#if zander payed me a lot of money I’d totally write an official novelization

[iamthekaijuking]

A review of Kaijumax and its themes

(trigger warning for mention of dark topics. Also Kaijumax spoilers)

Something that continues to amaze me about the kaiju genre is just how versatile it is. Its ability to mesh with just about any genre is no doubt a reason why it has persisted for what is gradually creeping closer to a century. And of course the best kaiju media always has something important to say sociopolitically, and indeed that commentary is part of its dna. From warnings of nuclear weapons, to failings of a current government, to nationalism and even the state of the economy. But these are usually topics that affect pretty much everyone. Very rarely do you see a piece of kaiju media that says something about topics more personal or about the people in society who have the least power.

Kaijumax is one of those few.

Created by @zandercannon (who I’m pretty sure has abandoned his tumblr) and published by oni press, Kaijumax tells a story of kaiju in a prison system, and the drama that entails. The kaiju are stand ins for marginalized groups and criminals this time, and while using city flattening monsters usually isn’t a good choice for representing these people, I think it works here because Zander has gone out of his way to make sure that humans are the ones with the power in this setting. The kaiju really do feel like minorities that society loathes often for hypocritical or even little reason.

Most review companies say Kaijumax is a cult classic (somehow it’s a classic even though it finished this year?) and this is a rare occasion where I agree with critics. Kaijumax is a must read if you can get your tentacles, claws, or whatever monstrous grabby grabbies you have on it.

So long as you can stomach it. It’s not gory or gross, but Kaijumax is one of the darkest pieces of media I’ve ever consumed in spite of its fun art style.

What I specifically want to talk about though is the messages it tells us and moments that define them. Of course this also includes spoilers.

Volume 1 sort of sets us up, and introduces us to everything. Usually we follow Electrogor and indeed he’s the main character in volume 1. Right off the bat we’re shown the brutality of prison life with gang violence and with nobody Electrogor can trust even though all he wants to do is get back to his kids and take care of them. Corruption and racism is rampant in Kaijumax prison. I should warn though that Electrogor does get r*ped off screen so that’s a potential trigger.

Volume 2 follows Electrogor breaking out to get back to his kids and one major theme for a few issues is…

Racism. There’s also quite a bit about the Thin Blue Line. We also see how Electrogor’s kids have been holding up in his absence and… it’s not the best. Electrogor and his daughter Torgrax produce uranium on their backs and in this setting uranium is a hardcore drug for kaiju. In order to make ends meet Torgrax has essentially been selling her body to support herself and her brother. She’s technically selling drugs but it plays out like prostitution. Despite the wild setting, this does unfortunately have parallels with real life. Many families in poverty have to resort to typically unsavory professions and crime just to get by.

Volume 3 has Electrogor and his family return to Kaijumax and this time it’s all about a gang war and abusive parents (Electrogor isn’t one of the aforementioned parents, don’t worry he’s a good dad). We also witness Whoofy (a Minilla expy) and his downward spiral due to his guilt complex over not being able to do anything while his father Apewhale and his gang destroyed cities. There’s also a bit of domestic abuse too.

Volume 4 shakes things up by showing us the women’s half of Kaijumax prison and we get to see some stuff about ptsd and more domestic abuse.

In volume 5 Pikachu’s ass gets the chair! Okay technically it’s a pikachu expy who’s the leader of a Pokémon and other mon games inspired gang. Most of the volume takes place in the court room and Pikadon’s case is morally grey, although he never tells anyone what actually happened and appears as a remorseless killer to everyone. He technically did kill someone cold blood and his reason for doing it was actually justified. We also get a bit of stuff about a character having been groomed (in fact that word is the title for one issue) and a Kaijumax inmate becoming horrified to learn that his boyfriend is the closest a kaiju can be to a pedophile; a literal child predator. Sprinkles the unidragon totally deserved to be choked to death for that.

Volume 6 is about an alien invasion touches on how the system in which we live in is absolutely fucked and that the true monsters in power do everything they can to stay in power and flatten anybody opposing them underfoot. This is the final volume and Kaijumax ends on a pretty bittersweet note. Telling us that the world we live in is ruled by complete sociopaths who will replace you at the drop of a hat, and that you have to play the long game and count your blessings.

Pretty dark stuff huh?

Of course Kaijumax isn’t all doom and gloom. There are plenty of fun and lighthearted moments, and my favorites have got to be when War of the Gargantuans expies perform the entire original godzilla film as a rap stage play, and when two team rocket expy lawyers in volume 5 show up fashionably late to court and perform the team rocket intro but lawyer edition. What I’m saying is Kaijumax can be fucking hilarious when it wants to, and is saturated in references and love for not just tokusatsu media but 90s animated shows and old anime. Some of these references are really obscure too. For instance I had no idea what Science Ninja Team Gatchaman was before reading volume 2.

Some of the references though are sprinkled into the dialogue through the various slang the kaiju use, which is very fun and clever. A lot of the dialogue references are godzilla related as that pretty much comes with the territory of being a piece of kaiju media, even if the setting of Kaijumax takes more after Ultraman. It should be noted though that in early Kaijumax these treaded close to actual slurs, but Zander and his writing consultant took note of this and laid off on the parallels, so if it seems a little much at the beginning, don’t worry, it doesn’t stay that way long.

At the end of every issue is also a few pages of extra stuff too, and this is where Zander does some Q&As and movie reviews, and tells you what little character you should keep in eye out for in the issue you just read. Sort of like a kaiju case of Where’s Waldo?. Usually it’s Grubbzo.

The art of Kaijumax evolves with each volume as well. With volume 1 being pretty good but by the final volume it has stylized and improved to such an extent that Kaijumax could be considered a sort of artist’s journey.

And speaking of art; I made fanart of my favorite characters!

Whoofy is actually pretty easy to draw but he was a lot of fun. Basically just a tube with limbs.

Here’s Kaijumax’s resident kind hearted hustler Giant Monster Terongo Terror of Pago Pago. He’s basically just a vaguely pterosaur shaped kaiju a la Rodan but I decided to see what he’d look like with more actual pteranodon anatomy. His color changes a lot over the story from blues to greens, so I took a middle ground and made him mint. I also tried making him throw peace signs but it just looks like he’s missing his thumbs.

And finally the main character of the show Electrogor. His design is really fun and has an early 2000s/90s monster feel to it. He’s obviously meant to be a nondescript bug kaiju but always thought that he could be a crustacean before realizing you could easily apply insect anatomy to him (so I guess still technically a crustacean). I also used Matt Frank’s art of him as reference too. He’s a little off proportions wise but I’m pretty proud of him.

That’s my Kaijumax review. Hopefully it was comprehensible.