HIPPORIT
An alien invader unaffiliated with the Yapool, Hipporit arrives on Earth declaring he will destroy the planet unless humanity surrenders Ultraman Ace to him. To prove his point, Hipporit attacks a city as a show of his power. TAC attempts to intervene, but discovers it is just a projection, with the whereabouts of the real Hipporit unknown, and the clock ticking until the alien’s next attack. However, Ace is able to locate the alien and engages him in combat.
However, this was just a trap on Hipporit’s part, and Ace soon finds himself in a strange capsule that transforms Ace into a bronze statue after the poor hero is covered in “Hipporit Tar”. Before being transformed, Ace sends out an Ultra Sign which brings the Ultra Brothers to Earth, but are all transformed into bronze statues as well. Things seem bleak, until the Father of Ultra arrives, and after sacrificing his own Color Timer, manages to revive Ace (don’t worry, Father of Ultra gets better after this…somehow). Ace is able to vanquish Hipporit and revive the Ultra Brothers.
Hipporit, despite being disconnected from the general Yapool storyline, is a character that I think works really well as a foe. The guy certainly is among the most dangerous opponents the Ultra Brothers as a whole have faced at this point, being able to outfight, outwit and eventually just overpower all five of them with the Hipporit Tar traps. His grisly handiwork of the statues of the Ultra Brothers in the setting sun is one of the most iconic visuals from Ace. This guy truly earns his reputation as one of the show’s most iconic monsters.
Hipporit’s design was done by Yoshio Suzuki, and it’s one that I think is among the best designs seen in Ace. The red body with the blue chest is a really eye-popping one, and as someone who likes elephant inspired monsters, I really like how he’s got a trunk in place of a mouth. He’s definitely a monster who takes the over-the-top aesthetic Ace has and runs with it really well without feeling too tacky or overdesigned. Hipporit himself was voiced by actor Isao Yatsu. Yatsu was no stranger to tokusatsu, and he lent his voice to productions such as Fight! Mighty Jack, Kamen Rider, Mirrorman, and was even the voice of Ultraman Jack in Return of Ultraman.
Interestingly, we get some fun speculative biology from TAC in this episode in regards to just how these giant aliens evolved. Here, they hypothesize that Hipporit came from a planet with a much lower gravity than Earth, allowing it to be as big as it is. It doesn’t lead anywhere in the episode itself in regards to defeating Hipporit, but I do think it’s cool when the show throws some biology lessons in how these creatures operate our way. Interestingly, unlike many aliens we’ve seen so far, we never see Hipporit at human-size.
Hipporit would go on to be one of the show’s most iconic monsters, albeit when the character shows up again, it’d be with a brand new design that we’ll cover more in-depth when we get to Ultraman Mebius.
LUNATICKS
So we’ve hit another one of those monsters who represents a major change for the show, so as always, major SPOILER ALERT if you haven’t seen Ace yet.
You see, at one point in time, Earth’s moon actually had life on it’s surface, and was home to a race of human-like beings. However, life on the Moon soon came to an end when Yapool sent the chojuh Lunaticks, who turned the Moon into a desolate wasteland by consuming all of the magma on the heavenly body. The Moonians fled to places such as Pluto and the Earth. Now, Lunaticks has appeared on Earth, intent on killing Earth the same way as it did the Moon. All of this information is relayed to us by Ultraman Ace’s female host, Yuko Minami, who is revealed to be one of the surviving Moonians(!). After Lunaticks’s defeat, Minami leaves for outer space, leaving Hokuto to be Ace’s sole host for the remainder of show.
Yeah, I know it sounds bonkers, but what I described above is completely and 100% true. They really just pulled a ‘Poochie’ on one of the two main characters. Several factors played a role in this frankly bizarre choice on the show’s behalf. Children who watched the show found it hard to play Ultraman Ace on the playground since they’d need to involve female classmates to play along, as well as the fact the transformation sequence was much more complicated compared to those done by the previous hosts. While I’m glad the decision wasn’t to just kill off Minami (she thankfully appears later on in not only Ace, but several other shows), having her be from the Moon is a development that comes literally out of nowhere. And with Yapool’s defeat and the departure of the other main protagonist, Ultraman Ace loses both its purpose, and its soul.
