Kaiju

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The kaiju Godzilla from the 1954 film Godzilla, one of the first Japanese films to feature a giant monster.

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Kaiju (Japanese: 怪獣, Hepburn: kaijū, lit. "strange beast") is a Japanese genre of films and television featuring giant monsters. The term kaiju can refer to the giant monsters themselves, which are usually depicted attacking major cities and engaging the military, or other kaiju, in battle. The kaiju genre is a subgenre of tokusatsu (特撮, "special filming") entertainment.

The 1954 film Godzilla is commonly regarded as the first kaiju film. Kaiju characters are often somewhat metaphorical in nature; Godzilla, for example, serves as a metaphor for nuclear weapons, reflecting the fears of post-war Japan following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Lucky Dragon 5 incident. Other notable examples of kaiju characters include Rodan, Mothra, King Ghidorah, and Gamera.

Origins

The Japanese word kaijū originally referred to monsters and creatures from ancient Japanese legends;^[1] it earlier appeared in the Chinese Classic of Mountains and Seas.^[2][3] After sakoku had ended and Japan was opened to foreign relations in the mid 19th century, the term kaijū came to be used to express concepts from paleontology and legendary creatures from around the world. For example, in 1908 it was suggested that the extinct Ceratosaurus was alive in Alaska,^[4] and this was referred to as kaijū.^[5] However, there are no traditional depictions of kaiju or kaiju-like creatures in Japanese folklore; but rather the origins of kaiju are found in film.^[6]

Elements of the genre were present at the end of Winsor McCay's 1921 animated short Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend: The Pet,^[7] in which a mysterious giant animal starts destroying the city, until it is countered by a massive airstrike. It was based on a 1905 episode of McCay's comic strip series.^[8]

The 1925 movie The Lost World featured many dinosaurs, including a brontosaurus that breaks loose in London and destroys Tower Bridge. The dinosaurs were animated by pioneering stop motion techniques by Willis H. O'Brien, who would some years later animate the giant gorilla-like creature breaking loose in New York City, for the 1933 movie King Kong (1933). The enormous success of King Kong can be seen as the definitive breakthrough of monster movies. RKO Pictures later licensed the King Kong character to Japanese studio Toho, resulting in the co-productions King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962) and King Kong Escapes (1967), both directed by Ishirō Honda.

The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953) featured a fictional dinosaur (animated by Ray Harryhausen), which is released from its frozen, hibernating state by an atomic bomb test within the Arctic Circle. The American movie was released in Japan in 1954 under the title 原子怪獣現れる (Genshi Kaijū ga Arawareru, literally "An Atomic Kaiju Appears"), marking the first use of the genre's name in a film title.^[9] However, Gojira (transliterated as Godzilla) is commonly regarded as the first kaiju film in the west and was released in 1954. Tomoyuki Tanaka, a producer for Toho Studios in Tokyo, needed a film to release after his previous project was halted. Seeing how well the Hollywood giant monster movie genre films King Kong and The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms had done in Japanese box offices, and himself a fan of these films, he set out to make a new movie based on them and created Godzilla.^[10] Tanaka aimed to combine Hollywood giant monster movies with the re-emerged Japanese fears of atomic weapons that arose from the Daigo Fukuryū Maru fishing boat incident; and so he put a team together and created the concept of a radioactive giant creature emerging from the depths of the ocean, a creature that would become the monster Godzilla.^[11] Godzilla initially had commercial success in Japan, inspiring other kaiju movies.^[12]

Terminology

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The term kaijū translates literally as "strange beast".^[13] Kaiju are science fiction and fantasy creatures, generally "Godzillian" in size and character. They can be antagonistic, protagonistic, or a neutral force of nature, but more specifically as preternatural creatures of divine power. Succinctly, they are not merely, "big animals." Godzilla, for example, from its first appearance in the initial 1954 entry in the Godzilla franchise, has manifest all of these aspects. Other examples of kaiju include Rodan, Mothra, King Ghidorah, Anguirus, King Kong, Gamera, Daimajin, Gappa, Guilala and Yonggary. There are also subcategories including Mecha Kaiju (Meka-Kaijū), featuring mechanical or cybernetic characters, including Mogera, Mechani-Kong, Mechagodzilla, M.O.G.U.E.R.A., which are an off-shoot of kaiju. Likewise, the collective sub-category Ultra Kaiju (Urutora-Kaijū) is a separate strata of kaijū, which specifically originate in the long-running Ultra Series franchise, but can also be referred to simply by kaijū. As a noun, kaijū is an invariant, as both the singular and the plural expressions are identical.^{[citation needed]}

