Directed by Teruyoshi Ishii. Written by Chiaki J. Konaka. Airdate May 3, 1997.
The previous episode left open questions about the alien entity responsible for the assault on the Terran Peace Consortium’s summit in the Cliomos Islands. This episode picks up soon afterward. The TPC East Asia Base is investigating an alien body in cryostasis (codename: Sleeping Beauty) that was transferred from the West Asia Base. The alien — which resembles a typical “gray” but with green skin — has been in stasis for more than two decades. An alloy discovered near it is identical to the material of the bioweapon used in the attack on the TPC summit.
The story that follows provides some answers to the mysteries left over from “To the Farthest South.” It also spits out a scattering of ideas and themes that don’t fully cohere. Primarily, though, the episode delivers an extremely cool mecha-kaiju and a major advance in Daigo and Rena’s relationship.
The episode’s plotting is messy almost from the start. The timeline about when and how the alien body in stasis was obtained is unclear. The alien (known as Alien Desimo) has been in cryostasis for 24 years, but Munkata later says the Asian base where it was stored was attacked by a UFO 18 years ago. This also seems to be when Alien Desimo’s spacecraft went underneath the Kunlun Mountains, where Horii locates it using scientific detective work. Yet we later hear that the ship has also been buried for 24 years. Was the event 18 years ago a separate incident, or a typo in the script? (Or a subtitle translation error? The Mill Creek subtitles often have errors.)
The number of ideas crammed into this half-hour is daunting. Different branches of the TPC are reacting to the recent Cliomos attacks with increased militarization. Iruma again ponders why monsters appear and states that the TPC should consider doing more than just fighting them. Alien Desimo suggests that other alien species are targeting Earth because humanity is on a course of self-destruction. (You’d think they would just let the Earthlings wipe each other out rather than expend energy to speed up the annihilation.) Meanwhile, scientists are continuing to study the strange Tiga statues found in the first episode, something that worries Daigo, though it’s unclear what he thinks they’ll uncover.
Each of these strands could sustain a full episode: TPC politics, Iruma’s view on kaiju, Tiga’s backstory, and the source of alien invasions. It feels as if writer Chiaki J. Konaka, the closest thing to a “head writer” on Ultraman Tiga, is attempting to compress multiple thematic arcs from the entire show into a single episode. He’s trying out anything and everything to jump-start ideas for the last third of the series. Yet none of it goes anywhere here. It’s interesting to hear Iruma philosophize about monsters, and I enjoy the scene of the various TPC heads from around the world meeting via holograms, but the episode isn’t actually about any of these things.
Thankfully, the episode holds together because it does have a center — something it’s actually about. Push aside these (admittedly interesting) distractions, and you’ll find a solid story about Rena, Daigo, and a terrific-looking kaiju.
Ultraman Tiga has been gradually building up the romance between Rena and Daigo, and this is when it finally moves to the forefront and becomes an emotional driving force. Alien Desimo awakens from stasis and seizes control of Rena’s body. The alien is aware that Daigo is Tiga, so it mockingly threatens to kill Rena (“this girl dies!”) if Tiga interferes with its plan to alter Earth’s atmosphere. The conflict boils down to Daigo/Tiga trying to find a way to defeat Alien Desimo without harming Rena.
Alien Desimo’s attack kaiju from the previous episode, Desimonia, was unmemorable. This new kaiju, Guwam, is one of my favorites from all of Tiga. It’s a mecha-dragon formed from Desimo’s ship, and it’s a beautiful-looking beast. I’m an easy target for this type of giant monster, as it combines a sleek mecha design with a dragon shape, and that’s a combination that rarely misses with me. Like rum and Coke, the simplicity of the idea and the pleasing effect of the execution are wonderful. Guwam is thrilling to watch in action, both battling Shinjo and Horii in the GUTS Wings and during the tense showdown with Tiga.
As I mentioned in the last review, “To the Farthest South” and “Sleeping Beauty” are best when watched together as a semi-two-parter. The first episode offers dramatic and political thrills, and the second fills in important information and has a superior Ultra fight finale. On its own, “Sleeping Beauty” functions as a good milestone for Rena and Daigo’s romance. Maybe some of the other ideas bumping around in its atmosphere will form into something in future episodes. Ah, no matter, enjoy your cool metal dragon.
Rating: Good
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