Ultraman (1966) Episode 5 Review

The Kaiju for this episode is Greenmons, who uses a muclic spray to weaken its foes, then goes in for the kill via smothering. To be honest, it was kinda of pain to capture a proper shot of this creature, and it didn’t help that it doesn’t really have a decent form. It looks like a weird green oven mitt of sorts with plant-like vines and leaves grafted onto it. With this episode you’re not going to get much of an outstanding Ultraman fight, but the antics of Ide make up for it.

Our story starts with a couple of random cats being murdered by said Greenmons, which causes the Science Patrol to be brought in to investigate the matter. They manage to deduce that the killer is a plant creature and that all the victims carried a picture of a plant known as the Miloganda. Hayata and Cap head off to an arboretum to try to locate said plant and the Doctor who had brought it to Japan from the Osiris Islands. Normally I wouldn’t bring up such a tiny bit of where they are going, but well, here:

I think we now know the inspiration for the Death Egg in the Sonic the Hedgehog Series.

They find out the Doctor had been murdered and the plant gone from where it had been resting. Cap and Hayata also find out that the Doctor had been trying to “enhance” the plant via radiation techniques. At this point the gang figures out that the Doctor had been with a group of people when he retrieved the plant, all of whom had been murdered by the mysterious plant creature except for the photographer. The Science Patrol then try to protect said photographer, leading to a fight between Arashi and Greenmons first in his normal human-size state, then in his more gigantic state of being. When Arashi is affected by the monster’s green mist, Ultraman must jump in to save the day via the Specium Ray.

Now normally I would put a bit more into this particular synopsis before jumping into thoughts on the technical production, but there really wasn’t too much to this episode, and it didn’t help that the Kaiju was kind of a pushover for the most part. I did think it was good that they started out with the Kaiju as a normal human-sized creature, just because the design really didn’t lend to well to any serious fight with Ultraman. The good part about this episode is that we got some really nice bits with Ide, whose comical demeanor really help keep the episode from dragging along on its’ heels:

Ide, with the face that a mother could love.

Masanari Nihei and his character are becoming another favorite part of the show for me and he can interject some welcome relief from the overserious-minded Science Patrol, whether it’s being constantly knocked around by Arashi, trying to look buff while talking to the photographer, or stretching out in the morning in his suit. With how bad the Kaiju looked and knowing it was going to be a quick Ultraman battle (probably one of the fastest I’ve seen so far), the pace of the show was dictated around Ide, as things seemed to flow better when he was spazzing out.

To close things out here, I am on the fence about this episode. If you’re going to watch for the fx and to see a good Ultraman battle, I would skip this episode. If you do like further character development and general Ide silliness, then go ahead and check this one out. Schwatch!