After rewatching the Godzilla Shōwa Era of films I was looking for something new to get my kaiju fix. Look no further than “Ultra Q”!
Created by longtime Godzilla special effects wizard Eiji Tsuburaya in 1966, the original goal of the series was to be a Japanese Twilight Zone and Outer Limits style series featuring a creature of the week, but ultimately turned more into a Tokusatsu or a live action Japanese series or film with a heavy use on special effects.
The short lived series only lasted one season, later turning into Ultraman making it the first in the Ultra Series of Tokusatsu shows. Each episode features a singular story dealing with some sort of giant monster or alien threat on the earth. There are some reoccurring characters throughout the series like Professor Ichinotani who usually gives his observations on the situation.
The first episode pulls you right in with a battle between Gomess a lizard monster created from an old Godzilla suit and Litra the guardian bird that protects the twin from Gomess. If you need your fix of kaiju this is the series for you the Meteorite Monster Garamon and the Arctic monster Pegulia are my favorite two in the series both having appearances in two episodes of the series. The Garamon episodes are probably my favorite, watching him kangaroo hop through a city instantly made him one of my favorite kaiju, and the reason I initially checked out the series.
With Quarantine in full effect, “Ultra Q” should definitely make these hard times a little better, because who doesn’t love giant monsters!