It’s the day after the BIGGEST kaiju film of the year—if not the decade—Godzilla vs. Kong has premiered across the world in theaters and on HBO Max, and Nate is diving headlong into a spoiler discussion! You won’t believe what you hear: surprise appearances from a famous henshin hero and the new so-called “king of the monsters.” Heck, apparently even Nate and his intrepid producer, Jimmy From NASA made cameos in the movie! That’s what happens when you need a podcaster and an engineer. And then a famous “final warrior” calls in to explain how he gave Godzilla a nose ring.
Whether you’ve seen the film or not, you’d be a fool not to listen to this special bonus episode!
Follow Jimmy on Twitter: @NasaJimmy Follow the Monster Island Board of Directors on Twitter: @MonsterIslaBOD Follow the Raymund Martin and the MIFV Legal Team on Twitter: @MIFV_LegalTeam Follow Crystal Lady Jessica on Twitter: @CystalLadyJes1
Due to contractual obligations, Nate covers a “13th” Gamera movie as part of the “Year of Gamera”: Gammera the Invincible (he’s a loony). This heavily-edited Americanized version of Gamera the Giant Monster was given the Godzilla, King of the Monsters! 1956 treatment—but it’s far less interesting as a movie and as a piece of kaiju film history. Nate details the key differences—one being the de-emphasis of Psycho Kenny, er, Toshio-san—and explains the rather mundane reasons for why the movie was drastically changed. Also, he gives the Board-appointed “king of the monsters” a new nickname: “Gamera-Double-M.”
Follow Jimmy on Twitter: @NasaJimmy Follow the Monster Island Board of Directors on Twitter: @MonsterIslaBOD Follow the Raymund Martin and the MIFV Legal Team on Twitter: @MIFV_LegalTeam Follow Crystal Lady Jessica on Twitter: @CystalLadyJes1
Flower, James. “A Guide to English Language Gamera.” (Arrow Video Gamera: The Complete Collection)
Galbraith IV, Stuart. Japanese Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films: A Critical Analysis and Filmography of 103 Features Released in the United States 1950-1992.
As part of Ryan “The Omni Viewer” Collins’ “One Monstrous Moment: Alpha Edition” to celebrate our favorite moments in kaiju media in anticipation of Godzilla vs. Kong, I’m submitting an entry featuring an unlikely scene from an unlikely series. In this case, from episode eleven of Ultraman: The Ultimate Hero (aka Ultraman Powered). What happens when a henshin hero battles a truly innocent monster? What can we learn about co passion and empathy from this oft-derided Ultra series? Listen to find out!
Music: –Ultraman Powered/Ultraman: The Ultimate Hero BGM (by Suzuki Kisaburo?)
Follow Jimmy on Twitter: @NasaJimmy Follow the Monster Island Board of Directors on Twitter: @MonsterIslaBOD Follow the Raymund Martin and the MIFV Legal Team on Twitter: @MIFV_LegalTeam Follow Crystal Lady Jessica on Twitter: @CystalLadyJes1
After the Serpentera Mk. 1 flies by, Nate is joined by his two most popular guests yet: Ryan “The Omni Viewer” Collins and Brandon “Up From the Depths” Jacobs. These two YouTubers were invited to the Island because they’ve produced several insightful and, above all, positive videos on 2019’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters. While Legendary’s much-hyped kaiju epic was loved my audiences and hated by critics, it’s lately become popular in the Godzilla/kaiju fandom to hate on it. Nate, Ryan, and Brandon discuss how there is more going on below the surface in what many decry was an empty summer blockbuster. You’ll hear them debunk its “nuclear narrative,” discuss its spiritual depth (“Godzilla, messiah of the monsters,” anyone?), and hear how the eco-terrorists aren’t as farfetched as you might think. Meanwhile, Ryan’s sidekick, Snazzy, joins MIFV’s intrepid producer, Jimmy From NASA, and Jet Jaguar in the crowded “sidekick central,” er, producer booth. Snazzy keeps pushing random buttons. Hilarity ensues.
(Don’t tell the Monster Island Board of Directors that we went over their mandated time limit!)
