From Beyond Television: Ultraman Ace Episode #8

Episode 8: LIFE OF THE SUN, LIFE OF ACE (TAIYOH NO INOCHI, EHSU NO INOCHI) ****

Directed by Masanori Kakei

Last we left Ace, he is was in a bit of a jam with 3 monsters to fight all at once. The fighting field is leveled somewhat after Ace's reflexes results in the gruesome demise of one of the monsters. With his Color Timer blinking, Ace is forced to once more use the Ultra Barrier to temporarily encase his opponents in a state of suspended animation. After using the energy draining maneuver a second time, Yuko is nearly dead. Meanwhile, Yamanaka, against Captain Goro's orders, intends to avenge Maya's death by attacking Alien Metron Jr. while it's incapacitated within the barrier. Taking Konno with him, Yamanaka's impulsive actions frees the alien instead. At the same time, Gorath nears the Earth's atmosphere causing natural disasters to occur just as Maria II is ready to launch. Suddenly, both Alien Metron and Doragoris appear and attempt to destroy it. With Hokuto having taken the terminal Yuko out of the hospital, she manages enough energy to transform into Ace. With only half his energy, and Gorath blocking solar power from the sun, Ace and TAC join together to stop the cataclysmic threats to Earth's existence.

Ending on a fantastic note, the second two-parter thus far is a highlight that will be hard to top. Masanori Kakei's second time billed as a solo director (co-directing the first two episodes), his name is dotted periodically throughout the series--always in pairs--for a total of 14 episodes (including the last two). Possessing a good eye for action, Kakei keeps things moving at a breakneck pace and never lets the sloppiness in the script catch up to him. One of the most striking aspects of this 'part 2' is the level of brutality present in the script...

 
Much like the GAMERA movie series, there's this odd melding of extreme monster violence with the rubber suit action. It's a bizarre marriage; akin to watching episodes of THE MUPPET SHOW where Kermit, Piggy, Fozzy and the rest slaughter each other in spectacular displays of gory muppet mayhem. It makes for some striking imagery that, despite the obvious fakery, would never pass for a kid's show in America.

 
During the opening, we pick up right where the previous episode ended. Ace is in serious trouble. Another monster, Muruchi II, emerges from underground and joins Alien Metron II and Doragoris. Muruchi II is a younger offspring of Muruchi, a monster that appeared in the 33rd episode of THE RETURN OF ULTRAMAN. A fish-type monster, his underground containment in that series episode is explained (also written by Uehara) but remains something of a question mark in his surprise showing in this ACE installment. It doesn't matter much as Muruchi's arrival is very brief. Ace dodges its attack, sending the fish monster right into Doragoris; who responds by throttling the creature before ripping its jaw off! The violent Doragoris isn't finished crudely carving Muruchi up; the moth monster then rips its leg off! This sort of gory action would have likely resorted in outraged parents in America but was prevalent in Japanese kids shows of that time period.

Apparently Muruchi was a scripting replacement for Seagoras (or Seagorath), the Tsunami Monster--a rhino-type aquatic beast that appeared in THE RETURN OF ULTRAMAN two-parter from episodes 13 and 14. Incidentally, Uehara wrote those two as well.

The monster gore doesn't stop there. During the well choreographed, cliffhanger-packed finale, Ace has only half his power due to Yuko's weakened state. He still manages to showcase two new maneuvers--both of which are devastating in doling out monster carnage. After Gorath is obliterated by Maria II, Ace, in a weakened state, gets his energy replenished by the sun. Having been a punching bag for Alien Metron II over the course of two episodes, Ace has had enough and unleashes the Vertical Guillotine to quickly finish him off. This is similar to the finishing move on VOLTRON (1984-1985) only more gruesome since Ro-Beasts have no alien innards to spill out all over the countryside. 

Ace then turns his rage to the equally enraged Doragoris; bashing the monsters head against a rock then using the Ultra Punch to literally punch its guts out! Putting the Super-Beast out of its much deserved misery, Ace whips out the Ultra Blade and decapitates Doragoris samurai style. He finishes the job with his Metallium Ray, blowing the outsized moth to kingdom come. Brutal monster deaths have always been in these shows, but this level of sanguinary shenanigans is unusually excessive; yet add to the appeal.

As mentioned previously, writing duties were split between the two episodes--Shozo Uhehara picking up the pen for the second half. The balance of human drama and monster battles is virtually the same; only the former is arguably more poignant since Yuko has a near-death experience after using the Ace Barrier for the second time. 

