From Beyond Television: Ultraman Ace Episode #2

Episode Two: DAI-CHOHJUH O KOETE YUKE! (SURPASS THE CHOJU!) ***

Directed by Kazuo Mitsuda and Masanori Kakei

An enormous silver colored egg is found at a construction site. With curiosity getting the best of him, a worker is absorbed into the huge egg shortly before it submerges below ground. TAC investigates, but finds no traces of the construction worker, or the egg. Later, a golden egg-shaped flying object is detected. Hokuto intercepts it, seemingly destroying the UFO. Later on during a party for Hokuto and Minami, the golden egg reappears in the city nestling atop a building. Shortly thereafter, the silver egg reemerges and combines to form a super egg with the golden one. TAC discovers that a similar occurrence is described in an ancient Egyptian text about a giant creature named Chameleking hatched from a golden and silver egg that attacked Atlantis. It is surmised the Yapool aliens are attempting to recreate this ancient scenario on Earth.

ACE episode two is a fantastic action episode accompanied by a good small screen script from Shozo Uehara. As streamlined as it is, the plot is akin to the sort of Atlantean folklore that dominated Shusuke Kaneko's GAMERA trilogy from the 1990s. Undersea and ancient civilizations also made their way into some of Toho's finer (and not so fine) monster pictures during the Showa and Heisei Eras. The script also does something unusual for the Ultraverse at this point. In previous series', the identity of the M78 alien and his human host was a well-kept secret, despite it being suspicious that the hero always seemed to disappear when Ultra-whoever showed up. It got predictable fast and made the various Earth protection agencies seem dense, but became part of the charm of the series just the same. ACE pushes this to its limits since it takes two people to transform into the alien; and this conversion occurs out in the open. At the end of this episode, Captain Goro (whose TAC Arrow was about to crash till Ace saved him) swears he saw Hokuto turn into Ultraman and asks if he is in fact the alien savior. Oddly, Minami's name is never mentioned. Still, it's refreshing to see this, and especially so early in the series.

Takamine Keiji (Seiji Hokuto) is very different from the actors who essayed the Ultra hero roles before him. Susumu Kurobe (ULTRAMAN) and Koji Moritsugu (ULTRASEVEN) were both playing their characters as strong, mature men devoted to their jobs. Jiro Dan (THE RETURN OF ULTRAMAN) took the role in more rebellious territory. Takamine's approach is more child-like, maybe even naive. He's a bread delivery man of all things. Much like Hideki Goh (Jiro Dan) before him, Hokuto evolves as the story progresses. As for Ace's other half, Hoshi Mitsuko does fine with what she's given to do. She's likable, and comes off more focused than her male counterpart.

Scriptwriter Uehara was the main writer on THE RETURN OF ULTRAMAN, penning 20 of them. For ACE, Uehara only put his name to seven scripts. He began his career at Tsuburaya on the show that started it all, ULTRA Q (1965-1966).

The model work in this episode is good, and the way the miniatures are photographed doesn't flaunt the obviousness of the models. A standout is an airplane model that's obliterated upon contact with the alien egg and an impressive composite shot of actor, suit actor, and model work onscreen together (see above pic). Lots of explosions and a nice cityscape complement the ensuing action. One thing ACE does differently is that so much of the action takes place on miniature city sets as opposed to the mountainous terrain that often dominated past shows. It's another way ACE keeps its standard monster plots interesting by catering to the little kid in us who enjoy these things by giving the combatants no shortage of buildings to trample.

The battle between U-Ace and Chameleking is well choreographed and edited. Ace's penchant for somersaults continues although acrobatics and martial arts would get more mileage out of ULTRAMAN LEO (1974-1975) a few years later. Ace looks powerful in his sophomore outing having the upper hand much of the time. Ace also has a preference for brutalizing his foes before blowing them to smithereens, or even burning them to death! This is the first of many Super-Beasts who die spectacularly. In this case, Ace rips Chameleking's wings off before sending chunks of the Atlantean home-wrecker from one end of Japan to the other.

Chameleking is another Akihiko Iguchi design (Toru Kawai inside the suit), and a more lithe, muscular appearance then the bulkier style often seen for the monsters. This Super-Beast has wings, although we never see him fly. It does use them to momentarily blind Ace with wind gusts. The only other weapon afforded Chameleking is a poison gas it emits from its mouth. Unlike Verokron in episode one, Chameleking isn't afforded as much time for city renovation. 

