New Find

Well, it is kind of amazing how much Godzilla iconography one can find. I could list all of it that is at my school. This is the newest one: my Physical Fitness book has a picture of two girls checking out the cult movie part of a VHS store. Lo and behold one of the VHS tapes is of the original VHS for "King Kong vs. Godzilla". Check it out here:
http://tohokingdom.com/articles/images/boxart_kkvsg_goodtimes.htm

Very awesome! Especialy with "Grease" also making an apperance. Though check it that it just happens to be an Asian girl who is holding it...

2010 Goji Ornament Revealed

Well, I decided to go over to KaijuHQ since I haven't been there in a while and their most attractive feature is their nice gallery of making of stills. Lo and behold, they have news on the 2010 Godzilla ornament which is a cool embodiment of the Desu-Goji suit. This is a quote from the site:

"From Jeff over at Long Island Treasures...
This year American Greetings / Carlton Cards will again be releasing another Godzilla ornament, this time from 1995's "Godzilla vs. Destroyah". It seems to represent Godzilla stomping his way through Hong Kong in his burning stage, will play Godzilla sound effects, and will light up (assuming the burning patches on Godzilla's skin will glow). This ornament will be available for pre-order in May 2010 and is pictured below."

Thank you KaijuHQ/Jeff of Long Island Treasures. Maybe this Christmas, I will buy all of the ornaments

New Book

I do not know what it is called due to my limited Japanese, but the title seems to be titled "Tokusatsu 魂 ~Toho 特撮奮戦記~". I do not know much more than that. It goes for $24. And again, it seems that someone is happy with Koichi Kawakita's work. The cover is beautiful to say the least.

UPDATE:
My friend KaijuNoMura has posted some information reguarding this publication here:
http://kaijucollector.b1.jcink.com/index.php?showtopic=309&view=findpost&p=3569

UPDATE NO. 2:
Turns out I got two diffrent translations of the title. Both from friends, one is "Koichi Kitagawa, The Spirits of Special Effects, The brave fight of Toho SFX Team" and the other being "Toho Tokusatsu - Tokusatsu Brave(ly) Souls". Take it as you wish.

Gamera Music Videos

Below are the music videos for Bufuku Slump's song "Myth" from "Gamera: Giant Monster Mid-Air Showdown" and Julliana's "Tell Me Once Again" from the masterpiece "Gamera 3: Incomplete Struggle".

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

News From Monster Attack Team

When the news surrounding Godzilla was going slow (and most news reguarding Godzilla in Japanese news is of baseball player Hideki Matsui, who has the nickname "Godzilla"), turns out news from the fandom has arised. Now avaliable is the look of the cover of the new issue of "Monster Attack Team"!

The features include:

The History of Kamen Rider

Working for Ultraman

An exclusive interview with Tak Sakaguchi

The Last Dinosaur Partying Godzilla-style

The Fantastic cinema of Kinji Fukasaku

Japanese monster toy mayhem

Fantastic tokusatsu poster retrospective

Monsters!

Super Heros!

Japanese rock and roll!

So much more!

The source of this information though is the official websites for MAT. Keep going to the official websites for updates. Once everything is in order, you can order your copy of issue 8 off the site and even two back issues! "Monster Attack Team" is a fanzine which started in 1989 and died out in the middle 1990's. But now they are back!

http://monsterattackteam.com/

Also of mention, Godzilla fan and political commentator Armand Vaquer is going to have his book "The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan" released sometime this month. The exact date is unknown due to some complications. Be looking at Armand's blog for more updates on this exciting publication!

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

Epic Fan Fic "Mothra and Godzilla: Future Destiny" completed!

By Donny:

"It is terrifying how quickly time seems to go by. As of a week ago I managed to complete Mothra & Godzilla: Future Destiny. After two difficult years of strenuous work and dedicated study, the piece of fan fiction managed to turn out well with positive feedback.I would like to reach out to those aspiring fan fiction writers out there who are discouraged by the complexities of producing a piece of literature---regardless the size. I cannot begin to name the number of times I wanted to give up, or thought that it was a lost cause but I feel that determination pulled me through successfully. There were days when I thought my writing was awful, and times when I thought my writing was phenomenal. I was self-conscious about what people thought about my work, but I realized that it really doesn't matter what other people think. What matters is what the writer thinks---if the story completes that person in some fashion.If there are ever difficulties whether it be being stuck in a rut of writer's block or something as simple as not knowing something, get help! Don't be afraid to ask someone else their opinion because that's what makes a writer improve---constructive criticism and reflection.I must say, it has been so fun writing Future Destiny Book I. While I am sad that it is finished (and happy at the same time), I am definitely looking forward to writing Book II.Here are links to two of the locations the story is posted at:

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5611630/1/Mothra_Godzilla_Future_Destiny_Book_Ihttp://s4.zetaboards.com/KaijuGalaxy/topic/7836060/"

What was Christmas for me

Well, like I said, I didn't attend the Atlanta screening of DAM, presented by the Silver Scream Spook Show, making it two that I have missed since GMK a year ago. With that being as it is, Christmas went the way it would have if there was no DAM screening: buying memorabilia. More specificaly, I have continued the quest to get a good majority of G3 merchandise. So, though it does expose my family's ebay name, here are links to the things I have thus far bought off of ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Movie-Pamphlets-in-Japanese-GIII-Gamera-3_W0QQitemZ360173157770QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMagazines?hash=item53dbfe3d8a

http://cgi.ebay.com/Gamera-3-Japanese-Visual-Encyclopedia-Book-Godzilla_W0QQitemZ390063105601QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item5ad192a641

http://cgi.ebay.com/Gamera-3-Revenge-of-Iris-Thai-Movie-Poster-1999_W0QQitemZ380171701908QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item5883ffce94

http://cgi.ebay.com/Shusuke-Kaneko-Gamera-3-1999-Japanese-Movie-POSTER-B_W0QQitemZ350292801801QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item518f13f909

Along with that, I also bought some stuff in store, including:

http://www.collectiondx.com/node/3818

And the remake of my favorite horror film (which isn't made by John Carpenter):

http://z.about.com/d/horror/1/0/R/9/0/-/ChildrenofCorn09.jpg

I know that it is unusual for me to make personal posts like this with this blog, but it is the end of 2009 so remembering what Jack Burton always says when the lighting crashes, the rain comes down in sheets thick as lead, and the pillars of heaven shake: "What the hell?"

S.S.S.S. Update

Due to unforseen circumstances, me and my family cannot attend this round of the S.S.S.S. Sorry everyone.

-Evan