Hot Picks
|
|
|
Ryusei Ningen Zon 18 / Ryusei Ningen Zon 19
episodes 18 & 19 / Zone Fighter - Command: Destroy the Japanese Islands / Zone Fighter - Order: Destroy the Earth with Comet K
Japan 1973
produced by Kimihiko Eto, Shunji Takahasi, Yoshio Nishikawa, Tomoyuki Tanaka (executive) for Mannen-Sha, Toho/NTV (= Nippon Television Network)
directed by Ishiro Honda
starring Kazuya Aoyama, Kazumi Kitahara, Takashi Sato, Shoji Nakayama, Sachiko Kozuki, Shiro Amakusa, Hideaki Ohara, Munemaru Koda (voice), Kiyoshi Kobayashi (voice)
written by Yuji Amamiya, created by Susumu Takeuchi, music by Goh Misawa, special effects by Kichio Tabuchi
TV-series Zone Fighter
review by Mike Haberfelner
|
Professor Tanzawa has developed the new energy force PS-73 for the
gouvernment, an energy force that has the advantage of not being
radioactive - but then again it doesn't react well to sudden impact and
will explode if exposed to magnetic fields. Of course, upon having tested
PS-73, the gouvernment has it driven to a local radar station with just
two guards, one of which turns out to be an evil alien Garoga - and of
course, the Garoga feed their terror beast of the week Gandarguirus with
PS-73 so it gets all mighty. Zone Fighter (Kazuya Aoyama) tries to stop
Gandarguirus and lure it to outer space, but that's not easy. Sure,
Gandarguirus plays a round of rock-paper-scissors (really) with Zone
Fighter then lets itself be challenged to a fencing duel, but even though
it loses both times, it refuses to pay up and leave earth, instead
wrestles and defeats Zone Fighter and doesn't kill him only because he
gets the Garoga command to spare him. So a monster with explosive powers
is bad enough, but then a comet shows up with a enormous magnetic field,
and it changes its direction to head for earth on a whim (well, actually
it was redirected by the Garoga, but that's not found out until later),
and so once the comet gets close enough to Gangarguirus, it will blow (at
least) all of Japan to Kingdom Come. So Zone Fighter has no choice but to
fight the terror beast again, but once again is wrestled to the ground.
Zone Angel (Kazumi Kitahara) and Zone Junior (Takashi Sato) manage to save
him by giving him a remote energy transfusion, but now Zone Fighter has to
change strategy - and suggests a game of ring toss (again, really), which
the monster gladly accepts - but Zone Fighter has suggested this only to
come close enough to Gandarguirus, mutilate and kill it, then flying it to
outer space to throw into the comet and change the comet's course - and
earth is saved for another day!
Ok, this dougle-episode is certainly not perfect, it repeats
too many special effects sequences too often, features a lot of Zone Angel
and Zone Junior without giving them much to do to drive the narrative, so
they're basically reduced to jump in and out of their space shuttle
Smokey, and actually it's astounding how long the Zone Family takes to
figure out yet another Garoga conspiracy that seems clear as rain.
On the other hand, the miniature set of the final fight, an abandoned
mine, is pretty lovingly built, Gandarguirus looks pretty hilarious with
its sabre teeth, its eyes on stilts its energy storage on its belly that
looks totally like a glass bottle, and of course, Zone Fighter challenging
the monster to a series of silly games is, well, sillly, but
laugh-inducingly so. So pretty entertaining, if for all the wrong reasons.
|
|
|