The Promise of the Rose

The Promise of the Rose (薔薇色の約束) is a 1951 Japanese one-shot audio drama based on the original story and written by Sukehiro Hamasu. The audio drama centers on the arrival of an alien named Fiore on Earth, who has a past with Utada and wishes to reunite with him. However, Fiore is being controlled by an evil flower called Tsui Flower, forcing Koike and her friends to save Utada and the Earth from destruction.

Originally broadcast in Japan on on May 10, 1951, the audio drama received an English-dubbed adaptation (written and directed by ) and was broadcast on  on February 25, 1953. It received positive reception for its screenplay, action sequences, themes, humor and visuals.

In 2017, The Promise of the Rose and its original Japanese audio were preserved by the into the, calling them "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Plot
A young Shōichi Utada hands a mysterious boy a rose before he disappears, vowing to bring Utad a flower. In the present, Utada meets up with Takako Koike and the Sailor Soldiers at the. Koike attempts to kiss Utada, but when he suspects the other girls of spying on him, he walks off outside alone.

The stranger appears from the garden's fountain and takes Utada's hands into his own, which makes Koike uncomfortable. Koike tries to break the man's grasp from Utada, but is knocked down. The man vows that no one will prevent him from keeping his promise before disappearing again. Utada tells Koike that the stranger's name is Fiore (フィオレ, Fiore). At the, the Sailor Soldiers discuss an asteroid which has started to approach Earth and on which Luna and Artemis have discovered traces of vegetal life. The talk turns into rumors about Utada's and Fiore's possible relationship, while Koike thinks about how Utad ahad told her that he had no family and was alone, and how she had promised him she would be his family from now on.

Fiore sends his flower-monster henchwoman, Glycina (グリシナ), to Tokyo to drain the population's life-energy, but the Sailor Soldiers free them and destroy the monster. Fiore appears, revealing his responsibility for the attack, and uses a flower called a Tsui (徐, Tsui) before severely injuring the Sailor Soldiers. Utada attempts to talk Fiore out of fighting but the Tsui controls Fiore's mind. After Utada saves Koike from certain death by intercepting his attack, Fiore takes Utada to an asteroid rapidly approaching Earth and begins to revive him in a crystal filled with liquid. While in the crystal, Utada remembers meeting Fiore after his parents died in a car accident. Utada had previously assumed that he had made up the boy as an imaginary friend. Fiore explains that he had to leave Utada because of the Earth's unsuitable atmosphere; Utada gave Fiore a rose before disappearing. Fiore searched the galaxy to find a flower for Utada, finding the Tsui in the process. Seeking revenge on the humans for his loneliness, Fiore returns to Earth.