Daikaiju

Daikaijū (大怪獣) literally translates as "giant kaiju" or "great kaiju". This hyperbolic term was used to denote greatness of the subject kaiju; the prefix dai- emphasizing great size, power, and/or status. The first known appearance of the term daikaiju in the 20th Century was in the publicity materials for the original 1954 release of Godzilla. Specifically, in the subtitle on the original movie poster, Suibaku Daikaiju Eiga (水爆大怪獣映画), lit. "H-Bomb Giant Monster Movie" (in proper English, "The Giant H-Bomb Monster Movie").^{[citation needed]}

Kaijin

Kaijin (怪人 lit. "strange person") refers to distorted human beings or humanoid-like creatures. The origin of kaijin goes back to the early 20th Century Japanese literature, starting with Edogawa Rampo's 1936 novel, The Fiend with Twenty Faces. The story introduced Edogawa's master detective, Kogoro Akechi's arch-nemesis, the eponymous "Fiend," a mysterious master of disguise, whose real face was unknown; the Moriarty to Akechi's Sherlock. Catching the public's imagination, many such literary and movie (and later television) villains took on the mantle of kaijin. To be clear, kaijin is not an offshoot of kaiju. The first-ever kaijin that appeared on film was The Great Buddha Arrival a lost film, made in 1934.

After the Pacific War, the term was modernized when it was adopted to describe the bizarre, genetically-engineered and cybernetically enhanced evil humanoid spawn conceived for the Kamen Rider Series in 1971. This created a new splinter of the term, which quickly propagated through the popularity of superhero programs produced from the 1970s, forward. These kaijin possess rational thought and the power of speech, as do human beings. A successive kaijin menagerie, in diverse iterations, appeared over numerous series, most notably the Super Sentai programs premiering in 1975 (later carried over into Super Sentai's English iteration as Power Rangers in the 1990s).

This created yet another splinter, as the kaijin of Super Sentai have since evolved to feature unique forms and attributes (i.e. gigantism), existing somewhere between kaijin and kaiju.^{[citation needed]}

Seijin

Seijin (星人), literally "star people", appears within Japanese words for extraterrestrial aliens, such as Kaseijin (火星人), which means "Martian". Aliens can also be called uchūjin (宇宙人) which means "spacemen". Among the best known Seijin in the genre can be found in the Ultra Series, such as Alien Baltan from Ultraman, a race of crustacean-like aliens who have gone on to become one of the franchise's most enduring and recurring characters other than the Ultras themselves.^{[citation needed]}

Kaijū eiga

Kaijū eiga (怪獣映画, "kaiju film") is a film featuring one or more kaiju.

Toho has produced a variety of kaiju films over the years (many of which feature Godzilla, Rodan and Mothra); but other Japanese studios contributed to the genre by producing films and shows of their own: Daiei Film (Kadokawa Pictures), Tsuburaya Productions, and Shochiku and Nikkatsu Studios.^{[citation needed]}

Monster techniques

Eiji Tsuburaya, who was in charge of the special effects for Godzilla, developed a technique to animate the kaiju that became known colloquially as "suitmation".^[14] Where Western monster movies often used stop motion to animate the monsters, Tsubaraya decided to attempt to create suits, called "creature suits", for a human (suit actor) to wear and act in.^[15] This was combined with the use of miniature models and scaled-down city sets to create the illusion of a giant creature in a city.^[16] Due to the extreme stiffness of the latex or rubber suits, filming would often be done at double speed, so that when the film was shown, the monster was smoother and slower than in the original shot.^[10] Kaiju films also used a form of puppetry interwoven between suitmation scenes which served for shots that were physically impossible for the suit actor to perform. From the 1998 release of Godzilla, American-produced kaiju films strayed from suitmation to computer-generated imagery (CGI). In Japan, CGI and stop-motion have been increasingly used for certain special sequences and monsters, but suitmation has been used for an overwhelming majority of kaiju films produced in Japan of all eras.^[16][17]