 
Regarding the Ace Barrier, it was depicted by Ichikawa Morichi as a rip in space that holds the monster for a 24 hour period. It's visualized in Shozo Uehara's script as a type of bubble (akin to the method of transport for Godzilla and Rodan to Planet X in MONSTER ZERO [1965]) that holds the monsters in a temporarily frozen state. Which brings us to the furthering of Yamanaka's revenge....

Instead of making him pitiable, he comes off as intolerable. Disobeying orders, he intimidates one of his teammates to aid him in an attack on Alien Metron while it's encased in Ace's barrier.  His selfishness turns Yuko's self-sacrifice into a possibly vain act of martyrdom. What's worse is he gets barely a slap on the wrist for being inadvertently complicit in Earth's near destruction. Yuko's character shows there's hope for humanity by requesting Hokuto take her out of the hospital to fight whether she dies or not.

A really impressive duo of episodes, Tokusatsu fans will have a good time with these. Lacking the surrealism of ULTRASEVEN; or the bridging of the dramatic with the comic book of THE RETURN OF ULTRAMAN, the heavier accent towards super heroics will appeal to a broader audience for this genre; that is, those who enjoy the wackier side of small screen entertainment as opposed to those with genuine affection for Japan's unique SciFi programming. Overly ambitious as it is, this sort of crescendo is normally reserved for a series finale. Not yet ten shows in, U-ACE goes from 0-60 in a matter of seconds... but can it maintain this speed for the remaining 44 episodes?

MONSTERS: Alien Metron II; Doragoris; Muruchi II
WEAPONS: TAC Space; Maria II (missile); TAC Guns

To be continued in Episode 9: 10,000 SUPER-BEASTS! THE YAPOOL'S SURPRISE ATTACK PLAN!!!

From Beyond Television: Ultraman Ace Episode #7

Episode 7: MONSTER VS. SUPER-BEAST VS. ALIEN METRON, JR. (KAIJUH TAI CHOHJUH TAI UCHUH-JIN) ****

Directed by Masanori Kakei

TAC radar picks up a massive object on a collision course with Earth. It is the burning planet, Gorath. Earth has seven days remaining before it is destroyed by the flaming planet killer. TAC scientists quickly devise a massive missile, the Maria I, to intercept Gorath before it hits. Meanwhile, TAC officer Yamanaka runs into his girlfriend, Maya, and proposes to her. The happiness is short-lived as mere seconds before the Maria I launches, Alien Metron Junior appears and destroys it and one of TACs bases along with it. Quickly building another missile, TAC members are unaware that Alien Metron has killed Maya and taken over her body to further sabotage TAC HQ. 

 
Before our heroes can catch a breath, the Super-Beast moth monster, Doragoris, appears and attacks the base. Ace manages to temporarily hold Doragoris at bay after using the Ultra Barrier, but the move has left Yuko seriously exhausted. Meantime, Alien Metron has destroyed the TAC lab with the Maria weapon blueprint, although Dr. Suzuki memorized the plans. Yamanaka finally learns his fiance is dead, her body appropriated by the evil Alien Metron. Going giant, Alien Metron engages TAC; then the Yapool send Doragoris to join him. Hokuto and Yuko transform to Ace and the fight is on. As the battle rages, another monster, Muruchi II, inexplicably appears. Now a three against one fight, TAC's underground weapons facility desperately tries to build the Maria II as Gorath nears closer to the Earth....

What could've made for one helluva way to close the series, the makers of ULTRAMAN ACE pack an incredible amount of action, cliffhangers, and storytelling into a mini-epic very early into its 52 episode run. Toho monster fans will rejoice by the inclusion of one of the company's lesser discussed, but no less magnificent, Science Fiction movies--GORATH from 1962. In that film, Gorath was an enormous star hurtling towards the Earth while scientists attempt to move the Earth out of its axis to avoid destruction. For its ACE appearance, Gorath is akin to any other monster; similar to the Planet Killer from the classic STAR TREK episode, 'The Doomsday Machine'.

Much like a giant monster was wedged into the human drama of Honda's classic, so is Gorath thrust into the plot of a monster series for no other reason than to make the plot as chaotic as possible. For the most part, these two episodes are organized chaos--there's so much going on you barely have time to pay attention to scripting snafus. This two-parter rates highly strictly for its entertainment factor as these types of programs aren't known for subtlety, much less richly written characters. Ichikawa Morichi (and Shozo Uehara for part 2) has crammed enough cliffhangers in an hour to fill a Republic serial. This was his third of seven U-ACE scripts.

