The Kaijucast Finale features nothing but Kyle and his cohosts – like almost all of them! This final mission will decide the fate of the human race… this is Operation Final Kaijucast! Welcome to a bittersweet episode release: the final episode of the Kaijucast. For this finale, I wanted as many cohosts as possible to get an one last opportunity to interact and say goodbye (or ja mataa) to our listeners. There’s not a lot of Godzilla chatter in this episode, just a bunch of my favorite nerds talking about the podcast and what it’s been like to be part of this experience; this qualifies as a Yak Attack, but I’ve bleeped the few instances where we might have dipped into the “explicit” category. Now everyone can listen! I want to thank the cohosts, those that listened to the episode live and every single person who has supported the Kaijucast in one form or another over the past ten years.   MUSIC TO MONSTER BY: 1. Monsterman by DEVO from Monsterman (2012)  2. “Major Spielberg” audio clip from Godzilla vs King Ghidorah (1991) 3. The Giant Fang by Kow Otani from Godzilla Mothra King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All Out Attack (2001) 4. “Go Go of One Million” audio clip from Godzilla vs the Smog Monster (1971) 5. Mothra Metal by Isao Bito from Mothra Song The Best (1998) 6. Monster From A Prehistoric Planet Trailer Audio (1967) 7. Monsters Over Tokyo by Famous Monsters from Around the World in 80 Bikinis (1999) 8. “Red Dots are decreasing” audio clip from Godzilla vs Monster Zero (1965) 9. Destroy All Monsters AIP Trailer (1968) 10. Main Theme performed by the Bukimisha Weird Secret Society from Daring Daimajin (2006) 11. Gammera the Invincible Trailer (1965) 12. Stomp Tokyo by the Creeping Cruds from The Incredibly Strange People Who Stopped Living & Became… (2005) 13. Ending / Raymond Burr’s Monologue clip from Godzilla 1985 (1985) It’s been a helluva decade… THANK YOU FOR ALL OF THE MONSTER MEMORIES! The stunning Rodan painting by Bob Eggleton, a gift from the cohosts to the controller, who might have gotten a little choked up in this live and final episode.

The Kaijucast FanVader crew poses with the Godzilla statue outside of Toho Studios: (from L to R) Mike, Stephan, Clancy, Laura, Andrew, Bryan and James (with Kyle being a dork up front) The 2019 Kaijucast FanVasion is complete! Clancy and Kyle have returned from their trip to Tokyo (and beyond) with the rest of the “FanVader” team and the two of them sit down to unpack the whole damn thing. There’s a list below of all the places we went on the trip with some helpful links to anyone heading to Japan themselves – big thanks to our travel group, you guys were awesome! Make sure to check out the links to our housekeeping announcements!  MUSICAL MOMENTS OF MONSTROUSNESS: 1. Booska Theme performed by Animetal from Animetal Marathon III (1998) 2. “Kong versus Godzilla” Audio Clip from King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)  3. Appearance Of Gamera by Ko Otani from Gamera 2: Advent of Legion (1996) 4. Cleansing the Earth of Humanity’s Existence by Oxygen Destroyer from Bestial Manifestations of Malevolence and Death (2018) FANVASION HITLIST: Ultraman town/street Toho Gates’ Godzilla Mural, Statue etc Kurihama Flower Park for the Godzilla slide Kawasaki’s “Your Warehouse” Arcade [NOW CLOSED] Kaiju Sakaba in Kawasaki GODZILLAFES 2019 Evangelion Store in Ikebukuro Akihabara Shopping Kadokawa Studios in Chofu + Shop Majin Nakano Broadway Mall Godzilla Store in Shinjuku Shinjuku Gracery Hotel (Godzilla Terrace / Godzilla Room) Sukugawa Tsuburaya Museum Ikebukuro’s Owl Cafe Shibuya’s Tower Records and DiscUnion and… for those traveling to Tokyo, check out the following not done as part of the FanVasion TeamLab’s Borderless Exhibit in Odaiba  MIKE’S FIRE RAMEN VIDEO  TSUBURAYA MUSEUM DIORAMA Sukagawa’s Tsuburaya Museum houses this beautiful Studio Diorama. Photo courtesy of Monster Attack Team Magazine & Toho Co. Ltd.   The FanVasion in the Godzilla Room at the Shinjuku Gracery Hotel! HOUSEKEEPING: FINAL EPISODE RECORDING THIS IS IT, GEORGE: The FINAL Episode of the Kaijucast will be recorded LIVE on December 14th, please follow the link below to our Facebook Event and join us in the chatroom if you can!  KAIJUCAST Final Wars Episode FB Event ! HOUSEKEEPING T-SHIRT OF THE MONTH CLUB: We’re moving the “club” to RedBubble! And to celebrate, there are TWO designs available now: ANCIENT MONSTER GOMESS Design! METAL UP JIRASS Mashup Design! 

