Outrageous Flying Mothra!
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Outrageous Flying Mothra! (とんでもとんでモスラ Tondemo tonde Mosura) is a gag manga by Hirokazu Hikawa. It was originally serialized by Shogakukan in the manga magazine Shōgaku Sannensei from 1996 to 1998. The full series was later collected into a single volume and released on January 25, 1999.
The series served as a tie-in to the Rebirth of Mothra trilogy, parodying each film with loose adaptations of their plots. As such, the series centers around the various misadventures of Mothra Leo and features his encounters with King Ghidorah, Desghidorah, and Dagahra. While the stories deviate substantially from the films, the most notable change would be the depiction of the monsters as human-sized and capable of speaking directly to the human cast. Curiously, the collected edition is presented out of chronological order, presenting the Rebirth of Mothra 3 adaptation first, the Rebirth of Mothra adaptation second, and the Rebirth of Mothra 2 adaptation last.
Plot
Vs. King Ghidorah Edition
In this loose adaptation of Rebirth of Mothra 3, Mothra Leo is having a having a streak of bad luck when Belvera arrives with King Ghidorah to battle Mothra. Daunted by his recent misfortunes, Mothra Leo flees, bumping into a boy named Shota Sonoda along the way who is also having a bad day. After Mothra theorizes that he would have had more luck earlier in the week, Moll and Lora inform him that they could travel through time. Mothra proceeds to time-travel alongside Shota, King Ghidorah, and the Elias, only to travel too far into the past and encounter dinosaurs. The Elias urge Mothra to return to the present, but Mothra refuses, believing luck to be on his side. He is promptly beaten to a pulp by King Ghidorah, who unwittingly attracts the attention of a Tyrannosaurus rex while gloating. King Ghidorah is chased away while Mothra pretends to be a flower to avoid detection. Mothra then meets Primitive Mothra, who acknowledges Mothra cannot defeat King Ghidorah in his current form and shows him a technique to turn into Armor Mothra, which involves cocooning him for millions of years. Shota protests, insisting he can't wait that long. Primitive Mothra speeds up the process by shaking the cocoon, allowing Armor Mothra to emerge. However, Mothra's new armor proves too heavy and prevents him from flying, so he decides to discard the armor and change back into his normal costume. King Ghidorah returns and accidentally walks in on Mothra changing, causing the flustered Mothra to knock King Ghidorah out with one punch. Afterwards, Mothra, Moll, Lora, and Shota return to the present, stranding King Ghidorah and Belvera in the past to be menaced by dinosaurs.
Some time later, Mothra hits his head and suffers from severe amnesia, failing to remember his own name. Suddenly, King Ghidorah and Belvera arrive, having somehow found their way back to the present. King Ghidorah wishes to resume their bout, but Shota informs him that Mothra is suffering from memory loss. The group attempts to jog Mothra's memory with familiar mementos while King Ghidorah suggests that the Elias sing "Mothra's Song", though all efforts are in vain with Mothra failing to remember any combat skills or even how to fly. Belvera urges King Ghidorah to take advantage of Mothra's confused state to defeat him, though King Ghidorah refuses, stating he would feel guilty if he did so and instead vows to make Mothra remember everything. After Shota ties Mothra to a kite so he could relearn how to fly, he sneezes and accidentally fires his Crossheat Lasers, burning King Ghidorah. Mothra begins to remember that he is a hero, but struggles to recall anything else and believes eating can help him remember. He forces King Ghidorah to bring him more and more food, though nothing works. The group resolves to go to the hospital, only to find it closed. Mothra gives up, accepting that he has lost his memories and offers a heartfelt thanks to King Ghidorah, who reminds him they are supposed to be enemies. Upon returning home, Mothra hits his head again and suddenly exclaims that he remembers. King Ghidorah eagerly anticipates the continuation of their fight, only to be punched into the air while Mothra explains that the thing he remembered was a television show he wanted to watch.
