This summer, the giant squid has been a huge hit. Bookstore shelves are lined with new releases, the special exhibition at the National Museum of Nature and Science is a great success, and merchandise is starting to circulate quite a bit. For once, dinosaurs and mammoths are at a disadvantage this year (although more dinosaur-related books have been published than usual). Indeed, the visual impact of the giant squid is immense, and even I was stunned when I saw that astonishing footage on the NHK Special in January. Its golden shining body and overwhelming gaze (doesn't it resemble Biros, who fought against Showa Gamera?) left me mesmerized. Moreover, having checked all of NHK's giant squid programs up to that point, my emotion was all the more profound. The last time I was so surprised by footage was with the same NHK Special's "The Goblin Shark Suddenly Turns Alien."

Well then, this time, inspired by the giant squid, once feared as the Kraken, it's a special feature on aquatic cryptids from the sea and lakes. It's somehow refreshing too.

Books
Recently, I finally reacquired "Illustrated Sea Monsters" (Tairiku Shobo, 1974), which I had been curious about ever since I let go of it in my youth. It has many evocative illustrations and rich content, making it one of the best books in this genre. The cover is also tastefully cool. (Photo 1)

"Lake Bottom Monsters" (KK Bestsellers, 1976) is also a good book focusing on aquatic cryptids. (Photo 2)

Tairiku Shobo also published "The Monster of Loch Ness" (1973), considered a bible for Nessie fans. (Photo 3)

There are countless books on UMAs (Unidentified Mysterious Animals) to this day, but even those claiming to be "latest" often feature mostly stale material. Most of the illustrations are crude, which is disappointing. Among them, the 2009 convenience store book "Shocking Footage Collection UMA Edition 780" (Media Boy) is quite enjoyable with its abundance of suspicious photos. (Photo 4)

The 2004 mook "World UMA Expedition" (Million Publishing) is more about "how to enjoy UMAs" from a certain distance, introducing everything from UMA goods to related books, novels, and films, stimulating the enthusiast's heart. (Photo 5)

The "Kagaku Gaho" (1934) which I introduced in Shin-Hihokan Vol. 7, might be Japan's oldest article on Nessie, as the first photograph of Nessie was taken in 1933. I'd definitely like to show it off to UMA fans.

Aquatic UMA Films
There are many giant octopus movies, but they don't really stir my tentacles (no pun intended), and for some reason, giant squid movies are few…
List of works featuring giant octopuses and giant squids

Among these, the ones that left an impression on me are the giant squid in Disney's "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea," Harryhausen's giant octopus in "It Came from Beneath the Sea," and "Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus." That last one was hilariously bad.

Since "boneless" creatures are not typically my collecting interest, most of the aquatic UMA films I own feature plesiosaur-like creatures, Nessie, and its kin. The content can be divided into gory and heartwarming categories, but either way, they're reasonably well done.

"The Lake of Rage: Nessie's Great Counterattack"
http://www.allcinema.net/prog/show_c.php?num_c=1749
This is a true Z-movie! This old man, being bitten by a Nessie head that looks like it's made from a plastic bag, screams and flails his arms for over a minute, yet Nessie just sways without blinking. Is this an homage to the actor's self-choreographed fight scene with the giant octopus (a misused prop from "Bride of the Monster" by the notoriously terrible Ed Wood, allegedly from "The Black Scorpion")? (Photo 6)

"The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep"
http://www.allcinema.net/prog/show_c.php?num_c=54870
This one is a heartwarming story. The Nessie design is quite good. In the final scene, a family of three Nessies swims happily, concluding the story on a positive note. (Photo 7)

"Loch Ness"
http://www.cinematopics.com/cinema/works/output2.php?oid=1657
It's sad that halfway through the film, a plesiosaur carcass washes ashore, but no one believes it's Nessie because it's "too small" (though it looks about 5m long). The main Nessie that attacked the plesiosaur is never fully seen until the end (at least its neck is short), leaving a sense of frustration. (Photo 8)

"Jurassic Lake"
http://curse.jp/scifi-movie/20080415180109.html
Although the monster is named Nessie because it's from Loch Ness, the main setting is Lake Superior. This Nessie has magnificent webbed feet and moves quite quickly on land, causing widespread slaughter. By the way, if you were tricked by the T-rex and helicopter on the Japanese DVD package and got angry, you still have a lot to learn about watching these kinds of movies. (Photo 9)

