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Tag: Mothra

Episode 37 – ‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters’ (2019) (feat. The Omni Viewer and Up From the Depths)

Hello, kaiju lovers!

After the Serpentera Mk. 1 flies by, Nate is joined by his two most popular guests yet: Ryan “The Omni Viewer” Collins and Brandon “Up From the Depths” Jacobs. These two YouTubers were invited to the Island because they’ve produced several insightful and, above all, positive videos on 2019’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters. While Legendary’s much-hyped kaiju epic was loved my audiences and hated by critics, it’s lately become popular in the Godzilla/kaiju fandom to hate on it. Nate, Ryan, and Brandon discuss how there is more going on below the surface in what many decry was an empty summer blockbuster. You’ll hear them debunk its “nuclear narrative,” discuss its spiritual depth (“Godzilla, messiah of the monsters,” anyone?), and hear how the eco-terrorists aren’t as farfetched as you might think. Meanwhile, Ryan’s sidekick, Snazzy, joins MIFV’s intrepid producer, Jimmy From NASA, and Jet Jaguar in the crowded “sidekick central,” er, producer booth. Snazzy keeps pushing random buttons. Hilarity ensues.

(Don’t tell the Monster Island Board of Directors that we went over their mandated time limit!)

Music:
-“Here We Go” by Chris Classic

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; and Damon Noyes! Thanks for your support!

You, too, can join MIFV MAX on Patreon to get this and other perks starting at only $3 a month!

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

Timestamps:
Prologue: 0:00-1:16
Film Discussion: 1:16-1:13:19
Outro and Credits: 1:13:19-end

Podcast Social Media:
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Follow Jimmy on Twitter: @NasaJimmy
Follow the Monster Island Board of Directors on Twitter: @MonsterIslaBOD
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Follow Crystal Lady Jessica on Twitter: @CystalLadyJes1

www.MonsterIslandFilmVault.com

#JimmyFromNASALives       #MonsterIslandFilmVault

© 2021 Moonlighting Ninjas Media

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Bonus Episode #5: First Anniversary Special

Hello, kaiju lovers!

Today’s special bonus episode is long, but can you blame us? It’s for MIFV’s first anniversary! Nathan makes a rare OOC (out of character) appearance and is joined by Patron and former guest Danny DiManna, author/creator of the Godzilla Novelization Project, to party like 2020 is finally over. In the first half, they present a “George Lucas extended version” of their Kaiju Con-Line presentation, which was titled “The Original MCU: Connecting Showa Era Continuity.” Essentially, they weave 26 of Toho’s tokusatsu movies (and one TV series) into a Marvel-style shared universe. Then for the second half, they play, read, and discuss feedback from listeners who shared their favorite episodes and moments from the podcast’s first year—including two messages from the other side of the fourth wall! Two words: multiversal madness! This is followed by several big announcements, including the theme for season two of MIFV coming in 2021. You don’t want to miss it!

Here’s a link to comedy of errors that was Nathan and Danny’s Kaiju Con-Line presentation.

Here’s a link to “Meister Titano,” the unofficial future of the Showaverse.

Features the song “10 Minutes of Hypothermia” by Metal Man. Download the album from Overclocked Remix.

Please support the show on Patreon!

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#JimmyFromNASALives       #MonsterIslandFilmVault

© 2020 Moonlighting Ninjas Media

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Jimmy’s Notes on ‘Episode 20: Bex vs. Rebirth of Mothra III’

I’m not a religious man—which may sound strange given that I work on an Island with a giant moth goddess—but even I was concerned about Bex after her sudden conversion to “Mothrianity.” Honestly, I was happy to see the good Reverend Mifune bring her to senses and Christianity by breaking Belvera’s influence on her. It was not unlike what Shota did for Lora in Rebirth of Mothra III.

Now if only Marchand will let me live down the whole female clone and teleporter business. It wasn’t my fault!

The things I put up with.

I kid (for the most part…).

