Project Blue, a project to wrap Earth and moon with magnetic force to keep them safe from alien invaders, where targeted by Alien Bado. Self-proclaimed as the Emperor of the Universe, they kidnapped the project's leader, Professor Miyabe. Since Professor Miyabe doesn't tell where the documents of the project is, they started aiming his wife. Dan transforms to Ultraseven and went into Alien Bado's spaceship!
According to an interview with episode director Samaji Nonagase by Yoichi Iwasa[2]
The goal of this episode was to create a world in line with Nonagase's vision, inspired by the suspenseful, Hitchcockian thriller style, while incorporating alien elements into the mystery. The inclusion of Dr. Miyabe's wife, Grace, was influenced by the atmosphere of foreign films, with a hint of James Bond films.
The idea of a secret alien base beneath Dr. Miyabe's house was suggested to Nonagase by Tetsuo Kinjo, along with the concept of Project Blue. Nonagase acknowledged that while it might seem illogical for Alien Bado, who had been threatening Miyabe to break through the barrier, to eventually plan to destroy the Earth with a bomb, it fit with Bado's impulsive and shortsighted nature. Once his emotions took over, who knows what he might do.
As for the final fight scene, it was a product of the special effects team's collaboration with Koji Uenishi. While it wasn't a one-on-one battle, they clearly enjoyed the process. Given the intense horror atmosphere already established, Nonagase felt that the exaggerated nature of the fight scene was acceptable.
The original title of this episode in its early drafts was "Earth Extinction Plan"(地球絶滅計画, Chikyū Zetsumetsu Keikaku), but it was changed to Project Blue in both the preparatory and final drafts.
Additionally, in the preparatory and final drafts, the alien species, Bado, was not explicitly named and was instead referred to as "a certain alien" or "an ugly alien."
In the draft, the Bado aliens revealed their "Earth Extinction Plan," intending to use a bomb to destroy Earth and erase it from the universe.
As for the scene where Anne attempts to follow Seven but accidentally crashes into the mirror and cannot enter, it is believed to have been influenced by the water mirror scene in the 1950 French film Orpheus.[3][4]
Linda Mabrey (a.k.a. Linda Malsom), who portrayed Grace in this episode, was born in Anderson, Indiana, USA. In the 1960s, she briefly lived in Japan to pursue a career as an actress and model. According to an interview with Brett Homenick in May 2018:[5]
Marson didn't remember how she was chosen for the role, assuming it was arranged by her agency. On set, she recalled struggling to project her voice loudly enough. The crew would say, "Okay, let's do it again," and eventually, she managed to raise her voice sufficiently.
Marson also remembered the staircase where filming took place and the scene where she walked down the stairs holding a candle in a dark space. When the camera captured her scream, she described it as a very genuine one because she was truly scared at the moment. Although Marson viewed her role in Ultraseven as just a job, she found the experience of working on the series interesting, especially the Japanese crew's special effects techniques, which were very different from what she had seen in America.
Marson was impressed by the series' special effects, though she mentioned she had only seen the Ultraseven suit actor a few times. She clearly remembered Akiji Nomura, though she no longer recalled his name. She noted that Nomura was very kind to her and still remembered the scene where they both lay in bed and turned off the lights, with her hand reaching up to switch them off. However, she did not remember the other actors.
The outdoor filming took place near Mount Fuji, and Marson recalled staying in a small, quaint hotel with other crew members. She remembered one or two people drinking and behaving somewhat inappropriately. The entire shoot likely lasted between a week and ten days. One night, a few drunk crew members ran into Marson's room at the hotel. She promptly kicked them out. However, she wasn't sure whether they were producers or lighting technicians, just a few guys. She felt they were just having fun with the filming and joking around with the actresses, and she didn't hold anything against them.
Marson actually knew some Japanese, but she wrote it out in romaji. She would interpret and speak it, writing it out in English. It was on Ultraseven that Marson first heard and learned the word "anata." At the time, she needed to address Nomura's character with the word, but she initially thought it meant something like "darling." During filming, she did speak her lines in Japanese, but later, another voice actor did the dubbing.
.jpg "Item1 (4).jpg (44 KB)")
