‘Ultra Q’ Review

After obtaining this very first installment that started what would eventually be the Ultra Franchise in mid-September of this year, I was FINALLY able to finish the series before 2013 ends. Now, I know that the first series in the Ultra Franchise, Ultra Q, does not have a Ultraman in it (for those that don’t know), but I was well aware of that before purchasing the newly released DVD of the complete series by the amazing folks at SHOUT! Factory.

So, why no Ultraman or an iteration of one of the Ultramen in this series? well, Eiji Tsuburaya, the creator of the Ultra Franchise, wanted the show to be more like The Twilight Zone and to have less kaiju involved – however, a lot of the episodes in this 28 episode-long series had quite a bit of monsters in it. The kaiju varied in size, ranging from the traditional giant monster-size to smaller-than-human-size. Although, there were a handful of episodes that did not have monsters in them at all, and focused on more mysterious, bizarre phenomena/anomalies.

Anywho, the series was originally going to be named Unbalance, but Mr. Tsuburaya eventually changed the name to Ultra Q – in inspiration to both “Oba-Q”, which is an anime character’s nickname in a popular anime series, Obake no Q-Taro, and “Ultra C” which is a term used for the women’s gymnastics  team in the 1964 Summer Olympics.

The show does have quite a bit of familiar faces, most particularly from the Godzilla franchise. The main cast are Kenji Sahara (plays as Jun Manjome), Hiroko Sakurai (plays as Yuriko Edogawa, and which she then plays as Akiko Fuji for the remainder of the Ultra Franchise, starting w/ Ultraman) and Yasuhiko Saijou (plays as Ippei Togawa). Other familiar faces that we’ll see in the show are Yoshifumi Tajima, Hiroshi Koizumi, Hideyo Amamoto, Hisaya Ito, Nadao Kirino, etc.

Some of the kaiju that you’ll see in this show that you will eventually see return for Ultraman and a couple that were from different films, but using other names. Ones that you’ll see in Ultraman are Peguila (also known as Chandrah), Garamon (also known as Pigmon for the remainder of the Ultra Franchise), Ragon, and Kemur (which is seen in many Ultra Franchise shows). And like I mentioned a couple sentences ago that there are a couple kaiju from different films with different names – such as Maguma from Gorath that was given the name of Todora and then Manda from Atragon which was simply named The Dragon. Also, there is a monster in this show that could have had a lot of inspiration and almost has the same name to Gamera – Gameron is a turtle that appears to be friends with children and flies too, just like Gamera.

Now, as far as the Ultra Q television show goes, it really has The Twilight Zone vibe that Eiji Tsuburaya was going for and has that strange, mysterious and bizarre atmosphere to it.

The episodes are very well done and don’t have that much cheapness in them. The stories are very good and goes in-depth, even for a show that has episodes that are under 30-minutes long. The characters are portrayed nicely consistent and get to know them well, unlike shows such as The Twilight Zone or The Outer Limits where you’ll see different main characters in different episodes. So it’s nice to see the same cast throughout the series. It’s also strange to see our beloved Toho actors/actresses being in such a strange series, but we get to see them outside of the Godzilla Franchise and how they act differently towards other kaiju.

The special effects that were used in the show are pretty damn good for a 30-minute TV show back in the late 1960s. I also must say that the show itself as aged pretty well.

So now, is Ultra Q definitely worth a watch overall? Yes, it’s definitely worth looking at  and it’s also very enjoyable. If you’re a lover of not just the daikaiju genre, but also the strange Twilight Zone and/or Outer Limits-like shows, then this is something that’s right up your alley. Plus, if you’re that person that wants to watch all of the Ultra Franchise shows and films, then this is a definite must watch.

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