Let’s get into my notes from the episode:

  • Nathan and Bex never talked about Moll speaking in tongues to Mothra Leo. They discussed it briefly before the broadcast, so I’m surprised they didn’t bring it up given their religious backgrounds.
  • So, back when I was a kid and growing up in japan for a bit, my best friend, Masao, fell into a deep depression after our scout master wouldn’t give him a monster rustler badge after we helped a certain famous kaiju defeat a certain space squid. He said it was discipline for “stealing” a yellow submarine. I was a Beatles fan, what can I say?
  • I preferred Kilik myself in the Soul Caliber games. It drives Nathan crazy. Every time I poke his Siegfried to death, he keeps singing, “Kilik is cheap! Kilik is cheap!”
  • Dinosaurs were wiped out twice. Or is it the “Power of the Retcon” again? It may have—according to Nathan—saved my life in the War in Space, but it’s scarier than the Infinity Gauntlet at this point. 😛
  • As for my T-Rex and triceratops story, the long and short of it is it happened, I confess, while I was field testing the ORCA on Skull Island. That’s all.
  • Gravity manipulation explains how Ghidorah can fly with one wing, but then why would be need wings at all? #sciencequestions
  • It makes Mothra Leo 130,000,002 years old, Nathan! Duh!
  • I anticipated Bex going from NEET to hikikimori. Miki’s powers might be rubbing off on me.
  • Nathan didn’t make it clear that the Tower of Waves novel (which has several different title translations, as you’ll see in his notes) ended in Aokigahara.
  • Sometimes I wonder, as unscientific as this sounds, if we have yurei wandering the jungles on the Island….
  • Nathan’s description of Sea of Trees is almost right. Both the American and the Japanese man intend to commit suicide there. IMDB summaries it like this: “A suicidal American befriends a Japanese man lost in a forest near Mt. Fuji and the two search for a way out.”

And now, as per my contractual obligations, her are Nathan’s leftover notes but with my snarky commentary:

Rebirth of Mothra III Notes:

  • This random dude is a Yankees fan. That’d make my alma mater’s b-ball coach happy. (Nathan told me he called Yankee Stadium “Mecca.” –Jimmy)
  • “Old Tanaka”? A nod to the producer?
  • Huh? Who’s the bust? Why are there lots of pictures of westerners in a Japanese classroom? (The increased westernization of Japan? –Jimmy)
  • No one is panicking on the street as Ghidorah flies over at 18:35 or so. (This is Japan. Kaiju attacks are as common as thunderstorms. –Jimmy)
  • Oh man! The sisters get sparkles this time! (And now so does your new “sister,” Nathan. 😛 –Jimmy)
  • Mothra leo appears 20 minutes in.
  • Some of these CGI effects—like the soccer ball hitting the membrane—look hokey.
  • The classic wing problem: they don’t flap enough.
  • Fairy shoots at Ghiddorah—and it does nothing.
  • Of course Lora betrays Moll—she’s played by a new actress. 😛 (A great man once said, “And I thought my jokes were bad.” –Jimmy)
  • Those CGI tentacles looked terrible.
  • This is starting to remind me of Gamera 3, and this was a year before it! (I don’t know if that’s too nice to this movie or too mean to Gamera 3. –Jimmy)
  • Oh no! Tiny grape Koolaide volcanos! (Sounds like my delicious science fair project. –Jimmy)
  • The set design for the dome is cool.
  • Hilariously, I think all three sisters wear go-go boots this time. (Do you have a thing for go-go boots, Nathan? This is the third episode you’ve mentioned them. 😛  –Jimmy)
  • Now the dome walls don’t dissolve things?
  • We still have 25 minutes to go, and thus feels like the end!
  • Moll dies—and becomes a Tron animation. (I’m sad this wasn’t said on the air. –Jimmy)
  • There’s a prehistoric Mothra. Because shut up.
  • Oh whoa! Belvera rides Fairy!
  • “Different opinions.” Yeah, on genocide, child murder, mind control. You know, small stuff. (You know, little things. –Jimmy)
  • It would’ve been cooler if the sister had to stab Moll with the sword to resurrect her. (That sounds a bit sadistic. –Jimmy)
  • Whoa. Did they actually have a bunch of child extras at the end or was it CGI?
  • These might be my favorite kids in the trilogy, but they do disappear for a bit in the middle.

