EJ
Hello, and welcome back to Watch Club! I’m EJ Couloucoundis, editor-in-chief of Ultraman Connection.
SL
And I’m Sarah Last, staff writer and content creator for Ultraman Connection.
EJ
Sarah, it is once again time for me to talk about my secret passion — underground safety. Sarah, do you remember the many, many lessons I talked to you about regarding cave safety in episode 16 of this very program?
SL
Uh… is this an open book test?
EJ
It is not. But upon checking back, some lunatics cut out my dozen-page underground safety lecture, due to, uh… “Being longer than the lifespan of an Ultra and impossibly boring content.”
Well.
Let’s talk about Episode 19, “Destroy Earthquake Epicenter X”!
SL
And we immediately open from the classic Ultraseven theme song to find — Dan and Soga getting berated by a very cranky scientist. I may not have studied underground cave safety in college, but yikes, I can relate to this all the same.
EJ
This is Professor Iwamura, of the, uh “International Nuclus Investigation Center,” and if there’s one thing you can be sure of, he is a busy man. Far too busy for the likes of the Ultra Guard. Luckily, his kind assistant Sakaki is there!
SL
Both Dan and Soga, and probably the audience, are in disbelief about how someone so seemingly cheerful and friendly could be working for such a hard-nosed, irritable professor! But Iwamura is also the foremost expert studying the Earth’s interior according to Captain Kiriyama, and they need his help solving the mystery behind a string of unexplained earthquakes throughout Japan.
One such tremor strikes a pair of women in the middle of a rally race, ruining their car, and their chances of victory. But they do come across a mysterious crystalline rock, shaken loose in a pile of debris.
EJ
These earthquakes are getting worse, and the Ultra Guard has noticed. They resolve to talk to Iwamura again — but come to the conclusion that honey might suit them better than vinegar, asking the ever-personable Anne to make the trip, along with Dan. When they get to the institute, however, Iwamura is gone, having left already, according to Sakaki.
SL
It may not be clear from our recap so far, but the episode has been doing a fantastic job setting up a comedic tone. Between Dan and Soga’s goofy faces, their uncharacteristic reluctance to face this one insurmountable challenge (the Professor is obviously far more terrifying than any alien or monster they’ve faced!), and the perfect timing on Anne nearly getting bowled over by Sakaki as he hauls out an absurdly tall stack of boxes from their office, it’s just a really fun set of scenes to enjoy.
Anyways, Sakaki is in such a rush because he’s delivering materials to Professor Iwamura, who is currently out in the field studying these seismic events. The Ultra Guard is dispatched to protect him and his findings, just in case the situation continues to escalate.
And this being Ultraseven… that seems like a safe bet.
EJ
That’s a bit of an understatement. The Ultra Guard blasts off to follow Iwamura, only to find the two racer women lost in the woods nearby. They make it to the house Iwamura is staying at, only to find no solid answers, only questions.
SL
The rock that the two racers found, Unobtanium-er, I mean Ultonium, confirms this worst-case scenario, since it could only have come from the Earth’s core. Sakaki and the Professor both fear that the Earth’s core itself could collapse if more material is removed from it!
Clearly, there’s only one option for our heroes to stop this threat! Deploy the Magmarizer!
Of course, that should be the appropriate course of action for any problem one might face. Budget shortfalls? Printer not working? Someone ate your sandwich in the staff lounge fridge? Bring out the giant drill tank!
EJ
The Magmarizer, as stated before, is one of the coolest parts of the series, and I think Tsuburaya realized that, which is why we got a higher-than-average number of underground adventures in Ultraseven.
SL
So many small details contribute to the feel of the show’s scope on a larger, more global scale. Having lots of different tools, tricks, and pieces of technology to apply to a wide range of threats makes it seem as if the Ultra Guard is thoroughly prepared for anything.
Unfortunately, this time they’ve been lured into a trap by that willingness to jump into action!
EJ
The Magmarizer is quickly trapped underground, and begins to heat up — it was prepared for the underground, but not heat approaching that of the planet’s core! Clearly the Ultonium mining has raised the heat dangerously.