New weapons are introduced, some of which come from TAC's armaments specialist, Yoichi Kaji. His latest is the 5-0 Laser Rifle, 50 times more powerful than the average laser, and possessing the power to burn through enormous objects such as the mysterious golden egg. Hokuto uses a mortar weapon during a ground offensive, and the enormous airship, the TAC Falcon makes its debut.

The threat by the Yapool is unique among Ultra shows in that it's a recurring threat as opposed to a different tale attached to a monster each time. Their devilish presence is minimal here, but increases greatly in other episodes yielding some grim surprises. 'Surpass the Choju!' is as entertaining and well directed as formula monster programming can get.

 

MONSTERS: Chameleking; Yapool alien (dimensional image)

WEAPONS: TAC Falcon; TAC Arrow; 5-0 Laser Rifle; TAC Mortar; TAC Panther; TAC Gun

To be continued in Episode Three: BURN! CHOJU HELL!!!

From Beyond Television: Ultraman Ace Episode #1

 

Episode One: KAGAYAKE! URUTORA GO-KYOHDAI (SHINE! THE FIVE ULTRA BROTHERS) ***

Directed by Kazuo Mitsuda and Masanori Kakei

Aliens from another dimension called the Yapool are hellbent on invading the Earth. They bring with them genetically altered, cyborgian creations called Choju, or Super Beasts; more powerful lifeforms unlike any other seen before. The first such creature leading the attack is Verokron. Sent to destroy Fukuyama, the military is powerless to stop the monster's advance. Seiji Hokuto, a bakery delivery man, and a nurse named Yuko Minami are killed in the destruction while trying to help fleeing citizens. Ultraman Ace, accompanied by four other Ultra Brothers, appears and revives the two bestowing upon them Ultra Rings that, when shining, allows them to transform into Ultraman Ace. Hokuto and Minami become members of TAC (Terrible Monster Attack Crew), a Self Defense Force funded, global combat organization tasked with battling the Yapoolian threat and their army of inter-dimensional monstrosities. 

The fifth Ultra series, and fourth to feature a giant-sized superhero is in full-on comic book mode, totally jettisoning any remnants of seriousness that translated from ULTRASEVEN to RETURN OF ULTRAMAN (ULTRAMAN JACK). Gone are any adult fashioned stories, or much in the way of artistic photographic shots that highlighted the previous Ultra superhero shows. It's SPX first, and story second; and if there's one thing in great supply in ULTRA-ACE, it's special effects; some of which are the work of future Godzilla SPX director Koichi Kawakita--making his debut as an asst. special effects director on this series. Regardless of near non-stop action, not every episode is mecha and monster battles. Some do contain an intriguing idea here and there. Overall, ULTRAMAN ACE is purely kiddie entertainment, but not so much that us big kids can't enjoy it. Shortly into this series viewers will notice the violence is even stronger than before (ULTRASEVEN contained some of the most shocking scenes of rubber suit brutality ever seen); rife with all manner of monster decapitations and multiple dismemberments amidst crumbling miniature buildings, flashy explosions, and flurries of elaborate optical effects.

As usual with these types of shows, the first episode is basically an introduction to the team members (done in a documentary fashion with the various team members looking into the camera as the narrator introduces them) and the array of ships and firepower. ULTRAMAN ACE is definitely a member of this formulaic club; disposing of niceties quickly, and diving head-first into the action. There are some deviations from said formula, but otherwise it's business as usual. Arguably the most radical innovation is the method of Ace's transformation.

For the first time in the Ultra Legacy, it takes two to tangle--a man and woman combine to form Ultraman Ace. In their human forms, both Hokuto and Minami were killed trying to rescue children during Velokron's initial assault, so Ace takes pity on them, reviving them both. Each were given an Ultra Ring that allowed them to take the form of Ace. Aside from presenting some plot-related issues with having two individuals needed to form an Ultra hero, this angle is abandoned in episode 28 by way of a surprising, if convenient plot device.

Ace himself/herself has that recognizable M78 fashion sense going on, but with some differences; theses alterations are most noticeable in the hero's helmet crest. The bladed section faces forward as opposed to aligning towards the back of the head of previous Ultra's. Ace is something of a 'Big Brother' in the Ultra family. He's stronger than the others, ie he can last longer in Earth's atmosphere. His weapons are many, and even more outlandish. In this series opener, Ace uses two weapons--a laser fired from his beam lamp (a gem in his forehead similar to U-7's), and the famous cross-armed attack, this time referred to as the Metallium Ray.