Live from Tokyo’s Godzilla Festival celebration, Kyle and his FanVasion crew talk about the event! Wow – Tokyo knows how to throw a Godzilla celebration! Today, I spent the day in Tokyo’s Ginza district at Godzilla Square with my group trip’s kaiju freaks (aka the Kaijucast FanVasion) and we had a great time! The stage shows were fun, the programming was great, the exclusives were super cool – I wish I could have tried some of the food truck-style food but phew! those lines were mega long! In order to get this episode released ON godzilla’s birthday, it’s a little on the short side, but make sure to check out the two videos I linked to below too (and you can pretend YOU were there)! MUSICAL MONSTER MOMENTS: 1. Suite From Godzilla 1954 from Akira Ifukube 100: A Legacy of Monster Music (2014) 2. Godzilla’s History According to Dr. Arnold Johnson from King Kong vs Godzilla (1962) 3. Godzilla by The Creatures from Hai! (2003) 4. Look Up There…Gigan & King Ghidorah from Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972) 5. Goodbye Godzilla by Josie Cotten from Attack of the B-Girls (2007) SUGGESTED VIEWING: Akira Takarada’s Opening Ceremonies Speech (all in Japanese) The Shodai Godzilla suit walks to the stage!   

Happy Halloween, Kaiju Fiends!!!  Celebrate the spookiest day of our calendar with an all new, super scary episode of the Kaijucast! Dave, Gretchen and Kyle sit down to discuss the cultural phenomenon that has grown to kaiju-sized levels. Thanks to animated shows like Yokai Watch, Rise of the Yokai Clan and so many more, the world of Japanese ghosts and goblins and things that go obake in the night has really opened up to the West (that’s us, folks!) – anyway, we knew it was time for another Yokai Spooktacular. Inside of this episode is an interview that Gretchen and I recorded at Rose City Comic Con with yokai author, Zack Davisson. We discuss his newest book Yokai Stories, his career as an author and translator and where you can find his stuff – make sure to click on those show notes below! We hope you enjoy this conversational and hopefully slightly informative chat by a bunch of yokai fans who want you to become fans yourselves.  MYSTERIOUS MUSIC: 1. Shrine Worship (1969) by Chumei Watanabe from Yokai Hyaku Monogatari (1968) 2. Hellboy Sword of Storms Trailer (2006) 3.  Kappa Audio Clip from Gegege No Kitaro (2018) 4. Avant Title from Gegege No Kitaro (2018) 5. Hakaba Kitaro Audio Clip (2008) 6. Karankoron no uta from Gegege no Kitaro (1968) 7. Ending by Chumei Watanabe from Yokai Hyaku Monogatari (1968) 8. Oshiete Jiji (the Azuki Bean song) by Kiyoshiro Imawano & Yosui Inoue from The Great Yokai War (2005) SUGGESTED VIEWING: Maser Patrol’s Incredible Yokai Resource from last year Night Parade of 100 Monster Movies Zack Davission’s website Zack Davission’s books: Yokai Stories, Yurei: The Japanese Ghost  Kaibyo: The Supernatural Cats of Japan Yokai.com – serious encyclopedic website!  Japandemonium Illustrated The Yokai Encyclopedias of Toriyama Seiken Yokai Attack! The Japanese Monster Survival Guide by Matt Alt 100 Demon Night Parade by Matthew Meyer  In Ghostly Japan by Lafcadio Hern Japanese Ghosts and Demons by George Brazillier YOKAI MOVIES AND VIDEOS: Know Your Yokai on Youtube Pom Poko — Kyle’s favorite movie from Studio Ghibli  Hellboy Sword of Storms Gegege No Kitaro on CrunchyRoll Gantz 0 on Netflix YOKAI WE TALKED ABOUT! *links to entries on Yokai.com* Yurei Kappa Tanuki Nurikabe Zashiki-warashi Nukikube Karakasa Azuki Arai Wa nyudo ALL EYES ON DECK: Hey folks, since this is the end of October, that means there are only two more months of podcast programming planned. Our final episode will be recorded in December and we want you to listen LIVE as we broadcast the final episode of the Kaijucast! We’ll be broadcasting a special “Yak Attack” episode live from the depth of Monster Island’s control room and will once again fire up the chat room.  Mark your calendars for DECEMBER 14th!!!

Godzilla director Masaaki Tezuka joins Kyle for a chat about his career in kaiju cinema (originally recorded at G-Fest 2015). Since the podcast is ending this year, I figured I should probably dig into the archives and find any unearthed gems. This is one of those gems – and it’s a bit shorter than I would have liked so I guess this is before we really had a lot of kaiju clout! Waaaaaaay back in 2015, I was lucky to interview some of the guests at G-Fest 22 and one of those guests was the director of three Millennium series films, Masaaki Tezuka. Tezuka directed Godzilla X Megaguirus (2000), Godzilla X Mechagodzilla (2002), Godzilla X Mothra X Mechagodzilla: Tokyo SOS (2003), some seriously great entries in the franchise’s legacy.   I’m a massive fan of his movies, and impressed that in an era where each film was supposed to have its own direction, continuity and director, Tezuka was able to come back to the series twice!  I would love to see him return to the Godzilla series some day. Come on, Toho – Bring back this fan turned director! MUSIC: 1. Fateful Confrontation by Michiru Oshima from Godzilla x Megaguirus (2000) 2. 20 Returning To The Sea by Michiru Oshima from Godzilla x Mothra x Mechagodzilla: Tokyo SOS (2003) SUGGESTED VIEWING: TerrorDave’s Recap of the G-Fest Tezuka panel from 2015 Massive thanks to Jim Figurski and his wife Akiko for their life saving interpretation skills!

