Directed by Toshitsugu Suzuki. Written by Shinichi Ichikawa. Airdate Dec. 24, 1967.
“The Man Who Came From V3” feels like Tsuburaya Productions attempting an even split between a character-driven drama about Cap. Kiriyama facing an ethical dilemma and a huge science-fiction blow-out that crams in the maximum amount of dueling ships and giant monster action that a half-hour of TV can hold. But somewhere in the process of writing and shooting the episode, the character half gave up and let the VFX half spin donuts all over everything.
I don’t know where the specific blame lies for how the episode ended up this way — or if “blame” is the right word, because the SF-action part is genuinely fun and well done. I can’t complain about the extensive space-battle visuals, vehicular action, and the tremendous duel between Seven and the giant Alien Iyros (or maybe it’s Alien Iyros’s attack kaiju; it’s not clear). All of it works, it’s what you want to see in tokusatsu.
But the episode starts with the promise it will center on a conflict between Kiriyama and his old friend, Kurata (Hiroshi Minami), the titular man from Space Station V3. Then it rapidly fades away before it makes an impact. If the elements had balanced out better, this might have been an all-timer rather than just a good time.
The VFX spectacle starts from frame one: Alien Iyros’s vessel, en route to Earth, engages in battle with TDF ships from Space Station V3. The effects are like a smaller scale version of one of Eiji Tsuburaya’s most epic achievements, the space dogfights from Battle in Outer Space (1959), and delivers on the promise that Ultraseven was going to push science-fiction spectacle.
Kurata is the only survivor of this close encounter. At first, Kiriyama believes his comrade died, and his reaction to the news explains how close their friendship is. But when Kurata shows up alive, the positive feelings between the old friends don’t last long. Kurata is jonesing to blow up the Iyros ship where it’s landed in the Chichibu Mountains to get revenge for all his dead comrades. But Alien Iyros has captured two Ultra Guard members, Amagi and Furuhashi, and will only release them in exchange for solid fuel from the TDF base. Kiriyama agrees to make the trade against Kurata’s urging for a straightforward attack, not just for his vengeance but because he also sees it as tactical folly to give into the aliens’ demands.
And then … that’s actually kind of it for the conflict between the two. Kurata seizes the Ultra Hawk 2 to fly out to help Kiriyama when he gets caught in the battle with the grounded Iyros spacecraft. Dan and Soga, who both need something to do, follow after them, and Dan changes to Seven to help free Amagi and Furuhashi and then duke it out with the winged Alien Iyros. All the action slaps — but it’s odd that the drama between Kurata and Kiriyama essentially shuts off at this point.
Despite the thin material, the actors put in the maximum effort at playing the comradery and tension between the old friends. Shoji Nakayama always adds something special to his portrayal of Kiriyama, and he gets several strong emotive moments. (Bizarrely, though, Kiriyama goes out of character when he completely falls for Alien Iyros’s trick of using clones of Furuhashi and Amagi to infiltrate the TDF base. The imposters talk like robots and everyone else immediately knows what’s up, but Kiriyama, the captain, thinks nothing is wrong.)
Alien Iyros is fairly anonymous as invaders go, and once again we have an alien race using imitation techniques to infiltrate the TDF base. I think this is the third time an invader has tried this tactic. But Alien Iyros’s final giant form is great looking and creative in a fight. The kaiju battle is one of the best yet for Seven, taking up a good chunk of screen time and never falling into repetitive moves. Seven and Iyros use multiple defenses and attacks as if playing a classic 1990s fighting video game.
This is only part of the total action package, which includes laser shootouts and the Ultra Hawks taking on a barrage of attacks from the grounded alien ship. We even get to see an on-screen growth effect for Seven going to ultra-size. That almost never happens in the Ultra shows. The effects team put in the effort for this one.
Once again, Anne is absent. That’s never a positive. She could’ve easily taken Amagi’s place.
Rating: Good
Previous: From a Planet With Love
Next: The Ultra Guard Goes West
The Ultra Project 