Big Book 2 by John LeMay

  • There’s a photo of Tanaka in the parents’ house.

“Inside Japan’s ‘suicide forest’”

  • “More than 100 people who were not from the area surrounding Aokigahara committed suicide there between 2013 and 2015, according to a local government report. Countrywide, suicides totaled roughly 24,000 people in 2015 alone, according to the country’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. These numbers do not include attempted suicides.”
  • “One study found suicide death rates to be on the decline in many peer nations from 1985 to 2010, except in Japan and South Korea, where rates increased by 20% and 280%, respectively.”
  • “Other studies and government materials have cited a number of risk factors, including academic pressures, depression, overwork, financial struggles and unemployment.”
  • “Beyond that, there’s stigma around receiving mental health care, especially for men, and a greater tendency in Japan to view suicide as ‘a rational decision.’ One of the terms for suicide is ‘jiketsu,’ which means to decide for yourself.”

“Aokigahara Forest” (http://www.aokigaharaforest.com/)

  • “Because the landscape is so similar, the brain is distorted and it is difficult to keep direction at any time.”
  • “According to some Japanese spiritualists, the trees themselves soaked in themselves a malevolent energy accumulated over centuries.”

“What is Aokigahara? All About The Most Haunted Forest in Japan”

  • “It all started with a mystery novel called “Kuroi Jukai” (translated as Black Sea of Trees) by Seicho Matsumoto in 1960. The novel ends romantically with the lovers committing suicide in the forest, which revitalized the Suicide Forest’s popularity among those who wanted to end their life.”

I have to give it to Nathan: he got through most of his notes. Mind you, it was our second-longest episode yet, but listeners seem to like it. He does have a terrible habit of over-preparing, though.

Next week Nathan is solo—well, unless you count me heckling him—next week when he does a mini-analysis of 1963’s Matango, which was directed by Ishiro Honda. Then next month we start the “Daimajin Days” when Joe and Joy Metter return to see 1966’s Daimajin.

Also, I have some juicy super-secret inside information about Godzilla vs. Kong. 😉

Follow me on Twitter: @NasaJimmy

#JimmyFromNASALives
#WeShallOvercome

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Episode 20: Bex vs. ‘Rebirth of Mothra III’

Hello, kaiju lovers!

Twelve-centimeter girls, tiny robot dragons, and redemption—and we’re not talking about the movie!

After some shenanigans with Jimmy From NASA’s teleporter, Nathan and resident “Mothrian” Bex (Redeemed Otaku podcast) finish the “Summer of Mothra” with the surprisingly good Rebirth of Mothra III. Although, maybe they’re just riding high on Bex’s hyperbolic enthusiasm over this movie. But it isn’t hard to improve on the empty, fluffy whimsy of the second one. There’s a lot of meat (bubble) to chew on thematically. Not to mention it also features one of the best-looking King Ghidorahs ever, time travel, and dinosaur puppets. However, Bex gets so carried away with her newfound faith in Mothra, she gets a visit from Monster Island’s chaplain, Rev. Mifune! Uh-oh….

For the first time, we’re covering not one but two Toku Topics: the hikikimori and Aokigahara (Aoki Forest). The child hero, Shota, is likely a member of the former, and much of the movie is set in that infamous forest.

It’s an episode that spans the emotional gamut, that’s for sure!

BE SURE TO LISTEN UNTIL AFTER THE CREDITS!

