Now that I’ve completed reviewing all 28 episodes of Ultra Q, it’s time to collect all my posts for your easy perusing pleasure. Enjoy.
Continue reading “Ultra Q: The Complete Episode Review Guide”Ultra Q: The Complete Episode Review Guide
Month: July 2025
My Favorite Ultra Q Episodes
We’ve reached a major milestone at The Ultra Project: the first Ultra show reviewed from start to finish! Now that I’ve examined all 28 episodes of the original Ultra Q, the 1966 show that started it all, it’s time for a recap. The next post will be a full listing of all the reviews for easy reference, but for now I present to you a short recap of my personal favorite episodes.
Continue reading “My Favorite Ultra Q Episodes”Ultra Q Ep. 28: Open Up!
Directed by Hajime Tsuburaya. Written by Mieko Osanai. Airdate Dec 14, 1967.
Ultra Q closes its original run with an ethereal episode, absent of monsters and high on postmodern angst. It’s hard to imagine an Ultra episode farther removed from the colorful heroics of Ultraman, so it isn’t surprising that TBS producer Takashi Kakoi decided that “Open Up!” was not a good lead-in for the new show. He removed the episode from the schedule and replaced it with the Ultraman preview special. “Open Up!” wouldn’t reach airwaves until the end of 1967, when Ultraman had finished its run and Ultraseven was already airing.
Continue reading “Ultra Q Ep. 28: Open Up!”Ultraman Ep. 24: Undersea Science Center
Directed by Toshihiro Iijima. Written by Keisuke Fujikawa. Airdate Dec. 25, 1966.
The Science Patrol is assigned to escort the president of the Science Public Corporation to the official activation of the new Undersea Science Center. Also along on the trip to the center is a special guest, young girl Jenny Childers. What should be a problem-free ceremony goes sideways when an ocean floor disruption cuts off the undersea center’s lifeline and floods its docking bay. Captain Muramatsu, President Yoshimura, Hoshino, and Jenny are now trapped in an underwater tomb. The rest of the SSSP races to rescue them before their oxygen supply runs out.
Continue reading “Ultraman Ep. 24: Undersea Science Center”Ultraman Tiga Ep. 15: Phantom Dash
Directed by Kyota Kawasaki. Written by Kazuo Tsuburaya and Junki Takegami. Airdate Dec. 14, 1996.
Gazort and the Clitters are back, everyone! Gazort still looks fantastic, arguably Ultraman Tiga’s most memorable kaiju. However, like the first episode with Gazort, the monster is less the star and more the catalyst for a character study. Horri was at the center of “Second Contact.” Now Shinjoh takes over as the pivotal figure, sharing the spotlight with his sister Mayumi (Kei Ishibashi). The mix of a great monster encore, an emotional character-driven story, and a touch of the weird makes for one of the best Ultraman Tiga episodes so far.
Continue reading “Ultraman Tiga Ep. 15: Phantom Dash”Ultraseven Ep. 21: Pursue the Undersea Base!
Directed by Toshitsugu Suzuki. Written by Onisuke Akai. Airdate Feb. 25, 1968.
We begin as many giant monster stories have: a ship afloat at night on a calm ocean, the crew relaxed and chatting. Suddenly, a strange light flashes in the water, a frightening sound tears through the air … and the ship explodes and sinks into the sea, the victim of a cryptic leviathan.
Continue reading “Ultraseven Ep. 21: Pursue the Undersea Base!”Ultra Q Ep. 27: The Disappearance of Flight 206
Directed by Koji Kajita. Written by Tetsuo Kinjo and Hiroyasu Yamaura. Airdate July 3, 1966.
Jun and Ippei are returning from pilot training in Hong Kong aboard the maiden flight of a supersonic jet. The last time Ultra Q took a ride on the inaugural run of a super-speed vehicle, it was in “The Underground Super Express Goes West.” It was not a smooth trip. This second trip on emerging high-speed technology also goes wrong fast. Flight 206 gets dragged into a mysterious whirlpool in the sky and vanishes, leaving poor Yuriko and Professor Ichinotani at the airport baffled by yet another uncanny occurrence in the Unbalanced Zone.
Continue reading “Ultra Q Ep. 27: The Disappearance of Flight 206”Ultraseven Ep. 20: Destroy Earthquake Epicenter X
Directed by Samaji Nonagase. Written by Bunzo Wakatsuki. Airdate Feb. 18, 1968.
There are several Ultraseven episodes that feel as if they were reworked from unused Ultraman scripts (something that did happen with “The Strolling Planet”). “Destroy Earthquake Epicenter X,” from what I can tell, was originally written for Ultraseven, but the Ultraman vibes are strong: an episode focused on a giant monster and high-tech equipment rather than alien schemes or a strange science-fiction twist. Ultraseven’s stories are usually alien-themed, but this episode feels as if the alien invader could easily have been cut and the script left as a terrestrial kaiju story.
Continue reading “Ultraseven Ep. 20: Destroy Earthquake Epicenter X”Ultra Q Ep. 26: Blazing Glory
Directed by Kazuho Mitsuta. Written by Toshihiro Iijima. Airdate June 26, 1966.
Director Kazuho Mitsuta’s second aired episode (although produced before “Space Directive M774”) is his first classic. Mitsuta had a knack for intense character-driven stories told with cinematic flair. His episodes look fantastic without being ostentatious. “Blazing Glory” shows Mitsuta operating at a high level and making the best possible episode from one of Ultra Q’s most dramatic, human tales.
Continue reading “Ultra Q Ep. 26: Blazing Glory”
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