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Episode 26: The Metters vs. ‘Daimajin Strikes Again’

Published October 14, 2020

Hello, kaiju lovers!

The “Daimajin Days” come to a close with Joe and Joy Metter returning to discuss Daimajin Strikes Again. The final film of the Daimajin trilogy, while it has the same basic set-up with an evil lord oppressing the people, focuses on four boys who set out to rescue their commoner fathers and brothers from slavery. The Metters’ dogs Teddy Kong and Bitzilla make more cameos as they and Nathan make frequent comparisons between this film and Lord of the Rings, Naruto, and even X-Men! All the while MIFV’s intrepid producer, Jimmy From NASA, continues to antagonize Joy—which comes to a head in an epic post-credit scene!

Today’s Toku Topic builds on the previous one by discussing kami (Japanese spirits and gods).

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 and get perks like this starting at only $3 a month!

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

Episode epilogue written by Nathan Marchand with Joe and Joy Metter.

Episode image created by Michael Hamilton.

This episode features the following music tracks:
-“Daimajin’s Ferocity” by Akira Ifukube
-“Kozasa’s Prayer” by Akira Ifukube
-“Jet Jaguar” by Heavy Melody Music

Read Jimmy’s Notes on this episode.

Timestamps:
Intro: 0:00-4:42
Entertaining Info Dump: 4:42-10:16
Toku Talk: 10:16-54:42
Toku Topic: 54:42-1:19:36
Outro: 1:19:36-1:29:19
Epilogue: 1:29:19-end

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Jimmy’s Notes on ‘Episode 24: The Metters vs. Return of Daimajin’

Published September 15, 2020

Well, if I was a supervillain, this is the part where I would say,

I learned a valuable lesson during the episode 24 broadcast. Apparently, Dorats aren’t as aggressive as I thought they’d be. And I even fed them some gamma rays before unleashing them on Nathan’s friend Joy Metter. (However, I didn’t feed these little winged gremlins any radiation after midnight because we know how that turns out). Her dogs’ good vibes must’ve calmed them or something.

Perhaps I do need to try something “scarier” next time, as Joy joked, to truly test her mettle since she keeps acting like she’s a master swordsman (“swordswoman”? “swordsperson”? Damn you, political correctness!) Sadly, anything else would probably get me in trouble with the Board for endangering a tourist, but I’ll think of something.

Anyway, let’s get on to my notes from the episode:

  • I will admit, the new Board-mandated uniforms are growing on me. Pink is the new orange.
  • I neglected to include the IMDB scores for the first two Daimajin films in the Entertaining Info Dump. Oops. They’re 6.7 and 6.4, respectively.
  • It’s “Sama-no-suke,” not, “Sama-na-suke.” But hey, none of you grew up in Japan like I did.
  • I’ll give Joy credit for one thing: we can agree that Anakin Skywalker is as charming as a brick in Attack of the Clones.
  • It’s “Dodohei,” not, “Todohei,” Nathan. You think he’s a dog from Kansas?
  • Yes, Joe, Ryuta does have an arm. Two of them, in fact.
  • I can make an argument that Frozen is a kaiju movie: the big snowman. If Half Human counts….
  • Nathan, it’s “Iwamatsu” not “Imatsu.”
  • I’m pretty sure “Heian” is pronounced, “hay-on.” You know, like “Heisei” (“hay-say”).
  • It’s “kami” not “gami,” Joy.
  • Yawns, last I checked, were by definition audible, Joe.
  • I didn’t realize this until now because I liked the Star Wars reference, but the third film is Daimajin Strikes Again not Back. Also, Nathan used the wrong title for the DVD cover he used on the blog post just like ADV did. Oh well.

And now, in fulfillment of my contractual obligations, here’s Nathan’s leftover notes:

The Film

  • Barr says it “explores the clash between tradition and modernity, between peacefulness and warmongering.”
  • The first two films put a premium on the “old ways” of worship. Are we supposed to sympathize with the persecuted nobles, villagers, and Daimajin?
  • Interesting that the characters don’t bow before passing through the torii gate.
  • We get some foreshadowing with Daimajin’s face glowing red. Said to be a sign of misfortune and his anger.
  • In this, the priestess is also the dead lord’s daughter. The characters are combined.
  • Daimajin is fond of mountains. (I would correct him by saying he’s on an island in this one, but it’s at least mountainous. –Jimmy)
  • Ifukube’s music shines in this score.
  • The priestess calls Daimjain “Kamisama.” Is this the Japanese word for the Christian God? (That’s what most westerners think. It makes sense since it would translate as “Lord God” or “lord of the gods.” Or at least “lord of the kami.” –Jimmy)
  • “They have taken our statue but not our soul.” –Sayuri (Probably the best line in the film. –Jimmy)
  • I think Juro would’ve been better off killing Danjo. (Actually, he kept him alive for leverage. –Jimmy)
  • “Juro’s in the well?!” (Call Lassie! Or Teddy Kong! –Jimmy)
  • There is some added suspense thanks to the statue being shattered.
  • Another divine warning with the soldier in a boat stabbed with a rock. This gives a kid the chance to set Katsushige free.
  • Sayuri hanging on the cross and praying—offering her life to Daimajin—echoes the Christ story. Then she cries and her tears awaken him. The wind extinguishes the fire.
  • The statue emerges whole from the water. He appears 61 minutes into the 78-minute movie.
  • This reminds me a bit of the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal.
  • They try to blow up Daimajin again, and this time it doesn’t work. The shot of him in the smoke is great.
  • His footsteps are ominous.
  • Sayuri’s tears fall from her face to her praying hands to the lake water, and Daimajin dissolves into water.

