Tag: Tokusatsu

Ultraman Ginga Intermission: First Season Wrap-Up

~ Ryan Harvey

I’ve completed the reviews for Ultraman Ginga, but it doesn’t make sense for me to write a favorite episodes post for a show with only 12 episodes. Also, favorite isn’t a term I can use to describe any episode of this show when the best rating I handed out was “Good.” Besides, there’s more Ginga coming up: Ultraman Ginga S, a sequel show that’s basically a heavily revamped second season. Before I forge onward with Ultraman Ginga S — which comprises 16 episodes and a feature film — I’d like to take a break to gather my thoughts after reviewing Ultraman Ginga. (Spoilers for the whole show, of course.)

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Ultraman Ginga Ep. 11: The Future of Yours

~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Yuichi Abe. Written by Keiichi Hasegawa. Airdate Dec. 18, 2013.

We’ve reached the finale of the first New Generation Heroes show. It’s been a short journey: eleven episodes plus a special. We’ve spent most of that time hanging out at an abandoned elementary school, watching Ultraman Ginga and his allies fight monsters in a nearby field. It’s often been glaringly underfunded, even impoverished. The themes are uneven. The drama is frequently juvenile. But this last episode, the resolution of the Dark Spark Saga and confrontation with the Ruler of the Dark, is absolutely … pretty good. Good enough to keep the Ultra Series moving forward in this new era. That’s what Ultraman Ginga was trying to achieve in the first place, so congratulations.

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Ultraman Tiga Ep. 30: The Monster Zoo

~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Masaki Harada. Written by Kazunori Saito. Airdate March 29, 1997.

Rena asked Daigo out at the height of the apocalyptic events of “The Devil’s Judgment.” This episode opens on the apparent outcome of that: the two are on a date at a rural zoo on a pleasant sunny day. A zoo seems the right weekend getaway for them. (Although the two of them making jokes that the cows resemble Horii is a touch rude.) Anyway, because this is Ultraman Tiga, Rena and Daigo’s date is interrupted when a giant monster bursts through the zoo grounds.

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Ultraseven Ep. 36: A Lethal 0.1 Seconds

~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Samaji Nonagase. Written by Hiroyasu Yamaura. Airdate June 9, 1968.

Samaji Nonagase is back directing a suspense-filled episode that goes full ‘60s spy-fi. This is as close as Ultraseven gets to turning into a straightforward action show. There’s a special effects finale where Seven battles an alien ship, but the actual peak of the action is the lethal fraction of a second in the title — and it’s a duel of human vs. human, revolver vs. revolver. 

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Ultraman Ginga Ep. 10: Darkness and Light

~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Yuichi Abe. Written by Akira Tanizaki. Airdate Dec. 11, 2013.

The theme that Ultraman Ginga has prominently played up over its run is the pursuit of personal dreams and how important it is to have a dream and try to live it. That’s a good crowd-tested message for an adventure program, plus it’s effective with younger viewers. 

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Ultraman Tiga Ep. 29: Memory of a Pale Night

~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Masaki Harada. Written by Keiichi Hasegawa. Airdate March 22, 1997.

Shinjoh is going on an important test flight, so Daigo is stuck taking Shinjoh’s sister Mayumi to see a show from current pop sensation, Maya Cruz. (It’s not a date, he insists, making sure Rena hears this.) Daigo admits that he doesn’t even know who this Maya Cruz is, which shocks Horii, a Cruz superfan. Of course Horii is a superfan of the big pop star of the moment. Horii’s basically twelve years old and we love him for that. 

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Ultraseven Ep. 35: Terror on the Moon

~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Toshitsugu Suzuki. Written by Shinichi Ichikawa. Airdate June 2, 1968.

Captain Kiriyama’s close friend in the Terran Defense Force, Kurata (Hiroshi Minami), makes his second appearance on Ultraseven after his introduction in “The Man Who Came From V3.” That story put him at odds with Kiriyama in an ethical bind over the best way to handle an alien menace. This episode has the two friends working as a team from the start as they head into space to confront the consequences of one of their past missions. 

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Ultraman Ginga Ep. 9: The Jet Black Ultra Brothers

~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Yoshikazu Ishii. Written by Kenichi Araki. Airdate Dec. 4, 2013.

The Ultraman Ginga team, aware they have only a few episodes remaining, goes all-out with an action-crammed half hour. Or as all-out as the budget permits. They also pack in some silly comedy and a few key revelations to set up the finale. It’s a scattershot episode, with six different giant combatants and all the major characters jostling for screen time, but it’s fast-moving and lively. I prefer that to some of the drab earlier outings.

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Ultraman Tiga Ep. 28: One Vanishing Moment

~ Ryan Harvey

Directed and Written by Kyota Kawasaki. Airdate March 15, 1997.

We start big. We start explosive. GUTS and TPC’s ground forces are waging a furious battle against giant monster Jobarieh. The action is pitched on a large scale, with the tanks and GUTS Wings in full assault mode. They manage to drive Jobarieh into a temporary stasis, which is good news, because they have another major operation that’s just about to go into action.

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Ultraseven Ep. 34: The Vanishing City

~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Hajime Tsuburaya. Written by Tetsuo Kinjo. Airdate May 26, 1968.

Several Ultraseven episodes have a tricky time balancing the mysterious science-fiction stories of its original premise with the spectacle of kaiju fights and space duels that viewers expect from something titled “Ultra.” Some episodes split the difference and go for mood in the first half, big action in the second. “The Vanishing City” executes one of the better mergers of Ultra Q eerie SF mystery and Ultraman supersized action. The tone of weirdness is consistent, even when the climax is Seven pursuing a roly-poly hedgehog monster through the labyrinthine streets of an empty city stolen by aliens who need real estate.

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