Review: Ultraman Episode 1 - Ultra Operation No. 1

 

Ultraman Episode #1

Ultra Operation No. 1

Original Air Date: July 17th, 1966

Directed by: Hajime Tsuburaya

Screenplay by: Shinichi  Sekizawa and Tetsuo Kinjo

Review by: Toku Tom Fool

 

The show begins with the theme song like any good Toku show should. I'm hoping it grows on me because after a couple of listens I find the song to be just okay. After the song, we get special effects! I love some good model work and this episode has some pretty good model work. Admittedly, they look pretty fake sometimes but that's part of the charm. Star Trek around the same time got away with it better because their model shots were all in space as opposed to the land shots here. 

So a red orb seems to be chasing a blue orb. I remember thinking they were planets at first before I caught up to what was happening. We meet a pilot named Shin Hayata (Susume Kurobe). Hayata is a member of the Science Special Search Party (SSSP) which is a group that investigates UFOS and other strange space anomalies that I'm guessing usually ends up being giant monsters.  My favorite part of this group is that they wear these creamsicle uniforms like they are the 1970s Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 

Hayata crashes into the red orb which I think kills him until an alien from the planet Nebula M78 gives Hayata his life. This lets Hayata have the ability to transform into the alien that he would name Ultraman at the end of the episode. I wonder if we ever find out Ultraman's real name. Ultraman explains that he was hunting a demon like creature named Bemular and was going to take him to the Space Graveyard. I'm really hoping to see that Space Graveyard at some point. 

The creamsicle crew (SSSP) led by Captain Toshio Muramatsu (Akiji Kobayashi) search the wreckage for Hayata but can't seem to find him. The lady named Akiko Fuji (Hiroko Sakurai) back at the SSSP headquarters seems to be really worried about Hayata. I'm not sure if they have a relation there. Maybe I missed something that would have told me. Hayata eventually contacts her to bring him a submarine which he uses to attack Bemular who had been chilling underwater. This draws out Bemular so the SSSP can use their laser guns on land. Where did the SSSP get this amazing technology from because I have no idea. Now Ultraman was actually preceded by another show called Ultra Q which sometimes had to deal with giant monsters. This show is in the same continuity so I can assume their tech evolved with all these monsters appearing. I only watched the first seven episodes of Ultra Q so I don't have all the answers.

Bemular looks really silly  but he shoots blue beams out of his mouth so that's cool with me. Hayata decides to transform into Ultraman (who also looks a little silly) and that leads us to a giant monster battle. It's a pretty good fight too because Ultraman is throwing Bemular all over the place. My favorite part is when he breaks out the big swing spot that would make WWE wrestler Cesaro proud. Ultraman also picks up Bemular and presses him over his head before tossing him into the water. 

Bemular tries to escape in his blue orb, but Ultraman uses his hand laser beam to blow him up. Our hero doesn't mess around here. He takes care of business. The SSSP celebrates and are joined by Hayata who hides that he's Ultraman for some reason. I'm not sure what his reasoning is to hide that information at the moment. I get why Spider-Man had to keep his identity secret in the Japanese Spider-Man show because Professor Monster would have had his family killed, but I don't see why he couldn't tell anyone in the SSSP. Maybe I'll find out why in a later episode or maybe that's just what superheroes did back in the day. 

Overall, I found the first episode to be pretty solid. As a Tokusatsu fan, I knew what I would be getting in the first episode. These shows tend to follow a similar format and this show was one of the originators of that formula. I'm really looking forward to seeing how the rest of the series plays out and how it led to this big Ultraman universe that I can't wait to know.


Check in with me next time as I will be reviewing episode 2 of Ultraman titled "Shoot the Invaders!" 

Follow me on Twitter @TokuTomFoolery where I live tweet all the episodes I watch



 

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Ultraman Episode 25 - The Mysterious Comet Tsuifon

Image
  Ultraman Episode 25 The Mysterious Comet Tsuifon Original Air Date: January 1st, 1967 Directed by: Toshihiro Iijima Screenplay by: Bunzo Wakatsuki Review by: Toku Tom Fool I'm going to come out from the top and say that I love this episode. There's no complex storytelling but instead we get about ten minutes of giant monsters fighting which is all you need sometimes. The plot of the episode begins with a comet called Tsuifon heading to Earth. Professor Iwamoto says it has an 83% chance of hitting the Earth and if it does it will probably wipe everyone out. Well, that is until they recalculate and realize it's going to miss. The technology wasn't as good back then at calculating these comets or asteroids. The comet will fly right by Earth really close so the SSSP has to be on the lookout for anything weird happening.  It's a nervous situation at the SSSP HQ. It's so bad that Fuji accidentally puts salt in the coffee which leads to humorous reactions of everyon...
Read more

Review: Ultraman Episode 4 - Five Seconds Before Explosion

Image
  Ultraman Episode #4 Five Seconds Before Explosion Original Air Date: August 7th, 1966 Directed by: Samaji Nonagase Screenplay by: Ryu Minamikawa Review by: Toku Tom Fool Episode 4 of Ultraman starts with the news that six atom bombs were being sent to Jupiter to help develop it. I'm not quite sure how that works. Were they trying to terraform Jupiter? I don't think an atom bomb would do that. The whole plan seemed destined to fail and it did before the atom bombs even got to Jupiter. The missile carrying the bombs malfunctions and the six bombs fall back to Earth. One of them detonated in the water while four of the other five were recovered before catastrophe struck.  The SSSP are doing their best to locate the final bomb except for some reason Fuji is sent on vacation. There is a nuke on the loose and we are giving people vacations? Fuji seems excited for her vacation though since she hasn't taken one since she started working at the SSSP. Hoshino is going with her thou...
Read more

Review: Ultraman Episode 3 - Science Patrol, Move Out

Image
      Ultraman Episode #3    Science Patrol, Move Out   Original Air Date: July 31st, 1966   Directed by: Toshihiro Iijima   Screenplay by: Masahiro Yamada   Review by: Toku Tom Fool   Well, this episode starts with....a well. Our resident female character, Akiko Fuji, is investigating strange noises at this well with our resident child character, Hoshino. I haven't really mentioned Hoshino up to this point but he was in the first two episodes. He hangs around with our other SSSP characters, yet I'm not quite sure if he works there or if he's a sibling of someone. I could google these things but I like to let the show do the explaining for me. Hoshino finds the source of the noises when he spots a giant eye staring back at him.      Hoshino names the monster Neronga based on an old legend of a monster living in the well. Neronga is a transparent monster that can only become visible by taking electrical power from nearby po...
Read more