Blogging sometimes
leaves you feeling like a deadbeat dad. You promise to take the kids
out for ice cream this weekend only to pass out on the couch. In my
case it's promising a new post before sneaking off for a week long
binge of video games and Ultraman. At least in this scenario all that
selfish activity pays off cause it turns out the tenth of July is
actually Ultraman day! Which means it's time for us to move on to the
next entry in our oh so long review series of the Ultra franchise.
Tsuburaya
productions already had two massive hits with Ultra Q and Ultraman.
Wisely they took only a little break before capitalizing on that
success with a third entry. The creators knew they had to stick with
the superhero formula that had proven to be massively popular but
still take a few risks in the storytelling department in the hopes of
making something even better. To a certain extent they accomplished
that goal as on nearly every objective level Ultraseven is an
improvement over its predecessor yet with that upgrade comes a loss
of some of the silly fun. Personally I'd give it the edge quality
wise as it has a wider variety of high-quality episodes though I
think it falls behind when it comes to the supporting cast of
characters. Best not to get ahead of myself though.
The story this
time around is much the same as before. There's a super science
defense team known as Ultra Guard that protects Earth from monsters
and alien invaders. Rather than one of their own being
revived/possessed by an Ultra being this time they are joined by a
mysterious young man named Dan who is actually an Ultra disguised as
a human. The show moves along almost purely with stand-alone
adventures instead of any continuing narrative. These adventures are
often more mature than what we saw in previous series with a higher
occurrence of grim or ambiguous conclusions.
That same level of
maturation applies to the science team. It's a larger group this time
around especially once the supporting and recurring characters are
thrown into the mix. Having this many people around leaves less room
for development leaving some characters feeling a little flat when
compared to their forebears save for the main hero who is much
improved over the dull Hayata.
Starting off we
have Dan Moriboshi, actually Ultraseven in human form. Dan is much
more lively and jovial than Hayata ever was and we get a larger
glimpse into his struggles regarding how protecting Earth often
requires him to kill countless aliens and animals. Ability wise he
has most of the same techniques as the previous Ultraman just with a
few interesting wrinkles thrown in. The biggest change is that
Ultraseven doesn't need to worry about a timer, meaning he can kick
ass for as long as he wants. The show almost heads in that direction
later on but then forgets all about it. He also shifts in size far
more often sometimes running around at human scale or shrinking down
to the size of a bullet. He also has three monster pets he keeps in
capsules that can be unleashed to tackle problems whenever Dan is
unable to transform.
Anne is the
resident cutie but she can come off as bland thanks to her
inconsistent role within the show. Some writers and director clearly
had no issue with letting her get right in on the action with the
boys but once in a while there will be this odd setback where she
just sits around the first aid office issuing band-aids and little
else. Weirder still is late in the series when a very obvious wig
begins to appear in random episodes to cover her short haircut. She
clearly has the hots for Dan which only escalates as the series
continues which more romantic viewers should enjoy.
Furuhashi is the
token dense strongman of the team. He's played by the same actor as
Arashi from Ultraman with the characters being very similar. Only in
this case Furuhashi is not the team's crackshot. That honor goes to
Soga who's a bit younger and more lively than his comrades. The smart
guy role is filled by Amagi who sadly gets forgotten more often than
not. The team is lead by Captain Kiriyama, a more stern and militant
leader than what came before. While this isn't the most eccentric
crew of heroes I've encountered they manage to endear themselves to
the audience largely by being more helpful than many of the other
Ultra support groups.
Before moving
fully onto my episode picks for the series I should note that one
installment is missing from pretty much every home video release.
From a Planet With Love, the twelfth episode got into a heap
of trouble when it originally aired due to some elements resembling
negative stereotypes about people suffering from radiation burns. I'm
not a fan of censorship by any means but I can't say much for the
social situation of Japan and this topic. What stings all the more is
that this is a Jissoji directed outing, not his best but still damn
fine. It can be found online but not in the best condition. Just keep
in mind you might have to mine the internet if you want the complete
Ultraseven experience. Now let's talk about the some more accessible
episodes. As the average quality of the show is a little higher than
the last and a bit longer let's go with six picks.
