Directed by Hajime Tsuburaya. Written by Tetsuo Kinjo. Airdate March 27, 1966.
Children in the countryside discover a strange rock that fell from the sky — not the only time this will happen in the Ultra Series. They dutifully turn it over to their teachers, who then turn it over to Professor Ichinotani to investigate. Ichinotani discovers this mystery meteorite (or garadama as the locals refer to such phenomena) is made from an alien material known as Tilsonite. It’s not a monster egg, however, but the control device for the monster arriving in a larger meteorite that splashes down in a lake near a hydroelectric dam. Monster Garamon, an artificial alien construction, breaks loose from its stone transport. It starts to wreak havoc, and then … oh, you’ll have to wait for Part 2 to learn the rest.
“Garadama” isn’t an official two-parter, since its sequel, “Garamon Strikes Back,” wouldn’t broadcast until three episodes later. The episodes weren’t shot back-to-back either, but were widely separated on the production schedule. But in effect, this is the Ultra Series’ first two-parter, which makes it difficult to approach as two stand-alone episodes, especially the first part. I always tackle two-part and three-part episodes in a single review, but since these episodes are presented individually, I have to take each on its own.
And on its own, “Garadama” has the trouble you might expect from something meant to be continued: an abrupt, basic conclusion that arrives right as the episode is reaching its most exciting point. The closing narration explicitly states this isn’t the end of the alien invasion; audiences haven’t gotten the full story.
Even with this major flaw, “Garadama” is a solid giant monster story. It has ambitious special effects and one of the most interesting and long-lived kaiju of the series: Garamon. The alien-construct creature is different from more traditional Earth kaiju like Gomess, Goro, Mangula, Peguila, and Larugeus. With its round leafy body, sourpuss expression, and dangling flapping arms, Garamon is almost adorable. The mechanical noises as it moves around add to its cuteness.
It’s no surprise that Ultraman turned Garamon into the cute human-sized monster Pigmon, the unofficial mascot of the Ultra series, without many alterations except for coloring it red. Pigmon has made more appearances than Garamon, but it hasn’t erased its giant cousin in the Ultra world. The monster is one of the most recognized images from all of Ultra Q, sharing that distinction with Kanegon.
Professor Ichinotani gets his biggest role so far, showing up in the thick of the action near the dam rather than hanging back in an office spouting theories. (This was the last episode shot with the character, although in broadcast order Ichinotani continued to appear until the penultimate episode.) Jun and Ippei are on the scene, mostly to attempt to rescue two women trapped in a boat on a ravine after Garamon’s landing entirely evaporates the lake. Yuriko gets pushed into the dull story fringe, stuck in a laboratory with scientists trying to figure out how to stop communication between the Tilsonite control stone and Garamon.
Several of the recent kaiju episodes relied heavily on stock footage to expand their visual effects. This time, the VFX are all original and most look fantastic. The lake covers an old village, which creates an excellent “ghost town” effect when the garadama crash-landing steams off all the water. The special effects for the dam and Garamon breaking through it are top-notch and on par with the work Eiji Tsuburaya was doing on the big Toho movies at the time. Even if Garamon’s time to rampage gets cut short, the kaiju makes an impression with its movements and the tense scene where it almost destroys the boat dangling on a cliffside with two women still aboard.
If “Garadama” were a two-parter with “Garamon Strikes Back,” I’d award the combined episodes a “Great” rating. The sequel fills in details that retroactively improve the experience of the first. As is, however, part one only rates “Good.” Come back in a few entries and we’ll pick up where we left off. Although if you do watch this episode, I recommend you skip ahead afterwards to watch “Garamon Strikes Back” to get the most enjoyment. It’s not as if Ultra Q’s episodes aired in any type of story order to begin with.
Rating: Good
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