You would think that in this time of endless information due to the invention that is the internet that inaccuracies would not be made. While I cannot say I haven’t made them myself, I would expect someone who is a professional to not makes those errors, especially with books which are used by schools. Out of the umpteen books which my school has which surround the topic of the history/culture of Japan, one of them stood out to me. Most notably because it was the only book to have information on kaiju eiga and Kurosawa. But I am going to focus on kaiju eiga here. While it is fine and dandy for there to be a paragraph on kaiju, it is not ok if there is an inaccuracy on something which has been - up to the book’s publishing year of 2005 - published many times.
The first offense was the classifying of a still from "Godzilla Raids Again" as a still from the 1954 classic "Gojira". What is even worse, then it comes to the book’s image index in the back of the book, it differs from the image’s subtitle and claims that the picture is from 1955. So if someone who did not know about kaiju eiga was to read this book thoroughly, they would be confused by the different dates which were provided and given the wrong information. The second offense is the calling of "Gorgo" as a Japanese kaiju - instead of the proper classification of a British kaiju film.
Bottom line, you who still go to school and may within the rest of your school years become assigned to do a report on Japan, do not used the book "Japan: A Primary Source Culture Guide" by Meg Greene. With two errors on just one page, I would love to see how many more inaccuracies there would be in the book. This is especially wondrous considering that Meg Greene has written two books on Japan, "Japan: A Primary Source Culture Guide" and "The Technology of Ancient Japan". According to Amazon, she has only published four books. Fail.
Well, after a bit of a wait the interview with Japanese kaiju fan and youtuber Akira01Sum is finally here! Now, I must admit that some questions were omitted when editing the interview. This is because some questions were lost in translation. Plus, I would like to give a special thanks to those who submitted questions for this interview. Not all of them came through but I hope those that did will have a fairly pleasing answer. So, without further to do, the interview with Akira01Sum…
1. How long have you bean a fan of kaiju/tokusatsu eiga?
From the time when I was born.
2. How did you become a fan?
I felt sympathy for kaiju. They have no choice but to be an outsider. All because he's a monster.
3. When was the first time Japanese kaiju/tokusatsu fans started doing activities (fanzines, fan films, fests, ect.?)
I guess that they started 1933 when "King Kong" was released.
5. How has the Japanese kaiju fandom changed over the years?
The most notable change is that their average age may be 30 or older.
6. America has G-FEST. What does Japan have?
We have UL-FES. It's an ULTRAMAN-FESTIVAL. It started on 1989. But it's for children.
7. What are the popular fan-sites with the Japanese fandom?
http://www.godzillamovies.org/index/."
8. Are there any Japanese film historians who have published books on the history of kaiju eiga?
There is Hirosi Takeuti. He published "Nihon Tokusatu eiga kenkyou 40 nen" on 2001. But it's not a study, but the author's love for kaiju.
9. Some American books, such as August Ragones Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters are sold in Japan. How has the Japanese side of the fandom responded to this?
August Ragone had researched thoroughly.
10. What is Godzillas standing in pop culture in Japan today?
Even today Godzilla is the symbol of the fetal power of the atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
11. It is popular opinion over here in America that the reason why the recent kaiju films (D-WAR, Guilala’s Counterattack) is because after 13 years of continuous kaiju films being released in Japan, the general Japanese movie going audience has lost their want to see more kaiju films. What is your opinion on this matter?
"D-WAR" is a Korean movie, and "Guilala’s Counterattack" is a comedy. These are very bad movies. That's all.
12. How easy is it to get kaiju merchandise in Japan? Could you give some examples or even some memoirs?
For example I can get it as a free gift of chewing gum.
13. What misconceptions do Japanese fans think American fans have?
Probably American fans don't think that kaiju has a relationship with the terribleness of the Pacific War. [Editor’s Note: I talked to Akria01Sum when news of the LP Goji film leaked. Apparently American’s observation of Godzilla as a force of nature is not really looked upon in a positive way, rather it is strictly allegorical. -EB]
14. What is the general feeling regarding Godzilla's enforced retirement?
Probably it is a little lonely.
15. What are the most highly prized collectibles for Japanese fans?
Each one is fantastic.
