Episode 9: MONSTER ISLAND S.O.S. (KAIJUUTOU SOS) ***
Directed by Ishiro Honda
Intending to spend time with Aki and her little brother Jiro on his birthday, Goh is assigned to fly to New York to pick up a new weapon created by the MAT branch there, a Monster Sonar Scanner. MAT member Minami disobeys orders and secretly takes Goh's place. Flying back from New York, Minami encounters a typhoon, causing his MAT Arrow to crash on an island where he's rescued by some scientific researchers. The team of scientists explain they've been there investigating possible monster activity and this new sonar device will prove useful. A search of the island reveals a hibernating rock creature living within a cave. Minami suddenly falls ill so Goh, feeling responsible, must get a serum to him in time before he expires from any one of three possible fates--tetanus, an unstable island, or a giant, rampaging monster.
This episode is a nice, compact, mini-adventure from famous GODZILLA director, Ishiro Honda. It's nothing overly spectacular, but it makes use of its limited format and screen time by providing a good bit of exposition with a handful of cliffhanger scenarios. One of these is the expansion of the relationship with Goh and Aki, and also her little brother, Jiro. RETURN OF ULTRAMAN was sort of the bridge between the story-focused ULTRASEVEN and the superhero theatrics of ULTRAMAN ACE, KAMEN RIDER and others. It blended the two and frequently blended them beautifully. It's one of, if not the single reason this series remains so memorable among fans of the genre.
There had been a subtle hint of a possible romance in the previous ULTRASEVEN, towards the end of the series, but it remained largely ambiguous. RETURN OF ULTRAMAN introduced a fairly blatant, burgeoning relationship between Hedeki Goh and Aki Sakata (played by the adorable Rumi Sakakibara). Kids didn't care about mushy stuff mixing with their monsters, so it's never allowed to turn into a full-on romance, but it's there, adding an emotional layer of identification this genre isn't known for.
Masaki Inoue made his screenwriting debut with this episode, only penning one other towards the end of the series with the 49th installment. Inoue was likely best known for being the primary writer on the wildly popular 70s show, the KAMEN RIDER series and its spin-offs.
Aside from the light touches of love blooming, Inoue crams more than enough action elements to keep kids and the youngsters of the grown up sort entertained for 25 minutes. You have Minami getting seriously ill on the island (this one is poorly written as Minami seems gravely sick one moment then fine the next); MAT having no available aircraft for Goh to rescue him (this affords us a look into MAT's hangar deck), so Goh jumps in there to get his hands dirty to get one of the Arrow's operational for flight; and there's the plot device of an earthquake (or some other cataclysm) that's used to bring an end to the free-for-all.
The featured monster is this rock-like creature named Dangar (played by Toya Takanobu). Designed by Ikeya Senkatsu, this beast, with his mace-like, single-clawed hands, has no beam or flame attacks. Dangar does have monster dreadlocks around its head that act as some sort of power source. Once U-Jack rips them off during the rambunctious final battle, Dangar is easily put away. To add a bit of spice to this impressively choreographed fight, earthquakes and explosions erupt around the combatants amidst volleys of judo throws, flying kicks, and Karate chops.
This was Ishiro Honda's fourth of five U-Jack episodes he directed. Honda got the series off with a big bang in the opening two-parter, a weak showing with episode seven, a stronger entry with this installment, and he returned to close out the series with episode 51.
MONSTERS: Dangar
WEAPONS: MAT Arrow #1, #2, MAT Gyro
To be continued in Episode 10: DINOSAUR EXPLOSION DIRECTIVE!!!
Episode 26: SUPER WEAPON R-1 (THE CREATED MONSTER [CHOHEIKI ARU ICHI-GO]) ***1/2
Dubbed title: THE 8,000 MEGATON MISTAKE
Directed by Suzuki Toshitsugu
"General Takenaka... I can't bring myself to hate the creature. We turned this peaceful living thing into a horrible monster with our experiment, and destroyed his beautiful home of Gieron."
Two Ultra Guard scientists, Doctors Segawa and Maeno create a new devastating weapon -- the anti-planet device they christen the R-1. Even in its infancy, the R-1 is said to have the power of 8,000 Hydrogen bombs. With plans to build an even more deadly R-2 device, it is decided a test of the weapons capabilities will be done on the supposedly uninhabited Gieron star, a minor planet in some faraway galaxy. The test proves successful, but a giant flying creature doesn't take too kindly to its home being destroyed. Making its way to Earth, the monster attacks cities and emits radioactive ash. Ultraseven engages the beast in battle.
There's a slight nod to Hiroshima and Nagasaki here in this action oriented episode. Moroboshi is deeply disturbed at the creation of the new R-1 rocket; and considering his symbiotic relationship with U7, his concerns are well founded since we're in the realm of Japanese SciFi-Fantasy, after all. Designed to protect Earth from alien threats, it could be used against the Earth if it fell into the wrong hands. It's interesting to note that he's the only member of the Garrison questioning this new weapon -- everybody else is excited about it noting how it will prevent those pesky aliens from implementing their plans for world domination.