Keith Aiken and Kyle finally have an opportunity to sit down and chat about all of the awesome stuff Keith has been involved in. In the history of me of saying “this interview has been a long time coming”, this one might take the cake. In the  very first year of the podcast, I spoke with Keith Aiken about coming on the show to talk about some of the knowledge he had… ten years later, the conversation is finally happening but it’s much more about all of the super cool stuff that Keith has been working on. If you don’t know Keith Aiken, you will after listening to this episode – he’s essentially been working in the background for a huge number of projects for kaiju fans: the Classic Media releases, commentaries, the 98 Godzilla Animated series – and that’s just the tip of the iceberg! I truly hope you enjoy this almost entirely unedited conversation with one of the guys who I’ve been consistently impressed with for well over ten years: Keith Aiken!   ULTRA MUSIC: 1. The Science Patrol Returns by Kuniyo Miyauchi from Ultraman (1966) 2. Two Giant Monsters by Kuniyo Miyauchi from Ultraman (1966) SUGGESTED VIEWING/LISTENING: SciFi Japan  SciFi Japan on Twitter SciFi Japan’s Facebook Group Mill Creek Entertainment’s Ultraman Releases Mill Creek Entertainment’s 2nd Release Announcement More information about the Tsuburaya Legal Troubles: Episode #141 Behind the Booska with Brad Warner Episode #149 Ultra Mess with August Ragone        

Jeff, Kyle, Gretchen and Rachel after our presentation at Rose City Comic Con 2019! Once again, the Kaijucast stomps through Portland’s own pop culture extravaganza, Rose City Comic Con!  This episode serves up the audio from our presentation at the convention: Release the Kaiju with my co-hosts playing the role of Monarch Outpost researchers and scientists… just a little fun with the subject matter. Obviously none of us work for an organization that tracks and studies titans across the world!  After the panel, stick around to find out what other shenanigans the crew was up to during the convention!  Oh, here’s that definitive list of our panels from the life of Rose City Comic Con: 2013 The Kaiju of Pacific Rim 2014 Godzilla vs Everything 2015 GIANT MONSTER HAPPY CHALLENGE Game Show Panel 2016 Monster Oddities 2017 Expanding the Legendary Monsterverse 2018 How Godzilla Got His Groove Back 2019 Release the Kaiju (or Mega Fauna Co-Existence and You) Hope to see you there next year! MUSICAL MOMENTS: 1. Welcome to Monarch by Bear McCreary from Godzilla King of the Monsters (2019)  2. Mothra vs. We Are Scientists by We Are Scientists from Safety, Fun, and Learning (in That Order) (2002) GALLERY Since we had such a great time talking about things you should see from the con, check these photos out! [See image gallery at kaijucast.com] Thanks for coming out to our panel this year, and if you missed it, we hope to see you next year!  

Motion Capture performer TJ Storm chats with Kyle about his experience in bringing the King of the Monsters to life! Over the past 65 years, Godzilla has been played by all sorts of awesome people: Haruo Nakajima, Kenpachiro Satsuma, Tsutomu “Tom” Kitagawa (just to name a few). Not all Godzilla actors hail from the land of the rising sun, however. We are thrilled to share this conversation with a new kind of Godzilla actor. He doesn’t wear a foam rubber suit in order to play the role of the King of the Monsters; he instead wears a lycra suit covered in ping pong balls. He grapples with other actors in similar lycra suits, and the end result is history’s and Hollywood’s beefiest beast of all, Legendary Pictures’ Godzilla. Our guest for this episode is none other than TJ Storm, the man who has brought life to the CGI Godzilla from Godzilla (2014) and Godzilla King of the Monsters (2019). Big thanks to Jessica Tseang for helping to arrange the interview and to Bob Johnson and his crew from Bay Area Film Events for the opportunity to steal some of TJ’s time during Godzilla Fest! Godzilla gets his motivation from actor TJ Storm during the filming of Godzilla King of the Monsters Please make sure to visit the links below to learn more about our guest and all of the awesome stuff that TJ helps organize! MOMENTARY MUSICAL MINUTES: 1. Godzilla King of the Monsters “Intimidation Display” TV Spot (2019) 2. Old Rivals by Bear McCreary from Godzilla King of the Monsters (2019) SUGGESTED VIEWING: Minds Eye Tribe SyFy “Genre MVP: The Motion Capture Actor Who’s Played Groot, Godzilla & Iron Man CBR’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters’ MoCap Actors Are IRL ‘Kaiju Brothers Befores & Afters’ Life As A Motion Capture Performer  HOUSEKEEPING: Our 4th enthy in the KAIJUCAST T-SHIRT OF THE MONTH: Return Of The King (a collaboration with MyKaiju Godzilla )  Rose City Comic Con is coming up, make sure to come out to our events: Kaijucast’s RELEASE THE KAIJU Panel at Rose City Comic Con 2019!  Our annual Kaijucast LISTENER PARTY at Killer Burger (Saturday night) Hope you enjoy this interview – we’ll be back for more episodes later this month!  

