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.
Continue reading “Ultraseven Ep. 21: Pursue the Undersea Base!”
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.
Continue reading “Ultraseven Ep. 20: Destroy Earthquake Epicenter X”
Written and Directed by Samaji Nonagase. Airdate Feb. 11, 1968.
Professor Miyabe (Akiji Nomura) has invented a magnetic defense barrier, Project Blue, that will shield both Earth and the Moon from the barrage of alien invasions happening on a weekly basis. (At this point, the Ultra Guard is so familiar with these invasions that they know the preferred routes aliens take when launching attacks.) But Alien Bado, self-proclaimed “Emperor of the Universe,” is not going to have some Terrestrial Defense Barrier hinder their plot to explode Earth and eradicate the potentially deadly human race. The aliens covertly park their spaceship under Professor Miyabe’s home and kidnap him, threatening to murder his wife Grace (Linda Mabrey) if he doesn’t surrender the plans for Project Blue.
Continue reading “Ultraseven Ep. 19: Project Blue”
Directed by Hajime Tsuburaya. Written by Testuo Kinjo. Airdate Feb. 4, 1968.
“Escape Dimension X” is Ultraseven’s version of Ultraman’s influential episode “The Monster Anarchy Zone”: a fast-paced monster-packed adventure taking place in a weird wilderness of exotic dangers. Many Ultra shows have their own take on this pulpy Lost World concept. Now we see the darker SF sensibility of Ultraseven at work on the premise. Where “The Monster Anarchy Zone” is a wild, fun rollercoaster with plenty of giant monsters, “Escape Dimension X” is horror-tinged and eerie, with monsters of the more creepy-crawly variety. This “lost world” is also presented as a science-fiction mystery, an artificially created alternate dimension, although the story leaves most of it unexplained.
Continue reading “Ultraseven Ep. 18: Escape Dimension X”
Directed by Hajime Tsuburaya. Written by Shozo Uehara. Airdate Jan. 28, 1968.
The standard procedure for Ultra warriors who come to Earth is to merge with a human host, a precedent set in Ultraman and followed throughout most of the shows. Ultraseven is one of the exceptions (Ultraman Leo is another), where the Ultra warrior chooses to adopt a human form and remain 100% alien. But how does an Ultra who takes this route decide on their human “costume”? This episode addresses that question, making it an essential watch for the lore of the show.
Continue reading “Ultraseven Ep. 17: Underground Go! Go! Go!”
Directed by Toshitsugu Suzuki. Written by Keisuke Fujikawa. Airdate Jan. 21, 1968.
We’ve seen these story concepts in the Ultra shows before — several times — but “The Eye That Shines in the Darkness” not only uses both, it adds something new to the mix. Not new for the broader franchise, but for Ultraseven specifically: a child character as the lead.
Continue reading “Ultraseven Ep. 16: The Eye That Shines in the Darkness”
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.
Continue reading “Ultraseven Ep. 14 & 15: The Ultra Guard Goes West”
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.
Continue reading “Ultraman Ep. 17: Passport to Infinity”
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.
Continue reading “Ultraseven Ep. 13: The Man Who Came From V3”
Directed by Akio Jissoji. Written by Mamoru Sasaki. Airdate Dec. 17, 1967.
This is the famous withdrawn Ultraseven episode. You won’t find it on any of the video releases, nor will you see it on the airwaves. It’s sometimes called the “banned” or “censored” episode, but that implies an external agency has kept it from being seen. Tsuburaya Productions itself removed the episode from public availability in the 1970s, and it seems unlikely the situation will change in the near future.
Continue reading “Ultraseven Ep. 12: From Another Planet With Love”
The Ultra Project 