Kaiju

Daikaiju (giant monster) Godzilla from the 1954 Godzilla film, one of the first Japanese movies to feature a giant monster.

Kaijin (humanoid monster) Half human from 1955 Half Human film

Kaijū (怪獣, kaijū) (from Japanese "strange beast")^[1] is a film genre that features monsters, usually attacking a major Japanese city or engaging other monsters in battle. It is a subgenre of tokusatsu (special effects-based) entertainment.

Related terms include kaijū eiga (怪獣映画, kaijū eiga, monster movie), a film featuring giant monsters or a single monster; kaijin (怪人, referring to roughly humanoid monsters); and daikaiju (大怪獣, daikaijū, 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. Chōjin Sentai Jetman features monsters based on traffic lights, faucets and tomatoes;^[2] Kamen Rider Super-1 includes a whole army of monsters based on household objects such as umbrellas and utility ladders.^[3]

Monsters famous in English stories, such as vampires, werewolves, mummies and zombies, fall into this category. Frankenstein's monster was a starring kaiju in the Toho films Frankenstein Conquers the World, and The War of the Gargantuas.

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

Godzilla and Anguirus from 1955 Godzilla Raids Again film. The film was the first to feature two kaiju battling each other. This would go on to become a common theme in kaiju films.

Daikaiju (giant monster) Rodan from a 1956 Rodan film

Kaijin (humanoid monster) Daimajin from Daimajin trilogy

Japanese

• Godzilla (1954)
• Rodan (1956)
• The Mysterians (1957)
• Varan the Unbelievable (1958)
• The Birth of Japan (1959)
• Mothra (1961)
• Gorath (1962)
• Atragon (1963)
• Dogora (1964)
• Frankenstein Conquers the World (1965)
• Gamera (1965)
• The Magic Serpent (1966)
• Daimajin (1966)
• The War of the Gargantuas (1966)
• The X from Outer Space (1967)
• Gappa: The Triphibian Monster (1967)
• King Kong Escapes (1967)
• Latitude Zero (1969)
• Space Amoeba (1970)
• Daigoro vs. Goliath (1972)
• Legend of Dinosaurs & Monster Birds (1977)
• The Return of Godzilla (1984)
• Yamata no Orochi no Gyakushū (1985)
• Gamera: Guardian of the Universe (1995)
• Rebirth of Mothra (1996)
• Rebirth of Mothra II (1997)
• Rebirth of Mothra III (1998)
• Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001)
• Ultraman: The Next (2004)
• Negadon: The Monster from Mars (2005)
• Gamera: The Brave (2006)
• Deep Sea Monster Reigo (2008)
• The Monster X Strikes Back/Attack the G8 Summit (2008)
• Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy (2009)
• Death Kappa (2010)
• Zella: Monster Martial Law (2014)
• Godzilla (2016)

American

• King Kong (1933)
• The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953)
• Them! (1954)
• It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955)
• The Phantom from 10,000 Leagues (1955)
• Tarantula (1955)
• The Deadly Mantis (1957)
• The Giant Claw (1957)
• The Giant Behemoth (1959)
• King Kong (1976)
• King Kong Lives (1986)
• Zarkorr! The Invader (1996)
• Godzilla (1998)
• Kraa! the Sea Monster (1998)
• King Kong (2005)
• Cloverfield (2008)
• Firebreather (2010)
• Pacific Rim (2013)
• Godzilla (2014)
• 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)
• Pacific Rim 2 (TBA)
• Godzilla 2 (TBA)

England

• Gorgo (1961)
• The Lost Continent (1968)
• Monsters (2010)
• Monsters: Dark Continent (2014)

Italian

• Goliath Against the Giants (1961)

Korean

• Yonggary (1967)
• Pulgasari (1985)
• Yonggary (1999)
• The Host (2006)

Thailand

• Garuda (2004)

Danish

• Reptilicus (1961)

Comics

• Enormous (2012, 2014–Present)
• Pacific Rim: Tales from Year Zero (2013) ^[4]
• Godzilla: Rulers of Earth ^[5] Godzilla Comics Series (IDW) 2013, 1-25
• Pacific Rim: Tales from the Drift (2015) ^[6]
• Project Nemesis Comic Published By American Gothic Press (2015)

Video games

• Godzilla video games (Toho 1983–present)
• Rampage (Bally Midway 1986)
• King of the Monsters (SNK 1991)
• Ultraman video games (Tsuburaya 1991–present)
• Gamera 2000 (Virgin Interactive 1996)
• Robot Alchemic Drive (Sandlot 2002)
• War of the Monsters (Sony, Incognito Entertainment 2003)
• Pacific Rim video games (Yuke's/Reliance 2013)
• The Fall of Nemesis: Clash of the Kaijujin (Sunstone Games 2014-15, 2016)
• Enormous: The Video Game (NX, Wii U 2016)
• ShinKaiju At Battles NX (Nintendo in NX 2016 or 2017) A Spiritual Successor To WOTM To Sony's War of the Monsters has Poor Sequel.

