Kaiju Ouji (Monster Prince)
Kaiju Ouji (Monster Prince) ran from October 2, 1967 through March 25, 1968 (26 episodes)
| Character |
|
Actor/Actress |
| Ibuki, Takeru |
|
Nomura, Mitsunori |
| Ibuki, Mitsuru |
|
Nomura, Yoshinori |
| Ibuki, Asako |
|
Takamori, Kazuko |
| Sgt. Hashiba |
|
Kamada, Junkich |
| Pvt. Shishido |
|
Shishido, Taizen |
| Pvt. Tajirii |
|
Tajiri, Yasuhiro |
| Nishizumi, Takao |
|
Yamaguchi, Akira |
| Nessie (suit actor) |
|
Ryuji, Misaki |
The Song of the Monster Prince (Kaiju Oji no Uta)
Lyricist: Keinnosuke Tsuchiya
Composer: Gan'ichi Hanma
Singer: Fusako Amachi
Professor Ibuki, his wife and new born twin sons Takeru and Mitsuru are on board a jet plane flying over the pacific ocean. The plane crashes. The family makes it to a life raft but without Takeru. When the plane explodes the parents believe they're oldest son has been killed. Ten years later, a fisherman is stuned to see a young boy on what he believe to be an unihabted island. The fisherman barely survives being attacked by a dinosaur named Ora, which apparently saw him as a threat to the boy, who tries to call of the attack. The fisherman is eventually rescued and his story of dinsoaurs and a boy on a strange uncharted islands get the attention of scientist and the Japanse military. What appears to be a comet is heading towads the island. In reality its an alien space craft. Despite Ora's firey breath weapon the aliens numbers allow them to kill Ora (episode 2) but her daughter Nessie survives and with the help of the boomerang wielding Ibuki, Takeru fights the alien invaders. Some time after the battle scienctist and soldiers arrive on Takeru's island. Takeru meets his scientist father who has come to explore the island but naturally the boy has no idea who this strange man with his strange words is. Takeru will eventually learn to communicate with his father and even visits his family in Japan however their civilized lifestyle is not something he will probably ever be able to accept.
Ibuki, Takeru's suriving from infancy to pre-puberty nor where he got clothes or how he was able to make a boomerang, stone axe, stone knife and ropes and who trained him to use them when there are no other humans on the island until his father and soldiers arrived is never explained. Guess we are supposed to believe he drank the dinosaur's milk until he was old enough to hunt.
.
Takeru's mother, brother and sister still in Japan are first shown a photo of Takeru, still on his island, in episode 5. But unlike the boy's father his mother and sister don't seem willing to believe in his survival, his twin brother Mitsuru is however certain this boy is his older brother he has been praying for. In episode 6 his father finally teaches him to say his own name but doesn't understand it when his father hugs him. Taken on board a submarine and seemingly abandoned by Nessie, Takeru does not try to swim back to their island but accepts being taken to Japan to meet his family. However, he does not feel at home in civilized Japan (he sleeps on the floor instead of in a bed) with the family he did not grow up with and who made him get a hair cut (the child actor no longer has to wear the wig). When a monster has shown up in Japan Takeru calls "Ola!" Nessie who had been following the submarine all along appears from beneath the ocean and attacks the monster. After the monster is dead Takeru rides Nessie back to their island home. In episode 7 Takeru is speaking fluent Japanese. Mitsuru will regularly visit his twin on his island, his parents must trust the Japanse military to protect Mitsuru who doesn't have his brother's combat skills. (Takeru and his brother Mitsuru are played by actual brothers Nomura, Mitsunori and Nomura, Yoshinori.) Takeru will also make occasional trips to Japan but never stays there long.
Before what turns out to be the final battle against the Birdmen, Nishizumi, Takao (Yamaguchi, Akira) a one-eyed commando is assigned to the defense of the island (episode 14). Takao carries a supressed pistol, a sword and throwing stars. Quite weapons a special operative not an ordinary soldier would use. When he first appears on the island, Takeru mistakes him for an introdure and they fight to a draw (because other soliders show up and end the fight before Takeru could beat him). Takao is startled when Nessie appears to check out this new vistor to her island. In in his first fight to the death on the island Takao kills the Birdman Commander. The victory over the Birdmen does not end his assigment as new invaders, from Planet Gamma appear on the island (episode 15). During the course of this series Japanse soldiers are killed and even Takeru mounrns their lose and they have become his friends.
There are actually two set of invaders. The first gargoyle like group is defeated in episode 14. A second, more dangerous, insect like species appears in episode 15. Ibuki, Takeru and Nessie with some help from the Japanse military defeat both invaders. Yamaguchi, Akira better known as Yuki, Joji (Riderman) in Kamen Rider V3 and Daimon, Yutaka in Denjin Zaboga plays Nishizumi, Takao (episodes 14-26).
