Seatopia’s most dastardly agent, The Togavengleist, is out to destroy the surface world with one strategically-placed bomb in the Hollow Earth network in Oslo. But one man stands in his way—Rex Dart, Codename: Eskimo Spy! Can he stop this religious zealot, or will he need help from his friend, “J.J.”? (I think you know the answer to this).
We’d like to give a shout-out to our MIFV MAX patrons 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, Christopher Riner, The Indiscrite One, Eli Harris, Jake Hambrick, Matt Walsh (but not that Matt Walsh), Jonathan Courtright, Robert Kidd, Leon Campbell, Michael Watson, Edwin Gonzalez, Erik Pearl, and Sam Allred! Thanks for your support!
In this special MIFV MAX episode, Nathan is joined by Danny DiManna (The Godzilla Novelization Project) to discuss the powerful influence Mystery Science Theater 3000 has had on MIFV since the very first episode. Then stay tuned for some massive giveaways of kaiju/toku goodies and a HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT about MIFV’s second anniversary episode and how YOU can help make it possible!
Hello, kaiju lovers! After calling in a favor at the last second to get a replacement guest, Nate sits down with Kaiju Weekly’s Travis Alexander and kaiju author Neil Riebe to discuss one of Gamera’s lowest points: Gamera vs. Zigra. Yes, before Jaws, the Friend to All Children battled a giant alien shark who couldn’t decide if he wanted to enslave humanity or eat them. Ziggy also has a bad habit of recruiting beautiful ladies as hench-people (your new PC term of the day), but they forget everything they knew before being mind-controlled—like that parading around in nothing but a bikini might not be the most inconspicuous disguise unless you’re in an exploitation film for kids. Let’s just say, Nate almost loses his mind in this episode. The Toku Topic is Kamogawa Sea World, because this movie is a terrible, overgrown commercial for the resort.
Afterward, Nate has to pull some Board-mandated overtime and is contacted in secret by Gary, Raymund Martin’s paralegal. Nate thinks he’s found a new friend in Gary in his quest to out the Board.
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 Four Special Features.
Gamera vs. Zigra Commentary by Sean Rhodes and Brooke McCorkle (Arrow Video’s Gamera: The Complete Collection).
LeMay, John. The Big Book of Japanese Giant Monster Movies Volume 1: 1954-1982.
Macias, Patrick. “A History of Gamera: Gamera vs. Zigra” (Arrow Video’s Gamera: The Complete Collection).
Milner, David. “Interview with Noriaki Yuasa” (Arrow Video’s Gamera: The Complete Collection).
Rhodes, Sean, and Brooke McCorkle. “Chapter 9: Gamera vs. Zigra: A Tale of Space Invaders and the Sea.” Japan’s Green Monsters: Environmental Commentary in Kaiju Cinema.
The name of Kondo’s/Cornjob’s’s actor is Kon Ohmura.
Did you say, “Mao,” Nate? Like the Chinese communist leader? How have you not been fired? Does the Board secretly admire the tyrant?
It was snow, not a block of ice, Luke.
Those alien women’s eyes … they haunt my nightmares! It’s why I’m glad I wasn’t around when they tried to kidnap Gamera after the broadcast. It’s a good thing Crystal Lady was around to save the day.
“Flobella” not “Florbella,” Luke. Although, there is some confusion over this.
Come on, Nate, have you seen the Xilien women? Hot damn!
Yes, I am a proud “Plutoist.” I’ve only visited that rock once, but I assure it is still a planet!
“Ideal”? You meant, “idea,” Luke.
I know what you mean, Luke, when it comes to navigating city traffic. I grew up in New York City and Japan. I saw the madness of both.
What’s a “kig,” Nate? (it’s “kids”).
Gamera vs. Jiger not on MST3K, Nate says. Hahaha! (Click here to see how wrong he is).
Now to fulfill my contractual obligations by posting Marchand’s leftover notes:
The Movie
Starts with an astronomy lesson. This made Jimmy happy. (Yes, it did, even though some of that info is wrong. –Jimmy)
Jimmy also felt right at home in the observatory. He’s been there. (Yes, and it is a wonderful place. I would live at an observatory, if I could. –Jimmy)
Of course the kids see the spaceship before everyone else! It’s Gamera! (I usually see spaceships before everyone else. But I’m also a Gamera kid. –Jimmy)
Why was the ship sent to earth? (To get to the other side? I don’t know. It’s Gamera. –Jimmy)
You could cynically say that the monsters and aliens and stuff only exist in the kids’ imaginations.
“It’s just a rabbit.” Tell that to Night of the Lepus! (Hear Nate’s appearance on Kaiju Weekly for that here. –Jimmy)
“They flew here. They’re civilized!” Hahaha! Did you forget the Virasians? (I didn’t. Yeesh! –Jimmy)
Gamera must have a spider-sense for children in peril.
