Ultraman (Back to the Beginning)

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- Jeff of Earth-J > The Baron March 11, 2026 at 12:17pm
  
  The Prof notes that Japanese and American planes have disappeared before.
  
  A common trope in shows like this (one I like).
  
  Taro gets the cop's gun away from him...
  
  ...and fires it blindly into the cockpit! It's never a good idea to discharge a weapon aboard a pressurized aircraft in flight (just ask Auric Goldfinger), but the gun is apparently loaded with blanks as it did no damage. He's lucky he didn't hit one of the flight deck crew, or the instrument panel, or taken out the plane's windshield.
  
  After a long fight scene...
  
  It's just as well this show doesn't often feature fistfights. The blows sounded like ping pong paddle on naugahyde.
  
  All this noise attracts the unwelcome attention of a walrus monster...
  
  ...which they call a "seal monster" for some reason (obviously another guy in a suit crawling around on his hands and knees).
  
  One of the flight attendants seems to appreicate the sight of Jun walking away.
  
  She was eyeing him earlier in the episode, too.
  
  "We're in danger, and a humongous walrus is attacking us!"
  
  We must be watching different translations. There is is also an American aboard the plane who fixes the transmitter speaks English throughout. when Jun speaks to the tower, he uses English as well.
  
  The episode ends with them flying past Mount Fuji, but I'll assume that they didn't crash horribly.
  
  Yeah, weren't they completely out of fuel at one point?
- The Baron > Jeff of Earth-J March 11, 2026 at 3:18pm
  
  when Jun speaks to the tower, he uses English as well
  
  Well, you would know better than I would, but I was under the impression that control towers spoke English for international flights because English was a more widely-spoken language, even if other languages have more speakers numerically.
- Jeff of Earth-J > The Baron March 11, 2026 at 5:02pm
  
  That sounds right.
The Baron March 11, 2026 at 11:41pm
Episode 28: "Open Up!"
1. Jun and Yuriko come running out of some place at night. Yuriko encourages Jun to ditch Ippei, which they do. Ippei comes out, yelling, "Idiot! Moron! Murderer! A$$hole!" He then sees a train flying through the sky, I assume that he found his way home somehow, and spent the rest of the evening getting lickered up and thinking of ways to murder the pair of them. I hate this kind of crap. In all seriousness, if you wanted to end your friendship with me, pulling something like this on me would be an excellent start.
2. Yuriko says that she wanted to be alone with Jun, although the way that she goes from "I wanted to be alone with you" to "Let's leave this world together" would worry me.
3. Jun and Yuriko come across a drunk guy (Sawamura) lying in the road. They pick him up to drive him to help. (As a side note, Yuriko is coming across as shallow and selfish here.) He freaks out when they come to a train crossing and they see a train crossing.
4. We get a flashback to Sawamura in an empty train car, screaming to be let off the train. A conductor asks for his ticket, but when he can't produce one, he is taken to a guy named Tomono, who is a sci-fi writer who has written about escaping to a troublefree world. Tomono explains to Sawamura and some other people that the train is taking them to another dimension. Sawamura see kaleidoscopic images of his life and family.
5. Next we see that Jun and Yuriko have brought Sawamura to Professor Mustache's lab, instead of, say, the cops or a hospital. An aide hypnotizes Sawamura. the Professor has a woman who has told a similar story locked in a room. (What kind of scientist is he that he has someone locked in a room?)
6. Yuriko suggests checking out Tomono, so she and Jun drive to his house. A housekeeper gives them a manuscript that Tomono left. (She's very quick to trust that they're from the press.) She also says that Tomono hasn't been home for a year-and-a-half, although he does sometimes call.
7. Jun calls the Prof to tell him what they've found, and the Prof tells them the the cops have asked him to come in to talk about this situation, and asks them to come to the stationhouse as well.
8. Sawamura's wifle and daughter come to pick him up in a cab, and his wife scolds him mercilessly. His daughter is more fair, she's fed up with them both. You can see that the Magic Train to Happyland is starting to look better and better to this guy. (To be fair, there've been times in my life where I might've hopped on that train, myself. Sawamura stops the cab and gets out, saying that he's going to work.
9. Meanwhile, Jun, Yuriko, the Prof and some others are gathered at the police station of a train car floating away, and tell a story of another cop seeing a train car vanish.The cops ask them to sit on the story.
10. Sawamura's boss scolds him for shwoing up at quitting time, then gives him a drink and tells him to go home. Sawamura thinks it over, then gives the drink back to the boss, and say "Thank you for everything", which I believe is Japanese for "Screw you, I quit!".
11. Jun and Yuriko are driving along when Jun's car break down. Yuriko sees Tomono's pcituree in the back seat, and it seems to speak to her. Yuriko suggests going to Jun's office, so they take off, apparently just leaving Jun's car there.
12. When they get to the airport, Ippei is there working onnthe plane, but doesn't speak to them. If I were you, Jun my lad, I'd go over that plane real close before I wnet up in it again. they look at the manuscript, and we get a flashback of Tomono riding an elevatror to Happyland. We end with Sawamura seeing the train and begging to be allowed back aboard.
Overall: Another pretty good episode. The idea of wanting to escape one's troubles is a pretty widespread one. I gather form the Ultra Wiki that this episode was nol originally intended to be the series finale, and I can see that. I imagine what happened next is Ippei saying, "I'm knocking off for the day, boss. Why don't you and Yuri-chan take a nice little joyride in the plane?"