Selected media

Films

• King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)
• King Kong Escapes (1967)
• The Great Buddha Arrival (1934)
• (1942)
• The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms (1953)
• Godzilla series (1954–present)
  • Godzilla (1954)
  • Godzilla Raids Again (1955)
  • King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)
  • Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964)
  • Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964)
  • Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965)
  • Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966)
  • Son of Godzilla (1967)
  • Destroy All Monsters (1968)
  • All Monsters Attack (1969)
  • Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971)
  • Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972)
  • Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973)
  • Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974)
  • Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975)
  • The Return of Godzilla (1984)
  • Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989)
  • Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991)
  • Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992)
  • Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (1993)
  • Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (1994)
  • Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995)
  • Godzilla (1998)
  • Godzilla 2000: Millennium (1999)
  • Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000)
  • Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001)
  • Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla (2002)
  • Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. (2003)
  • Godzilla: Final Wars (2004)
  • Godzilla (2014)
  • Shin Godzilla (2016)
  • Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters (2017)
  • Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle (2018)
  • Godzilla: The Planet Eater (2018)
  • Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019)
  • Godzilla vs. Kong (2021)
• Rodan (1956)
• The Mysterians (1957)
• The Black Scorpion (1957)
• Varan the Unbelievable (1958)
• The Giant Behemoth (1959)
• Konga (1961)
• Mothra (1961)
• Gorgo (1961)
• Reptilicus (1961)
• Gorath (1962)
• Bulgasari (1962)
• Atragon (1963)
• Dogora (1964)
• Frankenstein Conquers the World (1965)
• Gamera: The Giant Monster (1965)
  • Gamera vs. Barugon (1966)
  • Gamera vs. Gyaos (1967)
  • Gamera vs. Viras (1968)
  • Gamera vs. Guiron (1969)
  • Gamera vs. Jiger (1970)
  • Gamera vs. Zigra (1971)
  • Gamera: Super Monster (1980)
  • Gamera: Guardian of the Universe (1995)
  • Gamera 2: Attack of Legion (1996)
  • Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris (1999)
  • Gamera the Brave (2006)
• Daimajin (1966)
  • Return of Daimajin (1966)
  • Daimajin Strikes Again (1966)
  • The Great Yokai War: Guardians (2021)
• (1966)
• The Magic Serpent (1966)
• The War of the Gargantuas (1966)
• Ultra Series (1966–present)
  • Ultraman (1967)
  • Ultraman, Ultraseven: Great Violent Monster Fight (1969)
  • The 6 Ultra Brothers vs. the Monster Army (1974)
  • Ultraman (1979)
  • Ultraman: Great Monster Decisive Battle (1979)
  • Ultraman Zoffy: Ultra Warriors vs. the Giant Monster Army (1984)
  • Ultraman Story (1984)
  • Ultraman: The Adventure Begins (1987)
