Dancing Garagon – Perhaps a bit of an odd start to the series, though given it features not only a Kaiju but one based off the original’s most iconic creature, it makes sense. New line of adorable robots that clearly are connected to the arrived Garagon, though there is a catch to just which is the actual threat. A lot of interesting ideas, though none are quite fleshed out given its runtime (Just like the original show), but being an early episode, there is some breathing room for character development. A weird element completely glossed over is the company behind the mass-produced Gara Q robots – you think with their ties to the monster, people would like to learn about the company making them, but never once is this brought up. The episode seems to be a sequel to Garamon’s original appearance, though a black and white photographs of the dam incident features the Garagon design. 3.5/5
Graffiti – An improvement over the previous episode, with a plot that keeps you wondering. The story involves a woman who’s recently moved into the expensive suburbs, only to be disgusted by the graffiti present, to the point where she begins cleaning it all by herself. Unfortunately, one the signs she cleaned off might have meant something to an alien race…or at least she thinks so. The episode does take a fairly sympathetic stance towards the art of graffiti, and treats her hatred of it as overblown, though she’s not portrayed in a villainous fashion at all – given her husband works all day to afford living in a ritzy area, she’s not only lonely, but is later revealed to have some mental health problems. The ending mostly confirms whether or not her story is true, which is maybe a bit of a letdown, as the viewer being left to decide might have been more fun, but still a creative episode. 4/5
Just Who Are You? – Directed by Shunsuke Kaneko, a real mindbending episode that keeps you questioning until the end, even if said ending never really provides much an answer. It’s certainly a tragic tale, with a childhood friend of a barber returning home after decades, only for the barber’s friends to all insist he died in a graphic hiking accident that they all witnessed as kids. And things only get crazier from there. There’s a bit of a “butterfly dream” theme going on with the twist, which doesn’t make a whole lot of sense admittedly, but the episode clearly leaves it up to the viewer to decide what’s real and isn’t. The returning friend is played by Kai Shishido, son of chipmunk-cheeked superstar Jo Shishido who would soon be cast as Captain Hijitaka in next year’s Ultraman Max. 4/5
The Puzzle Woman – The first really creepy episode with a disturbing premise – a series of supposed suicides’ from the least-suspecting people all have one thing connecting them – they were working on puzzles. And it just so happens a friend of Sakamot’s has been receiving pieces of a puzzle and is being stalked by a specter of something, clearly indicating a link. A genuinely creepy episode with an intriguing mystery that winds up not being quite as it seems. The young man receiving the pieces, Mochizuki already being a friend of Sakamoto’s is maybe a bit contrived when he could have just as easily reported it to him and Ryo, but it’s no big deal. 4/5
The Slave Of Hieronymus – Another horror-oriented episode that deals with the theme of one induvial wielding unstoppable power. Said power source is a Hieronymus machine, a “real” device invented by Thomas Galen Hieronymus capable of eliminating life just by getting a sample of it (In the case of humans, hair). Unsurprisingly, it has been universally acknowledged as pseudoscience, but I can buy it existing in a show like this. But what is odd is just how obscure a piece of “history” it really is, even to Western audiences. That said, there is a (quite creepy) sequence of Professor Watari explaining it to Sakamoto and Ryo. The man wielding such power uses it to obliterate his wife (a TV news anchor), only to immediately regret it, seeking help to retrieve her. It does feels rather abrupt, but given the short runtime, its to be expected. He acquires it through a bizarre online network comprised of people who seem to be pawns of a single induvial, who undeniably wields the power to eliminate anyone from existence. Exactly how he came into contact with said people is never made clear. Certainly has some interesting concepts, but nothing is quite realized to its fullest potential. 3/5
Bound for Paradise – Like the one before it, an episode with an interesting premise, but a so-so execution. The premise involves several overworked salarymen suddenly disappearing, with many of them saying or writing about how they’re off to “Paradise”. It’s almost like an even more pessimistic version of the original show’s Open Up!. Sakamoto (Who’s all on his own here) is assigned by the daughter of a missing man, who’s played by character actor and series narrator Shiro Sano. Said “paradise” is in fact an underground society who’s currency is unreleased high-energy batteries that are traded for food and other necessities. As stated, it’s an interesting concept, but there’s just not a whole lot to it. Sakamoto sleuthing through the underground looking for said society eats up several minutes of the first act, time that could have been spent developing said “Paradise” more. The twist to who their supplier is doesn’t make a whole lot of sense either – sure, lousy bosses are being whisked away, but won’t their replacements be just as bad? 3/5
