Continuing on, we come to 1999’s Ultraman Nice, and much like Zearth, Nice was a character not meant to carry his own show, but he did air on TV. Nice hails from the planet TOY-1 and disguises himself as Ginga Yumeboshi, a father who defends the Earth alongside his wife, kids and in-laws make up the defense team GOKAZOKU. When alien invaders attack, Ginga eats a chocolate from his Nice Dreamer to become Ultraman Nice and defend the Earth’s supply of….Ultraman Bandai toys. Yes, Nice here starred in a series of commercials devoted to hawking Bandai’s line of Ultraman action figures. Unlike most toy commercials though, these were much more elaborate, basically being super-condensed episodes, featuring several new kaiju.
ZAGON
The evil alien ringleader of Nice’s opponents, Zagon is your standard alien invader, but he’s got a wonderful design. Conceptualized by Hiroshi Maruyama, the designer behind the Ultras and kaiju seen in many of the Heisei era entries, Zagon was drawn up around Ultraman Tiga, and then given extra details to make the design more flashy and colorful. I really like his large ears, which makes him stick out from the crowd of other alien invaders in the series.
MOMOZAGON
Our next kaiju is the incredibly bizarre looking Momozagon! Taking inspiration from stoplights, Momozagon’s hot pink body and lack of recognizable facial features make him a really memorable creature, almost akin to some of the stranger Chojuh seen in Ultraman Ace. It’s the sort of design you rarely see in modern Ultra these days, which is a bit of a shame.
BLUBLU ZAGON
Blublu Zagon is a bit more orthodox compared to some of the other Nice kaiju, but is still fairly strange looking. Blublu Zagon feels akin to a Red King type of character, but has some weirder features such as the swirly patches on his chest, or his more mammalian face.
TABU ZAGON
The last monster we’ll be looking at is Tabu Zagon, who is probably my favorite of these guys. A pig inspired kaiju with huge ears already makes for a really fun kaiju, but what really makes him cool is the character’s alternate face:
Having an alternate pair of eyes on his ears is a really cool concept, and something that makes me wish this character was a bit more well known, this is one of those unique kaiju concepts that makes me wish Tabu Zagon appeared in an episode of the mainline TV stuff proper.
Maruyama drew three different types of facial features for Tabu Zagon here, but only one went used sadly. In addition, the monster has the ability to utilize a laughing gas based attack, which is incredibly fitting for such a goofy monster.
The Holiday Season has always been a somewhat bittersweet time for me, and this year, the emphasis is on the bitter part for myself and so many people around the world. But, I do hope during whatever you celebrate, that this little mini-article gave you some extra joy during these times. It’s crazy to imagine that about one year ago, I began a series of kaiju write ups for the fun of it that would soon blossom into Kaiju Kompendium. While I have missed my regular life and routine, I have been very thankful to have had the time to write about all these wonderful weirdos, and I have some very interesting articles prepped for next year, seeing as how it’s the big 55th anniversary of the franchise. Until then, have a happy and safe holiday and new year.
Easter's Kaiju Kompendium 