Directed by Shinichi Kamizawa. Written by Nobuhisa Kodama. Airdate Nov. 23, 1996.
“Not all enemies come from distant space,” TPC head Sawai tells the GUTS team members as they face their newest adversary, mutated sea beast Leilons. Human tampering with the environment, such as the underwater nuclear testing that created Leilons, is a significant threat to life on Earth. A good message, one heard in many Ultra shows. But by the time Sawai gives his speech (and rests his hand on Rena’s shoulder for an uncomfortably long time), the episode has already given essentially the same speech multiple times.
This is the Ultra series at its most preachy. It’s not that the episode is wrong about its message of the consequences of environmental abuse. It’s that it has to spell out that message constantly and bluntly. The episode opens with Rena and Mayumi visiting a marine science lab to learn more about recent undersea earthquakes, and the lectures about how humans are screwing up the Earth start immediately. This repetition makes the show feel like it’s specifically targeted at extremely young children.
The marine lab scene is a concentration of all the exposition required for the plot:
- A swarm of undersea earthquakes indicates something dangerous is happening.
- The quakes have a connection to underground nuclear testing, which is bad.
- Underground nuclear testing may cause animal mutations, which is bad. (Have I mentioned that?)
- There’s an ultrasonic transmitter that may help lure fish, which will in no way factor into the story later.
- Rena has a dolphin buddy whom she calls her “boyfriend” so Daigo can crack bad jokes about it (and the kids watching like dolphins).
Ultraman Tiga is meant to appeal to children (even though most of the audience that tuned in during its initial run were adults), so there isn’t anything wrong with skewing toward this kid-friendly science-classroom approach. But my preference for child-focused Ultra show episodes is for the ones that get surreal and ridiculous, like the upcoming “Deban’s Turn,” not the ones that try for earnestness. I think most children would agree.
However, “S.O.S. From the Bottom of the Sea” does rescue itself from bland elementary school lessons with Leilons, a terrific monster, and a fantastic extended brawl between Leilons and Tiga that wrecks plenty of oceanfront property. The special effects sequences are fun throughout, with Leilons getting plenty of screen time and lots of action with the GUTS Wings.
Leilons is an appropriately icky-looking kaiju, just what you might expect from something that crawls along the seafloor. But it’s also full of personality and humorous moves, like slapping its head in frustration and making “oh no!” poses. It spits blasts of water and shoots out bubbles. It attacks Tiga by bouncing up and down on him, which is hilarious to watch — I think intentionally. The whole showdown between Tiga and Leilons is quite silly, but this is the sort of silliness that I want in an Ultra show. Watching the two opponents strike sumo poses and slap each other in the face injects variety into what could’ve just been another monster fight.
As a bonus, when Tiga and Leilons are smacking each other around, nobody is talking about how humans are mistreating the planet! Ah, it’s so relaxing…
That the monster action is purposely ridiculous in an episode trying to deliver a serious environmental message only makes it clearer that this is all meant to entertain children. The one adult moment is in the coda, when Rena strips down to a swimsuit so she can frolic with the dolphins. It’s shot like it’s trying to coax wolf whistles from teen boys. Okay, that’s not adult, that’s just juvenile. And Daigo’s teasing of Rena is obnoxious, although it’s supposed to show that he secretly likes her. Which is also juvenile. Keep working on your approach, Daigo, you have plenty more episodes to get this right.
Rating: Mediocre
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