Ep. 43 Nightmare
on Planet 4
I debated
including this one due to a rushed ending that sorta fizzles out. At
the same time I can't ignore such an outlandish and violent piece of
television. Yea, it's a Jissoji episode all right. Dan and Soga are
testing out a new hibernation technology for space travel only the
systems works too well. The pair wake up on a planet much like ours,
only ruled over by genocidal androids. Humans live in slums and are
killed on a daily basis by firing squads or as random acts of
entertaining televised violence. Between the freaky visuals and the
almost omnipresent sound of a man sucking on a piece of candy this
one bad acid trip of an adventure.
Ep. 23 Search
for Tomorrow
Captain Kiriyama
doesn't get many focus episodes but this one makes a compelling
argument that he should have had more. A fortune teller appears at
the Ultra Guard base warning of alien invaders and seeking
protection. Given a level of disbelief by the crew along with a lack
of evidence to support his claims the old man is turned away only to
disappear. Wanting to believe in the fortune teller, Kiriyama takes a
break from work to search for the missing man on his own time. No
singular mood or novelty to this one, just an all-around solid piece
of viewing material.
Ep. 45 The Boy
Who Cried Flying Saucer
Yet another
Jissoji installment, this one being almost completely removed from
the core team of heroes. Instead we see the daily struggles of an
amateur astronomer. The only thing this guy enjoys is looking at the
stars. He drifts off throughout the day due to lack of sleep, butts
heads with his noisy mechanic neighbor, and that's before he starts
seeing an invasion force of UFOS through his lens. Problem is he
can't get the Ultra Guard to believe his story. Think of this as a
slice of life mixed with a fairy tale and you'll have some idea what
to expect. It'd probably rank higher if not for the trippy, epilepsy
inducing monster fight.
Ep. 6 Dark Zone
The first truly
excellent output from this series concerns a shadowy alien who comes
to warn us that his species home is on a collision course with Earth.
He expects that our planet, much like his own, has the ability to
move freely about space. Once he learns the truth it becomes a battle
between civilizations as the aliens, who cannot repair their engines
in time, seek to clear Earth from their path while the Ultra Guard
debates the destruction of our new visitors.
Here we can the
formation of a common trope to the series where Dan tries to act as
an ambassador of peace between two groups. Unfortunately a break down
of communication and growing distrust serve to worsen the situation.
It's a grim episodes but definitely worth your time.
Ep. 26 The Super
Weapon R1
A common theme of
sci-fi from this era is nuclear escalation. Naturally Japan wasn't
exempt from this as their first hand experience of atomic weaponry
served as the catalyst for kaiju and tokusatsu productions. It should
come as no surprise then that the topic would rear its head within
the Ultra series with this installment serving as one of the better
examples of how to tackle such subject matter.
The story concerns
the testing of a new rocket on a supposedly uninhabited planet. What
no one expected was the large monster that lived under the planets
surface who heads to Earth to issue swift revenge via nuclear
fallout. Military scientists immediately begin development of more
weapons to defeat this beast despite repeated pleas from Dan to stop
and think about this course of action.
Obviously this is
a very serious and dour episode featuring debates and disagreements
between the core cast. Furuhashi actually takes the side of military
development and ensuring piece with sheer strength in opposition to
Dan's more peaceful approach. There's some excellent melodrama that
would probably take the top spot if not for the wonders of episode 8.
Ep. 8 The
Targeted Town
Just like last
time it's Jissoji for the win with this all time titan of Ultra
goodness. The Targeted Town concerns a village where people have
suddenly become prone to sudden outbursts of irrational violence.
Mass murder is becoming a daily occurrence with the only link between
perpetrators being cigarette smoking.
There's just so
much right about this one. The production and cinematography are
outstanding by 1960s television standards. The showdown between Dan
and alien conspirators became so iconic as to have its own figures
and dioramas. And then there's the hilariously cynical ending. Much
like how My Home is Earth was the highlight of Ultraman, this
is without a doubt the one episode you should check out from this
series.
Ah the sweet
feeling of success. I seriously struggled to get this post done
alongside all my damn homework. Ultraman Day comes but once a year
though, and who am I to neglect such a prestigious celebration? Hope
you all have a good night basking in the light of our favorite alien
fighter. Gonna get in a few episodes myself once it's time for a
break from statistics and media representations of women. Fingers
crossed I don't get the two mixed up.
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