Shunji Kurokawa
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Shunji Kurokawa (黒川 俊二, otherwise known as the Invisible Man Kurokawa Shunji) (透明人間, is a Tōmei Ningen)kaijin that appeared in the 1949 Daiei film The Invisible Man Appears.
Design
Before becoming the Invisible Man, Kurokawa looked like any ordinary human being. After drinking Professor Nakazato's experimental invisibility serum, Kurokawa was rendered completely invisible. While invisible, Kurokawa sometimes wore clothing, bandages around his face, and sunglasses on his eyes so as to appear to be a normal person at first glance.
History
The Invisible Man Appears
Shunji Kurokawa was working under Professor Kenzo Nakazato along with his colleague and rival Kyosuke Segi. Both of them wanted to determine a way to render objects and living things completely invisible, without casting so much as a shadow. Nakazato proposed a friendly competition between the two, claiming he would reward whichever successfully developed an invisibility serum first. Kurokawa and Segi decided that whoever won the competition should have the right to ask to marry Nakazato's daughter Machiko. Unbeknownst to either of the young scientists, Nakazato had been developing an invisibility serum for the last 10 years, but had been unable to find a suitable human subject for testing. Ichiro Kawabe, a diamond thief posing as a wealthy CEO, had his henchmen kidnap Nakazato so he would be able to use his invisibility serum to steal a diamond necklace known as the Amour Tears. Kawabe eventually had Kurokawa brought to his villa, where he was told that the professor would be released if Kurokawa tested the invisibility serum. Kurokawa obliged, and after a few days began developing increased aggression and hostility, a side effect of the serum. Kurokawa demanded a cure for the serum, and was told that, if he stole the Amour Tears, he would be given a cure. Kurokawa donned the identity of the Invisible Man, and set out to steal the diamonds. The Invisible Man, wearing bandages and sunglasses over his face and clothing to hide his invisible nature, first went to the diamond store that was selling the Amour Tears, and demanded that the owner hand them over. When the owner refused, the Invisible Man removed his clothing and became invisible, prompting the owner to run away in terror. The Invisible Man then began a violent crime spree, desperately searching for the Amour Tears. Eventually, the Invisible Man returned to Nakazato's laboratory, where he revealed himself to Segi and explained his story. When Machiko entered the room, unaware of the Invisible Man's presence, and confessed her love for Segi, the Invisible Man became enraged and left the lab, swearing revenge on both of them.
After another unsuccessful attempt to steal the Amour Tears from his sister Ryuko Mizuki, who was assisting local police in trying to catch him, the Invisible Man learned that Machiko now had the diamonds and was being taken by Kawabe to his villa, under the pretense of reuniting with her father. The Invisible Man stole a motorcycle from the police and followed them to the villa. When Kawabe attempted to force himself onto Machiko, the Invisible Man broke into the room and threw Kawabe out of the way before confronting Machiko and revealing his identity. He forced her to hand the Amour Tears over, and then began to strangle her, saying he would rather kill her than see her marry Segi. Thankfully, Segi arrived at the villa and knocked the Invisible Man unconscious with a chair before fleeing. When the Invisible Man regained consciousness, he found that he still had the Amour Tears and brought them to Kawabe, demanding that he give him the cure. Kawabe coldly told the Invisible Man that Nakazato had fooled him; there was no cure and Kurokawa would remain the Invisible Man for as long as he lived. The Invisible Man stormed off to the basement, where Nakazato was being held, hysterically demanding that he cure him. One of Kawabe's henchmen tried to shoot the Invisible Man, but ran away after seeing that police were raiding the villa. The police stormed the building and engaged in a gunfight with Kawabe's henchmen. Kawabe escaped the villa, but was confronted by police. He taunted them and claimed they would never take him alive, then tried to run away. The Invisible Man attacked Kawabe from behind with a tree branch, then took his gun before shooting and killing Kawabe. Ryuko ran to the Invisible Man and begged him to surrender to the police, assuring him he was still a human even if he was invisible. Now completely out of his mind, the Invisible Man rejected his sister's pleas and opened fire on the police as they closed in around him. Ryuko told the police that her brother was too far gone and asked them to shoot him. The police returned fire and fatally shot the Invisible Man, who stumbled away toward the ocean before collapsing into the water. As he died, Kurokawa became visible once again, floating lifelessly on the water.
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