News: GODZILLA PERFECT COLLECTION BOX 6

Source: G-Matt (KG/TK Member)

Main Blurb Written By: Evan Brehany

Translations by G-Matt

Thanks to KG member G-Matt, more and more information has been uncovered on the GODZILLA PERFECT COLLECTION BOX 6, first revealed back in 2009 in a chirashi publicising the Kawakita Film Festival. Toho's official site has been publishing official information and here is the specs:

Release Date: August 25, 2010

Price: 10,500 Yen (estimated $110)

Pre-Order Period: March 25, 2010 - April 24

This set will house the most complete recording of the Millenium Godzilla films excluding "Godzilla 2000: Millenium" (was included in BOX SET 5) with the extra disc containing the complete score for the 1998 film. Tract Listing below.

.

GXM

1. Nichiei News (M1)

2. 1954 - Godzilla Attacks Tokyo~Reconstruction (M Akira Ifukube)

3. 1966 - Godzilla Attacks Tokai~The Government's Decision (M2)

4. 1996 - Godzilla Attacks Osaka (M3T2 First Half)

5. Superior Officer Miyagawa's Death (M3T2 Second Half)

6. Main Title (M4)

7. Scout (M5)

8. Special G-Headquarters (M6)

9. Hideous Tragedy (M7)

10. G-Confirmation I (M8)

11. Experiment Preparation (M9)

12. Black Hole Cannon Fired (M10)

13. Late-Night Incident (M12)

14. Dumping the Egg (M13)

15. Dog Tag (M14)

16. Cell Division (M15)

17. Meganulon (M16)

18. Kiriko and Jun (M18)

19. G-Confirmation II (M19)

20. Griffon Mobilized (M20)

21. Godzilla Emerges (M21 First Half)

22. Transmitter Mounted (M21 Second Half)

23. Dimension Tide (M22)

24. Submerged Shibuya (M23)

25. Shibuya Lake Discovery~Godzilla in the Trench (M24)

26. Guidance (M25)

27. The Meganula in Flight (M26)

28. Dimension Tide Launch (M27)

29. Godzilla X Meganula (M28)

30. Dimension Tide Fires! (M29)

31. The Immortal Godzilla (M30)

32. The Larva Grows (M31)

33. The Birth of Megaguirus (M32)

34. Ultra High Frequency (M33)

35. The Ultimate Fighter (M34)

36. Godzilla to Tokyo (M35)

37. Godzilla Lands in Odaiba (M Akira Ifukube)

38. Godzilla X Megaguirus I (M36)

39. The Effects of the Ultra High Frequency (M39)

40. Godzilla X Megaguirus II (M40)

41. Godzilla X Megaguirus III (M41)

42. Godzilla X Megaguirus IV (M42)

43. Repairing the Program~The Conclusion (M43)

44. Dimension Tide Falls (M44)

45. Kiriko's Decision~Lock On! (M45)

46. Dimension Tide X Godzilla (M46)

47. Victory at Last (M47)

48. End Credits (M48)Bonus Tracks49. Nichiei News (M1)

50. Nichiei News (Oshima Version) (M1)

51. 1996 - Godzilla Attacks Osaka (M3T1 First Half)

52. Superior Officer Miyagawa's Death (M3T1 Second Half)

53. Space and Time Distorted (M11)

54. Meganula Witness! (M17)

55. Appearance! I (M38A)

56. Appearance! II (M38B)

57. Ending Material (M48A)

58. Ending Material (M48B)

.

