The Green Terror is the second episode of Ultraseven.
Synopsis
A strange metallic rock lands outside the home of Agent Ishuguro, one of the Ultra Guard members. Having spent six months in solitude aboard Space Station V3, Ishuguro returns to Earth for vacation. Escorting him home, Moroboshi spies the large, peculiar space rock. Using his telepathic powers, he recognizes it as being from another planet.
Later that night, agent Ishuguro transforms into a blood-drinking plant creature. He roams the street killing passersby who eventually come back to life as plant monsters know as Alien Waiell who likewise spread the contagion.
Cast
- Dan Moroboshi/Ultraseven : Kohji Moritsugu
- Anne Yuri : Yuriko Hishimi
- Shigeru Furuhashi : Sandayu Dokumamushi
- Kaoru Kiriyama : Shoji Nakayama
- Soga : Shinsuke Achiha
- Amagi : Bin Furuya
- Takenaka : Kenji Sahara
- Ueno : Yoshio Katsube
Guest Actors
- Tatsuo Ishiguro : Asao Matsumoto
- Mitsuko Ishiguro : Machiko Naka
- Shizu : Kyoko Mori
- Drunken Person : Senkichi Omura
- Mail Delivery Person : Kazuo Suzuki
Voice Actors
- Narrator : Hikaru Urano
Suit Actors
- Ultraseven : Koji Uenishi
Appearances
Ultras
Kaiju
Home Media
- Ultraseven Volume 1 features episodes 1-4.
1999 release
2009 release
Trivia
- According to an interview with episode director Samaji Nonagase by Yoichi Iwasa:[2]
- The production of this episode was entirely aimed at a thrilling, eerie, and horror-style atmosphere, similar to episodes like Ultra Q episode 20 "The Undersea Humanoid Ragon" and Ultraman episode 28 "Human Specimens 5 and 6," which also shared a similar vibe.
- It's believed that films by Eiji Tsuburaya, such as The H-Man or The Human Vapor, might have left some influence in Nonagase's mind. The focus wasn't just on monsters wreaking havoc but on the horror of humans transforming into grotesque forms.
- Nonagase praised the acting of Machiko Naka, who played the newlywed wife, stating that her performance made the plot more convincing. "A horror movie is about surprising or shocking the audience," he said. "The kind of ‘accepting' performance she delivered was crucial."
- As with The Secret of the Lake, the "Unaired Edition" of the episode (released in the Blu-ray Box) features no silhouettes used in the intro compared to the final release.
- In this episode, the name "Ultraseven" is mentioned for the first time by Anne.[3]
- During the preparatory phase of the series, still referred to as Redman, the script for this episode already existed.
- There were two versions of the script for this episode, with some differences in the details and final version:
- In both drafts, there was a scene with a postman interacting with Shizu. When Shizu asked the postman about the contents of a box, the worker responded with, "A gentleman stays away from danger… don't touch it." However, in the final version, the postman ignored Shizu's calls and left.
- Another scene depicted the romance between Dan and Anne, where Dan drove a luxury car with Anne sitting in the passenger seat. The music inside the car cheered Anne up. The dialogue included: "That's unnecessary, we didn't come here for a drive.", "I'm fine. After delivering the car, let's hitchhike back.", "What if there's no car?", "(Singing) Walk, walk… even if we walk until dawn, as long as I'm with Dan, I'll be fine." ,"You're quite a troublesome lady." This segment was ultimately cut from the final version.[4]
- In the draft, Planet Waiell was written as Planet Weimar, and the monsters were referred to as "Creature X." In the official version, the monster were named "Alien Waiell," with Dan's pronunciation of "Planet Waiell" reflecting this.
- One scene depicts the attack of Creature X, set the following day. A couple walks with their arms crossed when suddenly, Creature X drops from the branches above and tightly wraps itself around the woman. The man desperately tries to pull the creature off her.[5]
- Ishiguro and his wife traveled to Hakone on the Odakyu Romancecar 3100 series NSE train.[6][7][8]
- The scene filmed "inside a tunnel" took place during nighttime at the Odakyu Kōdō Train Garage. Since it wasn't possible to stop the train inside an actual tunnel, the crew chose a garage with railway tracks.
- Due to the absence of overhead cables on the railway tracks, the The scene where Dan and Anne rescued a woman from the train carriage was filmed at the seventh tunnel of the Gotemba Line. Romancecar couldn't operate on that line at the time, only diesel trains were running.[9][10][11]
Error
- In the concluding scene of this episode, the silhouette of a man wearing a black long-sleeved shirt is seen reflected in the window behind Pointer, prompting some speculation about paranormal phenomena.
- Later, this man was widely regarded as a staff member, likely because he seemed to notice the direction of the camera and turned his head slightly towards the front door, taking a small step in that direction. Consequently, as the actors commenced their performance, he found himself inadvertently stuck in place, unable to move.[12]
- Yuriko Hishimi clarified that the man was simply a staff member whose silhouette happened to be captured by the camera. In subsequent versions released after restoration, the image of the man has been deleted.
References
- ↑ https://cocreco.kodansha.co.jp/telemaga/news/feature/kaijubiyori/NfcYA
- ↑ https://x.com/sandae2356/status/1760796509615051200
- ↑ https://x.com/sandae2356/status/1520163558876925952
- ↑ https://x.com/sandae2356/status/1580672270066147328
- ↑ https://x.com/sandae2356/status/1580672262038237184
- ↑ https://www.odakyu.jp/romancecarmuseum/news/ultraseven/
- ↑ https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000001162.000012974.html
- ↑ https://news.mynavi.jp/article/20231030-2806763/
- ↑ https://note.com/shunlynnkaminaga/n/n1f337e0b947e
- ↑ https://oceans.tokyo.jp/article/detail/23356
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhLrybwb6SQ
- ↑ http://blog.livedoor.jp/kaidanyawa/archives/51260161.html