"The Water Horse"
http://www.allcinema.net/prog/show_c.php?num_c=328626
This is an exceptionally well-funded and proper fantasy film, a heartwarming tale depicting the interaction between a boy and a monster set in Scotland during World War II. While that alone isn't typically my cup of tea, there are many puzzling aspects. For example, the location. The monster, chased by the British army, leaps over an anti-submarine net and escapes into the sea, leading to a happy ending. But Loch Ness is not connected to the sea! (The filming location was New Zealand.) I wondered if this lake wasn't actually set in Loch Ness, and upon rewatching, there's no mention of Loch Ness anywhere on screen. The creature is also called a "Water Horse," not Nessie. I thought, "Aha, that makes sense," but then during a conversation in a pub, a line like "This Loch Ness" came up... So it was a "fictional" Loch Ness after all. The forged photograph by a famous surgeon is also used as a prop, portrayed as a picture fabricated by the villagers. I wonder if sincere Nessie fans were dismayed? My impression is, "A monster with such expressive features is definitely not our plesiosaur. They might as well have just made it talk like a Disney character."

"Legend of Dinosaurs: Message from Ookie"
http://www.allcinema.net/prog/show_c.php?num_c=51193
A heartwarming tale. The setting is a lake somewhere in America. My only impression is that the Japanese boy in the film has a clear Japanese flag sewn onto his chest. (Photo 10)

"UMA 2002 Lake Monster"
http://www.allcinema.net/prog/show_c.php?num_c=22323
The DVD title sounds like a sequel to the giant crocodile movie "UMA Lake Placid," but don't be fooled. This is an entirely different film from 1977, "The Crater Lake Monster." For a long time, it was unavailable in Japan and gained a cult following among a small group of enthusiasts as a film featuring stop-motion animation luminaries David Allen, Jim Danforth, and Phil Tippett. However, online movie reviews often say things like "Give me my money back!" Incidentally, the film "When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth" from the previous year, 1976, which also featured Allen and Danforth, also has a stop-motion plesiosaur, but in that case, it's not a UMA. (Photo 11)

There are many other plesiosaur-type UMA films, such as "Legend of Dinosaurs and Monster Birds" (Toei, 1977), where only the carefree music playing in the background during the climax scene of Mount Fuji erupting remains in my memory, and the anime "Coo of the Far Seas" (1992), but there's no end to them, so I'll stop here. (P-suke isn't a UMA...)

Plesiosaur films that are not UMAs
Recently, I went to see the film adaptation of "The Great Passage of a Plesiosaur." The story was significantly altered from the original, making it more stimulating, for better or worse. The plesiosaur, which only appeared as a shadow in the original, goes on a rampage in the climax scene. The CG was well done, and this part alone was very satisfying. By the way, in the original, there's a crucial scene related to the title where the protagonists as children painstakingly draw a plesiosaur, and their disliked and crude grandfather says, "There's no such dinosaur!" and changes the fins to legs, which traumatizes them. Was I the only one who thought, "Grandpa, you're good! You're right."?

Now, finally, an exhibition of UMA figures.

Nessie Items
Urquhart Castle miniature with Nessie (Photo 12)

Bagpipe Nessie (Photo 13)
Both purchased at Loch Ness.

Manufacturer unknown soft vinyl model (Photo 14)

Cast's "Saint Columba vs. Nessie" (Photo 15)
This manufacturer also produced unusual items like "Tyrannosaurus with Catapult" from "Polar Borealis, the Deep Sea Explorer."

RC Nessie (Photo 16)
I originally intended to photograph it swimming in the bathtub, but unfortunately, it was dead. You can watch footage of it swimming on YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0BSVCXK_7c

Other Nessies (Photo 17)
From left: "Candy Toy: Mu Unidentified Animals," "Tsukuda: Diving Nessie," "Loch Ness Souvenir?"

New Nessie candy toys (Photo 18)
"Mu Unidentified Animals" "Mysterious Expo"

Mosasaurus-type candy toys (Photo 19)
"Mu Unidentified Animals" "Mysterious Expo"

Basilosaurus-type (Photo 20)
From left: Ogopogo "Candy Toy: Mu Unidentified Animals", Lake Van Monster "Candy Toy: Mysterious Museum", Basilosaurus "Safari Extinct Marine Animal Set"
Basilosaurus is an animal I really like, and I'd love to have figures or skeletal models, but for some reason, there's only a small one from Safari. Even Choco-saurus didn't feature it. It's a whale, but it has "saurus" in its name, which is cool, isn't it? (There's also the name Zeuglodon, but Basilosaurus is the official name)

Bonus
"Nautilus vs. Giant Squid" purchased at DisneySea (Photo 21)
Sadly, just like the giant squid filmed this time, its tentacles were missing...

Kaiyodo "Goblin Shark" (Photo 22)
This is a quite old garage kit.