Kazuo Sagawa returns as SPX Director. He handled duties on episodes 1-4 while Takashi Ohira took the helm of episodes 5 and 6. There are some nice composite shots, opticals, and fiery explosions scattered about the varied list of special effects. Many of them are effectively utilized to propel the story as opposed to satisfying the obligatory devices these types of shows adhered to. Excluding Gorath, two of the monsters have appeared before. 

Alien Metron first appeared in episode 8 of ULTRASEVEN, 'The Cursed Town'. The appearance of this offspring is slightly different; nor does it speak, unlike the alien from the U-7 episode. The Metrons of the earlier series were pretty nasty creatures and this lone alien shows no less disdain for humankind. Like Gironman of episode 5, the evil Alien Metron II (played by Fuyuki Shinada) isn't one of the Yapool. You could say he's working alongside them, although one merely wants to take over the Earth while the Metronian wishes to destroy it. In an unusual move, when Alien Metron takes over a body, he kills them beforehand; so there's no reviving the host after the monster is destroyed. In this series, the creature's powers are an electrical attack (fatal to humans) and explosives that shoot from his fists.

Making its debut, Doragoris (played by Toru Kawai), the Super-Beast moth monster, is a particularly cruel being. The most vicious of the Super-Beasts seen up to this point, Doragoris has a penchant for extreme body mutilation; not to mention it gives Ace an enormous pounding in their handful of scuffles. Aside from its relentless attacks and enhanced strength, Doragoris is a fire-breather and fires rockets from its palms. The monster's roar is a modified version of Gabara's roar heard in the underrated GODZILLA'S REVENGE (1969).

Muruchi II, the offspring of the original Muruchi from RETURN OF ULTRAMAN episode 33, enters the fray out of nowhere. With Gorath in the plot and two monsters already trouncing Ace, the appearance of the third monster wrings the last drop of disbelief from the audience. You're almost waiting for a giant kitchen sink to fly across the screen. We'll save mentioning the full range of Muruchi's brief appearance for part 2 since it doesn't appear till the final moments of part 1; and the monster's exit is one of the most memorable of the series.

Kaori Seki and stage and voice actor Jun Hazumi are the guest stars in these two shows. In relation to this series, the former is the most interesting of the two. Her character as Maya is actually a really good one, and a nice arc for lending TAC member Ichiro Yamanaka (Shunichi Okita) some exposition. Sadly, it's too little and too melodramatic to mean much. Yamanaka comes off as mostly annoying in his vendetta to avenge his fiance at the expense of his duties. The bulk of the Maya character's scenes are in this episode while she's seen only in flashback imagery for the second half. Kaori was originally set to star as Yuko Minami, but an accident before filming began prevented her from participating so Mitsuko Hoshi got the role at the last minute. Kaori did shoot some photos (see insert) with Keiji Takamine (Hokuto Seiji), the male half of Ace before being replaced.

Speaking of Ace, Hokuto is a lot more serious here. He's still buffoonish at times but has the most commanding presence seen up to this point. Morichi's script gets as much mileage as he can out of the male/female pairing required to form Ace and putting it in peril via the usage of a new ability--the Ultra Barrier (different from the Neo Barrier of episode three). Ace turns himself into a tornado, spinning so rapidly he creates a rip in the air that contains the target for a 24 hour period; the downside to this ability is the amount of energy it requires. If you've seen the entirety of this series there's some foreshadowing of a dramatic change that occurs a little over halfway through.

A fantastic, action-driven episode, the level of energy is maintained in the second half even if the violence gets out of control. Ratings for the series started out strong, but dipped downward quickly, although things took an upturn for this two-parter. To find out how this one ends, stay tuned....

MONSTERS: Alien Metron II; Doragoris; Muchin II; Yapool (dimensional image)

WEAPONS: Maria I; TAC base artillery; 5-0 Laser Rifle; TAC Guns

To be continued in Episode 8: LIFE OF THE SUN, LIFE OF ACE!!!

From Beyond Television: Ultraman Ace Episode #6

Episode 6: PURSUE THE MYSTERY OF THE TRANSFORMING SUPER-BEAST! (HENSHIN CHOHJUH NO NAZO O OE!) ****

Directed by Tadashi Mabune

Completing his week-long moon mission, Akira Koyama is headed back to Earth when his ship comes under attack by a Yapoolian force. In trouble, TAC is dispatched to rescue him. Unaware that Koyama has been possessed by the Yapool, TAC brings him safely back home for a reunion with his son, Atsushi. Having suddenly grown facial hair, and refusing to remove his gloves, it isn't long before Atsushi notices something is wrong with his father. That night as Koyama slept, Atsushi pulls one of his gloves off and finds a single eye and a fang-filled mouth on his palm! Terrified, Atsushi tells his schoolmates his father is a monster but none believe him. Hokuto Seiji visits him and decides to snoop around to find out if the boy is telling the truth. Now aware Koyama is under control of the Yapool, the Super-Beast Brocken takes over and attacks the city....

