GONGOROS
A sort of redux of the Gavadon concept, Gongoros doesn’t have much in terms of pathos or satire as his counterpart in 1966 did, but he’s still quite a fun kaiju. He’s got a pretty neat design, and I like how his enlarged head almost looks like an exposed brain. I also have to make mention of his demise, where Taro literally erases him away! Overall, a fun, if not super notable kaiju.
ELEGIA
Having lost his wife, Seiko, in a car accident 10 years ago, Dr. Shimada worked tirelessly to create an android based on Seiko. Dressing up the android in his wife’s wedding gown, she activates when Shimada’s tears fall upon her old wedding ring. The android carries the grudge of the long dead Seiko, and sets about getting revenge for her “death”.
Somehow, the Seiko android is able to revive and transform the dead parrot Seiko kept as a pet when she was alive as the kaiju Elegia and sends the monster into Tokyo to attack any cars it comes across.
Sort of an odd remake of the Hydra concept from the original Ultraman, Elegia and Seiko represent an odd melding of the scientific and supernatural. The idea of an android copy carrying around the soul of their deceased likeness is an interesting idea, and feels like a good update on the vengeful ghost concept.
As for Elegia, I think he’s alright. The idea of a dead pet parrot being reborn into a kaiju through hatred is a fun concept and feels like a dry run for the Minus Energy kaiju that show up in Ultraman 80. The design itself is a serviceable bird monster, albeit I feel like it gets lost in the shuffle with the other bird-based monsters we’ve seen in Taro at this point.
MOTOKUREON
After ZAT shoots down a UFO that was hell-bent on stealing the Earth’s Vitamin C, it leaves behind an egg which hatches into Motokureon. Found by the son of a greengrocer, the boy keeps the monster as a pet and feeds it enough produce for it to grow to kaiju proportions. While Motokureon’s vile smelling mucus attack provides a bit of a challenge for Taro, the Ultra hero throws the monster into a large barrel and stomps out all of the vegetable juice in it’s body, returning it to normal size and sending it back into space.
While I’d like to know more about what race sent Motokureon as a weapon against the Earth, I think it’s delightful that they sent a veggie eating dinosaur as the would-be destroyer of the world. As for the character himself, he might not be one of my all time favorite kaiju from Taro, but he’s a lot of fun. The scenes of the younger Motokureon being kept as a pet are legitimately cute, and I think he’s got a pretty decent design. His leafy green coloration and fins on his head really fit the vegetable theme, even if he’s not overtly a vegetable kaiju.
While Motokureon is just another one-shot monsters in the vast sea of Ultra Kaiju, he did make a surprise appearance in Issue #1 of the recent Rise of Ultraman by Marvel Comics. Here, he shows up in the Kaiju Step back-up stories, which are in-universe guides for the United Science Patrol on how to deal with kaiju. I never expected a character like Motokureon to make a cameo in a major international Ultraman product in 2020, but I’m tickled pink that this guy managed to be in the forefront for the big international push the series is undertaking now.
KISARAGI
An alien whose kind was mistaken for demons in the distant past, Kisaragi detests Setsuban (a spring holiday that includes throwing beans at people wearing demon masks to drive out bad fortune for the coming year).
Angry at being harassed by children throwing beans at her, she traps Kotaro and a child inside of a bean ball, intending for them to be eaten by the other celebrating children. She also transforms herself into her monstrous kaiju form, Onibanba. However, Kotaro is able to escape and as Taro, drives Onibanba back into space, where she vows to get revenge on humanity next year.
Taro‘s Setsuban special is just as wacky as they come and Kisaragi/Onibanba is a perfect choice for the episode. While I do find the fact that this character has two different names to be a bit perplexing, I like the idea of a race of space demons who are offended by such an anti-demon holiday such as Setsuban. Kisaragi’s Onibanba form might not look the best budget wise, but she’s a pretty serviceable take on the classic Japanese oni, and I love the firey motif she’s got going on. Onibanba was designed by Koji Shimazaki, who gave the monster lots of red so she’d contrast well with the blue suits ZAT wore.
DORZU AND MEMORL
ZAT agent Kitajima is in for a shock when his childhood friend, Mari, reappears after having mysteriously vanished when they were children.
Mari was kidnapped by the Dorzu aliens and transformed into a cyborg. Sent by the aliens to infiltrate and destroy ZAT, transforming into the monster Memorl to finish the job. After stopping the monster’s rampage, Taro sends Memorl back into outer space, as Kitajima is once again separated from his friend for the last time.
Memorl’s story, while tragic, is certainly an odd one. Did the Dorzu anticipate that Kitajima would become a member of ZAT and that’s why they chose Mari, or is it all just a big coincidence? It raises quite a few questions and adds to the moody, melancholic atmosphere of the story.