Kiara – Shunsuke Kaneko returns to the director’s chair in a low-key but interesting episode. For the first time, none of the core cast is featured, instead focusing on a lowly man who aspires to be a jazz bassist. He idolizes the fictitious musician Buster Karkland, who was institutionalized after claiming he spoke to an angel. And it just so happens our protagonist meets what appears to be an angel, who seems to be granted some of his wishes, but at what cost? The episode leaves a lot open to interpretation, particularly said angel’s true intents. As with most previous ones, there isn’t quite enough time to really dive deep into the concept, but its an interesting little tale nonetheless. Though if our protagonist claims to be such a huge fan of Karkland’s, surely he would have heard the super rare album obtained by his friend SOMEHOW, be it through bootleg copies or online. 3.5/5
Unitoroda’s Repayment – A completely different beast from the last few episodes, being a much more family-oriented affair more reminiscent of a typical children’s Tokusatsu program. The plot involves an alien crash-landing in a small neighborhood outside the city, where he befriends a down-on-his-lick mechanic who’s been having a real rust trouble. Thanks to the family’s generosity in healing Unitoroda (A combination of Uni – sea urchin and toro – tuna, both foods he loves), he decides to stay behind and help with the rust problem, which winds up being an alien parasite. It’s a cute episode that again feels reminiscent of something out of an 80s Sentai or Space Sheriff show, which only makes sense given it was written by Shozo Uehara. Much of the humor (such as Professor Watari’s dancing to the drums that drive the rust to grow) falls more into the awkward category, though that does seem to be the intention. But there’s a good message present about unity and helping others, with it ending on a real hopeful note that makes it seem as if the episode is set in the same world as the Showa Ultraman shows. 3/5
Temptation at 2 A.M. – A darkly comedic episode involving a lonely Global Magazine employee who’s desperate to win the attention of a man, and decides to take her chances with an infomercial. Said infomercial, claiming to be from space, offers a serum that doesn’t simply make one look younger – it quite literally makes them younger. There are plenty of amusing hijinks to be had, though also a real disturbing one involving the man of her dreams, who should be receiving a visit from Chris Hansen. The guest cast is quite an extensive one, with Ohranger‘s Tamao Sato portraying the woman, Gridman‘s Edo Yamaguchi as the intergalactic salesman and Shunsuke Kaneko and cinematographer Sou Takahashi cameoing as talent scouts. 3.5/5
Ceremonial Bonfire – An episode dealing with the very dark theme of death, but viewing it in a rather positive outlook. The plot concerns a mysterious cloaked figure appearing at hospitals near the scenes of terminally ill patients dying, which according to Watari is real similar to a group of apparently supernatural beings called the “Farewell Flames”, who brought peaceful deaths to those in need back in the late Kamakura era. Said group never existed even in folklore, but its a real interesting concept that would have been cool to know more about, but even with the limited runtime, we still get a good glimpse at their nature. Ryo befriends a young vagabond who initially seems like a harmless goof, but has clearly more to him than meets the eye. Said twist only further humanizes the episode’s main concept. 4/5
The Eyes of the Totem – A really dark “Monkey’s Paw”-type story involving a teenage girl getting her hands on a totem pole said to grant three wishes, though in turn, it takes away a vital element of her life. Though perhaps her first wish is a bit petty (Making a boy she likes fall in love with her), she’s not a bad girl, making the awful things that gradually happen to her all the more horrifying. Though the continuity between episodes is perhaps a bit loose, the fact Ryo states this small totem pole rumored to have mythological powers will be her biggest scoop when she’s encountered giant monsters and living aliens is kind of amusing. 4/5
The Dream Stone – The second episode in a row to involve a wish-granting object, in this case a strange meteorite that acts as a sort of megalith to all of a small town’s adults, who all seem to share one wish. The episode involves two boys investigating the situation at hand, giving it a more family-friendly vibe than the past two, though there are still some disturbing sequences involving the alien shaman. Whether or not there was an ulterior motive to the alien and his meteor is never made clear, but its obvious the adult’s state of minds have been altered to potentially dangerous results. Sakamoto and Ryo feature, but are brought into the plot in an unusual way – Ryo had previously met the kid during a piece on his town prior to the events of the episode, resulting in him contacting her for her assistance. 3.5/5
The Invader of Shadows – Almost a dark spin on Mirrorman, involving beings from the “mirror world” planning an invasion, gradually murdering and taking the place of those who cast the reflections. According to Watari, though mirror beings will kill without hesitation, they aren’t incapable of feeling emotion, which is something Sakamoto attempts to do with one such being, haven taken the identity of a ballet dancer. Anyone expecting any serious “invasion” storyline like an Ultraman episode will be disappointed, as it focuses almost entirely on Sakamoto’s attempts, but there’s still a lot of interesting, if a bit underdeveloped backstory present. Varno, the supposed ruler of the mirror world, comes off as a Darth Vader knock-off, complete with his heavy breathing. 3.5/5