The Series Overall: I enjoyed this show a lot. It managed to avoid being too formulaic, unlike some of the other Ultra shows that I've seen.

Next: "Ultraman, hero of song and story! Ultraman, winner of kaiju glory!"
- Jeff of Earth-J > The Baron March 12, 2026 at 1:08pm
  
  Jun and Yuriko come running out of some place at night.
  
  I think it was a grocery store.
  
  Yuriko encourages Jun to ditch Ippei, which they do.
  
  This development came out of left field. there was never any hint of romance between the two prior to this.
  
  Ippei comes out, yelling, "Idiot! Moron! Murderer! A$$hole!"
  
  Again, I think we're atching different translations.
  
  He then sees a train flying through the sky
  
  Another unique premise.
  
  ...then gives him a drink and tells him to go home.
  
  It looked like alcohol but was actually a vitamin drink.
  
  ...so they take off, apparently just leaving Jun's car there.
  
  He said the timing belt broke. That happened to me once. If that's the case, his engine is likely totaled.
  
  I enjoyed this show a lot.
  
  I'm glad you did. (I was hoping you would.) I have half a mind to move on to Neo Ultra Q, but I'll follow you on to Ultraman.
The Baron March 13, 2026 at 2:11am
Ultraman Episode 01: "Ultra Operation No. 1"
1. Our Cast of Characters:
  
  Shin Hayata - Ace pilot of the Science Special Search Party. He is secretly Ultraman.
  
  Toshio Muramatsu -Boss of the SSSP. Commonly known as "Cap". The English version shortens his name to "Mura" for some reason.
  
  Akiko Fuji - Comms Officer. Yuriko Edogawa's long-lost twin sister.
  
