Well, this is hilarious. Two episodes after we issue criticisms at Ultraman Geed, the latest entry into the Ultraman franchise, for its lack of punch, they serve up what is quite easily their greatest effort to date. Not only is it the most stylish, action-packed episode so far, it disperses story concerns that were mounting in the lead-up to this installment. Nice timing.
Director Taguchi Kiyotaka infuses the episode with a visual flair unlike any of Geed’s previous chapters, proving exactly why the Ultra franchise needs to keep this man onboard as long as they can. From the tense dialogue sequences between the devilish Kei and the show’s plucky young hero Asuka to the high-octane battle sequences both above and within the crumbling city, “The Geed Identity” is a cut above the rest.
We begin by giving some much-needed shine on the human face of this year’s villainy, Fukuide Kei, speaking, he thinks, to an ordinary employee taking notes on his next work as a renowned author. Little does he know the AIB is secretly listening in, observing both from near and afar. The world’s greatest underused duo of Moa and Zena are on the case, this time joined by a few other random AIB aliens. They don’t have a decent set, but at least they look cool standing in a dark void with hologram readouts and non-human agents at the controls.
They’re following the telepathic signal Kei’s putting out to communicate with the distant Ultraman-gone-bad, Belial, but after performing his best Dark Specter impression, the big-headed baddie is onto our heroes. The employee is revealed to be wearing surveillance devices, and Fukuide-san is having none of it. In a shocking yet subtle move, Kei effortlessly catches the poor sod before he can get away, and it’s off with his head. Or something. We cut away (so to speak) before we can catch a glimpse of the murder that most certainly took place seconds later, as confirmed by the later news report quietly relayed in the background while no one’s listening. Kei’s not screwing around, and neither is this show, suddenly. Where was this awesomeness hiding the whole time?
Checking in with our lovably put-upon salaryman Leito, on his way to an important business meeting, he’s kidnapped by the great Moa and Zena, who are putting in overtime on this one, conscripting Ultraman Zero to check out the source of Belial’s signal in deep space. Despite Leito’s reservations, the insistent Ultra in his head launches them on a mission to find Belial and hopefully to turn the page on this story.
Meanwhile, Laiha threatens Riku with a blade to the throat if he doesn’t return the PS4 he just bought in exchange for much-needed groceries, because she’s sensible like that. Or perhaps it’s because she just needed to have her sword when they coincidentally are confronted by Kei and an alien sniper with his sights set on Laiha’s freaking head!
Dropping truth bombs left and right, Kei casually decides to inform Riku that his entire existence is a sham. That Kei created Riku in a lab from Belial’s donated genetic material because they needed an Ultraman to unlock the full power of the Ultra Capsules. He’s basically a glorified power-up. Honestly, it serves as a weird, almost certainly unintentional commentary on items like the Spark Dolls and Fusion Cards that grant the powers of past Ultra heroes to their user, essentially making weapons out of previous characters so the current guy can kick more ass. Geed essentially is a walking, talking version of them, Kei insists, with no will of his own.
This is actually kind of brilliant. I recall stating that it might be interesting if the casting of Hamada Tatsuomi was more than just a fun nod to the fact that he’d previously played a young alien in another Belial/Zero story, but rather it was done with a very specific, in-universe reason. That kinda-sorta-theory just took several giant steps forward by implying that Riku’s human likeness may not be an accident. Or, at the very least, his appearance takes on more meaning knowing that he was made with a purpose instead of the idea that Belial just happened to have a kid because that’s how it goes sometimes when two extradimensional beings love each other very much. Let’s not dwell on the possibility of Belial getting busy with a human or any other form of life.
Kei is at his most enrapturing in this moment, alarmingly relaxed as he sits at his bench and deconstructs Riku’s whole world with a smile. Riku impotently rejects his claims, but Kei simply adds that all the people he’s helped have relied on a fake hero who exists purely because the power he’s after can only be retrieved by a “true Ultraman”. Close enough, I guess.
Jar-Jar Pega earns his rent this week by employing his alien abilities to distract the sniper long enough for Laiha to escape the line of fire and use her sword for something other than threatening children. A stunning action sequence commences, Laiha tangling on the rooftop with the sniper as Geed clashes with Kei’s giant monster form in the background. Kiyotaka pulls out a wonder from his bag of tricks with the use of long, engaging takes, where the camera seems to roam through the battle without a cut for an extended period, amid a flurry of special effects overlaying multiple conflicts happening all at once. A technique you almost never see in tokusatsu, but every precious time it’s deployed, the result is simply amazing.
It’s in this encounter that Kei reveals the unexpected jealousy behind his grinning facade, harboring a special hatred for Riku as Belial’s favored plaything. When the dust settles from their explosive clash, Kei barely makes off with all of Riku’s Capsules, save one. We’ll pretend we don’t suspect it’s all he’ll need to come back with a new power that was previously thought impossible to obtain. In the meantime, Kei appears to inject himself with the other Capsules and his kaiju form begins ravaging the city once again.
Undoubtedly, this is the best episode of the series. And one might say that it “fixed” a lot of what I perceived to be problems in the first ten episodes, by providing long-withheld answers to the questions those episodes had raised. I wouldn’t go that far. I still didn’t have the best time with those episodes, and as was implied previously, answers only do part of the work. You have to want to stick around long enough to get them. Luckily, Geed provided just enough to keep my eyeballs on the screen up to this point.
The revelations about Riku have put the kibosh on all complaints over his seeming lazy interest in his own existence and the convenience of just suddenly having powers and alien assistants that he hardly bats an eye at. He accepts it all with little drama because he simply has to in order for Belial’s plans to work, apparently designed to do virtually all of these things from the start. I just wish it had been more exciting, building up to this.
There’s no denying that Geed just put on a stellar show that bodes well for its future. If this is any indication of things to come, my body is ready.