Episodes 1-14: Birdmen - human sized aliens which can fly, armed with energy weapons and guns that fire explosive charges however they are not immune to boomerangs, stone axes or bullets (fired by the military), they are very stealthy and not afraid to stab or shoot an enemy in the back. The Birdman Commander first appears in episode 4 after has had two human scientists captured and the crew of a submarine murdered. He appears in episodes 4-6 and 11-14. Stops Japanes Defense Force submarine from using a new weapon to shot down his Flying Saucer by warning that the attack would detonate a bomb that would hipe out the island, he then plants it on a timer to do that anyway.
Episode 2: Pteranodon - the first giant monster does not appear until the end of episode 2, after the Japanse Defense Forces try to send jet planes to the island
Episode 3: Pteranodon - wipes out Japanse Defense Force fighters, later attempts to sink Japanse submarine sent to pick up the scientists and soliders, attakcs Nessie instead, giving the baby dinosaur her first kill
Episode 4: Gozlas - has similar flame weapon to Nessie, uses it to shoot down an airplane that spied on it but didnt notice the helicopter flying in more people searching for the submarine, the crew of which the Birdman had murdered, attacks fighter jets but is interupted by Monster Prince and Nessie, the Japane Defense Force holds of firing missiles at Gozlas to avoid hitting Nessie
Episode 5: Gozlas - survives first battle with Nessie because Monster Prince overwhelemed by Birdmen called for help, Nessie does not arrive in time to safe her master but he escapes anyway and calls for Nessie to fight Gozalas again
Episode 6: Gozlas - during the second fight with Gozlas, Nessie breaks off to kill Birdmen with whom she is understabdly angry, some get set on fire, some get chewed on than spit out (she's a herbivore after all), some get crushed under foot. When Takeru is wounded and taken on board the recrewed submarine which starts heading for Japan without his knowledge Nessie starts to follow but then seems to turn back when it gets too far from the island, when Gozlas shows up in Japan in turns out Nessie had followed her Prince after all, with the monster dead they return to their island home together
Episode 7: Flying Saucer - appears over Tokyo, jams radio waves so the two scientists (including Professor Ibuki) the first see it cannot report it without driving to the nearest authority
Episode 7: Shishiryuu - frost spraying monster which shows up in Japan, while back on his own island Takeru seems to be suffering from a fever which results in him dreaming about past battles (flash backs
Episode 8: Shishiryuu - scientists create a device to negate the monster's frost breath and its used when the monster appears on Takeru's island, allowing Nessie to burn the monster to death
Episode 9: Ankylosaurus - acidic web spraying monster which attacks Japanse Defense Forces on the island, meets Nessie
Episode 10: Ankylosaurus - retreats from first encounter with Nessie to burrow underground, when it leaves its underground nest its attacked by Japanse tanks but its acidic webbing melts them, attempts to flee from Nessie second time but Nessie wont let it escape again
Episode 10: Flying Saucer - appears over island to rescue Birdmen from the soldiers and shoot down fighter jets, flies to Japan and vaporizes 3 captured Birdmen so human scientists cannot study them, back over the island it energizes Ankylosaurus until human scientists arrive with a device for jamming the flying saucers transmitter, leaving the monster weakened
Episode 11: Triceratops - shoots energy from its horns, guards the Birdmen's island base, Japanse Defense Forces and Takeru's father use him to gain information about the location but try to keep him out of their plans (not understanding he is the hero of this story) so riding on Nessie he sneaks out ahead of them as they launch fighter jets and a submarine....
Episode 11: Flying Saucer - attacks San Francisco, destroys the Golden Gate Bridge, probably to punish Americans for helping the Japanese to develope new weapons
Episode 12: Triceratops - The JDF begins its countrer strike against the Birdmen, fighter jets go after the flying saucer and rangers carried by the submarine attempt to inflitrate the land base, they run into an ambush as the Birdmen Commander anticipated the attack, but Takeru is there to save them from the Birdmen troops, Triceratops watches fighter jets fly by but doesn't attack, later soldiers encounter the Triceratops but just as Nessie moves to fight it, a second monster appears
Episode 12: Stegosaurus - very very slowly creeps up on Nessie from behind as she is battleing the Triceratops....