  • Ultra Q The Movie: Legend of the Stars (1990)
  • Ultraman Zearth (1996)
  • Ultraman Tiga & Ultraman Dyna: Warriors of the Star of Light (1998)
  • Ultraman Gaia: The Battle in Hyperspace (1999)
  • Ultraman Tiga: The Final Odyssey (2000)
  • Ultraman Cosmos: The First Contact (2001)
  • Ultraman Cosmos 2: The Blue Planet (2002)
  • Ultraman Cosmos vs. Ultraman Justice: The Final Battle (2003)
  • Ultraman: The Next (2004)
  • Ultraman Mebius & Ultraman Brothers (2006)
  • Superior Ultraman 8 Brothers (2008)
  • Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy Legends (2009)
  • Ultraman Zero: The Revenge of Belial (2010)
  • Ultraman Saga (2012)
  • Ultraman Ginga Theater Special (2013)
  • Ultraman Ginga Theater Special: Ultra Monster Hero Battle Royal! (2014)
  • Ultraman Ginga S The Movie (2015)
  • Ultraman X The Movie (2016)
  • Ultraman Orb The Movie (2017)
  • Ultraman Geed The Movie (2018)
  • Ultraman R/B the Movie (2019)
  • Ultraman Taiga The Movie (2020)
  • Shin Ultraman (2021–2022)
• The X from Outer Space (1967)
  • Monster X Strikes Back: Attack the G8 Summit (2008)
• Gappa: The Triphibian Monster (1967)
• Yongary: Monster from the Deep (1967)
• Latitude Zero (1969)
• The Mighty Gorga (1969)
• (1970)
• Space Amoeba (1970)
• Daigoro vs. Goliath (1972)
• Jumborg Ace & Giant (1974)
• The Super Inframan (1975)
• A*P*E (1976)
• Queen Kong (1976)
• The Last Dinosaur (1977)
• The Mighty Peking Man (1977)
• Yeti: Giant of the 20th Century (1977)
• The Bermuda Depths (1978)
  • Thunder of Gigantic Serpent (1988)
• Yamata no Orochi no Gyakushū (1985)
• Pulgasari (1985)
• War of the God Monsters (1985)
• Orochi, the Eight-Headed Dragon (1994)
• Rebirth of Mothra (1996)
  • Rebirth of Mothra II (1997)
  • Rebirth of Mothra III (1998)
• Zarkorr! The Invader (1996)
• Galgameth (1996)
• (1998)
• Yonggary (1999)
• Garuda (2004)
• Chousei Kantai Sazer-X the Movie: Fight! Star Warriors (2005)
• Negadon: The Monster from Mars (2005)
• The Host (2006)
• D-War (2007)
• Big Man Japan (2007)
• Cloverfield (2008)
  • 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)
  • The Cloverfield Paradox (2018)
• Monster (2008)
• Deep Sea Monster Reigo (2008 Japan, 2020, America)
  • (2009)
  • (2020)
• Geharha: The Dark and Long Haired Monster (2009)
• (2009)
• Mega Shark Versus Giant Octopus (2009)
  • Mega Shark Versus Crocosaurus (2010)
  • Mega Shark Versus Mecha Shark (2014)
  • Mega Shark Versus Kolossus (2015)
• Death Kappa (2010)
• Monsters (2010)
  • Monsters: Dark Continent (2014)
• The God of Clay (2011)
• Pacific Rim (2013)
  • Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018)
• Atlantic Rim (2013)
  • (2018)
• Earth Defense Widow (2014)
• (2014)
• MonsterVerse series (2014–present)
  • Godzilla (2014)
  • Kong: Skull Island (2017)
  • Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019)
  • Godzilla vs. Kong (2021)
• (2015)
• Attack on Titan (2015)
  • Attack on Titan: End of the World (2015)
• Kaiju Mono (2016)
• Colossal (2016)
• (2017)
• Rampage (2018)
• Monster Island (2019)
• The Great Buddha Arrival (2019)
• Notzilla (2019)
• (2019)
• Konga TNT (2020)
• Monster Seafood Wars (2020)
• Love and Monsters (2020)
• Monster Hunter (2020)
• Nezura 1964 (2020)
• Ape vs. Monster (2021)
• The Great Yokai War: Guardians (2021)
• (2022)
• (2022)

