I think if this whole operation were to have a mascot, it would be Kumaru. The design for this guy actually originated during the deepest stretch of the Covid lockdown, meaning it pre-dates all of the sculptures on this site by several years. I even have a partially-finished (non-Super Sculpy) maquette of Kumaru that I made in early 2021 stored away somewhere, which perhaps I’ll post eventually. Meanwhile, the sculpture you see here was made as part of a larger commission in late 2024, in which I was tasked with creating a slate of monster-themed candle holders (hence the candle, both here and in some of the other original kaiju profiles).

Kumaru - whose name derives from kuma, the Japanese word for “bear” - is a pretty representational embodiment of my core kaiju-designing philosophies. Basically, I like monsters with compact, uncomplicated silhouettes. The monsters that really resonate with me tend to be variations on a single, easily-identifiable theme - like a moth, or a turtle, or a pteranadon - with just enough stylization to pull them into the realm of the absurd without complicating the overall anatomy. That’s not to say monsters can’t or shouldn’t be complex, but there’s a modern trend towards the spindly and limb-crazy (e.g. Cloverfield, Stranger Things, A Quiet Place) that I’m frankly pretty sick of. Thus, Kumaru is a big shaggy bear creature with spikes.

With regards to the face, the idea here is for the giant brow ridges (a favorite kaiju feature of mine!) and the horn to be fused together as a single cranial bone. The reasons for this have next to nothing to do with real-life biology and everything to do with me enjoying how the lines of the brows and horn converge in front of the eyes.