Lilly and Lili – A remake of The Devil Child, and while not nearly as creepy or iconic (though this one does recreate some famous scenes, mainly the train sequence), a pretty good episode in its own right. The convoluted explanation for Lilly’s ability is changed to a transcendental sensory deprivation tank being tampered with by her father (Complete with him adding “illicit substances). Whereas the father in the original story was tampering with nature, he was still a sympathetic character who loved his daughter, whereas here, he is a legit creep who used her for his experiments. Lilly’s name stems from John C. Lilly, inventor of said tank, in a clever little twist. The plot of Lilly stealing small items remains, though the fates of those robbed are a lot less cruel. Lilly’s mother is the sympathetic one here, trying her hardest to protect her daughter from unleashing her powers. 4/5
The Shining Ship – An unusual and simplistic episode involving two losers, one an unemployed young adult and the other a laid-off father. Both were promised by an old man that their lives would get a fresh start over if they can get what appears to be a magical boat to sail. Of course, the two bond, which is the heart of the episode. The fantasy-oriented twist at the end is perhaps a bit unneeded, as there’s enough of a positive outlook towards the future gained between the two just by their meeting and venting, but its a nice note to end on nonetheless. Ryo only cameos in the episode, appearing throughout blabbering on her phone, trying to get Sakamoto to solve a riddle trying to tell a riddle and comes across as super irritating. 3.5/5
Gara Q’s Revenge – The return of Gara Q, with it being revealed just who the perpetrator of the original scheme was – the Cicada Woman, an obvious take on the Cicada Man from the original show. Ryo comes across as kind of a ditz, wanting Watarai to repair Gara Q despite it being well-established as a dangerous threat (Albeit, in her defense, she wants it malicious elements removed). Despite Watari’s tinkering only Q the ability to blink, its caught robbing people, with the robbed believing Ryo to be the mastermind behind it all. Made worse, Watarai is caught stealing money and hacking into classified servers. It’s a fun romp, even if the antics with Gara Q get a bit too “cutesy”. One of the people robbed is played by Shun Ueda, best known for his role as Detective Hattori Hanpei in Kikaider. 3.5/5
Komachi – The final episode of the series to be penned by Shozo Uehara, and definitely a middling one, with a cute enough premise and competent performances/direction, but kind of confused in what it’s trying to say, if anything at all. The premise concerns a lonely salaryman one day meeting who appears to be the perfect girl, but knowing there’s a catch to her. It’s not too shocking what said twist is (Though this one of those stories that would just be creepy with the genders reversed), but what doesn’t make much sense is the statement at how humans are becoming more robotic than actual robots. Aside from the man’s lousy boss (the only other prominent female character) and maybe the punks that harass him and Komachi, we never get any indication of this – the only other prominent character is the ramen shop owner, who’s perfectly friendly, as are all of the patrons. Its almost as if Uehara is trying to state that robots make for better partners than women, which is…concerning. Komachi is played by Nao Nagasawa, best known as HurricaneBlue, who would play a very similar “all perfect girl with a twist” role in Ultraman Max, in a story also penned by Uehara funnily enough. 3/5
The Front of the Behind – A very early-2000s “internet scary” sort of episode with people who access a certain website (Often horny men thanks to the presence of a pretty girl asking to play) all being murdered. There are scenes with the apparent murderer (a blond boy) and the clickbait girl debating the ethics of their actions from within the grid, which definitely gives off a Gridman vibe, though there winds up being a twist to it. The episode focuses primarily on an officer investigating a case, who’s partners with franchise friend Shegeki Kagemru’s cop character we’ve seen a few times now. And while the main officer is a fine character, we’ve never seen him before, and perhaps putting the focus on Kagemaru, a character we’ve gotten to know a little, might have improved things a bit. 3/5
Love Through a Lens – A feelgood episode with a young man taking his grandfather’s old camera, only to find a young woman living within in. Watarai theorizes the camera must have taken so many photos of her, it fell in love, citing an incident where a woman with a cornea replacement was seeing images of the donor’s lover. It’s obviously a total fantasy, but it leads to some heartwarming scenes of the man and the girl bonding. Things do take a tragic turn though, when it’s learned the girl was around during the Tokyo bombings, with her presumably being killed in real life. There are some talks of convincing her to flee, but at what cost? If she survives in this new timeline, grandpa might have married her instead of grandmother, meaning the young man would have never been born. The twist at the end is a bit predictable, but still touching. The episode is so sweet, even the narrator cries! 4.5/5
