Review: Ultraman Episode 8 - The Monster Anarchy Zone

 

Ultraman Episode #8

 The Monster Anarchy Zone or The Lawless Monster Zone

Original Air Date: September 4th, 1966

Directed by: Hajime Tsuburaya

Screenplay by: Tetsuo Kinjo and Shozo Uehara

Review by:  Toku Tom Fool

 

The first thing I'm going to note about episode 8 of Ultraman is that it has multiple titles. Tubi calls it "The Monster Anarchy Zone" and Ultraman wiki calls it "The Lawless Monster Zone" so that's fun. That happens when translating Japanese titles. I've also seen the episode listed as "The Wild Monster Zone" which is probably the title that makes the most sense to me. 

Similarly to the last episode, the SSSP is tasked with finding another team that went missing. This team of four was sent to observe Tatara Island which had been hit with volcanic activity for the last 2.5 years. It only took them a week before they all went missing so our SSSP team has to go in and save the day. The best part of this is that Fuji gets to actually be in the mission this time. I guess Jim was too busy doing Paris SSSP duties. 

We find out quickly why the observation team went missing because there are two giant monsters fighting. None of the monsters are given names in the episode so I have to rely on the internet for them. One of the monsters looks like a skinny Godzilla dressed as a bat named Chandrah and the other monster is a kinda greenish looking Godzilla with a small head named Red King. Red King isn't even red so that is an interesting name choice. 

The fight is pretty fun. Red King tends to fight dirty. I love the part where Red King just chucks a rock at Chandrah. Red King seems to control the battle, but Chandrah does draw some blood when he bites Red King. That only made Red King angry though as he rips off Chandrah's arm! Red King then proceeds to throw the arm at Chandrah and then another rock for good measure. The armless Chandrah runs away to maybe return and fight another day.

Space Patrol arrives on the island and immediately spot Red King since he's a giant monster that isn't easy to me. They jump to the conclusion that Red King might be responsible for the missing observation team. Arashi wants to fire at Red King but Captain Muramatsu tells him it would probably be a bad idea for a number of reasons. The SSSP land at the Observatory where the other team had been working, but the place has been trashed. They find no signs of the four missing people so they decide to split up and explore the island. Arashi, Ide, and Fuji are together while Captain Muramatsu goes with Hayata. I'd want to go with Hayata myself because he becomes Ultraman. 

Arashi finds a bloody shirt that belongs to one of the missing team members named Kawada. I don't know if Kawada is related to the Japanese wrestler with the same last name. They speculate on what could have got him. Ide and Arashi try to call the captain, but all their communications do not work on this island. This also goes for their compass which just spins around endlessly. Their luck gets worse as giant vines start to attack Fuji and Ide. The vines are squeezing the life out of them so Arashi has to get out his trusty Spider Shot gun that he loves so much. Luckily, the Spider Shot has a flamethrower feature and burns the vines off his comrades. 

Muramatsu and Hayata are at a more rocky part of the island. They also discover that communications are down and making matters worse they are attacked by the third monster of the episode named Magular. Magular appeared earlier during the Red King vs. Chandrah fight but he wanted no part of that because Red King is a bigger and badder monster than Magular. Hayata and Muramatsu decide to take out Magular on their own with some good old fashioned bombs. The bombs actually do their job and kill Magular but Hayata got knocked off a cliff while throwing his bomb. His obvious dummy body bounces down this rocky cliff and he is knocked out. He should actually be dead with the way that dummy bounced down the hill, but maybe Ultraman power helps him survive even in human mode. 

 

The other three team members are still searching when they spot a little red monster. This is the only monster named in the episode as Arashi calls it Pigmon. Maybe Arashi was just a fan of Digimon before it even existed. They decide to follow Pigmon because it has items that belong to one of the missing people named Matsui. I would not follow this thing because it gives me the creeps. However, it seems to be a good monster as it leads them to Matsui. Matsui explains how monsters killed the other three members and pretty much wrecked everything they tried to do. The only reason Matsui was able to survive was because Pigmon decided to take care of him. Pigmon might be a caring monster, but he still looks like nightmare fuel.

Red King appears again to stir up trouble. Arashi and Ide try their guns which give Red King some burns but ultimately doesn't work. Pigmon tries to help but hilariously gets hit with a rock thrown by Red King. I admire Red King's rock throwing abilities. It even chucks a couple more squashing poor Pigmon. Pigmon's death is marked by the little pink balloon the SSSP attached to it earlier in the episode flying up into the air. Arashi and Ide shoot the balloon as it flies close to Red King since it was an explosive balloon in case Pigmon turned on them.

All that explosion did was anger Red King. The monster starts tossing more rocks which crush Pigmon's body some more. I'm sorry but I couldn't help but laugh at that little monster being crushed by rocks. Ide fires a flare for Captain Muramatsu to see so they could have some help. Muramatsu is helping Hayata back up after his fall from earlier. Hayata tells Muramatsu to go without him so he can help quicker. In reality, Hayata wanted him gone so he could transform into Ultraman. Hayata realizes he dropped his transforming capsule during his fall and has to go back and find it. He finds it pretty quickly so I'm not sure why he had to drop it in the first place. Maybe they needed to pad the runtime. 

Hayata transforms into Ultraman and Ultraman is really angry in this episode. He flat out beats the crap out of Red King. Usually Ultraman gets worn out and his timer starts going off but not here. Ultraman literally starts choking the life out of Red King at one point. Hayata must have been really upset that he fell down that mountain. Red King tries his patented rock throw attack but Ultraman uses his Specium Beam to blow it up in Red King's face. Ultraman then swings Red King around and tosses him to the ground. Finally, he snaps Red King's neck with the snapmare wrestling technique. I've been watching wrestling for over 25 years and I have never seen the snapmare break a neck. 

The episode ends with the SSSP and Matsui having a funeral for the three dead observation team members. Sadly, they forgot to put up a fourth cross for Pigmon. All that help Pigmon gave to Matsui and he doesn't even get a mention the rest of the episode. Hayata is wearing a sling on his arm that I bet he doesn't have the next episode. Muramatsu gives a nice little speech about the island turning back into a paradise with the monsters dead and I can tell you that I would never move to that island. 

Pretty good episode. It's very action packed with multiple monsters and fights. It very well could be my favorite episode of Ultraman so far for that reason. Red King was a real highlight for me. It's a pretty good monster suit and I love watching that thing chuck rocks at all his enemies. It's too bad Ultraman straight up dominates Red King in the final battle, but Ultraman needed that performance after not killing the monster in episode 7. I will say the episode is worth it just to watch the Hayata dummy falling down that mountain. It was one of the many laugh out loud moments in the episode. I would definitely be happy rewatching this episode.

That's all for this time. Next time I review Ultraman episode 9 called "Lightning Operation" and you can follow me on Twitter @TokuTomFoolery where I will live tweet that episode. Have a nice day.