Shūichi Yamada

**Shūichi Yamada** (山田 秀一, *Yamada Shūichi*) is a human scientist who is part of the Dai-Kaijū Research Team.

## Personality

Shūichi Yamada is a gifted but instead a very ambitious person, willing to use anyone he can to achieve his goal of discovering the secret of eternal youth. He does not believe in anything unscientific such as yōkai or good-luck charms while he disliked supernatural beings/phenomenon but for some extent he knew that science isn't superior and was envy with Kitarō's yōkai abilities. And then he was studying and preparing anti-yōkai poison against Kitarō prior to the expedition to Kiri. He strongly objected to Kitarō joining the expedition to, considering it a slap in the face to science.

## Kaiju Raban

Yamada is a genius scientist who is part of the Dai-Kaijū Research Team, having developed the theory that the Dai-Kaijū must be over three million years old and therefore will lead them to the secret of immortality. He is chosen for the expedition to Kirigakure to research the Dai-Kaijū, although he nearly refuses when he learns Kitarō will be joining. Considering Kitarō's presence a slap in the face to science, Yamada stubbornly refuses to get along with him. When the team finally discovers the location the Dai-Kaijū was photographed a month after they arrived, Yamada and Kitarō are sent to find food. While they are gone, the Dai-Kaijū attacks and destroys the base, killing nearly everyone. The head scientist survives long enough to entrust the sample of the Dai-Kaijū's blood he managed to obtain to Kitarō. Yamada tries to take the sample so he can claim all the glory, but Kitarō refuses to hand it over.

A month later, when they are on the ship Yamada decides to get rid of Kitarō once and for all by injecting him with the blood of the Dai-Kaijū, reasoning that a blood transfusion from an incompatible source is fatal to humans so the blood of a different monster should kill Kitarō. Instead, a few days later, Kitarō is transformed into a Dai-Kaijū (aka his shark form) and jumps off the ship. Yamada is relieved that there is no one to share the glory with now and returns a hero.

Soon after Yamada returns, a Dai-Kaijū begins attacking. Yamada realizes it is Kitarō after him for revenge. During the battle, Kitarō saves Yamada's mother and sister Keiko from a falling building and escapes to a nearby island. Not wanting to harm his family, Yamada allows him to escape. He is given another chance, however, and sets out for the island to kill Kitarō and save his family. Kitarō wins the second battle but saves Yamada from drowning. After Kitarō saves Yamada and his family from the atomic bombing by hiding them in his mouth and swimming away, his mother and sister convince him that he was wrong about Kitarō all along.

Yamada then gets to work studying the Dai-Kaijū blood in order to create an antidote to return Kitarō to normal. . Though Yamada manages to board the ship transporting the Dai-Kaijū, he is unable to stop the torpedoes. Cursing his own ego for causing everything, Yamada dumps the antidote into the ocean, unaware that it entered Kitarō's wounds and returned his powers to him. Kitarō was able to summon Medama-Oyaji and Nezumi-Otoko, and the two of them work with Yamada to get Kitarō to safety so Yamada can develop a new antidote to fix Kitarō completely. With Kitarō back to normal, Yamada apologizes for all the trouble he has caused.

## Gallery

Yamada plots to kill KitaroYamada checks on KitaroYamada witnessing Kitaro's transformation