Kaiju

KaijÅ« (æ€ªç£, kaijÅ«) is a Japanese word that literally translates to "strange creature," and is used to refer to a genre of tokusatsu entertainment. Kaiju films usually showcase monsters of any form, usually attacking a major Japanese city or engaging another (or multiple) monster(s) in battle.

Related terms include kaijÅ« eiga (æ€ªç£æ˜ ç"», kaijÅ« eiga, monster movie), a film featuring giant monsters or a single monster; kaijin (æ€ªäºº, referring to roughly humanoid monsters); and daikaiju (å¤§æ€ªç£, daikaijÅ«, giant kaiju), specifically meaning the larger variety of monsters.

Godzilla is an example of a daikaiju; others include Gamera, Mothra, Rodan, King Ghidorah, Mechagodzilla and Daimajin. The term ultra-kaiju is longhand for kaiju in the Ultra Series.

Toho has produced a variety of Kaiju films over the years (many that featured Godzilla and Mothra) but other Japanese studios contributed to expanding the genre in Japan by producing Kaiju films and shows of their own, studios including Daiei Film Co., Ltd., Kadokawa Pictures, Tsuburaya Productions, Shochiku, and Nikkatsu studios.

Concept

Kaiju are typically modeled after conventional animals, insects or mythological creatures; however, there are more exotic examples. ChÅjin Sentai Jetman features monsters based on traffic lights, faucets and tomatoes; Kamen Rider Super-1 includes a whole army of monsters based on household objects such as umbrellas and utility ladders.

While the term kaiju is used in English to describe monsters from tokusatsu and Japanese folklore, monsters such as vampires, werewolves, Frankenstein's monster, mummies and zombies would fall into this category. In fact, Frankenstein's monster was once a kaiju in the Toho film Frankenstein Conquers the World.

Kaiju are sometimes depicted as cannon fodder serving a greater evil. Some kaiju are elite warriors which serve as the right-hand man to the greater villain and are destroyed by the heroic forces. Others have a neutral alignment, only seeking to destroy buildings and other structures. During the early eras of tokusatsu, "heroic" monsters were rarely seen in daikaiju eiga films, and it was not until later when television tokusatsu productions began using kaiju which aided the hero, saved civilians, or demonstrated some kind of complex personality. These kaiju adopted many classic monster traits, appearing as the "Misunderstood Creature". Some kaiju hung out with the heroes and provided comedy relief, in contrast to the darker approach to these characters from more mature franchises, like Kamen Rider. Godzilla, arguably the most well known of the daikaiju, has played the roles of hero, villain, and force of nature in the course of his existence, one of the few kaiju of any type to be depicted in multiple roles and having those around him react in different ways, depending on how the creature itself was being presented in the films.

Media

Films

Wasei Kingu Kongu (1933)
King Kong Appears in Edo (1938)
Godzilla (1954)
Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956)
Rodan (1956)
Varan the Unbelievable (1958)
Mothra (1961)
King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)
Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964)
Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964)
Gamera (1965)
Frankenstein Conquers the World (1965)
The War of the Gargantuas (1966)
Daimajin (1966)
The Magic Serpent (1966)
The X from Outer Space (1967)
Gappa: The Triphibian Monster (1967)
King Kong Escapes (1967)
Destroy All Monsters (1968)
Space Amoeba (1970)
The Return of Godzilla (1984) / Godzilla 1985 (1985)
Gamera: Guardian of the Universe (1995)
Rebirth of Mothra (1996)
Godzilla (1998)
Godzilla 2000 (1999)
Godzilla: Final Wars (2004)
Ultraman: The Next (2004)
Negadon: The Monster from Mars (2005)
Deep Sea Monster Reigo (2005)
Gamera: The Brave (2006)
Pacific Rim (2013)
Godzilla (2014)

Comics

Gamera: The Guardian of the Universe (1996)
Enormous (2012)
Godzilla: Rulers of Earth (2013)
Pacific Rim: Tales From Year Zero (2013)
Godzilla: Awakening (2014)

