It is impossible to watch Ultraman Blazar episode 15, “Betwixt Morning and Dusk” without leaving with a warm heart. In the cutest episode of Blazar to date, we get to follow Captain Gento’s son, Jun and his rag-tag team of friends as they accidentally create Gavadon, the squishiest Kaiju known to Tokusatsu!
The episode does a fantastic job of giving us perspective on how the children that live in a universe populated by Ultras and Kaiju are processing all the madness around them.
We first met Gavadon in episode 15 of the original 1966 Ultraman series “Terrifying Cosmic rays”. While “Betwixt Morning and Dusk” pays homage to the episode by upcycling the plot and even sharing the same episode number, this version of the story is a bit more wholesome.
Ultraman Episode 15: Betwixt Morn and Dusk This was such a great episode! Gavadons return after 57 years was phenomenal and a great homage to the original episode, This is honestly one of my favorite episodes of Blazar so far, I loved it! Really like episodes like these, 10/10 pic.twitter.com/jY1EM60Gnd
— MoonShark #TeamDaitetsujin17 #TedSweep #Garbunga (@MoonShark4) October 21, 2023
The kids aren’t determined to create a scary Kaiju, they just want a big soft friend! This could be indicative of the evolution of the human understanding of Kaiju diversity. Not all of them have to be so scary. In fact, Jun has always seemed to have a soft spot for Kaiju dating back to episode 10, “Parent and Child” in which he advocates against hurting Demaaga.
Bringing back Gavadon in Ultraman Blazar highlights the difference between the 60s and the 2020s. In the original, the kids wanted to make Gavadon stronger, which is why they added more stuff to make him look more terrifying. In this one, they just want a bigger dumpling boi. pic.twitter.com/aKABznsIDt
— Ian Titular (@UkiyaSeed) October 21, 2023
Blazar has done an amazing job of showcasing various human perspectives. We get multiple episodes to see the world through the eyes of the SKaRD teammates, we get to see the general public opinion through news reporters in the special episode, we even get to see Blazar’s perspective in small doses. This week we continued that theme with a focus on the children of Japan. The fact that Gavadon’s origin remained a special secret that they all get to share gave the episode a whimsical and realistic feel. Every childhood friend group can relate to having done something sneaky and gotten away with it!
Blazar episode 15 is the perfect encapsulation of the phrase "childlike wonder"
Jun and the rest of his friends are a fantastic emotional core for the episode, and their interactions with Gavadon were so adorable Had the stupidest grin on my face for the whole episode pic.twitter.com/K7VDIK7eh3 — ウルトラマコ🔆 (@MakoMattari) October 21, 2023
The kids were a real highlight of the episode, not only in the original Japanese, but also the English dub, where it appears real (and talented) kids were brought in to portray Jun and his friends! We’ve heard Jun’s VA before, but his return was a welcome one, and all the new kids had great chemistry!
I've been watching the eng dub of Blazar lately. Is it just me, or were the kids for the Gavadon dub like, actual kids?
— Taya (@ComicalCarnival) October 27, 2023
Gotta give a shout out to blazars dub cast, especially the kids in the latest episode they were so good!
— Law 🐀 || assume I am thinking about ultras (@ultraLaw) October 27, 2023
But hey, just because Gento and Satoko weren’t tapped into their son’s hijinks doesn’t mean they didn’t try their best to understand him and look out for him when he showed signs of overachieving and concealing his feelings. It’s always refreshing to see gentle and intuitive parenting advocated on screen!
Episode 15 of ULTRAMAN BLAZAR brought a tear to my eye. It was so genuinely sweet in that "Ultraman is still for little kids" way, and it has some of the best examples of parenting I've seen in a recent tokusatsu show <3 pic.twitter.com/ck9M08Ud5H
— Matt Frank will be at TOKYO COMIC CON! (@spankzilla85) October 21, 2023
While Gento is a great father and Captain, nobody’s perfect. We all got a glimpse of his striped undies this week, but the real question is, did we really mind? I’m sure in the era of Zoom, we can all relate to a Video-Call mishap!
Ultraman Blazar Episode 15 highlight: -Amazing remake of Ultraman Episode 15. -Gento forgetting to turn off his camera is mundane yet funny😆 -Blazar using Spirral Burrade as Claw Machine😆😆. Yasunobu and Teruaki add the inherent fun factor too😆.
— Johan (@Johan86769679) October 21, 2023
And yes, the Spiral Burrade claw machine was pretty awesome. Blazar’s creativity never ceases to amaze us.
Many resented the battle. It’s kind of hard to root for even our favorite “Monke-man” when his adversary has the scare-factor of a marshmallow.
GAVADON IS SO ADORABLE, I CAN'T!!!! pic.twitter.com/BXeCZVt6lh
— COSMOLLERY (@firmedmulberry) October 21, 2023
I mean truly, you guys loved every inch of this Kaiju…
Gavadon's feet pic.twitter.com/zglD8XDu0G
— Zang 🍓 Berries = 座んGうベrRィい図 (@ZangBerries) October 21, 2023
I can’t even lie, some of you got weird with it, but I wish I could say I don’t understand.
I have a confession. I want to deep fry and eat Gavadon. A nice golden brown with sweet and sour dipping sauce. #ultramanblazar #Ultraman #ULTRAMANBLAZER pic.twitter.com/u1wSefHSbY
— LiquidSinister 🎬📺🎮📽 (@liquid_sinister) October 21, 2023
Whether you see Gavadon as food or friend, whether you’re a child or a parent, this episode is undeniably resonant and just super cute. Be sure to join us every Friday at 8:30pm EST on the Ultraman Official YouTube channel for the premiere of new episodes and be sure to become a member of Ultraman Connection so you join us in the Discord and stay updated for all the latest Ultraman news!