Manga

• Cloverfield/Kishin (Kadokawa Shoten; 2008)
• Go Nagai Creator of Kaijus
  • Garla (ガルラ, garura)(June 1976 – March 1978 Published by Tomy Company, Ltd.)
  • MachineSaur (マシンザウラー, マシンサウル, Machine Sauer, Mashinzaura)(December 1979 – March 1986 Published by Tomy Company, Ltd.)
• Attack on Titan (Kodansha; 2009–2021)
• Kaiju Girl Caramelise (2018)
• Neon Genesis Evangelion (Kadokawa Shoten; 1994 – 2013)
• ULTRAMAN (Shogakukan; 2011–present)
• Kaiju No. 8 (Shonen Jump+; 2020–present)

Novels

• Nemesis Saga by Jeremy Robinson (St Martins Press/; 2013–2016). A series of six novel featuring Nemesis, Karkinos, Typhon, Scylla, Drakon, Scryon, Giger, Lovecraft, Ashtaroth and Hyperion (Mechakaiju)

Comics

• Godzilla comics (Toho and IDW; 1976–present)
• Tokyo Storm Warning (Wildstorm; 2003)
• Big Girls (Image Comics; 2021–present)
• (Image Comics; 2012, 2014, 2021–present) as Future Released.
• Big Boys (Image Comics; 2021–present) as Against Coronavirus later end of COVID-19 from Save Earth.
• BigKID (GoNelson of ComicoPro Dynamite; 2021-22–present)
• (AfterShock; 2020–present)
• (ComiXology Original; 2018–present)
• Dinosaurs Attack! (Topps Comics/IDW; 1988, 2013)
• The Nemesis Saga comics by Jeremy Robinson and (American Gothic Press/IDW Publishing; 2015–2016)
• Giant Nakedman Againts Evil Bot, Monsters (Selection Others; 2021)

Video games

• Godzilla video games (Toho, Pipeworks, Bandai; 1983–present)
• Ultraman video games (Tsuburaya; 1984–present)
• Gamera Video games (Kadokawa of Games; 1995–present as North American released)
• Time Gal (Taito; 1985)
• Nintendo Game Kaijus
  • Hero GigaMon Defenders (NST American and Published by Nintendo Interactive, Nintendo Playmates, Nintendo; 2021, 2022)
  • Children, Good vs Evil Giant Alien Monsters
• Shadow of the Colossus (developed by SCE Japan Studio and Team Ico, and published by Sony Computer Entertainment, 2005)
  • Shadow of the Colossus remake (developed by Bluepoint Games, and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, 2018)
• Simulator Kaiju Destroy and Combats (name owned by its Other Published; 2021, 2022)
  • Gigant Colossal Collision (Published by Nintendo, Nintendo Interactive and Developed by , Game Freak, Etc.; 2021)
• King of the Monsters (SNK; 1991)
• Rampage (1986) (formerly owned by Midway Games and now owned by its successor Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment; 2021)
  • Rampage (2021 Reboot) (Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment; 1986, 2021)
  • Rampage: Total Destruction (Midway Games, 2006)
  • Rampage Fusion 3D (Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment; 2021, 2022)
• (Developed by 13AM Games and Published WayForward (Currectly), 2022) as Spiritual successor to Snk's King of the Monsters
• Giant Combat Turtles (Arc System Works, etc. 2021, 2022)
• Love and Monsters the Video Game
  • Kid and Good Monster against Evil Monsters
• Kaiju Score: Control sim (Other in Selections, 2021) a video games based on comics.
• Raiga: Combat All Monsters (Selecction Developed, 2021, 2022)
• Roarr! The Adventures of Rampage Rex – Jurassic Edition (, 2018)
  • Prequel to Rex Origins of Alone Age (, 2021)
  • Sequel to Rampage Rex 2: Rex, Stego and Spino the Save NorthAmerica (, 2021–22)
• GigaBash (Passion Republic, 2022)
  • Jurassic Attack! Combats (Developers selection others, 2022)
• Mutant Dinos Destroy and Protectors
• Giant Animals Enormous to RageCombats (name owned by its Other Published; 2021, 2022)
• Kaiju Vs Giant Demons (exclusive-Switch)(name owned by its Other Published; 2022 Future) – in the title, similar to the Hentai vs. Evil.
  • Good Kaijus and Mechas vs Demon Empire (Two exclusive for Switch/Switch Pro on Future Released in 2022)- Sequel to Kaiju Vs Demons
• Third KaijuTeam Multiversal World for Switch (Kaijuworld Publisher; 2022)
• Robot Alchemic Drive (Sandlot; 2002)
• (, 2020, 2021) – Mechas A Former Dystopian Wars/Robot Killer.
• Titan Beastrage for Switch (; 2021)
• War of the Monsters (Sony, Incognito Entertainment; 2003)
• Peter Jackson's King Kong (2005)
• Pacific Rim video game (Yuke's/Reliance; 2013)
• City Shrouded in Shadow (Bandai Namco Entertainment; 2017)
• (; 2015) – was Replaced Title game by Gigabash
• 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim (Sega, Atlus, Vanillaware, 2019)
• (2020–21, – stage City rampage)
• (2019, 2021, OneSecretPseudo)
• (2021–22)

