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.
Continue reading “Ultraseven Ep. 7: Space Prisoner 303”
Directed by Kazuho Mitsuta. Written by Tetsuo Kinjo. Airdate Sep. 18, 1966.
Ultraman vs. Godzilla! That’s it, that’s the review. Or as much a review as most people will need.
Technically, Ultraman’s kaiju foe isn’t Godzilla. It’s a new monster named Jirahs (sometimes spelled Jirass). But … come on, it’s just a Toho Godzilla costume with a smattering of green paint and a neck frill. The frill eventually gets ripped off, making it even clearer you’re watching Ultraman vs. Godzilla. Using the Godzilla costume was a cost-saving maneuver, but nobody is going to complain about watching these titans of tokusatsu cross IP boundaries for a deathmatch.
Continue reading “Ultraman Ep. 10: The Mysterious Dinosaur Base”
Directed by Samaji Nonagase. Written by Kunio Torami. Airdate March 13, 1966.
Another giant monster episode, but with a difference. Rather than a traditional rampaging kaiju tale, “Balloonga” takes an approach that borders on cosmic horror. It’s a dark turn for the show, with a fatalistic mood and gloomy aura. It’s highly effective for most of the running time, but the finale doesn’t match what the rest of the story promises.
Continue reading “Ultra Q Ep. 11: Balloonga”
Directed by Kazuho Mitsuta. Written by Bunzo Wakatsuki. Airdate Nov. 5, 1967.
For the first time, and certainly not the last, an episode of Ultraseven scrutinizes the ethics of the operations of the Terran Defense Force and the Ultra Guard. The featured alien race, Alien Pegassa, doesn’t want to conquer Earth. They only want survival, but that may require taking drastic steps against Earth. Earth faces a similar choice with Pegassa, creating an unwinnable situation for both sides that has echoes of the Cold War without making explicit reference to it. Neither the Earthings nor Alien Pegassa ultimately show their best sides in this showdown.
Continue reading “Ultraseven Ep. 6: Dark Zone”
Directed by Samaji Nonagase. Written by Masahiro Yamada. Airdate Sep. 11, 1966.
A good Ultra fight finale can do a lot to salvage an otherwise mediocre episode. Ultraman’s wrestling match with monster-of-the-week Gabora (orGavora as the Mill Creek subtitles spell it) is tough and agile. A good deal of the credit for its success goes to performers Bin Furyua in the Ultraman costume and the legend himself, Hauro Nakajima, in the Gabora costume. Nakajima was the first person to put on the Godzilla suit, and he played the monster for almost 20 years. I believe he’s the best suitmation actor to ever rampage across a miniature stage. He brings something extra to every monster he plays, and Gabora is no exception.
Continue reading “Ultraman Ep. 9: Lightning Operation”
Directed by Toshihiro Iijima. Written by Hiroyasu Yamaura and Toshihiro Iijima. Airdate March 5, 1966.
There’s no “typical” episode of Ultra Q. There are typical episode types, such as the straightforward giant monster stories like “Terror of the Sweet Honey” and “Tokyo Ice Age”; horror episodes like “The Devil Child” and “Baron Spider”; the fairy tales of “Grow Up! Little Turtle” and “Kanegon’s Cocoon”; and Twilight Zone and Outer Limits-influenced episodes like “Open Up!” and “The ⅛ Project.” But if I had to pick one episode to represent Ultra Q at its most typically atypical, the episode that manages to pack everything in the writers’ room junk drawer into a half hour, this is it. The last episode produced of the original 28, it reveals the creative team at full power, making one of the crowning achievements of the show.
Continue reading “Ultra Q Ep. 10: The Underground Super Express Goes West”
Directed by Hajime Tsuburaya. Written by Akihiko Sugano. Airdate Oct. 29, 1967.
In the most adult-oriented and serious episode yet, another alien race plots to infiltrate TDF’s Far East Base in human disguise and blow up something to make way for their invasion. We’ve seen this ploy already in “Secret of the Lake” and “Max, Respond.” But this time the invaders have a more insidious scheme, which is to sow suspicion in the Ultra Guard to trick them into believing Dan is an alien traitor in disguise. That way the real infiltrator can escape suspicion and remove Ultraseven as an obstacle. (All alien races seem to be able to immediately recognize that Dan isn’t an Earthling.)
Continue reading “Ultraseven Ep. 5: Vanished Time”
Directed by Samaji Nonagase. Written by Tetsuo Kinjo and Shozo Uehara. Airdate Sep. 4, 1966.
In the previous episode, the Science Patrol flew off for a fantasy adventure in the Middle East. This week, they’re taking the Jet VTOL to a volcanic jungle island stacked with monsters. It’s classic Lost World and Skull Island stuff, and I’m surprised Eiji Tsuburaya didn’t find a way to cram in a giant gorilla among all the other kaiju. The King Kong influence is all over this half-hour.
Continue reading “Ultraman Ep. 8: The Monster Anarchy Zone”
Directed by Hajime Tsuburaya. Written by Tetsuo Kinjo. Airdate Feb. 27, 1966.
It’s Halloween, Ultra Ghouls! I timed this review for a night in the lonesome October, of my most Ultra Q year.
Continue reading “Ultra Q Ep. 9: Baron Spider”
Directed by Kazuho Mitsuta. Written by Tetsuo Kinjo and Masahiro Yamada. Airdate Oct. 22, 1967.
For the second episode in a row, Dan loses the Ultra Eye he needs to transform into Ultraseven. To lose one Ultra Eye may be regarded as a misfortune, to lose two looks like carelessness. And it’s going to happen a few more times.
Continue reading “Ultraseven Ep. 4: Max, Respond!”
The Ultra Project 