Do we need color commentary from the kids? (Is this a rhetorical question? –Jimmy)
Ah, they have short range transporters. Someone saw Star Trek. We’re leery of teleporters now, though. That’s why your tour guide (Jessica) is out there. (At least you have a sister …. –Jimmy)
These sets want to compete with the color of Oz.
Jimmy’s annoyed that this sliding floor is nicer to kids than the anti-grav hallways on the Virasian ship. (So unfair! 😛 –Jimmy)
Maybe the bad dubs are malfunctioning translator chokers?
There is some nice subtle acting from the spacewomen.
“My son”? Trying to be his mother?
Jimmy says the American Aerospace Bureau are a bunch of hacks. You can’t believe them when they say flying saucers aren’t real. (Damn straight! –Jimmy)
Do they really think these kids are that smart? According to Ragone, the actor playing the white kid couldn’t be in the next movie because his grades dropped.
Their razor looks like a ray gun! And the buzzsaw does, too.
“Let the monsters fight.” That’s where Ishiro Serizawa got the line.
Tom calls the Terrans “big sisters”? It’ a Japanese thing that’s weird in translation. (Probably, given what we’ve researched before. –Jimmy)
The “reverse button.” How these two are smart makes no sense, unlike the last one.
This is a slow teleporter suddenly.
Flobella shoots Barbella because a chair fell on her? There’s a word for someone like that. Also, Terrans just disappear when they die? Did they die? (Apparently not. –Jimmy)
The foam blocks don’t hurt the kids. 😛 But it’s a nice subversion that they don’t escape by shooting the button.
Gamera has his kid cheerleaders again. They do pretty much nothing aside from accidentally unleash Guiron, who attacks the Terrans, and pushing random buttons that somehow make Guiron go to his room. And even then, Gamera had already retreated underwater! And then they launch a missile that accidentally kills Flobella. At least Masao and Jim did stuff. (Thank you! –Jimmy)
Gamera can’t touch his legs. I think that’s a problem.
The kids only launched one missile. Where’d the other one come from? Probably the same place as the second Ghidorah skull in GvK.
I didn’t realize Gamera was a certified welder. Or that it was magic welding that could make a spaceship airtight again.
In the end, the adults learn to believe their kids. Is that a good lesson?
The little girl jokes that Kon (Cornjob) is an alien. (I think he is. –Jimmy)
Gamera nods at Akio makes his speech. It is Gamera approved.
The Commentary by David Kalat
He defends the child actors by saying they are part of a sliver of the population of people who want to be an actor, are good at acting, and are children.
Yuasa focused less on the dialogue with the kids and let them “play act” the scene.
(Kalat can’t pronounce half of the Japanese names right).
(Says he knows only one sentence in Japanese: “My whole family loves baseball.” He says one day he will go to japan, say this, and presumably starve).
Argues that the gory death of Space Gyaos wasn’t intended to be taken seriously. Compared it to Loony Tunes.
A kid once said a kid told him that Tsuburaya told him he shouldn’t have such gruesome violence in the Gamera movies. He wasn’t sure the kid was telling the truth because he thought they’d be kindred and introduced more silliness to the Godzilla films. They never met.
Compares the effects in this film to a Mickie Mouse cartoon and Kermit the Frog. It looks pleasing, not believable.
Yuasa actually asked Toho to let him watch prints of Godzilla films to make Gamera, which they said no. Tsuburaya Productions (I think) let me watch them. He didn’t see Toho as competition but as an older brother he could learn from.
Daiei owed Nisan Takahashi more money than anyone else in 1971. Supposedly, he was given the rights to Gamera as payment. He was confused when the heisei trilogy was made, but he did publish a novel titled, Gamera vs. Phoenix.
Yuasa: “Watch many movies. Praise what you like about them.” (Words to live by. You hear that, internet? –Jimmy)
Intro by Ragone
The composer, Shunsuke Kikuchi, went on to make music for many anime, including Dragon Ball Z.
Kids didn’t like the Space Gyaos death, and Yuasa regretted it.
Arrow Booklet
Films were churned out annually. Drama scenes filmed in four weeks and the special effects done in two months.
Guiron is art director Akira Inoue’s personal favorite monster.
LeMay
Yuasa was given another tine budget (20 million yen). They decided to set it on an alien planet to save money and tap into children’s fears of being lost from home.
Reiko Kasahara, who played the kind older sister in Gyaos, is one of the alien villainesses.
Guiron was considered for Gamera 2, and is rumored to have inspired Legion’s pointy head.
Galbraith
Says the dub is so bad, the lines could’ve been read by a cocktail waitress or gas station attendant.
