Nebula
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- Eiji: “Why are you always with him?”
- Takiri: “Because he taught me that I could live. There's no place for me in this world. But here, he and I can be free. We're two of a kind.”
- ― Eiji questioning Takiri about her companionship with Nebula (Howl from Beyond the Fog)
Nebula (ネブラ Nebra) is a kaiju who appears in the 2019 film Howl from Beyond the Fog by independent filmmaker Daisuke Sato, inspired by the 1951 short story "The Fog Horn" by Ray Bradbury. Nebula resided in a lake in Kyushu, Japan, and formed a special bond with the blind girl Takiri. Land developers drew him out by kicking Takiri into a lake; when he came to her rescue, they shot at him, sending him on a rampage. After killing the developers, he returned to the lake.
Name
The monster's name originates from the Latin word for "fog," nebula.[1]
Nebula was originally going to be named Amenosagiri, after a spirit in Japanese legend, but Daisuke Sato gave it an easier-to-pronounce moniker after talking to a child at a French convention who asked about the name.[2]
Development
Nebula was Daisuke Sato's second creation to be inspired by the sea monster featured in Ray Bradbury's "The Fog Horn." The first was featured in the 2007 film The Fog Horn, lost by Sato in a hard-disc failure.[2] The prototype for Howl from Beyond the Fog was finished in December 2016, with production on the hand puppet starting in February of the following year.[3] Former Toho employee Keizo Murase headed the modeling of the monster at Studio Twenty[1] with the financial assistance of backers participating in the Kickstarter campaign.[4]
When creating Nebula, the filmmakers wanted to make something that was reminiscent of older, practical creature effects, though with better maneuverability. The skin texture and inside of the mouth were inspired by alligators and Komodo dragons. Daisuke Sato stated that they wanted to evoke an ancient or old feeling, using details such as the monster's gums receding and his back being covered in moss and branches. Sato has also compared Nebula's face to that of TriStar's Godzilla.[5]
When the hand puppet was filmed, the puppeteer was instructed to move slowly, in order to capture the creature's size. In order to control the head and mouth, a pole with a lever was attached to the back of the suit's head, with the pole allowing control over head movements and the lever controlling the opening and closing of the lower jaw.[3] According to Daisuke Sato, the tail was crafted using the same technique as the Godzilla suits in the Showa era.[5] The tail could be separated from the body, aiding in scenes which called for greater control over its movements.[3][5] Tomohiro Matsumoto would enter the suit's body through an opening in the back, which once closed would be concealed using paint.[3] Overall, the suit required four people to operate it, with Matsumoto acting inside the suit's body, one person controlling the tail separate from the body, one person manipulating the head and mouth motions, and one person who was in charge of other movements. However, by the end of production, they were able to reduce the crew members needed to just two.[5]
Small Nebula puppet
Nebula maquette
Nebula hand puppet
Nebula head with opening mechanisms and reference art
The opening in the suit's back for the actor still visible
Design
Nebula's appearance is similar to that of a sauropod dinosaur, with a long neck and an oval-shaped, quadrupedal body. He has relatively short legs with clawed feet, a square head with a small point at the end, and a thick tail. He has sharp teeth, his eyes have orange irises and clouded pupils, and his skin is a light grey color. Nebula's nostrils are positioned on the upper portion of his snout. He has moss, grass, dirt, and tree limbs covering the top of his body. He also features alligator-like scutes traveling from the top of his head to his back to the top of his tail.
Personality
Nebula formed a special relationship with Takiri and Eiji, displaying a docile nature when interacting with them. He even saved Takiri from drowning after she was attacked by land developers, carrying her in his mouth and allowing Eiji to take her to safety. Nebula was enraged when fired upon by the developers, going on a destructive rampage in the nearby village before being lured away with fireworks. Nebula's fury was quelled when Takiri told the monster to stop, but his rage was reignited when he was attacked with cannons.
History
Reiwa era
Howl from Beyond the Fog
As two travelers crossed a wooden bridge, Nebula emerged from a nearby hillside. He used his fog breath to blast the bridge out of his way, killing the two people, before moving deeper into the valley.
One day in 1909, a young man named Eiji visited his blind cousin Takiri in Kyushu. That night, Eiji followed his cousin to a lake and saw her awaken Nebula from his sleep, scaring Eiji into running away.
Rumors of the creature spread in the village, and four land developers conspired to flush him out. Eiji visited Takiri again, and she offered to take him to see Nebula at dark. Takiri held her hands over Eiji's eyes as he reached out to touch Nebula's face. As she removed her hands, Nebula disappeared into the fog. However, one of the developers saw this and alerted the others. The next day, they dragged the cousins outside and kicked Takiri into the lake. Nebula came to her rescue, picking her up in his jaws and letting Eiji take her. The developers fired on the monster, but this only drew his ire, and he chased them into town. As he lunged at one, he clamped down on a building and knocked paper lanterns to the ground, starting a fire. Nebula continued to rampage through the village until the developers use fireworks to lure him to a bridge. When he arrived, Takiri told him to stop his rampage, but he was hit with a cannon shot and toppled. He regained his footing, dodging the next two shots in the process, before beginning to inhale the nearby fog. Nebula then blasted the fog at the stone bridge, cutting through it and sending three of the businessmen falling to their deaths. Nebula proceeded to crush their defiant leader along with the rest of the bridge.
Nebula returned to the lake as Takiri told Eiji that they were now free to go wherever they pleased.
Abilities
Physical capabilities
Nebula used his jaws, claws, and tail to effortlessly smash through the village buildings. He also slammed his head into the stone bridge that his attackers were positioned on, completely destroying it.
Amphibiousness
Nebula is an adept swimmer and is also able to walk on land.
Fog breath
Nebula can inhale fog and release it in one strong breath. He used this attack to blast apart a wooden bridge in his way and cut clean through the stone bridge that the land developers were standing on.
Nebula inhales fog
Durability
A rifle shot bounced off of Nebula's hide, and although he was toppled by cannon fire, he sustained no visible injuries.
Weaknesses
The land developers lured Nebula to a bridge with fireworks. He was also knocked to the ground by a cannon shot to the head, but it did not take long for him to recover.
Gallery
Concept art
Production
Screenshots
Post-production
Nebula with Virus King from Yuzo the Biggest Battle in Tokyo
Merchandise
Los Gatos Works Nebula figure
Trivia
- Just like the human he forms a bond with, Takiri, Nebula is blind.[2]
- Artist Matt Frank was allowed to wear the Nebula suit.[6]
References
This is a list of references for Nebula. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]
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