It feels strange to come to the end of Ultraman and start packing things up. There are many more Ultra shows left to review, some of them excellent. But Ultraman is special: the most important show in the franchise’s history, the most watched, the most referenced, and arguably the most loved.
Continue reading “My Favorite Ultraman Episodes”
Directed by Hajime Tsuburaya. Written by Tetsuo Kinjo. Airdate April 9, 1967.
Ultra Q didn’t have a conclusion and wasn’t built to have one. Ultraman, however, was designed from the start to reach a finale. It’s since become a tradition for Ultra shows to have a big close-out episode that ends the saga of the current Ultra warrior’s sojourn on Earth. “Farewell, Ultraman” is not the greatest of these finales, but the creative team gets plenty right with an epic story that gives Ultraman and the Science Special Search Party fitting conclusions. The episode also introduces one of the most spectacular continuing adversaries of the franchise, Space Dinosaur Zetton, which in no way resembles a dinosaur.
Continue reading “Ultraman Ep. 39: Farewell, Ultraman”
Directed by Kyota Kawasaki. Written by Ai Ota. Airdate March 8, 1997.
“I Saw Obiko!” starts like another horror outing for Ultraman Tiga, this time with a traditional Japanese folklore approach. The demon Obiko — an actual demon, not an alien pretending to be one — has been frightening people in the area of Hikono City for several months with his sudden appearances. When Obiko actually attacks a young man and leaves physical evidence behind (the man’s hair goes white), GUTS comes to investigate. They soon discover Obiko’s disguise as a noodle vendor who haunts the streets of the town at night.
Continue reading “Ultraman Tiga Ep. 27: I Saw Obiko!”
Directed by Hajime Tsuburaya. Written by Shozo Uehara. Airdate May 19, 1968.
Ultraseven returns to horror with a spectral-themed story that hints at the supernatural. However, like the previous horror outing, “The Human Farm,” this episode has an odd split between its parts: low-key foreboding, claustrophobic staging, and general eeriness upfront — and then a big ol’ space shoot-‘em-up for the ending. Both parts are good at what they do, especially the ghostly first two-thirds. However, I like the promise of a fully weird horror episode about shadow creatures arising from dead bodies far too much to feel satisfied when the action switches to another battle with alien vessels. Perhaps I just miss Ultra Q too much.
Continue reading “Ultraseven Ep. 33: The Invading Dead”
Directed by Hajime Tsuburaya. Written by Shozo Uehara. Airdate April 2, 1967.
Here we are, at the penultimate episode of Ultraman, and it’s enlightening to look back at the earliest episodes for comparison. At the start of the show’s run, the network and sponsor were tight with money, which kept the visual effects limited. The Tsuburaya Pro VFX team did fine work with what they had, but early episodes like “Five Seconds Before the Explosion” and “The Secret of the Miroganda” visibly suffer from the budgetary deficiency.
Continue reading “Ultraman Ep. 38: Spaceship Rescue Command”
Directed by Tomoo Haraguchi. Written by Keiichi Hasegawa. Airdate Nov. 20, 2013.
After several months on hiatus, Ultraman Ginga returns to the air, ready to reignite interest for its remaining episodes and kick off the arc that will carry it to its conclusion. It does this by having its hero, Hikaru Raido, bravely … sit down in a chair and recount the events of the previous episodes with video clips.
In other words, this is that most feared entity in episodic television: a clip show.
Continue reading “Ultraman Ginga Ep. 7: The Closed World”
Directed by Hirochika Muraishi. Written by Masakazu Migita. Airdate March 1, 1997.
When it comes to giant monster media, I am a forgiving soul. You don’t have to do much to make me happy. Most Ultra show episodes manage to reach the minimum for the entertainment I crave. An episode like “The Rainbow Monsterland,” which is unremarkable in almost every way, tempts me to give it a passing rating of “Average” because it meets the minimum. There are giant monsters — two of them, one a welcome returnee — and they fight. Ultraman Tiga shows up to challenge the winner, while the GUTS members have their own adventure on the ground. This is what I’m looking for in an episode of this show, so I should be happy.
Continue reading “Ultraman Tiga Ep. 26: The Rainbow Monsterland”
Directed by Kazuho Mitsuta. Written by Tetsuo Kinjo. Airdate March 26, 1967.
Friendly monster Pigmon debuted in “The Monster Anarchy Zone,” Ultraman’s first classic episode. The kids who watched the show loved the little creature. It was natural for Pigmon to return, even though the monster died sacrificing itself in its first appearance. With the series’ best writing-directing team at the helm — Tetsuo Kinjo and Kazuho Mitsuta — Pigmon’s return engagement is one of the most emotionally charged episodes. It also sets up the show’s upcoming conclusion, which raises heavy questions about the whole premise of Ultraman.
Continue reading “Ultraman Ep. 37: A Little Hero”
Today is the day. Sixty years ago on this exact date, January 2, television viewers in Japan could tune their sets to the Tokyo Broadcasting System and see the first episode of a new special-effects program: Ultra Q, the creation of visual effects wizard Eiji Tsuburaya. The first episode, “Defeat Gomess!”, featured a Godzilla-like monster emerging from a tunnel excavation project to battle a bird beast from legends. Audiences loved it, and they kept tuning in to Ultra Q in huge numbers for the rest of its run.
Continue reading “Happy 60th Birthday to the Ultra Series”
Directed by Junji Kurata. Written by Masaru Igami, Isao Matsumoto, and Ichiro Otsu.
Let’s close out 2025 with a big heap of trash, shall we? Feels like cleaning out the house for a new year.
Continue reading “Toku Theater: Legend of Dinosaurs & Monster Birds (1977)”
The Ultra Project 