"Ultra Q" drama from.... 1966(!), episode eighteen 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 eighteenth episode was 28.9% 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 twelfth show. That had one of the better creatures to date which was called Larugeus and was presumed to be extinct. But was reawakened by humans and that bird's wing span was 43 meters! The other creature was named Garamon, it was controlled by a meteor called Garadama.  The meteor had come from outer space and though the goofy monster was bested at the end of the thirteenth show it made a return in episode sixteen but even then it was never fully defeated.

    After this post will just be having two creatures as I caught up with them fairly quickly.  My top creature to date is the one in the first two screenshots who was named Pegulia. It was first in the sixth show and then made a return for episode fourteen, this was another monster thought to have been extinct. Pegulia was from the Antarctic and for his second appearance had made it all the way to Tokyo where it appeared he would destroy the city by freezing it!!!! The creature in the bottom two screenshots wasn't a true monster and was from episode fifteen. Kanegon was the name of this creature who was actually a twelve year old boy named Kaneo who had fallen into a large cocoon and this was the most bizarre episode to date. KANE in Japanese means money so that's where the name of the little boy and 'creature' came from.

 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.... 

The Rainbow's Egg

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!

 

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

Episode thirteen: Garadama .... Episode fourteen: Tokyo Ice Age

Episode fifteen: Kanegon's Cocoon .... Episode sixteen: Garamon Strikes Back!

 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 ended up being one of the best episodes. Any kind of video is hard to find so kept it here so you can see what the show is like to an extent and do highly recommend this drama, especially the Black and White version.

   

 

 

 There's still ten episodes to view and recap which may sound like a lot. In a way it is but have been enjoying this series immensely so think I continue zipping through them until the end and when that happens need to make a decision or two.... which is what to watch next???? So few dramas these days interest me and really zero movies as these older shows and films are so much better than anything that airs these days though a few Korean dramas have been top notch but those episodes are often too long. It's not easy finding older shows such as this and one huge reason is because it was so unique. Have found some older sci-fi/mystery dramas but none have been subbed so after this series is complete may stick with older horror movies for a while and seems viewers do enjoy reading about them. On to this recap and above is this episode's monster Pagos who wasn't from outer space unlike the last 3-4 new creatures. Above that is a screenshot of a new city being built whose name was never mentioned though sure it doesn't matter so let's get to what took place.

 That first screenshot above shows a very important object which was the key to the whole story. It's shaped like a huge ball and it's a very rare form of Uranium which is being shipped to that new city being built as it will power it's new nuclear plant. Obviously being Uranium means it's very powerful and dangerous yet was being shipped by a lone truck over a very narrow and unsafe mountain pass. Those are the two drivers above in the second screenshot who were marveling at the new city and how they wished to live there, at this point very few people had moved in. Shortly after while on the mountain pass the sky became pitch dark but even worse was that there was an avalanche which sent the truck rolling down a steep ravine. It appeared the two drivers were dead but above you can see that they ended up in the hospital though one had gone a tad crazy! Have found it kind of odd how Jun, Ippei and Yuriko have unofficially become the 'saviors' of Japan for when there's any kind of major catastrophe it's those three who are in the middle of the action and often have saved mankind!!!!

 They were the first on the scene to interview the drivers at the hospital though before that the trio of 'heroes' had checked out the crash site via Jun's helicopter. The Mystery to this crash was what became of the huge ball of rare Uranium which can be radioactive and who knows what harm it could cause to a mountain forest plus the new city? The drivers had said just after it became dark a Rainbow appeared, it was odd how a few minutes after that was said another one spanned the sky which is in an above screenshot. To me it didn't look like much of a rainbow but it was in black and white, this rainbow could also be considered a bad omen. Above you can also see a group of kids and you'll be seeing more of them as they were a bit important to the story. The leader/oldest of the group is the girl above with ponytails and she was nicknamed Piko. The children were all visiting their grandmother who happens to love Bamboo shoots so their goal was to find some in the forest. Which they did but when they gave grandma the present her expression changed to a worried one as this present was Sazame Bamboo which is supposed to bring bad luck. However grandma couldn't tell her grandchildren that so said it could be the sign of good luck, especially if it's combined with a Rainbow Egg and more on that soon.

