"Ultra Q" drama from.... 1966(!), episode nine of 28 recap

 

 Air Dates: January 2nd until July 3rd, 1966 though episode #28 didn't air until December 14th

Sundays at 7:00 pm on TBS, 28 total episodes that were 25+ minutes in length. Created by Eiji Tsuburaya, directed by his oldest son Hajime.

Subs by Tgwoe, screenshot dimensions 1436 x 1076(4:3). This classic series also has a color version but I prefer older shows/films in Black and White as that seems to give off a more creepy vibe which the subber also thought.

Ratings: **** Didn't find the ratings until the ninth episode but did update the first eight shows. This series had such high ratings but back in 1966 there were only a few regular stations and no cable. This drama ran opposite another sci-fi show called "W3" which was very popular and before this series began had an average rating of 23%. However "Ultra Q" was much more popular and the other show slipped below 10%!!!! The average rating  for these 28 episodes was 32.4%, the rating for this ninth episode was 32.4% and will update this section for each show. 

 In the middle are the main three characters, who they are will be revealed below. The man on the left end is Eiji Tsuburaya and he is the #1 special effects man/director of all time in Japan. He did all of the special effects for the classic TOHO films such as creating the costumes, sets, etc. and of course most reading this have seen the "Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan" and other movies. This TV series was the first of it's kind in Japan and Tsuburaya had created this series where he didn't want the focus to be on monsters but the story which was the format for the old American series "Outer Limits". But TOHO wanted his unique monsters and there will be a different one in each show, will update this top section now and again with more trivial tidbits.

 Below are the two monsters for episode one, on the top is Gomes(s) who does look similar to Godzilla, Tsuburaya had access to all of his old costumes so would often mix them up such as the head from a 1965 film, the body from a 1961 movie and so on. Litolaria is the name of the second monster though no destructive one as it saved the day and destroyed Gomes! Of course there's been many other monsters since then but will leave this pair up for a while. Not every episode will have an original monster as in the second show it was just a very massive monkey and think on occasion the 'enemy' will be aliens from space.

**** Have thought of a new feature and will replace this one soon. Think I may wait until the eleventh episode(did do it!) and then start listing all of the monsters that have appeared in an episode. Will have a screenshot or two plus a mini bio of the creature. Think that would turn out well but the problem could be would that section become too large?

 Main Cast: Though it appears this had nothing to do with the "Ultraman" franchise in a way it does as this series is considered to be it's forerunner. The first "Ultraman" series began a little bit after this show ended and there's not enough time to talk about that show and it's movies which I do recommend. Hiroko Sakurai who plays the reporter Yuriko in this show is quite known for her "Ultraman" work as she was in the first series plus a few more after that along with being in many of the movies. Will do some editing and adding as we go along though not as much as other dramas, the top three are by far the main characters. There will be many monsters in this series, perhaps one per episode! Won't give any details about them at the top but will talk about them during the recap.

**** Not sure how to explain this and perhaps it doesn't need it. But when the show opens a narrator tells us what we are about to watch will be something extraordinary, is what we view real or just a part of our imagination? A screenshot of that is above and that's how the American series "Outer Limits" also opened and at the end the viewers were asked to think again with about what we viewed, to date this show hasn't done that. Every episode has it's own title, this episode's is....

Baron Spider

Kenji Sahara as Jun Manjome.... Don't think any actor was in more of the classic TOHO monster films than Sahara was between 1954 to 1975 and also in four "Ultraman" series! Jun is a pilot for Hoshikawa Airlines, he can fly both planes and copters. Though a pilot Jun does dream of becoming a best selling sci-fi writer, he's also adept with guns and how that came to be is a mystery. Plus Jun is a master with cars and could have been a racer, one last thing is that Jun loves science which is how he and his mates are friends with Professor Ichinotani.

Yasuhiko Saijou as Ippei Togawa.... Jun's assistant at Hoshikawa Airlines but Ippei doesn't have any licenses yet but is close to getting one for flying helicopters. Bit of a goofball but seems to be much more intelligent than others think, Jun must see that too as he does trust Ippei fully.

Hiroko Sakurai as Yuriko Edogawa.... On the left below, will have a different pic in the future. 21 year old reporter for the Mainichi Shimbun(daily news) paper. Yuriko is the youngest at the newspaper but her editor Seki believes fully in her and sends Yuriko out on the harder stories such as the mysterious and unexplainable....

Ureo Egawa as Professor Ichinotani.... We finally met this older professor in the third episode. Know very little to date about him such as how did Jun and his mates come to be friends with this man who is ultra intelligent. Though him and the next character Seki are important to the drama each will only be in about half the episodes.

