I totally screwed up by not swapping today’s episode and the previous one so I could have the 13th episode on Friday the 13th. Either one would be appropriate though as the last one took place at a lake and this one is about a demonic star, which is appropriate considering the title is The Devil Star Has Come!
We open with explosions. That’s always a solid start to an episode. The Science Defense Squad is engaged in combat with Gellon, who oddly has the sort of draconic look that would have made him perfect for the previous episode. Ultraman isn’t needed as the team has it well under control as they strafe it with the Super Maddock and fighters. After a hard fought battle they head back to base for some tea and to relax. But they aren’t done as there are alerts coming in from all over the globe of monsters attacking. Even Monkey is going nuts for some reason.
That reason becomes apparent when a space station notices the Devil Star heading towards earth. It’s a giant asteroid with a big red eye on it so you know it means business. The Devil Star gives off radioactive waves that make animals go crazy and make them violent, so it is determined that is the reason the monsters are going nuts. The SDS leaders decide to take action and fire missiles at it to blow it up. However, when the missiles are about to hit, a giant monster named Xyclon appears in front of them and destroy all of the weapons, exploding them away from the Devil Star. Turns out the asteroid can create monsters to defends itself. Not a bad power. Xyclon is pretty unique looking, walking on two arms/legs that are attached to a body/head. Plus he’s got spikes and shoots fire. Looks like something out of Metroid. I can dig it.
With that plan scuttled, the team is dispatched to blow up the Devil Star in the Super Maddock. If they can hit the red eye, they know they can destroy it. However, on the way, another monster named Gadon (Rodan knockoff) attacks. Hikari heads out in a fighter to take care of it and draw it away from the main craft. He leads it away so the Super Maddock can continue the mission and lands, turning into Ultraman. He handles Gadon with ease and throws him into a volcano and then heads out to join the team in the fight against Xyclon and the Devil Star. Can they survive such a frightening pair of foes?
You bet they can.
This was a fun episode. We get three monsters, a looming threat and lots of action. The plot is sort of similar to GORATH, which makes sense as it came out a few years earlier. The Devil Star is a unique foe in itself, providing an impending disaster that must be averted but with some agency of its own. Being able to defends itself by making a monster is pretty snazzy.
Out of the three monsters, we had two decent designs. Gellon and Xyclon are the standouts and have some great work put into them and it’s a shame we didn’t get more of the former. Gadon is basically a throwaway monster to be used as a distraction so I didn’t expect it to knock my socks off. At least it got dispatched in and interested way.
Ultraman has two new powers in this one. He doubles his size and uses a spinning drill attack. Sure it’s goofy, but it is effective against a rock creature. We also get to see him recharge via the sun. If I were him I’d get some solar panels installed on my back. Pure power!
That’s all for this review. Until next time, Ultra Fans!