Here are the Redeemed Otaku episodes Nathan (and his friend Eric Anderson) appeared on to discuss the Godzilla Anime Trilogy:

Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters
Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle
Godzilla: The Planet Eater

We’d like to give a shout-out to our Patreon patrons Travis Alexander (host of Kaiju Weekly), Danny DiManna (Godzilla Novelization Project), elizilla13, and Joejira! Thanks for your support! (And also to Michael “The Kaiju Groupie” Hamilton, who joined just before this episode was posted).

Read Jimmy’s Notes on this episode.

Timestamps:
Prologue: 0:00-2:20
Intro: 2:20-6:25
Entertaining Info Dump: 6:25-12:57
Toku Talk: 12:57-1:24:26
Promo: 1:24:26-1:25:16
Toku Topic: 1:25:16-2:10:53
Outro: 2:10:53-2:19:46
Epilogue: 2:19:46-end

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© 2020 Moonlighting Ninjas Media (and Becky “Bex” Smith)

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Jimmy’s Notes on ‘Episode 18: Bex vs. Rebirth of Mothra II’

I have to be honest, listeners—I didn’t see Bex’s conversion to Mothrianity coming. (Did she make that up, or is that a real religion? Do the Shobijin know?) I’m not a religious guy myself, but it still took me aback. I hope Bex is happy. It’s still weird, though.

What was I doing? Oh, yeah. Writing about…Rebirth of Mothra II. The deep valley between two short mountains, as Nathan said. Oh, man….

Let’s get my notes done first.

  • I sleep…sometimes. I mean, I was dead once (maybe? 😛 ), so I got plenty then.
  • The character from The Tick Nathan brought up was a hero, not a villain. He was the Living Doll, who was part of a team called the Decency Squad.
  • You can’t terminate me, Marchand—you haven’t the “fire” power! 😛
  • What? I flung a bug at my teacher because she was annoying. You know what that’s like, Nathan. We’ve had talks about your terrible kindergarten teacher.
  • Bex is right. Hikari Mitsushima (who played Shiori) is pretty.
  • The thorax is the midsection of an insect, Marchand. To quote Sherlock, “Do your research!”
  • Ghogo predates Furby by a year!
  • “Buzzkill”? Well, you just guaranteed that I won’t tell you.
  • NOAA stands for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
  • You meant to say “first,” not “second,” Nathan.
  • You meant to say, “Rebirth of Mothra II,” at the end, Nathan.
  • Gorath is a rogue star, not a planetoid, Nathan. I should’ve said that live, but I was in shock from Bex’s revelation.

And now, because I’m contractually obligated, here are Nathan’s leftover notes (plus my comments).

The Movie:

  • You killed Furby, you punk! And took his bling!
  • What?! What happened with the cat and cigarette?
  • Shiori uprooted a Furby.
  • Gorgo? Gorgo is a giant British lizard who’s looking for her son.
  • Dagahra appears about 24 minutes in.
  • “Eat at McDonald’s every day.” I bet that’s a product of the dubtitles. (Well, as you pointed out on Kaijuvision Radio, Nathan, McDonald’s broke into the Japanese market in the early ‘70s, so it’s possible. I saw it happen.  –Jimmy)
  • 27 minutes in, and we’ve already found the temple. Sheesh.
  • Wait, what?! How’d the kids get into the giant waterslide?
  • Okay, the temple rising out the water looks pretty cool. The water actually scales really well when that and fire usually have trouble with that.
  • Why is the fat kid so dumb he really walks off the ledge? (He’d never get picked as a Gamera kid. Not precocious enough. –Jimmy)
  • The two morons are on the temple? When did that happen?
  • I’m confused. Did Belvera want the treasure to conquer the world or just Dagahra? (Yes. –Jimmy)
  • The temple has lightning and lasers as a security system.
  • Dagahra can fly and swim? Because shut up.
  • Wait, now Dagahra can damage the temple? What happened to the security system?
  • Mothra Leo just won a game of chicken with Dagahra. (I played chicken with Dagahra once with the Gohten. Koji wasn’t happy with me. –Jimmy)
  • Mothra Leo got his belly beam back.
  • Are the morons even under Belvera’s control anymore? Yes, they are.
  • Gorgo has a mouth? Where? He just bit a guy. (You don’t want to know. Trust me. –Jimmy)
  • The singing sequences are a littles less impressive this time.
  • Suddenly Mothra Leo is reenacting his mother’s death…and it has the impact of a thrown sponge.
  • This underwater sequence is hokey. No bubbles.
  • Barem cannon!
  • This movie overuses superimposition.
  • Really, kids? See! They lied! Also, why couldn’t we see Fairy zap them?
  • You know, at least these are mostly real sets. Not CGI. (No Star Wars Prequel-it is here. –Jimmy)
  • Isn’t that the opal egg for Barugon? 😛 Wait? There are two? Or three? (I can confirm it isn’t. Did you forget Barugon is on the Island, Nathan? You should know these things. –Jimmy)
  • “Help me, kids, you’re my only hope,” says Tall Leia while growling like a monster.
  • So…is Tall Leia the new Mu Empress? Again, someone call Jinguji! Is she an AI? A ghost? (It just raises too many questions).
  • “I have some Turkish Delight for you!” (So, I guess Jadis the White Witch is also her cousin? –Jimmy)
  • How did they magically gain the ability to super jump? And to super throw? (You’re asking questions of this movie again. Haven’t you learned? –Jimmy)
  • The Elias do speak in unison sometimes.
  • Did the falling bridge breach the temple’s warp core? (Now I want to examine this temple. –Jimmy)
  • So…why does a civilization that has nothing to do with Mothra have a creature that reinvigorates Mothra? (Again, you ask questions. It’s futile. –Jimmy)
  • Great. Now Mothra Leo has shields like a starship. (I can get behind this. For scientific purposes, of course. –Jimmy)
  • The morphing effects look all right.
  • The ancient civilization’s temple was just offshore.
  • The fat kid wears an Oakland A’s shirt the whole time.
  • It’s a pearl—also, “She’s got the whole world in her hands!”
  • What is with this end theme? Is it trying to be rap? It almost sounds like the first theme for Rurouni Kenshin.
  • Also, the soundtrack keeps almost being Ifukube Godzilla music.

Japan’s Green Monsters by Sean Rhodes and Brooke McCorkle

  • Eschews family concerns for streamlined message on water pollution.
  • Mothra Leo soars over ocean with school of dolphins following. Makes message clear.
  • Like Godzilla vs. Biollante, this film says humanity can’t anticipate what will happen when they tamper with nature through genetic engineering.

The Toku Topic:

“Marine pollution” (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_pollution)