16. What did Japanese audiences think of Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah? Were they offended by the WWII scenes like American WWII veterans?
Japanese audiences do not care about the WWII scenes at all. They purely and simply enjoy the movie as a entertainment.
17. How much bigger is the Godzilla franchise as a whole over there? Are there legions of fans wanting a new movie, or is it a smaller circle of fans like in America?
Perhaps it's size is 300 million fans. And most of them may want to see a new Godzilla movie.
18. Would they like to see a Godzilla vs. Gamera movie crossover be made?
I don't want to see such a movie. Gamera is a hero, Godzilla is a dark side of the humankind. They are thoroughly different.
19. What makes Ultraman so appealing in Japan? Like why is he still running so popular and Godzilla isn't as popular or forced to go into hiatus every once in a while?
It's simple. A Child always likes him. He changes to be big and strong. In any time it is a child's dream.
20. What did the Japanese kaiju fandom think of the Cloverfield monster?
I don't know how they thought. I felt that the monster was a symbol of an act of terrorism.
21. What did Japan think of the Atari Godzilla games? Were they pleased, surprised, disappointed? What did they think of the online component of the Save the Earth game? Was it very active there for playing in Japan?
They were a disappointment. In the game Godzilla wasn't Godzilla.
22. Do they like Biollante?
They like Biollante herself. She is very terrible. But her essential character is a beautiful woman. At the point they dislike her.
23. What do the Japanese fandom think of the American fandom?
No difference. There are not two fandoms. There is the only one fandom.
Today is a good day for fans in and around the Georgia region. While only a rumor, it has been uncovered that one of the possibilities being considered for the Christmas Silver Scream Spook Show is the ever-so-iconic "Destroy All Monsters". This news has been uncovered by Kaiju Galaxy forumer Gojira84, which I give special thanks for notifying me first about this news. In an e-mail to someone associated with the Silver Scream Spook Show, "Not 100% sure, but stay tuned to www.silverscreamspookshow.com." So, time will just tell if we get another kaiju offering from the Plaza Theatre and the Silver Scream Spook Show. Already this year, the gindhouse theatre has showcased the wildly popular "GMK" and hosted an excruciatingly rare showing of "Rodan", which was special because it was film historian Ed Godziszewski‘s print that was shown.
There are some variables to solve out to have this film shown - such as the current copyrights issue due to the ADV fallout and weather or not film collectors will have a print available for the legendary AIP version. But we’ll just see, shall we?
A new independent kaiju film from Japan is about to be uncovered by Avery Guerra at one of the sites he contributes to (Robojapan.blogspot.com or UnDead BackBrain.com). However, it’s release is up to us. Avery has given me a message. I think he states it perfectly.
"Hi "G", we're currently working on an article for a brand new daikaiju film from Japan that I found while searching online recently and contacted the director of it for exclusives and the details. The article should be up any day now.
Now this is why I'm actually contacting you; this film has never been released to the public anywhere before [not even in Japan] and wasn't actually intended to be released. I of course did some negotiating with the director and he has allowed us to cover the film and was even generous enough to give us lots of exclusive never-before-seen pics and details. He's excited to know that fans may want to see and own his work. The film is VERY significant to our beloved genre of Japanese daikaiju films and even American giant monster movies and just can't be allowed to be kept away from us fans, never to be released, and just to fade into obscurity.
He has decided to give us [the fans] this chance to voice our opinions of whether we want it released on DVD or not or to forever hold our peace. We've decided to do the article and give the fans a chance to post a comment below the article. It's free to post comments on our blog/website and no one has to join or create a profile or anything like that. They do have to enter just their names and an e-mail but their e-mails will not be published for others to see and they won't receive any spam in doing so. I'm just checking with you about this as I don't want it to look as though we're trying to steal or draw members away from the board or topics at hand.
Also, I'm also requesting your help-if you're interested and willing- in stressing to the other board members the importance of posting a comment in order to show that they want this film and if grateful for the opportunity to please thank the director as well. Please contact me back and let me know if this would be of interest to you. Thanks for your time and generous consideration of this request."
Be watching one of the aforementioned sites and make sure that you leave a comment so that we can see the film! Plus, it has been comfirmed that the film will be by the cast and crew of both the Godzilla and Gamera series. So please, once the article is up, express your interest in the film.