GMK

1. Marching Orders (M1)

2. Main Title (M2)

3. The Spirited Village (M3)

4. Huge Fangs (M4)

5. The Scars of Threat (M5)

6. The Legend of the Holy Beasts (M6)

7. The Incident at the Lake (M7)

8. Premonition (M8)

9. The Mysterious Old Man (M9)

10. The Giant Foot (M10)

11. Cries of Sorrow (M11)

12. The Mysterious Stone (M12)

13. The Sleeping Three-Headed Dragon (M13)

14. The Cruiser Oizu (M14)

15. The Black Afterimage (M15)

16. The Legend Revived (M16)

17. God of Earth - Baragon (M17)

18. The God of Destruction Appears (M18)

19. The Terrifying Landing (M19)

20. The Forgotten Terror (M20)

21. The Confrontation of the Two Giant Monsters (M21)

22. The Ambushing Holy Beast (M22)

23. Signs of Resurrection (M23)

24. The Giant Cocoon (M24)

25. God of Sea - Mothra (M25)

26. The Released Souls of the War Dead (M26)

27. Attack Preparation (M27)

28. A Tense Moment (M28)

29. God of Sky - King Ghidorah (M29)

30. GMK (M30)

31. The D-03 Missiles Fired (M31)

32. The Furious Godzilla (M32)

33. Determined to Protect the Future (M33)

34. The Mysterious Force (M34)

35. The Miracle of the Three Holy Beasts (M35)

36. A Desperate Crisis (M36)

37. The Escape from Godzilla (M37)

38. A Tribute to the Souls of the War Dead (M38)

39. End Roll -Godzilla Theme~Great Monster War March~Main Title- (M-End)

Bonus Tracks- Edited Music

40. The Giant Foot (M10)

41. God of Earth - Baragon (M17)

42. The Forgotten Terror (M20)

43. The Forgotten Terror (M20A)

44. The Confrontation of the Two Giant Monsters (M21)

45. The Ambushing Holy Beast (M22)

46. God of Sky - King Ghidorah (M29)

47. GMK (M30)

48. God of Sky - King Ghidorah (M34A)

- Demo Sound Source

49. Demo I

50. Demo II

51. Demo III

.

GXMG

1. Toho Logo~Transit Mission (M1)

2. Godzilla Comes Ashore~Godzilla X the Special Self-Defense Forces (M2 First Half)

3. Maser Hit (M2 Second Half)

4. Main Title (M3)

5. The Hideous Recollection (M4)

6. Memorial Service (M5)

7. A Request to Be Present (M6)

8. The Skeleton of Godzilla (M7)

9. The End of School Day (M8)

10. Akane's Effort~Building Kiryu (M9)11. The Return~The Kiryu Squad (M10)

12. Intensive Training (M11)

13. Akane and Sara (M12)

14. Type 3 Kiryu Announcement Ceremony (M13)

15. Mobilization (M14)

16. Godzilla X Type 3 Kiryu (M15)

17. Arousal (M16)

18. Running Wild (M17)

19. Shirasagi No. 3 Crashes (M18)

20. Outage (M19)

21. Investigating the Cause (M20)

22. Trust~Sara's Feelings (M21)

23. Godzilla Detected~Intercept (M22)

24. The Prime Minister's Decision (M23)

25. Flight (M24)

26. Fierce Fighting I (M25)

27. Fierce Fighting II (M26)

28. Absolute Zero (M27)

29. Akane's Decision (M28)

30. Power Outage (M29)

31. Restart~Kiryu's Will (M30)

32. Crisis~Decisive Battle (M31)

33. The Immortal Godzilla~The End of the Battle (M32)

34. Victory at Last~End Credits (M33)

35. Salute!~Ending (M34)

Bonus Tracks

36. Akane's Effort~Building Kiryu (M9 Edit)

37. Toho Logo~Transit Mission (M1)

38. Godzilla Comes Ashore~Godzilla X the Special Self-Defense Forces (M2 First Half)

39. Main Title (M3)

40. Mobilization (M14)

41. Godzilla X Type 3 Kiryu (M15)

42. Fierce Fighting (M25)

43. The Immortal Godzilla~The End of the Battle (M32)

44. Salute!~Ending (M34)

.

