"Godzilla vs. Biollante" Letter Campaign

It seems that out of the turmoil reguarding the Miramax Company, people wondered what would become of the still-to-be-released "Godzilla vs. Biollante". Well, after some research and some talk, people figured that Disney ultimately own the rights to the film. So sprung out of Tohokingdom.com/forums came this campaign to write and send letters to Disney. Some members of TK have already written letters. You, the reader, needs to too. I mean, only a 44 cent stamp and some time out of your life to write a letter, print it, put it on the envelope, close the envelope, and put the adress information and put it in your mail box. Some people have done it already, so do it to! We could make a diffrence! Though the odds are against us. But the more people who mail a letter, the better the odds are.

The adress you should send the letter to is:

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment

500 South Buena Vista Street

Burbank, CA 91521

TK Mod GVAMP has written a letter which all you have to do is print out to be used:

"To Whom it May Concern:
Hello my name is (your name here); I’m a huge fan of Godzilla movies and noticed you currently hold the rights to the film Godzilla vs. Biollante, which HBO Home Entertainment released on VHS as well as Laser Disc way back in 1992. The film has also been shown on cable TV (Cinemax). The film is currently unavailable on DVD in the United States, despite its availability in many other countries. I was wondering if you have any current plans to release the film on DVD or Blu-Ray, as it is one of my favorite Godzilla films as well as one of the most-wanted films by Godzilla fansI’d also like to point out that companies like Sony and Classic Media have released several Godzilla titles over the past few years and they seem to be selling well; in fact Classic Media’s release of Godzilla, back in September 2006, was very critically acclaimed that year and won several awards, and has recently been re-released in Blu-Ray.If a release is planned, please include some special features, such as trailers and behind the scenes footage; Toho typically has such features on their Japanese releases of Godzilla films. Also, please include both an English-dubbed audio track as well as a Japanese track with English subtitles; Godzilla fans tend to prefer the option of seeing the films both ways!Thank you for your consideration of this request; I assure you that there are thousands of American fans who would be very desirous of adding an authorized version of this film to their collections!

Thank you:
(your name here)"



This post was requested by Cody Himes and GVAMP

EXCLUSIVE: G2 - The Return of G

In 2008, Kiyotaka Taguchi made his first of so far two kaiju film. That film was "G". Now, young adult fan Logan is attempting to make his own sequel to the film entitled "Return of G" which a new Garemon mutation comes up and a new kaiju comes to defeat him. Here is an interview with "Godzilla 2000":

The beginings of a suit for the new Garemon mutation.

Photo Courtesy of Logan

1. How did you become a kaiju fan?

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My love of kaiju began at a very early age. My father, who passed on when I was 4, was a massive influence on my life in general. He bought me Godzilla films, mainly Showa, and a few Heisei. I was mesmerized by the concept of Godzilla ravaging cities, and fighting opposing kaiju. Like many youth, I took to the late Showa films the most, since they were targeted at a young age group. For a while, the only tokusatsu films I watched were Godzilla, but that changed with age, as I am now interested in all kaiju.

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2. How has your love for kaiju changed over the years?
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As I said, I loved Godzilla, and Godzilla alone (as far as kaiju films go) for a very long time. As I grew, so did my knowledge and love for tokusatsu, particularly kaiju. I have taken especially to independent films recently, although I am still an avid Goji viewer. I pop in 70's Goji and Showa Gamera for nostalgia, but I prefer early Showa (GvH being the exception) by far today. Independent films really have been great recently, works like G and Reigo are some of my favorite millennium films, beating out a couple of the Godzilla films in my opinion.

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3. Do you have a collection? If so, what is your most cherished possesion?
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Yes, I do have a collection. I have a few theatrical posters, tons of TM figures, and all of my VHSs and DVDs are on display, chronologically by year. My Godzilla films have their own rack, and the other films are on a shelf. I have somewhere around 50 kaiju films, getting more whenever I can. I couldn't honestly say I have one prized possession, but there are a few. One being my Cozzilla poster, for it's sheer rarity. The other being my 10" TM Godzilla, mainly for it's past.

