Love this film, and Jiger is easily my favorite Gamera foe, and one I would love to see return someday. I also think Jiger is Gamera's most powerful foe of *both* the showa and heisei series, and infecting Gamera with a parasite was particularly nasty on its part (not to mention a very original/clever idea for a kaiju film). What's unique about Jiger is its design. Most kaiju fall into two categories: Tooth and Claw (Barugon, Gyaos, Zedus) or "Totally Out There" (Virus, Guiron, Zigra, Legion, Iris)....Jiger, however, falls into *both* categories and mixes the best of both worlds as both a traditional tooth and claw kaiju as well as extremely out there and just plain batshit crazy.
This film is a great example of how a to make a solid kaiju flick geared towards kids that adults can also enjoy as well. I really feel that a revamped Jiger would have fit into the heisei/Kaneko Gamera universe *perfectly*.
Damn it Daiei,
[/color]