Gamera's Take Over Of Korea Coverage

As previously reported by SciFiJapan, the 6th annual JMEFF is showing the whole Gamera trilogy. Luckily, one of the members of the Korean "Big Monster Club" organization named "Artgihun" has posted onto his blog some coverage of the event. It is very awesome. The collection, to the pics of Kaneko, to even the revealing of alternate ADV Cover artwork. Take a look/see?

http://blog.naver.com/artgihun/20093335739

http://blog.naver.com/artgihun/20093335561

http://blog.naver.com/artgihun/20093335333

http://blog.naver.com/artgihun/20093426031

http://blog.naver.com/artgihun/20093425373

Hong-Gi Hun's collection looks awesome.

SciFiJapan's report:

http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2009/11/11/gamera-invades-korea/

New Variations of Godzilla Figures Being Released - Not Bandai Though

In celebration of the Kawakita Anniversary (that everything seems to be revolving around), Hazwagumi is releasing accouple of diffrent variations of some older figures which you can get that the Heisei film fest or buy in stores starting Dec. 1. Each figure is 16cm tall. The line-up as fallows:

-3 Mire-Gojis ("G2K" variant, "GXM" variant, "Fire" variant, and "pearl" variants)

-GMK Goji

-2 diffrent "Flying Shi'ie" Daisenso-Gojis

-2 diffrent Mosu-Gojis (head diffrences)

-2 Showa King Ghidorahs (One regular, one fire, both with base)

Good luck looking for these in your local Mandrake shop! And as you can see below, even Koichi Kawakita and company likes the figures!

*Special thanks goes out to ZoneFighter73 for pointing out that these figures are new variations, not just new.

First Look: Godzilla Soundtrack Perfect Collection Box 6

What you see above is one the best chirashi I have seen in some time. On the reverse side it shows off the Koichi Kawakita Godzilla film festival and the advent of Godzilla on the blu-ray format. But it also shows something: we finally get a look at the cover of the much awaited "Godzilla Soundtrack Perfect Collection Box 6". If someone can read the Japanese on the chirashi, please post a comment regarding what is going to be the extra disc in the set (we already know it is film "Godzilla vs. Megaguirus to "Godzilla: Final Wars"). This is awesome!

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

Japan's "Grissom Gang" to hold theatrical screening of "Godzilla: Tokyo SOS"

The Kiryu Saga seems to be getting lots of attention lately. A new blu-ray display utilizes the suit pre-scar and a Kirin beer company advertisement campaign is using the 2002 duo of Hideki Matsui and Godzilla. Now, in time for Nov.'s many activities mostly centered around Koichi Kawakita, the "Grissom Gang" is holding Japan's second screening of "Godzilla, Mothra, Mechagodzilla: Tokyo SOS" this year (the other was durring the premier of "Raiga"). So if you are in Japan, don't miss the chance to see this awesome tribute to the Showa series!

Link:

http://movie007.hp.infoseek.co.jp/schedule0911.htm#abayo (scroll down the page)

BTW, it is too late, the film has already been shown for the two days it was alloted. It was shown over the weekend. But go to the link and see a theatre exclusive calendar given to those with some extra pocket change. Made courtesy of toy maker http://cast-web.net/

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:

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...