Ultra Q Episode 13 "Garadama" Review | Godzilla Island Archive

Note: This article was originally published in 2017 on Godzilla Island all views and opinions may have since changed.

This episode starts off with a group of boys playing by a stream when they notice something slowly falling from the sky. It drifts down almost like a balloon even though it looks more like a meteor. When the boys reach the crash site, it is a meteor, but it’s so light it barely feels real. They decide to nickname the strange rock a “Garadama” and bring it to school to show their teacher, who immediately calls Professor Ichinotani (the professor who’s been popping up throughout the series with Jun, Yuriko, and Ippei).

After studying the Garadama, the professor discovers it’s actually sending out some kind of radio signal. He has no idea who or what it’s contacting, so he sends Jun and Ippei back to the stream to look for more clues. While they’re out there, a second Garadama crashes down in the mountains. This one is massive, big enough to level a city but just like the first one, it falls gently. The heat from its descent even dries up the entire river.

When the group gets close to the giant Garadama, it suddenly begins to crack open. They realize it’s reacting to the signal coming from the smaller one. Out of the massive shell comes a giant android-like monster: Garamon. While this is happening, Jun and Ippei notice a boat stranded on a cliff caused by the dried river and rush to help the people trapped inside. Garamon notices the commotion and starts heading straight for them, but Jun and Ippei manage to rescue everyone just before the monster smashes the boat off the cliff.

After that, Garamon marches toward a nearby dam and village, destroying everything in its way. Meanwhile, the professor races to finish building a special cage that can block the Garadama’s signal. Once the smaller Garadama is locked inside the cage, Garamon immediately shuts down and dies. For now, the threat is over… but definitely not gone.

This is honestly one of my favorite episodes. Even though Garamon looks kind of goofy at first glance, it’s also a surprisingly creepy kaiju. The whole concept behind Garamon is dark there’s basically an alien race out there launching these little Garadamas onto planets, and once they land, a swarm of Garamon follows to wipe out all life so the aliens can take over. That’s a pretty grim setup for a mid-60s TV monster! This episode stands out as one of the best in the series, and the coolest part is that it isn’t even the end of the story. There is a Part 2 with an even bigger Garamon threat coming up a few episodes later, so keep an eye out for that review!