Shigemitsu Haguchi's screenplay about a little boy trying to convince everybody his dad is a monster is a good one--sufficiently characterized for the brief time allotted. These types of stories dealing with aliens appropriating the bodies of human beings have been constants in the previous Ultra Hero series', and it's done well here in ACE--a series built around alien possession. Another area where U-ACE has a strong foundation is action; and this episode has plenty of it. 

The general consensus with these programs is that they're basically the same thing from one show to the next. While that is true, the sliver of substance that occasionally creeps in makes those episodes stand out. Episode 6 is another of the same-old-same-old, but manages to hit the right buttons with its minuscule (and repetitive) plot to warrant notice. Ace's sixth soiree is aided immensely by this episodes guest star....

Shoji Kobayashi, ULTRAMAN's Science Patrol Commander, was a regular face in Japanese SciFi. He's the victim of some otherworldy body-snatching--highlighted by the sudden appearance of facial hair; and made obvious by the cyclopean, alien eyeball and teeth that have taken up residence on his palm. Instead of attacking the monsters like in ULTRAMAN (1966), Kobayashi's Akira Koyama gets to become one of them--transforming into the crocodilian threat, Brocken, the byproduct of Yapoolian engineering.

Post-ULTRAMAN (1966), the actor appeared in an episode of ULTRASEVEN and a two-parter in RETURN OF ULTRAMAN. After his appearance on U-ACE, Kobayashi moved over to a regular role on Toei's wildly popular MASKED RIDER television series. Predominantly a TV actor, Kobayashi did a lot of movies, too. Among his last works were GAMERA 2: ADVENT OF LEGION (1996) and ULTRAMAN ZEARTH (1996) and ULTRAMAN ZEARTH 2: SUPERHUMAN BIG BATTLE (1997). Kobayashi died on August 27th, 1996 from lung cancer at 65 years of age.

Akihiko Iguchi designs another bizarre monster, designs that reflect the alien technology used to create them. For the first time we see the Yapool's laboratory where their hellish Super-Beasts are made. Brocken is part crocodile, part alien glop. One of the larger monsters seen thus far, it's a two-man suit. Brocken has three attack maneuvers--flame spits from his nostrils; laser bolts fire from his twin whips; and laser beams stream from the mini-brocken heads he has for hands. The ears of Godzilla fans will instantly perk up once they hear Brocken's roar... it's the same one later used for Titanosaurus in Ishiro Honda's excellent TERROR OF MECHAGODZILLA (1975).

The end battle is tightly edited. The moment Ace transforms his gator-esque opponent loses an arm (he has it back again during a brief editing mistake). Both combatants throttle each other till Ace is overcome and close to total energy depletion. An Ultra Sign appears with Zoffy, Ultraman, Seven and Jack giving instruction to essentially turn Brocken into a pair of boots. The brief pep talk was just what Ace needed. He hops up and immediately blurts out, "Ultra Guillotine!" You can probably guess what happens next.

Lots of new things are on view in this episode--TAC Arrows have built in fire extinguishers and magnetic cables to aid in bringing Koyama's spaceship to safety.... and watch for people who cast no shadow--it means they're not of this world! 

Another episode that's a lot of fun, and it closes out with Koyama and Atsushi playing that old game of shadow chasing/stomping; apparently a popular Japanese game, I remember playing it as a kid. The object is to chase another player (or players), and if you stand on their shadow they must then chase you; or they must freeze for ten seconds before playing again. You can "hide" in another shadow, but only for a short time. Therein lies the appeal of these shows to genre fans--they allow us to be kids again.... even if it's just to reminisce.

MONSTERS: Brocken; Yapool (Alien lab)

WEAPONS: TAC Arrow #1,#2; TAC Space; TAC Gun (with laser adapter)

To be continued in Episode 7 (two-parts): MONSTER VS. SUPER-BEAST VS. ALIEN METRON, JR.!!!