Toku Topic

  • SHRINES: “The etymology of the early word for shrine, yashiro 社 is thought to have meant a temporary structure (yashiro 屋代) erected for worship, in the same way that nawashiro meant a hut for raising seedlings, and an ajiro meant a spot for drying fishing nets.” Festivals would be held there. “Accordingly, the concept of the sacred also changed from one in which kami were thought to be visiting deities (raihōshin) that descended at set times each year, to one in which the kami resided permanently in the shrine as a tutelary of its parishioners.”
  • SHRINES: “By contrast, another term denoting a shrine, miya 宮, is believed to derive from the honorific expression for a building (miya 御屋). Until the early Heian period, however, few shrines were permitted the status of miya, and of the 2,861 shrines listed in the Engishiki’s “Register of Divinities,” only eleven are included in this category.”
  • SHRINES: “The earliest type of shrine architecture is seen in the shinmeizukuri style of the Shōden (honden) of the Grand Shrines of Ise, and the taishazukuri style of the Izumo Shrine’s honden. The former originates in the style of grain storehouse used to store rice, while the latter is based on the style of ancient dwellings in the Izumo area. Both styles are reflected in ancient palace architecture, and eventually they were used in permanent shrine buildings, becoming the source for more complicated styles….”
  • SHRINES: While governors got more involved with the festivals centered around kami worship in medieval Japan, this system dissolved as warrior families arose, and “ancient imperially granted shrine lands (shinryō) and other lands commended by secular houses were gradually transformed into the system of estates known as shōen. Under this system, powerful shrines tried to ensure their territorial integrity by commending their lands to the imperial house or other power clans who acted as ‘rights holders’ (honjo) for the land. … “At the outset of Hōjō Yasutoki’s Jōei shikimoku (1232) appears an exhortation to keep shrines in good repair and to be diligent in worship, and this became a maxim for future generations. This pattern was also incorporated and continued in the Edo shogunate’s laws regulating shrines and their priests, the Shosha negi kannushi hatto of 1665. On this basis the shoguns and daimyō bestowed “vermilion-seal” or “black-seal” land grants upon important shrines and diligently contributed to the rebuilding or repair of shrine buildings.”
  • SHRINES: 70% of Japanese people visit a shrine at least once a year at New Year. This is called Hatsumōdë.
  • TORII: Most are made of wood and painted red, but a few are black or made of stone. (This was brought up in the episode, but I left it in this blog to explain why they’re red. While torii were once white for sacredness, they are painted red because to the Japanese that is the color of vitality and protection against evil. It had a practical reason, too. Red paint contains mercury, which preserves the gate. –Jimmy)

I’m glad that was easier than in past weeks. Thanks, Nathan!

Next Wednesday, you’ll hear an episode featuring my former online nemesis Michael “The Kaiju Groupie” Hamilton (MIFV Patron and co-host of the Kaiju Weekly podcast, among other things), who discusses Dogora, the Space Monster with Nathan. Then the Metters return to finish the “Daimajin Days” with Daimajin Strikes Again.

Also, this month is our first anniversary (hoo-ah!), so Nathan will be joined by Danny DiManna of the Godzilla Novelization Project for a special bonus episode to celebrate.

Join us!

Follow me on Twitter: @NasaJimmy

Follow the Board on Twitter: @MonsterIslaBOD

#JimmyFromNASALives
#WeShallOvercome

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Jimmy’s Notes on ‘Episode 22: The Metters vs. Daimajin’

Published August 17, 2020

Episode 22 was beset by many-a-peril during its production, both in front of the mics and behind the scenes. It was late for our Patreon Patrons, but we did manage to get it published on time. We’re a stubborn and determined lot.

That being said, I have more notes on this than I usually do—mostly because Marchand was copy-and-pasting stuff from his research as opposed to writing paraphrases. I’ve spoken with him about this and convinced him it would be better for everyone involved—especially the Tourists on the show—to do that less from now on. He agreed.

So, after some copious editing, here are my notes.

  • Nathan, goofball that you are, you didn’t set up your new microphone correctly, which is why the episode doesn’t sound as good as it normally does. Live and learn. And research your mic next time!
  • There has actually been more kaiju films where the suit actor’s eyes could be seen than you think. I’m surprised Nathan forgot to mention these. Besides Daimajin and War of the Gargantuas, there was King Kong (1976) (how could he forget that?), Yeti: Giant of the 2oth Century (unfortunately for everyone besides Travis from Kaiju Weekly), and if you want to count him, the Snowman from Half Human. The Babylonian Demon from Yokai Monsters: Spook Warfare has a suit actor whose eyes can be seen. I was also told if you pause Ebirah, Horror of the Deep at the right spot when Godzilla rips off the crustacean’s claw, you can seen Haruo Nakajima’s eyes, although that’s a filmmaking mistake.
  • Haniwa weren’t so much guardians as they were grave markers and boundary markers, and later were believed to house the spirit of the deceased. Read more here.
  • Moses pleads for Israel in Exodus 32:11-14.
  • It’s pronounced, “Samanosuke,” Nathan. And Joe. Man, this name is a tongue twister for us Americans.
  • You don’t believe I have a lightsaber, huh? Just wait. Also, Disney can have it—when the Mouse pulls from my cold, dead fingers!
  • The line from Firefly Nathan was trying to remember was said by Captain Mal: “If I ever kill you, you’ll be awake, you’ll be facing me, and you’ll be armed.”
  • Joe and Joy are going to start saying, “You wants to take Teddy to see Gamera?” as a euphemism for a walk.
  • Nathan says, “Fascinating,” a lot in this episode. Is he Spock?
  • He also says, “Interesting,” a lot. Expand your vocabulary!
  • It wasn’t the Onin War you referenced in episode 13, Nathan, it was the Genpei War.
  • Joe didn’t say it was Portuguese missionaries, Nathan. He said it was Catholic missionaries.
  • Dainichi is the central deity worshipped in esoteric Buddhism. You can read more about him here.

Here’s Nathan’s overabundance of leftover notes.

The Film

  • Eyeball at beginning is meant to symbolize Daimjain contentedly watching events.
  • I didn’t remember the scene of the kid being chased by the forest spirits. The hand was just a tree branch. What’s with the quick cuts of animals? Was this real?
  • The princess is pale, unlike the others. (Old timey view of feminine beauty. I preferred tanned girls, myself. –Jimmy)
  • The bullets don’t hurt Daimajin. Chains cannot hold Daimajin. Daimajin controls the elements, like fire.

