which mimics and references the tradition of suit-acting. On X (formerly Twitter), Tindle shared a sketch drawn over visual development artist Omar Smith's 3D model of Emi to illustrate his imagery of a toddler in an Emi "suit".https://x.com/ShannonTindle_1/status/1795855357702537276
In designing Emi's egg, animation visual developer Nacho Molina suggested that when Emi is inside the egg/cocoon, her head crest would wrap around her head. Upon hatching and Emi awakening, the head crest would unfold. The egg's design inspiration mainly comes from the themes of "ancient" and "cute," combined with colorful, psychedelic, and rugged visual elements. The anatomical structure of the Kaiju egg draws inspiration from actual eggs, rocks, and exotic fruit patterns. When the egg glows, it will attempt to follow the color scheme used for Kaiju energy attacks, inspired by black ultraviolet light, psychedelic textures, and fluorescent color palettes.
When considering Emi's cocoon, two proposals were put forward. The first proposal suggests that the cocoon can rest horizontally on small bumps resembling legs, based on the anatomy of an actual cocoon. Proportions were modified to match Emi's head, wings, and body. When the material dries, it turns into an opal color and becomes partially translucent, revealing the contents inside. The second proposal involves Emi wrapping herself with silk-like fluids that form beam-shaped cocoons, which can be kept upright by these silk strands. This idea is inspired by silkworms and Mothra cocoons.
Considering the biological aspect, squids have the ability to change color to camouflage or warn predators. It was proposed that when observing its surface up close, viewers could see small dot patterns that change in size and color, giving the entire skin a completely different appearance. The cocoon's color will change depending on the moment. When it is calm, it will remain opal-colored; when agitated, it will pulsate between intense hues.
== History ==
=== Ultraman: Rising ===
Before her birth, Emi's life started out as an egg captured from an unknown location, which was being transported to the KDF headquarters, with the mother Gigantron following after. Their paths intersected over the new Tokyo Dome, interrupting Ken's first baseball match in Japan and causing the KDF to lose the payload. Ken Sato, as Ultraman, struggled to hold off Gigantron's beam, giving the kaiju a window of opportunity to snatch the egg away with the KDF in hot pursuit. After a brutal skirmish in the skies, the KDF emerged victorious as Gigantron fell into the sea. Ultraman, however, rescued the payload, which hatched into a baby Gigantron, leaving him mesmerized. He instinctually fled the scene, and brought the baby to his secret hideout, the Ultra Base. 
To Ken's dismay, the baby Gigantron had imprinted onto Ultraman and recognized the giant as her mother. Initially, Ken was adamant about taking care of the baby and had her sealed into a containment chamber, with the baby terrified at the absence of her parent. She eventually learned that Ken was Ultraman, but he would only provide her with the basic necessities for survival until Mina, his drone assistant, roped Ken into raising the baby. In his darkest times, the baby brought hope and love into Ken's life, and the two developed a closer bond as parent and child as Ken began to mature.
Later, during Ken's dinner appointment with Ami Wakita, "Baby" was kept preoccupied in the secret lair. However, when "Baby" began experiencing acid reflux, she suddenly gained access to her first set of powers, and, breaking out of the mansion, began to explore Tokyo. There, her unintentional mayhem caught the attention of not only Ken, who had transformed into Ultraman to bring her back, but also the KDF, who deployed drones equipped with tranquilizing agents to recapture her. As "Baby" scaled Tokyo Tower, the tranquilizers were fired into her body, causing her to begin losing consciousness, and soon, "Baby" lost her grip. While Ultraman was able to save "Baby" from falling to her death, the infant monster suffered a dislocated shoulder and a fracture to her arm.
Returning to the lair with Ultraman, "Baby" was examined by Professor Sato, who administered effective treatment, reducing her dislocated shoulder. As she slept, the Satos discussed their next steps: to raise her as her mother would have, with an appropriate training regimen to teach her the survival skills she would need to protect herself from both the KDF and other giant monsters. That was when Professor Sato named her Emi, after his wife. Not long after, the family organized a getaway to their former home, with Emi in tow. After a ruthless ambush by the KDF, Emi started to pupate and eventually hatched from her cocoon at the mansion, with newly-formed wings resembling her mother's. 
