VARDUCK
Among the changes to the status quo that would arrive after the infamous Nackle episodes of Return were the switch up from a varied assortment of monsters, to mainly alien invaders, and their monster lackeys. It’s a change I’m not much of a fan of honestly, since I think there’s a definite dip in story quality, and monster designs in this last part of the show, but I’m gonna give them all a fair shake since there are some monsters in these last 13 episodes that I do think are pretty good.
Starting us off here is Varduck, an alien who arrived 240 years ago on Mt. Gogenyama, and has haunted it ever since, giving rise to legends of a yeti on a mountain. In reality, Varduck is awaiting the arrival of his race’s space fleet, so they can invade the Earth.
Varduck is certainly a monster I feel really torn on, particularly on a design standpoint. Of the monsters in the last 13 episodes, Varduck clearly has money put into his suit, but I think the design teeters uncomfortably on the line between looking really unique, and also looking like a total mess, and I my feelings tend to fall in the latter camp.
The original design by Iguchi had Varduck as a yeti looking alien, and while I do appreciate my yeti monsters, I can give props to Iguchi at least trying something new with the final design, rather than the more predictable route that was originally intended.
BLACK AND SNOWGON
An alien arriving on Earth to capture slaves, Black uses his monster Snowgon, disguised as a Yuki-Onna, to freeze his victims so they’ll be ready for transport.
I think having two snow monster stories in a row is really redundant, and it doesn’t help that Black himself looks incredibly cheap, almost akin to a monster seen on something like Spectreman or Go! Godman!. I do kinda like that all-white face on the dark, ribbed body, and wish it was used on a suit that had more money behind it.
His monster, Snowgon on the other hand, is a creature that I find really cool. It’s a fairly simplistic design by Iguchi, but it’s one that I think is really cool looking, and really memorable. Iguchi could’ve easily just made a regular yeti monster and called it a day, but he combined aspects of polar bears and fish to make a really cool and unique snow monster. You also have to give Snowgon props for being able to actually freeze Ultraman Jack solid with her attacks. It’s a shame she hasn’t really showed up in much since outside of a small appearance in Ultraman Ginga Theater Special: Ultra Monster☆ Hero Battle Royale! since I think she’s easily one of the more fun monsters from the final fourth of the show.
BALTAN JUNIOR AND BUILGAMO
Apparently one of the offspring of the original Baltans from Ultraman, Junior here arrives on Earth seeking vengeance against Ultraman Jack, and MAT, planning on trapping them inside his robot Builgamo, that he has disguised as an apartment complex.
Junior here was an attempt to bolster more ratings by bringing in more popular monsters from the original show. Sadly, the return of such a classic monster is fairly lackluster. While I’m pretty forgiving of the condition of the suit (the smaller claws make sense, given that this is a younger Baltan, and I like the sort of brass colors on his body, and that red and orange crest is really eye-catching), his implementation in the episode itself is lackluster. I love the idea of a surviving Baltan wanting revenge against the Ultras, but everything else seems really off. Junior doesn’t use any of the illusionary powers that Baltans have in their arsenal, and he’s even missing the iconic Baltan laugh! To make matters worse, the final confrontation between Junior and Jack doesn’t last long at all. Just a few words from Junior about how he’ll meet Jack again to battle him, and then disappearing in a flash as Jack fires upon him as he retreats. We have no confirmation if Junior survived or not. It really feels like they scribbled out some other alien and placed Junior here to ensure the episode would get good ratings.
His robot, Builgamo, isn’t too bad of a robot, but it pales in comparison to guys like King Joe, and Crazygon. The cheapness of suit really shines through here, and it again feels like a reject from something like Spectreman, and I think it prevents the robot from really coming across as intimidating as many of the robots we saw earlier in Ultraseven. There’s some stuff I like about him though, such as the fact that he’s a disguised apartment complex, trapping MAT inside, and making Jack unable to battle him, which is a fun concept. His face too also really reminds me of the Baltans themselves, even if he doesn’t really look quite like them.
STORA AND PARAGON
A monster brought by the Stora aliens, Paragon sits on Mt. Fuji, and uses it’s illusionary powers to create traffic accidents. Sort of an alien invasion plan that seems a bit too small scale to work in all honesty.
Paragon is…eh, he’s alright. I think the general idea of a monster using illusions as it’s primary weapon is a fun concept, but I find the design fairly clunky and cheap looking with all the accoutrements like those wings and horns. Iguchi designed this guy, and went off of the same pantomime horse concept as Dodongo from the original show. I don’t think Paragon quite hits the mark of goofiness as Dodongo did though sadly
What really helps make Paragon stick out, once again, are those illusionary powers, which he uses in his fight with Jack to make himself look like he’s colossal compared to the Ultra hero! It’s a really fun fight for an otherwise lackluster episode.
