Zone Fighter Episode 3: Divorces, Dimensions, Disguises and Dorora

Like I mentioned in my introduction, Zone Fighter was created by the premiere staff of Toho's special effects department, Toho Eizo. Because of the intense time constraints in television production, it would be next to impossible for a single person to handle every single episode without burning out. Not only did this apply to live action directing, but to special effects directing as well. Thus, special effects director Teruyoshi Nakano handed the reins over to one of Toho Eizo's senior staff, and episode 3 would mark his special effects directorial debut. That man was Koichi Kawakita, who would later be responsible for the entire Heisei Godzilla series following Nakano's retirement as well as '80s sci-fi epics Sayonara Jupiter and Gunhed. So how does his first directing job hold up? Let's take a look...

ZONE FIGHTER

EPISODE 3: "STRIKE! GAROGA'S UNDERGROUND BASE"

 

Underground, subterranean. Tomato, tomahto

Written by Masaru Takesue

Directed by Ishiro Honda

Original Air Date: April 16, 1973
Our episode begins with Akira hanging out with Takeru at his model train shop (better be careful, that train could hit someone in the eye). A young boy named Mamoru is browsing the store when he takes his aggression out on one of Takeru's models. As it turns out, his mother has recently left the family after becoming frustrated in her husband's obsession with his work. However, Mamoru's father, the famous scientist Dr. Morita, calls for Mamoru and tells him he'll be heading home early. 

While Mamoru and Akira wait for Dr. Morita, the doctor is kidnapped by Garoga agents using a device that warps his car to the fourth dimension. After Mamoru receives a call at home that his father's car suddenly appeared on Mt. Fuji with no one inside, Takeru and Akira immediately report this incident to the rest of the Sakimori family.

 

Fucking duh.

Meanwhile, Garoga Commander Gold unleashes a bevy of exposition to his minions about their underground base located near Mt. Fuji, connected to the fourth dimension. Three Garoga soldiers begin to interrogate Dr. Morita on his knowledge of a space weapon in development that could challenge the Garoga.

"We know, sir. You told us all about the plan. We saw the blueprints and everything."

Meanwhile meanwhile, the Sakimori family devises a plan to rescue the doctor and prevent more scientists that are set to appear at an upcoming conference where the weapon will be unveiled. Takeru and Hotaru volunteer to become decoys, and Hikaru will follow them into the fourth dimension after they are captured. Mamoru insists on tagging along to help his father, but they refuse.

The next day, Hotaru and Takeru meet with the representative from the Kingdom of Khitan (located somewhere between the countries of Rolisica and Saradia, I'm sure) and convince him to serve as his decoy. Disguised as Khitan..ians (?), the two of them follow the designated route where they expect to be captured. However, Mamoru pokes out from the backseat instead of continuing to hide. Unable to turn back now, they allow him to stay.

This week's Meteor Missile Might of Wisdom

The plan works, and the trio are warped into the fourth dimension by disguised Garoga soldiers. Hikaru arrives after the kidnapping and pursues them while the trap is still engaged. Unfortunately, his car becomes trapped in between dimensions.

Something something Upside Down something something Stranger Things

Hotaru, Mamoru, and Takeru, now captured, reunite with Dr. Morita. After executing the two disguised soldiers for grabbing the wrong people, the Garoga officer in charge of the base decides to use Mamoru as a pawn to force the doctor to talk. Just as he's about to, Hotaru is able to slip out of her binding just long enough to send a Zobot containing their location. Furious, one of the Garoga soldiers begins to beat Hotaru. While the Garoga agent is distracted, Mamoru helps Takeru escape and the four fight off the Garoga to escape their captivity.

I would say whoever designed these bindings should be executed, but they probably already were.

The Sakimori family retrieve the Zobot and Akira journeys into the fourth dimension in Smokey as Zone Junior. As Hotaru, Mamoru, Takeru, and Dr. Morita become trapped by the Garoga soldiers, Zone Fighter arrives just in time to fight them off. Fighter battles with the commanding officer and, after soundly beating him, the officer calls for the firing of a Terror-Beast Missile containing the Fourth-Dimensional Terror Beast Dorora.

