#shigeru kayama

[atomic-crusader]

Read in 2023

Godzilla and Godzilla Raids Again by Shigeru Kayama translated by Jeffrey Angles

9/10

[pkmatrix]

Toho Kingdom did a very interesting interview with Jeffrey Angles, the professor who translated Godzilla and Godzilla Raids Again into English.

Not only talks about the books and what went into the translation, but also confirms they're seriously looking into translating and publishing The Luminous Fairies and Mothra. :D

[brokehorrorfan]

The original novelizations of Godzilla and Godzilla Raids Again will be published in English for the first time on October 3. They'll be available in paperback and e-book via University of Minnesota Press.

First published in 1955, the books were written by Shigeru Kayama, who conceived the original story for Godzilla. They’ve been newly translated into English by Jeffrey Angles, professor of Japanese at Western Michigan University.

The two young adult novellas are being published together in one 256-page book. The official synopsis is below.

Godzilla emerged from the sea to devastate Tokyo in the now-classic 1954 film, produced by Tōhō Studios and directed by Ishirō Honda, creating a global sensation and launching one of the world’s most successful movie and media franchises. Awakened and transformed by nuclear weapons testing, Godzilla serves as a terrifying metaphor for humanity’s shortsighted destructiveness: this was the intent of Shigeru Kayama, the science fiction writer who drafted the 1954 original film and its first sequel and, in 1955, published these novellas.

Although the Godzilla films have been analyzed in detail by cultural historians, film scholars, and generations of fans, Kayama’s two Godzilla novellas—both classics of Japanese young-adult science fiction—have never been available in English. This book finally provides English-speaking fans and critics the original texts with these first-ever English-language translations of Godzilla and Godzilla Raids Again. The novellas reveal valuable insights into Kayama’s vision for the Godzilla story, feature plots that differ from those of the films, and clearly display the author’s strong antinuclear, proenvironmental convictions.

Kayama’s fiction depicts Godzilla as engaging in guerrilla-style warfare against humanity, which has allowed the destruction of the natural world through its irresponsible, immoral perversion of science. As human activity continues to cause mass extinctions and rapid climatic change, Godzilla provides a fable for the Anthropocene, powerfully reminding us that nature will fight back against humanity’s onslaught in unpredictable and devastating ways.

Pre-order Godzilla and Godzilla Raids Again by Shigeru Kayama.

[randomrichards]

GODZILLA RAIDS AGAIN:

New kaiju in town

Battles a new Godzilla

How to stop them both

[anamon-book]

魔婦の足跡－昭和ミステリ秘宝　香山滋 扶桑社文庫 カバーデザイン＝平野甲賀、カバー装画＝深津真也

[thatwritererinoriordan]

[moorheadthanyoucanhandle]

KAIJU; GESUNDHEIT

A few odds and ends: First, check out my review, on Geek News Network, of the Jeffery Angles translation of Shigeru Kayama's original Godzilla and Godzilla Raids Again novelizations from 1955...

...as well as my review, online at Phoenix Magazine, of Kraven the Hunter...

And here's one of the odder pieces of "For Your Consideration" movie schwag I've ever recieved; a View-Master with images of Angelina Jolie as Maria Callas in Pablo Larrain's Maria:

[theinternetisaweboflies]

[oneofusnet]

Giganticast Episode 32: Translating Godzilla GIGANTICAST EPISODE 32: TRANSLATING GODZILLA Matt gets obnoxiously cerebral in that way you all seem to like when he brings on Jeffrey Angles, Professor of Japanese at Western Michigan University, and translator of Shigeru Kayama’s original GODZILLA novellas from 1955! You can purchase the book right here:     YOUR HOST   Matt Frank (Giganticast, Highly Suspect Reviews, Screener Squad) Matt Frank is known in both Japan and America as the “Kaiju King,” having been an artist for IDW’s Godzilla comics since 2011. His work can be found in Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters, Godzilla: History’s Greatest Monster, Godzilla: Legends, Godzilla:… Read More »Giganticast Episode 32: Translating Godzilla read more on One of Us

[godzillajuniorreborn]

This could be very interesting.

https://www.amazon.com/Godzilla-Raids-Again-Shigeru-Kayama/dp/1517915236/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=godzilla&qid=1679164212&s=books&sprefix=godz%2Cstripbooks%2C125&sr=1-4

[cesarescabinet]

Casting ideas for a 1960s Le Morte D'Arthur adaptation in Edo Japan (Orkney Edition):

King Lot: Masayuki Mori

Queen Morgause: Machiko Kyo

Sir Gawain: Shigeru Amachi

Sir Mordred: Tsutomu Yamazaki

Sir Agravaine: Tatsuya Nakadai

Sir Gaheris: Yūzō Kayama

Sir Gareth: Akira Ishihama

[deuterosapiens]

This is a fun bit of reading, but I cannot take exactly one thing here seriously. You know Godzilla's beautiful, iconic roar? That thing you can hear clearly, echoing in your meat and your head at the sheer suggestion of it?

