"Ultra Q" drama from.... 1966(!), episode fourteen 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 fourteenth episode was 36.8% 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. 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.

 

**** This is a new feature that was added for the eleventh episode and will update it every other recap. This mini section will have the monsters/creatures that we have seen to date and you can see more of them as a bit further down are the links to all of the episodes. Will have two screenshots of the creature though not every show had one but the first episode had two. There's four screenshots below, the first pair are from the fourth show. There was no terrifying monster in that one but instead it was a massive flower which also happened to be the title of the episode. The flower wasn't alive as a monster would be but because it grew so quickly and large it became a menace when it grew would destroy everything in it's area. The next two are for the fifth episode and this was my favorite show to date. The action took place near the South Pole and the monster's name was Pegulia. It looked and acted similar to Godzilla, at the end the creature wasn't destroyed and think it will make one more appearance in the series.

In the sixth show the creature wasn't a monster again but a turtle which at first was normal sized. It grew to be much larger but still smaller than a human, this turtle did have the ability to fly but all in all this was kind of a goofy episode and was much of it from a young boy dreaming? To wrap these new creatures up are two screenshots from episode seven. This creature wasn't one from Earth for a meteorite had fallen and though it was crushed into a thousand pieces this rock reformed and became a violent monster!

 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 in it's same time slot 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.... 

Tokyo Ice Age

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. In episode fourteen did learn Hoshikawa Airlines was along the Tama River, that's 15 or so miles west of Tokyo.

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

Episode nine: Baron Spider .... Episode ten: The Underground Super Express

Episode eleven: Balloonga .... Episode twelve: I Saw A Bird

 There aren't many but a few videos of this show on YT, mostly short scenes. Added this video in for the eleventh show but it's a clip from episode fourteen which of course hasn't been recapped yet. But any kind of video is hard to find so added it in now so you can see what the show is like to an extent and do highly recommend this drama, especially the Black and White version.

   

 

 Have said a few times how the episodes weren't aired in the order they were filmed, that was the case for this episode and there was an excellent reason for it being delayed. The easy way to determine if an episode is being shown in order is by the length of the reporter's Yuriko's hair. When it's short such as it was in this episode it had been filmed early, almost a year before it was broadcast. Her longer hair was from the filming being done not too far in advance of when an episode was aired. Back in 1966 there was only one major Tokyo airport which was Haneda which is still is still open, some of this episode was set there. This show was going to air on February 13th however nine days prior there had been a crash off the coast of where Haneda was located. So it would have been in bad taste to air this show just after the tragedy so this episode was pushed back to April 14th.

 To date my favorite episode was the fifth show, it may help to read that recap but it's not entirely necessary. The monster right above is named Pegulia and he was also in that fifth episode which took place in the Antarctic. At the end of that episode Pegulia had been defeated but wasn't killed as he slithered off towards the South Pole and a snowstorm prevented anyone from following him. So Pegulia has come back and was more powerful than ever, it just wasn't him creating havoc in the world as something else was taking place on the South Pole which is why the monster left, of course everything will be discussed below. **** This marks the halfway point of this series and will take about a ten day break from viewing it as not to get tired of this drama. What I'm planning on doing is reviewing a pair of older films in the meantime from.... 1949! Both are semi-horror ones which I have never seen and both look so intriguing, one is called "Rainbow Man". The other is "The Invisible Man Appears" and it's loosely based upon the famous Wells novel. Those kind of unknown yet classic horror movies are my favorites and both are loosely connected though not sure how and in a week will have the first review. EDIT: There is a 1954 sequel to "The Invisible Man Appears" simply called "The Invisible Man". None of the cast in the original appeared in the second film but will recap that after the first as it makes sense to do so, will also be doing a review for "Rainbow Man" within the month.

 We did see a few shots of Haneda Airport such as the above ones but think they were created in the studio. This action packed episode began off with the first two screenshots as a jet was coming into it's landing approach at Haneda Airport. However a very odd occurrence took place, the wing flaps on the jet were frozen and it couldn't land. That second screenshot is of the jet seemingly hitting an invisible wall and crashing to the ground(!), it didn't hit anything in the air but plummeted because it was frozen solid! Not just the air but all of the Haneda Airport was a sheet of ice, the air traffic controllers radioed an SOS message but at first that call about the airport being frozen wasn't believed. It soon was when another plane crashed due to the same problem and was this 'ice storm' just happening at Haneda Airport? At first it was though soon enough it will move on to Tokyo, more coming up where this 'Ice Age' came from. **** What I learned in this episode is that the airfield of Hoshikawa Airlines where Jun and Ippei work is located near the Tama River. That's about 24 km from Tokyo or 15 miles which is why much of the action takes place in Tokyo though just as many stories have taken place somewhere else in Japan and even the South Pole!

 Tokyo is the main location for this episode's story and it's also where the newspaper Mainichi Shimbun is located. Their ace reporter is the young woman above who is Yuriko, while the conditions at the nearby Haneda Airport were brutal Tokyo was enjoying a nice Spring day and the airport is about 18 miles away. While on a street Yuriko met a young boy named Haruo Sawamura who was about twelve in age, that's him above and remember that last name. Haruo had no clue who Yuriko was but said he had traveled alone to Tokyo from Akita which is about.... 280 miles to the north!!!!! Haruo was looking for his father who had come to the Tokyo area for work, nothing was ever said about his mother. This young boy did interest Yuriko and she thought what a heartwarming story that would be if she could help Harou locate his missing father. However Yuriko's editor Seki squashed that story for now, of course the major development was at Haneda Airport and he wants her on the story.... NOW! The father of Harou is named Teruo Sawamura and has been missing for six months or at least that's the last time he contacted his family, we're about to meet him and that's him in the second screenshot below.