  • “In the late 1950s and early 1960s, there were several controversies about dumping radioactive waste off the coasts of the United States by companies licensed by the Atomic Energy Commission, into the Irish Sea from the British reprocessing facility at Windscale, and into the Mediterranean Sea by the French Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique. After the Mediterranean Sea controversy, for example, Jacques Cousteau became a worldwide figure in the campaign to stop marine pollution. Marine pollution made further international headlines after the 1967 crash of the oil tanker Torrey Canyon, and after the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill off the coast of California.”
  • “Marine pollution was a major area of discussion during the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, held in Stockholm. That year also saw the signing of the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter, sometimes called the London Convention. … The London Convention applied only to waste dumped from ships, and thus did nothing to regulate waste discharged as liquids from pipelines.”
  • “Dust from the Sahara moving around the southern periphery of the subtropical ridge moves into the Caribbean and Florida during the warm season as the ridge builds and moves northward through the subtropical Atlantic. Dust can also be attributed to a global transport from the Gobi and Taklamakan deserts across Korea, Japan, and the Northern Pacific to the Hawaiian Islands.”
  • “In a study published by Environmental Science & Technology, Schmidt et al. (2017) calculated that the Yangtze, Indus, Yellow River, Hai River, Nile, Ganges, Pearl River, Amur, Niger, and the Mekong ‘transport 88–95% of the global [plastics] load into the sea.’”
  • “The remains of an albatross containing ingested flotsam. Many animals that live on or in the sea consume flotsam by mistake, as it often looks similar to their natural prey. Plastic debris, when bulky or tangled, is difficult to pass, and may become permanently lodged in the digestive tracts of these animals. Especially when evolutionary adaptions make it impossible for the likes of turtles to reject plastic bags, which resemble jellyfish when immersed in water, as they have a system in their throat to stop slippery foods from otherwise escaping. Thereby blocking the passage of food and causing death through starvation or infection.”
  • “Many animals that live on or in the sea consume flotsam by mistake, as it often looks similar to their natural prey. Plastic debris, when bulky or tangled, is difficult to pass, and may become permanently lodged in the digestive tracts of these animals. Especially when evolutionary adaptions make it impossible for the likes of turtles to reject plastic bags, which resemble jellyfish when immersed in water, as they have a system in their throat to stop slippery foods from otherwise escaping. Thereby blocking the passage of food and causing death through starvation or infection.”
  • “Many of these long-lasting pieces end up in the stomachs of marine birds and animals, including sea turtles, and black-footed albatross. In a 2008 Pacific Gyre voyage, Algalita Marine Research Foundation researchers began finding that fish are ingesting plastic fragments and debris. Of the 672 fish caught during that voyage, 35% had ingested plastic pieces.”
  • “Noise also makes species communicate louder, which is called the Lombard vocal response. Whale songs are longer when submarine-detectors are on.[101] If creatures don’t “speak” loud enough, their voice can be masked by anthropogenic sounds. These unheard voices might be warnings, finding of prey, or preparations of net-bubbling. When one species begins speaking louder, it will mask other species voices, causing the whole ecosystem to eventually speak louder.[102]”
  • “The amount of awareness on marine pollution is vital to the support of keeping the prevention of trash from entering waterways and ending up in our oceans. The EPA reports that in 2014 Americans generated about 258 million tons of waste, and only a third was recycled or composted. In 2015, there was over 8 million tons of plastic that made it into the ocean. The Ocean Conservancy reported that China, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam dump more plastic in the sea than all other countries combined. Through more sustainable packing this could lead to; eliminating toxic constituents, using fewer materials, making more readily available recyclable plastic. However, awareness can only take these initiatives so far. The most abundant plastic is PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) and is the most resistant to biodegradables. Researchers have been making great strides in combating this problem. In one way has been by adding a special polymer called a tetrablock copolymer. The tetrablock copolymer acts as a laminate between the PE and iPP which enables for an easier breakdown but still be tough. Through more awareness, individuals will become more cognizant of their carbon footprints. Also, from research and technology, more strides can be made to aid in the plastic pollution problem.”

“Ocean Pollution” (NOAA) (https://www.noaa.gov/education/resource-collections/ocean-coasts/ocean-pollution)

  • “Some debris sinks, some is eaten by marine animals that mistake it for food, and some accumulates in ocean gyres.” (A gyre is a large system of rotating ocean currents.)
  • “The majority of pollutants that make their way into the ocean come from human activities along the coastlines and far inland. One of the biggest sources of pollution is nonpoint source pollution, which occurs as a result of runoff. Nonpoint source pollution can come from many sources, like septic tanks, vehicles, farms, livestock ranches, and timber harvest areas. Pollution that comes from a single source, like an oil or chemical spill, is known as point source pollution. Point source pollution events often have large impacts, but fortunately, they occur less often. Discharge from faulty or damaged factories or water treatment systems is also considered point source pollution.”
  • “However, if they are too abundant in a body of water, they can stimulate an overgrowth of algae, triggering an event called an algal bloom. Harmful algal blooms (HABs), also known as “red tides,” grow rapidly and produce toxic effects that can affect marine life and sometimes even humans. Excess nutrients entering a body of water, either through natural or human activities, can also result in hypoxia or dead zones. When large amounts of algae sink and decompose in the water, the decomposition process consumes oxygen and depletes the supply available to healthy marine life. Many of the marine species that live in these areas either die or, if they are mobile (such as fish), leave the area.”
  • “Local, national, and international efforts are needed to address this environmental problem. The Save our Seas Act of 2018 amends and reauthorizes the Marine Debris Act to promote international action, authorize cleanup and response actions, and increase coordination among federal agencies on this topic.”
  • “Garbage patches are large areas of the ocean where trash, fishing gear, and other marine debris collects. The term ‘garbage patch’ is a misleading nickname, making many believe that garbage patches are “islands of trash” that are visible from afar. These areas are actually made up of debris ranging in size, from microplastics to large bundles of derelict fishing gear.”

