Ultraman (Back to the Beginning)

The Baron April 5, 2026 at 10:15pm

Episode 25: "The Mysterious Comet Tsuifon"

"Featuring Guigass, Dorako and Red King"
Professor Iwamoto tells the SSSP that a new comet, Tsuifon, is approaching the Earth and may collide with it. Ide faints. It is later determined that it will be a near miss.
Fuji accidentally puts salt in the coffee.
They are informed that cosmic rays from the comet may detonate unshielded H-Bombs. Ide remembers a story about six H-Bombs that were lost. There is a rumor that a monster ate them. There's a group of civilians that they cut to, including a kid in an astronaut suit and his somewhat excitable father. The father is played by the legendary Haruo Nakajima, who was the man in the Godzilla suit from 1954 to 1972.
The monster that ate the H-Bombs is believed to be in the Japan Alps. Ide has invented an H-Bomb Detector, because of course he has. Hayata, Arashi and Ide are sent to search for it. The trio are enjoying the mountain air when thewy spot a monster (Guigass) that looks like a kid's science fair project model of an Abominable Snowman. They take to the air snd spot nother monster, (Dorako), that lokks a little like a Beta Version of Gigan.
Back at HQ, Hoshino appears briefly.
Hayata lures Dorako into attacking Guigass. Ide remarks on what unfair creatures humans are. Arashi is basically like, "That's life, lighten up."
Red King appears from inside a mountain. The SSSP men determine that it is the one that swallowed the H-Bombs.
Red King joins the fight between Guigass and Dorako. Dorako is killed.
Hayata distracts Red King, which swipes at him. He transforms into Ultraman. While Ultraman battles Red King, Arashi and Ide go after Guigass, killing it with the Powerful Drying Missile. Ultraman uses what the Ultra Wiki clls the "Ultra Air Catch" (That's new, isn't it?) to lift Red King into the air, and then slashes it in pieces with some Ultra Slashes. He then carries the head and neck into space, where it blows up real good. Arashi and Ide pick up Hayata.
Back at HQ, Professor Iwamoto says that the comet will return on July 2 3026 at 8:05 a.m., and that it will collide with the Earth at that time. Isamu Hoshino stands in the background From what I've read, ths is the last time that we shall see the young feller as his actor, Akihide Tsuzawa, suffered a leg injury and had to leave the series. Must've sucked for him.
Cap decides to get his own coffee, Hilarity ensues.

Overall: Another pretty good episode. I always liked Red King as a monster. Dorako was OK, but Guigass was not one of their better efforts.

Jeff of Earth-J > The Baron April 6, 2026 at 9:36am

"The Mysterious Comet Tsuifon"

It is thanks to shows like this and Lost in Space that I grew up thinking comets were balls of fire rather than hunks of ice and frozen gas.

Fuji accidentally puts salt in the coffee.

But oddly, at the end, soapflakes are mentioned.

The father is played by the legendary Haruo Nakajima, who was the man in the Godzilla suit from 1954 to 1972.

Really!

(That's new, isn't it?)

'Tis.

...the comet will return on July 2 3026 at 8:05 a.m.

Any time a number is mentioned, it's changed for the dubbed version; in this case, the year is 3122. (Or, wait a minute... was 3026 the dubbed version and my subtitled version was different? I'm so confused.) The distance the comet passed Earth was different, too.

Commander Benson April 6, 2026 at 2:54pm

Episode 25: "The Mysterious Comet Tsuifon"

As with the last episode, in this one, the situation which establishes the premise for the rest of the events is actually more interesting and gripping than the actual developments. A comet appears to be on course to collide with the Earth. In the episode, that threat lasts only five or six minutes into the teleplay, before it is determined that the comet will actually miss our world; it's the cosmic rays emitted by the comet in its passing that establishes the episode's central drama.

But imagine how compelling it would've been if the destruction of the Earth by the comet had occupied most of the drama. The feelings of helplessness endured by the Science Patrol. The panicked people of Japan crying out for Ultraman to save them. Some introspexion by Hayata that there is only so much even Ultraman can do. Take this moodiness right down to the eleventh hour---suicides, riots, shrines filled with praying people---and then Professor Iwamoto tells the S.P. of a theoretical solution for deflecting the comet, and Hayata "using the beta capsule becomes Ultraman" and flies into space to enact Iwamoto's idea.

But, no, we have to have Ultraman and the S.P. fighting monsters for the umpteenth time.

Fuji accidentally puts salt in the coffee.

I don't mind an injection of humour to momentarily lighten the atmosphere of a heavy-mooded episode---but I hate when the script calls for a competent character to act like an idiot to make it happen.

Hoshino stands in the background From what I've read, ths is the last time that we shall see the young feller as his actor, Akihide Tsuzawa, suffered a leg injury and had to leave the series. Must've sucked for him.

I came across the same information while preparing for my comments here. This is Hoshino's swan song on the series. While to be fair, Hoshino had acted maturely and responsibly over the past couple of episodes, my feeling is still what's bad for young Master Akihide is good for the viewers of the show. For an idea of just how cringeworthy using children on shows like this can be, just watch the next couple of episodes.

