Directed by Koichi Sakamoto. Written by Takao Nakano. Airdate July 22, 2013.
The second episode of Ultraman Ginga S doesn’t make viewers wait long for the title bout. Starting immediately where the last episode abruptly concluded, Ultraman Ginga and Ultraman Victory have their first clash, a battle against the sunset that echoes Akio Jissoji’s favorite compositions. Victory strikes first, reacting when Hikaru asks the basic question: “Uhm, what’s going on here?”
Although Victory and Ginga are fighting the same adversary — Alien Chibull and his theft of the Victorium Crystals — they aren’t fighting for the same reasons. This is a key conflict for the early part of the show. Victory’s host, Sho, is headstrong in his goal to protect the Victorians from any threat, which includes surface dwellers as well as avaricious aliens. At this point, he isn’t distinguishing between the two.
Sho also has conflict with his own people: Queen Kisara has told him he cannot harm surface dwellers, a rule he’s slow to remember when he starts getting into martial arts fights in his human form. By the end of the episode, Sho has eased up a bit on his aggression, reaching an unspoken temporary ceasefire with Ginga (sharing chocolate helps) after they have another team-up against a giant monster. But there’s still plenty of work to do.
The other Victorians play larger roles this time. We get a better introduction to Sakuya (Rina Koike) and Repi (Hinata Yamada), who are like a kid sister and brother to Sho. It’s charming to see the two of them wandering around the surface world, impressed by clouds and apple stands.
Sakuya and Repi are important to sand down Sho’s rough edges, as he could easily lose audience empathy because of his gruffness and rapid resort to violence. It’s one thing to see him fight Android One Zero. It’s another to watch him thrash Gouki when the UPG agent is just trying to do his job.
The episode’s other business is getting Hikaru to join the UPG. It happens fast: the organization is so understaffed and underfunded that they’ll willingly invite an enthusiastic neophyte into their ranks. I have no issue with this: going back to Ultraseven, defense teams have a long history of rapidly adopting the new protagonist into their ranks. The acknowledgment of how meagerly equipped the UPG is (it seems they’ve got one car) works with the show’s budget and makes the organization into a pack of scrappy underdogs.
These underdogs haven’t made much of an impression yet as characters. Arisa gets to play a part in the ground-level action when she encounters Android One Zero, so she’s showing promise. Hikaru’s reunion with Tomoya, who’s studying the Victorium Crystals for the team, whips by too fast for what should be a key dramatic moment. This second episode should’ve concentrated more on the UPG rather than diving back into Sho and the Victorians. That would give the Victorians an episode of further mystery and lay the groundwork for the defense team.
The action comes down to repeating the Spark Doll maneuver from the last episode. Alien Chibull orders Android One Zero to bring out a new kaiju, and she summons … Eleking! Okay, that makes me happy. I’m always pleased to see my favorite kaiju, even if it’s another reused costume and there’s no explanation for the monster’s presence. With the vast improvement in Tsuburaya Productions’ digital effects since the early Heisei days, Eleking can whip around an impressive electric tail that fills the screen.
The actual battle with Eleking, however, displays one of the ruts the show will fall into: overdone, uninteresting action. I’m happy to see an urban battle after Ultraman Ginga’s empty field, but the battle style now resembles a video game, with fighters executing a string of moves and combos that make the action feel distant and mechanical. It’s going to get worse from here as more and more power-ups start to flood the screen.
Action fans will likely be satisfied with this episode, and I’m glad Eleking swung by to smash stuff. There’s still a lot that needs development. Sho is starting to get grating; and the UPG needs to step up and show some livelier character.
Rating: Average
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