Toku Topics

Sengoku Period

  • “The beginning of the Sengoku period witnessed the Onin War (1467-1477 CE) which destroyed Heiankyo. The fighting that followed over the next century would eventually reduce the warlords to only a few hundred in number as the country was effectively carved up into princedoms.” (https://www.ancient.eu/Sengoku_Period/)
  • “The Ashikaga Shogunate (1338-1573 CE) held control of the central part of Japan, and the bureaucracy at the capital was relatively efficient, but the outer provinces were left semi-independent as local warlords or daimyo ruled their own lands how they saw fit. Local officials and estate managers such as the jito found it much more difficult to secure the taxes the state was due from landlords who now had no fear of any government reprisals.” (https://www.ancient.eu/Sengoku_Period/)
  • “In the absence of a strong central government…the rule of law was very often replaced by the rule of force. The more powerful lords absorbed the lands of their weaker rivals and became known as sengoku daimyo. The warlords then passed on their position of strength to their male heir and so the position of daimyo became hereditary unless challenged by ambitious subordinate commanders. The wealth of the daimyo came from commerce, trade, and taxes imposed on those peasants who farmed on their estates. Daimyo may have been a law unto themselves but many of them did formulate law codes to better regulate the sometimes thousands of people under their command.” (https://www.ancient.eu/Sengoku_Period/)
  • “The Warring States period kicked off with the Onin War (Onin No Ran, 1467-1477 CE). This civil war – its name derives from the year period – broke out because of the bitter rivalry between the Hosokawa and Yamana family groups. By the end of the decade, though, the fighting had sucked in most of the influential clans of Japan. The conflict revolved around each side backing a different candidate for the position of shogun – a particularly pointless debate since shoguns, like the emperors, no longer had any real power. Rather, the war is seen by historians as merely a result of the overly aggressive warlords of Japan being rather too keen to put their samurai to some use – good or bad. Even when the war ended in 1477 CE there was no victor and no resolution to the inherent militarism that fractured Japan for the next century as warlords fought each other with no one in particular ever achieving any dominance.” (https://www.ancient.eu/Sengoku_Period/)
  • “The Onin War had sorted out who were the weak and the strong daimyo, who thus became much fewer in number (by 1600 CE there would be only about 250 of them in all of Japan).” (https://www.ancient.eu/Sengoku_Period/)
  • “The upheaval resulted in the further weakening of central authority, and throughout Japan, regional lords, called daimyōs, rose to fill the vacuum. In the course of this power shift, well-established clans such as the Takeda and the Imagawa, who had ruled under the authority of both the Kamakura and Muromachi bakufu, were able to expand their spheres of influence. There were many, however, whose positions eroded and were eventually usurped by more capable underlings.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sengoku_period)
  • “As a result of the constant threat of war and pillage in this period, castles were built with much greater frequency than previously in towns, at mountain passes, along vital roads, and on larger estates. The latter type, which could take the form of fortified mansions, was known as yashiki; Ichijodani (base of the Asakura family) and the moated Tsutsujigasaki (of the Takeda family) were excellent examples of this building trend. Some castles, such as Omi-Hachiman near Lake Biwa, caused an entire town to later spring up around them, the jokomachi. … Constructed on large stone bases, the wooden superstructures included walls, towers, and gates, which had narrow windows for archers and from which hung boulders on ropes, ready to be dropped on any attackers.” (https://www.ancient.eu/Sengoku_Period/)
  • “As trade with Ming China grew, the economy developed, and the use of money became widespread as markets and commercial cities appeared. Combined with developments in agriculture and small-scale trading, this led to the desire for greater local autonomy throughout all levels of the social hierarchy. As early as the beginning of the 15th century, the suffering caused by earthquakes and famines often served to trigger armed uprisings by farmers weary of debt and taxes.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sengoku_period)
  • “Towns and cities became larger, with many having a population of over 30,000, thanks to a boom in international trade (daimyo wanted foreign luxury goods like Ming porcelain to demonstrate their status), weekly markets, and the development of trade guilds. Measures, weights, and currencies were standardized in many domains to facilitate trade. Meanwhile, the fortunes of the many Buddhist temples scattered across Japan plummeted as no longer backed by the state they could not so easily extract contributions from local communities.” (https://www.ancient.eu/Sengoku_Period/)
  • “The Ashikaga Shogunate would be terminated by the warlord Oda Nobunaga (l. 1534-1582 CE) who finally brought some stability to central Japan. Oda Nobunaga had expanded his territory gradually through the 1550/60s CE from his base at Nagoya Castle as he defeated all comers thanks to his martial skills and innovative use of firearms. The Warring States period comes to an end with the seizure of Heiankyo by Nobunaga in 1568 CE. The warlord then exiled the last Ashikaga shogun, Ashikaga Yoshiaki, in 1573 CE. The unification of the country would continue under Nobunaga’s immediate successors, Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598 CE) and Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616 CE).” (https://www.ancient.eu/Sengoku_Period/)
  • “The Sengoku period ended when Toyotomi loyalists were defeated at the Siege of Osaka in 1615.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sengoku_period)

Christianity Comes to Japan

  • “The Portuguese land on Tanegashima, becoming the first Europeans to arrive in Japan, and introduce the harquebus into Japanese warfare.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sengoku_period)
  • “In 1543 the first Europeans arrived in Japan. Two (maybe three) Portuguese merchants aboard a Chinese ship were blown off course and forced to land on the island of Tanegashima, just south of Kyushu. Only six years later, the first Christian missionary came to Japan. What followed was, what some historians call, Japan’s ‘Christian century.’ Despite 100 years of Christian dominance, today only about 1% of the Japanese population is Christian. … Those first Portuguese men to arrive at Tanegashima also brought the first guns to Japan. Today’s article will focus on the sixteenth century, during which time guns and Christianity were often entwined. Both had a heavy impact on Kyushu and Japan at large during this period, known as the Warring States period (sengoku jidai), a century where central authority in Japan had lost its sway and samurai clans vied for dominance.” (https://www.tofugu.com/japan/history-of-christianity/)
  • “The Shimazu family who ruled Satsuma also controlled Tanegashima, the island where the first Europeans had landed. The Shimazu had been impressed by European firearms and were quick to reproduce them. So, when Xavier arrived they respectfully welcomed him, curious to see what he might have brought along. They gave him permission to speak to their subjects and, through translators, they began to preach. Xavier and his Spanish colleagues began studying Japanese, and soon were attempting the occasional sermon in Japanese, transliterated into the Roman alphabet for them. For the most part, Xavier and European missionaries who followed were quite impressed with the Japanese people.” (https://www.tofugu.com/japan/history-of-christianity/)
  • Ten months after Xavier’s arrival, the Shimazu changed their stance towards the Christians, prohibiting proselytizing and further conversions. This was probably prompted by the landing of a Portuguese ship at Hirado, in northern Kyushu and outside of Shimazu territory, which dashed Shimazu hopes of securing European trade through the missionaries. … (he went several journeys and preached, winning some converts).” (https://www.tofugu.com/japan/history-of-christianity/)
  • “Nobunaga never converted, and it doesn’t seem that he ever believed in the Christian message, but he certainly had no love for Buddhist institutions either. A number had been thorns in his side. He burned the great temple complex on Mt. Hiei, killing roughly 25,000, and spent eleven years fighting the ikko-ikki, a type of militant Buddhist group. … Unfortunately…in 1582 Nobunaga was betrayed by one of his generals, and chose to kill himself rather than be captured. … Nobunaga had been a source of hope for the Jesuits, and with his death there were even harder times ahead for the Christian mission in Japan.” (https://www.tofugu.com/japan/history-of-christianity/)
  • “Just before leaving Japan in 1551, Francis Xavier met with Otomo Sorin (1530-1587), lord of Bungo (in eastern Kyushu). … In 1578, he converted to Christianity, taking the name Francisco in honor of Xavier. Actually, a marital problem led to his conversion. Sorin had married a woman in 1550, who was staunch in her traditional religious beliefs and shared a contentious relationship with the Jesuits. She is known only as Jezebel, the name the Jesuits used to refer to her. In 1578, Sorin became ill, which the priest Luis Frois claimed was Jezebel’s fault. He was nursed by one of her ladies-in-waiting, with whom he fell in love. Sorin had his new paramour spirited away to a seaside villa where they were free to hear Christian instruction. First, she converted, taking the name Julia. Later Sorin also converted. They soon married, and Jezebel, as a pagan, was no object. To many observers Sorin’s behavior was scandalous, but to the Jesuits he was a hero. Sorin’s happiness did not last long.” (https://www.tofugu.com/japan/history-of-christianity/)
  • “…in 1582, (Sorin) and two other Christian lords sponsored the first official Japanese embassy to Europe. The embassy was the brainchild of Italian Jesuit, Allesandro Valignano (1539-1606), who had been preaching in Japan for three years. The Tensho Embassy (named after the reign-name of the time) consisted of four Japanese converts. … The embassy arrived in Lisbon in 1584, and from there went on to Rome. During their European tour, they met several kings and two successive popes. In Rome, one of the converts was made an honorary citizen. They returned to Japan in 1590, after which Valignano ordained them as the first Japanese Jesuit fathers.” (https://www.tofugu.com/japan/history-of-christianity/)
  • “Crucifixion was introduced into Japan during the Sengoku period (1467–1573), after a 350-year period with no capital punishment.[116] It is believed to have been suggested to the Japanese by the introduction of Christianity into the region,[116] although similar types of punishment had been used as early as the Kamakura period. Known in Japanese as haritsuke (磔), crucifixion was used in Japan before and during the Tokugawa Shogunate. Several related crucifixion techniques were used. Petra Schmidt, in “Capital Punishment in Japan”, writes:[117] ‘Execution by crucifixion included, first of all, hikimawashi (i.e, being paraded about town on horseback); then the unfortunate was tied to a cross made from one vertical and two horizontal poles. The cross was raised, the convict speared several times from two sides, and eventually killed with a final thrust through the throat. The corpse was left on the cross for three days. If one condemned to crucifixion died in prison, his body was pickled and the punishment executed on the dead body. Under Toyotomi Hideyoshi, one of the great 16th-century unifiers, crucifixion upside down (i.e, sakasaharitsuke) was frequently used. Water crucifixion (mizuharitsuke) awaited mostly Christians: a cross was raised at low tide; when the high tide came, the convict was submerged under water up to the head, prolonging death for many days.’ Crucifixion was used as a punishment for prisoners of war during World War II. Ringer Edwards, an Australian prisoner of war, was crucified for killing cattle, along with two others. He survived 63 hours before being let down.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crucifixion#Japan)
  • “Added to the fear of foreign conquest, one of the biggest concerns that Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu had always had with Christianity was the matter of loyalty. For a Christian samurai, did allegiance to the shogun or the pope take precedence? In 1612 there was a bribery scandal, involving a daimyo and a member of Ieyasu’s council, both Christians. This showed that ties between the faithful might be stronger than those to the central authority. In addition, at the execution of a Christian, a priest told the crowd that obedience to the Church should trump obedience to their daimyo. …Then in 1614 he issued the ‘Statement on the Expulsion of the Bataren,’ in which accusations against the priests were leveled. They were commanded to leave the country at once, and Japanese converts were ordered to renounce their faith. Most missionaries left the country, but some continued to operate in secret. Those who were caught were executed. Anti-Christian measures became even harsher under the third Tokugawa shogun, Iemitsu, who took power in 1623. It’s estimated that in 1612 there were approximately 300,000 Christians in Japan, but by 1625 there were half that or fewer.” (https://www.tofugu.com/japan/history-of-christianity/)
  • “The Tokugawa shogunate had begun to persecute Christians, largely out of a fear that Christianity would subvert the order and hierarchy that they had struggled for so long to create and maintain. In 1614, Tokugawa Ieyasu issued a proclamation expelling Catholic missionaries from Japan. Japanese Christians were forced to go underground, becoming known as Hidden Christians (kakure kirishitan). Under successive shoguns, persecution intensified. The final straw was to come in 1637, when a revolt broke out in Kyushu.” (https://www.tofugu.com/japan/history-of-christianity/)
  • “The Shimabara Peninsula lies on the western part of Kyushu, somewhat out of the way. … The life of a Japanese peasant was generally filled with a good deal of suffering. It wasn’t unusual for a lord to treat them poorly. Yet, Matsukura Shigemasa (the new lord as of 1610) was exceptionally cruel. He taxed everything, even births and deaths, and didn’t take kindly to those who couldn’t pay. Being thrown into a water-filled prison was perhaps the best one could hope for. His most notorious punishment was called the raincoat dance (mino odori), so named because the victim, wearing a straw raincoat, was doused in oil and set on fire, causing them to dance about. Sometimes the family members of those who failed to pay were taken hostage or punished as well. In 1637, when one of Shigemasa’s men assaulted a farmer’s pregnant wife the people finally snapped.”
  • “This led to a rebellion that holed up in Hara Castle, which was defensible despite the peasants only using farming tools since weapons were illegal for them.” 
  • “This young man was Amakusa Shiro (c. 1621-1638). Born on one of the Amakusa Islands, he was the son of a former Konishi clan retainer (the family’s Christian head, Konishi Yukinaga was killed for picking the wrong side at Sekigahara). He studied with Jesuits in Nagasaki, and according to local lore, made a name for himself preaching equality and dignity for the poor on the island of Oyano. Little else is known about him, but during the rebellion his followers began to think he was the one foretold years earlier by Father Marco Ferraro, a priest who worked in the area before being expelled. He said that, ‘After 25 years a child of God will appear and save the people.’” (https://www.tofugu.com/japan/history-of-christianity/)
  • “The rebels were able to hold out for a surprisingly long time. However, as the winter months wore on, hunger took its toll and the defenses were breached. The victors spent three days slaughtering the rebels. An estimated total of 37,000 were killed, including Amakusa Shiro, and as John Dougill points out, ‘It’s invidious to play the numbers game when it concerns the dead, but the number killed at Shimabara is almost identical to the 39,000 who died in the Nagasaki atomic bomb.’ 10,000 heads were staked up around the castle, and 3,300 were sent to Nagasaki for the same treatment: a clear warning to the people.” (https://www.tofugu.com/japan/history-of-christianity/)
  • Following the Shimabara Rebellion, the Tokugawa took the final step in guarding the country against foreign subversion by expelling all Europeans from Japan and banning their reentry on pain of death. The one exception to this was the tiny island of Dejima, just off Nagasaki’s coast, where an extremely limited number of Dutch ships were allowed to dock and trade. (https://www.tofugu.com/japan/history-of-christianity/)

If you read all of this, you’re my hero(es).

Join us next week when Nathan analyzes a film with one of the most beautiful ships ever constructed: Atragon. Maybe I’ll tell the story of how I took that ship for a joyride in my younger days. (Oh wait, I already did on Kaiju Weekly). Then the Metters return next month for part two of the “Daimajin Days” to discuss Return of Daimajin. I’ll be keeping my foil handy in case Joy tries starting anything with me. 😛

Follow me on Twitter: @NasaJimmy

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Episode 22: The Metters vs. ‘Daimajin’

Published August 12, 2020

Hello, kaiju lovers!

Despite some recording/broadcasting issues with a new microphone (which will be remedied for future episodes), Nathan was joined once again by his friends Joe and Joy Metter, who were vacationing on Monster Island. They started the “Daimajin Days” by screening and discussing the first film in Daiei’s Daimajin trilogy from 1966. These films combine the kaiju and chanbara (“samurai”) genres to create some of the most unique examples of both. While Joe and Joy aren’t connoisseurs of kaiju, they are fans of samurai films. They, along with Nathan, connect this film to Rurouni Kenshin, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and of course Star Wars. (You can fill that space on your MIFV bingo card this week). Also making a return is their dog Teddy Kong, and he brought his friend, Bitzilla. You’ll hear them several times during the episode. Teddy really wanted to see Gamera for some reason. (Because he was hungry for turtle meat?) The only buzzkill—besides the recording issues—was MIFV’s intrepid producer, Jimmy From NASA, butting heads with Joy over sword fighting. Geez.

Since this is a period piece, the Toku Topics are the Sengoku Period of Japanese history and the coming of Christianity to Japan.

We’d like to give a shout-out to our Patreon patrons Travis Alexander and Michael “The Kaiju Groupie” Hamilton (co-hosts of Kaiju Weekly), Danny DiManna (Godzilla Novelization Project), Eli Harris, and Bex (host of the Redeemed Otaku) (who joined just before this episode was posted)! 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.

Timestamps:
Prologue: 0:00-2:34
Intro: 2:34-6:52
Entertaining Info Dump: 6:52-12:35
Toku Talk: 12:35-1:03:24
Toku Topic: 1:03:24-1:33:14
Outro: 1:33:14-end

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© 2020 Moonlighting Ninjas Media

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Episode 21: ‘Matango’ (Mini-Analysis)

Published July 22, 2020

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:
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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 17: The Last War (Mini-Analysis)’

Published June 4, 2020

I’m a day late but not a dollar short. I wasn’t able to get access to Marchand’s notes on The Last War because his laptop charger just had to die, followed by his laptop itself. And wouldn’t you know it, even with all the technology here, we didn’t have anything compatible with it. That’s what you get for having a computer verging on retirement age in technological years, Marchand!

On the bright side, even I know these blogs aren’t as important as the podcast. After almost nine months of doing this show, if the worst we’ve done is have a few of my blogs be a day late while the podcast stays on time, I’d call that an accomplishment.

As usual with Nathan’s scripted episodes, I don’t have anything to add to what he said since we take care of that before recording. However, he left out a surprising number of his notes on the film in his analysis. Let’s dive in (like I did when eluding the Messiah 13 Aliens during the War in Space).

Nathan’s Leftover Notes:

  • Starts with an overture. This wasn’t common anymore in 1961. It only lasts 80 seconds.
  • Opens with a montage of normal everyday things: steel mill, traffic, showgirls, ship launching. Life is proceeding as usual. (Showgirls are “normal”? Do you live in Vegas? –Jimmy)
  • Acknowledges World War II. Rebuilt city. Didn’t think it would burn down again.
  • Random American takes kids’ photo.
  • Alliance (USSR) and Federation (NATO). Stand-ins. Much like Rolisica and New Kirk City in Mothra, though more obvious. (Makes me wonder which one Rolisica would join. I could go either way. – Jimmy)
  • America is mentioned. Stocks.
  • Radio reports of tensions rising between Alliance and Federation. Meanwhile, the family goes about its business. They’re charming and happy.
  • If this was a different movie, the flash in the sky would be an alien ship. (If I had a dollar for every time I confused an ICBM for an alien spaceship, I could buy the Gohten! –Jimmy)
  • The husband says he worked hard and saved after the war to build his “castle” (i.e. middle class lifestyle). This was becoming more common at the time in Japan. Economic Miracle.
  • The daughter, Saeko, says she will find her own happiness. Counter. Fell in love before getting married. Takarada wants to make her happy despite not being rich. Parents more like older generation. Traditional. Oh, wait. Parents weren’t so traditional, actually.
  • The dad says the intelligent people of the world don’t mean much if they don’t care about the “little people.” He can’t believe the gods wouldn’t care.
  • In Japan, children throw balls at spherical piñatas? (Yep. I had one for my ninth birthday while living in Japan as a kid. –Jimmy)
  • There are a lot of families and children in this film.
  • Takarada says the world seems to be at “peace.” Polite way of saying it.
  • 38th line = 38th parallel? Yes. Korea.
  • The Japanese government urges both sides to have 2nd and third meetings after Africa summit dissolves to maintain peace and refrain from nukes. PM is said to have kidney problems.
  • Sakai’s friend says only people with money can relax at this time. He says only a moron would relax. Anyone who knows the alternative (nuclear war, I assume) must work hard for peace.
  • Hard work is venerated in this film. (As it should be. –Jimmy)
  • A black man in a Toho film! Rare sight!
  • The scene where the Federation officer muses about peaceful coexistence is interrupted by an almost comical sign that says, “The Outbreak of War.” He then says, “God, forgive me,” and presses the button. No order was given to fire. He panicked. It’s barely stopped. Short circuit. (Undermined a bit by the acting). (And people say David Perin’s crying was terrible. Just sayin’. –Jimmy)
  • Sometimes the English spoken by Japanese bit actors is hard to understand.
  • Soldiers’ bodies are shown burnt to ashes and blowing in the wind. Small nuke.
  • PM pushes through health issues (hard work).
  • The classroom has a banner with the flags of many nations hung up on doorway.
  • Alliance forces speak English, too. Hmm.
  • Alliance missile base nearly fires nuke because of damage from an avalanche. Alliance officers’ uniforms stained with sweat as they work on warhead. Shows fragility of situation. The soldiers in these bases at the very least don’t want war.
  • News of a ceasefire on 38th parallel comes in. Japanese officials mention a Federation officer confused a meteor for a missile and nearly launched. (If I had a dollar for every time this happened, too…. –Jimmy)
  • Both sides have nukes mounted on fighter planes?! Geez! (Did you forget about the scene in Independence Day where they fired nukes at the alien ship from a stealth bomber? That was in the ‘90s, but it shows it’s possible. It’s still a horrifying thought, though. –Jimmy)
  • Seako and Takarada speak often of how a war would ruin their lives together. The big decisions made by leaders trickle down to the common people and disrupt their lives.
  • PM still believes the world can be saved. Issues statement for peace that is broadcast constantly.
  • We get a traditional crowd fleeing scene like in a kaiju film, but this time they’re trying to flee a war.
  • Suzue’s mother promises nothing will happen to her. Is she lying to protect her daughter? Does she believe that?
  • There’s a shot that pans down from a painting of a crucified Christ to the famous “Scream” to a street filled with decimated cars and debris. Cuckoo clock rings. “Time’s up”? (“The Scream” is an 1893 painting by Edvard Munch. –Jimmy)
  • Teacher reads a story to children about two goats who meet on bridge wanting to cross but refusing to move. They butt heads and almost fall off bridge. One finally says he will duck down and let the other one jump over him. They reach a peaceful agreement. Parallels world politics except neither side is willing to compromise. (Is this a sequel to “The Three Billy Goats Gruff”? –Jimmy)
  • I love the kanji of what Saeko and Takarada talking to each other over Morse code. It’s beautiful.
  • Sakai’s family prepares a fancy meal like it’s New Year’s Day. They didn’t run. Last meal? Kids can eat all they want. They listen to radio reports about what’s happening. Sakai wonders if he was a bad father working a lot. His wife says no.
  • The tulips haven’t sprouted and Saeko says they will survive underground and bloom after they die. Sakai won’t accept that. Idealist to the end. He rails against powers he can’t control and decisions he can’t influence. Powerlessness.
  • The characters all sit around at the end waiting for death.
  • Interestingly, the Diet is the first thing we see be destroyed. (This seems to be a thing in Toho films. It happened in Godzilla 1954, too. –Jimmy)
  • In the end, Takarada’s captain decides they will return to the devastated Tokyo. The attendant muses that humans are a unique irony. They will die with their people.

This is a film whose message is still relevant, especially with everything that’s happening right now. I may not be in America currently, but I see what’s going on. We need more compassion and understanding than ever.

That’s all I have to say on the matter for now.

Anyway, join us next week for part two of “The Summer of Mothra” when Bex from Redeemed Otaku returns for Rebirth of Mothra II. Then Jack “GMan” Hudgens joins us to discuss Gorath later this month.

Follow me on Twitter: @NasaJimmy

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#WeShallOvercome

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Episode 17: ‘The Last War’ (Mini-Analysis)

Published May 27, 2020

Hello, kaiju lovers!

Except today’s episode isn’t about giant monsters. Heck, it’s barely about tokusatsu. Nathan is analyzing the criminally underseen 1961 antiwar drama The Last War. While most of the creative team behind the camera aren’t the ones usually followed by kaiju/toku fans, there are several familiar faces in front of the camera: Frankie Sakai (Mothra), Yuriko Hoshi (Mothra vs. Godzilla, etc.), and Akira Takarada (too many to list). This film depicts a middle class Japanese family navigating everyday life interspersed with Japanese government officials and foreign soldiers trying to avoid World War III. It is a perfect snapshot of the Japanese national spirit at that moment in time and, Nathan argues, is the precursor to 1984’s The Return of Godzilla. As part of his analysis, Nathan reads the Bible passage quoted in the film (plus the following two verses that would’ve offered some hope) and a John Bradley poem that would’ve been perfect for the end of the film.

All this plus Nathan opens the mailbag to answer some listener feedback!

This is meant to supplement this episode of Kaijuvision Radio, which featured the fantastic Danny DiManna: Episode 43: The Last War (1961) (NATO) (The North Atlantic Treaty Organization).

I’d like to give a shout-out to our Patreon patrons Travis Alexander (host of Kaiju Weekly), Danny DiManna, and elizilla13! Thanks for your support!

Read Jimmy’s Notes on this episode.

Please donate to David Marshall and his family on GoFundMe.

Podcast Social Media:
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Jimmy’s Notes on ‘Episode 16: Bex vs. Rebirth of Mothra’

Published May 20, 2020

Now that I’ve recovered from my embarrassment of flirting with a happily married woman, I’ve collected my notes and Nathan’s assigned research mini-projects for our latest episode. Let’s get into it.

  • Tomoyuki Tanaka started producing films for Toho in 1945. His first was Three Women of the North.
  • Yell at you, Nathan, for mispronouncing a tiny robot dragon’s name? Nah.
  • It’s “Enter the Fist,” not, “Legend of the Fist,” Bex. (Even writing that sentence makes my eye twitch!)
  • The name of this film’s director is Okihiro Yoneda.
  • I should’ve reminded you it was a bulldozer, Nathan. Oops.
  • You want me to rant on Twitter about you boring me with your many theories about everything on the Island? Nah. I have better things to do with my Twitter. Like retweet stuff for Space Force.
  • It’s Yakushima, not Yukushima, Bex.
  • What? If Mothra’s powder can be an artificial sweetener, why can’t her webbing be used to season popcorn? It only makes sense. That’s what Dr. Chujo told me.
  • There were two Mothra props built for this film: one for close-ups and one for action shots. There were two Mothra Leo larva props (one of which was repurposed for GMK) and two for his Imago form. There was one Desghidorah suit and a flying prop near as I can tell.
  • The Godzilla film with a silhouette against the sun is Godzilla vs. Hedorah. Nathan neglected to mention for some reason.
  • Both of you call the Elias “twins” when they aren’t. Heck, Nathan even points out they aren’t twins! Consistency, man!

Nathan’s Leftover Notes – The Film

  • Mothra…appears right off the bat. Glitter and sparkles!
  • Title actually appears in English with her glyph as the O.
  • Within four minutes we see the Elias (fairies). They say, “Goodbye!” together, too.
  • Sadly, these are dubtitles.
  • The seal looks like Mothra’s glyph.
  • Classic wing problem. They don’t flap enough.
  • The beam attacks (for Fairy and Garugaru) sound like gunshots sometimes.
  • How’d Belvera tie up the Mom? (Magic. –Jimmy)
  • How does Belvera stay on Garugaru with how much he crashes? (Glue? Velcro? Static cling? –Jimmy)
  • They try to use a kite to fly the Elias to Belvera. Definitely child logic.
  • Did they need the seal to cure Fairy? (The answer is apparently, “Yes.” –Jimmy)
  • I gotta say: Desghidorah looks great. His emergence from the mountain is particularly good. He sounds like an angry elephant, though.
  • There was a line that didn’t get subtitled. No dub? Belvera ordering Garugaru.
  • Mothra has a Canary Cry? (What superpower doesn’t she have at this point? –Jimmy)
  • Now Mothra is in full-tilt mama bear mode!
  • Why didn’t you whip out the laser cannon the first time?!
  • There’s an image you don’t see every day: Mothra carrying the larva in flight.
  • Check out the OG cell phones. (I think I still have mine…. –Jimmy)
  • As usual, Mothra’s cocoon looks like a peanut. Selecting a cedar tree is significant because it is connected with Shinto and used as backdrops for No theatre. National identity, traditional values, and conversation.
  • I’m not sure Taiki’s bee stings and snake bites analogy is applicable here.
  • Belvera, I don’t think “mutated” is the right word.
  • What?! Post-credit?! Oh. No. What a tease. (This isn’t a Marvel movie, Nathan. Or a Masaaki Tezuka Godzilla film. –Jimmy)
  • The child characters have insights into a kind of “magic of nature.” They show the world through their eyes, and it shows the audience what the “post-bubble family life” is like. (Rhodes and McCorkle)

Nathan’s Leftover Notes – Toku Topic: Deforestation in Japan

  • “The situation started to change around 1570. By then, Japan’s population had increased to ten million people, and villagers’ needs for subsistence forest products had increased correspondingly. Large-scale military conflict during the 1500s required large quantities of timber for the armies. With the advent of the Tokugawa shogunate and peace, followed by rapid growth of cities and monumental construction projects for castles, temples, and shrines, logging increased during 1600s to a scale never before experienced in Japan. Conflict between villagers and rulers over the use of forest lands – subsistence products for the villagers vs. timber for the rulers – became more intense. By 1670 the population had increased to nearly thirty million, and with the exception of Hokkaido, the old growth forests had been completely logged. The supply of timber and other forest products was running out. Soil erosion, floods, landslides, and barren lands (genya) were becoming ever more common. Japan was headed for ecological disaster.” (Marten)
  • A “positive tip” came in 1670: “the central role of catalytic actions and mutually reinforcing positive feedback loops, local community, outside stimulation and facilitation, letting nature and natural social processes do the work, demonstration effects, social/ecological coadaptation, and using social/ecological diversity and memory as resources. It is difficult to single out the initial tipping point with certainty, but it seems to have derived from the centuries-old tradition of cooperation among villagers for protection against bandits, allotting rice fields and irrigation water, and storing rice. Until then, village cooperation had not extended to forest management, but villages started responding to the forest crisis by refining the management of satoyama secondary forests for subsistence needs (McKean 1982, 1986), and for the first time, planting sugi and hinoki plantations to help satisfy timber demands of the rulers.” (Marten)
  • Something that helped was the development of silviculture technology, which better managed the tree populations. “Itinerant scholars wrote silviculture manuals, and silviculture “missionaries” traveled around the country, spreading the new technology from village to village. The creation of managed tree plantations stimulated new social institutions for the ruling elite and villagers to cooperate on timber production in a way that provided villagers incentives to produce timber: yamawari (dividing use rights of village forest land among families), nenkiyama (long term leases of forest land to villagers by the government), and buwakibayashi (villagers producing timber on government land and sharing the harvest with the government).” (Marten)
  • People in the lumber industry called this the “buna massacre.” Artificial forests that once accounted for only 27% of Japan’s total forest land grew to over 44% by 1985. An estimated 17 million buna trees were cut down.
  • “Japan’s switch to imported wood, fossil-fuel energy, and chemical fertilizers for agriculture, in full swing by the 1980s, eliminated the demand for forest products from satoyama secondary forest and greatly reduced the demand for sugi and hinoki.” (Marten)
  • Other countries have had the same problems planting one or two species of trees: China, Brazil, Pakistan.
  • “It is using LIDAR (light detection and ranging) to map forestland and determine where to harvest trees, where to preserve landscapes and where to build resilience against landslides and runoff.” (Coca)
  • “Most of the cultivated pasture land (in Hokkaido) was abandoned and returned to the Japanese government from 1966-1977, as climate conditions in the area were not conducive to good crop yield. The shift from old growth forest to pasture left large areas of reduced soil fertility that trees were unable to recolonize. Due to a lack of a seed bank and competition with dwarf bamboo, human involvement was necessary to reforest the area. From 1978-2005 native trees with high growth rates were planted in plantations. It was mostly conifers that were planted in the area, but it has aided in the recovery of a conifer-broadleaf mixed forest.” (Wikipedia)

Dangit, Nathan, I’m an engineer, not an ecologist! Even as a man of science this was a bit of a slog to get through. No offense to ecologists, though. We have a few here on the Island studying the local plant life, and they’re good people. Although, they do have a weird fascination with Biollante.

Join us next week when Nathan discusses a very different film: The Last War (1961). Until next time, stay safe and stay healthy!

Follow me on Twitter: @NasaJimmy

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#WeShallOvercome

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Nathan’s Notes on ‘Episode 13: The Three Treasures (Mini-Analysis)’

Published April 1, 2020

I thought the number 13 being unlucky was just a superstition.

Until now.

Much like Yamato Takeru from The Three Treasures, I’ve been beset by misfortune after posting episode 13 of the podcast. During my livestream of Override: Mech City Brawl, Jimmy From NASA started a betting pool with the Island’s Board of Directors, the science team, and pretty much everyone else who worked here. It was based on my performance in the game—and he bet against me. And I played the game on hard mode. Jimmy made out like a bandit. He even cleaned out the Board. So much so, he used that money to buy Metageckon (the mech I used in the game) on eBay. That’s not the unfortunate part. He used his newfound leverage with the Board to make himself the host of MIFV! Now I’m his producer. This means I have to do the follow-up blog to last week’s episode on The Three Treasures and every episode after this.Jimmy was kind enough to give me his notes from the episode, which wasn’t much, so this blog will be relatively short. That’s probably good since the blog on episode 12 was as long as Peter Jackson’s King Kong!

Here’s all that Jimmy had on the episode:

  • There is some debate over whether Toshiro Mifune was a Christian. This Wikipedia discussion board questions it because he has a traditional Buddhist gravestone. He was the son of Japanese Christian missionaries who worked in China, and he had a traditional Methodist wedding, though. This Reddit thread (so take it with a grain of salt) says there was a rumor that he was part of something called the “Ikeda cult,” but that just seems to be the cult trying to claim a celebrity as a member to find legitimacy. (The post references the potentially inaccurate Wikipedia article, mind you).
  • What? I was tired from working in my garage all day! Of course I’d fall asleep watching a three-hour movie! I’m a busy man.
  • Nathan mispronounced the name of the eight-headed dragoon. It’s “Yamata no Orochi” not “Yamato.” I don’t think the dragon is part of the royal family. (But I could be speaking in ignorance. Weirder things have happened. I should know. I lived them).

My Leftover Notes from Watching the Film:

  • Credits over an eclipsed sun? “Land of the rising sun”?
  • “In the beginning…” Opening narration sounds biblical and mythical. Old woman.
  • These village scenes are reminding me of The Ten Commandments with the enslaved Israelites.
  • “Old stories are full of beautiful life.” -Old woman storyteller
  • The set design is incredible. Very DeMille.
  • A lot of court drama and intrigue.
  • Are the prince and Otomachibana meant to parallel the god and goddess from the beginning?
  • Day for night scene at river!
  • Torii gate is entrance to temple grounds. Like Hebrew temple or tabernacle.
  • This is a response to another numbered religious epic: The Ten Commandments ~ The Three Treasures.
  • Is that Hirata? I almost don’t recognize him.
  • Those fire effects were a little awkward.
  • A woman be stoned for loving a man from a different clan. Very ancient.
  • These people look Mongolian?
  • Kumaso (Takashi Shimura) is undone by his lust. Even checked for a man before this.
  • Kumaso tells the prince to kill him. He hesitates, then takes the prince’s sword and slits his own throat. Seppouku?
  • There are flashbacks to the gods as told by an old woman storyteller. Oral tradition.
  • What do they mean by “nag”?
  • I thought the prince and the gods would interact.
  • Criterion should release this.
  • “Laugh festival”? “Festival of laughter”?
  • While this festival seems like revelry, it is meant to bring the sun goddess (and light) back to the world.
  • The rooster’s crow when light and the goddess return.
  • Is there an intermission? Was it removed?
  • Yes. These myths are meant to parallel the prince. Susan-o = the prince. Susan-o’s tears drained all the world’s water. The prince’s mother says he must not be like him.
  • The flashbacks/stories increase as the film progresses.
  • “Orochi” just gets translated as “dragon.”
  • Last daughter transformed by Susan-o into hair braid for safety.
  • Orochi’s approach blows out torch. Nice!
  • Proto-Ghidorah! The heads do kinda flop around. They just appear to be heads. No body. In water. The glowing eyes are cool. Looks better fighting Susan-o. Nevermind. It has a body. He must have a magic sword or its heart or brain in in its tail. He pulls a sword from the dragon, which is now used to defend Japan. The prince now has it.
  • Just as Susan-o became a hero, so does the prince.
  • Mt. Fuji is active in this. Village elder says it protects them. The prince says the smoke reminds him of the evil in men’s hearts.
  • The location scenes are gorgeous.
  • Spectacular fire scene where the prince uses the flint from the bag given him as a gift to change the wind.
  • The smoke from Mt. Fuji turns red. Passion? Rage?
  • Like Susan-o, the prince is unloved by his father.
  • Yamato is a region.
  • A storm happens when the prince decides to return as a plebian to marry Otomochibani against his father’s orders. Wrath of the gods? Otomochibani says it is her fault for breaking her vow and angering the sea god. She throws herself overboard to placate him. Reminds me of Jonah and the big fish. A green light appears in the sea after she jumps. Her kimono floats up. The storm clears. Taken by the gods? “The princess has become my sacrifice.” Most supernatural thing that’s happened in the “present.”
  • This ambush is the film’s big climax. It’s spectacular. Nobody makes movies like this anymore. It isn’t quite Ten Commandments huge, but it’s still great. Cuts between on location shooting and sets.
  • The prince is killed and his soul rises in the form of a white crane. Mt. Fuji erupts. Even in death he is victorious. His wrath is poured out on his enemies. Symbolizes Japan. This was foreshadowed earlier. The effects for this are great. The compositing and everything. This is also like The Ten Commandments when the unrighteous Israelites are swallowed by the earth. And now he uses water from a lake to cause a flood and drown other enemies.
  • Oh, man…death by lava. Horrible.
  • I’m pretty sure lava is more viscous than that, but we’ll go with it.
  • The crane flies toward a rainbow, symbolizing how the prince enters the realm of the gods. The people follow the bird.

Yamato Takeru

  • In the original legends, Otomachibana was his wife and not a fiancé, but she did sacrifice herself to placate the sea god. Her comb washed ashore seven days later, and her tomb was built around it. He did later marry Miyazu.

I didn’t take notes from all my sources, so I recommend referencing my bibliography for the episode if you want to learn more. (I’m gonna miss writing those).

Time to settle into my new job on Monster Island, I guess.

Follow me on Twitter: @NathanMarchand7

My author website: www.NathanJSMarchand.com.

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