[ljacone]

Ultraman episode 31 -- Who Has Come? Not to be confused with "Woo has come," which was the previous episode. The vamprific plant Keronia leads an army of plant-based life forms on a seige of Japan. Interesting premise and horror elements (Keronia starts out as a kaijin, wearing a double breasted suit... I always like monsters who wear sport coats), then segues directly into daikaiju insanity with little explanation, Keronia is a slim, humanoid monster who is not afraid to mix it up, so the fight with Ultraman is rather nifty. Also some great use of the stock Tsuburaya sound effects, which is always a treat to me, including one of my favorites -- the Planet X Flying Saucer sound!

EDIT:

Ultraman episode 32 -- The Endless Counterattack. While Hayata is escorting Pati, a member of the Science Patrol HQ in India on holiday in Japan, the team battles the monster Zambolar, who exudes enough heat to cause forests to spontaneously combust around him. The title is approprite as this is almost an entirely action-oriented episode, including a long battle between Zambolar and the JSDF & Science Patrol. Not much of a story but fun if you like daikaiju battling the military, and if you are watching this show, that may be a given.

Amazingly, at one point while destroying a chemical plant, the Zambolar suit itself actually catches fire! One of the many hazards of being an Ultra Kaiju!

Pati has the line of the episode, saying that even though her vacation was ruined, she did get to see three famous Japanese sites: Earthquakes, monsters, and Ultraman!

Ultraman Episode 33 -- The Mysterious Planet. Hayata, Fuji, and her brother Satoru are abducted by the alien Mephilas, who has designs on the Earth. Mephilas is sort of a Satan figure, trying to tempt Satoru into giving him the Earth by offering him a paradise planet, immortality, and the chance to rule a world. He also uses illusions to do his fighting for him. His name also comes from Mephistopohlese, from Faust.

Given the nature of the show, of course, he is turned away by Ultraman, but not killed -- not entirely unlike how Christ could turn away Satan by rejecting his offers of power.

There's one scene which seems to have a sort of tenous parallel between Christ and Ultraman -- Mephilas asks Hayata "Are you an alien or a human?" to which Hayata's reply is "Both." This made me think of the "fully human and fully divine" nature of Christ as expouded upon in the New Testament.

Metaphysical and religious aspects aside, this was an interesting counterpoint to the last episode in that it featured very little in the way of action but a lot more story. And the story itself is quite thoughtful. I dug it. We also get cameos from Baltan, Zarab, and Kemur -- the last one is odd because Kemur hadn't appeared since Ultra Q.

We also get a nice nod to all the giantess fans out there as Fuji appears as a giantess in her uniform. Mmmrow... if you're into that!

Ultraman Episode 34 -- Present From The Sky. The incredbly heavy monster Skydon falls to Earth, and the Science Patrol has to figure out how to lift him.

YOU ARE NOT READY FOR THIS LEVEL OF DAIKAIJU COMEDY.

At one point Ultraman tries his shoulder throw... and the music slows down... and stops... as Skydon collapses on top of him.

Later, Hayata goes to transform into Ultraman... except he is holding up a spoon instead of the Beta Capsule.

Silliness. Pure silliness.

Insanely enough, this bizarre comedy episode also features a man committing suicide by jumping from a building in Tokyo. No I am not making this up. *shrug* Still pretty dang funny though!