The Blue Stone of Baradhi

Ultraman, episode 7
Information
Airdate	August 28, 1966
Directed by	Samaji Nonagase
Written by	Ryu Minamikawa Tetsuo Kinjo
Special Effects Directed by	Koichi Takano
Viewer Ratings	34.0%
Continuity
Previous	The Coast Guard Command
Next	The Monster Anarchy Zone
Continuity
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The Blue Stone of Baradhi is the seventh episode of Ultraman.

Plot

After worldwide divisions of SSSP mysteriously disappear, an agent of SSSP from Paris is sent to the Japan team.

Together, they fly to the Middle East, and discover a lost legendary village.

There, they meet a queen, and the village's people who are all old. It is revealed that they worship a "God of Noa" who resembles Ultraman greatly.

The monster appears, and Ultraman tries to defeat it. However, it takes the blue stone offered by the queen to vanquish the monster.

Cast

• Shin Hayata : Susumu Kurobe
• Toshio Muramatsu : Akiji Kobayashi
• Akiko Fuji : Hiroko Sakurai
• Daisuke Arashi : Sandayu Dokumamushi
• Mitsuhiro Ide : Masanari Nihei

Guest Actors

• Liaison Jim : Edgar Kaiser
• Chartham : Keiko Yumi
• Tribe of Baradhi
  • Hiroshi Akitsu
  • Yoshiko Maki

Voice Actors

• Ultraman : Masao Nakasone (grunts)
• Narrator : Koji Ishizaka

Suit Actors

• Ultraman : Bin Furuya
• Antlar : Teruo Aragaki

Appearances

Ultras

• Ultraman

Kaiju

• Antlar

Home Media

• Ultraman Volume 2 features episodes 5-8.
• The U.S. DVD release Ultraman: Here He Comes From The Sky features episodes 1-10.

1999 release

2009 release

Ultraman: Here He Comes From the Sky (Chaiyo U.S. release)

Trivia

• The filming location of Baradhi in this episode is actually the set from the Toho film Kiganjo no Bouken, which was released in 1966 and is set against the backdrop of the Silk Road in the 6th century. The film starred Toshiro Mifune, and in fact, Susumu Kurobe also participated in the cast. Since the sets from the film were used, the details of the streets were crafted with great precision.
• It is said that the concept for this episode originated from Samaji Nonagase, who, on his way to the Toho studio, saw the sets from Kiganjo no Bouken and thought they could be utilized, leading to the development of this work. The script was initially written by the director, and then Tetsuo Kinjo shaped it into its final form, making it a collaborative script.

• According to the additional explanation provided by Samaji Nonagase, the origin of the "God of Noah" featured in this episode can be attributed to the following reasons:
  • When they were allowed to use scenes from Kiganjo no Bouken, Nonagase and Tetsuo Kinjo attended a script meeting where they engaged in reverse reasoning and discussed the possibility of introducing a "God" character. They concluded that, if they were to introduce such a character, he would have to be portrayed as a divine figure.
  • Considering characters like Yamato Takeru were not suitable and Christ clearly involved a different religious context, they ruled out those options. While the myths of Allah and Islam might have been closer, they decided to avoid them due to the theme. Kinjo then suggested, "Why not make him the God of Noa?"
  • Nonagase jokingly remarked, "Wouldn't that be like a flood, washing everything away?" To which Kinjo quickly responded, "No, the God of Noah saves the good-hearted people and animals, just like Ultraman." From this point, the idea emerged that the ancestor of Ultraman had come to Earth in ancient times and had been protecting the descendants of Noah.

• In the battle scenes of this episode, the confrontation between Ultraman and Antlar actually lasts over 3 minutes, with a total duration of 3 minutes 7 seconds.
• According to an interview with Bin Furuya, the gloves of Ultraman suit were designed similarly to surgical gloves, made from very thin fabric. As a result, during his fight with Antlar’s large pincers, he experienced sharp, painful stings from the pincers’ fierce attacks, which were extremely uncomfortable.
  • When talking about the sand attack in the first half of the battle, Furuya mentioned that sand got into his eyes. He explained, "Some small particles of sand came in through the eye holes of the mask. Normally, this would prompt the scene to be stopped, but the filming didn’t interrupt. My eyes started watering, and I thought to myself, 'This really hurts, it’s very difficult,' but the director didn’t call for a break. So, I had no choice but to continue performing."
  • Regarding the moment when Antlar's pincers were broken, Furuya explained that this was part of the battle choreography, and the filming was not interrupted. He clarified, "Antlar’s pincers had been pre-treated to make them easy to break, but there was no instruction saying, ‘Break them here.’ It was entirely my judgment in the moment. I thought, ‘I’ll break them here."
  • Furuya further added that, at the time, he did not have any special discussions with Teruo Aragaki, the actor in the Antlar suit, regarding the battle choreography. Before filming, he had discussed and confirmed the overall battle sequence with Koichi Takano, who was in charge of special effects, Aragaki, and himself. However, the subsequent actions were more spontaneous. Therefore, all the movements were based on the natural progression of the situation at the time.

• The design of Antlar easily evokes the concept of a "fly larvae", which was a creative idea proposed by the designer, Tohl Narita.
• It is said that during the filming of this episode, the director of Kiganjo no Bouken, Senkichi Taniguchi, secretly came over to watch the set while laughing and joking, saying, "Not bad! If Mifune finds out, you're going to get scolded!"
• This episode was later featured in New Ultraman Retsuden episode 28 "Ultraman vs. Antlar! The Blue Stone of Baradhi."