Michael Dougherty, director of Godzilla King of the Monsters, joins Kyle in this episode of the Kaijucast. [Photo credit: Robert Moreno]In this episode I sit down to speak with the director of Godzilla King of the Monsters (2019), Michael Dougherty, to discuss his love for the genre, his work on the newest film and even how his world view aligns with some of his characters’ motivations. If you haven’t seen Dougherty’s Godzilla King of the Monsters, you might want to wait until you’ve seen the film.  Consider this an obvious SPOILER WARNING that we talk at length and depth about his film. Also, please take note that I really enjoyed this new entry in the new era of American monster movies. This guy gets it, kaiju fiends! Also, make sure you keep an ear out for a twitter challenge from Dougherty himself   Major thanks to Bob Johnson, Bay Area Films Events and the Balboa Theatre.  Please make sure you check out the show notes below for more information about some of the subjects we chat about during the interview. Also, thanks to Michael Dougherty for taking the time to speak with me during his time in San Francisco! MUSICAL MOMENTS: 1. UK TV Spot for Godzilla King of the Monsters (2019) 2. Godzilla King of the Monsters Theme by Artificial Fear (2019)  SUGGESTED VIEWING: Godzilla King of the Monsters out on Blu Ray August 27th Cinefx Magazine’s online coverage of Godzilla King of the Monsters DopePope’s Gigan Every Titan in Godzilla King of the Monsters (via ScreenRant) ADI sculptor Tim Martin details the Rodan clay maquette, used to consolidate design concepts into a single physical sculpture (from Cinefex.com) HOUSEKEEPING/CATASTROPHIC EVENTS: GodzillaThon happening this weekend at the Hollywood Theatre! Our newest entry & collaboration with MyKaiju in our Tshirt of the Month project    

Kyle and Gretchen cover the latest kaiju news in episode 270 of the Kaijucast! We cannot ignore the importance of this episode’s news – and if you haven’t heard about it, get in here and listen! Just a heads up, this episode is really nothing but news. Gretchen and Kyle chat about the slew of kaiju-related articles and announcements that have broken headlines and brains over the past month – please make sure to check out the links below!  MUSICAL MONSTER MOMENT: 1. Godzula by MOD from Gross Misconduct (1989)  SUGGESTED VIEWING: Shin Ultraman details via Variety / via Polygon / via Skreeonk.com / via SlashFilm / via ComicBook.com Ultraman via Mill Creek Entertainment Announcement on Scifi Japan Ultra Q and Ultraman on Mill Creek Entertainment’s website 10-Minute Previews of Ultraman via Moviespree.com …also did you catch our Ultra Q and Ultraman episodes? Godzilla The Showa Era (1954-1975) is getting released on Blu Ray via Criterion + Scifi Japan’s Criterion set announcement SDCC News: Toho’s first ever Official SDCC Booth  SDCC News: Toho launches official English language Twitter & Instagram  SDCC News: Famous Monsters of Filmland to distribute X-Plus figures in the USA Godzilla Channel (official) on Youtube + Goji-ban show (episode 1) CNET Article on Godzillaban by Bonnie Burton REIGO and RAIGA preorders available from SRS Cinema CATASTROPHIC EVENT: 8/22 – 8/22 GODZILLA FEST in San Francisco, CA (make sure to listen to episode #268 with Bob Johnson) …and do not forget about GODZILLATHON happening at the Hollywood Theatre! The titles being shown are DESTROY ALL MONSTERS (1968), GODZILLA ON MONSTER ISLAND (1972 – aka Godzilla vs Gigan) 8/30 – 9/1 GODZILLATHON at the Hollywood Theatre in Portland, OR Godzilla vs Portland courtesy of the Hollywood Theatre (poster art by Nate Ashley)  

Kyle interviews diorama expert Takuji Yamada with Stan Hyde from G-Fest 26! We did it, guys! This is the last podcast recording I brought back with me from G-Fest 26 last month, and I’m thrilled to share this interview with master sculptor and diorama builder, Takuji Yamada. Yamada’s skill is incredible, please make sure to check out the links below to his book and museum and more! You will also hear the voice of modeler, G-Fest staffer and friend of the podcast, Stan Hyde. Mega thanks to the staff at G-Fest for allowing me the amazing opportunity to chat with these amazing guests! MOMENTOUS MUSIC: 1. Gamera’s Sudden Attack by Ko Otani from Gamera Guardian of the Universe (1995) 2. Embodiment of Slavery to Money by Kuniyo Miyauchi from the Kanagon’s Cocoon from Ultra Q (1966)  SUGGESTED VIEWING: Takuji Yamada’s Diorama Works (via Amazon) Takuji Yamada’s Diorama Works Volume 2 Hamamatsu Diorama Factory A great gallery of images from Yamada’s body of work Blam – we’ll be back with a NEWS episode really soon (we’ve already recorded it!)