The Baron April 7, 2026 at 1:32am

Episode 26: "The Monster Highness (Part 1)"

"Featuring Ancient Monster Gomora"
A kid named Osamu is mocked by his schoolmates for believing in monsters, which is nuts considering how many monster attacks there have been. Osamu is a disappointment to his mother.
Meanwhile, on Johnson Island, Arashi has been drafted to Professor Nakaya's expedtion for his marksmanship skills. The Professor mentions a Gomorasaurus. Arashi rescues an expedition member who is caught by killer vines.
Gomora emerges from a hillside. Arashi wants to shoot it, but the Professor wants to capture it and bring it back to Japan, which Arashi (rightly) thinks is crazy.
Osamu cuts up his Dad's newspaper before his father had a chance to read it. I shudder to think what the Old Man's reaction woud have been if I'd've pulled a stunt like that back in the day.Osamu is, however, vindicated before his classmates.
Back at SSSP HQ, Cap is not thrilled at having to transport Gomora (You can tell that his attitude is "Our job is to kill monsters, not ferry them around!"), but he is under pressure to do so for the International Expo.
The plan is to knock Gomora out using the UNG Anesthetizing Shot. Cap and Arashi lure Gomora in and shoot it with anesthetizing darts. Thennthey pick it up using three VTOLs abd a large net.
Osamu and his pals sneak past some guards so they can see Gomora. Gomora wakes up premturely, and the SSSP have to drop it. Sadly, it does not fall on those idiot kids. Most of Osamu's pals bail on him, except for his pal, Ken.
Gomora shakes off the fall. The Professor gives the OK to destroy Gomora. Hayata finds Osamu and Ken and tells them to go home. (I note that the kids know who Fuji and Hayata are, I guess the SSSP members are celebrities.) The cops bring Osamu home. (Do the Japanese do the "being sent to bed without supper" thing?) Gomora burrows away.
Later, Osamu and his pal Takeshi are playing in some waste ground when Gomora appears. (I note that Osamu is wearing an Ultraman mask. I wonder who markets those "in-universe". Does the SSSP get a cut? Takeshi bails, but Osamu stays. Ultraman appears (with no transformation shot) and battles Gomora. Ultrmsn drops his Beta Ca[sulemid-fight (Where does he store that when he's fighting?) and Osamu picks it up. Gomora generally gets the better of Ultraman before burrowing away.
Cliffhanger: Ultraman flies away, having reached his limit!

Overall: Another interesting episode, the show's first two-parter. Gomora would go on to become one of the franchise's most popular monsters, returning many times over the years. The battle with Gomora is included in Pat Cadigan's novelization of the series.

Commander Benson April 7, 2026 at 12:43pm

Episode 26: "The Monster Highness (Part 1)"

A kid named Osamu is mocked by his schoolmates for believing in monsters, which is nuts considering how many monster attacks there have been. Osamu is a disappointment to his mother . . . Osamu is, however, vindicated before his classmates.

In less than a half-hour, Osamu did the impossible: make me wish Hoshino were back on the show. Osamu is everything that writers feel makes a "cute" youngster: he disobeys orders from adults; he acts precociously without regard for others; he is impetuous to the point where his disobedience puts others in danger. In short, he makes me hope that he stumbles into the path of Ultraman's specium beam.

Osamu cuts up his Dad's newspaper before his father had a chance to read it. I shudder to think what the Old Man's reaction woud have been if I'd've pulled a stunt like that back in the day.

This is what always confused me about television kids when I was a boy: no matter what level of mischief they undertook, their parents almost always took it with an attitude of "Oh, that scamp!" When I committed a fraction of those kind of misdoings---cutting out a section of the newspaper is a good example---my folks would've had me chasing my head down Bell Avenue. It taught me respect for authority---which, obviously, Osamu does not have.

Ultraman drops his Beta Capsule mid-fight (Where does he store that when he's fighting?) . . .

This is another unanswered question with regards to Hayata's transformation to Ultraman and back. Ponderables like this are common to super-heroes whose identities are two separate beings, such as Captain Marvel and Billy Batson, or Thor and Dr. Don Blake. Take the Thunder God and Blake, for example. If Dr. Blake has to transform into Thor right after he steps out of the shower with a towel around his waist, after the trouble is dealt with, and Thor changes back to Blake, is the good doctor still wearing a towel, or is he in a suit and tie? If so, are his wallet and keys and comb in his pockets?

Similarly, I recall a panel in a Manhunter from Mars tale in which detective John Jones is in his apartment, ruminating over a current case. His suit jacket is flung over a chair, his tie is loosened, and his sleeves are rolled up. It didn't occur in the story, but that panel made me wonder: if Jones had been required to transform into the Martian Manhunter right then, would his jacket have disappeared from the chair? (After all, the suit jacket had been part of him when he previously changed to John Jones.) Or if not, when the Manhunter subsequently changed back to Jones, would he be wearing a new suit jacket? That would imply that he could actually separate parts of himself---evidenced from the jacket still draped over the chair.

