Ultraman Ginga – A Mid Season Look

In 2011 Tsuburaya, in order to celebrate the 45th anniversary of their famed Ultra series, created Ultraman Retsuden.  It was a biography show highlighting the history of the monsters and characters of the various Ultra programming. In 2013 they started a new season under the title of New Ultraman Retsuden. However in the second episode they debuted a new Ultra, Ultraman Ginga. It’s apparently a short series, episode 6 just aired a few days ago and it the mid-season finale. But since we’re there let’s take a look back at what we’ve seen so far.

For those of you who want to check the show out but haven’t yet, spoilers ahead.

http://youtu.be/CTYOL4ae10Y

Let’s start out with the basic, sometime in the past there was a huge battle between Ultras, and it looks like all of them to be honest with you as you see Tiga and Taro fight in the same scene, and a huge army of monsters. During the battle a different darker force appears and turns all of them into dolls, and briefly we see a being trying to stop him. They hit the Earth were we take up the story. We met Hikaru, whose parents are famous rock musicians, who ends up in Japan on his summer vacation instead of being in London with them. He meets up with his old friend Misuzu. She takes him to their old school where she informed him it was shut down and the Ginga shrine in the mountains was burnt down a month prior. By things falling out of the sky. Hikaru’s Grandfather who was in charge of the shrine apparently got what was left of the shrine, including it’s idol, moved into the former school. Misuzu also works there as a shrine maiden we also meet his other two friends, Kenta and Chigusa. In the second episode we run into Tomoya, a kid who keeps to himself but surprises Kenta and Chigusa by introducing himself to Hikaru. But he’s got a different story we’ll get to later.

All the while Hikaru is being watched by somebody who realizes he’s the chosen one. This someone is Taro, Ultraman number 6. Somehow, despite being in doll form, still has his full sentience, and some of his abilities, mainly Ultra Psychokonesis, and can kind of move. He tells Hikaru about the battle and the the shrine’s idol, the Ginga Spark and late at night he takes it as one of the reasons why he’s come back was that he felt that he was drawn back here. Misuzu catches him with the Ginga Spark the next day but she already knew about Taro and the Spark since she tried to use it to return him to normal and failed. HIkaru tries it as well but also so fails much to the surprise of Taro. But the Spark starts beeping and it leads Hikaru to another Spark Doll. While that is going on the enemy from eariler looks over his Spark Doll collection and use a spark of his own, known as the Darkness Spark, and returns Alien Valkie to normal. He sends him to Earth to find humans with dark hearts to corrupt even more, he finds his first in a duo of illegal garbage dumpers as their darkness brings forth a new Dark Dummy Spark. Hikaru somehow Ultralives into the monster doll he found, Black King. Amazed at first that’s he a monster he’s soon attacked by the other two control their own monster. During the fight the mark of Ginga shines on the back of Hikaru hand and the Spark opens up and a new doll emerges and Hikaru uses it to to change into an Ultra. Taro doesn’t recognize this new Ultra being but Hikaru seems to know that this is Ultraman Ginga. Using Ginga’s power HIkaru defeats the monster, freeing the two dumpers and reverting their monster back into a Spark Doll.

And that pretty much sets up the rest of the show, every week Valkie finds somebody knew with a dark heart to exploit and Hikaru fights it first as a monster, in a lot of cases trying out the one he just gained the episode before. And there were some dark hearted individuals. There was a biker who has been terroizing the town and has major hang up about people showing affection in public. An arsonist who plans to burn down the school along as the other she ahd burned down in town earlier. Even Hikaru friends are affected in some ways. Chigusa, who wants to become an idol, gets depreased when a photographer from a, apparently, minor magazine chooses Misuzu as a replacement idol over her. And Kenta, who looks like he was targeted by Valkie early, eventually gets hit up with a Dark Spark, but not in the way you think, after he feels he’s being left out. I should probably point out in the first few episodes only Hikaru and Misuzu knows what’s going on, naturally after they been freed they know their secret.

Which brings me to Tomoya, he kind of the ongoing subplot of the show after he’s introduced. He has a pad with him after his inital introduction, called a Gunpad, I’ll get to that in a bit. While he’s never part of the main group he’s usually hanging around. And he is rather distant from everyone else, I don’t think I’ve seen him smile once in the episodes so far. Although he did seem a bit angry the Misuzu is seemingly ignoring Chigusa’s pain over not getting the idol gig. He’s also different than the others in one big way. He doesn’t have a dream. As stated Chigusa wants to be an idol, but Hikaru wants to be a adventurer, Misuzu wants to be a famous confectioner and Kenta a photographer. In fact a part of a couple of episodes was Hikaru fighting to protect his friend’s dreams. But seeing as Tomoya can get whatever he wants with little to no effort he sees dream, even impossible ones, as worthless. Yet somehow because of this attitude he retains who he is despite the fact he was given a Dark Dummy Spark. The Gunpad I mention earlier allows him to control Jean Killer. In pad form he can control the giant robot, but by turning it into a gun he can use Jean Killer’s weapons. It turns out later that Tomoya has some father issues, who after hearing that he doesn’t have a dream is not sure he wants a person without one to run the multi-million dollar corporation he created. Therefore putting Tomoya in an odd place. But seemingly this also gives him something in common with Taro. We see Taro as a young boy which may or may not but this in cannon with Ultraman Story. Speaking of Taro at one point Tomoya kidnaps him.

