Umibozu

The Umibozu take their name from a monstrous ocean spirit out of Japanese folklore. They answer to the Maritime Self Defense Force of Japan, working as its off-the-books black-operations team, drilled for calculated gun battles, long-range marksmanship, and overwhelming frontal assaults. Since the group has no acknowledged existence, it carries no official designation, though word of it travels freely among criminals.

Part of their reputation in the special forces world rests on the recapture of Nemuro, a site enemy troops had taken during the Fourth World War. Later, once Daisuke Aramaki consented to shutting down Section 9 under a government bill curbing special forces, privately intending to rebuild it afterward, the Umibozu were brought in to stamp out any resistance. The unit fields a formidable arsenal, reaching to attack helicopters and a small number of powered exoskeletons, the JMSDF Type 303: bulky, heavily plated combat frames that shrug off enormous punishment and come armed with grenade launchers and machine cannons alike. In their Waldo-style arm interfaces and squat head-and-shoulders build, they closely echo the Landmates of Appleseed, another Masamune Shirow creation. Nearly impervious to Section 9's weapons and packing thermoptic camouflage of their own, these armed suits make the Umibozu exceptionally dangerous. The team resurfaces briefly in 2nd GIG after a military drill at the refugee camp in Niihama.

Fitting a formation that officially has no existence, the Umibozu are credited with no named individuals. Throughout their appearances they read as a faceless collective rather than a lineup of identified soldiers.