The Hayata/Ultraman change-over raises similar queries. One you mentioned earlier, Baron, when Hayata transformed to Ultraman inside the submarine. There was no damage done to the sub; yet, in previous instances, when Hayata used the beta capsule in a confined space, such as a building or a ship, the transformation to the giant Ultraman smashed through the retaining structure. The question you raised, where does he stow the beta capsule on himself when he is Ultraman, is only part of a larger ponderable. Because Ultraman does not use the capsule to revert to Hayata, why does he [Ultraman] need to carry the beta capsule, at all? I always presumed that, after Hayata transformed to Ultraman, the capsule went to the same place Hayata's body, uniform, and helmet "went".

I assume that the writers of Ultraman glossed over these details for the same reasons that the writers of Thor and the Manhunter from Mars didn't address similar questions: they figured the viewers/readers didn't care enough---or hoped they wouldn't notice---to take the trouble to elabourate on such things.

Jeff of Earth-J April 7, 2026 at 2:15pm

DUBS & SUBS:

Osamu is a disappointment to his mother.

Dub: She wants him to get A's in history, geography and grammar
Sub: She wants him to get 100% in reading and math

Gomora emerges from a hillside.

Dub: It is one million years old, 80 feet tall and weighs 900 tons
Sub: It is 1,005,000 years old, 130 feet tall and weighs 20,000 tons

Gomora wakes up premturely, and the SSSP have to drop it.

Dub: It falls from a height of 2000 feet
Sub: It falls from a height of 6500 feet

Generally speaking, the dubbed version tends to "dial back" the rhetoric of the subtitled version.

The Baron > Jeff of Earth-J April 7, 2026 at 2:50pm

In the subtitles I saw, she wanted him to get "five circles" in grammar and math. I've not encountered this business of "circles" before.

The Baron April 7, 2026 at 9:16pm

Episode 27: "The Monster Highness (Part 2)

"Festuring Ancient Monster Gomora"
We get a brief "Previously, on Ultraman...".
We see Ultraman transform back into Hayata for what I believe is the second time.
Cap has Fuji call New York to request more monster tranquilizers. He sends Hayata to fetch the Mars 133 and the micro transmitter from HQ so he can track Gomora.
Osamu's father sees no point in evacuating. Oddly, he ends up being rights, even if it does seem moronic.
Gomora appears in Osaka. The Army and the SSSP battle it. Arashi and Hayata shoot off Gomora's tail. Gomora (Yosemite Sam voice): "Muh biscuits are burnin'!" They pant the transmitter on its before it burrows away. Gomora's tail flails around by itself. Hopefullly, it's not like Reptilicus' tail and won't grow a new monster. Hayata realizes that he has lost the Beta Capsule.Cap orders Arashii, Ide and Hayata to defend Osaka Castle alongside the Army.
Osami realizes that he has to get the Beta Capsule to Ultraman.
Fuji gets a call that the USA is out of monster tranquilizers. Typical.
Gomora surfaces near Osaka Castle. The Army figths fiercely, but to no avail.
Osamu finds a guard who - astonishingly - cooperates with him and takes him to where the fighting is.
Gomora smashes the Castle, as Osamu gets the Beta Capsule to Hayata.
Hayata transforms into Ultraman, who battles Gomora, breaking off one of its horns and killing it with the Spacium Beam.
Ide: "It was hateful, but it was cruel what we did to it." Arashi: "Let's stuff it and put it on display at the Expo!"
Hayata thanks Osamu and gives him his communicator. Osamu has learned precisely nothing from all this.

Overall: Apart from all the bratty kid wish fulfillment crap, this was in many ways an exciting, eventful story, showing Ultraman and the SSSP pushed to their limits

Jeff of Earth-J > The Baron April 8, 2026 at 1:50pm

We see Ultraman transform back into Hayata for what I believe is the second time.

Yes. Apparently I was wrong. (Hey, it happens... more often than I care to admit.)

Arashi and Hayata shoot off Gomora's tail.

Gomora's flaming stub is a remarkable sight. Oddly, I don't feel as sorry for Gomora as I do some of the monsters.

Gomora surfaces near Osaka Castle.

In the subtitled version, a site of "Japanese heritage"; in the dubbed version, "the huge ancient castle, [an] important creation of fine art."

In less than a half-hour, Osamu did the impossible: make me wish Hoshino were back on the show.

Be glad you're watching the dubbed version. In the subtitled one, he says things like, "I'm not a kid, I'm the Monster Prince!" and "I'm the Monster Prince! I know everything!"

Commander Benson April 8, 2026 at 8:02pm

Episode 27: "The Monster Highness (Part 2)

Apart from all the bratty kid wish fulfillment crap, this was in many ways an exciting, eventful story, showing Ultraman and the SSSP pushed to their limits.

There's no way I can summarise it better, myself. If anything, the two-part tale offered us a hint of what an Ultraman movie would've been like.

At the time I saw this episode for the first time, I was afraid, now that Hoshino had become almost respectable, that Osamu would be come the new "kid" on the show. The final scene in which Hayata gave him his S.P. lapel pin certainly suggested that. To my great relief, if I'm recalling correctly, we never see Osamu., again.

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Ultraman (Back to the Beginning)

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