The Memorl suit is a pretty good one, being a nicely designed monster. The large eyes, fingers and blue coloration help bring to mind geckos. One interesting part of the design is Memorl’s red shoes, the same color of shoe that Mari was wearing when she was kidnapped so long ago.
The original design of Memorl gave the monster a set of breasts, an aspect that I think it was wise that they dropped when constructing the suit.
We sadly don’t see much of the Dorzu aliens here, but the suit constructed for the one we do see is pretty nicely done and very reminiscent of the Metaluna Mutant from This Island Earth.
Unlike many other alien invaders, the plot thread of the Dorzu aliens would never be picked up on again, and the alien kidnapper essentially got away scot free. However, the alien would appear in the recent ULTRAMAN manga, a sequel to the original show that goes on to reimagine and re-contextualize the rest of series. Fittingly, this incarnation of the character would go on to battle the story’s version of Kotaro/Taro.
PICCOLO
An incredibly bizarre alien, Piccolo arrives on Earth intending to explore the planet. A generally laid back sort of character, Piccolo soon becomes enraged when he spies a landlord harming the pet rabbit of one of his tenants, and soon grows to a colossal size. Taro is able to calm down the alien prince, and Piccolo leaves, with the animal-hating landlord soon changing his ways after this strange episode.
Piccolo is one of the oddest monsters seen in Taro, and that’s really saying something after the strange creatures we’ve seen so far. He’s always been one of the monsters that really felt emblematic to Taro as a show, that I’m a bit perplexed that he hasn’t made any more appearances or even cameos past his debut episode. Perhaps he’s just too weird for modern Ultra.
Piccolo’s design is certainly an oddball one, but the fact that it sticks out is what makes him so fun to me. The design by Suzuki is based off of Pinocchio fittingly enough, and has a lot of fun, quirky parts to it, such as the buzzsaw rim on his hat, which is by far my favorite element.
GERAN
After being injured during his battle with Gorgosaurus in outer space (see my Mirrorman article), an injured Kotaro has to contend with the monster Geran, a strange monster that begins rampaging after one of her babies is killed. After giving Taro a bit of a hard time, Taro sends Geran and her remaining eggs into outer space where they can be safe from humanity.
Geran is a monster that’s always felt a little meh for me. I’m not sure why (perhaps coming after a guy like Piccolo does that, or the fact we have a Mirrorman monster in the episode’s opening), but despite having a pretty good design, I’ve always found the monster forgettable compared to many other monsters in the show’s roster. I do like the fact they decided to make Geran a cyclops, which helps from keeping the monster from becoming too generic.
VERON
One of the strangest monsters to menace Earth yet, Veron is a drunkard, and arrives on our world during a drunken stupor. Drinking from the gourd he has, the monster uses his alcoholic flames to cause mischief.
The owners of Veron, the File aliens want to pacify their pet, and decide to try and prevent the creature from doing more damage by playing music and getting Veron to dance until he’s exhausted. When this fails, Taro steps in and Veron challenges the hero to a dance off, with Taro ending it by transforming his King Bracelet into a bucket of cold water to sober the monster up, and allowing the File aliens to take him home.
Honestly one of the funniest episodes in Taro (which is saying something for sure), a drunk kaiju makes for some good comedy, and the fact that the heroes have to sober him up rather than outright defeating him makes for a nice change of pace during the climax.
Veron was designed by Koji Shizamaki, and it’s a pretty decent saurian, looking quite goofy and playful as monsters come. I really like how he gave the monster drinker’s nose, which makes the design go from good, but not too memorable, to one of the show’s best. Not to mention, the monster’s drunken dancing is something that is among the show’s highlights. The File aliens are alright, being based on a musical ensemble. They certainly fit the silliness of the episode and I can’t imagine any other alien fitting in their place.
Veron would go on to make a few cameos past the show, particularly in episode 9 of Ultraman Leo at a carnival, as well as a skit on Total Natural Color Variety Kitano TV where the monster appears and a defense team can’t attack him until he begins destroying buildings, only for Ultraman to show up and battle the monster, causing immense damage to the city.
ORPHY AND KHAN
A friendly, music loving monster, Orphy shows up every year, and the village that resides near the monster’s lair regards the creature as an omen of good fortune.
However, Orphy’s existence has gotten the attention of Khan, another alien invader seeking to conquer the Earth. Khan plots to crawl inside of Orphy’s belly button to control the music-loving monster, and use him to exterminate ZAT. Thankfully, Taro is able to extract the alien and free Orphy from his control.
While Orphy doesn’t look very odd, the monster exhibits some strange features and behavior, such as his huge bellybutton, where he keeps a kaiju-sized music sheet, which he uses to help him conduct a human orchestra with! It’s honestly one of the strangest moments in the entire franchise, and I had a hard time believing the show did something like that when I first watched it.
Khan himself is a decent little alien, being a slightly redressed Dorzu suit from a few episodes ago. I like his hook-like hands and the stringy hair he has on his arms and legs, as they really remind me of some kind of parasitic insect like a louse or a flea.
Khan’s human form would be portrayed by Daigo Kusano, an actor who appeared in quite a few notable pieces of tokusatsu in the 1970’s such as Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, Mirrorman, Operation Mystery, and Ultraman Ace.
GARAKING
A space monster with the ability to curl into a ball, Garaking causes quite a bit of havoc on Earth, only to meet his match in a volleyball player, whom tires the monster out so Taro has an easy time with it and is able to send him back into outer space.
Garaking was a monster I wasn’t so hot on at first, but quickly found myself drawn to him more over time. I like how he looks like an odd mixture between a parrot, dinosaur and koala. He’s certainly one of those kaiju that feel like a “nonsense” creature rather than being based on any previously existing animal and I can appreciate that.
RINDON
There isn’t anything super noticeable about old Rindon here sadly. While he’s not a bad looking dinosaur, he feels very plain compared to the vast array of weirder beasties in this show. He does have the power to revive himself which he uses after Taro decapitates him, but even then there’s still not much to the guy. He’s just too vanilla for his own good sadly.
DOROBON
A monster that participated in a space war, Dorobon heads to Earth intent on stealing the power of Taro so that he’ll be an even stronger combatant.
Ultraman Jack attempts to stop Dorobon, but the monster steals Jack’s Color Timer, stealing his power and making the poor Ultra deflate like a balloon. The now empowered Dorobon captures the ZAT deputy captain’s ship in his lantern and wipes the floor with Taro. Things start to look grim…until the Color Timer on Dorobon begins to blink, weakening him enough for him to be defeated.
Dorobon is a character I have quite a bit of sentimental attachment to, as a good friend of mine who is a big Ultraman fan considers this his favorite kaiju of all time. As for my own feelings on him, I like this hairless monkey man. He looks like a big ogre and the idea of a monster stealing an Ultraman’s Color Timer is a bizarre, but inspired one. Designed by Suzuki with the chest armor meant to hold a Timer, he’s one of the show’s best monsters in my eyes.
I’ve always been curious to what the war Dorobon was participating was, but the show doesn’t give us much answers there. However the Ultraman Official Data File magazine suggests that Dorobon was participating in the same war as Ayros was apparently in some kind of space war too. An odd connection for sure.
Dorobon would only make one more appearance after Taro, showing up in the infamous Thai co-production Hanuman vs. 7 Ultraman as a member of the monster army. Poor Dorobon here meets his demise by Hanuman and Ultraman ripping the skin off of his arms and head, before Hanuman’s sai causes him to fully skeletonize.
SAMEKUJIRA AND VALKY
An aquatic monster sent by Valkie to attack ships in Earth’s oceans, Samekujira destroys the ship that belongs to Captain Shiratori, a friend of Kotaro’s and the father of Kotaro’s kid sidekick Kenichi, killing him. Taro soon is able to destroy the monster with much ease. Kotaro soon reveals his identity as Taro to the boy. Deciding he wants to live the rest of his life as a human, Kotaro separates from Taro.
However, Valkie, angry that his monster was killed, attacks the now fully-human Kotaro. But, Kotaro, in an attempt to show Kenichi that he can be strong and not need to rely on anyone else for strength, manages to defeat the alien by luring it to an oil refinery and using his ZAT issued pistol to immolate the being. With such a weird chapter in his life over, Kotaro soon heads out into the world for his next adventure.
The finale to Taro was one that took me awhile to appreciate, but as I’ve gotten older, I feel like the show ending with Kotaro deciding to leave the fantasy world of monsters and aliens and go out into the world fits with the themes of growing up the show has, and I feel like having two low-key monsters here fit with the episode here more than any doomsday plot or super monster would.
Samekujra, being literally a whale-shark hybrid kaiju, is a fun monster, easily feeling like he could be the monster in a Gamera film, and I love the blue, sucker-covered skin he’s got. He’s a good design by Suzuki. Valkie himself however, is a bit more notable, being based on the unused design for the upcoming hero for Ultraman Leo. Leo had several pre-production problems, forcing Taro to be extended by a few episodes, which I think might explain the usage for the unused Leo design as a villain. It does certainly bring to mind Kotaro almost literally battling the show’s future here.
Valkie would make several appearances in the Heisei era starting with Ultraman Mebius, and several notable roles would include being one of the main antagonists in Ultraman Ginga. However, my favorite return of the character would be in Ultraman X, where a friendly Valkie and his equally innocent Nackle and Icarus roommates attempt to live a normal life on Earth, only to get sucked into a Rugby match when an evil gang of aliens seek to steal his baby Samekujira.
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