Tag: Tokusatsu

Ultra Q Ep. 20: The Primordial Amphibian Ragon

~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Samaji Nonagase. Written by Hiroyasu Yamaura and Samaji Nonagase. Story by Shoji Otomo. Airdate May 15, 1966.

Yuriko is on assignment again, investigating an undersea volcanic explosion near the island of Iwame. She tells her boss Seki that she thinks this is a “mediocre” story, which seems ridiculous until you realize the giant monster and alien weirdness Yuri-chan has been dealing with for the past few months. Undersea volcano? Meh.

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Ultraseven Ep. 14 & 15: The Ultra Guard Goes West

~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Kazuho Mitsuta. Written by Tetsuo Kinjo. Airdate Jan. 7 & 14, 1968.

When I looked at “Space Prisoner 303,” I speculated that it was the point where younger viewers started to lose interest in Ultraseven during its initial run. It seems there’s truth to this, as that episode had a 30% drop in viewership. It’s not a good episode, so the decline makes some sense; but the next episode, “The Marked Town,” had the same audience attrition, and that’s one of the greatest episodes in the history of the franchise! Still, it was different and strange, and kids probably weren’t getting the fun they anticipated after watching Ultraman’s weekly monster smackdowns.

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Ultra Q Ep. 19: Challenge From the Year 2020

~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Toshihiro Iijima. Written by Tetsuo Kinjo and Toshihiro Iijima. Airdate May 8, 1966.

It’s redundant to write, “This is a weird episode of Ultra Q,” because weirdness is the show’s default setting. But this is a weird episode of Ultra Q. Not in the humorous fashion of “Kanegon’s Cocoon” or the crazy pinball machine of “The Underground Super Express Goes West.” This is the weird of dark science fiction where not much ends up making sense; intentional SF surrealism appears to be the point. I can’t say I understand much of what occurs in “Challenge From the Year 2020,” but I do like a lot of what I see. Your mileage may vary, either up or down.

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Ultraman Ep. 17: Passport to Infinity

~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Toshihiro Iijima. Written by Keisuke Fujikawa. Airdate Nov. 6, 1966.

The most surreal Ultraman episode yet. That still places it below the strangest episodes of Ultra Q or an average episode of Ultraman Taro. Those shows set a high bar for weirdness, but “Passport to Infinity” makes a game effort at trippy and abstract excitement. Best of all, we get one of the Ultra series’ most memorable kaiju, Fourth Dimensional Monster Bullton, which resembles a heart valve as designed by Joan Miró. 

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Toku Theater: Gamera vs. Gyaos (1967)

~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Noriaki Yuasa. Written by Niisan Takahashi.

After two bland movies, the Gamera series at last discovers its niche and breaks out the good rubber-suited monster times. 

Fans generally consider Gamera vs. Gyaos the best movie of the series. I won’t argue with that. The pacing, the monster battles, the cast, the blend of the human story with the big beastie action … it all comes together for an entertaining monster vs. monster show, and one of the best kaiju films of the Showa Era outside of Toho Studios’ output.

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Ultraseven Ep. 13: The Man Who Came From V3

~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Toshitsugu Suzuki. Written by Shinichi Ichikawa. Airdate Dec. 24, 1967.

“The Man Who Came From V3” feels like Tsuburaya Productions attempting an even split between a character-driven drama about Cap. Kiriyama facing an ethical dilemma and a huge science-fiction blow-out that crams in the maximum amount of dueling ships and giant monster action that a half-hour of TV can hold. But somewhere in the process of writing and shooting the episode, the character half gave up and let the VFX half spin donuts all over everything.

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Ultraman Tiga Ep. 8: On the Night of Halloween

~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Yasushi Okada. Written by Masakazu Migita. Airdate Oct. 26, 1996.

The perfect Ultra episode for Halloween is Ultra Q’s “Baron Spider.” I timed that review for the holiday last year. This actual Halloween-themed episode — one of the few in the Ultra series — is arriving in time for, uhm, the Ides of March. As much as I’d also like to land this review on Halloween for some synergy, it’s not a huge loss. As holiday flings go, this one’s minor. It’s mostly interesting for showing how Japan celebrated Halloween before the explosion of mass cosplay parties in the 2010s. 

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Ultra Q Ep. 18: The Rainbow’s Egg

~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Toshihiro Iijima. Written by Masahiro Yamada. Airdate May 1, 1966.

Once upon a time, there was a giant monster movie called Frankenstein vs. Baragon (first released in the US as Frankenstein Conquers the World). Eiji Tsuburaya designed the quadruped kaiju Baragon for the film. Baragon then had a brief but busy career playing other monsters in Tsuburarya’s TV shows. The costume underwent four different redesigns through 1965–66 to help save money on building monster suits. Baragon made its makeover debut in “The Rainbow’s Egg,” where it plays the kaiju Pagos.

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Ultraman Ep. 16: Science Patrol Into Space

~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Toshihiro Iijima. Written by Kitao Senzoku. Airdate Oct. 30, 1966.

Alien Baltan is back after Ultraman attempted to genocide their entire race in “Shoot the Invader!” They want another crack at Planet Earth. Lucky for them, the Tsuburaya Pro team apparently wanted another crack at a big VFX finale with their signature alien villains. The special effects climax of “Shoot the Invader!” was its weakest part, likely a result of it being the first episode put into production. “Science Patrol Into Space” is a small upgrade over what was a pretty solid early episode: it loses some of the mystery and mood but goes full-force as a science-fiction actioner with ambitious special effects.

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