Takashi Miike is one of Japan’s most prolific directors. At the age of 60, he has donned the director cap 104 times. In North America, the work he is mainly known for is his penchant for the grotesque. You will find his name atop many a film deemed “The most disgusting of all time”. From Audition (1999) to Ichi the Killer (2001) the one word you never hear Miike described as is “kid friendly”; however, the two episodes of Ultraman we are discussing are just that.
Ultraman Max is the 2005 Ultraman series that, while being set in the millennium era, is filled with references to the old Showa continuity. Revamped design of many a famous Ultra Kaiju and the actors who starred in the original series appear quite regularly. Which makes this series of episodes all the more intriguing: instead of opting to go back to the past Miike directs two episodes with their eyes to the future, they play around with the Ultraman mythos and force the viewer to re-contextualize what they’re seeing.
The first episode Miike directed, called “Miracle of the Third Planet,” seems to be an inditement of the entire franchise. The plot revolves around a mysterious white blob that shows up seemingly out of the blue. Team DASH (a group dedicated to defending the world from alien invaders) immediately responds to its presence with violence, lashing out with missiles and bombs. The blob then begins to alter and change its shape. The altered shape generates the weaponry used against it and responds in kind. The idea of the episode is a simple one, yet a very true one. We destroy what we do not understand. We as a race of humans try violence before understanding. We turn the malevolent into the violent. This is further proven by the main character, a small girl who has lost her sight. The only joy in this now dark world she receives is through music. This is troubled by the blob who has now become a monster and is destroying the concert hall she was preparing to play. In a fit of rage and fear the girl wanders to the remnants of the music hall and around her is fire. She begins to angrily play music at the creature and through it, the monster grows musical instruments and responds with the music of its own. In the end, the day is saved not by Ultraman’s force, but by the love of art. In a way, this short episode encapsulates the entire history of Kaiju-ega. An episode about the power of art when faced with war and destruction.
The second episode by Miike, “Who am I?,” is on the complete opposite spectrum. This is purely comedic and yet it still really messes with the flow of an Ultraman episode, subverting it in a brilliant way. This episode is all about memory and identity. The titular monsters of the week are bizarre alien cat creatures who don’t seem to be overly powerful or violent asides from their singular ability: anything within their radius instantly forgets who they are. This leads to some outstanding moments such as Ultraman forgetting how to transform and the entire DASH crew forgetting how to utilize any of their weaponry. When Ultraman finally does manage to show up they hilarious begin his theme song only to instantly cut it off when he trips and falls on his face. Again the comedic timing of Miike is applaudable and makes for a great relief when compared to the prior episode that had some fairly lofty ideals. This is not an episode to be taken seriously and it works extremely well. At times the comedy doesn’t translate from culture to culture; however, this episode of Ultraman Max is broad enough that it will be immediately recognizable regardless of the culture.
Early 2000’s Ultraman is always a treat. It is consistently watchable and Ultraman Max specifically is a delight. It has a magnificent cast of characters and a great swath of monsters. For years it was available in North America through Crunchyroll with a great presentation and presented in its original language. However, in 2017 a new English dub of the series was recorded and as such when it moved from Crunchyroll to the streaming service Watchtoku where it has become available only in its English dub. Dubs are important to bring children into the show as this is the way the fandom will expand; however, it is disappointing that “Miracle on the Third Planet” is not available in North America in its original language. There are some powerful and poignant performances that just can’t be captured within the dub. That being said it seems to be one of the few dubbed Ultra series on Watchtoku so you can enjoy the remainder of the series’ they have on display in their original language. Even without the Japanese language soundtrack “Miracle on the Third Planet” is still worth experiencing. Due to the comedic aspects, “Who Am I?” is unaffected by the dub. Both episodes have a strong sense of directorial style and you can see the artistry of Miike as a filmmaker even when he is in the world of children’s television.