To be a little less dire, let’s talk about Lunaticks here. A giant rabbit kaiju is odd, but not too odd for Ace, but this guy’s still got some weirdness up his sleeve. Lunaticks being responsible for the death of an entire civilization is pretty nuts, and the monster has some truly wacky physical features such as a long, vacuum-like tongue made for sucking up magma, and eyeballs that can be fired as missiles! Design wise, I think Lunaticks is pretty cool looking. The white fur on the head contrasts well with the stony body. I also absolutely love the giant ears he’s got, as they give him a lot of personality when he moves. This is definitely a monster you’ll remember really easily. Lunaticks is based off of the Moon Rabbit from Eastern folklore, a concept similar to the Man in the Moon we have in the West, where it’s claimed that you can see a rabbit and a mortar and pestle. His name is derived from the word outdated word for someone suffering from mental illness, lunatic, which itself comes from the latin word lunaticus, a term used for epilepsy among other forms of mental illness that were thought to be caused by the moon or luna. Lunaticks’s body texture was based off of bricks, and he was originally supposed to carry a pestle as a weapon.
Lunaticks would join the likes of Vakishim, Velokron, Aribunta, Doragory and Ace Killer as one of Yapool’s main set of returning chojuh through the Heisei era. The creature’s biggest role as of Ace was his role in the endgame of Ultraman Mebius, where GUYS had to travel to the moon to destroy a stone pillar that is causing their ship to malfunction on the moon. There, they are assisted by Ultraman Ace himself, and afterwards, Hokuto and Minami finally meet again for the first time since the 70’s.
UNGRAMON AND GITAGITANGA
Angered at the pumping of groundwater, Ungramon sends his monster, Gitagitanga to attack water plants on the surface. The being is also responsible for the death of Matsasugu Umezu. Matsasugu’s son, Dan, has the ability to see the Star of Ultra, and upon the defeat of the monsters, joins Hokuto as the “Sixth Ultra Brother”.
Ungramon is a character I’m not the biggest fan of. The idea of underground humanoids invading the surface world has been done several times now, and unfortunately, it doesn’t quite land here in my eyes. I’m also not fond of his design either, as it feels too cheap and lanky, like a worse version of the superior Giron Man we saw earlier in the show.
His monster, Gitagitanga fares a little bit better. The design by Suzuki is sort of a hybrid of Red King and Giradorus but I think for the most part it works. Gitagitanga is filled with an alcoholic smelling gas that can inebriate his targets, very reminiscent of the title monsters from Invasion of the Saucer Men. Gitagitanga is referred to as a chojuh by the opening title, but was apparently active prior to Yapool being around on Earth, so it’s somewhat confusing to exactly what he is. Gitagitanga is named after Otsuru Gitan, a novelist and director who was four years old when the episode was produced. Gitan’s father, Kara Jiro, a famous playwright, met the staff of Ace one night, and over some drinks, got the monster named after his son due to just how unique the producers thought the kid’s name was (also makes me think that meeting also inspired Gitagitanga’s alcoholic gas ability).
RED JACK
A chojuh hiding in a mysterious black cloud, Red Jack causes panic in Tokyo.
While there isn’t much in the story department for this guy, Red Jack has a pretty solid design. While not too out there, I dig this blue and red saurian monster, and he’s probably one of the most underrated designs from the last half of the show. Designer Yoshio Suzuki thought the same thing, as he was worried about how well it’d be executed, but was overall happy with the final result. In the end, there’s not much to Red Jack, but he ain’t bad.
BAKUTARI
Bakutari here’s a pretty curious one. Originally a tapir, energy from a black comet occasionally transforms the poor animal into Bakutari. It’s only with the help from Ultraseven that the creature can be restored to normal.