At first we didn't see that much of Teruo Sawamura but we do in the final few minutes and though a criminal did turn out to be this episode's hero and savior of Tokyo! The first screenshot is of Ippei reading that day's newspaper, the lead story was about a jewel heist and the robber netted seven million yen, guess who the thief was? Teruo Sawamura but am getting slightly ahead of myself as he didn't admit that until later on but we are about to meet the man. By now news of the icy conditions at Haneda Airport had made the headlines, Jun told Ippei perhaps they better head to Tokyo and see if they could be of any help as their area and plane were still A-OK. However in the plane was the man in the second screenshot, that's Teruo Sawamura and to Jun it appeared the man was sleeping it off for in one hand was a bottle of whiskey. Teruo was brought into their office and remained sleeping, much more about him later. Jun called the Mainichi Shimbun office looking for Yuriko, she was out hunting for Haruo and finally found him. Her editor Seki filled in Jun on what was taking place and this wasn't just just a catastrophe in Tokyo but much of the southern part of Earth. Scientists have deduced that the South Pole was warming at a rapid pace and the pole was in a way melting, this happened because of an explosion at a nuclear plant in the Antarctic and the southern oceans and seas were rising at a rapid rate. Soon after the explosion what Tokyo was now experiencing had first happened in Australia and the Philippines so this could become a world wide tragedy!

 So you would think warm weather would be coming from the South Pole but as we've seen so far it's like the Ice Age and why? Not entirely sure on that but one reason could be because of a massive monster that was heading north for the South Pole wasn't warm enough for him. That monster's name is mentioned twice above, once each by Jun and Yuriko. Pegulia is the name of this prehistoric monster who we saw in the fifth episode, he was defeated at the South Pole but had slithered away and because of the icy conditions was able to escape. There's not enough time to describe to you everything about Pegulia so it could be a good idea to read the fifth recap to learn about him. But will tell you that the monster is quite huge, well over a hundred feet in height and was awaken from a thousand or so year slumber though scientists weren't exactly sure on why that happened. Pegulia can fire a very icy blast from it's mouth that sucks the air away and that can even make objects float in the air because even gravity has disappeared! You can see above what was happening in Tokyo, that black smoke is actually a freezing wind. You can also see Yuriko with the boy Haruo, the pair along with her editor Seki and one other reporter tried to escape the newspaper building. But their car was sucked up into the air by this anti-gravity breath of Pegulia, the car did crash but into a pile of soft snow so no one was hurt too badly. Pegulia does look a bit similar to Godzilla, like that monster Pegulia also loved to stomp on buildings and you can see his deadly icy breath above!

 Was just thinking that if this Ice Age storm had already hit countries such as Australia why wasn't Japan warned of this impending doom? Down to the final six minutes, the action is in the above screenshots and first four below. Teruo Sawamura had finally arose from his hangover and had a gun on him, he asked Jun and Ippei didn't they know know a thief always had a weapon(?) and admitted he was the thief who pulled off the huge jewelry heist. So I was left wondering did Teruo Sawamura come to Tokyo from Akita to work or pull off heists for were there others before this? Ippei is more intelligent than he looks and did recognize Sawamura who during the war was a 'hero' Zero Pilot, that refers to one of the top fighter planes for Japan during the war. So things hadn't been going well for Sawamura for he had to take up burglary, his plan was to steal Jun's Cessna and flee Japan but without his son Haruo? Jun told Sawamura his plan would be impossible because of Pegulia and this Ice Age storm. Right then entering the small airfield's office was Sawamura's son Haruo, he had somehow traveled close to twenty miles from Tokyo and you can see above how the conditions were there.... brutal to the Nth degree.... plus with a creature lurking!!!! The Mainichi Shimbun editor Seki had sent Haruo on this mission to find Jun and have him fly immediately to the Polar Plant Research Center which was located in the Japanese Alps which is only a hundred or so miles west of Tokyo.

 The only thing that can subdue Pegulia is a very rare form of Moss that somehow grew in the Antarctic, when the research team came back from its trip in episode five they brought some back to Japan with them. There wasn't a huge amount of this Moss so only one attack could be made on Pegulia, the scientists will mixed the Moss with some explosives and that should hopefully defeat Pegulia! When the elder Sawamura heard his son's story he told Jun only he was experienced enough to handle such a aviation task, Jun hated to do it but told Sawamura to take his plan and attack Pegulia! So Sawamura flew quickly to the research center where they loaded a bomb onto Jun's Cessna, Sawamura would have only one chance to defeat Pegulia. In the bottom screenshot above you can see how Tokyo now looks, Sawamura better hurry or the city may cease to exist! The bomb with the Moss and explosives was in the plane's front seat, there was no way to fire it so Sawamura had only one option which was a suicide mission as he would have to fly straight into Pegluia's mouth! Which Sawamura did and it was a direct hit so this jewel thief went from a wanted criminal to a hero with this one act! So it was a bitter sweet ending as Haruo's father was killed but then again his heroics did save Japan and possibly the Earth. The fourth screenshot below is how the episode ended with Haruo bringing his father's ashes back to Akita. There is one other minor note and once again the question the narrator asked was Pegulia killed or just defeated again? There are signs he may have survived and could make yet another appearance in this series. If so hope that would be a two episode story which was haven't had yet and that may help out because some of these endings are quite abrupt.