With the Heisei Gamera trilogy’s Blu-Ray box set out now for a while, I find it shocking that no one has done a review on it, much less commented on the newly produced interviews done for the DVD set. Well, though I do not think that they are the exact interviews, some new interview footage has shown up on youtube. Why not take a look? And as a bonus, more in-depth photos of the DVD box set are added. Apparently, only one of the three covers were the box set was mass produced, and it is the same image they made the holographic card with. Along with that, if you were wanting an insert with the chapter stops on it, forget it. That is with the GOTU disc, with the chapter stops for all three films on a single sheet.
One thing which is awesome is that like only a couple of other fandoms, being a G-Fan is - at least to me - something more of a lifestyle change. It's more of a complete culture than just something which you keep as a hobby. So, I have been studying the history of the American side of the fandom, but something came to be: what do we know about the Japanese side of the fandom?
I have successfully secured with a fellow YouTube-er an interview. So, if you have any questions regarding our Japanese counterparts, this is your chance to ask. I have already constructed eight questions, but I would like to know what you would like to know about the Japanese side of the fandom. So, if you would like, please submit a question or some questions via the comment feature on this blog and I will be sure to add all of them (Except for repeats, like if two people ask the same question). So let it begin!
Along with the promotion of the resurrection of legendary fanzine "Monster Attack Team", I have had the special honor to interview the editors-in-chief of the magazine, Edward L. Holland (also known as Edojira) and Michael Keller. I hope this interview is thorough, if not informative on the resurrection. Do take note that Bolgger seems to have an officinal problem when it comes to clumping large amounts of text together which are supposed to be spaced apart, so if you develop disdain, feel free to go ahead and leave your e-mail via comment and I am sure to give it to you. Enjoy!
1. When and under what circumstances did the revival of "Monster Attack Team" come under?
Ed: MAT was revived with the hard work and reinvestment by original contributor and associate editor Mike Keller.
Mike: It was my idea. Basically, it came out of the fact that I've been employed as a graphic designer for a little while now. I use all this software at work and at home. I have all these resources and equipment, plus I'm a hell of a lot better at this stuff now than I was back when we were doing MAT. It occurred to me that we could have really used all of this when MAT was active, it also occurred to me that there were things I'd still like to write about, or see written about. I contacted Ed and told him that I wanted to do another issue, and he agreed that it was a good idea.
2. When establishing "MAT", what goals did you guys set?
Mike: I'll let Ed answer this, as he is one of the founders
Ed: When MAT was established there were no definite guidelines or by-laws, but I had a clear idea of what I wanted to present and in what fashion. I wanted to bring fans together via television and print media and branch out a bit. I wanted it to be a fan club and fanzine like none other. We never took it too serious and wanted to bring things to our network of friends not seen elsewhere. I believe we continue to do so today.
3. What impact did other fanzines like "Japanese Fantasy Film Journal" and "Markalite" have on "MAT"?
Ed: JFFJ and Markalite had an effect, particularly Markalite. I bought every issue of Markalite when they came out and I believe I wrote to their offices as they were preparing issue 4, which unfortunately never came out. I have stayed in contact with August Ragone and Bob Johnson since those days. Back when Ultraman Powered was being shot in Burbank, CA Markalite, Oriental Cinema, and MAT were invited on the set. It was quite an honor and Markalite and MAT were fortunate to be there. At the same time, MAT was invited on the set of Power Rangers while the first season was being filmed.
Mike: They set the standard. Personally, I don't think JFFJ has ever been topped, though Markalite did come close.
4. How many contributors are returning and how many are new?
Ed: Mike knows more about the lineup, but many have returned and there are many new contributions too. I have not brought as many things to this issue as I would like to due to job and family commitments, but I am very thankful that our original crew is basically all back together. I always thought of our contributors as a team and felt that Monster Attack Team really fit our method of promoting the genre and Japan.
Mike: About half and half. I'm really proud of the contributors we have in this issue. We have multiple published authors in our ranks, and everything they've given us is of the highest quality. We also got some people who were pretty involved in the fandom in the 1990s to come out of 'retirement' for MAT 8, so to speak.
5. How did the advent of a TV series come into play?
Mike: That's Ed's department...
