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Young reporter Goro (Shinji Hirota) is tipped off about a truck carrying uranium having fallen into the sea due to an accident and rushes to the site, to be met by nuclear scientist professor Ukyo (Nobuhiko Shima) and police detective Yamato (Asao Matsumoto), and before you know it they witness the first appearance of what appears to be a giant dinosaur (Etsuji Higashi), eventually dubbed Agon. Goro soon gets friendly with the professor's assistant Satsuki (Akemi Sawa) and eventually saves her from being trampled to death by Agon. Agon walks towards a nuclear reactor, tearing it to pieces, and when the reactor explodes, it's assumed that Agon has died in the explosion. Only professor Ukyo is not so sure, as he believes the monster feeds on radioactivity. Soon enough, the army arrives with tanks, mortars and whatnot, but their puny weapons are no match for Agon. It's only when detective Yamato drives a truck full of uranium into the sea that Agon follows its "food" and ends its landfall for the time being ...

Two narcotic smugglers get into a storm in their rowboat, delivering goods from an offshore vessel, and lose their boat and their cargo. They find abode with a fisherman in a nearby village, who also agrees to go diving for their cargo - a suitcase full of narcotics - the very next day, not knowing of course what the cargo is. But once under the sea, he finds the suitcase right next to Agon and panics. The crooks find he won't go diving anymore any time soon, so they take his son Monta (Yoshihiro Kobayashi) hostage to force the man. However even that doesn't prove to be enough incentive, so they steal some uranium from a nearby powerplant and lure Agon away. That works suprisingly well, and soon enough they got their suitcase - which due to negligence drifts off on a rowboat with Monta on board, and for some reason, Agon picks up the rowboat and won't let go. Now the army can't fire at the monster to not endanger the boy, and a rescue effort suggested by Goro goes horribly wrong - and thus, Agon roams and lays to waste the countryside with little opposition - until professor Ukyo has an idea to lure the monster back into water with a barrel of uranium dangling from a helicopter. This works, and with the uranium within arm's reach, Agon finally drops the rowboat. Monta is safe, but everybody's a bit puzzled by the suitcase full of trucks - until the two crooks show up, retrieve their suitcase, steal the helicopter with the uranium barrel dangling from it, and try to make their escape. But Agon finally catches up with the uranium barrel, devours it, and when the helicopter crashes into Agon as a result, he also devours all the narcotics and dies as a result.

Originally made in 1964 already, film company Toho originally suppressed the four-parter's release, as the resemblance between Agon and their in-house monster Godzilla were just too striking, and didn't loosen their stance until 1968, when series like Ultra Q and Ultraman have already made kaiju a staple of TV entertainment. The miniseries itself is ... serviceable is probably the best word to describe it. It tells a formulaic story that's somewhat scaled back for the small screen - but still contains some good scenes of destruction. It's not as campy as kaiju cinema and TV has gotten by 1968, but frankly doesn't stand out in any way. Still an amusing piece of nostalgia, but little more.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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