Vs. Desghidorah Edition
In this loose adaptation of Rebirth of Mothra, young Taiki Goto is walking home from school when he spots a large egg floating in a river. After he fishes it out, the tiny fairies Moll and Lora appear and thank him, explaining that the egg belongs to Mothra, a hero of justice. A terrifying monster appears to hatch out of the egg, scaring Taiki, though it is revealed to simply be the mischievous Mothra Leo wearing a mask. After Mothra says he is hungry, Taiki takes him and the Elias to his house. As they eat, Belvera arrives with Desghidorah, who reveals his plans to destroy Earth and challenges Mothra. Mothra spits what appears to be silk at Desghidorah, though it turns out to be regurgitated ramen, prompting Desghidorah to scorch Mothra with fire in retaliation. At the Elias' urging, Mothra metamorphizes and quickly emerges from a cocoon in imago form. Mothra defeats Desghidorah with ease, who retreats while Mothra accidentally wrecks Taiki's house with his wings.
The Elias and Mothra, now in larval form again, grow accustomed to life at Taiki's house. One afternoon, the group witnesses a news report on Desghidorah, who publicly threatens to eat all of the snow on a mountain so humans can't ski anymore (only to be quickly overwhelmed by the task). Mothra and the others journey to the mountain to intervene, where Taiki throws Mothra at his foe. Mothra gathers snow as he rolls down the mountain before striking Desghidorah, who is crushed by the giant snowball. Desghidorah burns the snow away while the Elias point out that Desghidorah could have dispatched the snow that way as opposed to trying to eat it all. Desghidorah proceeds to stand atop Mothra and use him to sled down the mountain. Mothra spins a cocoon to transform, only for Desghidorah to pummel the cocoon while Mothra metamorphizes, resulting in Mothra emerging in his imago form with severe injuries. Mothra retaliates and burns Desghidorah with a powerful light attack that also melts all of the snow away in the process, inadvertently causing the very thing Mothra originally set out to prevent and ruining nearby skiers' fun.
On another day, Taiki brings Mothra (again in larval form) and the Elias to an amusement park. There, they encounter Desghidorah, who is working as the ride operator on a roller coaster. Taiki and Mothra go on the ride, where Desghidorah blasts their cart off the track. Before they can fall, Mothra inflates his head like a balloon and catches Taiki, allowing them to gently float to the ground. Mothra attempts to continue having fun, though Desghidorah uses rides such as the spinning teacups to torment Mothra. Frustrated by his lack of success, Desghidorah grabs Mothra and uses his side heads to create a reverse bungee, which leaves both Mothra and two of his own heads in a daze. Mothra spins a cocoon, this time adorned with spikes to prevent Desghidorah from attacking it. After emerging, Mothra latches onto Desghidorah and imitates a roller coaster, flying his foe through the air at high speeds, spinning him around in loops to disorient him, and finally dropping him to the ground. Desghidorah collapses in a heap. Taiki and other fairgoers think the "ride" looks fun and decide to create a "Mothra Coaster", employing Mothra to fly guests around the park.
Vs. Dagahra Edition
In this loose adaptation of Rebirth of Mothra 2, Mothra Leo attempts to win a specific prize from a claw machine, only to fail and run out of money as Moll and Lora berate him. Shiori Uranai comes along and wins multiple prizes along with her friends, Yoji and Kohei, including the one that Mothra sought. Said prize reveals itself to be a living creature named Ghogo, who got stuck in the machine earlier and thanks his saviors while Mothra and the Elias also introduce themselves to the kids. Grateful that the children rescued Ghogo for them, the Elias invite the trio to join them in locating a pyramid of treasure on Treasure Island. Before they set out on their journey, they are intercepted by Belvera and Dagahra, who attempt to bribe the lot into giving them Ghogo but fail as Mothra transforms into his imago form and flies the group away. Ghogo directs them to Treasure Island, though Mothra crashes into the water before they get there, as the lot proved too heavy. Mothra reveals he cannot swim, but uses the egg he hatched from as a floaty. Dagahra and Belvera give chase by boat.
