Ultraseven Ep. 39 & 40: The Seven Assassination Plan

~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Toshihiro Iijima. Written by Keisuke Fujikawa. Airdate June 30 & July 7, 1968.

Alien races have targeted Ultraseven before, both in his giant form and as Dan Moroboshi. But Alien Guts has an elevated kill plan. As monochrome footage of Seven battling a kaiju plays (not stock footage; it’s new, with a monster called Aron), Alien Guts carefully analyzes Seven’s abilities and lays out their plot. Killing Dan isn’t sufficient. They must defeat Ultraseven in a public, humiliating way to break Earth’s resistance. It’s kin to the opening of From Russia With Love, as SPECTRE plots the ultimate defeat and debasement of another “Seven,” 007. The tone is set from the opening scene: this is going to be a major event, a two-parter that will push Seven and the Ultra Guard to their limits. It wildly succeeds.

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Ultraman Ginga S Ep. 2: Ginga vs Victory

~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Koichi Sakamoto. Written by Takao Nakano. Airdate July 22, 2013.

The second episode of Ultraman Ginga S doesn’t make viewers wait long for the title bout. Starting immediately where the last episode abruptly concluded, Ultraman Ginga and Ultraman Victory have their first clash, a battle against the sunset that echoes Akio Jissoji’s favorite compositions. Victory strikes first, reacting when Hikaru asks the basic question: “Uhm, what’s going on here?”

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Ultraman Tiga Ep. 32: The Battle of Zelda Point

~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Tsugumi Kitaura. Written by Ai Ota. Airdate April 12, 1997.

Ai Ota’s third script for Ultraman Tiga continues her style of crafting fantasy stories with childlike slants. But these are not necessarily “childish” stories. “The Battle of Zelda Point” is built on a horrible tragedy: the death of a young girl and her father’s belief that he was responsible. The episode has its bleak moments, but it also has a fairy-tale quality and a transcendent conclusion that prevent the heavy subject matter from overpowering the tone. 

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Ultraseven Ep. 38: The Courageous Battle

~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Toshihiro Iijima. Written by Mamoru Sasaki. Airdate June 23, 1968.

Ultraseven has the fewest kid-centered episodes of the classic-era Ultra programs. This is one of the exceptions (along with “The Eye That Shines in the Darkness”). Dan promises a boy who’s terrified about his upcoming heart surgery that he’ll be with him at the hospital during the procedure. But wouldn’t you know it: a giant alien robot starts attacking traffic jams to consume cars. That will sure cut into Dan’s free time. Dan has to go hit a home run for the kid or something.

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Ultraman Ginga S Ep. 1: The Power to Open the Way

~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Koichi Sakamoto. Written by Yuji Kobayashi. Airdate July 15, 2014.

It’s time for a refresh of Ultraman Ginga that takes the renewed public interest in the Ultra Series and boosts it. The new creative team — showrunners Yuji Kobayashi and Takao Nakano, series director Koichi Sakamoto — has the important job of impressing the viewers who came from the previous show with something bigger, wilder, and better-budgeted. 

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Ultraman Tiga Ep. 31: GUTS Base Under Attack

~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Tsugumi Kitaura. Written by Hideyuki Kawakami. Airdate April 5, 1997.

An alien lifeform capable of imitating humans and absorbing their abilities infiltrates the GUTS base, posing a potential threat to all life on Earth. In other words, Ultraman Tiga is doing its own riff on the science-fiction classics The Invasion of the Body Snatchers (both the ‘56 and ‘78 versions) and John Carpenter’s The Thing. The premise also makes for a convenient money-saving “bottle show” that sticks to the standing TPC headquarters sets and doesn’t require any guest stars.

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Ultraseven Ep. 37: The Stolen Ultra Eye

~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Toshitsugu Suzuki. Written by Shinichi Ichikawa. Airdate June 16, 1968.

As the prelude to another dastardly alien attack on Earth, an attractive young woman deceives the Ultra Guard and steals Dan’s transforming device. We’ve seen something like this before — more than once — but this episode features an interesting twist in how the aliens operate that shows the developing dramatic maturity of Ultraseven. 

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Ultraman: The Official Novelization of the Series

~ Ryan Harvey

By Pat Cadigan (Titan Books, 2023)

When I heard that there was an upcoming English-language novelization of Ultraman, I was excited. Even more excited when I found out that Pat Cadigan was writing it. Cadigan is a science-fiction legend, one of the key writers of the cyberpunk movement of the ‘80s, winner of numerous awards. Having her write an Ultraman book indicates that somebody at the top was taking this project seriously. Additionally, I was curious about how a novelization of this type of television show might work. How do you create a single, regular-length novel from a highly episodic show with 39 episodes?

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Ultraman Ginga Intermission: First Season Wrap-Up

~ Ryan Harvey

I’ve completed the reviews for Ultraman Ginga, but it doesn’t make sense for me to write a favorite episodes post for a show with only 12 episodes. Also, favorite isn’t a term I can use to describe any episode of this show when the best rating I handed out was “Good.” Besides, there’s more Ginga coming up: Ultraman Ginga S, a sequel show that’s basically a heavily revamped second season. Before I forge onward with Ultraman Ginga S — which comprises 16 episodes and a feature film — I’d like to take a break to gather my thoughts after reviewing Ultraman Ginga. (Spoilers for the whole show, of course.)

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Ultraman Ginga Ep. 11: The Future of Yours

~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Yuichi Abe. Written by Keiichi Hasegawa. Airdate Dec. 18, 2013.

We’ve reached the finale of the first New Generation Heroes show. It’s been a short journey: eleven episodes plus a special. We’ve spent most of that time hanging out at an abandoned elementary school, watching Ultraman Ginga and his allies fight monsters in a nearby field. It’s often been glaringly underfunded, even impoverished. The themes are uneven. The drama is frequently juvenile. But this last episode, the resolution of the Dark Spark Saga and confrontation with the Ruler of the Dark, is absolutely … pretty good. Good enough to keep the Ultra Series moving forward in this new era. That’s what Ultraman Ginga was trying to achieve in the first place, so congratulations.

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