Ultraman (Back to the Beginning)

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- Jeff of Earth-J > The Baron April 2, 2026 at 11:18am
  
  "It's so big! You couldn't even commit suicide in that!" Wait, what?
  
  Another unusual "dub & sub" is the poem the boy is reciting at the beginning.
  
  DUBBED: "Look o'er the plain of corn with their high-waving stalks asking for natural affection. Take all this unto your breath as the wise man told..."
  
  SUBTITLED: "You are a girl. That is a dog. The dog is run. Birds fly... birds fly..."
  
  When she leaves, she finds that Hoshino has stowed aboard.
  
  In the subtitled version, there is an extended dialogue between the two in which Hoshino tries to butter her up by calling her "Sis", but I don't think he's speaking literally. A footnote I once read in Lone Wolf & Cub once clarified that Diagoro used the term "sis" in a particular story the way "bro" (or "bruh") is used today and that it doesn't imply an actual familial relationship.
  
  (The Ultra Wikii says that there was a scene cut from this episode that would have explained how Hoshino knew where the monster's weak spot is.)
  
  In the subtitled version, Hoshino suggests the back, specifically, but in the dubbed version he just suggests a "weak spot." In the dubbed version, Ito just "knows" Kemular's weak spot is its back, but neither version explains how either one of them knew that.
- The Baron > Jeff of Earth-J April 2, 2026 at 6:30pm
  
  In the subtitled version, there is an extended dialogue between the two in which Hoshino tries to butter her up by calling her "Sis", but I don't think he's speaking literally. A footnote I once read in Lone Wolf & Cub once clarified that Diagoro used the term "sis" in a particular story the way "bro" (or "bruh") is used today and that it doesn't imply an actual familial relationship.
  
  The subtitles of the version I saw used the untranslated term "onechan", which means "older sister", but which, as you say, doesn't imply an actual family relationship. I've always assumed that whoever did the English dubbing msde him Fuji's brother bercause otherwse, who is this kid, and why is he allowed such access to the Science Patrol's HQ?i
The Baron April 2, 2026 at 11:38pm
Episode 22: "Overthrow the Surface"
1. "Featuring Underground Monster Telesdon"
2. Anne Morheim from the SSSP Paris office arrives in Tokyo on a special ission. Hayata is being transferred to Paris to be a rocekt pilot trainer. Hayata is dubious, but the others treat it as a great honor. Right after Hayata and Anne leave, communkcations all over Tokyo are scrambled. Cap sends Arashi and Ide to the Television Center. Officials there tell them that the signals are being jammed and the focus seems to be on the SSSP HQ.
3. On the way back to HQ, Ide spots Anne walking down the street, but Arashi scoffs. I see that IDe is in "Intelligent, Serious, Right About Everything But No One Listens To Him" Mode this week. It's as if different writers are told different things about what his character is meant to be.
4. Back at HQ, Arashi and Ide find a jamming device made from a aterisl that is only found deep underground. Ide suggests that Anne planted it, but is again shot down. Fuji finds that she cannot contact Hayata's VTOL, even after the jamming stops.
5. Arashi and Ide go on patrol. Ide spots Anne, and they land to track her. Therei s a quake, and she notices them and flees, leaving Hayata's badge behind. Fuji receives a report that Anne and Hayata never reached Paris. Cap orders the team members to search for Anne. Meanwhile, Hayataa is being held prisoner in the Twilight Zone or some such place.
6. Ide spots Anne, but discovers that she is a fake. When he chases her, she summons the monster Telesdon, which is kind of Muppet-looking. Telesdon rampages as the SSSP attacks it.
7. Hayata is being held by the Underground People, who know that he is Ultraman and intend to use a "Nap Mask" to hypnotize him into serving them. However, when they compel him to transform, the light from his transformation blinds them, also Ultraman can't be controlled with a Nap Mask, you dopes!
8. Ultraman beats Telesdon to deth, no Spacium Beam, no Color-Timer. Is it me, or does the Color-Timer take however much time the writer needs it to tske in a given episode?
9. Hayata returns to HQ with the real Anne, and we end with Hayata and Anne flying off to Paris again.
Overall: This was an OK episode. Telesdon would return as Powered Telesdon in Ultraman Powered. No Hoshino in this episode.
Commander Benson April 3, 2026 at 9:39am

Sorry, I've got some catching up to do; some medical sessions have put me behind the 8-ball in my comments here.

