Review: Ultraman Episode 6 - The Coast Guard Command

 Ultraman Episode #6

The Coast Guard Command

Original Air Date: August 21st, 1966

Directed by: Samaji Nonagase

Screenplay by: Masahiro Yamada

Review by: Toku Tom Fool

The monster of the week loves chocolate. That's the plot driver for this episode and I love it. The episode begins with our SSSP members discussing how something is biting sharks and destroying ships in Tokyo Bay. I really was hoping for a scene of the monster biting a shark but I can't always get what I want. I did get the return of the blue blazers on the SSSP so I will settle for that. 

Fuji is worried about Hoshino playing with his friends near Tokyo Bay due to the monster being seen around there. One of the kids even spots the monster on his binoculars, but Hoshino somehow misses the big monster and spots a couple of human monsters instead. These humans are diamond smugglers and one of them even has a fancy name called Diamond Kick. Hoshino calls the SSSP to deal with them but Arashi tells them to dial 110 because they have monster matters to deal with instead of smugglers. I'm an ignorant American so I never considered other countries would use different numbers than 911 for emergencies. 

Hoshino decides to investigate the real monster with his friends. His dream is to join the SSSP so this will help him along the way. He already seemed like a member to me and I still have no idea what his relation is to the group. Hoshino and his two friends, a boy and a girl, run into a crazy old guy that works on the docks. The man tells the children about Guesra who is a creature that usually resides in South America because of the cacao beans there. One of the Guesras ended up in Japan probably from hatching on a Brazilian ship headed for Tokyo. The SSSP later concludes it grew huge thanks to Tokyo Bay pollution. 

The kids see Guesra attack a boat which they think is pretty cool. They are mad when adults keep them away from the monster so they take matters into their own hands and head to the warehouse that stores the cacao beans. Unfortunately, Diamond Kick is already there cutting open cacao bean bags looking for diamonds. The smugglers kidnap the kids and take them to their hideout since the kids know who they are. A good smuggler would have put a bullet in each of their heads but this is not that kind of show. 

Meanwhile, the SSSP is dealing with Guesra. Captain Muramatsu and Ide are talking to that crazy old guy from earlier learning about the monster's love of chocolate while Hayata and Arashi are flying above the water looking for Guesra. Arashi spots the monster and wants to shoot it with his Super Gun but the Captain is told that shooting it will make it angry and it will start attacking buildings. They find out the only way to beat the Guesra is to pull off Guesra's antenna. 

Guesra is heading for the cacao bean warehouse where the smugglers are keeping the children. Hoshino picks the door lock and escapes but the smugglers on right on their trail. The monster starts attacking near the warehouse as this happens. I like that the smugglers try shooting the monster with their normal guns. It predictably has no effect. 

The SSSP shows up at the warehouse and saves the children. Hayata decides to go back in and get the smugglers but Guesra is already there and it starts smashing the building. Hayata gets buried under debris and the SSSP assumes he is dead. Thankfully, Hayata can transform into Ultraman so he's able to save himself. My favorite part of this scene is watching Guesra destroy these buildings. It looks like the suit actor is having the time of his life destroying these models.

The SSSP and the children are trying to escape from Guesra in a police car but they are too close to the action. Captain Muramatsu does his best driving skills but it takes Ultraman to save them from being crushed. This leads to two of my favorite shots of the episode.The first shot is Ultraman picking up what is obviously a toy police car. I love when these shows do that, but they try to add to the realism by using a shot of the actual people in the car with Ultraman projected in the background. It's very creative and I give huge props to the director for that one.

Now it's take for Ultraman to fight Guesra. Ultraman gets the early advantage by throwing Guesra to the ground and then hitting him with a big boot to the face. It's not enough because the only way to beat Guesra is to remove the antenna on his head. To make matters worse, Ultraman is starting to weak again from the Earth's atmosphere. Somehow Hoshino and the SSSP know about this Ultraman weakness. Who told them this information? They must have deduced it from the previous fights but it seems like a bit of a leap to me. 

Ultraman tackles Guesra into the water. He then uses his patented jump on the monster technique which seems to work. This allows Ultraman the opportunity to pull off the antenna and kill our poor chocolate loving friend. Ultraman then flies away. The Science Patrol is about to mourn Hayata but he shows up with both of the smugglers in hand. Hayata jokes about how he always misses Ultraman which I admit is kinda funny. I have no idea how he was able to fly away as Ultraman and then go catch the smugglers so quickly as Hayata. I shouldn't use too much logic for these types of shows. Sit back and enjoy the absurdness. Everyone goes back to the SSSP HQ and Fuji gives the kids chocolate which is a nice cap to the episode. It even leads to a big old smile from Hayata which his character needed to smile more. 

"The Coast Guard Command" is a pretty fun episode of Ultraman. What it lacks in character development, it makes up for with silly plot and action. You give me a chocolate loving lizard monster and I'll give you high praise. I was sad that Ide and Arashi didn't have their usual moments. The kids were more of the focal point in this one which is fine since Hoshino was absent from the previous episode. Ultraman's fight with Guesra was entertaining enough. It wasn't one of his best but watching him jump on that monster in the water made me laugh so I liked it. 

My coverage of Ultraman continues with episode 7 called "The Blue Stone of Baradhi" and I think that's a pretty cool title. Hopefully the episode lives up to it. I'm predicting the monster gets this "Blue Stone" at some point and maybe that helps it grow. I look forward to seeing it. 

Until next time, I'm the Toku Tom Fool and you can follow me on Twitter @TokuTomFoolery where I live tweet the episodes.