Upon making landfall, the group ventures into the island's vast forest by foot on account of Mothra's wings being too wet to fly, but lose their sense of direction. Belvera and Dagahra also arrive with the latter leaving behind a trail a Barem to ensure they will not get lost as well, only for Mothra to begin collecting the Barem as the opposing teams reconvene. Ghogo is able to lead everybody out of the forest, where they discover the pyramid across a lake. Mothra attempts to swim there but fails, at which point Dagahra launches a tickle attack to defeat him. Ghogo creates a hoop with his antenna and instructs Mothra to jump through it, allowing him to transform into Aqua Mothra. Aqua Mothra uses his newfound fish-like tail to slap Dagahra around and forces him to withdraw. Upon reaching the pyramid, Mothra returns to his normal form after discovering he cannot walk on land as Aqua Mothra. They find the gates to the pyramid locked, but Ghogo uses his antenna as a key, allowing them to enter. Along the way, Mothra accidentally sets off several booby traps, though the group is able to continue on relatively unscathed. Soon, they encounter a mummy, though it turns out to be Dagahra covered in bandages on account of all the injuries he sustained by also falling victim to various traps. Ghogo brings them to a room where they encounter Princess Yuna, who reveals that there is only one treasure chest. She encourages the monsters to settle the dispute through a battle, which ultimately ends up being a comedy battle as the monsters attempt to make each other laugh. Mothra wins the battle, and Princess Yuna gives the chest to him. Before he can open it, Dagahra distracts him, steals the chest, and flees the pyramid.
Outside of the pyramid, while Mothra and his allies fruitlessly search for their foes, Dagahra opens the chest. Shortly thereafter, Dagahra confronts Mothra in a new, larger form akin to a sumo wrestler. Overwhelmed by Dagahra's power, Mothra detonates a bomb above his own head, blowing himself apart into numerous smaller "Chibi Mothra" clones. The Chibi Mothras attack Dagahra, but their attacks fail to so much as faze him. Mothra then subjects Dagahra to a game to locate Aqua Mothra amongst the numerous Chibi Mothras, which briefly overwhelms him. The kids question what was in the treasure chest, only for Princess Yuna to return and explain it was the bento she made; Dagahra simply ate too much. Princess Yuna also reveals that she has made more, which the Chibi Mothras consume before recombining. However, the portly Mothra ends up being so massive that he can no longer fly. Mothra crushes Dagahra and Belvera as he falls to the ground, leaving the helpless Dagahra to plead for Mothra to move.
Mothra 4-koma Special
A series of unrelated 4-panel comic strips known as "Mothra 4-koma Special" were also produced. These strips were often simple visual gags and typically centered around Mothra, his human allies, and the Elias. One strip introduces a new Mothra form called Mecha Mothra.
Contents
Each section is preceded by photo galleries of each film and followed by a collection of comic strips called "Mothra 4-koma Special".
Vs. King Ghidorah Edition
- Mothra's Worst Day...!?
- Strongest Mode Armor Mothra Has Appeared!?
- Mothra Loses Her Memory
Vs. Desghidorah Edition
- The Guardian of Justice, Mothra, arrives!!
- Big Battle at the Ski Resort!
- Welcome to the Amusement Park
Vs. Dagahra Edition
- Let's Go Treasure Hunting!
- Transform into Underwater Mode!!
- Enter the Pyramid!
- Mothra's Final Battle!!
Appearances
Characters
Monsters
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Weapons, vehicles, and races |
Gallery
Desghidorah and Mothra Leo
Aqua Mothra
Dagahra's second form
Armor Mothra
Mothra Leo's Godzilla mask
Mecha Mothra in one of the comic strips
Trivia
- Despite being based upon the Rebirth of Mothra films, several monsters are notably absent, including the original Mothra herself; Mothra Leo and Primitive Mothra are the only Mothras to appear in the series. Similarly, while the Elias are featured prominently, their steeds - Fairy Mothra and Garugaru - are not present.
- The omission of Mothra herself may have been to avoid showcasing her demise, as unlike the films, none of the kaiju die in the series, with enemy monsters simply being defeated.
- While Godzilla was never seen nor mentioned in the original Rebirth of Mothra films, this series contains several references to the King of the Monsters. Most notably, when Mothra Leo first hatches from an egg, he dons a Godzilla mask that scares Taiki. Statues of Godzilla also appear outside of Treasure Island's pyramid, and the Elias reference GODZILLA (1998).
References
This is a list of references for Outrageous Flying Mothra!. 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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