It is time for The Ultraman Episode 30: The Moving Skeleton!
Happy New Year! I still function! Had some injuries that delayed my usual exercising and watching Ultraman, but I’m back and we have a fun one today. Buckle up for some hot, undead action.
Hikari and Mutsumi open the episode driving up to a cliff where a lot of reporters have gathered. It becomes clear why when they see a giant dinosaur skeleton there. A doctor calls them over as he knew Mutsumi from school. The skeleton is apparently older than the dinosaurs, which makes them wonder how it got there. There’s not much time to think about it as they are moving it to a museum so it could be put back together.
That night, after the skeleton has been mostly assembled, a night watchman watches as its tail glows and completes the reassembly. Then the giant monster comes back to life and goes on a rampage! See kids, this is why we don’t just reassemble strange skeletons and take them home with us.
The Science Defense Squad scrambles into action to intercept the creature Skeledon, which somehow is also spewing toxic gas. There are some cool shots with the city on fire and the skeleton stomping through it like Godzilla, breathing its gas which looks a lot like the radioactive breath from the movies. The team splits up, with Hikari and Tobe up in the air and everyone else on the ground. Hikari and Tobe fire missiles at it and blow the creature up, ending the episode. Just kidding, it does blow up, but it quickly reassembles itself, surprising the team. Marume decides to blow it up himself and misses and almost kills himself in a spectacular fashion. Before Hikari can try to blow it up for good, the monster disappears in a ball of flame.
Back at HQ, the team tries to figure out what might be animating the bones. The doctor wonders if there is a specific brain in the skeleton that is controlling it. The captain says they will look for it with X-Rays. When the skeleton reappears after spending the day in the sewers (seriously!), the team flies off to intercept it while Tobe stays behind to make an antidote for the toxic gas.
Can they find the brain in the skeleton and stop the monster before it ravages the city? Will Ultraman make an appearance and will he use new powers to defeat Skeledon? You know it!
This was a fun episode with a great concept. A giant skeleton coming to life and wrecking shit? Yes please. Definitely a monster that uses the medium well as you don’t have to worry about making a puppet look real like you would in live-action. Plus it gets some cool bone attacks where it shoots its ribs out at people! It’s got a simple but creepy design and works very well.
Ultraman getting x-ray vision and a time stopper are the new additions to his arsenal though you would think one of the two would be enough. They could have had the SDS handle part of it but I can’t quibble too much. Everyone gets something to do on the team, too, which gave it a nice balance so it wasn’t focusing too heavily on one person. I did like the captain talking about the toxic gas while he blazes up a cigarette. I don’t know if that was meant to be funny but it got a chuckle out of me the way it was presented.
Great episode and one of my favorites so far this year and of the series in general.
That’s all for this installment. See you next time for the next installment, Ultra Fans!