 Grandma's name was never said so will keep calling her that, she hasn't been able to walk for a while and is confined to a wheelchair. The story of the Rainbow Egg is that when a rainbow appears you put a special egg under it and you will be granted a wish, most of the children dreamt of toys and such. But not the older Piko who said if she could get one wish it would be for her grandmother to walk again. The two truck drivers transporting the huge ball of Uranium had said when they stopped for a break they picked up off the ground a Sazame Bamboo flower which was starting to bloom, shortly after is when the tragedies began. Jun seems to know all about science and had heard a tale of this rare Bamboo. The full story that he knew wasn't revealed but enough was, Jun said many years ago this Sazame Bamboo flower had sprouted in Beijing and shortly after a monster arose from the beneath the city. It's name was Pagos and legend has it the creature may have been created by a combination of this rare Uranium and the Sazame Bamboo but only when it bloomed. So Jun has deduced that Pagos is now on the loose, that wasn't an avalanche that almost killed the drivers but Pagos escaping from the mountain as it usually prefers to live underground.... was that all a bit confusing? It could be and one other mystery that just popped into my head was if this Pagos was the one from China or a new creature that was recently 'born'?

 In the middle screenshot above is Pagos and he was one of the more horrific monsters to date, he can also spew out a beam that is golden but quite destructive. This new city needs to capture the monster soon for on the way to the city were a pair of Neo Neutron Missiles and why would a city in the middle of nowhere need them? Don't know but perhaps there will be some sort of major science lab in the city, if a creature such as Pagos should ever destroy them who knows how large the tragedy could be?! That group of children were out hunting for a Rainbow Egg and it has to be a special one to put under a rainbow so your wish can be granted but not sure what special meant. It could mean something similar to the huge Uranium ball which did resemble an egg and that would be special enough to grant a wish. You can see that object above and Piko had found it in the mountain but so hadn't the monster Pagos and did say how it was attracted to Uranium as it may get it's powers from the substance. That ball of Uranium was quite large and there was no way Piko could lift it so she began to roll it down the mountain and luckily for her none of the Uranium leaked out. Not so lucky for her was that the massive monster Pagos noticed her stealing his 'power' and as you can see above had Piko in it's sights!

 Final segment, what took place are the above screenshots and the first three below with the ones after those featuring more of what took place in this episode. There was one huge advantage for Piko being much smaller than a 200 foot monster as it was easy for her to hide which she did in a ditch and rolling into it was the Uranium ball, that was unnoticed by Pagos. Don't know if losing that Uranium made Pagos angry to the Nth degree but soon after he went on a rampage and as you can see above took after Godzilla in making mincemeat of a city! Those two Neutron missiles can take out Pagos but because Piko had been near the creature on the mountain they couldn't be fired so saving one girl meant a whole city may be possibly leveled? Sometimes it's best not to wonder but soon enough Pagos was isolated and the missiles were fired with them being direct hits!

 It may be hard to tell but in the third to last screenshot the shell of Pagos began to crack, when it fell to the ground it was in a thousand pieces. We presume it's dead but noticed in this series that's not always the case and I do have a feeling we'll see this monster again. In the final minute Jun, Ippei and Yuriko were able to locate Piko on the mountain, she never get to put the 'egg' under a rainbow. But as Jun told her this was no egg but something very dangerous but didn't tell her it was Uranium. However the object was very special because for no reason Piko's wish was granted even without a rainbow. Arriving on the scene was her grandmother who was so overjoyed to see Piko safe and sound that she arose out of her wheelchair and began to walk, the second screenshot below. So a miracle ended this episode and every show has been a winner so far though wish we saw more of he monster Pagos, been zipping through this drama so the next pair of recaps should be in 2-3 days.