Month: September 2026

Ultraman Tiga Ep. 43 & 44: The Land Shark / Inheritance of Shadow

~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Hirochika Muraishi. Written by Chiaki J. Konaka. Airdate June 28 & July 5, 1997.

At last, the time has come. The time to introduce an … evil Ultraman! Although a few evil Ultras appeared in the previous shows, starting with “Brother From Another Planet,” they became a hallmark of the Heisei and New Generation eras. This is a fine showing for the first evil Ultra of the Heisei shows. The episode also comes with perks like a robo-landshark, a reconnection to the mysterious origins of Tiga from the first episode, and a bonus third monster with an interesting twist.

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Ultraman Ginga S Ep. 15: Adventure Called Life

~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Koichi Sakamoto. Written by Hirotoshi Kobayashi. Airdate Dec. 19, 2013.

We launch into the final two episodes of Ultraman Ginga S with the biggest action spectacle yet in the New Generation Heroes era. Ultraman Ginga and Ultraman Victory, their abilities to transform almost depleted, take on “Vict Lugiel,” Alien Chibull’s monstrous tool created from Dark Lugiel’s body. Their big-city battle looks like it cost more than the entire budget of the first season.

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Return of Ultraman Ep. 2: Takkong’s Great Counterattack

~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Ishiro Honda. Written by Shozo Uehara. Airdate April 9, 1971.

This excellent follow-up to the premiere episode does exactly what’s necessary to deepen the show’s dramatic approach: it gives its new hero the space to completely fail. As a neophyte member of MAT and a man with no high-tech monster-fighting combat experience, Hideki Go ought to take time to ease into his new duties and learn from his captain and comrades. Instead, Go’s enhanced Ultra abilities (even when in human form) drive him to hubris and foolhardiness that endanger others and temporarily get him fired. Fired from MAT by Captain Kato and fired by Ultraman, who refuses to let Go transform. 

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Ultraman Ginga S Ep. 14: Resurrection of Lugiel

~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Kazuya Konaka. Written by Yuji Kobayashi. Airdate Dec. 9, 2013.

As the title proclaims (spoilers, Tsuburaya Pro!), this is the episode where Alien Chibull has finally collected enough Victorium to resurrect the body of Dark Lugiel. Except the episode isn’t about that until the coda. This is really the “Resurrection of Zetton,” a classic kaiju trotted out as a stopgap measure so the show can do a rehash of several earlier scenes and conflicts before moving into its finale. It’s moderately exciting — Zetton, even as a plot device, is a fun adversary — but most of it is jogging in place. 

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Return of Ultraman Ep. 1: All Monsters Attack

~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Ishiro Honda. Written by Shozo Uehara. Airdate April 2, 1971.

Return of Ultraman explodes onto the scene with one of the best premiere episodes of the Showa era — and possibly of the entire franchise. The episode covers all the necessary setup for a debut: it establishes the defense team, introduces the hero, merges the hero with an Ultra, stages a big kaiju fight, has the hero join the defense team, and generally defines its world. The episode accomplishes all this with a natural flow that never seems rushed or overstuffed. It also features terrific action and a complete emotional journey for its new hero, Hideki Go, race car driver and soon-to-be member of the defense team, establishing the show’s slant toward human drama. 

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