Seeing just how odd tapirs are, they make a great motif for a kaiju, albeit I dunno if Bakutari quite hits the mark. I find the design by Suzuki to be a bit too busy and hard to really determine what you’re looking at with the creature. I will say the monster works much better when seeing him in motion (even if he looks like a giant stuffed toy), and one touch I really love is after being shot in the shoulder by TAC and given a bandage by the zoo keeper, whenever Bakutari transforms back into a monster, his bandage stays in his monster form as well, which is a fun touch.
COKES
After his ship is shot down by TAC, the chojuh Cokes disguises himself as a young boy named Akira. Akira quickly becomes friends with Dan Umezu in an attempt to ruin Hokuto’s life and then kill him.
Cokes is a monster that I feel has a lot of potential, but doesn’t quite hit the mark. The idea of messing with Hokuto’s performance in TAC and disguising himself as a friend of Dan’s is a pretty solid plot, but the design by Suzuki just feels half-finished. I like the body, with the texture supposedly inspired by coal, but the head feels sort of slapdash and unfinished, and not as memorable as past monsters we’ve seen.
Cokes’s human form, Akira, was played by Hitoshi Takahashi, who appeared previously in Ace playing the human form of Vakishim all the way back in episode 3. Takahashi would appear in numerous other tokusatsu shows in the 70’s such as Kamen Rider, Henshin Ninja Arashi, Warrior of Love Rainbowman, Zone Fighter, Ultraman Taro, Jumborg Ace and Daitetsujin 17 to just name a few.
BAD BARON
After some duds, the show hits us with another weirdo monster, and man, what a weirdo monster it is. You see, Bad Baron here is one of the funkier chojuh, as it spends most of its time disguised as a hot air balloon operated by a pair of hippies. The hippies encourage kids to ride on the hot air balloon, which soon sucks out their souls, leaving them lethargic, much to the delight of their parents.
Bad Baron is definitely one of the weirder critters seen in Ace, and after some so-so monsters, he’s a welcome addition to the show’s roster. He’s also got the claim of being the first object based chojuh we see. We’ll be seeing some more chojuh based on wackier inanimate objects later on, but Bad Baron ain’t a bad monster to start them off on. Plus a giant, soul-eating hot air balloon is a fun concept no matter how you slice it.
Bad Baron was designed by Akihiko Iguchi, and it’s a winner of a design in my eyes. I love the trunk he’s got, which makes him feel more like a tapir than Bakutari could ever dream of, and the whip he’s got for his left hand helps make him stand out. I also dig his colored belly, which gives the creature a surreal, and dream-like feel to him. One fun thing to note too, is that the red “eyes” he has aren’t his eyes, but rather his cheeks. Apparently the creature is a cyclops, which again, helps just add to the surreal nature of this guy.
KAITEIGAGAN
There isn’t quite much to say about Kaitegagan, here. Unlike a lot of the chojuh we’ve seen thus far, the monster is pretty pedestrian, just being an angry sea monster that attacks ships, which at this point in Ultra, feels a tad old hat. Couldn’t this guy like, turn the ocean into gold, or spit out mermaids that plan on replacing women or something?
Tame nature aside, I do think Kaitegagan’s got a pretty nice design. The monster, with his fish scales and suckers lining his body fits the sea monster archetype very well, and combined with that face makes him look like one of those sea monsters you’d see on a medieval map. One cool thing about this guy that photos don’t capture well is that the suit has a lot of glitter on it, making him really sparkly and appealing to the eye.
DREAMGIRAS
I know I’ve called a lot of previous monsters seen in Ace the “weirdest monster in the show” and while it might seem like I’m overhyping Dreamgiras here, I’m really not. I genuinely think that Dreamgiras is easily the weirdest of all the Ace monsters, and even perhaps of the franchise in general.
Much like his name suggests, Dreamgiras is a dream monster. Appearing in the dreams of the young Yukio. The chojuh chases Yukio and sprays him with water from his mouth. This causes Yukio to wet the bed.
Not only that, but the stain on Yukio’s bedsheets looks like Dreamgiras, and the monster can switch from existing in the real world, being in Yukio’s dream or being a urine stain on his bedsheets. And to top it all off, when Dreamgiras finally fights Ace, rather than spitting out a spray of water, he sprays blood!
