Month: October 2024

Ultra Q Ep. 9: Baron Spider

~ Ryan Harvey
Kenji Sahara Ultra Q Baron Spider

Directed by Hajime Tsuburaya. Written by Tetsuo Kinjo. Airdate Feb. 27, 1966.

It’s Halloween, Ultra Ghouls! I timed this review for a night in the lonesome October, of my most Ultra Q year.

There’s only a handful of Halloween Ultra episodes. That’s no stunner; the holiday isn’t celebrated in Japan the same way it is in North America. It’s only been in the last 15 years that Halloween has taken off in the country with large-scale parties celebrating the national love of cosplay. “More excuses to cosplay? Great, we’ll take it!” But back in the Showa and Heisei eras, a Halloween Ultra episode wouldn’t have much draw. Ultraman Tiga has a lighthearted seasonal romp, “On the Night of Halloween,” but there’s not much else in the series where you’ll find grinning Jack O’Lanterns, costumed trick-or-treaters, and cackling witches in wide-brimmed hats riding broomsticks.

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Ultra Q Ep. 8: Terror of the Sweet Honey

~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Koji Kajita. Written by Tetsuo Kinjo. Airdate Feb. 20, 1966.

Another forest-and-giant-monster story from writer Tetsuo Kinjo, following “Goro and Goro” and “S.O.S. Mount Fuji.” I’m unsure why TBS decided to air this right after “S.O.S. Mount Fuji,” considering the similarities, but the network likely was only thinking of front-loading Ultra Q with as many giant monster episodes as possible. From a big rock monster in the woods to a big mole monster in the woods, if that’s what draws the viewers… 

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Ultraman Ep. 7: The Blue Stone of Baradhi

~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Samaji Nonagase. Written by Tetsuo Kinjo and Samaji Nonagase. Airdate August 28, 1966.

We pop out of the slump of middling episodes with a mini-epic that sends the Science Patrol to a lost city in the Middle East and expands upon the mythos of the Ultras. The mixture of 1930s pulp adventure and giant monster movie makes for a stand-out half hour. I also just enjoy it when an Ultra show sends its defense team outside of Japan to soak up some different backdrops.

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Ultra Q Ep. 7: S.O.S. Mount Fuji

~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Toshihiro Iijima. Written by Tetsuo Kinjo and Toshihiro Iijima. Airdate Feb. 13, 1966.

Mount Fuji has not erupted in over 250 years … and that can only mean another major eruption is imminent. But since this is the world of Ultra Q, we won’t witness any normal eruption. Instead, we’re going to see a monster formed from a conglomeration of igneous rocks battle a “Japanese Tarzan.” Why do anything normal when you can make good TV instead?

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Toku Theater: Gamera the Giant Monster (1965)

~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Noriaki Yuasa. Written by Niisan Takahashi.

Now for another movie break, this time for a “classic” of Japanese kaiju cinema. It’s a short hop from Ultra Q’s “Grow Up! Little Turtle,” a tale about a boy and his affection for a giant turtle who takes him to see a princess underwater, to Gamera the Giant Monster, a tale about a boy and his affection for a giant turtle who is causing mass destruction and death.

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Ultraseven Ep. 3: Secret of the Lake

~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Samaji Nonagase. Written by Tetsuo Kinjo. Airdate Oct. 15, 1967.

This was the first Ultraseven episode produced, and it’s fascinating to see how much the crew already had a feel for the show’s possibilities and what made it different from Ultraman. It’s a better start than the first two episodes aired: “The Invisible Challenger” put the pieces in place, “The Green Terror” emphasized the serious mood, but “Secret of the Lake” demonstrates what Ultraseven can do when it swings into action with full confidence in its premise.

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Ultraman Ep. 6: The Coast Guard Command

~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Samaji Nonagase. Written by Masahiro Yamada. Airdate August 21, 1966.

The first episode to focus on young Hoshino, the boy who wants to join the SSSP one day. Hoshino and his friends Chiro and Nobuku get swept up in a Hardy Boys-style story investigating smugglers along the wharf. Notorious smuggler “Diamond-Kick” (great name) has hidden his newest diamond shipment among bags of cacao beans, and the young detectives end up kidnapped when they start poking around the warehouses. It sounds like the kind of adventure tale a child might come up with. A child might also add a giant monster who comes up onto the wharf to throw everything into chaos. A monster who loves chocolate.

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October Is Here! About the Posting Schedule

~ Ryan Harvey

Welcome to the most wonderful month of the year. The month of imagination.

October is one of my busiest months, where I try to cram in as much seasonal viewing and reading as possible. Fortunately, I’ve got The Ultra Project onto a regular schedule, with two posts going up each week on Wednesdays and Saturdays. I may have a few bonus posts pop up, but this is what you can expect for at least the next month. I already have all the regular October posts written and scheduled, with a special episode review falling on October 30th. I didn’t even have to go out of episode order to get this review to land on Devil’s Night. The timing just worked out, thanks to the Star of Ultra or something.

Thank you to all who have visited the site during its first month of existence. I’m hoping to draw more readers through October and keep the site moving until I fully break free of the Google sandbox. If you like my posts, please share them on social media. (That was my requisite bit of begging. Had to do it once.)