Yoshifumi Tajima as Seki.... Yuriko's editor at Mainichi Shimbun(daily news), older man who acts tough though is a softie and often gives Yuriko the stranger/mysterious cases. Not a huge role but an important one and in the second episode Seki was the Hero!

 There will be many guest characters in this series but may not include any of their names unless that part goes for two episodes or it's someone very famous. 

Previous recaps: There is no ongoing storyline but all of the shows have been entertaining so here are the links to all of the recaps done.

Episode one: Gomes .... Episode two: Goro and Goro .... Episode three: A Gift From Space

Episode four: Massive Flower .... Episode five: Pegulia .... Episode six: Grow Turtle!

Episode seven: SOS Mount Fuji .... Episode eight: Terror of the Sweet Honey

 There aren't many but a few videos of this show on YT, mostly short scenes. Here's one that's about ninety seconds that features a half minute promo clip, the music is quite cool and so isn't the extremely odd creature! Added this video in for the fifth show, will try to find another and if successful will add it in for episode nine.

 

 

 

 In the last recap was saying how much I liked the way Japanese women looked back in the 1960's. This series has had and will have some attractive stars from that era with the top looker perhaps being the above woman who is Eiko Wakabayashi, sometimes Eiko was pronounced Akiko. She was quite a busy actress back in the 1960's and had so many huge roles, two were in Godzilla films. But Eiko's main  claim to fame was of her role in the 1967 James Bond film "You Only Live Twice". She had been cast in a minor role but because of the fact Eiko spoke English so well she ended up with the very large and key role of Suki(Aki). Don't think I've ever seen that one, do like Bond films but only the ones starring Sean Connery so will put that on my to watch list. Eiko was born in 1939 and seemed to retire in the early 1970's but don't know if it was because she got married as there was no info that she ever did but does often appear on DVDs for 1960's movies doing commentaries and/or interviews. Here's two more photos of her and wasn't she one super duper looking woman! 

 If nothing else least you can at least say you've often learned many trivia facts in these recaps! In this episode Eiko played the guest role of Kyoko and it's a shame we won't see her again but perhaps you will as I have been doing some reviews for 1960's films and have seen a few she's appeared in. This turned out be such a terrific show, would say it's been the second best one to date and had there been a bit more horror it may have been #1. There are nineteen more shows to go so sure at least one will top the fifth episode which has been my favorite to date. There was a huge monster in this show and you can see below what the creature was, my only complaint is that no one was killed from being spun in it's web! **** Finally found the ratings for this series and added a mini section for them at the very top so also went back and updated all of the previous recaps.

 The opening scene wasn't all that long but it did feature the only death in this episode.... or were there two deaths?! The location was a lighthouse and the man in the third screenshot is Nagai who was the boss of the overnight shift. His assistant Takei is in the top screenshot, he had just received a message from their HQ about the beam lights looking very odd. Takei went up to the lighthouse's top floor where the light was and waiting for him was the creature in the second screenshot! Which was a humungous spider, one about a thousand times the size of one in a house. Takei screamed for help but to no avail as this spider ended his life and did wonder how, would presume by a bite. Dashing up after hearing the screams was Nagai, he saw the massive spider and tried to escape. Not sure if he did and would have to think he didn't which would be the second and final death of this show. That was the last we saw of the spider for a while but it'll be making a return.... along with it's partner! Near the lighthouse while it was being attacked were the trio in the fourth screenshot who are the main characters of the drama. Jun the pilot was driving, in the backseat was his assistant at Hoshikawa Airlines Ippei and the woman was the Mainichi Shimbun reporter Yuriko. The friends had been out for a fun evening and it just wasn't those three as there was a car trailing them with three more party goers.

 That threesome consisted of Kyoko and did talk about Eiko in the intro. Also in the car was Hayama who had a beard, the final person was a man named Takehara. They were following Jun who said he knew a shortcut that went near the lighthouse but somehow got lost and the six had no clue where they were, for the first time Jun made a mistake! Ippei and Takehara went into the nearby forest hoping to find a road just beyond it but had no success. As a matter of fact it was a mini tragedy as Ippei and Takehara fell into a marsh, it was so dark the other four had a hard time finding the pair. But they were eventually found, Ippei seemed shaken but wasn't too badly hurt. Couldn't say the same for Takehara who had passed out and was shivering uncontrollably, warm shelter needs to be found soon! Kyoko thought she saw a light through the trees, as it shows in the second to last screenshot it was a mansion.... one that looked to be haunted! There was no answer at the front door and it happened to be unlocked, the six went in and Takahara was laid on a couch to recover and by now had awoken. In the bottom screenshot is the drama's main 'hero' Jun, he was talking with Hayama about the situation. To Hayama Kyoko hadn't seen a light from inside the house but instead a reflection on a window from the lighthouse. But that was still okay as the group did need a place to spend the night and it appeared this mansion was abandoned.... but only from humans and not massive spiders!!!!

