Directed by Shingo Matsubara. Written by Masakazu Migita. Airdate Sep. 14, 1996.
I like it when the first word spoken in an episode is the name of the monster of the week. “Gakuma! Gakuma is coming!” Starting off strong and fast, reminding us that monsters are cool and they’re one of the big reasons we’re watching.
Gakuma is a subterranean creature that consumes rocks and can transform people and objects into stone with its breath weapon. When a mining operation on Kurara Island awakens it, GUTS needs to get into action fast to put a stop to the petrifying monster. The team isn’t yet prepared for kaiju-battling, so Horri rushes to retrofit the GUTS Wings to carry weapons they can use against Gakuma. Or the Gakumas, as it turns out there are two of them. It will take GUTS’s new weaponry and the assistance of “The Giant” to defeat the double kaiju danger.
It’s a decent if unremarkable story in the mold of a conventional monster-of-the-week episode from the Showa Era. I can feel the creative team playing it safe: “Get a monster right up front, have it do some damage, bring in the defense team, then get Ultraman for the climax. All good? Good.” The flat digital effects are an eyesore — and there are far more here than in the first episode — but overall “Legend of the Stone” has a comforting familiarity. The Gakumas could have fit into the roster of kaiju in Return of Ultraman without much change to their design. Viewers used to the classic shows would’ve felt right at home and eager to see more.
What’s more interesting than the monster plot is the continuing set-up for the show’s premise. This is a semi-sequel to the premiere episode, addressing some of its unanswered questions and getting more pieces on the board. A scene between Daigo and Yazumi (in one of many shows where Yazumi spends most of his time sitting down and analyzing data) provides the necessary additional info about Tiga: the strength and speed alt-modes, the flashing color-timer, the three-minute time limit. This material could’ve been crammed into the first episode, but I prefer having it shifted to a slower section of the second. The 1990s television format allows for more breathing space for story arcs, even in an episodic show, and Ultraman Tiga takes advantage of that.
The more intriguing information is about GUTS and its umbrella organization, the TPC. We see more of the mechanics of these groups, such as regular TPC members doing investigations before the specialists are brought in, and the command hierarchy between TPC head Sawai and GUTS leader Captain Iruma. Both organizations are in a tricky situation since they have scant experience battling giant monsters. GUTS has to manage the strain of rapidly prepping new equipment and devising strategies without precedent. They do pretty well … but not well enough that they don’t need Tiga to show up at the end.
There’s still not much characterization going on for the cast with the exception of Daigo. He has a “refusal of the call” moment when he learns from Yuzare, the ancient AI hologram from the last episode, that he’s both “light and human” and has Ultra DNA in his blood. The refusal doesn’t last long; there are monsters to fight in the finale, after all.
The episode closes with Daigo giving Ultraman Tiga his official name, but only after Shinjoh suggests “Mountain Gulliver” and Horii responds that it sounds “constipated.” Horii is brushing up his comic relief creds for when he’ll get a chance to really use them.
Rating: Average
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