GMMG

1. Toho Logo~Mothra in Flight~Main Title (M1)

2. The Visit of the Shobijin (M2)

3. Mothra Flies Away (M3)

4. Press Conference (M4)

5. Reunion (M5)

6. Island of Memories (M6)

7. Akane and Yoshito (M7)

8. The Field of God (M8)

9. Kamoebas Drifting Ashore (M9)

10. The Submarine Attack (M10)

11. Repair Status (M11)

12. Azusa and Yoshito (M12)

13. Cross-Examination in the Bureau (M13)

14. Godzilla X the Guard Fleet (M14B)

15. The Ground Self-Defense Forces (M15)

16. Godzilla X the Ground Self-Defense Forces~Coming Ashore (M16)

17. Adult Mothra in Flight (M17)

18. Adult Mothra X Godzilla I (M18)

19. Yoshito's Distress (M19)

20. Adult Mothra X Godzilla II (M20)

21. Mothra's Song (M21)

22. Adult Mothra X Godzilla III (M22)

23. Marching Orders (M23)

24. Kiryu Mobilized (M24)

25. Tokyo Tower Collapses~Godzilla X Kiryu I (M25)

26. Yoshito at the Schoolyard~Godzilla X Kiryu II (M26)

27. The Birth of the Mothra Larvae (M27)

28. The Mothra Larvae in the Ocean (M28)

29. The Couple's Rescue (M29)

30. The Mothra Larvae Come Ashore (M30 First Half)

31. The Death of the Adult Mothra (M30 Second Half)

32. Yoshito Off to Repair Kiryu I (M31)

33. Yoshito Off to Repair Kiryu II (M32)

34. The Shobijin's Guidance (M33)

35. Repairing Kiryu (M34)

36. No Escape~The Capitol Collapses (M35)

37. Maser Attack (M36)

38. Prayer (M37)

39. Kiryu in Flight~Rescuing Yoshito~To the Japan Trench (M38)

40. Only a Brave Victory~Salute (M39)

41. End Credits (M40)Bonus Tracks

42. Farewell Party BGM

43. Marching Orders~Kiryu Mobilized (M23+M24)

44. The Mothra Larvae Come Ashore~The Death of the Adult Mothra (M30)

45. Mothra's Song 2003 Version

.

GFW

Disc 1

1. Opening ("King Kong vs. Godzilla" M10)

2. Godzilla vs. the Undersea Battleship (M1)

3. The Monster Threat and the Earth Defense Force (M2A (Long))

4. Main Title (M2C)

5. Gotengo vs. Manda (M3)

6. M-Organization Combat Training Center (M4)

7. Dr. Otonashi (M5)

8. Mummy Gigan (M6)

9. The Message of Infant Island (M7)

10. Rodan in New York (M8)

11. Ebirah vs. the Mutant Forces (M9)

12. The Xiliens Arrive (M10)

13. We Love X I (5.1 ch Material)

14. We Love X II (Cruising the Cirro-Stratus)

15. Secretary General Daigo's Incident (M11)

16. Commander Namikawa's Incident (M12 Mix)

17. The Identity of the Suspicious Star Gorath (M13)

18. The Xilien Conspiracy I (M14B)

19. The Xilien Conspiracy II (M14A)

20. Highway Battle (M15)

21. Start Gigan (M16)

22. Gotengo in the Underground Dock (M17)

23. Operation: Final War (M18-19)

24. The Departure of Gotengo (M20)

25. The Return of the King of the Monsters (M22)*

26. Gotengo and Godzilla (M23-1)

27. Godzilla vs. Kumonga and Kamacuras (M23-2)

28. Godzilla's Wrath (M24)

29. Godzilla vs. the Three Giant Monsters (M25 (GtrA))

30. Kazama's Suicide (M26 (Edit Version))

31. Gotengo's Rush (M26B)

32. Mothra Flies (M27)

33. Godzilla vs. Hedorah and Ebirah (M27B)

.

Disc 2

1. The Xiliens' Purpose (M28)

2. Monster X Appears (M29 Add)

3. Mothra vs. Gigan (M30)

4. The Battle of the Four Giant Monsters (M31-1)

5. The Struggle in the Mothership UFO I (M31-2)

6. The Struggle in the Mothership UFO II (M32)

7. The Battle of the Keizers (M33)

8. The Xiliens' Last Moments (M34)

9. Keizer Ghidorah Appears (M35-1)

10. Godzilla vs. Keizer Ghidorah (M35-2)

11. The End of the Battle (M36)

12. Goodbye Godzilla and Minilla (M37 Pre-End)

13. Ending (M37 Edit (Type 1 ???? Version))

.

Bonus Tracks

14. Godzilla vs. the Undersea Battleship (M1)

15. Start Gigan (M16)

16. Cruising the Cirro-Stratus

17. The Return of the King of the Monsters (M22)

18. The Return of the King of the Monsters (M22) (5.1 ch Material)

19. Gotengo's Rush~Mothra Flies (M26B~M27) (5.1 ch Material)

20. Keizer Ghidorah Appears~Godzilla vs. Keizer Ghidorah (M35-1~M35-2) (5.1 ch Material)

21. The Monster Threat and the Earth Defense Force (M2)

22. Kazama's Suicide (M26 (Tribute Version))

23. Monster X Appears (M29)

24. Ending (M37 Type 2 Another Version)

25. Ending (M37 Full)*Edited Music

.