Episode 20: "Terror on Route 87"

Another nice, moody episode that departs from the usual formula. I agree, as you and Jeff alluded, that the English-dubbed version undoes the "Twilight Zone"-type ending, by removing the comment that the the driver who killed Akira has turned himself in and has been arrested, allowing Akira to go to his final rest. That closes the loop, while the English-dubbed version simply provides some blather about the Hydra being the guardian of children hurt/killed in car accidents. It would be interesting to learn Peter Fernandez' thinking when he so radically departed from the Japanese dialogue. This will come up in another episode shortly.

Episode 21: "Breach the Wall of Smoke"

This episode is notable for a couple of things. First, Fuji takes the lead, which was refreshing. Especially after Arashi was put in his place after his comment that this was a case for women and children. I was a bit dismayed that Hoshino pulled his stowaway stunt again, and Fuji's only reaction was "Oh, Hoshino, you scamp!" I would've loved to have scene a scene at the end where Captain Mura dressed down Hoshino hard for not following Science Patrol protocols, maybe even threatening to take away his uniform.

Second, for once, it was the S.P. that destroyed the monster. Ultraman simply served tp get Kemular into the right position so that Ito and Arashi could destroy it with the bazooka. By this point in the series, some viewers had to be wondering why there even needed to be a Science Patrol, since it was Ultraman who did all the monster-killing.

Episode 22: "Overthrow the Surface"

While it's always nice to see members from other branches of the Science Patrol (reënforcing the idea that the S.P. is an international organisation), come on, did any viewer not detect something sinister in "Anne Morheim", when she first appeared? It always throws me a bit out of the story when I, as a viewer, can detect something untoward that the characters in the teleplay cannot.

I see that Ide is in "Intelligent, Serious, Right About Everything But No One Listens To Him" Mode this week. It's as if different writers are told different things about what his character is meant to be.

Aye, Ito's treatment is inconsistent, but I attribute that to the writers trying to justify his place on the S.P. and to turn his image as the team clown on its ear.

This is really going to depart from Ultraman, but the team's attitude toward Ito here reminds me of the television series Lawman. There was a recurring character on that show, Owny O'Brien, portrayed by Joel Gray. He was Laramie's version of Barney Fife---a gadabout in town, somewhat childish, impulsive, prone to mistakes, the kind of fellow everyone else in town rolled his eyes at and made jokes about. The episodes in which he appeared were meant to be comedic, but it was the kind of comedy that made one grimace. In O'Brien's last appearance on the show, Laramie's deputy, Johnny McKay, has to go out of town, and O'Brien pesters the marshal, Dan Troop, to let him fill in a deputy. Just to get rid of him, Mr. Troop agrees.

There'd been a recent stage robbery near Laramie, in which the outlaw, after killing the driver and the guard, made off with a small fortune in cash. The outlaw was believed to be still in Laramie. Here's where the show takes a twist. Despite his impulsiveness, O'Brien actually detects small clues which indicate to him who the outlaw is---a particularly intimidating, foul character who's recently arrived in town. When O'Brien takes his conclusions to Mr. Troop, the marshal blows him off, refusing to take him seriously. And the rest of the town has a good laugh over "Deputy" O'Brien.

When the suspect is ready to leave town, hoisting some suspiciously heavy saddlebags over the back of his horse, Owny O'Brien confronts him. He's in pure Barney Fife mode, now---trembling, shaky, scared to death--but he's certain he's right about the man being the outlaw, and he challenges him in the street. The suspect has a good laugh at that. O'Brien doesn't stand a chance in Hell against him in a gunfight. He's just about to gun O'Brien down---when Marshal Troop steps into the street.