  Daisuke Arashi - Weapons guy
  
  Mitsuhiro Ide - Scientist/Inventor guy
  
  Isamu Hoshino - Some kid who hangs around the SSSP office. The English version calls him Fuji's brother, and I can see why they did that, because, to the best of my recollection, the Japanese version gives no explanation of who he is or why he's there. Is he someone's nephew? Cousin? An orphan that the SSSP purchased from the state? Beats me.
2. It's interesting how they nshow the Ultra Q logo before going into the thems song.
3. "Featuring Space Monster Bemular". "And Jerry Mathers as the Beaver"
4. In space, a red ball is chasing a blue ball, and Hayata is chasing them both. Some campers see the blue ball crash into a lake. The red ball crashes into Hayata's plane.
5. The phone at SSSP HQ sounds like Showa Era King Ghidorah.
6. Fuji cannot contact Hayata, so the rest of the team moves oujt.
7. The campers and some cops see Hayata's body levitate in a red sphere.
8. The alien explains to Hayata that he was transporting Bemular to the Space Graveyard, even though it wasn't dead yet, when it escaped. The alien apologizes to Hayata for hitting him and says that he will share his life with him. He gives Hayata the Beta Capsule and tells him to use it when there's trouble. He's a little coy about what will happen when it is used.
9. The SSSP arrive and find Hayata's jet, but not his body. The campers and cops tell them about the red sphere. They search with no luck.
10. Bemular emerges from the lake. The SSSP shoot it with their rayguns, and it goes back into the lake.
11. Hayata calls in to HQ and asks Fuji to deliver a submarine to the lake, which she does Ide shoots his mouth off about Fuji being a girl, which she hears.
12. Hayata takes the sub down to hit Bemular while it's asleep. His attack wakes it up, and the SSSP attack from the air. Bemular catches the sub in its mouth and tosses it onto the ground, knocking Hayata out. It then sets a fire near the sub. Hayata wakes up and transforms into the alien.
13. The alien battles Bemular, and we see the first appearances of the Color-Timer and the Specium Beam, which latter destroys Bemular,
14. Hayata returns and says that the alien saved him. He also said that the alien has no name, and suggests calling it "Ultraman".
Overall: A promising start, establishing many elements of the series. Not much characterization of the team yet, but that will come.
- Jeff of Earth-J > The Baron March 13, 2026 at 7:34am
  
  It's interesting how they show the Ultra Q logo before going into the theme song.
  
  One thing I've been missing during Ultra Q was that "stinger" after the percussive riff.
  
  In space, a red ball is chasing a blue ball
  
  "An eye in a blue face saw an eye in a green face..."
  
  I have seen every episode of the classic Doctor Who at least twice: once in random order, then in chronological order, plus I have watched my favorites additional times. But I've never listedned to any of the commentaries. I have long promised myself that, if i ever make my way through the entire series again, I will listen to just the commentary tracks.
  
  Similarly, I have decided that, should I ever make my way through Ultraman again, I would listen to it in Japanese with no sub-titles. Doing so would be particularly easy with the original series, because I watched them so much as a kid they are practically burned into my eyeballs. Plus, this gives me the opportunity to use the Ultraman Episode Guide I recently bought. With that and my own memories supplemented by your summaries, I think I'll be fine. Also I abandoned Ultraman: the Official Novel of the Seires only three chapters (of seven) in, about half way, simply because I wasn't in the mood at the time. I may pick that up again, too, but I'm currently in the middle of another book I'm really enjoying.
- Jeff of Earth-J > The Baron March 13, 2026 at 12:05pm
  
  The English version shortens his name to "Mura" for some reason.
  
  Likewise, the English dub changes "Ide" to "Ito" ("for some reason").
  
  Yuriko Edogawa's long-lost twin sister.
  
  Or perhaps her "identical cousin." Hey, it happens all the time... on TV.
  
  Some kid who hangs around the SSSP office.
  
  Do you recall whether or not Pat Cadigan addresses Hoshino's relationship to the SSSP in her novelization?
  
  I remember the first time I saw Ultraman in color. I had already been watching it for several years when my across-the-street neighbor got a color TV and invited me over to watch it on his set. I was shocked to discover that their blazers were blue and their uniforms were orange!
  
  I just watched the first episode in Japanese (with no sub-titles) and found I missed the English-dubbed voices I am familiar with. Some scenes were cut from international syndication, and no dubs exist. The first time I watched the dubbed version on DVD, I was surprised when, every once in a while, they'd switch to Japanese. Those scenes, I noticed today, are also subtitled, even though I have the subtitles turned off.
  
  Are you watching the English-dubbed version, or the Japanese version with subtitles?
- The Baron > Jeff of Earth-J March 13, 2026 at 2:17pm
  
  Likewise, the English dub changes "Ide" to "Ito" ("for some reason").
  
  We must be watching different translations, again, because the one I watched kept it as "Ide".
  
  Do you recall whether or not Pat Cadigan addresses Hoshino's relationaship to the SSSP in her novelization?
  
  Not off the top of my head.
  
  Are you watching the English-dubbed version, or the Japanese version with subtitles?
  
  Japanese with subtritles.
- The Baron > Jeff of Earth-J March 14, 2026 at 1:04pm
  
  Do you recall whether or not Pat Cadigan addresses Hoshino's relationaship to the SSSP in her novelization?
  
  Spoiler:
  
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  Hoshino does not appear in the novelization.

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