Follow Jimmy on Twitter: @NasaJimmy Follow the Monster Island Board of Directors on Twitter: @MonsterIslaBOD Follow the Raymund Martin and the MIFV Legal Team on Twitter: @MIFV_LegalTeam Follow Crystal Lady Jessica on Twitter: @CystalLadyJes1
Nate and his guests, MIFV MAX members Michael Hamilton (co-host of Kaiju Weekly and The Kaiju Groupie) and Damon Noyes, reach the peak of the Showa Gamera series—which isn’t as high as Nate wants it to be. (Or does he just want to get high?) Once again as part of the Board-mandated “Year of Gamera,” the Tourists get to watch the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode featuring this film while Nate must view the original Japanese version to compare notes. Even so, Nate riffs his way through the episode so the Stockholm syndrome doesn’t set in. Michael sighs almost as much as he talks with all the jokes Nate and Damon drop about “gassy Gyaos nipples” and “plane murder.” You’d almost think Nate was enjoying himself. It’s a great act.
The Toku Topic for this episode is the Sanrizuka Struggle, which was a movement against the construction of Narita Airport. It inspired a key plot element in this movie and helped Nate prove to Michael and Damon that there was a social commentary in the film. It’s also the last social commentary in a Gamera movie for years, so enjoy it while it lasts.
Before the broadcast, Nate tries to tell his intrepid producer, Jimmy From NASA, how he plans to be a small thorn in the Board’s side only to be interrupted by Raymund Martin, the head of the Monster Island Legal Action Team, who promptly tells Nate why he can’t do that.
Raymund Martin was created and voiced by Damon Noyes.
Prologue written by Nathan Marchand with Damon Noyes.
Follow Jimmy on Twitter: @NasaJimmy Follow the Monster Island Board of Directors on Twitter: @MonsterIslaBOD Follow the Raymund Martin and the MIFV Legal Team on Twitter: @MIFV_LegalTeam Follow Crystal Lady Jessica on Twitter: @CystalLadyJes1
Flower, James. “A Guide to English Language Gamera” (Arrow Video Gamera: The Complete Collection).
Galbraith IV, Stuart. Japanese Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films: A Critical Analysis and Filmography of 103 Features Released in the United States 1950-1992.
Gamera: The Complete Collection, Disc Two Special Features.
Gamera vs. Gyaos Commentary by Stuart Galbraith IV (Arrow Video’s Gamera: The Complete Collection).
In the first of what I’m calling “Special Reports,” I give my immediate thoughts on the new Netflix anime series, Pacific Rim: The Black. I was supposed to review it on Redeemed Otaku with my friend Bex, but that ended up not working out. As someone who adores the original film but hates the sequel (Uprising), I was surprised by how good this show was, even when it used some elements from Uprising. Be warned: about halfway in, I dive into spoiler territory, so avoid that if you haven’t seen the show.
Will I ever cover this as a regular episode? Only time will tell.
I put this episode together quickly, so it doesn’t have the usual polished and tight editing normal episodes have.
Follow Jimmy on Twitter: @NasaJimmy Follow the Monster Island Board of Directors on Twitter: @MonsterIslaBOD Follow the Raymund Martin and the MIFV Legal Team on Twitter: @MIFV_LegalTeam Follow Crystal Lady Jessica on Twitter: @CystalLadyJes1
Jimmy’s (former?) flame war nemesis, tokustasu scholar John LeMay, returns to discuss the second banned film to be covered on MIFV: Prophecies of Nostradamus. This infamous disaster film—which is as different from Submersion of Japan as night is from day—was Toho’s biggest hit of 1974 and features the last appearance by Takeshi Shimura in a Toho tokusatsu film, which only makes its banishment to the back of the vault all the more puzzling. Nate and John explain that the film was banned because of a 30-second scene (that wasn’t even real!) featuring “Soft-Bodied Humans” that was seen as offensive to atomic bombing survivors. Nate also gives a history lesson on who the popular but misunderstood French seer Nostradamus was and his book of prophecies, which inspired this bizarre film.
Yes, we know that this episode went over the Board-mandated time limit for “mini-sodes”—and we don’t care!
You can buy John’s latest books here and here on Amazon.
Follow Jimmy on Twitter: @NasaJimmy Follow the Monster Island Board of Directors on Twitter: @MonsterIslaBOD Follow the Raymund Martin and the MIFV Legal Team on Twitter: @MIFV_LegalTeam Follow Crystal Lady Jessica on Twitter: @CystalLadyJes1
Galbraith IV, Stuart. Japanese Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films: A Critical Analysis and Filmography of 103 Features Released in the United States 1950-1992.