Paragon’s master, Stora, might be in my opinion, the nadir of the show’s monster designs. Everything about him comes across as cheap, and poorly designed, and it’s crazy that we went from some great kaiju, to this guy who slides around back and forth. Like, just look at that suit, I’m aware the show faced some budgetary cuts in these final 13 episodes, but man does he look real bad. Based off of a parabola, Stora feels clunky with his satellite dish chest. What a mess. The only real things I can really find of interest to Stora is that his dumb plan of causing traffic accidents is to ensure that his race can use Earth as a vacation resort. A decent motive for an invasion, but it’s wasted on a putz of an alien.
GROTES AND KODAIGON
Disguising himself as a farmer in Capt. Ibuki’s home town, Grotes kidnaps Ibuki’s wife and daughter and demands that MAT be dissolved within 24 hours. To show that he’s serious, he transforms the statue of a local deity into his bodyguard monster Kodaigon to attack the village.
After some duds, I’m happy to say we hit upon two really cool monsters here. Grotes himself is one of the better realized alien invaders in the final part of the show. His design I find really unique, and I love the orange, and white color scheme on his body, which makes him feel very earthen, like he’s made out of some kind of stone or pottery, fitting considering his partner in crime is an animated statue. His evil plan of forcing MAT to dissolve by kidnapping Ibuki’s family also establishes him as much more of a threat than the previous few aliens, and his jolly mannerisms when interacting with the kidnapped Ibukis help solidify this guy as a real piece of work, and a really entertaining villain. Also, the dude has built in guns on his hands, how cool is that?!
Kodaigon himself, is another winner in my book. There’s something just inherently cool about Ultraman tangling with a giant, animated statue, and Kodaigon fills that niche very well. He’s clearly a take off of the popular Daimajin, a huge, vengeful statue god that appeared in three tokusatsu films in the late 60’s. While Kodaigon is clearly made on a much lower budget than his silver screen inspiration, there’s a lot of great, evocative shots in the episode, such as when Kodaigon emerges from a frozen lake during a full moon. Iguchi designed these two guys and did a fantastic job in my book. In fact, Iguchi has gone on record in stating that he considers Kodaigon as his favorite monster he designed for the show, and in all honesty, I can easily see why.
CENTAURUS AND GRANADAS
Sent to Earth to destroy a new radar MAT is developing with her monster Granadas, the Centaurus agent soon falls in love with Kishida, which soon causes her to have second thoughts regarding the plan, leading to tragic results.
Before we get to Centaurus herself, let’s take a look at Granadas above. In terms of the alien monsters seen in the final part of the show, it’s one I’m mixed on. It’s a decently thought out concept, and I like the spiked feet and hands, as well as the cool shell he has on the back, but it’s always been a design that’s felt a little lackluster. If I had to pin down why, it’s probably due to the face, which makes the design feel really cheap, and something from one of the various other toku shows out at the time, and not an Ultraman show. Iguchi’s original design gave Granadas a more bird-like face, and it makes me wonder if that would’ve edged the monster into one of my favorites of the final part of the show.
We only briefly see Centaurus’s true form at the end of the episode and honestly it’s a shame that it wasn’t used more since I find it the stronger of the episode’s monster designs. It sort of reminds me of several Ultraseven aliens, particularly Icarus. I like the stripes coming down from the eyes two, as they remind me of tears, adding to the tragic nature of the character.
MESSIE AND ROBONEZ
Episode 45 of Return opens up with an impressive night fight between Jack and the giant, cybernetic rat monster Robonez. We only see a bit of Robonez briefly in this episode, but he makes quite the impression. He’s a pretty good rat monster, and I dig the armored carapace he’s got. I just wish he was the episode’s main threat, as his poisonous bite, and long tail make him a fairly challenging opponent for Jack.
Before we move on though, let’s look at his death scene, where we see his robotic skeleton! It’s a little touch, but it adds to the memorability of the character.
Robonez is just one of several assassination attempts made on Goh’s life by Erika, a Cygnus-61 alien. She turns out to be a red herring of sorts, being controlled by the real mastermind of the plot. I always found her a bit inconsequential, and she could’ve easily just been a human under mind control, but I digress.
The true mastermind of the plot is…this guy, Messie. Honestly, there was a point in time where this guy was my absolute least favorite monster in all of Ultraman. I’ve warmed up to Messie as of recent, and can kinda appreciate him in a “so bad it’s good” way, but he’s still a far cry from some of the really cool monsters we’ve seen prior in the show.
In all honesty, I think the design could probably work alright on it’s own, but it’s those damn triangles on the back that make it look worse than it is. They look really flat, and cheap, really accentuating the cheapness. They were inspired by electromagnetic waves, which is a neat concept, but as it is, it just looks really tacky, and reflects the rushed, slapdash monster design that tends to pop up in these final few episodes. Additionally, Messie’s 50’s alien inspired design again, isn’t too bad in theory, but feels out of place alongside some of the aliens we’ve seen in this season just a few episodes prior.
ZOOLE AND RED KILLER
Disguised as a friendly kamishibai narrator (a type of storyteller that travels around and uses hand drawn visuals, and narration to tell a story), Zoole proclaims that MAT and Ultraman Jack will meet their demise by the hands of the monster Red Killer. In addition, Zoole frames Goh for a hit-and-run on a small child. With Goh wrapped up in the investigation regarding the incident, Zoole unleashes Red Killer.
We don’t see much of Zoole’s true form (he’s mainly in his human form, played by Jun Tatara), but the few glimpses we do get of him aren’t too impressive. It’s a step up from characters like Messie, and Stora that being said. I do like his goofy claws, and silver jumpsuit. Still, I gotta give credit for his plan to defeat Jack, which is a clever one as alien invader plans go.
Zoole was based on alien design by pulp magazine artist Edd Cartier. Knowing the deep cuts the Ultraman shows tend reference in regards to other scifi, I am not too surprised by this.
His monster, Red Killer, is easily one of the better monsters found in these last few episodes in terms of design. While he’s a tad on the cheap side, I think the overall concept of a boomerang throwing dinosaur is realized well enough, and there’s a lot of features I do like on this guy, such as the crest on his head that matches his boomerangs, the weird textured material on his body, and the clamps he has for hands. The original design by Iguchi gave Red Killer actual fingers on his hands, but I definitely prefer what we got in the end.
FEMIGON
A strange, space-faring monster, the ghostly Femigon arrives on Earth, and possess MAT agent Oka as her vessel. Femigon occasionally emerges from Oka to rampage, and when in hiding, makes Oka act erratically.
Sort of an odd monster compared to the alien invaders and their pet kaiju seen in this portion of the show, Femigon definitely in terms of looks, and story, feels like a throwback to the earlier portions of Return. And honestly, I kind of dig that. I like the idea of a ghostly space monster possessing a regular person, and making it a MAT agent is a nice touch. The design by Iguchi is a solid one, and the cheap budget can’t hurt the cool concept at play here. While Iguchi based Femigon off of the concept of a mermaid, I can’t help but view Femigon as a sort of rooster derived monster due to the wattles and red spines. All in all, Femigon is definitely one of the better monsters seen in the final 13 episodes of Return, and the one I’d call the best of that last bunch….except that title belongs to the next one.
YAMETARANSE AND SASAHILLER
Plotting to conquer the Earth, the alien Sasahiller sends down the monster Yametaranse. Unlike previous kaiju, Yametaranse is a harmless beast. However, the monster has the unique ability of spreading “laziness radiation” that causes humans, and even Ultraman Jack, to become incredibly lazy. As Yametaranse grows in size, his laziness radiation spreads further, and Sasahiller plans to conquer the Earth effortlessly.
Before even getting to the monster designs, the idea of just using a monster to make people lazy, and ripe for conquest is a wonderfully inspired idea, and the episode uses it to it’s full potential, showing off just how easily affected everyone is. One of my personal favorite scenes in the episode is when Jack heroically confronts Yametaranse, only for the laziness radiation to affect him, and the triumphant battle music get slower and slower as it draws on.
Design wise, I think Yametaranse hits that ugly-cute aesthetic characters like M1 and Pigmon have going on. I think the character, as odd as he looks, has a great design unlike much of the monsters in the final part of the show. I especially love the color scheme, and the potato-sack body, the cobble-stone texture, and the morose face with the huge ears gives me vibes of Yametaranse being a goofy rubber toy, which is something I’m 100% on board for. Iguchi knocked this one right out of the park.
The Yametaranse suit had an interesting career prior to the show, being repurposed from the suit of dust monster Gomirah for a 1971 ad campaign for Hayabusa Vacuum Cleaners that Tsuburaya Productions were hired on for. In the ads, Gomirah battles a winged, Ultraman-esque superhero who has a vacuum cleaner hose for a hand! It’s a really fun, creative ad campaign with some cool effects work.
Sasahiller himself isn’t a bad design either. The last monster in the show designed by Ken Kumagi, Sasahiller isn’t a bad one to end on honestly. The triangular shape, based on a closed umbrella, is one I really dig, and it’s reminiscent of all kinds of things like manta rays, spaceships, and even Christmas trees! His white-orange-grey color scheme he’s got going on is really appealing too, and much like Yametaranse, it feels very reminiscent of a vinyl toy version of the character. Ken Kumagi based the name off of the writer of the episode, Mieko Osani’s real name of Mieko Sasahira. Apparently Mieko’s niece got bullied after the episode aired thanks to the monster’s name, poor kid!
Yametaranse would put in one more appearance in 2014’s Ultraman Ginga Theater Special: Ultra Monster☆ Hero Battle Royale!. Yametaranse wasn’t in the script for the film originally, but was added in after director Tomoo Haraguchi found the Yametaranse suit used for stage shows and added the character in.
MYSTELLAR
Locked in an eternal war with the Atelier aliens, one of the Mystellar, tired of the conflict, escapes to Earth with his daughter to live out a peaceful life.
However, one of the commanders of the Mystellar follows the two to Earth with the full intent of bringing them back to the fold. In addition, the commander plans on brainwashing MAT and Ultraman Jack to use as soldiers in the war against the Atelier.
While I think the idea of an alien wanting to use MAT and Ultraman as soldiers for another conflict is a novel idea, and a nice break from the usual “conquer the Earth” goal of so many alien invaders, I think this is really an episode where the designs hurt the story. While I wouldn’t call them outright terrible, both Mystellars look really low-budget, and akin to “Trumpy” from Pod People. I will give credit where it’s due though to the special effects team for at least making them both look different.
While the Mystellar would never return again in the series, they would receive a mention in Ultraman Mebius as still undergoing their war against the Atelier.
KING BOCKLE
A race of underground humans mutated by uranium, King Bockle and his kind plot to overthrow the surface world, targeting Dr. Koizumi, the mentor of MAT agent Ueno, who has discovered their existence.
The idea of a sister race to humanity living underground was something explored in Ultraman earlier, so you think the concept would still have legs here, except I feel like the execution here is much more poor than the ’66 show. King Bockle himself, is poorly designed, and feels like one of the cheaper Spectreman monsters in terms of suit quality, and it doesn’t seem like a good design for an underground hominid. The fact that King Bockle looks so bizarre, and has abilities such as manipulating the ground with his antennae, makes me wonder if it was just uranium that mutated King Bockle. King Bockle takes his name from the Koropokuru, a sort of spirit akin to a dwarf from Ainu folklore. Iguchi designed King Bockle’s eyes off of the idea that they degenerated after being underground for so long.
BAT AND ZETTON
Plotting to conquer the universe, the Bat aliens launch an invasion on the Ultras’ homeworld of M78. To make sure Ultraman Jack can’t help out his people, one of the Bat aliens arrives on Earth and kidnaps Jiro, as well as Goh’s friend Rumiko. This Bat brings along a revived Zetton, using the monster’s reputation to prevent Goh from transforming into Ultraman Jack.
As final villains go, I’m honestly quite torn the two of them. An alien reviving Zetton as a tool of intimidation is a pretty solid concept. And to give Bat some credit, he does kidnap two main characters, and even manages to sabotage the MAT base, crippling their aircraft. I think on paper he’s a really solid villain, but I do think at this point, a story such as this needed some higher stakes. Perhaps if it was a two-part episode, Bat and his would come across as very impactful, but ultimately I feel like they get close, but don’t quite hit the mark compared to the other final villains we’ve seen previously.
In terms of design, Bat feels a little cheap and over-designed at first, but I do find him oddly likable. The confidence this guy has for his scheme working makes him a good enough villain at least, and the sort of aesthetic he has going on feels akin to many of the aliens in later shows like Ultraman Ace and Ultraman Taro. I like his wings, Baltan-esque claws, and lensed eyes in particular, and it’s a shame that when Bat was brought back in the 2010’s that Tsuburaya didn’t update this design, but instead did a full overhaul.
His partner in crime, the revived Zetton, was an attempt to bring better ratings to the show by bringing back older monsters. Much like Baltan Junior, the concept is a tad lackluster in execution. This is Zetton alright, but it’s definitely Zetton who has been sitting in the sun for far too long. He’s not as intimidating as the original, but I can’t deny there’s some of that dramatic presence still at play here, especially when Zetton first confronts Goh at the sports stadium. I’ve heard some sources state that this is not some second Zetton, but rather the original revived by Bat, which if that’s the case, the dumpy look really fits. Zetton was blown to bits back in the original show, so what we might be looking at here is a zombified Zetton, which is something I can really get behind.
While Bat and Zetton aren’t on the same level of the past foes used for series finales (or Nackle and Black King), they do provide some good drama. In addition, out of all the characters in the long-running franchise, Bat is the very first one to coin the phrase “The Ultra Brothers”, referring to Zoffy, Ultraman, Ultraseven, and Jack in particular.
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