Disc 3

1. The Xiliens Arrive (M10 Edit)

2. The Xilien Conspiracy (M14 Edit)

3. Operation: Final War (M18-19 Edit)

4. The Return of the King of the Monsters (M22 Edit)

5. Godzilla vs. the Three Giant Monsters (M25 GtrA Edit)

6. M1

7. M2A

8. M3

9. M24

10. M25 Battle 1

11. M25 Battle 2

12. Xilien Ship 1

13. Xilien Ship 2

14. First Meeting

15. Parody Spy Music Into Serious 1

16. Parody Spy Music Into Serious 2

17. Hedorah

18. Ifukube GZ

19. Demo Music 1

20. Demo Music 2

21. Demo Music 3

22. Demo Music 4

23. Demo Music 5

24. Demo Music 6

25. Demo Music 7

26. Demo Music 8

27. Demo Music 9

28. Demo Music 10

29. Demo Music 11

30. Demo Music 12

31. Demo Music 13

32. Demo Music 14

33. Demo Music 15

Heisei Gamera TV Specials On Youtube

For those who love the Gamera trilogy, youtube member Onyasai21 has uploaded Japanese unsubtitled television specials for each film in parts complete with the commercials they were shown with (David Copperfield is among those advertised). Here is my analysis of the special for "Gamera: Guardian of the Universe" which I wrote on Kaiju Galaxy forums:

"And I got to say, the TV special - which I also found ones for G2 and G3 - already on their respective discs - is very revealing. First, it is interesting to see how G1 was promoted just as Gamera's return, while the second film was promoted as the tour de force of the Japanese SFX film, and the third film was like a Japanese "Tranformers".

To be more specific, it is interesting in the little details these things old. For the TV special for GGOTU, you see stuff like the inside of Daiei's production studios (decorated in GGOTU memorabilia), a figure contest for a Marmit figure (they film the winner and a kid crying because he lost), and extra footage from the Yabari International Fantastic Adventure Film Festival. Wanna know something which the ADV disc left out in that footage at the film festival? Acclaimed actress Michelle Yeoh saying how much she liked the film's SFX and how she wished that films made in Hong Kong can reach the same level of technical excellence. Mind blowing stuff in these things!"

Here is the URL to his homepage. Onyasai21also has some other rarities which are worth seeing - not to miss out.

http://www.youtube.com/user/onyasai21

Full Report: Teruyoshi Nakano SFX Film Festival

From December 26, 2009 to January 29, 2010, Japan’s HUMAX CINEMA (the same cinema which in 2009 held a Koichi Kawakita/Heisei Godzilla film festival) is celebrating the SFX films which had one man as their special effects director: Teruyoshi Nakano. Known primarily for his work on the 70’s Godzilla films, Teruyoshi was involved with the series since "Mothra vs. Godzilla". His best work however is in destruction films like "Submersion of Japan" and "War in Space". It is such "destruction" and non-kaiju tokusatsu eiga works that the Humax Cinema is celebrating. Here are the fallowing films which have been showcased so far:

1. Monkey (TV series, SFX director for some episodes)
2. Zoku ningen kakumei (English title unknown to the author)
3. Conflagration
4. Admiral of the Grand Fleet: Isoroku Yamamoto
5. The Secret of the Telegian (NOTE: Nakano-san was only a special effects assistant on this film)
6. Firebird: Daybreak Chapter
7. War In Space
8. Submersion of Japan

To this day, Teruyoshi Nakano keeps active. He has been graced with three award wins: two Japanese awards for best special effects ("The Return of Godzilla" and "Princess of the Moon", Teruyoshi’s final work) and a Mangled Skyscraper award presented by the staff of "G-FAN" magazine. Nakano-san keeps a good life today, occasionaly doing interviews and writing books on his memoirs on the set of many tokusatsu productions.

Teruyoshi Nakano To Be Honored

By the same cinema which lead the 2007 Koichi Kawakita honor. Similar poster and memorabilia produced for the Kawakita festival is to be produced for Nakano-san's. More information to come.

http://www.humax-cinema.co.jp/cinema/special/meigaza/ginza_meigaza4.html

Thanks to Cody Himes for the correction of the "Nakano-san" phrasing (originaly Teruyoshi-san).

West Kenji Model Kit Exhibit

Finaly news is picking up again, and this time I am blogging about something which this blog hasn't covered yet - the model/resin kit industry. In this case, it seems to be that a fan has chosen to show off his collection of model kits, most of them seeming to have come from West Kenji, one of the more popular popular companies which has been producing resin/model kits with high prices (rightfully so). Though the translated version of the original article does mention there may be more figures on display, including some non-West Kenji memorabilia. Links will be at the bottom. The exhibit is open for the next 11 days!