LeMay, John. The Big Book of Japanese Giant Monster Movies Volume 1: 1954-1982.
LeMay, John. The Big Book of Japanese Giant Monster Movies: The Lost Films (Mutated Edition).
LeMay, John. Terror of the Lost Tokusatsu Films!
LeMay, John. Writing Giant Monsters.
Lost Films Fanzine: Movie Milestones #3, The. (John LeMay).
Nostradamus: The Prophecies. Translated by Richard Sieburth. Introduction by Stéphane Gerson. Published by Penguin Books (Penguin Classics).
Roberts, Henry C. (translator, editor, and interpreter). The Complete Prophecies of Nostradamus. Updated by Robert Lawrence. Published by Three Rivers Press.
The Year of Gamera continues. (Yay?) Nate is joined by his friends Joe and Joy Metter to discuss the outlier of the Showa Gamera series, Gamera vs. Barugon. It’s the one that was actually aimed at an adult audience—and it flopped. As usual, the Tourists get to see the MST3K episode—which has Nate’s favorite line of those episodes—while Nate has to watch the original Japanese version. Even with Joel and the Bots’ riffs, Joe and Joy say they would’ve preferred to watch it subtitled! Thanks to a combination of a “monster mic” and the ORCA, Jimmy was able to get Barugon himself to interrupt a few times, but Nate thinks the ORCA’s translations were dubious, at best. The Toku Topic is the New Guinea Campaign because several characters in the film fought during that and the film takes place partly on that island.
Beforehand, Nate, Jimmy, and Jet Jaguar are visited by William H. George III, Esquire, the special envoy to the Monster Island Board of Directors (MIBOD). It is he, and not Ms. Perkins, who brings the Board’s latest press release for Nate to read on the air. He also makes it abundantly clear the Board didn’t appreciate Nate’s “shenanigans” at the Gamera: King of the Monsters Banquet a few weeks ago.
Follow Jimmy on Twitter: @NasaJimmy Follow the Monster Island Board of Directors on Twitter: @MonsterIslaBOD Follow the Raymund Martin and the MIFV Legal Team on Twitter: @MIFV_LegalTeam Follow Crystal Lady Jessica on Twitter: @CystalLadyJes1
Flower, James. “A Guide to English Language Gamera.” (Arrow Video Gamera: The Complete Collection)
Galbraith IV, Stuart. Japanese Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films: A Critical Analysis and Filmography of 103 Features Released in the United States 1950-1992.
Gamera: The Complete Collection, Disc Two Special Features.
Gamera vs. Barugon Commentary by August Ragone and Jason Varney (Arrow Video’s Gamera: The Complete Collection)
LeMay, John. The Big Book of Japanese Giant Monster Movies Volume 1: 1954-1982.
LeMay, John. The Big Book of Japanese Giant Monster Movies: The Lost Films (Mutated Edition).
LeMay, John. Writing Giant Monsters.
Macias, Patrick. “A History of Gamera: Gamera vs. Barugon” (Arrow Video’s Gamera: The Complete Collection).
Milner, David. “Interview with Noriaki Yuasa” (Arrow Video’s Gamera: The Complete Collection).
Nate is joined by podcaster/YouTuber/filmmaker Adam Noyes to cover something a bit different this week: the original 1973 tokusatsu disaster film Submersion of Japan (aka Japan Sinks). Think of it as a kaiju film without a kaiju. It’s based a novel by Sakyo Komatsu, who Adam describes as “the Japanese Michael Crichton.” The novel was a blockbuster, and this film was an even bigger hit. You can tell this was what Toho invested most of their money into and not Godzilla vs. Megalon that year. Adam and Nate discuss the film’s better-than-Hollywood special effects, the horribly truncated and re-edited U.S. version called Tidal Wave made by Roger Corman, and the film’s wrestling with Japanese national identity, among other things.
Also, Nate’s “pseudo-sister” magical girl superheroine clone, Jessica, meets him just before the broadcast to let him know she just moved back to Monster Island. He’s…overjoyed.
Follow Jimmy on Twitter: @NasaJimmy Follow the Monster Island Board of Directors on Twitter: @MonsterIslaBOD Follow the Raymund Martin on Twitter: @MIFV_LegalTeam
Galbraith, Stuart IV. Japanese Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films: A Critical Analysis and Filmography of 103 Features Released in the United States 1950-1992
Galbraith, Stuart, IV (2008). The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography
