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Tag: Ishiro Honda

Episode 27: ‘Frankenstein Conquers the World’ (feat. Travis Alexander)

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!

You, too, can support us on Patreon and get this and other perks starting at only $3 a month!

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

Read Jimmy’s Notes on this episode.

Podcast Social Media:
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© 2020 Moonlighting Ninjas Media

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Episode 25: ‘Dogora, the Space Monster’ (feat. Michael ‘The Kaiju Groupie’ Hamilton)

Hello, kaiju lovers!

Making his third trip to Monster Island—but his first appearance on MIFV—is none other than the Kaiju Groupie himself, Michael Hamilton. He paid Nathan and Jimmy a visit to discuss Dogora, the Space Monster, which was one of three kaiju films released in 1964 by Toho. The titular space squid is a nightmare straight out of an H.P. Lovecraft story—minus the sorta lame weakness. (To quote Batman, “Bees. My god.”) Nathan and Michael also discuss Japan’s infamous mafia, the Yakuza, since there are elements of it in this film. Enjoy!

Check out Michael’s titular podcast and social media here.

Episode image created by, well, Michael Hamilton.

Read Jimmy’s Notes on this episode.

We’d like to give a shout-out to our Patreon patrons Travis Alexander 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!

You, too, can support us on Patreon!

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

Podcast Social Media:
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Facebook
Instagram

Follow Jimmy on Twitter: @NasaJimmy
Follow the Monster Island Board of Directors on Twitter: @MonsterIslaBOD

#JimmyFromNASALives       #MonsterIslandFilmVault

© 2020 Moonlighting Ninjas Media

Bibliography/Further Reading:

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Episode 23: ‘Atragon’ (Mini-Analysis)

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!

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

Read Jimmy’s Notes on this episode.

Podcast Social Media:
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Follow Jimmy on Twitter: @NasaJimmy
Follow the Monster Island Board of Directors on Twitter: @MonsterIslaBOD

#JimmyFromNASALives       #MonsterIslandFilmVault

© 2020 Nathan Marchand & Moonlighting Ninjas Media

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Jimmy’s Notes on ‘Episode 21: Matango (Mini-Analysis)’

It’s been a rough week on Monster Island, what with the Board of Directors mandating masks (again). I’m a big fan of them hiring Douglas Gordon as the Island’s security chief, though. Plus, the Board is sharing some…inside info with me you may hear on a future episode.

Anyway, I only have a few of my own notes plus Nathan’s notes from his independent study for this week’s blog. I think he only has a few more of the films from that study left. Atragon and Frankie v. Barry, I think. Regardless, I have some snark to deliver.

  • It’s “Ghost in the Shell,” Nathan, not “Ghost in a Shell.” Direct vs. indirect articles. Big difference, as you know.
  • Trust me when I say some things in Tokyo will follow you everywhere. At least for a while. And I don’t mean puppies.
  • Birds get sucked into jet engines a lot, man. We pilots do have our own superstitions. Canada geese are the worst offenders. (Sorry, Chris Cooke).
  • To learn more about Hahajima, which has the big mountain Dd G told us about, click here. Let me tell you, it is a beautiful place. Nathan, Jet Jaguar, and I will be taking a hike there soon.
  • If you’re curious about the DC Comics villain Matango, read this.

Here are Nathan’s leftover notes:

  • Kubo’s face is seen. He’s unscarred. (Which makes the ending that much more interesting. –Jimmy)
  • Music during credits is weirdly upbeat.
  • “Tokyo and all her dust.” Men and money are left behind.
  • Writer loses his pages in water. I’d be upset. But he thinks writers steal everything. (You would know better than me, Nathan. –Jimmy)
  • “Top lady” = mistress (and double entendre?) (Yep. –Jimmy)
  • 40 million yen yacht. Best that money can buy. Destroyed by storm.
  • Scare girls and then treat them tender. “That’s not psychology—that’s a paperback novel!” (One of the best lines in the film! –Jimmy)
  • Professor is a psychologist. Appropriate and ironic.
  • The women are polar opposites. Mami (Mizuno) is a flirtatious harlot while Akiko is a chaste, shy girl who’s never been kissed.
  • 7 characters for the 7 deadly sins. (You can thank Danny DiManna for that idea. I still can’t figure out which character is which sin, though. Maybe Rev. Mifune could help explain?  –Jimmy)
  • Music is somewhat minimalistic for the most part. Not Ifukube or Sato. (It was Sadao Bekku. –Jimmy)
  • The hallucinations begin before they reach the island with the phantom ship. Perhaps an indication that Yoshida is already unhinged.
  • Fog is a common motif. It obscures. It clouds. Drug reference?
  • This film is Lost meets Gilligan’s Island with a Twilight Zone ending.
  • The set design for the ship is great. The mold everywhere. Unique. Like a haunted house. Reminiscent of classic Universal horror.
  • Is it possible this whole film is Akira Kubo’s fever dream? How much of it is true? There are things that don’t add up. (Given what we heard from Dr. Dourif, I’m pretty sure it was real. –Jimmy)
  • The mold is great foreshadowing for Matango.
  • Eyeless turtle: foreboding.
  • Matnago is said to be a radiation mutant. Anti-nuclear. Doesn’t explain everything.
  • Nationality of boat concealed. Communist and western. Even Japan. Humanity represented. No one is innocent.
  • Matango is the forbidden fruit. May eat everything else but that.
  • Plays on natural need—eating—and makes it scary. Do it and suffer. Much like Nightmare on Elm Street with sleeping. (“Never eat again…”. –Jimmy)
  • The location photography is amazing.
  • Is this island attracting boats to it and sinking them? Bermuda Triangle?
  • First Matango appears almost 43 minutes in.
  • Two characters fire at Matango but not sure they hit it or saw anything but audience sees mushroom goo on ground.
  • This film was almost banned because of the mushroom man make-up. Looked like bombing victims. (The Hibakusha, which we’ll be discussing in a future episode. –Jimmy)
  • Even the characters think they saw ghosts—but there are footprints.
  • Illustrates why William Golding had no girls in Lord of the Flies: aggravates things. Aggravates men. Unlike that story, they are just as corruptible. (To hear his full reasoning from the foreword to his book, watch this video. –Jimmy)
  • “Akiko…this is Mother.” (Clearly that was the mushrooms talking. Those lying Matango! –Jimmy)
  • Yoshida says frayed nerves make people see witches and devils. Tries to explain strange happenings away. (That just sounds like trick-or-treaters at Halloween. –Jimmy)
  • Yoshida and Mami have a full-on make-out session. Most sexual thing in a Honda film.
  • Koyama pulls rope as he falls. Lifeline. Symbolic. Body has bills strewn about him. Also symbolic. Died amassing useless wealth.
  • Mami’s wardrobe changes to reflect her allegiance. Green and plantlike.
  • One character eats Matango and has vision of dancing showgirls amid Tokyo neon. Drugs. Revelry. Opulence.
  • The Matango laugh was recycled later for Baltan on Ultraman. (And it’s just as disturbing coming from those big beetles! –Jimmy)
  • Sakuta runs, but he eventually jumps overboard. Then writes on wall that everyone else is dead. Betrayal.
  • The professor and Akiko decide to leave. Almost happy ending. Then mushroom people show up. Like a zombie movie. Night of the Living Dead? Hacks off an arm. (Maybe George Romero saw this movie? –Jimmy)
  • Seems a little convenient that he leaves on boat and gets found. Why take him to psychiatric ward?
  • Doctor says, “We are grateful that you were able to come back.” Are they speaking of him as a patient? (Another parallel to The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. –Jimmy)
  • (In “The Voice in the Night,”) John and his fiancée are like the prof and student in the film: innocent but they succumb to temptation. And are corrupted spiritually and physically. (Read more about this story here. –Jimmy)

That does it for my notes this week.

Join us next Wednesday to hear the start of the “Daimajin Days” when Nathan’s friends Joe and Joy Metter returned to start their journey through the Daimajin trilogy. Then this month’s mini-analysis will be on Ishiro Honda’s other 1963 classic, Atragon.

As the Board says, “Together we can find a better way forward.”

Follow me on Twitter: @NasaJimmy

Follow the Board on Twitter: @MonsterIslaBOD

#JimmyFromNASALives
#WeShallOvercome

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Episode 21: ‘Matango’ (Mini-Analysis)

Hello, kaiju lovers!

An artsy Japanese horror film about mushrooms based on a British short story?

That’s sounds insane enough to work!

Despite getting slapped with the schlocky English title, “Attack of the Mushroom People,” Matango ranks as one of director Ishiro Honda’s greatest achievements in tokustasu filmmaking. Screenwriter Takeshi Kimura considered it to be his magnum opus. It’s a story replete with subtlety and symbolism, an indictment of Japan’s newfound opulence and decadence in the early 1960s, and it’s as relevant now for any audience as it was back then. It’s such an important film, Nathan and his intrepid producer, Jimmy From NASA, interview the only scientist on Monster Island’s who’s brave and/or crazy enough to study the Matango—with frightening results! 

Featuring Daniel DiManna as the voice of Dr. Dante Dourif.

Episode image created by Michael Hamilton. Check out his podcast, The Kaiju Groupie.

This is meant to supplement this episode of Kaijuvision Radio: Episode 45: Matango (Attack of the Mushroom People) (1963) (Westernization and Globalization)

We’d like to give a shout-out to our Patreon patrons Travis Alexander and Michael Hamilton (cohosts of Kaiju Weekly); Danny DiManna (Godzilla Novelization Project); elizilla13; and Chris Cooke (host of One Cross Radio)! Thanks for your support!

You, too, can support us on Patreon!

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

Podcast Social Media:
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram

Follow Jimmy on Twitter: @NasaJimmy
Follow the Monster Island Board of Directors on Twitter: @MonsterIslaBOD

www.MonsterIslandFilmVault.com

#JimmyFromNASALives       #MonsterIslandFilmVault

© 2020 Nathan Marchand & Moonlighting Ninjas Media

Bibliography/Further Reading:

  • “Attack of the Mushroom People: Ishiro Honda’s Matango William Hope Hodgson’s ‘The Voice in the Night’” by Anthony Camara (Monsters and Monstrosity from the Fin de Siécle to the Millennium, edited by Sharla Hutchinson and Rebecca A. Brown)
  • “The history and current state of drug abuse in Japan” by Kiyoshi Wada (Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Jan 2011, vol. 1216, no. 1, p 62-72)
  • Ishiro Honda: A Life in Film, from Godzilla to Kurosawa by Steve Ryfle and Ed Godzisewski
  • “Ishiro Honda-thon Ep. 5: Matango (1963) Review” by Adam Noyes (AN Productions) (YouTube)
  • Kaijuvision Radio, “Episode 8: King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)”
  • “Methamphetamine Solution: Drugs and the Reconstruction of Nation in Postwar Japan” by Miriam Kingsburg (The Journal of Asian Studies, Feb. 2013, vol. 72, no. 1, p. 141-162)
  • Mushroom Clouds and Mushroom Men: The Fantastic Cinema of Ishiro Honda by Peter H. Brothers
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Jimmy’s Notes on ‘Episode 19: Gorath (feat. Jack GMan Hudgens)

I still can’t believe that I don’t remember meeting GMan at the Monsterland Tavern when he visited. I’m starting to think the barkeep mixed some Faro Island red berry juice into my Jack Daniels. I especially would’ve remembered the emergency evacuation switch only launching the walls and ceiling and not the whole building. That was a fun recovery mission. The damn thing flew all the way back to the Japanese mainland and landed on a beach. Thankfully, it was closed due to COVID-19, so no one got hurt.

Regardless, I have my notes to get into for episode 19 on Gorath:

  • Yes, Ryo Ikedbe died in 2010.
  • It’s “Kimura” not “Kimaira,” Jack.
  • Near as I can tell, it was Honda who decided to change Moguera into a robot in The Mysterians.
  • You said “Kimura” when you meant “Shimura,” Nathan. But considering how similar their names are—Takashi Shimura vs. Takeshi Kimura—that’s understandable.
  • Confirm with Danny that “Maguma” wasn’t in Ultra Q originally.
  • Yes. I like Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla. Fight me!

Now for Nathan’s leftover notes, which I must include to fulfill my contractual obligations:

  • Starts with two women stripping to go swimming before being interrupted by rocket launch. I don’t remember if we see them again.
  • Gorath is a rogue star with 6,000 Earth’s mass but is ¾ the size. Very dense. For perspective, the Sun has 330,000 times Earth’s mass and is 109 times the diameter. (You’ve made this NASA engineer happy. –Jimmy)
  • Explore Gorath like Columbus, huh? (Before or after his statue is torn down? –Jimmy)
  • Does gravity increase exactly in relation to mass? (Indeed, it does. Read about it here. –Jimmy)
  • Jun Tazaki is the captain of the JX-1. He says he’d tell his men if they were going to die to reassure them—then tells them they can’t escape a few minutes later. (Reminds me of my first training mission. It was a lot like the Kobayashi Maru. –Jimmy)
  • Would it be in poor taste for them to yell, “Banzai!” just before dying? (Not in Japan. But that might be why it was cut in the U.S. release. –Jimmy)
  • The zero G scene is pretty good.
  • A light, even comical scene in a Kimura script?! What?! For some reason, I feel like it belongs in M*A*S*H*. No subtitles for the song for some reason. It’s a singing joyride. Yet more evidence that Honda secretly wanted to direct a musical. Composed by Kan Ishi.
  • Over 11.8 billion yen invested in JX-1. (Chump change compared to the Gohten! –Jimmy)
  • Other ships are being built in other countries, but they say Japan’s ship is putting them to shame. Nationalistic? (Nope. Patriotic. –Jimmy)
  • Hey, it’s Dr. Who in the bar! (Let’s hope not. I’m not giving him his “Robot Kong” back! –Jimmy)
  • The wide shot of the ship fleet looks like models on a board.
  • The music during the construction scene almost sounds like Ifukube. The models look cool, though.
  • They have a 13th floor! (Good thing I’m not superstitious. –Jimmy)
  • The power core looks like the TNG warp core! (I know, right! –Jimmy)
  • The evacuation scene actually reminded me of G2014.
  • UN Gorath Countermeasures Center. They have a lot of countermeasures centers in the Heisei era.
  • They send Shimura to South Pole but won’t tell him why. Probably because Maguma looks stupid.
  • The composite shot with Maguma looks good.
  • I thought Tsuburaya didn’t want blood in his film? Maguma’s death is gory.
  • And staring at Gorath on a TV screen cures amnesia. Huh? (Yeah, I got nothing on this. –Jimmy)
  • They celebrate saving Earth at the end despite the fact it only cost the Moon and billions in damages. (Still better than being dead. –Jimmy)
  • Science and scientists are credited with saving the world. Another thematic statement.
  • They do at least talk about putting the Earth back in its orbit. (Which is good, because, well, I haven’t the time to list all the dire consequences of moving it. –Jimmy)

LeMay

  • Maguma was to come back for DAM but didn’t.
  • Kenji Sahara had a broken leg during production, but Honda insisted he be in the film.
  • Had more time and money given to it than other tokusatsu films.

Galbraith IV

  • Former military pilot turned sci-fi author Jojiro Okami’s story was the inspiration for this. As was Battle in Outer Space, The Mysterians, and Dogora.

Honda Biography

  • Released just six months after the USSR launched the first man in space, Yuri Gagarin. Embodies Honda’s twin ideals of international cooperation and science above politics.
  • It was made at the height of the space race. It borrows the plot of When Worlds Collide by Gorge Pal. Honda shows science being pursued ethically and positively, unlike in his previous sci-fi films.
  • Endo possibly takes a shot at Pal’s film: “Mankind [used to be] separated into white, black, and yellow races before the United Nations. Trust, honor, and cooperation were qualities that brought us together.”
  • “The common folk cannot be at the forefront of big problems, but there are so many of them…so, those scenes create depth for the story. These are the types of people that I want in my films. This is the very foundation of my films.” –Honda
  • There’s no panic because Honda thought that wouldn’t seem real.
  • Honda regretted letting the walrus Magma be added to the film. “That was definitely the human weakness of Ishiro Honda. That idea came from above. They make more profit with monsters [in the movie]. I think that left a scar on the film.” It was originally scripted as a “dinosaur-like creature,” but Honda didn’t want to remind audiences of Godzilla.
  • Ryfle and Godizewski argue that the controversial US-Japan alliance casts a shadow on the film. The “futuristic” 1980s Japan looks like post-Occupation Japan of 1961. Japan and America are above reproach, while fictional nations like Crenion and the USSO offer mild dissent before acquiescing. Japanese scientists are more advanced.

“Intergalactic star” (Wikipedia) (These are excerpts from that article. –Jimmy)

  • “Another hypothesis, that is not mutually exclusive to the galactic collisions hypothesis, is that intergalactic stars were ejected from their galaxy of origin by a close encounter with the supermassive black hole in the galaxy center, should there be one. In such a scenario, it is likely that the intergalactic star(s) was originally part of a multiple star system where the other stars were pulled into the supermassive black hole and the soon-to-be intergalactic star was accelerated and ejected away at very high speeds. Such an event could theoretically accelerate a star to such high speeds that it becomes a hypervelocity star, thereby escaping the gravitational well of the entire galaxy.[6] In this respect, model calculations (from 1988) predicts the supermassive black hole in the center of our Milky Way galaxy to expel one star every 100,000 years on average.[7]”

 “Star unlike any found in the Milky Way appears to be an intergalactic intruder” by Michael Irving (Again, these are excerpts from the article. –Jimmy)

  • “Astronomers have discovered a star in the Milky Way that doesn’t belong. Officially known as J1124+4535, the star has a chemical composition unlike any others ever observed in our home galaxy, suggesting it’s an intergalactic interloper that may have come from a dwarf galaxy that was swallowed up by the Milky Way.”
  • “Through LAMOST observations and a follow-up using the Subaru Telescope in Japan, J1124 was found to have a relatively low amount of magnesium and high levels of europium. This particular chemical composition so far seems to be unique to this star, compared to the rest of the Milky Way.”
  • “This kind of galactic merger happens all the time. The aftermaths of collisions between the Milky Way and smaller galaxies are visible all around us, and many more are predicted in the future – culminating in a spectacular merger between the Milky Way and Andromeda in about four billion years’ time.”
  • “J1124+4535 isn’t the first intergalactic star to be discovered in our neck of the woods. Stars traveling at hypervelocity speeds have been found to be hurtling towards the Milky Way from other galaxies, with the Large Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy that orbits our own, the most likely point of origin.”

“Lost in Space: Half of All Stars Are Rogues Between Galaxies” by Charles Q. Choi (Once again, these are excerpts from the article. –Jimmy)

  • “As many as half of all stars in the universe lie in the vast gulfs of space between galaxies, an unexpected discovery made in a new study using NASA rockets. These stars could help solve mysteries regarding missing light and particles that theory had suggested should exist, scientists say.”
  • “In the study, astronomers investigated the extragalactic background light, the sum of all light emitted by stars in the universe throughout history. Prior research had detected fluctuations in this light that did not appear to come from any known galaxies. Scientists had suggested these fluctuations might come from primordial galaxies, the very earliest galaxies, whose light has yet to be detected.”
  • “Instead, this finding of bright, blue light unexpectedly reveals these fluctuations may come from something called ‘intrahalo light,’ which is created by stars flung into intergalactic space during titanic collisions and mergers of galaxies. The researchers found that there was as much light from these intergalactic stars as there was from stars located in galaxies.”

“HUBBLE FINDS INTERGALACTIC STARS” (For the last time, these are excerpts from the article. –Jimmy)

  • “NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has found a long sought population of ‘stellar outcasts’ – stars tossed out of their home galaxy into the dark emptiness of intergalactic space. This is the first time stars have been found more than 300,000 light-years (three Milky Way diameters) from the nearest big galaxy.”
  • “The isolated stars dwell in the Virgo cluster of galaxies, about 60 million light-years away. The results suggest this population of ‘lone stars’ (Haha! –Jimmy) accounts for 10 percent of the Virgo cluster’s mass, or 1 trillion Sun-like stars adrift among the 2,500 galaxies in Virgo.”
  • “Intergalactic stars have been predicted to exist as a result of galaxy interactions and mergers early in a galaxy cluster’s history. These close encounters should have ripped stars out of their home galaxies and tossed them into intergalactic space, where they drift free of the gravitational influence of any single galaxy.”
  • “The stars are bright red giants – stars late in their lives. Presumably there are many fainter stars – perhaps as many as 10 million – in the same field but are below Hubble’s sensitivity.”

I wish they’d spent more time discussing rogue stars, but we were pressed for time thanks to our contracts. Jack understood that. Perhaps in the future MIFV could do “redux” episodes as Nathan as suggested once or twice. Then I could go nuts researching rogue stars (again)!

In the meantime, our resident “Mothrian” Bex from Redeemed Otaku returned to finish up the “Summer of Mothra,” which you’ll hear next week. Let’s just say things got…Star Trek-ian. Then Nathan does a mini-analysis of Matango as the second episode in July.

Be there or be square!

Follow me on Twitter: @NasaJimmy

#JimmyFromNASALives
#WeShallOvercome

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Episode 19: ‘Gorath’ (feat. Jack “GMan” Hudgens)

Hello, kaiju lovers!

Before Armageddon, before Star Trek: The Motion Picture, there was Gorath. Nathan is joined by the most loved and hated film critic in the kaiju community, Jack “GMan” Hudgens, to discuss this Toho classic that has been described as the lovechild of Mothra (1961) and The Last War. While it isn’t the most exciting film, Nathan and GMan explore how its theme of unity is a timeless message, and one that people need to hear now more than ever. Along the way, they compare this to Star Trek and H.P. Lovecraft stories and discuss how Maguma the giant walrus has done nothing but get shoehorned into stories he didn’t need to be in. Also, GMan gets into a bar fight with Jimmy From NASA. Yep.

This is meant to supplement this episode of Kaijuvision Radio: Episode 44: Gorath (1962) (Near Earth Objects/Science of Gorath).

I’d like to give a shout-out to our Patreon patrons Travis Alexander (host of Kaiju Weekly), Danny DiManna, elizilla13 and Joejira! Thanks for your support! (Forgive me for forgetting to say this on the air! I’ll make it up to you next time!)

You, too, can support us on Patreon!

Follow GMan on Twitter. Check out The Drift Space.

Read Jimmy’s Notes on this episode.

Podcast Social Media:
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Follow Jimmy on Twitter: @NasaJimmy

#JimmyFromNASALives

© 2020 Moonlighting Ninjas Media

Bibliography/Further Reading:

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Episode 15: ‘Battle in Outer Space’ (with Luke Jaconetti)

Hello, kaiju lovers!

Today’s episode is a little different. Think of it as an extended “mini-analysis.” It’s also the first film MIFV has covered that features no kaiju. Luke Jaconetti, the host of the Earth Destruction Directive podcast (and owner of an impossible-to-spell surname), joins Nathan to discuss the film featuring everyone not working on The Three Treasures in 1959: Battle in Outer Space. The podcast’s producer, Jimmy From NASA, loves this film because it’s the second entry in what he calls a “pseudo-trilogy.” After Luke recounts his globetrotting adventure getting to Monster Island despite worldwide travel bans, he and Nathan discuss how what this film lacks in character it more than makes up for with showmanship and spectacle. It was a snapshot of the world at the beginning of the Space Race and the Cold War. They connect it to films like Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Earth vs. the Flying Saucers, Star Wars, and even Toy Story 2! They also discuss whether or not the invading aliens, the Natal, could be interpreted as an anti-American commentary.

Are you stuck in quarantine? Enjoy some quality entertainment and enlightenment through this tokusatsu epic!

This was made as a supplement to this episode of Kaijuvision Radio, which featured Danny DiManna as Brian Scherschel’s guest host: Episode 42: Battle in Outer Space (1959) (The Space Race between the US and the USSR).

Podcast Social Media:
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Follow Jimmy on Twitter: @NasaJimmy

www.MonsterIslandFilmVault.com

#JimmyFromNASALives

© 2020 Moonlighting Ninjas Media

Bibliography/Further Reading:

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Episode 11: ‘Varan the Unbelievable’ (Mini-Analysis)

Hello, kaiju lovers!

In Nathan’s continuing series of mini-sodes on films covered by Bran Scherschel on Kaijuvision Radio after Nathan left the show, he examines Ishiro Honda’s overlooked 1958 kaiju film Varan the Unbelievable (or Daikaiju Baran). While Honda didn’t think much of it (especially after its tumultuous production when the American TV network co-producing it pulled out), it was the first kaiju film written for Toho by the fabled Shinichi Sekizawa. The second half is a by-the-numbers monster movie, but the first half is intriguing because it touches on then contemporary issues with the burakumin, a discriminated social class in Japan. Their name means “village people” (no, not the disco band!), and they were essentially the “untouchables” of Japanese culture for centuries. When seen through that lens, this film offers more than a cool kaiju.

After that, Nathan reads some listener feedback, including a letter from someone who offers some clarification on the (in)famous Batman Meets Godzilla script.

Speaking of which, Batman Meets Godzilla, one of the craziest yet most intriguing lost projects made famous by John LeMay’s book, The Big Book of Japanese Giant Monster Movies: The Lost Films (which now has a new “mutated” edition), is being adapted into a fan-made comic book miniseries!

T-SHIRT GIVEAWAY: Everyone who shares the Facebook and Twitter posts for this episode (or tags the show when they share it themselves) will be entered for a drawing for a Batman Meets Godzilla T-shirt. (One entry per person per social media). Entries will be taken from February 26 to March 4 at 11:59pm (EST). The winner must then send Nathan his/her shirt size, shirt color, and mailing address to be forwarded to the team at Batman Meets Godzilla. Here’s a link to the Tee Public site with this epic shirt.

Here’s the KVR episode: Episode 40: Varan (1958) (Hisabetsu-Buraku) (Discriminated Communities)

This episode featured the song “‘BATMAN’ [OG Theme Song Remix!]” by Remix Maniacs.

Be sure to read Jimmy’s Notes on this episode.

(c) 2020 Nathan Marchand & Moonlighting Ninjas Media

Bibliography/Further Reading:

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