Directed by Samaji Nonagase. Written by Masahiro Yamada and Shozo Uehara. Airdate May 12, 1968.
A mysterious object is heading toward Earth. When Dan, Furuhashi, and Amagi investigate in the Ultra Hawk 1, they discover an asteroid one kilometer in diameter that’s sending out disruptive electromagnetic waves. An energy blast from the asteroid causes the Ultra Hawk to crash, trapping the three UG members on the surface of what they discover is a time bomb targeting Terran Defense Force HQ. Unfortunately, those electromagnetic waves prevent the trio from communicating with the rest of the Ultra Guard and make it impossible for Dan to change into Ultraseven — which might come in handy since there’s also a giant monster wandering around the deadly asteroid.
“The Strolling Planet” is one of the most straightforward episodes of Ultraseven: a ticking-clock thriller with a giant monster and minimal alien presence. Dan, Furuhashi, and Amagi find the controls for the asteroid, but learn nothing about what race created it or why. The kaiju, Rigger, is just roaming the asteroid’s surface to add more tension and set up an Ultra fight for the climax.
If this feels a bit like an Ultraman story, that’s because it started out as one. The idea for this episode had been making the rounds at Tsuburaya Productions since development for Ultraman. An early draft had Akio Fuji as the lead character and played with spy elements. I wish this script had gotten to production because Fuji is a favorite character of mine and she needed more starring episodes than just “The Pearl Defense Directive.”
The script eventually ended up as part of Ultraseven with traces of Ultraman’s DNA. That’s not a terrible thing — and considering TBS was pushing Tsuburaya Productions to appeal more to the child audience that was gradually tuning out the show, doing an Ultraman riff was a smart idea.
“The Strolling Planet” succeeds: it’s an entertaining episode that moves fast and contains a nice escalation in the middle: the appearance of Agira, the third capsule monster. It wastes no time, especially during the finale, because it ends seconds after its conflict is resolved with no coda at all. Abrupt? Sure, but we got the thrills we needed, so moving on…
Since Dan can’t transform into Seven while the electromagnetic controls on the asteroid are active, he has to pull out Agira, the last of his capsule monsters, to tackle Rigger. It’s bizarre that we’re 32 episodes into a 49-episode show, and only now do we meet the third of the trio of capsule monsters who were one of the original big selling points of the whole premise. But I don’t feel like getting too critical now about the general lapse with the capsule monsters, because I want to give Agira some love.
Agira is my favorite capsule monster. Not as visually creative as that doofus Windom. Not as cute as Miclas. Really, Agira is just a large ceratopsian dinosaur. But it has scrappy spirit and energy, similar to Anguirus in the Godzilla movies — and people love Anguirus for those reasons. The fight between Agira and Rigger pits two quadruped kaiju against each other, which is something we’re not used to seeing in Ultraseven or Ultraman, and it’s a fantastic, animalistic battle. The episode is worth it for this fight alone. The thrills continue after Dan is again able to transform into Seven and can take over from Agira to beat Rigger. There’s a basic, primal quality to these fights that works for what’s already a basic episode.
No riveting drama happens, but I enjoy seeing the UG split into two separate teams trying to solve a problem from different sides: Dan/Furuhashi/Amagi and Kiriyama/Anne/Soga. Amagi is nervous that he’s returned to the nightmare situation of being trapped on a floating monster island in “Escape Dimension X.” Furuhashi gets a fantastic in-character line when he learns the TDF may fire on the asteroid while they’re still on it: “There’s nothing glorious about being the target of a friendly missile attack!” That’s a line worthy of Arashi; it may even have been written for him back in the Ultraman version of the script.
I’ve used this episode at least twice to introduce new viewers to Ultraseven — and in one of those cases, to the Ultra Series overall. “The Strolling Planet” isn’t representative of Ultraseven, since it lacks the weightier science-fiction themes, doesn’t have any on-screen alien villains, and the story is closer to the kaiju-centered episodes of Ultraman and Return of Ultraman. But it’s an easy episode to digest that gives newcomers a lean, exciting introduction to Dan, the Ultra Guard, how Dan becomes Seven, and even the capsule monsters, a great idea given short shrift in the remainder of the series. It’s fast-paced, fun, and has a terrific kaiju fight that viewers with only passing familiarity with tokusatsu can enjoy. As a gateway to Ultraseven’s meatier and better episodes, I think it does an admirable job.
Rating: Good
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