Nate survived another harrowing year on Monster Island, and now it’s time to renegotiate his contract. But he’s shocked to learn that, while he was sleeping, the Island’s security systems failed, allowing multiple kaiju to escape back to their home countries. Even with the Legal Action Team on his case, Nate and Jimmy can’t avoid having the Board mandate that they spend a year chasing down these monsters in Uber-Moguera and return them to the Island. Indignant and obsessive, Nate goes to confront the Island’s “zookeeper,” whom he suspects is on the Board’s payroll—and things don’t go how he expected.
We’d like to give a shout-out to our MIFV MAX patrons Danny DiManna (author/creator of the Godzilla Novelization Project); executive producer Damon Noyes, The Cel Cast, TofuFury, Eric Anderson of Nerd Chapel, Ted Williams, Wynja the Ninja, Brad “Batman” Eddleman, Christopher Riner, The Indiscrite One, Eli Harris, Bex from Redeemed Otaku; Jake Hambrick, Edwin Gonzalez, Matt Walsh (but not that Matt Walsh), and Jonathan Courtright! Thanks for your support!
Merry Christmas, Kaiju Lovers! As our special gift to you, we proudly present an edition of the interviews Nate conducted at the Monster Island premiere of Godzilla Minus One at the Denham Theater. Because the interviewees he left out threatened to sue him, and Raymund advised him to just put them in. These were totally-chosen-at-random fans standing in line to see the film. He meets everyone from lawyers to mad scientists to Russian robot comedians (oh my!). It’s later than December 1 as originally promised, but the Board has kept Nate busy!
Guest Cast
Damon Noyes as Raymund Martin, Gary Steward, Kevin Gomora, and Russ-Bot
Daniel DiManna as Dr. Dante Dourif
Michael Hamilton as William H. George III
Sarah Marchand as Jessica Shaw
Olivia Reed as Bonnie Lass
Written by Nathan Marchand.
Sound effects sourced from Freesound.org, including those by Jay_shams.
We’d like to give a shout-out to our MIFV MAX patrons Travis Alexander; Danny DiManna (author/creator of the Godzilla Novelization Project); Damon Noyes, The Cel Cast, TofuFury, Eric Anderson of Nerd Chapel, Ted Williams, Wynja the Ninja, Brad “Batman” Eddleman, Christopher Riner, The Indiscrite One, Jake Hambrick, Edwin Gonzalez, Matt Walsh (but not that Matt Walsh), and Jonathan Courtright! Thanks for your support!
Hello, kaiju lovers! Our subseries “Godzilla Redux” continues with what some call Toho screenwriter Shinichi Sekizawa’s masterpiece: Mothra (1961). Becky “Bex” Smith of the RedeemedOtaku podcast joins Nate to discuss this film—because apparently Nate can’t talk about a Mothra film without her. While Bex seems weirdly obsesses over the genus names of insects, Nate regales her with kaiju-sized info bombs related to the making of the film, the historical backdrop against which it was made (controversial treaty renewals with the U.S.), and the often crazy interpretations academics and critics have of the film (blackface, anyone?). That’s just some of what you’ll learn about this kaiju classic!
Beforehand, Nate meets with his pseudo-sister, the semi-secret magical girl Jessica, who’s just been promoted to director of tourism on the Island. They discuss her new job and awkwardly talk about her seeming crush on Legal Action Team paralegal, Gary. After the broadcast, though, Nate and company discover “Bex” isn’t who she appears to be—and Crystal Lady has to get involved.
This episode’s prologue and epilogue, “Bexy a Traitor?! The Church of Mothrianity Attacks!”, was written by Nathan Marchand with Becky Smith and Daniel DiManna.
Guest stars:
Sarah Marchand as Jessica Shaw/Crystal Lady
Becky Smith as Peppermoth
Daniel DiManna as “Old Janitor”
Damon Noyes as Motte-Priester Herzog Jerry Nachtfalter
Barr, Jason. The Kaiju Film: A Critical Study of Cinema’s Biggest Monsters.