Ed: The cable access TV series actually started first. I was approached by Larry King, not the Larry King of CNN fame, but a real fan in his own right that approached me at Larry Lankford's Dallas Fantasy Fair convention and asked if I would like to have a show on Dallas cable. Both Joe Riley (Church of the Sub-Genius, Jimmy Neutron, Blade: Trinity, Mighty Joe Young, makeup/latex mask master) and I said sure. We had worked on a Fred Williams movie and an MTV commercial and we thought it would be fun. The fan club/fanzine sprang from that.
6. Did any competition come up between "MAT" and other fan organizations/fanzines?
Mike: No. We came out of that whole '90s milieu pretty unscathed. We never bought into any of the con/fan wars. We never turned anyone away and everyone was welcome. We were friends with people who hated each other!
Ed: There has never been a spirit of competition between MAT and any other Japanese tokusatsu group that I know of. In fact, some of the groups we featured articles, etc. from were at odds with each other during the original publications. I hope those waters have subsided now. We did not care if people were at odds with each other. If you are still doing something to promote these great shows you have stood the test of time and we applaud such efforts
7. With the TV show, you showed a lot of copyrighted clips. How was it working with Toho, Toei, and Tsuburaya?
Mike: We probably shouldn't address this, but I'll let Ed answer if he wants to.
Ed: Well we did not really work with the studios to show those clips but the studios including Toho knew about us and NEVER once complained. However, during the Alien Death Squad cable program days, a show started by David May, kind an offshoot of MAT, we actually got some Tsuburaya clips officially which were going to be used on a PBS special that we were interviewed for but I never saw the finished product. I don't think I even have those clips of Ultraman 80 which I received in the mail from Ultracom, Tsuburaya's American division years ago. Great show by the way!
8. Other than fanzine articles, what other contributions have you done for the fandom?
Ed: I have been heavily stating the artistic and surreal value of Japanese film and television shows to anyone who will listen since I was 6 years old. I have done this on shore, at sea in foreign countries, at bars, schools and particularly with my old film school colleagues. If an ear is bent I will fill it up with my admiration for my childhood and young adult heroes. I guess I have never grown up, the whole Island of the Lost Boys syndrome so to speak.
Mike: Fan articles and art are all I've done for fandom. I've had things published in G-Fan, Kaiju Review and Oriental Cinema.
9. When writing an article, what mindset do you put yourself?
Mike: I think I write articles a lot differently now than I used to. I certainly hope that I've gotten better! I do a lot of revising and re-writing. It's important to me to have all my ducks in a row. I won't identify something as a fact unless I can corroborate it with another source or witness it myself. Ideally, I would like to do as much original research as possible for a piece - though sometimes that just isn't possible
Ed: I usually work on a deadline and cram as much in as I can possibly and add a fan edge to it as well. First and foremost I am not an authority. I feel there are no authorities except for the creators of these great productions. Those that feel they know everything can never walk in the shoes of those that live it and breathe it for a living. 10. Do you practice a particular "style" of writing?
Ed: I do not practice writing. I write these day in a military manner and maybe I should adopt that style for the pages of MAT. I don't prefer too much authority in pieces that I enjoy on the genre, yet on the other hand I don't like too much subjective writing as well. I was trained to pass college level grammar, but I am a big abuser of comma splices.
Mike: I would like to think that I have finally arrived at my own style. I used to try to imitate the styles of others, but that doesn't get anybody anywhere. I try to steer away from goofiness - but can't help cracking the occasional joke or delving into sarcasm when the situation presents such an easy target. I do not write 'kaiju fan-wank' anymore (what if Godzilla ate a lobster and took a crap on a dead sea-slug and lightning hit it, blah blah blah...). I'm very embarrassed by some of the things I've written in the past. This issue will not contain anything of a fan-ish nature, or any fiction.
11. Do you think "MAT" has aged well in terms of for example, some issues becoming sought after collector’s pieces due to information kept in them, ect.?
Mike: Content wise, we had some pretty good stuff - good enough that's its been reprinted elsewhere. We were the first ones to write about tokusatsu in popular music, for example. Also things like Ed Godziszewski's Daimajin piece were really popular. I think that visually, our last couple of issues were pretty amateurish - that's something that will be rectified in #8.