Just, what the hell? How do you come up with a concept like that for a monster? Like, I’m just speechless that this is a genuine episode of Ultraman you can watch. If I went up to someone on the street and told them that there was a TV show with a piss-stain monster that vomits blood, they’d probably ask why I was coming up to them, but they’d also probably disbelieve what I just told them. Dreamgiras is just wild.
Aside from the wonderfully batshit concept, I do think Dreamgiras has a real nice design. The face in particular, is genuinely nightmarish, looking like a skinned seahorse with bugged out eyes. Reportedly, the design itself, particularly the head, was based off of dragonfish. The suit was created from Red Jack’s and given a new head
SOUNDGILLER
A strange, sound eating monster, Soundgiller attacks in search of loud noises, prompting Hokuto to team up with a biker gang in order to lure it away.
The idea of a sound-eating monster is a really fun one, and definitely feels like what a monster from another dimension would consider food. I also really like how the episode plays up how Soundgiller vanishes and reappears whenever it wants, giving the thing an eerie presence. While I can’t really say I am a fan of the design for the most part, it does fit just how weird this guy is, and one aspect I do really like about him is his radar dish on the top of his head, which fits with the sound-eating monster concept real well. At the design stage, Soundgillar’s original name was Soundkiller.
MACHLES
Unfortunately, after experiencing a great many strange chojuh, we come to probably the most generic one, Machles. Machles here has a hatred of high-speed objects and loud noises, sort of making him a reversal to Soundgiller from an episode earlier. We’re not really given a reason why he has such a hatred of fast moving vehicles, but his subtitle of “Slow-Feet Terrible Monster”, I guess it’s just due to being jealous of them.
Machles’s design isn’t bad, but after a parade of weirdos and freaks, a generic big dinosaur feels way too vanilla. In addition, his defining feature, that large, floppy frill on his back, makes it pretty obvious it’s going to get ripped off during the final fight with him and Ace. Machles was based off of frogs and the parasaurolophus and originally had a long, frog-like tongue during the design phase.
Seeing as how Machles is a more traditional dinosaur monster, and how the episode focuses on Hokuto’s old friend who is a race car designer, I can’t help but wonder if Machles was from an unused Return of Ultraman script that got dusted off and used for Ace, but that’s just speculation on my part.
SNOWGIRAN AND NAMAHAGE
A snow-themed chojuh, Snowgiran is the tool of the vengeful Namahage, who is angered by the spread of Christmas around Japan and how it is replacing the older, native beliefs. Snowgiran emerges from a snowman at an orphanage Christmas party TAC is attending. The creature uses it’s blinding ability on the staff and students of the orphanage and gives Ace trouble, until Father of Ultra (who is somehow alive), in the guise of Santa Claus, helps Ace turn the tide of battle.
Snowgiran himself is a really fun chojuh. I really like the design, being something that’s simple, but still real eye-catching, and the icy blue color scheme looks really cool, and fits a Christmas episode. His power to blind his opponents feels a bit incongruous to a snow monster, but hey, it adds something unique to him. Snowgiran was apparently inspired by ringworms, although the crest he’s got on the top of his head give me some big Baltan vibes.
The one controlling Snowgiran, Namahage, is an interesting bit of Japanese culture here at play. There’s a New Year’s tradition of men dressing up as Namahage and scaring the ever-loving hell out of the kids in their neighborhoods, encouraging kids to give up bad behaviors for the following year. So what we’ve got here is a representation of old Japanese beliefs going up against the relatively recent introduction of Christmas as a holiday. It’s pretty fascinating stuff crammed into a 25 minute episode of a children’s superhero show. Although, metaphors aside, what is this guy’s deal, and how did he get a chojuh? Is he an actual demon, is he a man dressed as a namahage and using a chojuh to express his distaste at Western holidays being celebrated in Japan? We don’t really get an answer and whatever his story is, it ends right when Father of Ultra blasts him.
Easter's Kaiju Kompendium 