The Quiet End – A horror-oriented story involving a researcher tampering with the human genomes, supposedly due to medical reasons though its clear there’s something else up her sleeve…the concept of the “ultimate lifeform” and the devouring of other DNA of other lifeforms in order to become it is rather similar to that of Le Deus from Choushinsei Flashman, albeit its handled in a more “grounded” fashion. Ryo is almost entirely on her own this episode, with Sakamoto too busy stalking a celebrity for a “scoop”, in an amusing sequence. There are some interesting ideas and creepy moments, but the episode is just a bit too slow to be effective. The doctor lusting after the researcher behind the project is played by Yusuke Kirishima, who would go on to play Jun, the first host of Nexus in Ultraman Nexus just months later. 3.5/5
The Night, The Fog, This Evening… – Another horror-oriented episode, though this time a more classic, gothic tale with lots of fog involving Ryo stumbling into a creepy inn while investigating a missing people case. Did I mention there’s lots of fog? Because boy there’s lots of fog. The episode has a real dream-like quality, with you left wondering if what’s happening real or not. There seems to more confirmation of human-like life on the moon, though as stated, its left a lot more vague than say, Minami from Ultraman Ace. Written by Keisuke Fujikawa. 3.5/5
Kagoneh’s Shining Cocoon – Though essentially a gender-swapped retelling of Kanegon’s Cocoon, a delightful episode nonetheless that’s about on-par with the original. Masahiro Yamada, who penned the original story, returns for this one, and while the basic premise of a child who becomes obsessed with money and becomes a monster is the same, the one has more emphasis on the girl’s family, who also have their fair share of money-related problems – her dad was a man who worked hard and honestly, but brought in little money, whereas her mother and sister cared about nothing other than money and material. Despite repeated warnings from her father about falling down that greedy rabbit hole, she has succumb, and in a very fairy tale-oriented fashion, can only be cured of her Kanegoah curse if she finds her true love. The episode has a very stylish and colorful (Despite the original episode being in black and white) 60s look to it, and that combined with the as-expected charming story makes it one of the series’ best episodes. 4.5/5
Alice in the 360 Degree World – A very dreamlike episode that ponders the question of an alternate reality for each and every person, devoid of anyone else to get in the way. The episode is riddled with technobabble about quantum mechanics that will likely lose those less versed in the subject (As is the case with this reviewer), but the basic idea of wanting to escape to your own private world can almost resonate with everyone. It does draw some parallels to the original show’s Open Up! in some regards. A clock of Bemstar can be seen in the room of the disappeared young man, in one of the very few non-Q callbacks to the franchise. Watari is the only main cast member to appear, being the two young people’s lecturer throughout. 3.5/5
HITOGATA – The first of two episodes directed by the late great Akio Jissoji, and about as complex and otherworldly as one would expect from him. Inspired by a short story by Edogawa Rampo (“Hitodenashi no koi”), a down-on-his-luck professor finds a large doll in a dead man (Played by Jissoji regular Minori Tereda)’s briefcase, and gradually grows attached to it, much to the chagrin of his female assistant. More disturbing details gradually unfold as the episode unfolds, most notably the nature of the dead man with the doll and his perverted experiments of transferring his thoughts to psychical objects. The episode spends much of its time with the professor “bonding” with the doll, frequently citing Descartes to prove her existence and disavow any others standing in their way. What exactly writer Chiaki Konaka and to an extent Jissoji are trying to get at isn’t exactly clear, but its an interesting, disturbing episode. The doll is voiced by Chisako Hara, Jissoji’s real-life wife. 3.5/5
Darkness – The second Jissoji episode a solid “haunted house” tale, with a TV crew set to film a documentary about the deaths of a sculptor and his mistress in an old mansion. There’s certainly a commentary on treading old sites of infamy in order to generate views (Be it Al Capone’s vault or salvaged pieces of the Titanic), with he program’s producer (Played by Jun Hashizume, who would later be cast as Bako in Ultraman Z 16 years later) hellbent on giving the audience something to make them jump in their seats, even if it means staging something. The crew’s mascot is a racoon doll, a possible nod to the TV crew in Jissoji’s Ultra Q: The Movie‘s mascot also being one. In addition to Hashizume, frequent Jissoji collaborator and Ultra Series regular Kyusaku Shimada features as a crew member fed up with the producer’s shenanigans. 4/5
The Door to Nothingness – The final episode of the series and one of its best. The plot is hilariously meta, with a race of aliens, deprived of any imagination, stealing an idea concocted by a manga writer low on ideas to drain humankind’s imagination and take it for themselves. The episode serves as a great love letter to Ultra Q as a whole, with references sprinkled throughout, such as the Rekyum Man being a clear homage to the Kemur Man, and also Dark Fantasy references like the first episode being watched on television and a Buster Karkland record (Wasn’t that supposed to be super rare?!) being among the mangaka’s collection. There’s a bit of commentary about how when humans grow more powerful and prosperous, their imagination slowly dwindles, which is certainly true in many developed worlds. Ironically, the imagination-less Rekyuman Man is the one element of the show with the biggest impact in the franchise, having gone on to become a common “background alien” in several New Generation Ultraman shows. 4/5
Beta Capsule Reviews 