Episode 13: Triceratops & Stegosaurus - Nessie knocks the Stegosaurus into the Triceratops, causing the not overly bright Triceratops to lose a horn and it blames the Stegosaurus, attacking it intead of Nessie which could have given Nessie an opening to strike them both but for somereason her master stopped her and after a bit they both returned to fighting Nessie instead of each other, but having exausted themeselves fighting among themsleves Nessie had no trouble knocking them both to the ground, meanwhile the Birdmens counter, counter strike nearly wipes out the Japanse Defense Forces on the island and both monsters move to the Birdmen base to guard it, with only Takeru, Nessie and three soliders (only one of whom is just barely in fighting shape) as the only warriors left alive on the island, the Flying Saucer flies to Tokyo to try to convince scientists and military leaders its hopeless to keeping fighting them before flying back to the island where it jams radio tranmissions when an attempt to call for reinforcments is made, beleving Takeru has been killed the last man standing and a wounded Nessie colapse in despair, all seems lost then... "OLA!!" is heard and Nessie ralies to kill the Triceratops
Episode 14: Stegosaurus and Flying Saucer - reinforcments arrive on the island despite the Stegosaurus shooting down airplanes, Flying Saucer is rigged with a bomb capable of destriying the island so the Japanse Defense Forces wont shoot it down, as human solders and Birdmen on the island kill each other Nessie and the Stegosaurus battle to the death, the Stegosaurus's of course, this would be worst possibel time for Mitsuru to visit his brother so of course he does, commando Nishizumi, Takao newely arrived to the island fights the Birdman Commander who has left his Flying Saucer. After the bomb is disarmed the Flying Saucer is shot down. End of the Birdmen.
After the defeat of the Birdmen, the island should be safe but a space craft from Planet Gamma soon arrives bringing a greater threat than before
Episodes 15-26: Planet Gamma Aliens - insectoid aliens who can fky as such speeds that it makes them nearly invisible, they can spray acid from their spouts and enery beam from their eyes and carry various weapons, phyyiscal stronger than Birdmen it takes fewer of them cause havoc. They create monsters from bones and fossils. The Planet Gamma Alien Commander looks like his sobordinates except has red markings, wears a blue gem on his chest. Unlike the Birdmen who were silent except for their Commander, all Planet Gamma Aliens can speak though they communicate with each other by touching their atennas together
Episode 15: Diatryma - hatched out of a giant egg when hit by yellow beams from Planet Gamma Alien's decaptiated head
Episode 16: Diatryma - fires yellow beams from its eyes, can peck a foe to death
Episode 17: Searagon - quickly fires explosive charges out of its mouth, attacking both Japanese aircraft and submarines
Episode 18: Searagon - a strong swimmer it and Nessie try to drown each other, smacks Nessie in the head with its tail
Episode 19: Ceratosaurus - no special powers just brute strength, created from a fossil in a Japanse museum it appears in Tokyo, in last few minutes of episode 19, Takeru does not even have time to summon Nessie
Episode 20: Ceratosaurus - extremly important to the Gamma Aliens, it carries their eggs inside its body, it death keeps them from increasing their number on Earth threatening their invasion
Episode 21: Jigorodon - no special powers, depends on hurling boulders at its foes
Episode 22: Jigorodon - afraid of fire so not best monster to send up against the fire spraying Nessie
Episode 23: Sundragon - spits sand, fought by the military monster fighting team in response to a distress call in a desert location, not the usual tropical island which is Nessie and Takeru's home, the boy is not invited so he and Nessie head to the place on their own and Takeru is already fighting the Gamma Aliens when the soliders arrive after them
Episode 24: Sundragon - uses the bur on end of its tail like a club, the desert heat is more of a threat to the Japanse soliders however as they start suffering from mirages (and losing their shirts), nothng phases the Monster Prince
Episode 25: Pachycephalosaurus - disguises itself as a toxic cactus when it reveals itself after poisoing Takeru's mother it sprays a toxic gas into the air knocking birds out of the sky, Nessie is forced to retreat from its deadly breath!
Episode 26: Pachycephalosaurus - Nessie is dying from exposure to the toxic gas, Takeru and Mitsuru have a falling out because Mistsur thinks Takeru cares too much about Nessie and not enough about their mother and Takeru thinks the opposite about Mitsuru. Takeru barely knows his mother and his brother doesn't really know Nessie so both are to a degree correct. Nessie recovers and the seperation between twin brothers doesn't last long, when Takeru is wounded in combat, afraid he will be out of action Mistsuru dresses like his brother apparently hoping to fool the Gamma Aliens but he can't fool Nessie who waits for the real Monster Prince to lead the final assault against the Gamma Aliens
The final battle takes place off of Nessie and Takeru's island home and with the monster is defeated, Nessie and Takeru's mother having both recoverd, the Monster Prince and his monster return home. One of the solders gives his mother a parting gift from her son, a whistle to summon Nessie if they should be needed to fight for her. After the monster falls and the toxic cacti are destroyed by Nessie's flames the Gamma Aliens fled. We do not actually see their commander killed. But it is the end as no other episodes followed, though its possible another season was intended.
Kaiju Ouj can be found on Youtube (Japanse no subtitles) the video quality varies, often in the same episode. The series has not been released in US on DVD or Blu-ray, and probably never will be.
Back To Henshin Hall Of Fame
Kaiju Ouji © 1967 P-Productions