Troop explains: if Owny is so sure that he is right about the man being the outlaw that he is willing to die trying to stop him, then there must be something to what Owny is saying.

"Open those saddlebags," demands Troop.

Instead, the outlaw goes for his gun, and if you're familiar with Lawman, you know how that goes.

I couldn't stand the character of Owny O'Brien, and I cringed throughout the three previous episodes in which he appeared. But I enjoyed this one---the one time he acted sensibly, and fought everyone considering him a clown to prove himself right.

This is how I regard Ito: aye, most of the time, he's a buffoon, but he can also be competent. Unfortunately, his image keeps his fellow Patrollers from taking him seriously. It's a nice depth of character.

That also goes to Ito's suspicions about a relationship between Hayata and Ultraman . . .

Hayata is being held by the Underground People, who know that he is Ultraman

Once again, we have a villain---this time, a group of villains---who are aware that Hayata is Ultraman, and it forces us to wonder just how dumb are the other members of the S.P?
- The Baron > Commander Benson April 3, 2026 at 11:23am
  
  Interesting. I've never heard of Lawman, but then, I suspect that there's a lot of shows from that period that I know nothing about.
  
  Generally, I don't mind a comedy relief character as long as there's an obvious reason that the others keep him around. Something like: "Yeah, McGoofy's a clown, but no one can fix the engines of the Space Rocket Flyer like he can!"
  
  It's just that sometimes, it's jarring when Ide goes from the guy who makes monkey noises when he sees someone eating a sandwich to the guy who invents a new super-weapon on his lunch hour.
- Commander Benson > The Baron April 3, 2026 at 11:30am
  
  Interesting. I've never heard of Lawman, but then, I suspect that there's a lot of shows from that period that I know nothing about.
  
  I watched it when it first aired (ABC, 1958-62); John Russell, as Marshal Dan Troop, is so rivetting I couldn't help but. But, as a kid, I missed most of the nuances and sub-text until I binge-watched it about four years ago. It takes the "hard-nosed lawman cleans up the town" trope to such levels that I have to rate it now as one of the most intelligent Westerns ever run on television. (One episode, "The Threat", which gives guest star Whit Bissell a star turn, is absolutely brilliant.)
  
  Generally, I don't mind a comedy relief character as long as there's an obvious reason that the others keep him around.
  
  My gold standard for this is the Andy Griffith Show episode "Andy on Trial".
- The Baron > Commander Benson April 3, 2026 at 11:36am
  
  I watched it when it first aired (ABC, 1958-62);
  
  See, I missed out on that by not being born yet.
  
  It'd probably be easier to list the things that Whit Bissell wasn't in.
- Commander Benson > The Baron April 3, 2026 at 11:47am
  
  It'd probably be easier to list the things that Whit Bissell wasn't in.
  
  Mr. Bissell was a woefully undersung actor. Until I saw him in Lawman's "The Threat", his best performance to me was his rôle as "Mr. Bruder" in the season-three episode of Father Knows Best, "The Great Guy".
  
  Damn, now I'm in the mood to binge-watch Lawman all over again.
Jeff of Earth-J April 3, 2026 at 2:24pm

Episode 22: "Overthrow the Surface"

When he chases her, she summons the monster Telesdon, which is kind of Muppet-looking.

Telesdon is a mundane-looking monster. My "remembery" from this episode is Anne's eye-less face... although, even as a kid I didn't find it very convincing. That's okay, though; I fixed it in my mind's eye.

Hayata is being held by the Underground People...

In the dubbed version, they were 25 miles beneath Earth's surface; 275 miles under the Bay of Tokyo, subtitled. There are so many "dub & sub" differences in each episode, I try to find the most significant. Also, the "napalm" of the subtitled version becomes "fire bombs" dubbed.

...who know that he is Ultraman and intend to use a "Nap Mask" to hypnotize him into serving them.

I'm guessing "Nap Mask" is your own description...?
- The Baron > Jeff of Earth-J April 3, 2026 at 5:31pm
  
  I'm guessing "Nap Mask" is your own description...?
  
  No. It was in the subtitles.

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