Please Don't Feed My Kaiju - Ultraman E02

Ultraman E02 - "Shoot the Invader"

Alien Baltan is incinerating the city!

We continue our kaiju madness with episode 02 of Ultraman. "Shoot the Invader" is closer to what I expected from the series than episode 01. There's a ton of kiddy comic relief. I'm not complaining. The punchline at the end of the episode even made me laugh.


This tale is narrated by the goofiest Science Patrol squad member Ito. Aliens have arrived via invisible flying saucer and are freezing everyone in sight. Japanese officials agree to let the Science Patrol send Ito and Hayata to investigate after their first man is frozen. The space creatures, known as Alien Baltan, confuse their enemies with optical illusions and then freeze them with laser beams from their claws. The Science Patrol rayguns don't have much effect on the aliens, so Hayata decides to take a diplomatic approach. The aliens, using the Patrol's own affected member as a mouthpiece, explain that they have destroyed their own planet and are here to take over earth. It turns out that the Alien Baltan brought 60 billion of their own microscopic race and they're all hovering in the sky in their invisible ship. The creature we saw earlier is their biggest member. Hayata says screw that, and all hell breaks loose. The Baltan grows to 50 meters and smashes Hayata with its giant claw (!). Soon it starts tearing apart the city. Hayata, of course, uses his capsule, transforming into Ultraman and vanquishing his foe (and the space ship).


While the pre-fight plot is certainly juvenile in tone, it's never stupid. I didn't laugh at the childish joke about Ito wearing slippers, but I didn't get offended either. I liked to use of Ito as narrator. Ultraman definitely surprised me there, showing that it's not a one man show. Other characters show up again, like the charming little boy, yet the focus is really on Ito and Hayata. This episode did a good job building a connection with the two. I really hope Ito gets some more major roles. 


The empty building full of humans frozen in mid motion was kind of neat. The episode, despite its short length, really put over  the danger of the alien invasion. There's a scene showing a deliberation of Japanese officials and Science Patrol about how to handle the menace. The Alien Baltan really seemed more serious than Bemular from episode 01. The scene on the rooftop with the aliens speaking through the frozen Space Patrol member is actually really neat. I wouldn't go as far as to say it was creepy, but a little kid might be spooked by the monster. Really though, aside from a couple of Godzilla movies, the point of kaiju isn't to be scared but to see giant monsters fight!



The fight in this movie was a lot cooler than the first episode's cheesy wrestling. Most interestingly, it takes place at night. There are more model buildings too, as the fight takes place in a city as opposed to the rural area. My favorite scene in the show is when the Alien Baltan flamethrows and entire model skyscraper. Also of note is the show where Ultraman grabs the Baltan and flies with him through the silent night sky. The battle becomes an aerial dogfight, ending with the alien kaiju going down in flames. Despite being all of four minutes, I loved it all. The only thing negative I have to say is that the monster design wasn't nearly as appealing as the first episode. I guess I like the Godzilla rip off look of Bemular more than the insect-meets-crab look of this episode's monster. Nothing looked bad, but I've seen much cooler looking Ultra Monsters.


All in all, the show was very good. I liked it better than the first episode, even if the monster wasn't as cool. Ito makes a good lead protagonist. Special effects were really nice for the time, and the kaiju fighting was top notch for a short show like this. I'll continue watching the show and hope that the next episodes are as good!