For more about tokusatsu model/resin kits, visit the fallowing links:

http://www.kaijukits.com/

http://kaijucast.com/2009/08/20/08-19-2009-east-west-see-eye-to-eye-for-kaijucast-epsiode-8/

Original Article:
http://www.chunichi.co.jp/article/aichi/20100105/CK2010010502000027.html

Essay By A Japanese Otaku

In this day and age, the majority english written material on tokusatsu eiga has been writen by American otaku. Very rarely does one find a piece composed by a Japanese tokusatsu otaku which is eye opening. Today is an exception - for all of you who read this blog. By clicking the link below, you will go to a page which in adobe format is an english language version of the paper "Signs Taken For Monsters: What Made Godzilla So Angry Then" by Hiromi Nakano. In this paper, you will be exposed to a great analysis of GMK with the fallowing:

-look into some alternate dialogue from the GMK script

-where Kazunori Ito got his ideas

-information from rare information sources, such as the "GAMERA PERFECT BOX" (a limited 2 book set)

-and alot more!

Happy reading and make sure to leave a comment!

http://kamome.lib.ynu.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/10131/3792/1/1-Nakano.pdf

Limited Figure From "Mothra vs. Godzilla"

Nothing much is being presented news wise in the Godzilla side of things. Or for that matter Gamera, though in terms of Ultraman stuff those of you who are interested are sure to want to know that next month the Ultraman Belial action figure is comming out. So, here is just something which I found which I thought was interesting. How many of you have seen the 1980 re-release poster for "Mothra vs. Godzilla"?

The artist who drew the picture of Godzilla on the poster is L. Matsumoto. The art of Godzilla on the poster is obviously not the Mosu-Goji suit. Instead, it is Matsumoto's interpretation of the Shodai-Goji design. Recently, the design has been blessed with a 40 CM tall vinyl embodiment limited to 100 copies. The link below shows a plain grey version of the figure. The image below is of a red hard copy on display.

Link:
http://www.zerogoodsuniverse.com/assort/goods/godzila_black.html

More On Book "The Heisei Godzilla Chronicle"

Here are some links to a lucky Japanese fan's blog who went to some events which were done to celebrate Koichi Kawakita's 20th anniversary of taking over the Godzilla series and the new book "The Heisei Godzilla Chronicle". Enjoy!


http://blog.livedoor.jp/yakannabe/archives/51336556.html
http://blog.livedoor.jp/yakannabe/archives/51336625.html
http://blog.livedoor.jp/yakannabe/archives/51337360.html
http://blog.livedoor.jp/yakannabe/archives/51338882.html

Heisei Film Festival Pics

Guess what props are on display here:

News on Blu-Ray Discs

Has anyone check out the page for the blu-rays? They updated some of them with pics form the new special features:

http://www.toho-a-park.com/tokusatsu-bd/monokuro.htmlhttp://www.toho-a-park.com/tokusatsu-bd/radon.htmlhttp://www.toho-a-park.com/tokusatsu-bd/godzilla1984.htmlhttp://www.toho-a-park.com/tokusatsu-bd/vskingghidorah.htmlhttp://www.toho-a-park.com/tokusatsu-bd/rengoukantai.html

Not only that, but the stats for the third wave's Heisei releases have been updated. It seems like all the Heisei releases are going to have the same "new" special feature: shows exactly where in Japan the kaiju go through. Something simular was done for the Cloverfield blu-ray...

New Toho Blu-Rays

Today, the official Toho Tokusatsu Blu-Ray DVD site revealed the fourth wave of blu-rays being released on March 19, 2010. The films being released are "Mothra vs. Godzilla", "Ghidorah, The Three Headed Monster", and "Godzilla X Megaguirus". For their regular SFX films, "The Mysterians" and "Atragon" are being released. Unlike the third line - which only had one of it's title prevail with newly produced special features, all of the DVDs in this fourth wave have newly made special features - even "Godzilla X Megaguirus". The spects are the same as the other blu-rays. Below is links and translations of what is on the disc other than the film:


"Ghidorah, The Three Headed Monster"
http://www.toho-a-park.com/tokusatsu-bd/sandai.html
Special Features:
-Theatre Notice (HD quality)- making of (8mm film) (SD quality)
- interview with actor Nakashima Haruo (Godzilla) (SD quality)
-"Monster Ghidorah" 8mm Film release + FLEXI (SD quality)
-"Space Monster Ghidorah" DVD Book (from original DVD) (HD quality)
-Tokusatsu Toho University Encyclopedia SF (SD quality) [NEWLY PRODUCED]
-Audio Commentary (Eiko Wakabayashi , interviewed by Toshiaki Sato)

"Mothra vs. Godzilla"
http://www.toho-a-park.com/tokusatsu-bd/vs_goazilla.html
-Theater notice (HD quality)
-Godzilla vs. Mothra 1980 re-release cut (HD Blow-Up)
-"Godzilla attacks Tokyo" 8mm + FLEXI (SD quality)
-"Godzilla attacks Tokyo" DVD Book (HD quality)
-Career of Molding Godzilla (tentative HD quality) [NEWLY PRODUCED ]
-Tokusatsu Toho University Encyclopedia SF (SD quality) [NEWLY PRODUCED]
-Audio Commentary (Kenji Sahara interview by Kurashiki Yasuo)

"The Mysterians"
http://www.toho-a-park.com/tokusatsu-bd/bouei.html
-Theatre notice (HD quality)
-Earth Defense's Soldiers Toho Champion Matsuri Festival Edition (HD quality) [FIRST TIME RELEASED! ]
-SF Encyclopedia Tokusatsu Toho University (SD quality) [NEWLY PRODUCED]
-Audio Commentary (Shinji Higuchi and Koichi Kawakita interviewed by Yasuo Kurashiki)

"Atragon"
http://www.toho-a-park.com/tokusatsu-bd/kaitei.html
-Theatre notice (HD quality)
-1968 edit of Atragon (HD blow up) [FIRST TIME RELEASED ]
-Gotengo Encyclopedia (Tentative HD quality) [NEWLY PRODUCED]
-Tokusatsu Toho University Encyclopedia SF (SD quality) [NEWLY PRODUCED ]
-Audio Commentary (Okiharu Kajita and Takeshi Nuda)

"Godzilla vs. Megaguirus"
http://www.toho-a-park.com/tokusatsu-bd/vs_megagirasu.html
- Theater Notice (HD quality)
- Dispatch (HD Blow-Up)
-TV Spot (SD quality)
- Making (SD quality)
- Shibuya, Tokyo Bay Hen Location Guide Godzilla series (tentative HD quality) [Journal first! ]
- Audio Commentary (Director Masaaki Tezuka / special effects director Kenji Suzuki and Misato Tanaka)
- Audio Commentary (Composer Michiru Oshima and score producer Kitahara Kiyoko)

"...We wish you a merry Christmas so give us some Goji!"

It’s that time of year. The time of year when the northern hemisphere is looking at snow and cold weather while the southern hemisphere is looking at what we just went through which made our electric bills sky rocket. The time of year which people actually strive to have that thing called "world peace" and almost reach it. The time of year which we celebrate either the birth of a Christian deity or a man in a red suit who’s image was perfected by the Coca-Cola company and life story based on a Catholic saint. I am talking about Christmas! And even though Japan’s main religion is Shinto (for those who do fallow a religion in Japan), that does not stop them from celebrating the awesome time of year!


The fallowing photos were taken on Dec. 1, 2007. As you can see, the fairly popular Kiryu-Goji exhibition suit which has fallowed from exhibit to theatrical event to promotional shows to a blu-ray stand to even a kiosk advertisement is here with Santa Claus giving joy to the little children of Japan and gives up tokusatsu otaku something to look at.

Heisei Film Festival Update

The "Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah" section of the film festival is now playing, and along with it I bestow onto you this flyer for a figure which we have mentioned before.

Heisei Film Festival News

Leave it to Tom and Diane of Clawmarktoys to cover the Film Festival. They have just posted it on the clubtokyo message board:

http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/ClubTokyoC/message/11098

You got to love them.

