Parental, personal and professional responsibilities are all in conflict as Gento faces an inner struggle in episodes 10 and 11 of Ultraman Blazar.
Hey all, Sean here again, and I’m back with another Blazar recap! This week, we’re doing a double recap on episodes 10 and 11! So, let’s begin with episode 10, Parent and Child.
Parent and Child
Monster of the Day
This episode, we have not just one, but two monsters of the day! Both being two different versions of the “molten iron” monster, Demaaga! The first one we see is an infant Demaaga, while the other is a fully grown member of the species. The adult Demagga can produce a molten iron heat ray, while the infant Demaaga can use it’s cry to summon its parent.
SKaRD Team
We start the episode in Gento’s home, where we finally get to see his family (who were previously mentioned in his character bio prior to the show’s release) for the first time. His son, Jun, is watching something on a tablet, while Gento’s wife, Satoko, is helping him clean the kitchen.
Just then, Gento’s eye glows blue again and we get a flashback of the first time this happened. Gento then sits next to Jun and we see footage of Blazar fighting a Kaiju.
Gento asks Jun if he thinks Blazar is cool, to which he replies “I guess”. The news then plays, showing a large, rock like object has appeared at a levelling site, with some specialists concluding it’s a kaiju egg. Gento remarks on how he has the day off the next day so he asks Jun where he’d like to go for a day trip. His son responds that he wants to see the egg.
Later, we see the Hiruma family at the site of the egg and when Gento asks if Jun wanted to do anything else, Jun says he’s fine checking out the egg.
The GGF members studying the egg pick up readings of an internal heat signature, as the egg glows, then breaks, and from it emerges a baby kaiju.
The GGF troops at the scene fire tranquiliser darts at the baby kaiju. However, the baby Demaaga simply takes out the darts and cries out, alerting it’s parent to its location, awakening an adult Demaaga.
We get a glimpse at Jun’s tablet again and see a Kaiju alert symbol reminiscent of the silhouettes seen in the opening of the original Ultraman series.
Gento then calls his SKaRD teammates and we learn some new information: Gento told his family he was in the engineer unit, not SKaRD. Teruaki, being the only person who knows, has the other SKaRD members play along. As Demaaga rampages, we get this really cool shot of the kaiju.
At the GGF Command Post, we get the return of the Chief of Staff, Retsu Haruno, who orders that the baby Demaaga be restrained and be used as a lure to attack the adult Demaaga.
We then see the GGF troops electrocuting the baby Demaaga to restrain it. Much to the horror of Jun.
Chief Haruno orders a missile strike on the adult Demaaga and that the Earth Garon be deployed, despite Teruaki telling him what Gento ordered them to do.
We then see Earth Garon’s launch sequence. It’s similar to the mech launch sequences from Ultraman Z, just a little slower.
We get to see the Earth Garon fly over the Hiruma family and the other civilians present and, I must say, I love shots like these, it gives everything a sense of mass and scale.
The adult Demaaga arrives and shields the baby Demaaga from the missiles.
Jun realises that the adult Demaaga doesn’t want humans to hurt the baby Demaaga.
We then get a glimpse at the Blazar Stone. It’s glowing red. This also occurred earlier in the episode but this is the longest glimpse we get of it. Earth Garon, piloted by Yasunobu and Teruaki fires all weapons at the adult Demaaga, who is still shielding the baby from the fire. We see the Blazar stone glow brighter, as Gento’s eye turns blue again.
We then see what I believe to be Blazar himself seeing the chaos through Gento’s own eye.
The Blazar Brace appears on Gento’s arm and he has to make up a quick lie in order for his family to not discover his secret as he gets them to safety.
Then, we see the true difference in height between the baby and adult Demaagas as the adult Demaaga falls down. The difference is immense!
Chief Haruno orders the Earth Garon to not back down, as they ready for “Round 2”.
This shot of the Earth Garon, as well as the actions taken by Chief Haruno show that in the series, the defence team isn’t always in the right, as the adult Demaaga only attacked when the baby Demaaga was attacked by humans.
It is in this moment, the adult Demaaga finally fights back, letting loose its molten heat ray on Earth Garon! Demaaga then does some serious damage to Earth Garon, knocking it to the ground.
Jun asks Gento why the GGF have to hurt Demaaga because, even though the GGF protect people, the kaiju is doing the same for it’s child. Jun asks “is that a bad thing for it to do?”
We then see Demaaga stomping on Earth Garon in yet another well crafted shot.
Gento reveals to his family that he’s still in the GGF and tells them he is going to look for other people. Once Gento’s family leaves, Gento transforms into Blazar, out of sight, and we see the return of the normal Blazar rise.
Gento’s family sees Blazar as he flies off to face Demaaga and, on a side note, I like to think Gento’s family realise that he is Blazar, since Blazar appears right when Gento is out of sight.
As Blazar flies towards Demaaga, we get this shot that is once again reminiscent of the original 1966 show.
