Dai-Kaijū (大海獣), or The Giant Sea Monster, is a GeGeGe no Kitarō story that first appeared as a chapter of the Shonen Magazine run.
For its popularity, the chapter was redrawn several times with each version having minor differences, such its details in illustration and story development. It has also been titled Rajikon Dai-Kaijū (ラジコン大海獣, lit. "Radio-Controled Dai-Kaijū") when it had been published as several versions of books.
The story was serialized from May 15 to July 3, 1966. It was a remake of the rental manga chapter A Secret Story. It has since been adapted for the 1968, 1985 and 1996 anime versions of "Gegege no Kitarō". In the 1996 anime, it was used as part of the plot for the 1st movie, while combining it with the plot of Yōkai Army. In addition, the 1968 adaptation was later re-edited into a film as well, the first in the Kitarō franchise.
In the Drawn & Quarterly English translation, it was titled Creature From the Depths.
Characters[]
- Kitarō
- Medama-Oyaji
- Nezumi-Otoko
- Dai-Kaijū (First appearance)
- Shūichi Yamada (First appearance)
- Keiko Yamada (First appearance)
- Yamada's Boss (First appearance)
- Mecha Dai-Kaijū (First appearance)
- Salaryman Yamada
Plot[]
A Japanese explorer returns from New Guinea with photos of a Dai-Kaijū. It is discovered to be a Zeuglodon, an ancient ancestor to the modern whale who has somehow lived for millions of years. A young scientist named Shūichi Yamada theorizes that the Dai-Kaijū's blood must contain the secret to immortality. The head scientist of Yamada's research center organizes a team to travel to New Guinea and obtain a sample of the Dai-Kaijū's blood.
Yamada is chosen for the expedition, but nearly refuses upon learning Kitarō has been invited as well. He believes yōkai and science do not belong together, but the head scientist talks him into going for the sake of research. The next day, after Yamada and Kitarō arrive at the airport, Yamada's sister Keiko tries to give him a good luck charm. Believing only in science, Yamada rudely declines the charm, but Kitarō promises to give it to him for her. After the plane takes off, Kitarō hands Yamada the charm, but Yamada turns it down again, this time refusing to hold anything Kitarō has touched. Kitarō instead decides to hold onto the charm himself.
The team arrives in New Guinea and searches for the spot the Dai-Kaijū was photographed. After a month, they find the site and set up camp. As the two youngest, Yamada and Kitarō are sent on water duty, with Yamada complaining the whole way through. While they are away, the Dai-Kaijū arrives and attacks the camp. The team leader shoots it with a harpoon-like syringe to take the blood sample. This sends the monster on a rampage and it destroys the camp.
Yamada and Kitarō arrive back at the camp to find all but the team leader dead. With his last breath, the team leader gives the sample to Kitarō makes him promise to deliver it back to Japan safely. Yamada wants all the glory of retrieving the sample for himself, so he pressures Kitarō to entrust it to him, but Kitarō refuses because of the team leader's dying wish. They are then suddenly attacked by the island natives and Kitarō is hit by a poisoned arrow during their escape. Yamada seizes the opportunity and sprinkles Kitarō with Salamandra, a special powder that can weaken yōkai. Yamada takes the sample and runs from the sound of tribal drums, leaving Kitarō to die.
After a month of wandering through the jungle, Yamada finally reaches the shore and waits another three months for a ship to pass by. Shortly after getting the ship's attention with a fire, Yamada is approached by Kitarō, who now has a leprosy-like condition thanks to mixture of the poison and the Salamndra. Yamada begs for Kitarō's forgiveness and offers the sample back, but Kitarō decides to let the whole thing go as long as Yamada is sorry.
Though Yamada ensures Kitarō gets medical treatment on the ship, he begins to suspect he might tell everyone what he did on the island, so he decides to try and kill him. He theorizes that mixing the Dai-Kaijū blood with Kitarō's yōkai blood could be fatal, so he injects him with some while claiming to give him an antidote for poison. A few days later, Kitarō is still alive but feeling worse. He attempts to leave the room, but his arm comes off when he pulls on the doorknob, revealing a large and hairy monstrous arm underneath. His face also peels off revealing a face of hair. Yamada tries to convince the captain to destroy Kitarō, but Kitarō jumps into the ocean, convincing Yamada he had committed suicide. Certain his troubles are over, Yamada nears Japan as Kitarō swims out in the ocean, now fully transformed into a Dai-Kaijū.
Yamada returns to a hero's welcome and is congratulated by the head scientist. He is then approached by Medama-Oyaji and Nezumi-Otoko asking about Kitarō. Yamada panics, simply says he had died, and excuses himself. Soon, reports come in of a giant sea monster swimming toward Japan. Yamada realizes it is Kitarō after him for revenge and deceives the government into using his Mecha Dai-Kaijū to combat him. During the battle, Kitarō saves Yamada's mother and Keiko from a falling building and escapes to a nearby island. Not wanting to harm his family, Yamada allows him to escape but comes under fire from the government for wasting their money on the Mecha Dai-Kaijū. He is given another chance, however, and sets out for the island to kill Kitarō and save his family before the island is bombed by the air force. Kitarō wins the second battle but saves Yamada from drowning. After Kitarō saves Yamada and his family from the atomic bombing by hiding them in his mouth and swimming away, his mother and Keiko convince him that he was wrong about Kitarō all along.
Yamada then gets to work studying the Dai-Kaijū blood and the Salamandra Powder in order to create an antidote to return Kitarō to normal. However, the military decides to destroy the Dai-Kaijū with torpedoes before he can. Though Yamada manages to board the ship transporting the Dai-Kaijū, he is unable to stop the torpedoes. Cursing his own ego for causing everything, Yamada dumps the antidote into the ocean, unaware that it entered Kitarō's wounds and returned his powers to him. Kitarō was able to summon Medama-Oyaji and Nezumi-Otoko, and the two of them work with Yamada to get Kitarō to safety so Yamada can develop a new antidote to fix Kitarō completely. With Kitarō back to normal, Yamada apologizes for all the trouble he has caused.
Remakes[]
Manga[]
- Shigeru Mizuki's Obake School picture book - The Radio Controlled Dai-Kaijū (ラジコン大海獣)
Anime[]
- 1968 Anime
- Episode 5 - Dai-Kaijū (Part 1) (aired January 31, 1968)
- Episode 6 - Dai-Kaijū (Part 2) (aired February 7, 1968)
- Movie 1 - Dai Kaijū (released July 21, 1968)
- (Movie 1 is a re-edit of Ep. 5 & 6)
- 1985 Anime
- Episode 67 - The Jungle Dai-Kaijū (aired February 21, 1987)
- Episode 68 - The Dai-Kaijū's Angry Counterattack (aired February 28, 1987)
- 1996 Anime
- Movie 1 - GeGeGe no Kitarō: Dai-Kaijū (released July 6, 1996)
Trivia[]
- The story is itself a remake of an earlier non-Kitarō rental manga by Shigeru Mizuki called Kaijū Raban. It depicts a battle between a kaiju and a giant robot, and this predates later films and works of similar scenarios such as King Kong Escapes.
- Storyline of the 1996 film GeGeGe no Kitarō: Dai-Kaijū is a mixture of Dai-Kaijū and Yōkai Army, and there is an illustration by Shigeru Mizuki which shows Dai-Kaijū and Kōryū battling in the background.