Commentary on Mothra by Steve Ryfle and Ed Godziszewski (Mill Creek blu-ray).
Galbraith, Stuart IV. Japanese Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films: A Critical Analysis and Filmography of 103 Features Released in the United States 1950-1992.
Hello, kaiju lovers! With this episode, we reach the end of the “Year of Gamera.” Depending on who you talk to (like Nate), it’s a bittersweet occasion because, on one hand, many bad movies were endured, but on the other hand, today’s subject is 2006’s Gamera the Brave. Becky “Bex” Smith from the Redeemed Otaku podcast and YouTube channel joins Nate to discuss what is, as of now, the last Gamera film. It is sadly overshadowed by everything that came before it. It’s a shame because this is a Showa Gamera movie—except good! Think of it as a Gamera film made by Pixar. So, it’s emotionally honest and will make you cry. Even Nate had to summon all of his manly discipline to keep control. Bex, on the other hand, did not. The Toku Topic, since much of the movie takes place at a restaurant, is Japanese ramen culture.
Before the broadcast, Nate was…graced with the return of his pseudo-sister, Jessica. Unfortunately, he didn’t appreciate her bone-crunching glomp and told her off. That got him a lecture from Jessica’s bestie, Bex. Afterward, Nate is all but forced to indulge Jessica and let her sing a karaoke of a popular anime theme song. You can probably guess which one.
We’d like to give a shout-out to our MIFV MAX 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); Bex from Redeemed Otaku; Damon Noyes, The Cel Cast, TofuFury, Elijah Thomas, and Eric Anderson! Thanks for your support!
You, too, can join MIFV MAX on Patreon to get this and other perks starting at only $3 a month!
A chapter closes on today’s episode as Nate concludes his “mini-sode” series on the Toho classics he missed out on in his previous podcast life. This week he discusses the almost-forgotten hard sci-fi tokusatsu film from 1984, Sayonara Jupiter (aka Bye Bye Jupiter). It was something of a transitional film for Toho since its cast and crew included players from both the Showa and Heisei eras, including Akihiko Hirata (in his final role), Sakyo Komatsu (author of Submersion of Japan), Koichi Kawakita (FX director for the Heisei Godzilla series), and Koji Hashimoto (director of Return of Godzilla/Godzilla 1985). Unfortunately, the Hollywood-caliber special effects can’t save it from an overstuffed script that has a Jupiter Solarization Project, an eco-cult/terrorist group, and Nazca lines on Mars, among other things. If the film is known for anything, though, it’s the (in)famous zero gravity sex scene (which may or may not be intrepid producer Jimmy From NASA’s favorite part). Yep.
After Nate gets into all of this, he reads some listener feedback in the form of three new Apple Podcasts reviews and then gets a visit from Monster Island’s security chief, Captain Douglas Gordon, who brings along a famous friend he says is upset with Nate. This leads to an important announcement about MIFV’s next episode series.
After the credits, Nate and Jimmy are visited by Jessica, still fresh off of her exploits as magical girl superheroine Crystal Lady. She’s been given some, shall we say, “special” earrings by the nefarious Monster Island Board of Directors. Let’s just say Nate and Jess butt heads more than usual because of them.
Guest stars:
Sarah Marchand as Jessica Shaw
Epilogue Parts 1-2 (“Introducing Godzilla Redux” and “Influencers”) written by Nathan Marchand.
