OPT
Three undersea monster brothers who were initially harmless are mutated and made vengeful by humanity polluting the sea. The three of them hole up in a large shell and attack Japan in search of food. While two of the brothers that make up Opt are ferocious, the youngest, San, is a gentle monster and tries to persuade them to stop their rampage. When this fails, the two older brothers kick poor San out of their shell, and when Jonias intervenes, things don’t end well for the brothers…
Of the kaiju seen in the anime, Opt is probably my favorite of the bunch, due to the wonderful design and the tear-jerking story regarding these three guys. They’re not just a random evil beast out to kill and destroy, they’re victims here. It’s a story that stands alongside the best of the live action shows very well, and a one of this show’s best episodes. The design itself is simple, but strange enough to be very unique, and I love the skin patterns and different horn arrangements on each brother.
GARADORAS
A legendary lake dwelling monster, Garadoras is awakened from his watery home and uses a petrification ray from his mouth to turn his victims to stone.
Garadoras here is a fun kaiju, mainly thanks to his petrification abilities, but the design by Minoru Kurei is a solid one, with the drab brown coloration, sucker mouth, and stegosaurus spines all come together nicely to make a cool opponent. The sucker is actually a reference to the monster Blackgon from Mirrorman, who was also designed by Kurei.
THE DEVIL’S STAR’S MONSTERS
A mysterious heavenly body known simply as the “Devil’s Star” enters the Earth’s orbit. The Devil’s Star has the strange ability to mutate reptiles into kaiju, with Earth facing a possible monster epidemic with the Devil’s Star’s mysterious radiation hitting the planet.
The first kaiju proper we see is Geron, who is a dead ringer for Dodongo from the original Ultraman. He doesn’t get to do much as the Science Defense Guard annihilates him early on.
Then we’ve got Gadong, who is another fairly standard, but pretty good monster. Much like Geron, Gadong here doesn’t manage to do much before Jonias kills him, and feels like a homage to Terochilus from Return of Ultraman.
We do get one original monster, Zkylon, who is a manifestation of the Devil’s Star itself, sent out to battle Jonias when the hero goes to stop the reptile-mutating threat. While Zklyon feels reminiscent of Sabotendar a tad, his design feels a bit more original by making the monster a squat creature with only two legs and no other limbs.
The concept of the Devil’s Star and it’s monstrous minions feel like a dry run for the monster-filled alien invasions seen later in the show. I really like the idea of a strange object in space that is not only alive, but also has the ability to mutate reptiles into it’s own monster army on the surface. It’s such a wonderfully interesting concept, and one that could easily carry an entire show as the main threat.
GOGLAN
A moth-like space monster, Goglan hatches from a seed-like egg that landed on the Earth. Hikari himself has some history with this monster, as one of it’s eggs got inside space station EGG3 when he was stationed there in the past.
Goglan is your typical moth based kaiju in the same vein as the famous Mothra. It’s a pretty solid design in both it’s caterpillar and imago forms, and I love the different array of colors it has going on, especially in it’s imago stage. While the episode mainly deals with Hikari’s own inner doubts about his role as the protector of Earth, I think it was a really smart idea to tie it into Hikari’s own past adventure. All in all, Goglan might not be the defining moth kaiju, but he’s a real good one.
KING MOA
A bird once thought extinct, a member of it’s species appears flying over the Pacific and caught by a cruise ship. When the Science Guard investigates, the injured bird takes a liking to agent Mutsumi.
Attempts to revive the dying bird with a defibrillator cause it to mutate into the giant King Moa, who kidnaps Mutsumi after bonding with her earlier, and takes her to his island home. Thankfully, Jonias takes pity on the poor creature and uses his ability to kaiju down in order to restore the creature to his natural state.
King Moa is a very serviceable giant bird kaiju. I feel like some of the bird monsters we’ve seen in the series so far such as Birdon may have been somewhat more exciting visually, but King Moa’s design, while still fairly orthodox for a bird, has a lot of interesting features such as striking eyes, orange crest of feathers and the two smaller wings on his body. The episode also does a good job illustrating how dangerous a giant bird would be when King Moa awakens on the cruise ship, with the wind generated from the monster’s wings causing guests to fly overboard and windows to get shattered.
That being said, there’s quite a few perplexing features of the character in my eyes. The idea of a regular animal turning into a monster is nothing new, but a bird transforming into one because it received an electric shock is a really bizarre way for a monster’s origin story, and it begs the question if what would occur if one of these birds was struck be lightning or hits a power line. Lastly, the episode states that King Moa is a member of the extinct species of giant, flightless birds that were native to New Zealand. This is something the episode contradicts itself on when Hikari and Mutsumi look at a picture of the real life bird and exclaim that it looks the same as the bird they encountered on the cruise ship! I am aware that these shows are more concerned with telling entertaining stories than being scientifically accurate, which is 100% fine, but I as someone who’s always had an interest in extinct animals since childhood, I find it very amusing.
BADAN
Badan here is a fairly simple locust kaiju, commanding a swarm of his smaller brethren. That being said, he’s still a really fun locust monster, and his large mandibles and razor sharp claws make him look very intimidating. I’m personally a big fan of his circular eyes with the horizontal line through the middle, which just helps add to his character. He looks like a big, annoying nerd thanks to them.
ISLANDA
Islanda has always been one of my favorite monsters from this particular entry just due to how big he is. As his name suggests, Islanda is the size of an entire island, wearing it on the top of his head like a hat! He’s got a fun octopus inspired design too, and I love how the episode itself makes you think his tentacles are a group of individual creatures rather than just part of a bigger creature during the reveal.
