Directed by Kazuho Mitsuta. Written by Shinichi Ichikawa. Airdate March 17, 1968.
It’s rare to have an Ultraseven episode focused on a drama about an individual Ultra Guard member. There are occasional shows that let a particular character take the spotlight, such as “Search for Tomorrow,” which put Captain Kiriyama in conflict with his own team. But “Return to the North!” goes further: it examines the personal life of a member outside of the Ultra Guard. Surprisingly, the UG member picked for the starring role is Shigeru Furuhashi, the team’s “shoot first” action guy.
Furuhashi is the spiritual successor of Science Patrol member Daisuke Arashi from Ultraman — an easy connection to make, as they’re both played by actor Sandayu Dokumamushi. Furuhashi has Arashi’s brash attitude, although it’s subdued because Ultraseven takes a muted approach to its ensemble cast. He seems like an odd pick for an episode exploring a UG member going through family drama. Yet Furuhashi really works, and Dokumamushi gives one of his best performances as the most macho UG member facing an unwinnable situation.
Furuhashi’s family conflict is a type that will reoccur in future Ultra shows because it’s woven into Japanese culture: the pressure on adult children to meet the expectations of their parents. This can mean marrying off a daughter or having a son take on responsibilities for a family business. Being in an elite monster-fighting organization that routinely saves thousands, even millions of lives isn’t enough for parents who just want their children to take “normal” jobs.
This is what Furuhashi has to deal with. He receives a call from his family in Hokkaido summoning him home because his mother is ill. She actually isn’t. Furuhashi’s sister Mana (Nana Yamaguchi) lied to get the oldest son back to the homestead and convince him to take over the family farm. Furuhashi appears to agree, then abandons his sister in a snowfield to drive away in a jeep and get back to TDF headquarters. Not cool, Furuhashi!
The rest of the clash between Furuhashi and his mother, Yuki (Haruyo Ichikawa), plays out through a nail-biter story. Furuhashi takes off in the Ultra Hawk 3 to investigate a recent mysterious head-on collision between a TDF jet and a commercial plane. Interference from the aliens of the week, Alien Canaan, locks the controls of Furuhashi’s Ultra Hawk and puts it on a similar collision course with a commercial passenger plane. It looks like a fatal crash is inevitable.
The episode hinges on the lengthy suspense of the two planes hurtling toward certain doom and the futile attempts on the ground to gain control. It’s one of the best human-centered sequences in Ultraseven. Director Kazuho Mitsuta again shows he’s one of the best Ultra directors when it comes to orchestrating pure drama, and Dokumamushi is remarkable at playing Furuhashi’s rising terror in the Ultra Hawk. The centerpiece is Furuhashi’s conversation with his mother over the communicator. It’s an unspoken “farewell.” Their attempts to work through their terror with upbeat small talk — and an uncomfortably long laugh — say all we need to know about what’s happening between mother and son.
There is a giant kaiju for the finale, and it’s … Windom. The capsule monster. Remember the capsule monsters? The show seems to have forgotten them; we haven’t seen any of them since episode 3. It’s likely the writers couldn’t find an effective use for them with the show’s reduced reliance on giant monster fights. Making Windom into a tool of the aliens to fight Seven at their lighthouse base in the Arctic is a good idea for getting a capsule monster back into the action.
But Windom, a goofus metal creature with a terrible success record, is not right for the Final Boss job. It’s more childish than threatening. The fight plays into Windom’s inherent incompetence with lots of comedy moves and intentional dopiness, like Windom running helplessly in circles. This feels more like Ultraman or even Ultraman Taro than Ultraseven, but I won’t lie: I get a kick out of it. It’s not the lynchpin of the episode, so the tonal quirkiness doesn’t end up doing much damage.
Anyway, the kaiju fight is more of a bonus: the constant threat of the alien-forced mid-air collision keeps everything in motion. I suspect the light-hearted fight scene was part of a strategy to keep children watching the show, because the episode is otherwise adult-targeted.
There’s an odd glitch in the plotting. Dan has a meeting in an Alpine-themed restaurant (where constant yodeling plays in the background) with Furuhashi’s mother after she comes south to convince her son to come home. It’s a strong scene that draws the series hero into the main emotional conflict. Anne then arrives to tell Dan to return to HQ because Furuhashi is in trouble. But this is before Furuhashi’s jet gets trapped on the collision course. Anne has no reason to think Furuhashi is in any danger. I suspect the restaurant scene was pushed earlier during editing to better build tension, but it does leave this strange error.
The coda of “Return to the North!” feels like a victory lap for the whole episode. It’s a beautifully shot wrap-up for Furuhashi after what he just went through and shows how well the action of the story created a satisfying resolution.
Rating: Great
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