Directed by Akio Jissoji. Written by Mamoru Sasaki. Airdate Dec. 17, 1967.
This is the famous withdrawn Ultraseven episode. You won’t find it on any of the video releases, nor will you see it on the airwaves. It’s sometimes called the “banned” or “censored” episode, but that implies an external agency has kept it from being seen. Tsuburaya Productions itself removed the episode from public availability in the 1970s, and it seems unlikely the situation will change in the near future.
The story behind why Tsuburaya Pro withdrew “From Another Planet With Love” is the most interesting thing about it. I’ll first look at the actual episode, which is rarely talked about, and then regale you with the tale of why it went officially missing.
The episode is good although not spectacular. It’s the weakest of the four Ultraseven episodes directed by Akio Jissoji, but his dedication to high style ensures there’s always something interesting to watch. We also have a guest star appearance from Ultraman’s Hiroko Sakurai, who plays Anne’s friend Sanae. Sakurai is always a happy presence to have in an Ultra show; she brings positive Ultra Q and Ultraman vibes with her.
The story opens with an unusual message about radioactivity. While Ultra Hawk 2 is tracking high radiation levels in space, Furuhasi muses that Earth used to make a big fuss over radiation. Captain Kiriyama remarks that humans now have no need for concern. Sounds like story set-up, right? Not really. The rest of the story is about a race called Alien Spell trying to harvest human blood to save itself. The episode doesn’t touch on the theme radiation again — except if you look at the design of Alien Spell and connect a few dots, but that’ll wait for later.
Alien Spell is running a scheme similar to Alien Metron’s from Jissoji’s previous episode: distributing devices among humans they can use to further their conquest plans. Alien Spell is giving watches to women that take samples of their blood, resulting in anemic attacks. When Alien Spell accidentally takes blood from Sanae’s younger brother, they realize children’s blood is perfect to resuscitate their race, so they launch a big watch giveaway to kids.
The Ultra Guard is already investigating the strange anemia events, and because Anne knows Sanae, the UG gets an inside track on the latest alien scheme. There’s drama where Sanae won’t believe that her boyfriend, Mr. Satake (Hiroshi Iwashita), is actually out to harm her with his gift of a strange watch, but it quickly goes up in tokusatsu smoke and special effects for the finale. Alien Spell leaps to super-size, the Ultra Hawks attack, Dan transforms into Seven … commence with the usual alien beat-down.
It’s a fun time, although a bit rushed and thin compared to episodes with similar storylines. Jissoji’s visual creativity and variety are great, like a flower bloom-filled scene at a park with classical music and a battle where laser blasts etch a patchwork across the screen. But Jissoji also slips into repeating some tricks without much sense. The showdown between Seven and Alien Spell is an obvious attempt to repeat the classic finale from “The Marked Town,” with an inexplicable sunset backdrop and freeze frames. The final moral of the story seems to be about races learning to live in peace, but it feels more like teaching Sanae to let go of a bad relationship.
Now, as to why “From Another Planet With Love” went back to its home planet, leaving it largely unavailable on Earth…
The episode aired without incident on TBS in 1967, and then rerun in 1969. The problem started in 1970 when a series of trading cards published in a children’s magazine re-named Alien Spell as “Alien Hibaku” (“Alien Survivor”). This was a reference to the hibakusha, the name for the survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, because the design of Alien Spell has some resemblance to radiation scarring.
The hibakusha are still a sensitive issue in Japan, and the choice to overtly link Alien Spell’s design to victims of radiation created immediate controversy and protests from the Tokyo Atomic Bomb Survivors Association and other hibakusha groups. Eiji Tsuburaya’s son, Hajime Tsuburaya, who was head of Tsuburaya Productions at the time, offered a public apology for using the name Alien Hibaku. Tsuburaya Pro then removed episode 12 of Ultraseven from broadcast. The last time it was shown on television was as part of the English CINAR dub in 1994.
Some of the original protesters did not see the withdrawal of the episode as the best move, since they were protesting the cards and magazine articles, not the content of the episode. The Japan Council Against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs, after reviewing the episode, released a statement acknowledging the importance of the feelings of the hibakusha but also seeing no reason the episode couldn’t be made available again.
However, Tsuburaya Productions has taken a firm stance on “From Another Planet With Love.” The company’s current official statement regarding the episode: “Episode 12 has become an absent work due to past reasons, and there are no plans for its public release.” I don’t expect we’ll see a release any time soon. It seems the current management simply doesn’t want to deal with it.
This is a situation where I’m too outside of the culture to feel comfortable taking a solid stance. I want all episodes of Ultraseven available because I’m a fan, and I don’t see anything overtly offensive in the episode itself. But this is a delicate and tricky issue and I’m too far removed from the core of it.
Rating: Good
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