Ultraman Episode #15 - Terrifying Cosmic Rays

Director: Akio Jissoji
Year: 1966
Country: Japan
Alternate Titles: (Alternate DVD Title: The Space Ray of Terror) (恐怖の宇宙線 Kyōfu no Uchūsen?)
Genre: Tokusatsu TV

Plot:

When a series of strange incidents are reported in the city, the Science Patrol finds the cause is a series of strange energy beams from the sun that effects 2D objects and turns them into 3D versions including the monster Gavadon conjured by a group of school kids and forces them to find the secret of the rays to stop it.

Story:

The story here manages to get some interesting elements here. The central idea of the energy rays from the Sun causing objects to come to life into 3-dimensional figures is a fine one, coming off as an appropriately simple setup that works for a TV show like this. It works nicely to get the children's involvement with the crayon drawings that serve as the inspiration for the Gavadon design stages where their wonderment at the situation overrules the common-sense of how it works as they just notice how it comes to life after they draw it. This is a fine early setup and gives the episode a workable starting point.

As well, with this early work here with the existence of the rays and how it affects the monster, the Science Patrol is given a rather unique and heretofore unseen ability to keep the monster contained not with firepower but brawn. This is the closest we've gotten yet as to how they would've operated before Ultraman where they focus on the investigation of the space rays and how to keep Gavadon from wreaking havoc. With the focus on comedy involving their ineptitude and Gavadon's complete disinterest in them, this is a fine section of the episode.

There is a slight flaw with the storyline here which is the handling of the ray's origins, and it's the most obvious factor with the complete lack of any. The sheer wackiness of the concept involving rays from the Sun seemingly turning 2D drawings into 3D creations needs to be explored and explained as to why it hasn't happened before. It gets intriguing as well with the final coda offering hints that it's a potentially global situation but it's disappointingly vague and underwhelming, making for quite a troubling aspect overall.

Special Effects:

There's quite a lot to like here. The various forms of Gavadon are all impressively realized, from the spongey plush fish-like first version that hops around rather comically to the later version that's more of a four-legged dinosaur design which has some great design aspects. The rhinoceros-like face with the head-sail, a series of human-like teeth to take some scariness out of the creature and adds the right amount of goofiness to placate for a younger crowd which goes along with the thick lips to leave quite an impression.

As well, the rest of the special effects here are quite fun. The experimentation of the episode comes from the implementation of the creatures' origins as we see the creature emerge off the steel pipes in the factory. The glowing orb increasing in size to become as if a living organism sprouting out of the pipe is impressive where it looks quite realistic festering and growing until it produces the full-size creature in the next shot sleeping in the middle of downtown Tokyo. The slow dissolve into the sky when it disappears is a fine cheaply-done tactic to get it out of the scene rather nicely, while the miniature city featuring the military confronting the creature looks quite well-detailed even without the explosions going off around it.

The one area it suffers somewhat slightly is in the set for the final battle, where the water-dam confrontation takes place. An effort is certainly made to incorporate the live-action shots of the Science Patrol on a real-life dam rescuing the children to give this some cohesive imagery and a sense it's taking place at the same location but the actual battleground is a bleak, barren spot on the shore with a few trees to denote the forest location. That this is noticeably above the water-line instead of blending together into one equal footing, making the set-bound shoot quite obvious.

Other Factors:

Beyond the already-mentioned aspects, two other elements in the episode need to be brought up. The main one is the surprising manner Ito is treated throughout the episode, yet in a strange sort of irony he's proven right the entire time but is constantly shot down in a manner that makes for some surprising connections to their history. While the outright bizarre notion that a military-based unit trying to fight off giant monsters by not fighting it and just letting it sleep before dealing with preventing it from occurring again when it's not around is a new idea, the dismissal format here makes it seem as if the idea is bordering on blasphemy. The very notion that the group would just charge head-first into battle against the creature and use as much weaponry as they can muster makes it seem rather weird when there's no rationality to the decision compared to the thoughtful analysis brought to the table by Ito. This is a strange inclusion brought about by the writing and causes the scene to become very clunky as a result trying to normalize why they should abandon a well-thought-out plan for a rushed one. Also, a minor note to be had here is the heartwarming finale which adds a unique touch in that the children are furious with Ultraman for seemingly-destroying Gavadon and then becoming more sympathetic to him once learning that he's enabled the creature to be a night-time star to be observed by them. Rather than be automatically on his side because he's fighting the enemy monster, the idea that they want their own monster to win gives the defeat and handling of the creature adds a different spin to everything which helps to stand out quite nicely.

Overview: ***.5/5
While there are some intriguing setups in the storyline that aren't always executed to it's potential, the monster mayhem is still highly enjoyable and helps to overcome enough issues to be a worthwhile episode. It's not one of the best or more important ones in the series but this is still a solid comfort-level piece for those binging through the series as a whole.