From Beyond Television: Ultraman Ace Episode #5

Episode 5: GIANT ANT SUPER-BEAST VS. THE ULTRA BROTHERS (OH-ARI CHOHJUH TAI URUTORA KYOHDAI) ***1/2

Directed by Tadashi Mabune

Random victims are being sucked down into the Earth with no trace left behind. TAC investigates but find no evidence the stories are true. The case is turned over to the police since the initial victims were women and all with blood type O. After a subway train is wrecked and its passengers killed, the culprit is revealed to be an enormous, carnivorous ant monster, the Aribunta. TAC's Duckbill underground burrowing tank is dispatched and, after a fierce battle with the Aribunta, is trapped 80 meters below the surface of the Earth and only a limited supply of air remaining. Ultraman Ace doesn't possess a burrowing ability, so Hokuto devises a plan to use Yuko as bait for the Aribunta. The plan works and as they are teleported into the bowels of the Earth, they change into Ace. Immediately after destroying the Aribunta, another enemy appears, Gironman. The alien being encases Ace within a spiked trap and states his plan to destroy Tokyo and build an underground kingdom. He sends another Aribunta topside to begin the destruction. Meanwhile, Ace sends out a distress signal. Zoffy answers and it becomes a 4-way wrestling match to save both TAC and Tokyo.

The first of six episodes directed by Tadashi Mabune returns to the action-centric arena of the first three episodes while tossing in some shocking moments of violence. Eco-horror was a worldwide industry epidemic in the 1970s. Toho's Godzilla series was awash in pollutants with GODZILLA VS. THE SMOG MONSTER (1971); and some of that grue found its way onto the giant monster small screen counterparts. Whereas Hedorah used its radioactive sludge to disintegrate humans, the Aribunta's primary weapon of death is just as horrifying.

A play on the African word for the devastating Army Ant, the Marabunta, the inter-dimensional Super-Beast Aribunta kills in an almost identical fashion to Hedorah, and a more exaggerated method to its Earthbound, Formicidae equivalent. Army Ants overwhelm their prey with numbers (oftentimes dismembering their food as they eat them), spraying them with a dissolving acid. Aribunta uses the same deadly spray. During one scene, the helpless humans aboard a train are massacred after Aribunta coats them in its acidic agent, dissolving their flesh, and leaving nothing but skeletons! Additionally, the monster has twin flamethrowers that spew from his wrists.

Shozo Uehara's script (second of seven in this series) is a basic SciFi Monster story but with some nice additions such as new weapons and powers for the title Ultra Brother and TAC mecha. We learn Ace cannot dive underground (he's also weak underwater); and Zoffy, the Captain of the Space Guard, makes his second appearance--this time in a fighting capacity after Ace finds himself in dire trouble. To call for help, Ace uses the Ultra Sign for the first time. Near death from the alien Gironman's spike trap, Zoffy arrives and gives Ace the Ultra Converter, a wrist bracelet that recharges an Ultra Brothers depleted energy, and keeps it charged so long as it is being worn.

The four-monster melee is more of a brawl with a lot of pounding, tossing, drop-kicking, but no acrobatics. If you're a fan of wrestling, you'll enjoy this scuffle--particularly the double team maneuver at the end of the battle. There's no gory finishing move, but with so much variety crammed into this program so early in the run you won't mind much. As with the previous episodes, the monsters are uniformly bizarre in the Ultra-tradition.

Aside from being mentioned, the Yapool are absent from this episode; yet Gironman enters our dimension (by "breaking" the sky) in the same fashion as the Yapool. Presumably Gironman has some relation to them. This underground humanoid monster intends to build a new city once his creatures, the Aribunta, have completed their urban renewal plan topside. His powers are teleportation, a spiked weapon that can electrify whatever it touches, and laser clusters emitted from his clawed appendages.

SPX director Takashi Ohira designs a nifty lair for Aribunta and Gironman. Keizo Murase (Murase Tsugizo), designer of many famous monsters of the big and small screens, fashioned the Gironman suit (using bath mats!) while Akihiko Iguchi built the insectoid suit for Aribunta. 

 

The TAC Duckbill makes its debut; an underground attack tank with a massive drill at the tip (a version of the Magmarizer of ULTRASEVEN). Coming complete with a variety of weapons, it provides this episode with one of two cliffhanger moments. It's amazing how much action can be crammed into 25 minutes.

Focusing far more on entertainment than building characters, episode 5 reverts back to that trend, bypassing the brief flirtation with exposition found in episode 4. This episode has a lot of variety in its sets and monster suit designs. In the next episode we get a look inside the Yapool's monster-maker laboratory. Just one of many episodes to feature additional Ultra Brothers, this is a fun, fast-moving program that fans of Tokusatsu will enjoy.

MONSTERS: Aribunta; Gironman; Ultraman Zoffy

WEAPONS: TAC Duckbill Tank; 5-0 Laser Rifle; TAC guns

To be continued in Episode 6: THE MYSTERY OF THE TRANSFORMING SUPER-BEAST!!!