Toku Topic: The First “Traffic War” in Japan
Due to all of this growth, key traffic problems included overloading and speeding by dump trucks and gravel trucks and reckless driving by taxi drivers, which were frequently criticized by newspapers and other media. “Most media accounts built a consensus that the main victims of accidents were children, the aged, pedestrians, and cyclists, while the main offenders were professional drivers.”
“The situation is very different in Japan. More young (less than 16 years old) and old (more than 54 years old) non-car users are killed in traffic accidents than are car users.”
75% of Japan is mountainous, so population density is high. Since most roads go through highly populated urban areas, it’s difficult to isolate pedestrians and cyclists, who are constitute 60% of auto accidents in Japan.
“…collisions with other vehicles in the US constitute a higher proportion of fatal accidents, whereas collisions with pedestrians play a larger role in Japan. The percentage of fatal vehicle accidents involving collisions with pedestrians is larger in Japan than in the US (28.5 vs. 18.2%). The percentages of traffic accident deaths among non car-users are also larger in Japan than in the US (motorcyclists: 18.6 vs. 6%, bicyclists: 12.3 vs. 2%, pedestrians: 27.7 vs. 14.1%). This results in nearly 60% of Japanese traffic-accident deaths being among non-car users, compared 20% in the US (ITARDA, 1997).”
“In Japan, accident death rates for 16–24 years old increased during the late 1970s and 1980s (MCA, 1997b), even though most high school students were prohibited from having drivers’ licenses by internal school rules (Koshi, 1988).”
A few of the aforementioned policies:
Japan solutions are focused more on law enforcement and education that engineering (i.e. airbags). It seemed to work as traffic deaths dropped by half from 1970-1980.
Marchand talks about this movie more than Akio talks about traffic accidents. The Stockholm Syndrome really is settling in!
Next week Nate finishes his series of mini-sodes on Toho classics with one of my favorite Toho films, Sayonara Jupiter. It’s a film by the author of Submersion of Japan and the director of Return of Godzilla. It should be … interesting, to say the least. What Nate’s doing after that, I don’t know. Then his friend Ben Avery, the ruler of a mighty podcast empire, returns for the next chapter in the “Year of Gamera” with Gamera vs. Jiger. She got the moves.
Nate and his guests, MIFV MAX members Michael Hamilton (co-host of Kaiju Weekly and The Kaiju Groupie) and Damon Noyes, reach the peak of the Showa Gamera series—which isn’t as high as Nate wants it to be. (Or does he just want to get high?) Once again as part of the Board-mandated “Year of Gamera,” the Tourists get to watch the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode featuring this film while Nate must view the original Japanese version to compare notes. Even so, Nate riffs his way through the episode so the Stockholm syndrome doesn’t set in. Michael sighs almost as much as he talks with all the jokes Nate and Damon drop about “gassy Gyaos nipples” and “plane murder.” You’d almost think Nate was enjoying himself. It’s a great act.
The Toku Topic for this episode is the Sanrizuka Struggle, which was a movement against the construction of Narita Airport. It inspired a key plot element in this movie and helped Nate prove to Michael and Damon that there was a social commentary in the film. It’s also the last social commentary in a Gamera movie for years, so enjoy it while it lasts.
Before the broadcast, Nate tries to tell his intrepid producer, Jimmy From NASA, how he plans to be a small thorn in the Board’s side only to be interrupted by Raymund Martin, the head of the Monster Island Legal Action Team, who promptly tells Nate why he can’t do that.
Raymund Martin was created and voiced by Damon Noyes.
Prologue written by Nathan Marchand with Damon Noyes.
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 Two Special Features.
Gamera vs. Gyaos Commentary by Stuart Galbraith IV (Arrow Video’s Gamera: The Complete Collection).
Hello, kaiju lovers! And welcome to MIFV season two!
Much to Nate’s chagrin, the Board-mandated “Year of Gamera” begins with the “freakishly mediocre” 1965 movie Gamera the Giant Monsters (or Daikaiju Gamera). So saddened by this is Nate that he visits the Monster Island Chapel and speaks with Rev. Mifune, the Island’s chaplain. The reverend suggests watching the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes that featured Gamera films so Nate could at least get a good laugh watching them. But when Nate meets up with his friends, first season two Tourists Nick Hayden and Timothy Deal of the Derailed Trains of Thought podcast, they receive a voicemail from the Board’s executive assistant, Ms. Perkins, saying the Tourists can watch the MST3K episodes but Nate must watch the original Japanese cuts so they can compare notes. Talk about a buzzkill! The first Toku Topic of 2021 is energy consumption in Japan because Nate read an essay that argues Gamera represents that in this movie.
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 One Special Features.