Video games

Godzilla video games (Toho 1983â€"present)
Rampage (Bally Midway 1986)
King of the Monsters (SNK 1991)
Ultraman video games (Tsuburaya 1991â€"present)
Gamera 2000 (Kadokawa 1997)
Robot Alchemic Drive (Sandlot 2002)
War of the Monsters (Incognito Entertainment 2003)
Pacific Rim video games (Yuke's/Reliance 2013)
Colossal Kaiju Combat (2013â€"2014)

Television

Ultraman (Tsuburaya Productions 1966â€"present)
Kaiju Booska (Tsuburaya Productions 1967)
Mighty Jack (Tsuburaya Productions 1968)
Mirrorman (TV series) (Tsuburaya Productions 1971 - 1972)
Redman (TV series) (Tsuburaya Productions 1972)
Jumborg Ace (Tsuburaya Productions 1973)
Fireman (TV series) (Tsuburaya Productions 1973)
Spectreman (Fuji Television 1971 - 1972)
Zone Fighter (Toho 1973)
Iron King (Senkosha Productions 1972 - 1973)
Super Robot Red Baron (Nippon Television 1973 - 1974)
Super Sentai (Toei Company 1975â€"present)
Godzilla (Hanna-Barbera 1978 - 1981)
Denkou Choujin Gridman (Tsuburaya Productions 1993 - 1994)
Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad (Tsuburaya Productions 1994 - 1995)
Godzilla Island (Toho 1997 - 1998)
Godzilla: The Series (Sony Pictures Television 1998 - 2000)
Bio Planet WoO (Tsuburaya Productions 2006)

References in culture

In the Japanese language original of Cardcaptor Sakura, Sakura's brother Toya likes to tease her by regularly calling her "kaiju", relating to her noisily coming down from her room for breakfast every morning.

In the second season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, there is a story arc composed of two episodes entitled "The Zillo Beast" and "The Zillo Beast Strikes Back", mostly influenced by Godzilla films, in which a huge reptilian beast is transported from his homeworld Malastare to the city-covered planet Coruscant, where it breaks loose and goes on a rampage.

In Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, the rancor was originally to be played by an actor in a suit similar to the way how kaiju films like Godzilla were made. However, the rancor was eventually portrayed by a puppet filmed in high speed.

The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror VI - Attack of the 50-Foot Eyesores, Homer goes to Lard Lad Donuts unable to get a "Colossal Doughnut" as advertised, he steals Lard Lad's Donut awaking other giant advertising statues and coming to life to terrorize Springfield. When Lard Lad awakes he makes a Godzilla roar. Guillermo del Toro directed the Treehouse of Horror XXIV couch gag which made multiple references to Godzilla and other Kaiju-based characters, including his own Pacific Rim characters.

In the 2009 film Crank: High Voltage, there is a sequence parodying Kaiju films using the same practical effects techniques used for Tokusatsu films such as miniatures and suitmation.

In the 2013 film Pacific Rim, "Kaiju" is the moniker bestowed upon giant inter-dimensional monsters that invade Earth and attempt to exterminate humanity.

The 2014 film Godzilla makes multiple references to past Godzilla films. The character Dr. Ishiro Serizawa shares the same name as veteran Godzilla film director, IshirÅ Honda and the scientist who killed Godzilla in the original film, Dr. Daisuke Serizawa, also directed by Honda. A Japanese poster is revealed in young Ford's room displaying two battling Kaiju (resembling the film's MUTOs). During the film's opening Philippines sequence, Dr. Serizawa is wearing clothes resembling the same fashion worn by Godzilla effects veteran Eiji Tsuburaya. When Ford and Joe return to their home in Janjira, a broken aquarium holds two torn pieces of paper that together spell "Mothra". Godzilla was reawakened and discovered in 1954, the same year the original film was released. The boat carrying the bomb is labeled as "Go Whales", a reference to Godzilla's name in Japanese, Gojira, which is a combination of the words Gorilla (gorira) and Whale (kujira) in Japanese. At the end of the film, the American media labels Godzilla as "King of the Monsters", an epithet first used in the film Godzilla, King of the Monsters! Veteran Godzilla actor Akira Takarada made a cameo for the film but was removed from the theatrical cut.

Kaiju

Concept