Tag: Poor

Ultraman Ginga Ep. 7: The Closed World

~ Ryan Harvey

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. 

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Ultraman Tiga Ep. 26: The Rainbow Monsterland

~ Ryan Harvey

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.

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Ultraseven Ep. 7: Space Prisoner 303

~ Ryan Harvey
Alien Quraso about to kill a gas station attendant in Ultraseven episode "Space Prisoner 303.)

Directed by Toshitsugu Suzuki. Written by Tetsuo Kinjo. Airdate Nov. 12, 1967.

Another hostile alien has come to Earth. Not to conquer, just to kill. An alien murderer from an otherwise peaceful race has escaped from a prison on its homeworld. Now it’s landed on Earth to guzzle gasoline, strangle a few innocent people, and find another escape route before it’s caught.

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Ultraman Zearth (1996)

~ Ryan Harvey
Ultraman Zearth

Directed by Shinya Nakajima. Written by Shukei Nagasaka.

Ultraman Zearth, Earth’s defender from the Land of Bright in Nebula Z95, must stop the schemes of the gold-stealing invader Alien Benzene and its kaiju attack dog, Cotton-Poppe. However, Zearth and his human form, Katsuto Asahi (Masaharu Sekiguchi), face a dreadful obstacle: mysophobia. Ultraman Zearth can’t stand getting dirty. A little grease on his hands and he’s paralyzed or hopping around howling. Oh no, what will the world do? And how can monster-fighting organization MYDO, which operates out of a gas station where the members also pull extra shifts, help in the battle against Alien Benzene while poor Zearth is cringing at having to cross a pool of mud?

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Toku Theater: Gamera the Giant Monster (1965)

~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Noriaki Yuasa. Written by Niisan Takahashi.

Now for another movie break, this time for a “classic” of Japanese kaiju cinema. It’s a short hop from Ultra Q’s “Grow Up! Little Turtle,” a tale about a boy and his affection for a giant turtle who takes him to see a princess underwater, to Gamera the Giant Monster, a tale about a boy and his affection for a giant turtle who is causing mass destruction and death.

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Ultraman Ep. 0: The Birth of Ultraman

~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Akio Jissoji. Written by Tetsuo Kinjo. Airdate July 10, 1966.

We have to start here — I write with some embarrassment for the poor Tsuburaya Productions team. This “pilot” episode for Ultraman is just a live stage show taped in black-and-white to promote the actual show debuting the next week. “The Birth of Ultraman” exists because Tsuburaya Pro desperately needed more time to finish episodes before the premiere date of Ultraman, and this was the quickest way for the Tokyo Broadcasting System to get something on the air to create a buffer. TBS could have gone ahead and broadcast the last remaining episode of Ultra Q, but because it wasn’t a monster-centered episode, they delayed it for over a year and a half to leap right into … this.

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