Review: Ultraman Episode 7 - The Blue Stone of Baradhi

 

Ultraman Episode #7

The Blue Stone of Baradhi

Original Air Date: August 28th, 1966

Directed by: Samaji Nonagase

Screenplay by: Ryu Minamikawa and Tetsuo Kinjo

Review by: Toku Tom Fool

My prediction about this episode was all wrong. The episode begins with a man named Jim from the Paris SSSP coming to Japan to help the Japanese SSSP figure out what happened to the Paris team that went missing in the Middle East. They were investigating a meteor falling to the Earth when they disappeared. Everyone in the Japanese SSSP gets to go to the Middle East to look for them except Fuji who has to stay and communicate with the team at HQ. I hope they didn't make her stay because she's a woman. She is best on the comms though so there's that. One observation I'd like to make is that I like Captain Muramatsu smoking pipes because it reminds me of my grandpa.

The team and Jim take a plane to the Middle East and encounter a wall of light. This wall messes up their controls and their plane eventually crashes. A poor model airplane had to be sacrificed for this. I supposed they could just wipe the dirt off of it and it would be okay. Everyone is okay after the plane crash except Ide. He got a nice head wound from the crash so they have to wrap up his head to cover the wound. He's all smiles though so everything is going to be okay.

Ide stays behind on the downed plane to do communicate and maybe try repairs while the rest of the team scouts the area. The team finds the meteorite they were looking for but then a monster appears which forces Ide out of the plane and back to the team. While searching for the monster, Hayata spots a downed plane which was presumably belonged to the Paris SSSP. Arashi goes to look at it but falls into a sand hole. Arashi and Ide have the worst luck of this show and I find it hilarious. The monster appears and it's revealed to be the cause of the wall of light that caused their plane to crash. 

 

The team retreats and finds "the mysterious city of Baradhi" which they enter. We are told that Baradhi was once a large and popular city but now it's mostly a ghost town that nobody can find on maps. Jim spots a matte painting of Mount Ararat....I mean the real Mount Ararat. Mount Ararat is supposedly the resting place of Noah's Ark. This is a real place that exists east of Turkey so I guess Baradhi is around there somewhere near the mountain.

In the city, they encounter the residents and they have no idea what language they speak. Chartam, the leader of Baradhi, comes out and greets them. She can speak Japanese because she can read minds. She explains that everyone used to be able to read minds but now only a few can which is a bummer. Chartam claims she has always lived in Baradhi and tells the team about how beautiful it used to be until the monster known as Antlar appeared. Once Antlar showed up, people could no longer get to Baradhi so the town slowly became full of just old people. I'm not quite sure how that all works but I will give it a pass. 

Captain Muramatsu asks Chartam why Antlar doesn't attack the city. She says it is because of the protection from Noah. Chartam takes them to a statue of Noah and it turns out that Noah looks just like Ultraman. Was Noah from the Bible always Ultraman? Ancient alien theorists say "yes!" The UltraNoah statue is holding a blue stone that protects the city from Antlar. The appearance of Ultraman's ancestor took place 5000 years ago according to Muramatsu and he's calls Ultraman a "God of peace."

Apparently the protection of that blue stone no longer works because Antlar starts attacking the city. Antlar wrecks what looks like the castle from Mister Rogers Neighborhood and this causes the SSSP to shoot their Super Guns at the monster. It predictably has no effect but they tried. A little old lady decided her best course of action would be to charge the monster with a stick. That also doesn't go well as she passes out, it did give Hayata the chance to get her out of the way so he could transform into Ultraman. 

Ultraman doesn't do very well in this battle. Antlar uses Tremors tactics to go underground and sneak attack Ultraman from behind. Ultraman tries his Spacium Beam but that fails. He also tries his jump on the monster technique and that also fails. His power begins to fade and Ide somehow knows Ultraman only has 30 seconds of power left. How does he know this? Are they studying film on Ultraman in case he turns on them? Chartam decides the best course of action is the blue stone. She hands it to Captain Muramatsu who chucks it at Antlar and blows it up. Good on the Captain to get the job done when Ultraman couldn't do it. There better be a statue of Muramatsu in the future.

Ultraman flies away and Hayata reappears with the unconscious old lady. Muramatsu seems excited that people will be able to visit the city again but Chartam doesn't seem too happy. She believes people won't care and the city will become a mirage, but she says she will never leave Baradhi. The SSSP leave the city and look back longingly on the city. Hayata stares a little extra because of him being Ultraman and Ultraman's history with the city. Luckily, Fuji did her job back home and sent them a new plane so they could get back to Japan. End of episode.

I'm very conflicted on this episode. I liked some of the ideas that were presented. The idea that an Ultraman in the past came to Earth is a pretty cool idea. It's a bit silly that it might have been Noah but I can live with it. Not really sure what Jim added to the episode but I do like them expanding the universe by having a Paris SSSP member showing up. I'm sad poor Fuji got sidelined but the team would have probably had to walk home if Ide stayed behind instead. Ironically, the episode where Ultraman is treated as a God is the one where he puts up his worst battle performance. He was going to lose that battle until Chartam gave Muramatsu that blue stone. The fight itself was probably the worst of the series so far but I still liked seeing Muramatsu blow up the monster. Overall, it's an okay episode.

"The Lawless Monster Zone" is the name of episode 8 of Ultraman. That's a pretty vague title, but I'll be back to review that episode next time. You can always follow Toku Tom Fool on Twitter @TokuTomFoolery where I live tweet the episodes. Remember to pray to UltraNoah and have a nice day!