 Episodes are a little over 25 minutes in length which is perfect but do wish this had gone on for another five to flesh out the story a bit. So Takehara is resting though he may need all night to recover, Ippei had been hurt too from his fall into the marsh but is much better. The huge house had been searched and no others were found, it did appear no one had lived there for a while. During the search Jun had noticed many pictures and other objects of spiders, now he knew what this place was which in a way was both historical and horrifying. Jun related the tale of this house and all thought Jun was telling a fictional horror story as his friends were terrified but the tale was true! The mansion had been owned by a man the villagers dubbed as Baron Spider for his love of the small creatures. The Baron had lived here 90 years ago or during the 1870's, also living at the mansion was his daughter Reiko and no mention was made of a wife. The Baron had just received a very rare Tarantula from Europe and it was his prized possession. However on the day of Reiko's wedding somehow the spider had escaped from it's cage(?), entered her room and bit Reiko! Tarantulas do have a poisonous bite but it's usually not fatal to humans and Reiko hadn't died. But she did have a massive meltdown and tore down to that nearby marsh where she threw the spider into it. Legend has it the marsh is bottomless, in her fury Reiko slipped in and was never heard from again!!!!

 So that's one urban legend but the story didn't end there as the villagers said Reiko came back to life.... as a Tarantula!!!! You have to remember this old tale took place in the 1870's and those kinds of stories were believed much more back then. There was yet one other rumor which is that when Reiko came back to life as a Tarantula she returned home and lived with her father who had become a bit deranged at what happened to his daughter, not much was ever heard from the Baron again who eventually passed away. So that was one long tale Jun told him mates, some of that story is in the above screenshots. After that the search continued in the house for food, water and whatever else, Jun went to the top floor where he fell asleep in a bed for a few minutes. When he arose Jun thought he saw a huge spider on the ceiling above him, he presumed it had to be a mirage but we viewers knew it wasn't. Meanwhile Hayama had found a wine cellar and brought a bottle up, there's no better way to spend a night than getting sloshed! Hayama tried giving some to Takehara to pep him up but he knocked the bottle to the ground. Not to worry said Hayama who returned to the cellar to get more bottles, however as he was grabbing some appearing behind him was.... a massive spider! Everyone was worried about where Hayama was, they dashed to the cellar and found a knocked out Hayama but he was still alive. Kyoko had been on the hunt for water to give Takehara, she did find a tap but while filling up a glass what should appear behind her but yet another humungous spider so there had to be more than one.

 Those first two parts were longer than usual but so much did happen in the first 18-20 minutes. But it was also longer with personal thoughts because with what took place it makes us viewers think of what else may have been going on that hadn't been shown and that's a part of this drama's 'theme/moral'. Small spiders can zip right around, you wouldn't think such a massive one could yet it was very fast and agile. The spider that was on the top floor, which was of course from the Tarantula family, finally headed downstairs and found Takehara still recovering on the couch but he was in no shape to defend himself. He screamed and that was heard by the others who dashed to his aid, Kyoko was among them so she somehow escaped from that second spider. As you can see in the second screenshot for the first time the spider shot it's liquid at Ippei and that liquid is called Cribellate Silk. You learn so much in these recaps and also looked up what the Japanese word for Spider is which is Kumo. Baron in Japanese is Damshaku so the title of this episode could also be known as Damashaku Kumo! Back to the story and wish we saw more of that spider liquid, not enough was used on Ippei who was able to free himself. Jun battled the second spider and was able to defeat it thanks to a huge knife he had found, the six quickly tore out of this haunted mansion.

 But just one spider was defeated, now the other now wanted revenge and as you can see chased the group over the marshy land. There was a thin bridge the six had to cross it while it was slowly sinking, one wrong step and that person would fall into an abyss to their death! But the group was successful though so wasn't this monster Tarantula, Jun had a problem starting his car and the spider caught up. But the engine finally turned over and Jun zoomed away with Ippei and Yuriko, he hit the spider but not enough to kill it. At the same time the mansion began to crumble and as the screenshots show it also caught on fire, the whole place was destroyed. Shortly after this second spider just stopped living and fell to the ground, had it been kept alive by the mansion's curse? That we will never know but all six did survive though all were very shook up, the episode ended with the narrator saying those words in the above bottom two screenshots. That also ends this recap and after writing this up will now say this has moved into a tie with episode five for being the best show. Just wish we saw the spiders being a bit more violent but back in 1966 an episode such as this would be considered to be very terrifying, The next post is for the tenth show which I haven't viewed yet, did take a few more screenshots than usual and many of them are below which help explain the story a bit better.