Blazar first uses the Rainbow Slash to deflect Demaaga’s attacks and then uses it to freeze Demaaga. I honestly love ice effects like this. I’ve always felt it looks better than CGI, might I add.
Blazar was about to use the Spiral Burrade on Demaaga, when Blazar stops Gento from killing the adult Demaaga. It was indirectly confirmed by episode director Tomunobu Koshi that Blazar did this because as he didn’t want the baby Demaaga to be sad, thus also indirectly confirming that Gento and Blazar aren’t exactly in sync, and that it was Gento controlling Blazar on some occasions.
As the missiles fly towards the scene, Blazar’s scar and red and blue lining start to glow. He unleashes a sonic roar, in one of the few moments in the series where we see an Ultra’s mouth open.
The roar destroys every single missile, much to everyone’s confusion. Blazar summons the Spiral Burrade again but, this time, uses its energy to warm up and heal Demaaga, similar to Ultraman Cosmos. Maybe Cosmos and Blazar are from the same place. The healing light encases Demaaga, sending it back below ground.
We also get to see an angry looking Chief Haruno, who has in the past voiced a hatred of Blazar.
The episode ends with Gento reuniting with his family, with Jun commenting on how cool Blazar was.
Conclusion
I really enjoyed this weeks episode, as Blazar has consistently knocked it out of the park with its storytelling. This episode showed that the GGF don’t always make good judgement decisions when it comes to kaiju.
Now, moving right along to episode 11.
Escape
Monster of the Day
This episode, we have the Space Electromagnetic Monster, Gebalga! Gebalga came to Earth in the form of a meteorite. With the ability of electricity manipulation, it’s sure to be a tough opponent for Blazar and SKaRD!
SKaRD Team
The episode begins with a flashback to Blazar’s outburst in episode 10, as the SKaRD team are looking over the footage at the GGF Oshieno Base.
They conclude that Blazar “interfered” with the operation and that they can’t be sure he’s an ally. Emi comments that Blazar still stopped Demaaga and Anri chimes in saying she preferred Blazar’s method. They all agree, though, when Bando says that Blazar was acting strange.
Emi says that “It’s like he (Blazar) had two conflicting minds or something.” From this conversation, we get a closeup of a concerned Gento.
We then see a meteorite hurling towards the Earth, however, it’s slow and making a grumbling sound.
We cut back to SKaRD, who have received orders from Chief Haruno regarding the impending arrival of the meteorite.
The meteor is set to arrive on Earth within 30 hours and SKaRD will be coordinating with the interception unit. Starting at 10:00 hours, they will be on threat condition “Charlie”.
Emi comments that the GGF higherups must think the meteor is a kaiju. Anri ads that the higherups of the GGF have been jumpy ever since Garamon got through and Teruaki also mentions that there’s no telling how a space kaiju could affect Earth’s ecosystem.
Gento goes to leave, asking Teruaki to update the deployment rotation schedule. Teruaki asks Gento if Blazar shows up again, do they consider him an ally or threat?
Gento simply tells them to “play it by ear” and leaves.
When Gento is alone, in an empty stairway, he takes out the Blazar Stone.
The look on Gento’s face tells me he was deep in thought about what happened during the Demaaga operation.
We then, like the last episode, get to see the Earth Garon launch sequence.
Missiles are fired at the meteorite but it forms a protective shield and fires electricity at the missiles. The shield fades as the meteorite closes in on Earth.
We then see the GGF overlooking the operation and are introduced to the commander of GGF Japan, Minoru Genkawa.
Chief Haruno order that the surface team be contacted and to launch the thermobaric warheads.
We get this really nice shot of Earth Garon as it pans down to the SKaRD van.
Teruaki is looking through a telescope as SKaRD receives word that the kinetic energy missiles were lost before impact. Teruaki comments that they’re about to launch the second attack and, if that fails, Emi brings up attack #3, a hail of armour piercing missiles.
Gento, who is inside Earth Garon with Anri, asks out loud “if you found out there was someone else inside of you, what would you do?” Anri replies, asking what he said, and Gento brushes it off. Teruaki gives word that the GGF is launching attack #2.
Anri readies Earth Garon’s multipurpose laser as the meteorite enters the Earth’s orbit.
The GGF fires the missiles, successfully making contact with the meteorite.
A GGF officer confirms a direct hit. However, the meteorite survived the barrage of missiles.
Commander Genkawa comments “well, that’s no good” and orders Chief Haruno to deploy SKaRD.
Gento and Anri receive word from Teruaki that the meteorite will land near Tsukubu lake and the nerves are visible on the pairs faces.
The meteorite has finally entered Earth’s atmosphere and Teruaki, Emi and Bando see it first hand. It’s massive.
Teruaki tells Gento the descent is slowing and they should be able to take it out. A little thing I noticed here, in the cockpit of Earth Garon, Anri looks like she’s about to cry. To be fair, she is dealing with an unknown, possibly apocalyptic threat.
Gento tells Anri to switch the laser to focus mode and we finally get to see the Earth Garon looking upwards, instead of the neck being fixed in place like usual. It charges and fires the laser.
Gento tells Anri “No pressure, but don’t miss” and Anri nervously replies “Yeah, no pressure”. Earth Garon fires but the meteorite moves out the way of the beam.
The meteorite flies right past Earth Garon, briefly making contact with the lake, and then landing, to the surprise of Bando.
The meteorite then opens, and reveals its true form, Gebalga, a starfish like space kaiju!
Upon Gebalga revealing itself, Chief Haruno and Commander Genkawa are shocked at the sight of it. SKaRD prepares to engage the kaiju in combat.
Gento and Anri set Earth Garon to CQC (Close Quarters Combat) mode, while Bando, Emi and Teruaki get to work on analysing Gebalga.
Earth Garon and Gebalga begin to fight, with both evenly matched at the beginning, even though Earth Garon was only to keep it distracted so attack #3 could hit Gebalga.
Earth Garon gets several hits in against Gebalga but Gebalga hits back, causing Earth Garon to spark. However, Earth Garon hits back harder with a running punch that knocks Gebalga back. Gebalga begins to charge up a special attack, as Teruaki notes immense electromagnetic energy readings. Gento decisively decides they must fall back and Earth Garon runs away.
Commander Genkawa asks Chief Haruno what SKaRD is doing, commenting “This is your special unit?” Just as Earth Garon was falling back, the missiles fly in to hit Gebalga.
However, as the missiles were about to strike Gebalga, he begins to do the wave dance (or a movement similar to it) and forms an energy shield that destroys the missiles with an EMP.
The missiles fly out of control and explode, not even hitting Gebalga, with Teruaki realising the shield is also an EMP.
Earth Garon is still running as the EMP follows. Earth Garon then tries to fly off, only to be struck by the EMP, falling to the ground. Gento and Anri attempt to eject, to no avail. As Gebalga walks, we get this lovely wide panning shot. Always a big fan of these shots.
Teruaki tries to call the Earth Garon and we see the lights are out in the cockpit. Anri appears to be out cold.
Gento does his little thinking pose, something we haven’t seen for a while. As he thinks about what to do, he lists:
- Escape with Anri
- Fight Gebalga alone
- Reactivate Earth Garon
Just then, the Blazar Brace appears on Gento’s wrist. He’s struck with a flashback of the prior episode and the Demaaga fight. Gento tells the Blazar Stone “I’m really counting on you this time” and he transforms into Blazar to fight Gebalga. After Gento transforms, Blazar kicks Gebalga with great force. The kick pose reminded me of Ultraman Leo.
Blazar does his appearance pose and readies for battle against Gebalga. They begin to fight Gebalga and the kaiju proves to be a very tough opponent, countering Blazar’s attacks with force. Gebalga then does an attack reminiscent of the spin dash from the Sonic games and rolls to hit Blazar, knocking him back.
Blazar attempts to use the Spiral Burrade but it has no effect, as Gebalga just blocks it with its shield. Gebalga prepares to do the rolling attack but Blazar dodges it by pulling himself away. This, more than likely, ties in with Blazar and Gento’s internal conflict with Blazar having separate control of himself to that Gento has. As Blazar gets up and looks at his hand, we get a flashback to earlier in the episode.
The flashback shows Gento giving an order to evacuate, and as he does this, we see Blazar’s face briefly appear, becoming more opaque as Gento shouts.
Back in the fight, Blazar snaps back to reality as Gebalga charges another attack. Blazar summons the Spiral Burrade to counter it.
However, another internal conflict occurs, as Blazar stops what I can assume to be Gento from throwing the Spiral Burrade. Blazar’s grip on himself literally tightens, as he drags his body away. His body was being controlled by Gento.
While Gento tries to regain control to finish the fight, the SKaRD team see this happening and Emi comments “again?” Teruaki asks Emi what she thinks Blazar is doing but neither of them know.
Meanwhile, Gebalga unleashes its finishing attack on Blazar. Blazar manages to fly away but the area he was standing in was destroyed. As Blazar flies off, more than likely Gento being dragged away by Blazar himself, he makes angry/sad grunt sounds. In the command centre, Commander Genkawa closes his eyes and looks down, then gives the order to abort the mission, before telling Chief Haruno that he wants a new plan outline on his desk by end of day. As the commander and other GGF officers leave, we start to see Chief Haruno crack under the pressure, showing some semblance of humanity beneath his cold shell.
We then see an injured Gento, laying in the forest, looking at the Blazar Stone.
The episode ends with Gebalga beginning its rampage.
Conclusion
To say this episode was a heavy one is an understatement. This episode had me on the edge of my seat the whole time I was watching. Seeing Gento gradually lose his control over Blazar’s body shows us for the first time that an Ultra and human don’t always have the same ideals and I’m excited to see how this all culminates in episode 12.
You can watch the episodes here:
What did you think? Did you enjoy these episodes? Let us know in the comments. I’m Sean, once again, signing off.