Unfortunately, little else is discussed beyond Dan's worried expressions and concerns. This is a monster show after all, and the scriptwriters provide a balance; or as much as you can muster for a 25 minute running time. Ironically, the scientists and the Ultra Garrison are the real bad guys here -- mistakenly annihilating an inhabited world resulting in the creatures retaliation. After the big fight takes place, there's a posthumous, half-hearted attempt to draw sympathy for the strange, bird-like Gieron creature that attacks the Earth.
The Gieron resembles Gyaos from Daiei's Gamera series. It looks more like a bird, but it has a metallic shell that deflects weapons; and its wings have a reflective surface that temporarily blinds Seven. In the odd category, the alien bird appears to be stuffed with feathers!
This compelling story about nuclear armaments is disabled, and understandably so, halfway through when the focus shifts to the creatures. The tonal change doesn't alleviate the seriousness all that much, though. ULTRASEVEN was unique among the Tokusatsu genre in that the subject matter was often questionable for younger audiences--such as the banning of episode 12 in Japan after its initial airing in December of 1967. Arguably the most stunning attribute of the U7 series is its willingness to cater to adults in its storytelling while keeping the kids happy with battling monsters.
On that note, the monster battle at the end is extremely shocking in its violence. The U7 series has already showcased a few examples where the aliens meet unusually gory demises. But the one seen here is easily the most disturbing thus far. Concluding the fight, Ultraseven rips one of the monsters arms off (the feathers really fly here); and while it flails on the ground, he removes his crest (Eye Slugger) and cuts the beasts throat with it! The scene is not only complemented by a geyser of blood spewing all over Seven from the creatures neck wound, but this happens with happy music playing in the background.
According to sources, this scene raised more than a few eyebrows among viewers at that time. Director Toshitsugu helmed 15 episodes of this series; not all of them of great interest, unfortunately (such as episode seven). Some are quite good, and surprisingly somber such as the psychedelia of episode 10 and the grim episode 22.
'The Created Monster' is an apt, if ambiguous title for this one, what with the KONG level of pitiable quality afforded the alien monster. It could also apply to the scientists who created the devastating planet destroying bomb, or even the bomb itself. Like several other U7 programs, the script has a mature message stuffed in it -- the likes of which would seemingly vanish with later tokusatsu shows. The brutality of the finale is most definitely an eye-opener (and Eye-Slugger).
MONSTERS: Gieron beast
WEAPONS: Ultra Hawks #1,2,3; R-1
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Intending to spend time with Aki and her little brother Jiro on his birthday, Goh is assigned to fly to New York to pick up a new weapon created by the MAT branch there, a Monster Sonar Scanner. MAT member Minami disobeys orders and secretly takes Goh's place. Flying back from New York, Minami encounters a typhoon, causing his MAT Arrow to crash on an island where he's rescued by some scientific researchers. The team of scientists explain they've been there investigating possible monster activity and this new sonar device will prove useful. A search of the island reveals a hibernating rock creature living within a cave. Minami suddenly falls ill so Goh, feeling responsible, must get a serum to him in time before he expires from any one of three possible fates--tetanus, an unstable island, or a giant, rampaging monster.
This episode is a nice, compact, mini-adventure from famous GODZILLA director, Ishiro Honda. It's nothing overly spectacular, but it makes use of its limited format and screen time by providing a good bit of exposition with a handful of cliffhanger scenarios. One of these is the expansion of the relationship with Goh and Aki, and also her little brother, Jiro. RETURN OF ULTRAMAN was sort of the bridge between the story-focused ULTRASEVEN and the superhero theatrics of ULTRAMAN ACE, KAMEN RIDER and others. It blended the two and frequently blended them beautifully. It's one of, if not the single reason this series remains so memorable among fans of the genre.
There had been a subtle hint of a possible romance in the previous ULTRASEVEN, towards the end of the series, but it remained largely ambiguous. RETURN OF ULTRAMAN introduced a fairly blatant, burgeoning relationship between Hedeki Goh and Aki Sakata (played by the adorable Rumi Sakakibara). Kids didn't care about mushy stuff mixing with their monsters, so it's never allowed to turn into a full-on romance, but it's there, adding an emotional layer of identification this genre isn't known for.
Aside from the light touches of love blooming, Inoue crams more than enough action elements to keep kids and the youngsters of the grown up sort entertained for 25 minutes. You have Minami getting seriously ill on the island (this one is poorly written as Minami seems gravely sick one moment then fine the next); MAT having no available aircraft for Goh to rescue him (this affords us a look into MAT's hangar deck), so Goh jumps in there to get his hands dirty to get one of the Arrow's operational for flight; and there's the plot device of an earthquake (or some other cataclysm) that's used to bring an end to the free-for-all.
The featured monster is this rock-like creature named Dangar (played by Toya Takanobu). Designed by Ikeya Senkatsu, this beast, with his mace-like, single-clawed hands, has no beam or flame attacks. Dangar does have monster dreadlocks around its head that act as some sort of power source. Once U-Jack rips them off during the rambunctious final battle, Dangar is easily put away. To add a bit of spice to this impressively choreographed fight, earthquakes and explosions erupt around the combatants amidst volleys of judo throws, flying kicks, and Karate chops.