SL
That’s not the only problem, as the heat quickly rises beyond what any of them are prepared to handle, the Magmarizer’s sensors pick up something else, similar to the same monstrous screech the racers heard before the earthquake struck…
EJ
Meanwhile, the situation back in the cabin is also heating up, as Sakaki pulls Anne aside to show her something — the professor’s shadow is alien! Thinking the worst, she backs away with him, just as the two young racers from before come across something Sakaki dropped on the way out — a bizarre device…
SL
Anne immediately trusts Sakaki because… I mean, why wouldn’t she? He’s been unfailingly polite, gracious and helpful to everyone, in stark contrast to his mentor. His concern for the Earth and the threat of these seismic events was clear, he immediately urged the Ultra Guard to rush underground to…. uh. What was their plan again?
It’s only now, when the racing duo confronts them with this bizarre, alien piece of technology (made with space metal, of course, what else!) that everyone realizes that the frantic course of events so far have specifically been designed to keep them off-balance and panicking. With time running out for the Ultra Guard members trapped in the Magmarizer, they have a traitor amongst them… and it’s not who anyone suspected at first!
EJ
I mean, it’s kind of obvious in hindsight, but everyone DOES seem really thrown when Sakaki grabs the device and slaps it on him, using it as a transformation device, a la the Ultra Eye to reveal his true nature as Alien Shaplay!
SL
This is another alien we see show up in other places throughout the franchise; the instance that jumps to my mind first is in the Mega Monster Battle movie. This specific Shaplay seems confident that it’s too late for anyone to stop his plans, and gives a hearty ol’ evil laugh… and then he’s caught by surprise, and caught between laser shots from both Anne and Soga!
Always keep your eye on the ball, folks.
EJ
Always keep your eye on Soga. Guy’s a quick-draw.
As the Shaplay rolls down a hill, burning to death, he calls for his excavating monster, Giradorus, to avenge him, and as it emerges, the problems really start — the tremor of its emergence knocks the Magmarizer into a pocket underground that rapidly begins to fill with magma, far above any heat the Ultra Guard can handle. Even Dan nearly passes out, the heat and pressure making it difficult for him to hold the Ultra Eye to transform.
Thankfully, he’s able to do it, and bursts free from the underground, carrying the drill tank and its crew! From there, he fights Giradorus, and man, this is such an interesting design for a Kaiju, isn’t it Sarah? I could never quite understand the shape of its body. Is it a slug, a kneeling dinosaur?
SL
It’s definitely an unconventional rubbery design, but I love the way the head’s designed specifically. The glowing red horns and open, roaring mouth as it swings around, battering at Seven, makes this a pretty dramatic fight! There’s even volcanic steam, smoke and ashes (at least I assume that’s ash, it’s a weird place for a snow storm all of a sudden) that the monster summons to really drive home the stakes of this fight. If Seven fails here, then the whole Earth will collapse into a volcanic wasteland, just like he struggles with right now!
EJ
See, I thought it was snow, because Giradorus had taken out too much Ultonium and the planet was starting to freeze!
SL
Either way, we can agree that it looks cool as heck, right?
EJ
Oh, absolutely! Especially because it really does feel like Seven is on the back foot here. In fact, this also feels like evidence that this is a snowstorm. Ultraseven isn’t in the same continuity as the original Ultraman yet — that wouldn’t happen until Return of Ultraman connected the previous entries into a single universe — but it’s fairly well-known that Ultraman is weak to the cold. A snowstorm making Seven weaker makes sense.
Thankfully, Seven is able to get up, fire his slugger at Giradorus and WOW! THAT IS HORRIFYING!
OK, EJ, breathe. It’s just Ultonium falling out, not gallons and gallons of blood…
Sarah, I’m going to need a minute. I nearly fell out of my chair watching that. Can you describe it for the fans?
SL
Imagine a piñata, but instead of delicious treats and toys, it’s filled with the gruesome, ruined remains of this poor Kaiju’s lunch.
It’s also very sparkly.
Anyways, after Seven pulls victory out by the very skin of his teeth — and the edge of his Slugger blade — the smoke clears away leaving behind a bright blue sky, and everyone positively giddy with relief. As you might imagine though, this is far from the last time that an alien invader will try to turn the Earth’s formidable forces against itself in an apocalyptic cataclysm. Alien Shaplay was undone by his overconfidence, but can luck save our heroes again the next time?
EJ
Thankfully, next time the Ultra Guard will be there too, to protect against threats like Alien Shaplay.
Except Furuhashi. He has to stay behind and guard Iwamura. Tough luck, buddy.
Next time on Watch Club, we change dangerous terrains, from the sprawling underground to the stormy sea, with Ultraseven episode 20, “Pursue the Undersea Base!” See you then!
