Kodai shôjo Dogu-chan

Here is another interesting limited series out of Japan that was shown on TV at midnight.

Dogu-chan is an energetic goddess from ancient Japan who was dug out of the ground by teenage-boy Mokoto while accompanying his father on an archaeological dig. Mokoto is a troubled youth who has dropped out of school and this expedition was his father's way of getting him out of the house. Because Mokoto touched her breastplate Dogu-chan has sentenced him to be her servant. Dogu-chan is accompanied by a living Dogu statue named Dokigoro. Dogu statues are from Japan's prehistoric past and look like humanoids with big goggle eyes.

Dogu-chan's job is to capture yokai monsters and seal them in her breastplate. Each episode is about some poor soul who has gotten involved with a monster. The gimmick of the show is Dogu-chan's transformation sequence. Ordinarily Dogu-chan wears a leather bikini and boots. When Dogu-chan needs extra power her partner Dokigoro disassembles into pieces of body armour that magically attach to her body.

Even though the monsters look cheesy the stories are meant to be serious. The actors treat their roles seriously. People who are killed by rubbery monsters don't come back to life. Even the main character isn't invincible. So if you want to see a Japanese monster show with a slightly adult tone then look for episodes of Dogu-chan on the Net.