[ljacone]

Ultraman Episode 23 -- My Home Is Earth. Talk about a 180 from the previous episode! This is the famous and very well-regarded episode with Jamila, the monster who was a human astronaut exposed to something mysterious in space and transformed into a monster. There's a lot of pathos for Jamila, and a lot of character development on display, especially for Ide, but also for Muramatsu and Fuji. Ide, generally the comic relief, feels very strongly about Jamila, and it gives the writers an opportunity to pontificate about science and sacrifice.

The scenes of Jamila writhing in his death throes at the feet of the Peace Conference compound are quite upsetting. The fact that this scene is followed up with his funeral and the dedication of a plaque in his honor hammer this home.

There's also some really bold use of white-out lighting, as a key scene takes place at night with big spotlights in place, and the camera repeatedly gets (purposelly) washed out in the bright lights. Very avant garde for a show of this era.

Really strong episode all around. Very heartfelt. And the subtitles were back in sync, too!