TAC is, like its anti-monster forces before it, made up of a variety of vehicles and aircraft, as well as a home base built to resemble the mountainous terrain around the Fuji Five Lakes area; concealing the inner workings where all of TAC's Japan branch weaponry are kept. The designs are a bit different from the previous ULTRA shows, morphing further with subsequent programs. The ships this time have a bird-like appearance to them. With the tougher beasts found in the ACE storyline, the ground force armaments are altered. In addition to even more powerful bullets (that come with the same sound effects of all your finer Italian westerns), an attachment turns these sidearms into laser pistols. One thing you can be sure of is that Japanese SciFi can deliver the most imaginative weaponry you're likely to see.

As the introductory Super Beast, Verokron is quite a sight. He looks like a coral reef with teeth. Armed with an array of crazy weapons, Verokron's arsenal includes an assortment of missiles fired from its coral attachments, its mouth, and back of the hands. He breathes fire, and has a smokescreen type mechanism that can trick attackers. If all that weren't enough, Verokron even has beam attacks (including laser shuriken). It's a strange mix on top of being a peculiar looking monster. The creatures of ACE get more elaborate as the series progresses, maintaining an organic-insect-reptilian-mechanical pattern.

TAC's base of operations

Akihiko Iguchi worked in the art dept. on many Japanese SciFi shows and films, in addition to coming up with assorted mecha and monsters for Tsuburaya series like MIGHTY JACK (1968) and RETURN OF ULTRAMAN. He designed Verokron (as well as many other monsters in this series), and some of TAC's aircraft. Probably of even greater interest to Japanese giant monster fans, Iguchi designed the original Mechagodzilla seen in GODZILLA VS. MECHAGODZILLA (1974), in addition to King Seesar and Titanosaurus in the sequel, TERROR OF MECHAGODZILLA (1975).

Toru Kawai is the primary monster suit actor in ULTRAMAN ACE. Mostly playing monsters on television, he will likely be best remembered for essaying one of the most memorable Godzilla performances in TERROR OF MECHAGODZILLA (1975). Kawai was able to instill a lot of personality into Godzilla for that movie by turning him into what was ostensibly a barroom brawler. He had some previous experience as the radioactive lizard playing Godzilla in Toho's ULTRAish ZONE FIGHTER (1972) TV series. Kawai went on to play the title dino in the Rankin-Bass/Tsuburaya co-pro THE LAST DINOSAUR (1977). The monster Verokron returns in episode 48, but Kawai doesn't reprise suit acting duties for it. His career lasted roughly a decade, and was seemingly retired from show business by the dawn of the 1980s. Diabetes took Kawai from this world in 1996.

Oddly enough, no established suit actor played the role of Ace. A stuntman played him the first two shows, then Shoji Takeuchi put on the suit for the remainder of the 52 episode run.

On an ULTRA side note, Eiichi Kikuchi briefly reprises his role as U-Jack in episode 1. Fans of all things ULTRA will also notice that the Ultra Brothers make regular appearances beginning with this series as opposed to guest star turns of past Ultra shows. ULTRAMAN TARO would take this a step further when that series debuted in April of 1973.

Sources attribute the religious iconography to scriptwriter Shinichi Ichikawa's Christian influence. Ultraman himself has always had God-like connotations. The use of crucifixions, a form of execution with multi-cultural  relevance, is found in previous series' U-7 and U-JACK. For ACE, episode 13 contains a mass crucifixion of four Ultra Brothers. In episode one, Verokron is seen destroying a church. The main Yapoolian villain is likened to Satan with his penchant for soul taking and possession. Ichikawa wrote for a variety of television shows, and did seven of them for ACE.

Directorial reigns on episode one were split between two men--Kazuo Mitsuda and Masanori Kakei. The former was one of Tsuburaya Productions reliable employees, directing numerous episodes in a variety of series', and performing in other capacities behind the scenes. The latter was an ULTRA regular in the director's chair. He helmed 13 episodes of RETURN OF ULTRAMAN (1971-1972), 15 episodes of ULTRAMAN TARO (1972-1973), and just 4 shows for ULTRAMAN TARO (1974-1975).

ULTRAMAN ACE started off strongly in the ratings, but would quickly dip into average numbers; this drop attributed to the wild popularity of Toei's KAMEN RIDER, another Tokusatsu show that took the genre into even wackier territories. Still, Tsuburaya delivers a quality program that will appeal to fans of this sort of thing. ACE is definitely enjoyable, and this first literal action-packed debut is indicative of where the genre was heading at this time.

MONSTERS: Verokron; Yapool Alien (dimensional image only)

WEAPONS: TAC Arrow; TAC Space; TAC Panther; TAC gun

To be continued in episode two: SURPASS THE CHOJU!!!