Humax Theatre Exclusuives: A Closer Look

As previously reported, Japan's Humex theatre is showing all of the Heisei films from "Godzilla vs. Biollante" to "Godzilla vs. Destoroyah" in celebration of Kawakita's 20 years worth of contributions to the Godzilla series - which is still continuing today in the form of the Deagostini's magazines and working on 2006's CT-R Godzilla game and even making some expensive merchandise - and the release of Kawakita's newest publication, "Heisei Godzilla Chronicle". While looking for news on blu-rays - even the posibility of a box set of blu-rays being release (as being done with Toho's Kurosawa films), I found a store selling some theatre exclusive stuff. Links are below for you to behold. Enjoy! (image feature not working right now).

http://www.amiami.com/shop/ProductInfo/product_id/142600;jsessionid=471C5E91B66F6A50CC690DFA336EBA06
http://www.amiami.com/shop/ProductInfo/product_id/142598;jsessionid=471C5E91B66F6A50CC690DFA336EBA06
http://www.amiami.com/shop/?vgForm=ProductInfo&sku=CGD-5140

New Blu-Ray Stand Sighting

Looks like Toho has set up another awesome stand, this time utilizing the Kiryu-Goji suit (2002 varriation w/o scar). This is not in Tokyo, but rather Takasaki which is in the Gunma Prefecture. Take a look!

Advertisement like this can only mean one of two things: the Blu-Rays are going good or Toho needs the extra publicity. Or maybe the last two films of the Kiryu saga will be comming soon to blu-ray? (I say last two since they have already released some films which are in the Kiryu Saga continuity - Gojira, Mothra, and Rodan) Either way, this is the third Godzilla-related happening this month, along with the Kirin's advertisements for their new canned coffee, "Fire", and the celebration of Koichi Kawakita's new book and his 20th anniversary becoming the SFX director of the Heisei Godzilla series. And just for comparison, the one in Akihabara:

Links From The Kiryu Saga

In case if anyone is interested, I have currently found some links to some interesting material on some Japanese sites which deals with exhibits and other stuff that relates to the final two films of the Kiryu Saga, "Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla" and "Godzilla, Mothra, Mechagodzilla: Tokyo SOS". The first is of the exhibit which opened durring GXMG. While I do not remember the exhibit's name, one of the features of the exhibit I do remember is that there is a part which you could see how much of "GXMG"'s science is real.

http://www.higashi-nagasaki.com/z/gz_e030106.html

The second and third links pertain to the second film, "Godzilla: Tokyo SOS". The first is something simular to what people have seen with Toho's in-store advertisement Akihabara.

http://www2.odn.ne.jp/guccya-strange/machi/hmv/hmv.htm

The third linksis of a press/public event held back on Nov. 26, 2003. Toho usualy holds these kinds of events for publicity.

http://homepage2.nifty.com/HIRAO/tobu-ws.htm

Better save those rare images onto your hard drive!

Godzilla/Kawakita Film Festival This Nov. In Japan

The second half of 2009 belongs to one person: Koichi Kawakita. And I am not surprised. He has his own SFX company, he was and probably is still one of the largest stock holders with Toho, and he is now becoming very active with Godzilla again, which hasn’t happened in such a way since he directed the siutmation footage in the CT-R Godzilla game. Currently, DeAgonstini is publishing a magazine which by this time next year will cover the entire Godzilla series plus some other Toho SFX films. Luckily, Koichi Kawakita is writing some of the text for these magazines, which is something awesome since he has been involved with Godzilla since 1962’s "King Kong vs. Godzilla".

Kawakita is also being honored in a way with the Heisei series - a series 6/7 his (SFX wise) - being released on blu-ray. Not only is it the 10th anniversary of which Kawakita became the next "Tsuburaya" or "Nakano" for Godzilla, but the first two movies he worked on ("Godzilla vs. Biollante" and the award winning "Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah") are released this year on blu-ray. While only the 1991 film got a new special feature, it also marks the eternal preservation of the special features which have been passed down from the DVD format which got it from the 3 disc LD sets which were made possible by Kawakita and are rightfully Kawakita’s babies.

All of this good stuff for Kawakita and the Heisei Godzilla series sounds too good to be true. But it is not and there is more. If you are dropping off in Japan in the next month, you would be wise to go by a film festival celebrating Kawakita’s work on the Godzilla series hosted by the Humax Cinema. The films will be the ones Kawakita was the director of special effects for, "Godzilla vs. Biollante", "Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah", "Godzilla vs. Mothra", "Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla", "Godzilla vs. Spacegodzilla", and the dramatic "Godzilla vs. Destroyer". The first image above is actually a scan of the back of the chirashi for the event. Here is a list of dates and times for the event:

11/13(Fri) - 15 (Sun) "Godzilla VS Biollante"
11/14(Sat) - Talk with Koichi Kawakita and actor Koichi Ueda
11/16 (Mon) to 18 (Wednesday) "Godzilla VS King Ghidorah"
11/19 (Thu) to 21 (Sat.) "Godzilla VS Mothra"
11/22 (Sun) to 24 (Tue) "Godzilla VS Mechagodzilla"
11/25 (Wed) - 27 (Fri) "Godzilla VS Space Godzilla"
11/28 (Sat) - 30 (Mon) "Godzilla VS Destoroyah"

The Humax Theatre is located in Ginza, Tokyo, Japan. Ticket price to each day’s event will be around $13 (1,300 yen). Though not said yet, more activities are being planed for the 21st and 28th. More information can be found on the official web site whose link is below:

http://www.humax-cinema.co.jp/cinema/special/gozzira.html

NOTE: THE PARAGRAPHS BEING SO CLOSE TOGEATHER IS BLOGGER'S FAULT, NOT MINE.

Godzilla's Latest Venture in Japan's Economy

Product placement and Godzilla go together like green eggs and ham. Most notably, Godzilla has been used to advertise drinks. He is known in the US to have helped the Dr. Pepper company make some dough in 1985 when the King of the Monsters was featured in accouple of commercials by the Dr. Pepper company and when the US version of "The Return of Godzilla", aptly titled "Godzilla 1985" had most of it’s American scenes having something Dr. Pepper-related in it - from a military smart ass drinking it to the Pentagon having a Dr. Pepper vending machine. But now Godzilla is entering a new age with a new company asking for his pop-culture status as help. Guess who?

It was a company shown in "Gamera: Giant Monster Midair Showdown" and "Gamera 2: Advent of Legion", with the latter being used to more extent. The company is also based on a Yokai-esque entity which was a focal point in the latest remake of "The Great Yokai War". Give up? It’s Japan’s own Kirin beer company. Evidently they have made a new coffee beverage called "fire". But Godzilla is not alone.

Also helping to add star value to the mostly viral advertisement campaign is a person who has been nick-named Godzilla since he came over for a little while to play for the Yankees (and I own the New York Times issue which calls him this; thanks to my grandfather in NY): Hideki Matsui. Many fans know that when he came over here, he was nicknamed "Godzilla" for his Japanese nationality and his skill. Hideki would also gain popularity when he makes a came in the 2002 film, "Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla". In something most probably more than coincidence, the Godzilla suit used for the campaign is in fact the Kiryu-Goji suit (variation unknown).

At the link below, you can easily navigate through the main Kirin beer website to find good of all sorts. There is a commercial, a making of the commercial, and a message from Hideki himself. Also of interest are some exclusive screen savers, which the picture at the top shows what it looks like on my laptop. Better save them onto your hard drive before they are gone!

http://www.beverage.co.jp/fire/index.html

Special Thanks Goes To James Ballard for notifying me that "Fire" is an energy drink...

Japanese Godzilla Websites

America has the likes of SciFiJapan, Tohokingdom, and kaijuphile.com. But has anyone tried looking for Japan's alternatives that aren't part of an official Toho Site? Well, after taking some information from Japanese fan Akira01Sum, I have found the top three links which people will be interested in:

http://homepage3.nifty.com/g-kingdom/index.htm
http://members.jcom.home.ne.jp/gozida/
http://sakura.canvas.ne.jp/spr/kingodzi/kingodzi.html

Here are some others that might be of some more interest...

http://www.geocities.co.jp/Hollywood/7634/
http://www.geocities.jp/tohogozila/
http://ww5.enjoy.ne.jp/~moririn/
http://www.synapse.ne.jp/komurano/mos/
http://goziori.jog.buttobi.net/index.html
http://www.geocities.jp/k_ghidorah/
http://homepage.mac.com/s.nishikawa/kaiju-land/
http://www.mashroom.com/

Which, BTW, incase if anyone wants a map to the site which Akira01Sum mentioned to in the interview I did with him, http://www.godzillamovies.org/index. When you go onto the page, there is a pull down list. Here is every link in that pull down page;

LINK 1 - DEAD
LINK 2 - UPDATES
LINK 3 - FILMS
LINK 4 - KAIJU PROFILES
LINK 5 - OTHER TOHO KAIJU/SCI-FI FILMS
LINK 6 - ACTRESS PROFILES/TOHO BEAUTIES
LINK 7 - FAN FICTION
LINK 8 - TOY LIST
LINK 9 - BLOG
LINK 10 - BLOG
LINK 11 - GFW BLOG
LINK 12 - LINKS

Not the most updated or the best, but good.