Bay Area Film Events’ Bob Johnson joins Kyle to chat about Godzilla Fest later this month! Hey guys, its a mini-episode about a cool event happening down in San Francisco later this month, it’s Godzilla Fest! I’m joined by SciFi Japan editor and Bay Area Film Events‘ head honcho Bob Johnson to talk about this 3 day festival of movies playing at the historic Balboa Theater in the heart of San Francisco.  SUGGESTED VIEWING: Godzilla Fest Tickets & Schedule Godzilla Fest on Facebook Bay Area Film Events on FB Planet 8 Podcast’s KOTM review with a bonus Mike Dougherty interview   GODZILLA FEST FILMS: Here’s the film schedule for those going! Note: Matinees Overdubbed, Evening Screenings Subtitled Friday August 23: Theater 1: 7pm: FRANKENSTEIN CONQUERS THE WORLD (90 min) subtitled 9pm: WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS (88 min) subtitled Theater 2: 7pm: MONSTER ZERO (94 min) dubbed 9pm: WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS (88 min) dubbed Saturday August 24: Theater 1: Noon: GODZILLA VS MEGALON (81 min) 2pm: GODZILLA VS MECHAGODZILLA (84 min) 4:30pm: TERROR OF MECHAGODZILLA (83 mins) 7pm: GODZILLA KING OF ALL MONSTERS (2019) (132 mins) 9:30pm: DESTROY ALL MONSTERS (89 mins) Theater 2: 12:30pm: SON OF GODZILLA (86 mins) 2:30pm: RODAN (82 mins) 4:45pm: WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS (88 mins) 7:15pm: MOTHRA VS GODZILLA (1964) (89 mins) 9:30pm: MONSTER ZERO (94 mins) Sunday August 25: Theater 1: 11am: GODZILLA VS MECHAGODZILLA (81 mins) 1pm: TERROR OF MECHAGODZILLA (83 mins) 3:15pm: FRANKENSTEIN VS BARAGON (90 mins) 5:30pm: MOTHRA VS GODZILLA (1964) (89 mins) 7:45pm: GHIDORAH THE THREE HEADED MONSTER (93 mins) Theater 2: Noon: GODZILLA VS MEGALON (81 mins) 2pm: SON OF GODZILLA (86 mins) 4:15pm: RODAN (82 mins) 6:30pm: DESTROY ALL MONSTERS (89 mins)

Heisei Gamera and GMK director, Shusuke Kaneko shares the development process behind his kaiju films. Looks like it’s time to add a THIRD panel recording from G-Fest 26 – this time with the director of the Heisei Gamera trilogy (1995 – 1999) and Godzilla · Mothra · King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001), the one and only Shusuke Kaneko. In preparation for the panel, I wrote down a jillion questions for the director, but was quite happy when he showed up with his own stories to tell from filming with “the big Gs”. It was really great to be able to chat with him a little, but hopefully I can ask more questions in a future interview – until then those will just live in a note on my phone… But enough about me, let’s get you guys prepped for the panel. This was recorded in the room, not from the board, so the sound isn’t awesome (think of it like you’re in the room too). Hope you enjoy hearing directly from the man who helped elevate kaiju eiga in the late 1990s. Please sit back and enjoy the monster tales from Shusuke Kaneko’s giant monster movies! MODICUM OF MUSIC: 1. The Descent Of Iris by Ko Otani from Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris (1999) 2. The Forgotten Horror by Ko Otani from Godzilla · Mothra · King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001)

Veteran actor Akira Takarada entertains the crowds from G-Fest 26, right here in episode 266. We are back with another panel from G-Fest 26 with the always amazing Akira Takarada! You know this actor of course, in addition to being on the podcast back in 2013 and in my documentary, Hail to the King: 60 Years of Godzilla, Takarada played Ogata in the 1954 original Godzilla film, plus he’s returned to tokusatsu with many film roles over his 65 year long acting career. Huge thanks to the staff at G-Fest for this incredible opportunity! I wanted to ask Takarada-san about his life outside of Godzilla and learn a little bit more about Godzilla’s classmate in this interview. Holy moly, did Takarada-san ever deliver on schooling me (and the audience) about his life — and near life-and-death adventures…seriously! Since this was recorded from the room, the audio quality is not as great as I’d like it to be, but I hope this interview entertains AND gives you much more insight into the actor Akira Takarada.  MUSICAL MOMENTS OF MONSTROSITIES: 1. Escaping the Base by Masaru Sato from Godzilla vs The Sea Monster (1966) 2. Monster Zero by Akira Ifukube from Invasion of Astro Monster (1965) We’ll return before the end of the month with another interview from G-Fest!