I have no idea how I might have chosen to represent it in writing. I'd probably just prose the hell put of it, instead of attempting to just write it. Why? Because whatever the best way to write that cry is, I do not think this is is:

Just, this doesn't feel quite right, you know?

[astoundingbeyondbelief]

Kaiju Weeks in Review (September 10-30, 2023)

I adore Godzilla Final Wars, but it's a movie with an identity crisis, unsure whether it wants to be headlining a Toho Champion Festival or mesmerizing American teenagers at a mid-aughts multiplex. @spacehunter-m's Final Wars 2004: The Year We Make Corn-Tack gives it a strong tug in the first direction, whittling the runtime down to 77 minutes and replacing most of the music and sound effects. She was inspired by Space Warriors 2000, of all things; as she put it, both films are "largely comprised of nonstop, monotonous action." As in that bizarro Ultraman compilation film, the kaiju trash-talk each other. It makes you wonder why Ryuhei Kitamura didn't at least bring back the speech bubbles from Godzilla vs. Gigan. Kaiju fan edits are rare, and this is in a class all by itself. Download it here.

Shigeru Kayama's novelizations of Godzilla (1954) and Godzilla Raids Again are out—hopefully the first of many to come. My copy only arrived on Saturday, so I haven't had the chance to read the whole thing yet, but I've made it through Godzilla. It's interesting to see Kayama, who wrote the initial treatment, take another swing at the story after the film was finished. He puts back moments like Godzilla eating a cow and attacking a lighthouse, and is also more overt with the wartime allusions. There's an incredible moment where Dr. Yamane muses that studying Godzilla and learning his secrets could be Japan's way of redeeming itself after "caus[ing] a great deal of trouble to people throughout the world." Note that these are novella-length, so much less in-depth than the novelizations of American Godzilla films you might be used to (Godzilla Raids Again is less than 80 pages). The book ends with an afterword by translator Jeffrey Angles contextualizing the tales.

Godzilla: War for Humanity continues to be a standout IDW miniseries. There's a new and very weird monster in the second issue, plus a no-nonsense Mothra (she tries to recruit Godzilla to fight Zoospora by shooting him in the back of the head and dragging him into the ocean in front of Minilla).

I've also got to mention the solicitation for another Godzilla Rivals installment, due December 20. Nola Pfau is writing, Megan Huang is illustrating.

Jen Onça is not excited to start her new, fast-paced fast-food career at Minilla Burger, but she'd much prefer a mundane day to the sudden return of Megalon! The monster brings destruction, trapping Jen in a forgotten lab deep beneath the restaurant with only the half-built form of Jet Jaguar to help her get out! She must repair the robotic defender to save herself and the city, but first she needs to escape the rubble trapping her in this tense adventure!

Yuzo the Biggest Battle in Tokyo, Yoshikazu Ishii's follow-up to Attack of the Giant Teacher, has also been picked up by SRS Cinema. No release details yet. I can't really speak to the film either, since it screened at the same time as Yumiko Shaku's panel at G-Fest, but as you can see from the poster, it's set during the pandemic.

The GAMERA -Rebirth- Gyaos has joined Godzilla Battle Line as an unusual sort of swarm unit. Your first summon of the match calls forth two sub-adults, and by the fifth summon you're sending out two sub-adults and three adults, still for four energy. They're probably the best swarm in the game, though still highly vulnerable to AOE units like Godzilla '01. I'm having fun with them in the Challenge Battles.

Notzilla, one of the sharpest kaiju comedies out there, is unexpectedly getting the graphic novel treatment. Mitch Teemley is adapting his own screenplay, with art by Zumart Putra. The comic is already finished, although I'm not clear on how folks who didn't back the Kickstarter (which wrapped on September 11) will get it. Useless trivia: the terrific cover above (one of four) is by Ben Dunn, who wrote the How to Draw Manga book I poured over in middle school.

After Troll shattered Netflix streaming records (according to Netflix), it's not super surprising that the company wants a sequel. Priority one: coming up with a title that's not Troll 2. Screenwriter Espen Aukan and director Roar Uthaug will both return.