Ed: I think MAT has aged as well as possible. We are not a fine Merlot by any means, but the members have been around the block seen things, some of them have released books, worked on dvds, played stages, authored articles for other fanzines and beyond. I think people have kept the old issues as a reference of the shows and time gone by. We are not at that level in fandom or professionally anymore. Most of us have larger responsibilities. The fan boys grew up but we never left our roots behind.
12. Where do you project "MAT" is going to go into the future?
Ed: I hope that MAT will be remembered for what it was, is and continues to be: a group of friends writing, discussing, showing what great events are happening on the other side of the pond. Doing this prior to the internet explosion was a labor of love. Our original members who have their membership packets are holding onto something that has never been done, or will be done again. Our original members received a newsletter, personally numbered fan club card, and the biggest prize a mockup of a SD hero or monster as a pin selected by me and hand painted by Joe Riley. To me this was as good as a fan club has ever come to honoring the masters. "Ultra" Joe Riley relaxes in the monster graveyard in the sky with many other legends now and I know he is looking down from more comfortable digs thinking about what we started. Issue 8 is dedicated to you brother!
Mike: No immediate plans. The magazine will not be coming back regularly. We are all too busy and have original creative endeavors and careers to focus on. Plus, printing costs a good chunk of change!
13. What new ground do you think could be broken in terms of kaiju journalism as of now?
Mike: There are always new things to discover. We have information in Issue 8 on some pretty obscure films - stuff that I'd never heard of before. I won't reveal any more until the issue has gone to press. We haven't mentioned everything we've got on the website. I'd like to see people continue to turn over rocks and dig up some new info. The Teito Monogatari series really needs a good English language retrospective, and somebody should try writing about the Watari films.
Ed: New ground? Hmm... maybe a platform for writers to actually write for screenplays and treatments for episodic television and animation. Everyone loves monsters in some form or fashion. As kids, we would pretend like we were on Monster Island and we would even get the girls to join in on the fun. As adults we saw Gamera and Godzilla in American theatres. How about more fan generated treatments with heavy weight stars and special effects done the western way with Japanese budgets and production efficiency?
14. As a fan, I got to ask: on the upcoming article on Kinji Fukasaku, how much information on the film "Satomi-Hakken-Den" will be included?
Ed: Please direct this question to Mike Keller. I don't know how much of that film content will be addressed in the piece.
Mike: Equal time will be devoted to all nine of Fukasaku's films that involve SF or fantasy - The Black Lizard, The Green Slime, Message From Space, Virus, Samurai Reincarnation, Legend of Eight Samurai (Satomi Hakken-Den), Crest of Betrayal, Battle Royale and Battle Royale II.
15. Any last words you would like to share with the fandom?
Mike: It would please me to think that issue 8 of Monster Attack Team will someday be looked at with the same reverence as those old issues of JFFJ. I also hope this serves as a shot in the arm to the fandom, and more people step up to the plate and try to out-do what we've done. I would love to know that we have inspired people to come up with great things, and I hope someone picks up the ball and runs with it.
Ed: Last words: Make it fun, entertaining, informative, a bit light-hearted and approachable for all and someone to read or watch. Even people at first who hated our cable access show continued to watch because they had not seen anything like that before in such a format. If it is not fun or entertaining for you then it will not be so for anyone else. Do your best and if you fall down trying to make a difference or promote your cause, at least you tried and can be proud of your efforts. Thanks for interviewing us and I hope that our readers old and new will enjoy the ride. Tanoshimasho!
Evan Brehany is an life long kaiju eiga fan. He currently resides in Georgia. Evan has contributed to Tohokingdom, G-Fan Magazine, and the Godzilla 2012 blog. He is also an administrator at the Monsterland and Kaiju Galaxy message boards.
JournalismG2KM is one of the three parts of the Kaiju Galaxy & Monsterland Forums community. Present on the blog is a wide range of articles reguarding news, reviews, and retrospects on different aspects of Japanese cinema, particularly kaiju eiga. Our staff is of four people, Evan Brehany, Kuroneko-Sama, Donny Winter, Logan Bombard, and Matti Keskiivari. Special thanks to Lee Merritt for the creation of the site banner at the bottom.
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