Ultraman Ep. 24: Undersea Science Center

July 19, 2025August 13, 2025 ~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Toshihiro Iijima. Written by Keisuke Fujikawa. Airdate Dec. 25, 1966.

The Science Patrol is assigned to escort the president of the Science Public Corporation to the official activation of the new Undersea Science Center. Also along on the trip to the center is a special guest, young girl Jenny Childers. What should be a problem-free ceremony goes sideways when an ocean floor disruption cuts off the undersea center’s lifeline and floods its docking bay. Captain Muramatsu, President Yoshimura, Hoshino, and Jenny are now trapped in an underwater tomb. The rest of the SSSP races to rescue them before their oxygen supply runs out.

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Ultraman Tiga Ep. 15: Phantom Dash

July 16, 2025November 28, 2025 ~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Kyota Kawasaki. Written by Kazuo Tsuburaya and Junki Takegami. Airdate Dec. 14, 1996.

Gazort and the Clitters are back, everyone! Gazort still looks fantastic, arguably Ultraman Tiga’s most memorable kaiju. However, like the first episode with Gazort, the monster is less the star and more the catalyst for a character study. Horri was at the center of “Second Contact.” Now Shinjoh takes over as the pivotal figure, sharing the spotlight with his sister Mayumi (Kei Ishibashi). The mix of a great monster encore, an emotional character-driven story, and a touch of the weird makes for one of the best Ultraman Tiga episodes so far.

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Ultraseven Ep. 21: Pursue the Undersea Base!

July 12, 2025August 9, 2025 ~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Toshitsugu Suzuki. Written by Onisuke Akai. Airdate Feb. 25, 1968.

We begin as many giant monster stories have: a ship afloat at night on a calm ocean, the crew relaxed and chatting. Suddenly, a strange light flashes in the water, a frightening sound tears through the air … and the ship explodes and sinks into the sea, the victim of a cryptic leviathan.

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Ultra Q Ep. 27: The Disappearance of Flight 206

July 9, 2025July 23, 2025 ~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Koji Kajita. Written by Tetsuo Kinjo and Hiroyasu Yamaura. Airdate July 3, 1966.

Jun and Ippei are returning from pilot training in Hong Kong aboard the maiden flight of a supersonic jet. The last time Ultra Q took a ride on the inaugural run of a super-speed vehicle, it was in “The Underground Super Express Goes West.” It was not a smooth trip. This second trip on emerging high-speed technology also goes wrong fast. Flight 206 gets dragged into a mysterious whirlpool in the sky and vanishes, leaving poor Yuriko and Professor Ichinotani at the airport baffled by yet another uncanny occurrence in the Unbalanced Zone.

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Ultraseven Ep. 20: Destroy Earthquake Epicenter X

July 5, 2025December 27, 2025 ~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Samaji Nonagase. Written by Bunzo Wakatsuki. Airdate Feb. 18, 1968.

There are several Ultraseven episodes that feel as if they were reworked from unused Ultraman scripts (something that did happen with “The Strolling Planet”). “Destroy Earthquake Epicenter X,” from what I can tell, was originally written for Ultraseven, but the Ultraman vibes are strong: an episode focused on a giant monster and high-tech equipment rather than alien schemes or a strange science-fiction twist. Ultraseven’s stories are usually alien-themed, but this episode feels as if the alien invader could easily have been cut and the script left as a terrestrial kaiju story.

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Ultra Q Ep. 26: Blazing Glory

July 2, 2025January 3, 2026 ~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Kazuho Mitsuta. Written by Toshihiro Iijima. Airdate June 26, 1966.

Director Kazuho Mitsuta’s second aired episode (although produced before “Space Directive M774”) is his first classic. Mitsuta had a knack for intense character-driven stories told with cinematic flair. His episodes look fantastic without being ostentatious. “Blazing Glory” shows Mitsuta operating at a high level and delivering the best possible episode from one of Ultra Q’s most dramatic, human stories.

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Ultraman Ep. 23: My Home Is Earth

June 25, 2025January 7, 2026 ~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Akio Jissoji. Written by Mamoru Sasaki. Airdate Dec. 18, 1966.

I’ve mentioned this episode numerous times, and for good reason: “My Home Is Earth” is the Ultraman episode that’s accumulated the most praise and had the biggest influence on future shows. It deserves its place among the Olympians of Ultra. This is a superlative work of tragic science fiction in the guise of a giant monster story. It channels the classic British film The Quatermass Xperiment, shows director Akio Jissoji putting his signature style to great dramatic use, and gives the best character his defining episode.

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Ultraman Tiga Ep. 14: The Unleashed Target

June 21, 2025November 30, 2025 ~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Hirochika Muraishi. Written by Kazuyoshi Nakazaki and Hirochika Muraishi. Airdate Dec. 7, 1996.

One fine day in Tokyo, the Ultraman Tiga creative team was lounging around, bandying about ideas for a show that didn’t have a strong overall plan from the beginning. Writer Kazuyoshi Nakazaki said, “Hey, you know what’s a great movie? The Predator.” Writer-director Hirochika Muraishi, answered, “Yeah, it’s a bit like that short story ‘The Most Dangerous Game.’ ” And right there and then the two sat down at a computer and hashed out the script for “The Unleashed Target.”

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Ultra Q Ep. 25: The Devil Child

June 18, 2025July 2, 2025 ~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Koji Kajita. Written by Kyoko Kitazawa and Ken Kumagai. Airdate June 19, 1966.

The massive success of Ring (1998) ignited the J-Horror boom of the late 1990s and 2000s, but the unique style of Japanese horror has a long history. Several key supernatural horror films came out in the 1960s: Onibaba (1964), Kwaidan (1965), and Kuroneko (1968). “The Devil Child” is Ultra Q’s contribution to Japanese ghost lore of this era. It combines the concept of the dangerous ghost child with science-fiction elements for that peculiar Ultra Q mix. It’s one of the show’s eeriest and subtlest achievements.

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Ultraman Ep. 22: Overthrow the Surface

June 14, 2025January 7, 2026 ~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Akio Jissoji. Written by Mamoru Sasaki. Airdate Dec. 11, 1966.

Akio Jissoji’s third Ultraman episode is when his characteristic style comes together … and then goes on a rampage. Heavily influenced by his viewing of Jean-Luc Godard’s Alphaville (1965), Jissoji cuts loose with his visuals: jittery handheld camera shots, rapid cutting, close-ups on faces and mouths, lights dimmed to almost nothing, bizarre angles, reflective surfaces, sepia photography, freeze frames. It would feel indulgent — and several of his later Ultra outings are definitely that — if it didn’t work so well for the tone of paranoia and panic he brings to this twist on the alien invasion story.

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