Listen to all of this awesomeness with Kyle, Hiro (our interpreter), Sonoe Nakajima, Daisuke Sato and Gretchen in this special live episode from G-Fest! This episode was recorded LIVE at G-Fest earlier this month and it’s the 10th Anniversary Kaijucast Talk Show panel! Big thanks to the G-Fest staff for giving us the opportunity to interview these amazing guests – especially Tim Bean, Martin Arlt,  Jeff Horne & JD Lees. Without their help, we definitely could not pull off what we do at G-Fest! Let’s talk about the guests for this episode! Daisuke Sato was part of G-Fest last year after successfully kickstarting his independent kaiju film, Howl From Beyond the Fog. The film is not completed yet, but Sato brings us a very cool update. If you’d like to follow along with his slideshow I’ve included it below. We cannot wait to see the end result – Gretchen loved the 15 minute version he showed at the convention! HOWL FROM BEYOND THE FOG Photos [See image gallery at kaijucast.com] Sonoe Nakajima is the daughter of veteran actor, Haruo Nakajima (1929 – 2017). Nakajima played Godzilla from 1954 – 1972 and his daughter shares stories of her father and their life before and after Godzilla. We were so thankful to not only have the opportunity to speak to her, but also to share with the audience the BOSS Coffee commercial that was recently made as a tribute to Nakajima’s legacy. I’m embedding the video below so you can watch along. If you’d like to see some more “behind the scenes” videos from the creation of this commercial, check these out: Godzilla Special Report (1:00) The Hero Who’s Face You Cannot See Making of Video (2:00) GODZILLA VS HEDORAH FOR SETSUBUN Here’s that photo of Haruo Nakajima and Ken Satsuma performing the traditional setsubun activity of throwing dries soy beans at the devils (oni) – one of my favorite images from the 1970s.   I would also like to give a huge thank you to both Daisuke Sato (Howl From Beyond The Fog) and Sonoe Nakajima (daughter of Godzilla suit actor Haruo Nakajima) plus our incredible interpreter, Hiro for joining us for this celebratory episode!  

The Kaijucast crew and the listeners review the hell out of the new Godzilla film! Our very last Daikaiju Discussion episode comes in with flying colors – we had thirty listeners send in their homework for this film, and that’s on top of our hour plus chat too! No time to fill this space with extra verbiage; you’ve got a podcast to listen to! MUSIC OF THE TITANS: 1. Godzilla Main Theme by Bear McCreary from Godzilla King of the Monsters (2019) 2. Godzilla King of the Monsters (2019) Japanese Trailer 3. Godzilla King of the Monsters (2019) “Monsters Are Real” Promo Material 4. Godzilla (featuring Serj T) by Bear McCreary/Blue Oyster Cult from Godzilla King of the Monsters (2019) SUGGESTED VIEWING: Scifi Japan’s coverage of the Hollywood Premiere End Title Screengrabs via Japanese Blog (1 – 10) End Title Screengrabs via Japanese Blog (11 – 22) Godzilla King of the Monsters Hits Box Office Milestone   CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR MEME OF THE MONSTERS  CONTEST WINNERS! 3rd Place and Prize pack 3 goes to Nathan Marchand 2nd Place and Prize Pack 2 goes to Jack Horowitz First place and Prize pack #1 goes to Evan M Hodge!

Once again, it’s time to release the G-fest Hype Beast! Holy smokes, you guys, the world’s biggest annual festival of kaiju is coming up and coming in fast! Gretchen joined me to build a little hype for the convention that’s taking place next month in Chicago, Illinois (Rosemont, actually) G-FEST XXVI. We’re super excited for her to experience the awesomeness, so we hope you enjoy hearing us talk about what’s going on at the show next month! MUSICAL MOMENTS: 1. Mothra’s Song conducted by Michiru Oshima from Godzilla Tokyo SOS (2003) 2. Destroy All Monsters Promo from the Sci-Fi Channel 3. ULTRA 7 by Katokutai Band from Kaiki To Seigi (2018) 4. Monster Mash (Bonus Track) by Henry Jackman from Kong: Skull Island (2017) G-FEST LINKAGE: G-Fest website G-fest Schedule G-Fest on Facebook Kaijucast Listener Party Facebook Event For Those Who Wish to Note the Kaijucast Panels: Friday July 12: 4pm [DOJO STUDIOS] Dream Planet Kawakita Interview Saturday July 13: 10am [BALLROOM 2] Akira Takarada Interview 11am [BALLROOM 2] Shusuke Kaneko Interview 1pm [DOJO STUDIOS] Takuji Yamada Interview 3pm [BALLROOM 2] Kaijucast Live Talk Show SUNDAY July 14 2pm [BALLROOM 2] Collect All Monsters episode SUGGESTED VIEWING / HOUSEKEEPING: New T-Shirt of the Month: Daimajin by Gruesomgrphx It’s Terrible I Love It Podcast DAIKAIJU DISCUSSION We are handing out the final homework assignment for the daikaiju discussion segment and it’s for the brand new Legendary Pictures Monsterverse epic, Godzilla King of the Monsters. We know that just about every Godzilla fan is going to get out there and see this as soon as they are able, and we expect a lot of you to send in your homework – here’s some extra credit for you: what was your favorite moment from the movie? Please have your homework turned in by June 21st to have it included in the episode.