“Marine Pollution” (National Geographic) (https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/marine-pollution/#:~:text=Marine%20pollution%20is%20a%20combination,59)

  • “The Pacific Garbage Patch is one example of such a collection, with plastics and microplastics floating on and below the surface of swirling ocean currents between California and Hawaii in an area of about 1.6 million square kilometers (617,763 square miles), although its size is not fixed. These patches are less like islands of trash and, as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says, more like flecks of microplastic pepper swirling around an ocean soup. Even some promising solutions are inadequate for combating marine pollution. So-called ‘biodegradable’ plastics often break down only at temperatures higher than will ever be reached in the ocean.”
  • “Nonetheless, many countries are taking action. According to a 2018 report from the United Nations, more than sixty countries have enacted regulations to limit or ban the use of disposable plastic items.”

“OCEAN POLLUTION: 11 FACTS YOU NEED TO KNOW” (https://www.conservation.org/stories/ocean-pollution-11-facts-you-need-to-know)

  • “Eight million metric tons: That’s how much plastic we dump into the oceans each year. That’s about 17.6 billion pounds — or the equivalent of nearly 57,000 blue whales — every single year. By 2050, ocean plastic will outweigh all of the ocean’s fish.”
  • “More plastic in the ocean comes from China and Indonesia than anywhere else — together, they account for one-third of plastic pollution.”
  • “With each load of laundry, more than 700,000 synthetic microfibers are washed into our waterways. Unlike natural materials such as cotton or wool, these plasticized fibers do not break down. One study showed that synthetic microfibers make up as much as 85 percent of all beach trash.”
  • “One effect of greenhouse emissions is increased ocean acidification, which makes it more difficult for bivalves such as mussels, clams and oysters to form shells, decreasing their likelihood of survival, upsetting the food chain and impacting the multibillion-dollar shellfish industry.”
  • “Noise pollution generated by shipping and military activity can cause cellular damage to a class of invertebrates that includes jellyfish and anemones. These animals are a vital food source for tuna, sharks, sea turtles and other creatures.​​​​​​”

I’m glad I got this over with. Let me assure you that it’s only up from here. While our schedule was screwed up by the delay of Godzilla vs. Kong, the rest of the season will feature better films.

Next week we’re joined by the most loved and hated G-Fan on Twitter, Jack “GMan” Hudgens, to discuss the increasingly obscure Toho classic, Gorath.

After that is the final part of the “Summer of Mothra” when the now Mothra-worshipping Bex returns for Rebirth of Mothra III. (Oh, boy…).

Follow me on Twitter: @NasaJimmy

#JimmyFromNASALives
#WeShallOvercome

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Episode 18: Bex vs. ‘Rebirth of Mothra II’

Hello, kaiju lovers!

The “Summer of Mothra” continues with Rebirth of Mothra II—the valley between two short mountains in the ‘90s Mothra trilogy. Once again Nathan is joined by Bex from the Redeemed Otaku podcast, and they try their hardest to do a deep dive on a shallow movie. While the first movie had an obvious environmental theme, this one barely gives 20 seconds of screen time to anything substantial. Even Belvera and Elias aren’t as exciting this time around. Then there’s Ghogo/Gogo/Go-Go (aka “Japanese Furby”), the “token cute thing” whose plushy Bex has no interest in buying because, well, magic urine. Yeah….

