"Ladies and gentlemen lf you have a significant other. and a loving family, please be careful about riding the train at night."
―Narrator
Open Up!(あけてくれ!, Aketekure!) is the twenty-eighth and final episode of Ultra Q.
The episode was initially scheduled to air as the episode 20 on May 15, 1966, but it was postponed due to the reasons of "no Kaiju appearing in the episode and a complex storyline." It was then officially broadcast during a rerun time slot in 1967.
The idea of "escaping from reality" is something nearly everyone has considered at least once—what if one could leave behind the troubles of this world and reach a utopia? Office worker Sawamura suddenly finds himself aboard a train soaring through the sky. Among the passengers is a man named Tomono, a science fiction writer...
Plot
While driving home one evening, Jun and Yuriko come upon a man lying unconscious in the road. They help him into their car and drive off. When they stop at a railroad crossing, the sound of the oncoming train startles the man awake, sending him into a fit of hysteria. The man, Sawamura, has a flashback of being the only passenger aboard a bizarre train, which travels wildly through the air.
The train appears to be travelling in another dimension of time and space. Sawamura bangs frantically on the windows, begging for the train to stop and let him out, when a conductor suddenly appears. Following the conductor to the next car, Sawamura discovers several other passengers aboard the train, among them science fiction writer Kenji Tomono.
Jun and Yuriko bring Sawamura to Dr. Ichinotani, whose assistant uses hypnotism to calm the troubled man into a peaceful sleep; he is later released to his family. Ichinotani is studying patients who are suffering from similar delusions and, together with Jun and Yuriko, attends a conference investigating this strange phenomenon. Searching for clues, Jun and Yuriko pay a visit to Tomono's residence, only to find that the writer has disappeared.
They are given an envelope containing Tomono's last manuscript, which reveals the writer's personal experience of having entered another dimension, a world free from the hassles of everyday life. Sawamura, incapable of readjusting himself into society, staggers after the flying train, crying out for it to take him back to the alternate dimension.
Ultra Q Volume 7 features episodes 25-28, and Volume 8 Total Natural Color Blu-ray features episodes 26-28.
2001 release
2009 release
Total Natural Color Blu-ray
Trivia
This episode is labeled as "No.6" on the script cover. Due to the delay in the production of "The Disappearance of Flight 206," this episode became the fourth to be completed, with production taking place from October 29 and November 11, 1964.[2]
Originally intended to be part of the series' broadcast, the episode was postponed for various reasons and only aired during a rerun. It was initially scheduled as the episode 20 (set to air on May 15, 1966), but its airing was canceled due to concerns raised by producer Takashi Kakoi, who felt it lacked a monster and had a confusing storyline. As a result, its broadcast was canceled at the end of April 1966.[3]
To avoid delaying the broadcast of Ultraman episode 1 "Ultra Operation No.1" (scheduled for July 10, 1966), the broadcast schedule was adjusted, and a special program titled "The Birth of Ultraman" was aired instead on that date.
According to Hiroko Sakurai, when the episode was removed from the broadcast sequence, director Hajime Tsuburaya strongly protested.
When the episode first aired on December 14, 1967, it was considered episode 24, but it is now officially recognized as episode 28.[4]
The episode's screenwriter, Mieko Osanai, recalled, "When Mr. Hajime (Hajime Tsuburaya) read the completed script for Open Up!, he joyfully said, 'This is exactly what I wanted; I must direct this myself.' He seemed very excited and full of anticipation. However, he appeared to be in a rush, leaving early and catching the 'farewell train.'"[6]
Osanai also mentioned in "Ultra Q Film Book Vol.2" that the inspiration for this episode came from the idea of a father oppressed by society, exhausted, while the mother and daughter couldn't understand. "He wanted to escape all his troubles and live in a completely different world! At that time, the term 'jouhatsu' didn't even exist, but even today, twenty years later, this theme remains unchanged. However, in reality, it's not so easy to sever all ties with the world. It was this sentiment that gave birth to the story."[7]
According to an interview with producer Ken Kumagai by Yoichi Iwasa:[8]
Kumagai mentioned that Hajime Tsuburaya firmly insisted, "I will direct this episode!" He also revealed that during script discussions, he had multiple conversations with Osanai to refine the complex extradimensional concept, making it more approachable. Originally, Osanai wanted to dedicate more screen time to depicting the ideal human life within the other dimension, but due to the constraints of the tokusatsu budget, much of this content was significantly reduced.
When conceptualizing the extradimensional world, Osanai had Ryūnosuke Akutagawa's Kappa in mind. During discussions on the setting, she frequently referenced it, saying, "Something like Akutagawa's Kappa." This did not mean the extradimensional beings should resemble kappas in appearance but rather that the world should exhibit that level of imaginative leap. Kumagai explained, "Her point was to achieve that kind of expressive approach—that's how I understood it."
At the beginning of this episode, Manegime and Yuriko leave Ippei behind, causing him to shout. In the original script, the ending described how Manegime leaned against the Cessna plane's door, preventing Ippei from leaving the plane, leading him to call out to Manegime, "Open Up!" This scene was meant to echo the later scene with Sawamura. However, in the final version, the camera briefly shows Ippei unable to open the door before quickly cutting to the Sawamura scene.
In the story, Kenji Tomono's home is located in the suburban area of Daiten, a mansion reportedly belonging to a famous businessman.
The otherworldly train featured in this episode was based on the Odakyu 3100 series NSE. In the otherworld, the train appears as a four-carriage unit, whereas in real life, it consists of eight carriages. A model of this train was used as a regular train in "The Underground Super Express Goes West" and appeared in scenes set at New Tokyo Station.[9]
The model of the train from the Vary Dimension used in the filming is still preserved today.[10]