Toy highlights of the past few weeks:

After confusing everyone by teasing its silhouette the day before April Fools', Tamashii has fully unveiled an S.H.Monsterarts Godzilla '72, a rare Showa figure from the line. It comes with two heads, one of them bloodied (see above). Due at the end of February.

After finally running out of ways to repaint their mold of Hedorah's Perfect Stage, Bandai is making a Movie Monster Series figure of the kaiju's Landing Stage. A Godzilla Store exclusive, it'll be released October 25.

After over two years, Funko is releasing a trio of Godzilla Singular Point Pops. Hopefully they go all-out with this show—it's not like there's any other plausible way for a Satomi Kanahara figure to exist.

[godzilla-reads]

10. for the bookish asks please!

10. What’s your favorite flower? Post a book cover that has the same aesthetic as your flower.

Oooo, I LOVE Dahlias, they’re so beautiful.

In lieu of this picture, I’d recommend the book “Godzilla and Godzilla Raids Again” by Shigeru Kayama (trans. Jeffrey Angles).

[moorheadthanyoucanhandle]

FLOW CHART

The Oscar nominations came out earlier this week; Your Humble Narrator graciously waited until afterwards to present my Top Ten List for 2024, so as not to make the Academy's announcement an anticlimax. Here, roughly in order of preference, are the ten films that I think I liked best this year:

1. Flow--No movie last year meant quite as much to me as this wordless, visually exquisite animated feline adventure from Latvia.  

2. Conclave--This Vatican melodrama has the sweep of a great silent, but also humane and lovable performances, especially that of Ralph Fiennes.

3. The Bikeriders--Compelling, beautifully shot wheeler held together by the funny, sensible performance of Jodie Comer.

4. Heretic--Comparative religion debate in horror movie form; it goes a bit too gruesome in the homestretch, perhaps, and it's defamatory toward blueberry pie, but Hugh Grant's performance is a tour de force.

5. A Complete Unknown--Dylan's early years make for a conventional but enjoyable and musically rich biopic.

6. Nickel Boys--The horrors of a Florida reform school for boys, and the triumph of friendship, both seen from the point of view of two of the boys. Heartbreaking but thrilling.

7. A Real Pain--Two Jewish cousins from New York go to Poland together to explore their grandmother's Holocaust experience. Kieran Culkin is marvelous as the loud, nervy inappropriate one; writer-director Jesse Eisenberg's performance as the quiet one would be easy to overlook, but he's also terrific.

8. Kneecap--West Belfast lads stir up trouble performing hip hop in Irish, as in the Irish language; hard to resist.

9. Sing Sing--Colman Domingo is a powerhouse at the center of this drama about the Rehabilitation Through the Arts program at the title correctional facility; many of his superb costars are actual veterans of the program.

10. Anora--Brooklyn sex worker marries Russian oligarch's playboy son and imagines it's forever. The movie goes on too long and has a few complications too many, but it's ruefully funny, and Mikey Madison is great in the title role.

A few other titles that I found worth watching in 2024: The Fire Inside, Love Lies Bleeding, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Queer, My Old Ass, Between the Temples, Saturday Night, Thelma, Challengers, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, the long-belated Pitch People and Francis Ford Coppola's infuriating yet inspiring Megalopolis. It's also important to note that there are also many major flicks, notably The Brutalist, The Substance, Wicked, Hard Truths, The Last Showgirl and September 5, that I haven't caught up with yet.

You can check out my short article, online at Phoenix Magazine, on this year's Chandler International Film Festival, running today through February 2.

Finally, for the kind few who might possibly care, here's the embarrassingly short list of books I read in 2024 (excluidng, as always, short stories, articles, poems, comics, fridge magnets, instruction manuals, road signs and stuff I'm re-reading):

The Great Time Machine Hoax by Keith Laumer

Prequel: An  American Fight Against Fascism by Rachel Maddow

Godzilla and Godzilla Raids Again by Shigeru Kayama

Eneas Africanus by Harry Stillwell Edwards

Billy Summers by Stephen King

Playback by Raymond Chandler

Bound to Rise by Horatio Alger, Jr.

My Childhood by Maxim Gorky

She'll Never Get Off the Ground by Robert J. Serling

[tsunflowers]

Flowers, did you see that the english translation of the original Godzilla (and Godzilla Raids Again) novelization was published this year? The novelization was written by Shigeru Kayama and has an even heavier antinuclear, proenvironmental theme than the movie.

I did not see! but it looks like my library has a copy so I'll put it on hold right away. actually I'm surprised I didn't come across it organically at the library since it's filed under "new scifi" and I check that shelf pretty regularly