Sorry for the hiatus as I was on vacation but I am back and ready to go. Today we are up to Episode 20: This is the Planet Where Ultraman Was Born – Part 2. There has to be a shorter way to put that in English. The Japanese version is “This is the Ultra Star” and it is a hell of a lot less of a mouthful. Anyway.
Hikari is dead and has been taken away by the people of U40 to be resurrected. That’s pretty groovy for him. The process is painful and involves shooting green beams of light into him, but it works and he wakes up naked on a table (with a sheet of course) being watched by a beautiful woman named Amia. He covers up and wonders where the hell he is and is told that he is 30,000 light years away from Earth at the planet U40. Apparently he was sleeping quite some time! Just kidding, their ship is just that fast.
And what do these Ultra people look like? Well, they look like humans wearing togas. That’s right, the most advanced race in space dresses like the ancient Greeks. Or perhaps the Seatopians! In fact, even the buildings on the surface of this Earth-like paradise are modeled in the Greek style. Amia and her friends Elec and Loto are going to take Hikari to meet the President of the Ultras, though he is told that Emperor is probably a closer translation.
They walk and then take a boat ride to meet the leader, and Hikari comments on how strange it is to walk everywhere if they are so advanced. He’s told it is a luxury and what did he expect? Domed buildings and skyscrapers like out of a sci-fi show? I mean, I know I was. The president is like Zeus and Santa Claus had a baby. Before they can really get into any discussion, enemy ships attack!
These are the Badel and the Ultras have been at war with them for a long time. Defense towers rise up and Elec and Loto transform into Ultramen to attack, but they are defeated and most of the towers are destroyed. Amia and Hikari head to an elevator which takes them too…a giant underground city, just like in the sci-fi movies. Apparently, the Ultras have all of their bases underground, about 9000 of them according to Amia.
She wants Hikari to leave to Earth but he wants to know where Joneus is and what the hell is going on. So she takes him to what amounts to a holodeck from Star Trek to show him. He learns about the Badel and what they look like, which is like a cross between a goblin and a dinosaur and actually looks pretty rad? Kind of reminds me of the goblins from The Hobbit cartoon, honestly and I can dig it. They’ve been at war forever and then the Ultras discovered something that lets them transform and turn into Ultramen and Ultrawomen and it’s given them the upper hand for the time being.
Hikari also sees Joneus recovering. He’s alive, but in critical condition as he used up all of his energy in the fight against the reptiles. This triggers a memory in Hikari where he figures out that the Badel must be somehow controlling the reptile monster on Earth as it operates a bit like an Ultraman in the transformation process. However, there’s not much time to act on this when the Death Star-like base of the Badel shows up to attack the planet.
Can the valiant Ultras defeat this terrible threat? Find out in the next episode, because that’s all there is to this one!
This was a good worldbuilding episode of The Ultraman, introducing us to the Ultras who basically look human until they need to turn into Ultrapeople. We also get a look at their society, which is pretty much paradise save for the war with the Badel that is raging. Hikari is out audience insert in learning all about it. Everyone seems pretty nice, too. Can’t wait to see how the final battle turns out.
See you next time for the next installment, Ultra Fans!