Seeing what appeared to be her mother out on the horizon, Emi leaped into the skies despite Ken's protests. She accompanied her mechanized mother to Kaiju Island, unknowingly at the behest of the KDF, but was stopped by Ultraman arriving in the nick of time. Recognising Ultraman as her adoptive father, Emi expressed anguish as Ultraman and Mecha Gigantron grappled fiercely, but the battle was cut short when Emi got caught in the blast, to Ultraman's grief. Using her echolocation, she eventually managed to reach out to Gigantron, and the two joined Ultraman and Ultradad in the climatic fight against the Destroyer.
In the epilogue, she is seen onboard the Ultra Ship alongside Ken, Professor Sato, and Gigantron, as the newfound family headed to Kaiju Island.
==== Trivia ====
*Randy Thorn of Skywalker Sound, who is responsible for the sound design of many famous animated films, created Emi's voice.https://x.com/ShannonTindle_1/status/1796365034710536364
*The track that first plays during Emi's introduction borrows from the synthesized voices of Vocaloid, which director Shannon Tindle and lead composer Scot Stafford believe to be the "perfect musical voice" for Emi.https://x.com/ShannonTindle_1/status/1796187630083674353
*In the film, Mina keeps Emi preoccupied with videos of Ken Sato and Kaiju Step Wandabada.
**When Emi performs her dance in the containment chamber to the tune of "Kaiju Step Wandabada," it serves as a clear homage to the 1965 Godzilla film Invasion of the Astro-Monster, where Godzilla executes his iconic victory dance. Notably, Godzilla's dance was itself a reference to Iyami's pose from Osomatsu-kun, a popular gesture in 1960s Japan.
*Coincidentally, Emi shares the same name as characters from other series, such as Emi Jono from Ultraman 80 and Emi Aobe from Ultraman Blazar.
**Due to the shared name, Emi Aobe's actress, Himena Tsukimiya, reacted on X (formerly Twitter) while watching the film.https://x.com/himenachaaaaan/status/1801971467783184678/
*When Emi awakens from her cocoon, the noises she makes are from Mothra.
== Data ==
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:;Statshttps://www.instagram.com/p/C6l5MG6Rr1t/?img_index=3https://toy.bandai.co.jp/series/ultraman/sofubi/#kaijyu0213
*Height: 8 m
*Weight: 12,000 t (but she's growing bigger every day)
*Origin: Kaiju Island
:;Powers and Weapons
*: A sonic beam imbued with energy, seen used once when Emi threw a tantrum for the first time. While not especially destructive, this beam creates powerful tremors which can easily cause smaller objects to move.
*: A pinkish energy beam similar to her mother's, which destroyed KDF drones and melted through reinforced glass with ease.
*Echolocation: By emitting sound waves, Emi can echolocate her prey, find her way back to Kaiju Island, or communicate with her mother.
*Bioluminescence: Through some form of metachrosis, Emi's skin involuntarily glows or changes color, as seen during her first encounter with Ultraman where she mimicked his Color Timer. Her glow is said to be an emotional reaction expressing different feelings,https://x.com/ShannonTindle_1/status/1807238275696066715 and also serves as an indicator of her health, as she began producing a pulsing red glow after breaking her arm.
*Cocoon: Emi creates a cocoon/pupa around herself to advance in her life cycle. The first time she went through this, she emerged mostly the same, but with wings.
*Flight: Emi was instinctively able to fly shortly after she gained her wings.
*Density Alteration: Emi can increase her own density, making herself immovable. This is similar to how a human toddler sometimes resists moving, making it feel very difficult to move them. This ability was not shown in the film.https://x.com/ShannonTindle_1/status/1804889724877942878
**Extraordinary Jumper: As a result of her being able to alter her own density, Emi can jump and leap to extraordinary heights and distances for her size and age.https://x.com/ShannonTindle_1/status/1805009300508831827?t=0tl7rlC6GEHQR-jecLOFCg&s=19
U-Rising Emi Tantrum.gif|Sonic Tantrum
U-Rising Emi Beam.gif|Chemiluminescent Blast
U-Rising Emi Echolocation.gif|Echolocation
U-Rising Emi Color.gif|Color Shifting
U-Rising Emi Metamorphosis.gif|Cocoon
U-Rising Emi Jump.gif|Extraordinary Jumper
== References ==
Category:Kaiju
Category:Kaiju Allies
Category:Female Kaiju
Category:Movie Kaiju
Category:Spared Kaiju