While never stated by designer Minoru Kurei, the idea of an island being a living monster feels very much in line with the mythical Aspidochelone, a monster disguised as an island who drowns sailors that land on it’s body. The creature’s design also feels very reminiscent of the Dragonsaurus from the 1976 super robot anime crossover film Grendizer, Getter Robo G, Great Mazinger: Battle! Giant Sea Beast.
PSYCHIC PARASITE
An enormous kaiju, Geurad, emerges in Africa, devastating the region. Geurad manages to be a challenge for Jonias, but the Ultra is able to defeat the beast. Geurad here feels like a very classic sort of Ultra kaiju with his posture, spines and frill on his back. I could easily see him as a big boss monster, but…
Upon Guerad’s defeat, a strange orb of energy flies out. This is the true monster of the story, the Psychic Parasite. A strange alien invader that is able to infect any reptile and transform it into a giant monster, making it easily one of the most difficult foes Jonias has faced yet. The way the creature causes the reptiles to transform is the same way Hikari is able to transform into Jonias, so in a way, this guy is in a sense, sort of a funhouse mirror image of the general concept of Ultraman.
The parasite soon manages to infect a cobra, transforming it into the monster Janyur, who is able to force Jonias into retreat. We don’t see many snake-like kaiju in the series, so Janyur is already very unique. The design itself with his spiked hood, as well as his rattlesnake-inspired tail (not seen in this image), is really good, and brings to mind the scrapped kaiju Garasharp from the Gamera series.
We don’t see what forces the parasite to switch bodies, but it’s next form is it’s strongest. Taking control of a surviving dinosaur, Bedoran manages to do the unthinkable: Kill Jonias. The monster overwhelms the weakened Ultra warrior, forcing his kind to arrive on Earth and take him back to U40. This is some pretty standard stuff for a show’s finale…but this isn’t the finale! Bedoran is essentially a final boss in the middle of the show! He helps kick off the show’s slow transition to more space opera oriented stories, as well as revealing what Jonias’s home world is like. As a monster, Bedoran is a really solid dinosaur kaiju. He’s not really flashy or exotic looking, but that adds to his likeability. He’s the kind of thing Noriyoshi Ikeya would design for Return of Ultraman or Fireman and I love him for that.
We get one more kaiju at the end of this three part story arc, a three-headed version of Janyur that is just as cool as the original. I love how his hood has become “wings” on his back!
These guys would not make it past the anime, but with one small exception. Bedoran appears for the first and only time in live-action in the compilation film Ultraman Monster Big Battle, being made from a modified suit of Super Saurus Ragout from Tsuburaya’s Dinosaur Sentai Koseidon. Fittingly, Bedoran has a rematch with Jonias, although our hero fares much better here than he did in the anime.
BADEL
The masterminds behind the Psychic Parasite that is invading Earth, the Badels are old enemies of the U40 Ultras, and seek control over their Ultra Mind, the means by which the people of U40 are able to transform. Unable to be reasoned with, the Badel steal the Ultra Mind, allowing them to create the Psychic Parasite and attack all U40 colonies (Earth being a location of one in the distant past).
The Badel themselves are some fun opponents, and I really like the world building the show gives us detailing the their history of wars with the Ultras. It really gives them some extra oompf than if they were just another group of random alien invaders. Their designs are really solid reptilian monsters as well, and feel especially loathsome. They’re characters that I could really see carrying the show as the main antagonists, but even though they don’t take that position ultimately, they feel like a sort of conceptual evolution of the Devil’s Star seen earlier in the show (perhaps they created that?), as well as a stepping stone to what would be the show’s final villains.
BAGON
Bagon here is the Badel’s god damn huge kaiju, dwarfing even the mighty U40 hero. He’s one of those kaiju I always felt was one of the more iconic monsters of the show, just because he’s that big compared to literally 99% of guys in this franchise and gets to hang out with dudes like Vacuumon and Zogu. Design wise, I do wish he kept the the reptilian aesthetic that the Badel and their kaiju have, but otherwise, he’s a supremely cool monster. I love the usage of cool colors on his body which contrast nicely with his pink, alien head. Not to mention, the eyestalk underneath his mouth is a really nice touch that helps push him further in memorability. Bagon is just cool as hell.
ZAMUS
A monster from another dimension that’s stuck in ours, Zamus isn’t some horrific invader, but rather a lost child seeking his way home. He’s an alright monster, and I like how the episode doesn’t go the easy route of making it turn out he was evil the whole time. Design wise, he’s a creature I could easily see being in the live-action stuff, being very similar to Twin Tail and his ilk. I love his more chameleon influenced design.
ZAMBA
A high-speed manta ray kaiju, Zamba himself is one of those monsters that immediately comes to mind when I think about this show. I’m not sure exactly why, but if I was to wager a guess, it’s probably due to his unique design. It’s perfectly befitting to his abilities, and I’ve always felt rays were a good animal to turn into kaiju. All in all, Zamba’s a cool kaiju, and a much better ray kaiju than Bostang from Ultra Q.
DRAGODOS
A spaceship controlled by the villainous aliens from Alpha Centauri’s 5th Planet forms into Dragodos when they plan to kill the princess of Alpha Centauri’s 1st Planet. While the aliens seen in this episode are shapeless beings, we at least get a really cool monster in the form of Dragodos. A most impressive robot kaiju, Dragodos calls to mind Nurse from Ultraseven, albeit Dragodos is a expansion of the concept in many ways, and the medium of animation allows for more impressive and fluid movement that the Nurse puppet could only dream of achieving. Interestingly enough, the program Ultra Monster Encyclopedia would suggest that the people of the 5th Planet intentionally developed Dragodos as Nurse 2.0. It’s definitely just some minor fluff, but I do like the idea of the 5th Planet beings taking a look at the original Nurse and going “hey, we can build something like that and make it even better!”.
Easter's Kaiju Kompendium 