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4. What did you think of Kiyotaka Taguchi’s film, "G"?
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I loved G so much, it just clicked with me. I like how it wasn't afraid to be violent, and the Cloverfield-esque filming gave me an intense vibe as I watched it. Garaemon is a great kaiju, unique, and not overly durable, like Heisei Gamera. Robo is such a classic design, and many of his scenes are absolutely epic. For instance, when Robo spins as he lands, it just gives you that "whoa" feeling. That very feeling returns when he launches his rocket fist, and once again later on in the film. I think Goro did a great job conveying emotion, and the other actors were a mixed bunch, some sub-par, others fantastic. The film is diverse, yet sticks to it's plot. Unlike most, I prefer G to Gehara. People who haven't seen this masterpiece (and are of appropriate age) must. -
5. How did pre-production on your film, "The Return of G" start?

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Well, I've had the internalized desire to create a kaiju film for a very long time, and tried many times with stop motion, needless to say I failed miserably each time. G was the film that pushed me over the edge and made me say "I need to make a sequel." I wrote up a script, which I am constantly editing (as of 2/6/10). We have 2 cameras, for different shots, and of course, we are working on the suits. I'm not going to lie, we're rookies, so don't be expecting G3.
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6. I understand that you contacted Kiyotaka Taguchi himself. What did he think of you making a sequel to his first kaiju film?

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Honestly, the conversation was short. I simply announced my love for his film, and explained my reasoning for the sequel, and apparently, the translating program did a good job. I was replied to in a very straight forward and short thanks, and I was overjoyed, so production is in overdrive as of now.

A gun which shall soon try to slay Garemon!

Photo Courtesy of Logan

7. Who is part of the production team and who is doing what?

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A good friend of mine, Jake, is helping me a lot. He is providing our major camera, and is helping me with plot points, aiding me in many ways. Some local TK members are being a huge help, Fairy Mothra is doing concept art, Godzilla 2000 is doing greenscreen effects, and you, Evan, are helping me get the word out. I am going to be doing some suit acting as well as directing. Actors are no one famous, just local friends, just like in G, where the actors were college students.
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8. I understand that you are making your own suit for this film. What is it being made of and how good will it look?

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Well, we are basing the top off of underarmor, plating it with cardboard, Styrofoam, and latex, depending on the segment we are working on. Remember, we are first timers, so this isn't going to be gold. It should look good, but it isn't going to hold up to Toho and Daiei suits. Our opposing kaiju is still being decided. I have King Joe as a major hopeful, but it will be hard to make him, so not much information on major kaiju except Garaemon returns, in a further mutated form.
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9. What has been some highlights of production so far?

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Well, finishing the script was a hell of a milestone. I'm not going to give away too much, except the Garaenizer Injection is perfected and main-streamed. The beginning of suit creation was another high point of production. It was also great when I first became aware of all of the TK members that are aiding in the project, that was a huge morale boost.
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1o. When was the script written?

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Mid to late January. The project is in early development, but the script hasn't changed too much. The plot remains the same. Really, the major changes are to accommodate for the budget. There are some scenes where it's like "Well, we can't do that, no matter how great it would be."
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11. What previous films will be major influences on you and this film? I understand there is going to be a little nod to G3 in the film…

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Obviously, we are going to be following the nature of the first film. Although, throwbacks to some of our personal favorite Godzilla films will be spliced throughout. As you mentioned, there is definitely going to be a homage to G3 in the film, which will be subtle, yet in your face the entire time you watch.
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13. Anything else you want people to know about this production?

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Yes, you can go to http://gojirakingdom.wordpress.com for more information on the film. The announcement will be on the site soon. Until then, there is some content about G, to get people to understand what this film will be about, all updates will be on that site, and will also be announced to you, Evan. I also want to thank Gokan, and Mr. Taguchi for being such an inspiration, they made one hell of a film. Thanks to everybody who is involved in this film as well.

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Remember to visit the official site for more details! http://gojirakingdom.wordpress.com/. And be expecting this film to get a DVD release!

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

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).

AMC and Godzilla

2010 seems to be getting at a good start with Godzilla. A new book in Japan and this year’s Christmas ornament has been revealed. Not to mention the release of Armand Vaquero’s "Monster Movie Fan’s Guide To Japan" and the soon release of a new issue of "Monster Attack Team" fanzine. It seems now that AMC has hopped on the band wagon as well. As number one on their list on "movies that spawned too many sequels", AMC has chosen the Big G of that honor. While I wouldn’t say there have been to many films (28 isn’t that many), it is nice to see the Big G still get recognition. Kudos AMC.

Note, another hint given that I did not record was that the host said that his [Godzilla’s] first film did not become widely available until 2006. Thank god we got Classic Media.

