Directed by Tsugumi Kitaura. Written by Keiichi Hasegawa. Airdate Feb. 2, 1997.
Ultraman Tiga was intended to appeal to both adults and children. But sometimes there’s an episode that leans so far to the horror side of the franchise that I can’t recommend it for young children at all.
“The Fog Is Coming” will give many kids under ten (and maybe a few older) terrifying nightmares. This is a full-on horror story about flying, bulbous parasitic aliens that turn people into zombies. One of the first things we see in the episode are pulsing pustules feeding on the necks of human bodies. Even I find it pretty icky. This nastiness will send most kid viewers scurrying away to hide under their beds. Everyone who stays to watch will have a good time with a character-driven horror story that draws its inspiration straight from the big horror source in the ‘90s: Stephen King.
Daigo and Horii are investigating a loss of contact with the Space Research Center, which is located on a forested mountain near where a meteorite recently struck. An anomalous magnetic field causes their GUTS Wing to crash. The two then run into Michiru, a woman who was climbing the mountain to reach the observatory when a strange mist arrived — and brought with it alien parasites and zombie humans.
Yes, this is an Ultraman riff on Stephen King’s novella The Mist. That’s not a hypothetical: Michiru actually mentions the novella and describes its plot to compare it to their current dilemma. (Horii’s reaction: “Sounds like an unpleasant novel.”) Ultraman Tiga beat Frank Darabont to adapting The Mist by a decade.
The horror scenes are all strong, especially a mini-siege where mind-controlled villagers attack a hut where Daigo, Horii, and Michiru have holed up, and later a grotesque moment where Horii almost gets neck-zapped by one of the creatures. The budget isn’t large enough to create an engulfing fog-based horror, but the crew manages well on atmosphere and a few genuinely nasty visuals.
The episode’s real strength is Horii, who again steps up as the show’s most enjoyable character. This is one of his pivotal episodes. According to Shinjoh, Horii recently had his heart broken, although we don’t know the details. It’s easy to assume it’s Sayaka from “Requiem to the Darkness.” This bit of set-up helps steer the rest of the episode, because, surprisingly, this horror story is also the blossoming of a love story for our favorite GUTS scientist.
Horii and Michiru have an antagonistic relationship at the start, but as the two make the climb to the observatory, they turn into a real team. Horii shows off his best side to Michiru, and what she does at the close of the episode makes sense even if there isn’t much on paper to indicate this was how she feels. Watching the two face danger together builds their special rapport. Besides, it’s Horii — people just like the guy!
With a mood-driven episode like this, there’s always the risk that the fight between Ultraman and the kaiju will feel out of sync with everything else. It works this time because there isn’t a sharp divide between the horror in the woods and the full-sized monster, Magnia, who gets established early on to create a looming threat for the finale.
Magnia is a repulsive kaiju, covered with tumorous growths that resemble the flying parasites. It’s not the type of kaiju you’d want to see return in future shows, but it’s ideal for this story. The showdown between Tiga and Magnia connects to the rest of the story because Magnia uses the meteor’s power to draw on the energy it’s drained from humans. The GUTS team keeps active during the finale, attempting to destroy the meteor to weaken Magnia. It’s an effective action ending for a horror tale.
There are a few bumps along the way. The plot needs to maneuver Daigo out of the way so that Horii can work as a team with Michiru — and so Daigo won’t simply turn into Tiga to solve the problem the moment the meteorite is discovered. The script’s inelegant solution is to knock Daigo unconscious in a motorcycle accident and leave him in a river bed until it’s monster fight time. Not the worst move, but a transparent one.
Michiru’s relationship with her father (Dr. Ezaki, one of the scientists who died in the Ligatron incident) is underdeveloped, leaving her motivation to climb to the station murky and arbitrary. This isn’t an episode-killer, but it does feel generic. Parent–child conflicts are common in the Ultra franchise — and Japanese media in general — and this seems a bit slapped on. Viewers who haven’t seen or don’t remember “Goodbye, Planet Earth” won’t know who Dr. Ezaki is or what happened to him, and that weakens Michiru’s development across the episode.
Still, what occurs between Horii and Michiru is what matters the most, and it works. This isn’t the end of their story: it resumes in “Goodbye to Darkness” near the end of the series, and it’s a major development for Horii.
To close out: I’m glad this review landed the day after Halloween. It’s better for the season than Tiga’s actual Halloween episode.
Rating: Good
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