But nothing can prepare you for the Shyamalan twist at the end of this episode. Nathan and his intrepid producer, Jimmy From NASA, never saw it coming.

Also, Jimmy introduces his new garage assistant, who’s either popular or infamous, depending on who you talk to.

Here’s the Kaijuvision Radio episode Nathan mentioned: Episode 19: Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974) (The Reversion of Okinawa: History and Culture).

Here are the Redeemed Otaku episodes Nathan (and his friend Eric Anderson) appeared on to discuss the Godzilla Anime Trilogy:

Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters
Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle
Godzilla: The Planet Eater

We’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! (Sorry we didn’t mention you on the air, Joejira. You signed up after the initial broadcast).

Read Jimmy’s Notes on this episode.

Timestamps:
Intro: 0:00-3:57
Entertaining Info Dump: 3:57-8:44
Toku Talk: 8:44-1:17:00
Toku Topic: 1:17:00-1:40:01
Outro: 1:40:01-end

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

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

#JimmyFromNASALives
#WeShallOvercome

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From the Vault: MIFV’s Tentative Season 1 Schedule

Logo by Tyler Sowles.

With the premiere of The Monster Island Film Vault just a few weeks away, I thought I’d give you a preview of the upcoming (extended) first season. Since I’m starting in September 2019, this season will go until December 2020. Future seasons will start in January and run through the entire year.

The theme for this season is twofold: 1) Cover the other big names in the kaiju genre who aren’t Godzilla, and 2) pick up where I left off on Kaijuvision Radio. To that end, the primary episodes will focus on the likes of King Kong and Mothra, among others, and the minisodes will cover the films discussed in season two of KVR (I’d already the research before I left, so I figure I may as well use it).

September 2019
Welcome…to Monster Island! (minisode)

October 2019
King Kong (1933)
The Godzilla Anime Trilogy (mini-analysis)

November 2019
Son of Kong
John LeMay Presents King Kong vs. Frankenstein and Continuation: King Kong vs. Godzilla (minisode)

December 2019
King Kong Escapes
Half-Human
(mini-analysis)

January 2020
King Kong (1976)
King Kong Lives

February 2020
King Kong (2005)
Kong: Skull Island

March 2020
Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) (mini-analysis)
Godzilla vs. Kong

April 2020
The Mysterians (mini-analysis)
Varan the Unbelievable (mini-analysis)

May 2020
3 Treasures (mini-analysis)
Battle in Outer Space
(mini-analysis)

June 2020
The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms
The Last War
(mini-analysis)

July 2020
Rebirth of Mothra
Gorath
(mini-analysis)

August 2020
Rebirth of Mothra II
Matango
(mini-analysis)

September 2020
Rebirth of Mothra III
Atragon
(mini-analysis)

October 2020
Daimajin
Dogora, the Space Monster
(mini-analysis)

November 2020
Return of Daimajin
Frankenstein Conquers the World
(mini-analysis)

December 2020
Daimajin Strikes Back
War of the Gargantuas
(mini-analysis)

You may have noticed that I’m skipping 1962’s King Kong vs. Godzilla. That’s because I covered it on KVR. My opinions on it are unchanged, and the Toku Topic I would’ve discussed would be the same. I recommend listening to it now or in conjunction with the new show (KVR, Episode 8: King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962) (The Japanese Economic Miracle [The Golden 60s]). In place of that, I’ll have kaiju author John LeMay on to talk about two lost Kong films associated with King Kong vs. Godzilla that he wrote about in his new book, Kong Unmade.

As I said, this is tentative. I’ve already had to change it once to accommodate the new release date of Godzilla vs. Kong (hence why there are several months in a row with full-length episodes followed by several with minisodes). While I intend to keep the main episode schedule set, the minisodes will change depending on how much listener feedback I receive (they’ll be answered on the air) and any interviews/content I get at conventions like G-Fest.

If all goes well, I have a second season planned. What will it be about? Stay tuned!

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