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

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

"...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.

New Images

Here are some new images surrounding the Kawakita Heisei film fest in Japan!

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

Koichi Kawakita's New Book: "Heisei Godzilla Chronicle"

Turns out I may have found the reason for the Heisei film festival that will be going on this November - it is coinciding for a new book Koichi Kawakita has written/assembled on his work on the Heisei Godzilla series. It is aprox. $50 and is comming out this month on the 17th. Contains 272 pages of information! Now time for some pics:

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.

Interview with “Monster Attack Team‘s” Edward Holland and Michael Keller

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!

You can visit the new site for the ressurected fan site here: http://www.kellerwerks.com/MAT.html

We at JournalismG2KM would like to thank "Edojira" and Mike for taking time out of their schedules to take the time to talk to us. Arigatou!

Fanzine Ressurection: MONSTER ATTACK TEAM

http://www.kellerwerks.com/MAT.html

Before the internet, we had a phenomenom in which we did not only have one kaiju/tokusatsu fanzine to subscribe to (I am mentioning "G-Fan", though you could also count "Japanese Giants" if you count their occasional every 3-5 year new issue), but many. One could be with "G-Fan", "Markelite", and others at the same time. But there is one name which comes to my mind: "Monster Attack Team". While they died out at the end of the 20th century, they are back! They have a new site (see link above) and a new issue comming out this December. There is alot more than kaiju and tokusatusu eiga in there. Here is a full rundown of the new issue:

-The History of Kamen Rider
-Working for Ultraman
-An exclusive interview with Tak Sakaguchi (VERSUS!)
-The Last Dinosaur
-Partying Godzilla-style
-The Fantastic cinema of Kinji Fukasaku (SATOMI HAKKEN DEN!)
-Japanese monster toy mayhem
-Fantastic tokusatsu poster retrospective
-Monsters!
-Super Heros!
-Japanese rock and roll!
-So much more!

Stay tuned for more (hopefully)!

Tales From Toho's Back Editing Room: FINAL CUT

Back when the original blog was hacked, I did not have intentions of bringing this feature back. But it turns out that while submitting material to Tohokingdom, Anthony did not take all of it thus I felt that I might as well resurrect this feature with the rejected material. So here are pictures of the cut scenes with what would have been their descriptions. Enjoy!

Just a deleted scene from King Kong vs. Godzilla. No description here :P...

The most famous of the deleted scenes from the 1964 film, the original version of the scene ended with an accident. Evidently the building was too strong or Nakajima did not strike in the right place and the castle did not crumble the way it was supposed to. Though when the suit hit up against the castle, the resin piece that the skin of the top lip was broken. Tsuburaya actually kept this for couple of scenes before it was repaired. Nakajima did try to save the scene though, looking at the camera trying to maker Godzilla seem frustrated. While some of the original shot was kept, the scene had to be redone at great expense.

This shows something more intricate when it came to Tsuburaya's SFX, the animation. The then magnificent 1200 Optical Printer was in no doubt the machine which made this beautiful scene. The only real difference between what is in the final film and this, which is basically an unfinished version. The scene is not as light as the final version and lacks the beginning explosions. But with this the scene is actually more detailed, seeing the flames on Ghidorah's body and a couple of orbs that seem to be in the middle of the fire before we finally see the Ghidorah suit 100% exposed. It was cut because the scene would have been more excited, which once some things were added, it was.

Like some scenes, they are taken out for no apparent reason. This is one of them. Or at least this version. It is a beautiful shot, mixing dust effects with houses that are blown away which would have been a big plus on Tsuburaya's already impressive body of work. The only real reason why the scene would be cut out is how Rodan looked when they showed his wings moving. Other than that, nothing.

The scene is rather well know scene. But the problem with it is the overuse of the 1/3 Godzilla foot model. While a couple of clips of the foot made it to the final cut, most of them were thankfully cut - including some which showed the inside of the foot prop! About five shots were cut with a side view of the bottom half of the suit stomping through some models. Another imperfection is that some of the buildings were a little too sturdy and through that showed their hollowness.

The main difference with this shot from the finished film was that we see the train go across the bridge before Rodan wrecks it, giving the audience a "whew" moment, adding some suspense to the film. Though it would have been a cool scene, it would have been detrimental to the pacing of the film. Still a nice shot though.

Just an extended version of Godzilla's landing, with some footage being of Rodan's POV while flying.