With Dorora's arrival, Fighter transforms into his giant form and does battle with the giant monster. However, Dorora quickly expends Fighter's energy. Junior and Angel recharge Fighter's energy, and Fighter defeats Dorora despite Dorora's attempts to confuse Fighter with an attack warping them between dimensions. After beating Dorora, Fighter locates the base and destroys it with his Meteor Missile Might.

After the battle, Mamoru and Dr. Morita return home to a surprise waiting for him. Somehow, Tsukiko located the mother of the household and convinced her to return home. Now a complete family unit again, the Morita household is all smiles while the Sakimori family and Takeru head home. Another job well done for the Zone Family!

No you won't and you know it.

THOUGHTS AND IMPRESSIONS:

If I didn't know any better I'd believe that half of Japan's child population were raised by influential scientists who have recently made game changing discoveries, based solely on what '70s Japanese superhero shows tell me.

Is that the Dr. Morita who developed a new space weapon or the Dr. Morita that found a new energy source with 100x the power of uranium?

This is a very formulaic episode all things considered, which is a bit of a shame considering how bonkers last episode was. As you may have noticed though, this episode was directed by none other than one of the creators of Godzilla himself, one Ishiro Honda. After leaving Toho's film production unit following his friend and long-time creative partner Eiji Tsuburaya's death, Honda began exclusively working in television. His work included the first episodes of two of Tsuburaya Productions' own TV shows: The Return of Ultraman and Mirror Man as well as a handful of episodes for other tokusatsu shows.

Zone Fighter would be Honda's first job at Toho since 1970's Space Amoeba, and his work here is just the same as always. Honda was best known as a workmanlike director who could get productions in on time without much stress or controversy. His quickness made him perfect for television, though it's easy to see how his style clashes with Fukuda's with this episode. In the first two episodes, Fukuda's energy was present from either fast cuts to intense zooms and handheld shots. Honda's style is more subtle, relying on simple blocking and camera movement. 

This zoom isn't during an action scene. It's the last shot of a dialogue scene.

Since Fukuda had already set the visual tone for the show, Honda tries to emulate it with little success here. There are weird zooms that don't really work to make a scene more intense. Action choreography is once again confusing and awkward. Also, it seems weird that anything Honda would be attached to would glorify the creation of a new super weapon. It seems pretty clear this was a paycheck for Honda, but at least there's some cool moody lighting at the underground lair (even if it is to hide the lack of an actual set).

What about Kawakita? Does his work hold up?

Sure. I mean, it's his first directing job so his own unique style isn't really present yet (though he does manage to sneak in a peek at some of his signature backlighting with Fighter's victory pose in front of the sun). There's some cool effects done to simulate the fourth dimension, with Dorora's attack looking the best. Still, there are some notable goofs, including a blink and you miss it beat where part of the mountain set moves after Fighter and Dorora roll against it. So it's not really a sign of things to come for Kawakita here.

Something something Mind Flayer something something Stranger Things

But yeah, this is a pretty standard episode of your average Japanese superhero series. There are some cool signs of the Garoga's ruthlessness. The Garoga officer executes the two soldiers with a literal wave of his hand, summoning fire that consumes them both. And this is before he starts to casually slap around our leading heroine.

Why they don't just summon these flames to engulf our heroes is anybody's guess.

The final battle is pretty fun as well. Alongside the cool visuals, there's some fun bits where Fighter uses Dorora's own arm against him. Plus, seeing Fighter absolutely destroy the underground base is fun stuff. Not much else to really say about this episode though. It serves its purpose, then quietly drifts off into the night.

But I don't think we're going to be getting much quiet next episode. Something big and loud is coming.

NEXT TIME:

"INVASION! THE GIANT GAROGA ARMY -ENTER GODZILLA-"

*Blue Oyster Cult intensifies*