Rachel, Gretchen & Kyle cover some of the news leading up to Godzilla King of the Monsters (2019) Oh man, so much news I don’t even have the time to write a catchy intro paragraph – follow those links people!! MUSIC: 1. Last Shot by Alexander Desplat from Godzilla (2014) SUGGESTED VIEWING: International Posters Cinerama Dome Chinese Premier Photos (giant Godzilla statue and displays) Toho at the Licensing Expo (coming up June 4-6; I was wrong about the dates) Japanese Press event at Toho SciFi Japan Directory of all Godzilla King of the Monsters Merchandise Chibi Godzilla toys from China SH Monsterarts Godzilla King of the Monsters Figures Marmit Exclusive King Ghidorah Marmit Exclusive Godzilla ’91 Godzilla Defense Force Mobile game PUBG Mobile Godzilla Tie-In Godzilla vs Evangelion Tie-In at Universal Studios Osaka Duffy, if you were wondering… Shinpei Hayashiya REIGO & RAIGA films getting US Distribution Mill Creek Entertainment to release Mothra (1961) – Scifi Japan’s article about the release Ultraman Archives Project – Episode 14 “Tokyo Ice Age” BOSS Coffee Godzilla Commercial – and the teaser for that commercial!!! CATASTROPHIC EVENTS Get out to these events if you can! 5/31 Summit Kaiju Godzilla Charity Fundraiser in Denver, CO 5/31 – Godzilla King Of The Monsters Tailgate Party at COMIC BOOK JONES in Staten Island, NY 5/31 – 6/1 Richmond Galaxy Con with Gamera vs Viras actor Carl Craig & King Kong Escapes Actress Linda Miller in Richmond, VA 6/1 – 65 YEARS OF GODZILLA: Godzilla Invades New Hartford, NY! 6/13 – 6/16 Anime Matsuri in Houston, TX with THE GODZILLA STORE and much more! 6/28 GODZILLA-PALOOZA in Lehighton, PA 7/5 – 7/7 Days of the Dead Indianapolis with Godzilla actor Kenpachiro Satsuma 7/12 – 7/14 G-FEST XXVI in Chicago, IL 8/16 – 8/18 Japan World Heroes in Pasadena, CA 8/23 – 8/25 GodzillaFest in San Francisco, CA 8/30 – 9/1 Days of the Dead Louisville with Mizuho Yoshida in Louisville Kentucky NEW KAIJUCAST CONTEST We’ve launched the Kaijucast Godzilla Meme of the Monsters Challenge and we want to LOL at your meme-ery! Make sure to check out the contest page for more details on how you can win one of our Godzilla King of the Monsters prize packs. DAIKAIJU DISCUSSION We are handing out the final homework assignment for the daikaiju discussion segment and it’s for the brand new Legendary Pictures Monsterverse epic, Godzilla King of the Monsters. We know that just about every Godzilla fan is going to get out there and see this as soon as they are able, and we expect a lot of you to send in your homework – here’s some extra credit for you: what was your favorite moment from the movie? Side note: Dave wanted to make sure you all know that the film wants to be seen on the biggest screen possible! Please have your homework turned in by June 21st to have it included in the episode.

With all of this Ultra-coverage happening around here, we decided that we should strike while the iron is hot and this episode of the Kaijucast is covering the 13-episode Netflix anime series based on the 2012 manga, Ultraman! Gretchen and Kyle are essentially sitting down to chat about the strengths and weaknesses of the series, and while we would love to have made this an insanely deep dive into this series, it seems the the Ultra historians haven’t unpacked all of what the show has to offer – it was only released a month and a half ago, after all. Regardless, this series is a lot of fun and, while it is not really even close to being perfect, we measure its success against other rebooted anime and pop-culture properties from recent years. Probably the most important takeaway (please do listen to the full episode too!) is that we’re excited to see the story continue. M78 ULTRA-MUSIC: 1. Dan Moroboshi’s Theme by Nobuko Toda & Kazuma Jinnouchi from Ultraman (2019) 2. English language trailer for Ultraman (2019) 3. Hero Battle by Nobuko Toda & Kazuma Jinnouchi from Ultraman (2019) SUGGESTED VIEWING: Ultraman Anime Official Website Ultraman (2019) On Netflix Ultraman Manga via Viz Entertainment Ultraman The Adventure Begins CATASTROPHIC EVENTS: 5/21 Portland Horror Trivia Massacre vs Godzilla in Portland, OR 5/28 PhilaMOCA’s Tokusatsu Tuesday May Edition in Philadelphia, PA 5/31 – 6/1 Richmond GalaxyCon in Richmond, VA with Gamera vs Viras actor Carl Craig 6/13 – 6/16 Anime Matsuri in Houston, TX with THE GODZILLA STORE and much more! 7/5 – 7/7 Days of the Dead Indianapolis in Indianapolis, IN with Godzilla suit actor Kenpachiro Satsuma 7/12 – 7/14 G-FEST XXIV in Chicago, IL with too many awesome things to list in one line! 8/16 – 8/18 Japan World Heroes in Pasadena, CA with Shinji Nishikawa, Tsutomu Kitagawa, Carl Craig, Linda Miller & many more! 8/30 – 9/1 Days of the Dead Louisville in Louisville, KY with GMK suit actor Mizuho Yoshida   CURRENT MERCH RUNS: Don’t miss out on our 10th anniversary poster designed by Mondo artist Tom Whalen now in stock and available until we sell out (limited run of 100) and starting this month, we’ve opened a preorder for the 10th anniversary design for our T-Shirt Of The Month club — and we’re offering it on two different styles: on plain white -or- a Baseball-style raglan shirt with blue sleeves. Don’t delay; the pre-order window closes on May 31st!  

Kyle, Charles, Rachel and Dave entertain Hachi with Ultraman (1966) coverage! You wanted it, you got it! Or, maybe I should say that I wanted it, so I made it. That’s right, Ultra fiends, we are talking about the 1966  television show, created by the same special effects director that brought Godzilla to life, Eiji Tsuburaya. We are covering Ultraman (1966) and it’s about freakin’ time, right? Originally, I was planning on putting this together for Ultraman’s 50th anniversary, but the Godzilla has his own plan for it. Here it is, almost three years late – but hopefully you’ll agree it’s worth the wait. In this episode, we welcome back the author of Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters, August Ragone to tell us about the genesis of the Ultraman. Make sure to check out his book (as mentioned above) and some of the links below.  Additionally, I asked several co-hosts to take part in this episode’s discussion segment. This discussion features Rachel, who we all know loves Pigmon, and Dave who lucky enough to watch Ultraman as a kid, but when Charles who’d never seen Ultraman, voiced interest in joining the episode, I welcomed the opportunity to have the newbie reaction. Similar to our Ultra Q episode, we cannot cover all 39 episodes of Ultraman in one episode of the Kaijucast. We’ve each chosen two episodes to highlight  – thankfully two of the episodes overlapped! The episodes covered in this episode are as follows: Episode 2: DEFEAT THE INVADERS/SHOOT THE INVADERS featuring Alien Baltan Episode 8: LAWLESS MONSTER ZONE featuring Red King, Chandlar, Magular & Pigmon Episode 11: RUFFIAN FROM OUTER SPACE featuring Gyango Episode 13: OIL SOS featuring Pestar Episode: 28 HUMAN SPECIMENS 5 & 6 featuring Alien Dada Episode: 35 MONSTER GRAVEYARD featuring Seabozu Episode 37: THE LITTLE HERO featuring Geronimon, Pigmon, Dorako & Telesdon ULTRAMUSIC: 1. Ultraman Theme Song performed by Animetal from Animetal Marathon 3: Tsuburaya Edition (1998) 2. Theme of the Science Patrol (Vocal Version)by Kuniyo Miyauchi from Ultraman (1966 3. Ultraman’s Color Time audio clip from the English dub of Ultraman (1966) 4. Go Go Go Ultraman by Kuniyo Miyauchi from Ultraman (1966) 5. Kaiju Booska Theme by Kuniyo Miyauchi from Kaiju Booska (1966) – Plus the episode wouldn’t be the same with out the following (used as background music) 6. Shoot the Invader by Kuniyo Miyauchi from Ultraman (1966) 7. Lawless Zone of Monsters by Kuniyo Miyauchi from Ultraman (1966) 8. Rogue and Magic Stone from Spaceby Kuniyo Miyauchi from Ultraman (1966) 9. Theme of the Science Patrolby Kuniyo Miyauchi from Ultraman (1966) 10. Little Heroby Kuniyo Miyauchi from Ultraman (1966) 11. Human Specimen 5 and 6by Kuniyo Miyauchi from Ultraman (1966) 12. The Monster Graveyardby Kuniyo Miyauchi from Ultraman (1966) 13. A Little Hero by Kuniyo Miyauchi from Ultraman (1966) SUGGESTED VIEWING: Tsuburaya wins victory in court to sell Ultraman overseas Our Ultra Q Coverage with August Ragone (in episode 16) Our Ultra Q Coverage with August Ragone (in episode 258) Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters (August’s book) The Good, The Bad and Godzilla (August’s Blog) August Ragone on Twitter Pestar takes a drink! (1966) MERCH HAWKING: T-shirt Of The Month Club for May: Tom Whalen’s design Kaijucast 10th Anniversary Poster by MONDO artist Tom Whalen