Imperial Japan Archives - The Monster Island Film Vault

Hello, kaiju lovers!

“FRONKENSTEEN! FRONKENSTEEN!”

In what has to be a providential “accident,” our Halloween episode is the perfect kaiju film for the spookiest time of the year: Frankenstein Conquers the World. Nathan is joined by Travis Alexander, co-host of Kaiju Weekly and the biggest Baragon fan we know (#Justice4Baragon), to discuss this wild if uneven Toho classic directed by Ishiro Honda. We discuss the film’s relation to the hibakusha, the discriminated survivors of the atomic bombings, because Frankenstein’s plight in the film mirrors their real-life struggles. Also, Travis gets to meet Godzilla’s bumbling nephew, Godzooky (he’s practically Travis’s spirit animal), who helps Jimmy From NASA in the producer booth because he’s still reeling from his beatdown at the hands of Daimajin.

Episode image created by Michael Hamilton.

We’d like to give a shout-out to our Patreon patrons Travis Alexander (of course) and Michael Hamilton (co-hosts of Kaiju Weekly); Danny DiManna (author/creator of the Godzilla Novelization Project); Eli Harris (elizilla13); Chris Cooke (host of One Cross Radio), and Bex from Redeemed Otaku! Thanks for your support!

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This episode is approved by the Monster Island Board of Directors.

Read Jimmy’s Notes on this episode.

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Bibliography/Further Reading:

“Gendered Bodies in Tokusatsu: Monsters and Aliens as the Atomic Bomb Victims” by Yuki Miyamoto (The Journal of Popular Culture, Oct. 2016, vol. 49, no. 5)
“The grave is wide: the Hibakusha of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the legacy of the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission and the Radiation Effects Research Foundation” by Gerald F. O’Malley (Clinical Toxicology, Taylor & Francis Group, 21 April 2016, vol. 54, no. 6)
“Hibakusha” by William J. Hall (MD) (Annals of Internal Medicine, 5 Feb. 2008, American College of Physicians, vol. 148, no. 3)
“Hibakusha: The Intricacies of Memory in Postwar Japan” by Jordan Ricks (Graduate Research Journal, Indiana University Southeast, winter 2018, vol. 8)
Ishiro Honda: A Life in Film, from Godzilla to Kurosawa by Steve Ryfle and Ed Godzisewski
“Japan’s hibakusha still battle the effects of US nuclear bombs” by Jonathan Watts (The Lancet, 16 Sept. 2000, vol. 356, no. 2934)
Kaijuvision Radio, Episode 49: Frankenstein Conquers the World (1965) (Ryuichi Shimoda et al. v. The State)
Kaiju Weekly, Episode 09: Frankenstein Conquers the World
“Prejudice haunts atomic bomb survivors” by Hiroshi Matsubara (The Japan Times, 8 May 2001)

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Hello, kaiju lovers!

This month’s mini-sode is yet another excerpt from the paper Nathan wrote for his Ishiro Honda independent study in grad school, and it’s on one of his favorite tokusatsu films: Atragon. This Jules Verne-ian sci-fi adventure story has deep connections to the Japanese national spirit as it was inspired by a militaristic 1899 novel and the ongoing newspaper stories about World War II stragglers being found on Pacific islands. The film also comments on resurgent Japanese nationalism in the early 1960s. All this plus listener feedback, and MIFV’s intrepid producer, Jimmy From NASA, tells a bit of his story about taking the Gotengo (the flying super-sub in the film) for a joyride in the ’80s. (If you want to hear the entire story, listen to Kaiju Weekly episode 38). And much to Nathan’s annoyance, Jimmy relays an outrageous announcement from the Monster Island Board of Directors about Godzilla vs. Kong.

Episode thumbnail created by Michael Hamilton.

We’d like to give a shout-out to our Patreon patrons Travis Alexander and Michael Hamilton (cohosts of Kaiju Weekly); Danny DiManna (author/creator of the Godzilla Novelization Project); Eli Harris (elizilla13); Chris Cooke (host of One Cross Radio), and Bex from Redeemed Otaku! Thanks for your support!

You, too, can support us on Patreon!