Follow Jimmy on Twitter: @NasaJimmy Follow the Monster Island Board of Directors on Twitter: @MonsterIslaBOD Follow the Raymund Martin and the MIFV Legal Team on Twitter: @MIFV_LegalTeam Follow Crystal Lady Jessica on Twitter: @CystalLadyJes1
We’ve reached the point where the “Year of Gamera” gets even goofier—and where Nate begins to miss seeing the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes even more. He’s joined by returning guest, Earth Destruction Directive host Luke Jaconetti, and newcomer/MSTie Greg Meyer to discuss Gamera vs. Guiron. The “Kennys” get more precocious and useless (Tom is dead inside). The monsters get more outlandish (Guiron is Knifehead, anyone?). And the villains get … shapely jumpsuits? Listen as Nate, Luke, and Greg connect this movie to Chronicles of Narnia and Barbarella, among other things, and muse about their favorite riffs from the MST3K episode. Nate’s descent into madness continues.
The Toku Topic is the First Traffic War in Japan. It may sound like a forgotten Transformers storyline, but it’s actually a time period when car accidents increased dramatically in the Land of the Rising Sun. Hence why Akio is obsessed with making a world “without wars or traffic accidents” in this movie.
Beforehand, Nate is visited by Jessica Shaw, his pseudo-sister clone, and she tells him she’s bringing Luke and Greg with her first tour group, who will then watch their live broadcast. Then afterward, the infamous Terran spacewomen, Flobella and Barbella, come to Earth to kidnap Gamera—but not if Monster Island’s own magical girl superheroine, Crystal Lady (aka Jessica), has anything to say about it!
Follow Jimmy on Twitter: @NasaJimmy Follow the Monster Island Board of Directors on Twitter: @MonsterIslaBOD Follow the Raymund Martin and the MIFV Legal Team on Twitter: @MIFV_LegalTeam Follow Crystal Lady Jessica on Twitter: @CystalLadyJes1
Flower, James. “A Guide to English Language Gamera” (Arrow Video Gamera: The Complete Collection).
Galbraith IV, Stuart. Japanese Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films: A Critical Analysis and Filmography of 103 Features Released in the United States 1950-1992.
Gamera: The Complete Collection, Disc Three Special Features.
Gamera vs. Guiron Commentary by David Kalat (Arrow Video’s Gamera: The Complete Collection).
Hayahawa, Hiroshi; Fischbeck, Paul S.; Fischhoff. “Traffic accident statistics and risk perceptions in Japan and the United States.” Accident Analysis and Prevention, no. 32 2000, p. 827–835
LeMay, John. The Big Book of Japanese Giant Monster Movies Volume 1: 1954-1982.
Macias, Patrick. “A History of Gamera: Gamera vs. Guiron” (Arrow Video’s Gamera: The Complete Collection).
Milner, David. “Interview with Noriaki Yuasa” (Arrow Video’s Gamera: The Complete Collection).
Oguchi, Takashi. “Achieving safe road traffic — the experience in Japan.” IATSS Research, no. 39, 2016, p. 110–116.
Nate is joined by podcaster/YouTuber/filmmaker Adam Noyes to cover something a bit different this week: the original 1973 tokusatsu disaster film Submersion of Japan (aka Japan Sinks). Think of it as a kaiju film without a kaiju. It’s based a novel by Sakyo Komatsu, who Adam describes as “the Japanese Michael Crichton.” The novel was a blockbuster, and this film was an even bigger hit. You can tell this was what Toho invested most of their money into and not Godzilla vs. Megalon that year. Adam and Nate discuss the film’s better-than-Hollywood special effects, the horribly truncated and re-edited U.S. version called Tidal Wave made by Roger Corman, and the film’s wrestling with Japanese national identity, among other things.
Also, Nate’s “pseudo-sister” magical girl superheroine clone, Jessica, meets him just before the broadcast to let him know she just moved back to Monster Island. He’s…overjoyed.
Follow Jimmy on Twitter: @NasaJimmy Follow the Monster Island Board of Directors on Twitter: @MonsterIslaBOD Follow the Raymund Martin on Twitter: @MIFV_LegalTeam
Galbraith, Stuart IV. Japanese Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films: A Critical Analysis and Filmography of 103 Features Released in the United States 1950-1992
Galbraith, Stuart, IV (2008). The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography
