Hello and welcome, Ultraman Connection readers! This week, we’re taking a little break along with Ultraman Omega, AKA Sorato Okida and his newfound teammates. Being an Ultraman hero is always hard work, and it’s a good thing Sorato doesn’t have to worry about fighting alone when he’s trying to protect our planet! But even before he was recruited to KSCT along with Kosei and Ayumu, Ultraman Omega fought alongside the three Meteokaiju that Kosei can now summon into battle.
Even though they’ve been invaluable allies in each of the episodes of Omega, we haven’t given them appropriate kudos in these articles in addition to the human (or Ultra) cast members! So let’s take a look at each of the three Meteokaiju and talk about how they stack up to another famous trio of Kaiju allies introduced alongside a different Giant of Light – the Capsule Kaiju from Ultraseven!
First up, the first Meteokaiju to be introduced – Rekiness. It stands out to me primarily because it was the first in the show, but also because Rekiness’ strengths in battle seem counter-intuitive compared to its burly, dinosaur-like appearance! For that matter, its friendly, almost cuddly personality sets it apart even more! In some ways, it resembles the mechanical Earth Garon from Ultraman Blazar. Rather than jetpacks and laser cannons though, Rekiness’ battle techniques include telekinetic control of rocks and other debris! When partnered with Kosei, both of them provided some creative solutions to particularly tricky opponents, like Therizius in episode 4.
Like Rekiness, the mechanical Capsule Kaiju Windam was the first of the trio introduced in Ultraseven, in the very first episode! Dan Moroboshi – better known as Ultraseven – summoned Windam to knock the Alien Cool’s UFO out of commission, helping to avert a wholesale invasion of Earth. Like Rekiness, Windam also makes use of long-range energy attacks, and also isn’t afraid of getting up close and personal in battles, directly wrestling against opponents. Also like Rekiness, Windam has the most appearances among any of the Capsule Kaiju in the original series, although not all of those battles resulted in victories.
The next Meteokaiju, Trigoron, is quite different in appearance, abilities and even in personality compared to Rekiness. Quadrupedal, with lightning speed (and lightning attacks), Trigoron specializes in getting up close and personal in fights. It also seems to have a more gregarious personality, and sometimes seems downright eager to join battles alongside Kosei and Sorato.
This personality reminds me a lot of the second and third Capsule Kaiju, Miclas and Agira Miclas’s expressive eyes and goofy smile immediately make it seem endearing – despite the huge horns it also sports. Even in battles where it struggled against opponents, Miclas never gave anything less than its best effort to help Ultraseven and other heroes who fought alongside it. Similarly, Agira only appeared in two episodes of the show, most notably heroically standing up to the robotic imitation of Ultraseven created by Alien Salome!
Tragically, Trigoron also struggled in a notable fight – against Zovaras, who almost wrested control of the Meteokaiju to force it to fight against Ultraman Omega.
That exact fate befell the third Meteokaiju, Valgeness. When it was first introduced in episode 14, Zovaras wielded the fiery halberd it formed, and we later watched the rest of the heartbreaking backstory unfold in one of Sorato’s flashbacks in episode 15. Valgeness in many ways seemed to be the strongest of the meteokaiju, especially when Zovaras abused its fiery powers to attack Sorato during this crisis! While we haven’t seen it as much in battle now that Kosei and the others helped to free it from the enemy’s control, its overwhelming strength is readily apparent.
How do we compare Valgeness to the other Capsule Kaiju then? It’s only been a few episodes since it was introduced, but already the Meteokaiju has been defined by its indomitable spirit and fiery strength in battle. The Capsule Kaiju which best fits this undefeated, overwhelming, awe-inspiring power is of course, none other than Sevenger.
Yes, before it was a mecha piloted by STORAGE in Ultraman Z, Sevenger was first introduced as a Capsule Kaiju in Ultraman Leo. In that debut though, Sevenger only has a one minute time limit to be used, since its power output was so fantastically overclocked that it used up all its energy in such a short time! Unlike any of the other Capsule Kaiju from Ultraseven, Sevenger almost defeated the Alien Ashuran single-handedly, without the need for Seven or Leo (or Ultraman Jack, also on Earth at the time) to step in! It was only Sevenger’s severe time limit that prevented it from delivering the final blow in its phenomenal debut beat-down.
Just like Sevenger’s time limit, Valgeness appears to have some limitations as a result of its extreme power-level, affecting Kosei’s ability to summon it in battle. Whether he’ll learn to use that bond in a more skilled way, or not, we’ll see in the future. And who knows, maybe like Sevenger in Leo, maybe we’ll see other Meteokaiju in the future in Ultraman Omega or other series. Until then, stay tuned right here to Ultraman Connection for more!