Television

• Marine Kong (Nisan Productions. April 3, 1960 – September 25, 1960)
• Ultra Q (Tsuburaya Productions January 2, 1966 – July 3, 1966)
• Ultraman (Tsuburaya Productions July 17, 1966 – April 9, 1967)
• Kaiju Booska (Tsuburaya Productions November 9, 1966 – September 27, 1967)
• Ultra Seven (Tsuburaya Productions October 1, 1967 – September 8, 1968)
• Giant Robo (tokusatsu) (Toei Company October 11, 1967 – April 1, 1968)
• Mighty Jack (Tsuburaya Productions April 6, 1968 – June 29, 1968)
• Spectreman (Fuji Television January 2, 1971 - March 25, 1972)
• The Return of Ultraman (Tsuburaya Productions April 2, 1971 – March 31, 1972)
• Mirrorman (TV series) (Tsuburaya Productions December 5, 1971 – November 26, 1972)
• Redman (TV series) (Tsuburaya Productions April 3, 1972 – September 8, 1972)
• Ultraman Ace (Tsuburaya Productions April 7, 1972 – March 30, 1973)
• Iron King (Senkosha Productions October 8, 1972 – April 8, 1973)
• Jumborg Ace (Tsuburaya Productions January 17 - December 29, 1973)
• Fireman (TV series) (Tsuburaya Productions January 17, 1973 – July 31, 1973)
• Zone Fighter (Toho April 2 - September 24, 1973)
• Ultraman Taro (Tsuburaya Productions April 6, 1973 – April 5, 1974)
• Super Robot Red Baron (Nippon Television July 4, 1973 – March 27, 1974)
• Ultraman Leo (Tsuburaya Productions April 12, 1974 – March 28, 1975)
• Super Sentai (Toei Company 1975–present)
• Godzilla (Hanna-Barbera 1978 - 1981)
• Ultraman 80 (Tsuburaya Productions April 2, 1980 – March 25, 1981)
• Denkou Choujin Gridman (Tsuburaya Productions 1993 - 1994)
• Ultraman Tiga (Tsuburaya Productions September 7, 1996 - August 30, 1997)
• Ultraman Dyna (Tsuburaya Productions September 6, 1997 - August 29, 1998)
• Godzilla Island (Toho 1997 - 1998)
• Godzilla: The Series (Sony Pictures Television 1998 - 2000)
• Ultraman Gaia (Tsuburaya Productions September 5, 1998 - August 28, 1999)
• Ultraman Cosmos (Tsuburaya Productions July 7, 2001 - September 28, 2002)
• Ultra Q: Dark Fantasy (Tsuburaya Productions 2004)
• Ultraman Nexus (Tsuburaya Productions October 2, 2004 – June 25, 2005)
• Ultraman Max (Tsuburaya Productions July 2, 2005 – April 1, 2006)
• Bio Planet WoO (Tsuburaya Productions 2006)
• Ultraman Mebius (Tsuburaya Productions April 8, 2006 – March 31, 2007)
• Ultraseven X (Tsuburaya Productions 2007)
• Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle (Tsuburaya Productions December 1, 2007 – February 23, 2008)
• Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle: Never Ending Odyssey (Tsuburaya Productions December 20, 2008 – March 14, 2009)
• Ultraman Retsuden (Tsuburaya Productions July 6, 2011 - Present)
• Ultraman Ginga (Tsuburaya Productions July 10, 2013 – December 18, 2013)
• Ultraman X (Tsuburaya Productions July 14, 2015 - December 22, 2015)
• Enormous (Base Comic Book is Selection as Others Companys) Summer 2016

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.^[7][8]
• In 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.^[9]
• In 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, awakening other giant advertising statues that come 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.^[10]
• 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.^[11]

• In the 2013 film Pacific Rim, "Kaiju" is the moniker bestowed upon giant inter-dimensional monsters that invade Earth and attempt to exterminate humanity.^[12]
• Kaiju-Bird Monster was the alt-mode of Decepticon Leader Emperor Deathsaurus in Transformers: Victory anime.

See also

• List of kaiju creatures

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kaiju.