{"id":360,"date":"2020-02-26T08:45:00","date_gmt":"2020-02-26T13:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/monsterislandfilmvault.com\/?p=360"},"modified":"2021-03-24T13:55:06","modified_gmt":"2021-03-24T17:55:06","slug":"episode-11-varan-the-unbelievable-mini-analysis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/monsterislandfilmvault.com\/index.php\/2020\/02\/26\/episode-11-varan-the-unbelievable-mini-analysis\/","title":{"rendered":"Episode 11: \u2018Varan the Unbelievable\u2019 (Mini-Analysis)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Hello, kaiju lovers!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Nathan\u2019s continuing\nseries of mini-sodes on films covered by Bran Scherschel on Kaijuvision Radio\nafter Nathan left the show, he examines Ishiro Honda\u2019s overlooked 1958 kaiju\nfilm Varan the Unbelievable<\/em> (or Daikaiju Baran<\/em>). While Honda didn\u2019t\nthink much of it (especially after its tumultuous production when the American\nTV network co-producing it pulled out), it was the first kaiju film written for\nToho by the fabled Shinichi Sekizawa. The second half is a by-the-numbers\nmonster movie, but the first half is intriguing because it touches on then contemporary\nissues with the burakumin<\/em>, a\ndiscriminated social class in Japan. Their name means \u201cvillage people\u201d (no, not\nthe disco band!), and they were essentially the \u201cuntouchables\u201d of Japanese\nculture for centuries. When seen through that lens, this film offers more than\na cool kaiju.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After that, Nathan reads\nsome listener feedback, including a letter from someone who offers some\nclarification on the (in)famous Batman\nMeets Godzilla<\/em> script.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking of which, Batman Meets Godzilla<\/a><\/em>,\none of the craziest yet most intriguing lost projects made famous by John\nLeMay\u2019s book, The Big Book of Japanese\nGiant Monster Movies: The Lost Films<\/em> (which now has a new \u201cmutated\u201d\nedition<\/a>), is being adapted into a fan-made comic book miniseries!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

T-SHIRT GIVEAWAY:\nEveryone who shares the Facebook and Twitter posts for this episode (or tags\nthe show when they share it themselves) will be entered for a drawing for a Batman Meets Godzilla<\/em> T-shirt. (One\nentry per person per social media). Entries will be taken from February 26 to March\n4 at 11:59pm (EST). The winner must then send Nathan his\/her shirt size, shirt\ncolor, and mailing address to be forwarded to the team at Batman Meets Godzilla<\/em>. Here\u2019s a link to the Tee Public site with this\nepic shirt<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s the KVR episode: Episode 40: Varan (1958)\n(Hisabetsu-Buraku) (Discriminated Communities)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This episode featured the song \u201c\u2018BATMAN\u2019 [OG Theme Song Remix!]\u201d<\/a> by Remix Maniacs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Be sure to read Jimmy’s Notes<\/a> on this episode.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(c) 2020 Nathan Marchand\n& Moonlighting Ninjas Media<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bibliography\/Further Reading:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n