BONUS: 'Ultraman' [TV] [1966-7]
Is Godzilla in it? Not really, unless you count Jirass. Godzilla Connection: Tsuburaya Productions show
Sub or Dub? Dub
I watched about 8 episodes, I think, of 'Ultraman', a TV show I had never come across previously, to coincide with my viewing of Jet Jaguar in 'Godzilla vs. Megalon'. It's a fairly simple show to get into, aimed towards younger viewers with easy to understand plots, cosy repetitions, some slapstick and, of course, monster battles.
Many shows can claim a 'Monster of the Week' theme ('X files' and 'Smallville' spring to mind), but 'Ultraman' has them beat. Each episode literally has a new monster for Ultraman to fight. Coming up with new kaiju is probably no mean feat, and so it's not surprising that some fare better than others.
The show revolves around the Science Patrol, a team whose job it is to fight monsters until Ultraman turns up, apparently. They are led by the forever-pipe-sucking Capt. Mura (I never once saw that pipe lit), who must have drawn the short straw with the team he ends up with. Ito is the comic relief buffoon, whom I wouldn't trust with a pair of scissors, let alone the high-tech armory he's allowed near. Arashi isn't much better, all gung-ho but not blessed in the brains Dept either. Fuji is the token female but actually comes across as more capable than most of her colleagues. She has a younger brother, Hoshino, who for some reason gets to hang out with this seemingly Top Secret, High Level Security outfit. Then there is Hayata, the mild-mannered reporter for the Daily Planet... No, wait, that can't be right.
The show takes a number of comic book tropes and mixes them together. Hayata gets his Ultraman powers in a Green Lantern type of way, I believe (I managed to skip the first episode somehow), and keeps his identity secret from his colleagues. By pressing a Beta capsule, he transforms into the giant Ultraman, who is fortunately the same size as all the monsters. Ultraman is mute and has a special arm maneuver that releases a ray of some kind, which monsters don't like. His powers are linked to the sun and he can become weak over the course of some fights, with a blinking button on his chest warning of his distress. After dispensing with the monster that week, Hayata reappears in a "I was over there, sorting something else out at the time" way a la the Man of Steel.
Hayata doesn't transform until the last 5-10 minutes of each show, leaving his friends and colleagues to struggle with potentially deadly monsters for more time than necessary. (What a jerk.) The fact that the Science Patrol never succeed on their own leads me to wonder why people keep calling for their help, unless they know that Ultraman will show up and save their asses once again.
It's not a show that completely bored me, but I'm in no hurry to watch any more either. If I had grown up with this, though, I'm sure I would have felt a little kinder towards it.