At the end, after using Kenta as a red hearing, Hikaru discovers Tomoya is the one behind Jean Killer. After a fight where Ginga ran out of time and Tomoya saves him from falling to his death they are attacked. Apparently the dark nameless one also has ultra Spark dolls of his own and uses the Darkness Spark to turn Tiga into Dark Tiga. He attacks them both and Taro gets them to safety. Evetually Hikaru forces a dream onto Tomoya, to be able to defeat Ultraman Ginga. They fight one more time, and for the first time into the series Hikaru “live”s straight into Ginga. I’m assuming Ginga has to agree that it the right thing to do first. Ginga is able to defeat Jean Killer and destroy Tomoya’s Dark Dummy Spark but he attacked by Dark Tiga again. During the fight Valkie grows to giant size as well. Watching from the ground Tomoya is feeling helpless and feeling like he not good enough to achieve this new goal of his, a tear hitting the ground causes a new Gunpad to form and the robot reactivates as Jean-Nine. Together they defeat the two, reverting them both back to Spark Dolls. Later Tomoya said that he only helped because he will be the one who defeats Ultraman Ginga. Before that though Ginga speaks to them telling them the the fight is not over and Taro ask who he is and why are the only one who retained their sentience. But he doesn’t answer. And we’re left off with the dark one going over his Spark Doll collection again.

Outside of our main cast there are three reoccurring adult characters. Alongside of Hikaru’s grandfather, there’s the school’s former principle. As well as a police officer named Kakky, at least that’s what the sub said. Gramps and the Principle you only see a couple of times. Kakky appeared at least once in those first few eps, usually showing up to chase the bad guy of the episode. And the only real setting is the school, in fact Hikaru lives there in an old classroom. And all of the monster fights take place in the forest around the school, although you do see a miniature of a fence or the school in an episode here and there.

The monster, well the do kind of suffer a little in this series a bit as they’s basically controlled by Hikaru or humans under the spell of the Dark Dummy Spark. But there was a nice mix of monsters from the various show. Black King from Return of Ultraman and Thunder Darambia, an upgrade of a monster from Dyna. Kemur Man from ULtra Q, although I originally thought it was Zetton Seijin based on the head since they apparently reused it for Ultraman. King Padon from UltraSeven, Ragon from Ultraman and Doragoris from Ultraman Ace. Valkie is the only one who’s acting under his own will, although he’s act a bit like the comedy relief here, I never seen Taro so I can’t really say if they changed his personality here. When controlled by Hikaru or one of the affercted ones they can kind of see each other in this inner space, for a lack of a other term, inside the monster or Ginga. Well excpet for Jean Killer/Jean-Nine who has a cockpit and Dark Tiga.

Then there’s Ginga who rather cool looking to be honest, outside the traditional red and silver coloring he has these light up bits like his head crest, his chest, forearms and shin. And these apparently change colors depending on what attack he’s doing to finish the monster and he has a lot of attacks. Seriously he used a different one each episode. From the Ginga Tunderbolt where he throws something that looks like a spinning galaxy at the monster, to Ginga Comfort a calming beam he used when one of his friends was under the influence of the Dark Dummy Saprk and the Ginga Cross Stream his more traditional “L” beam finisher. And that’s only half. Although it does look like Hikaru is the one in control of Ginga as well.

Before I forget there also an added bonus, if you can all it that, at the end of the episode. Spark Doll Theater. It’s basically the Saprk Doll Hikaru has collected thus far briefly talking about the events in the show, and Taro whining that he wants to be big again. Nothing major but maybe something fun for the kiddies.

And that is it for now. Like i said earlier the half season finale already aired. In a few months the other half will air, and apparently if the show gets a big enough response they will make more after those episodes finish airing. And seeing how I like Ginga’s design I hope they do make more. But while we’re waiting for new episodes on September 7th we’ll see the premier of the Ultraman Ginga Theater Special. Not sure if that’s going to be a movie or feel like an extended episode like some sentai films. But we’ll find out soon enough.