Board games

• Godzilla Game
• Godzilla: Tokyo Clash
• Monsterpocalypse
• King of Tokyo
• Smash City
• Campy Creatures

Television

• Marine Kong (; April 3 – September 25, 1960)
• Ultra Series (Tsuburaya Productions; January 2, 1966–present)
• Ambassador Magma (P Productions; July 4, 1966 – September 25, 1967)
• The King Kong Show (Toei Animation; September 10, 1966 – August 31, 1969)
• Kaiju Booska (Tsuburaya Productions; November 9, 1966 – September 27, 1967)
• Captain Ultra (Toei Company; April 16 – September 24, 1967)
• Kaiju ouji (P Productions; October 2, 1967 – March 25, 1968)
• Giant Robo (Toei Company; October 11, 1967 – April 1, 1968)
• Giant Phantom Monster Agon (Nippon Television; January 2–8, 1968)
• Mighty Jack (Tsuburaya Productions; April 6 – June 29, 1968)
• Spectreman (P Productions; January 2, 1971 – March 25, 1972)
• Kamen Rider (Toei Company; April 3, 1971–present)
• Silver Kamen (Senkosha Productions; November 28, 1971 – May 21, 1972)
• Mirrorman (Tsuburaya Productions; December 5, 1971 – November 26, 1972)
• Redman (Tsuburaya Productions; April 3 – September 8, 1972)
• Thunder Mask (Nippon Television; October 3, 1972 – March 27, 1973)
• Ike! Godman (Toho Company; October 5, 1972 – April 10, 1973)
• Assault! Human!! (Toho Company; October 7 – December 30, 1972)
• Iron King (Senkosha Productions; October 8, 1972 – April 8, 1973)
• Jumborg Ace (Tsuburaya Productions; January 17 – December 29, 1973)
• Fireman (Tsuburaya Productions; January 17 – July 31, 1973)
• Zone Fighter (Toho Company; April 2 – September 24, 1973)
• Super Robot Red Baron (Nippon Television; July 4, 1973 – March 27, 1974)
• Kure Kure Takora (Toho Company; October 1, 1973 – September 27, 1974)
• Ike! Greenman (Toho Company; November 12, 1973 – September 27, 1974)
• Super Robot Mach Baron (Nippon Television; October 7, 1974 – March 31, 1975)
• Dinosaur War Izenborg (Tsuburaya Productions; October 17, 1977 – June 30, 1978)
• Spider-Man (Toei Company; May 17, 1978 – March 14, 1979)
• Godzilla (Hanna-Barbera; September 9, 1978 – December 8, 1979)
• Megaloman (Toho Company; May 7 – December 24, 1979)
• Godzilland (Toho Company; 1992 – 1996)
• Gridman the Hyper Agent (Tsuburaya Productions; April 3, 1993 – January 8, 1994)
• Neon Genesis Evangelion (Gainax; October 4, 1995 – March 27, 1996)
• Godzilla Kingdom (Toho Company; October 1, 1996 – August 15, 1997)
• Godzilla Island (Toho Company; October 6, 1997 – September 30, 1998)
• Godzilla: The Series (Sony Pictures Television; September 12, 1998 – April 22, 2000)
• Godzilla TV (Toho Company; October 1999 – March 2000)
• Dai-Guard (Xebec; October 5, 1999 – March 28, 2000)
• Kong: The Animated Series (BKN; September 9, 2000 – March 26, 2001)
• Tekkōki Mikazuki (Media Factory; October 23, 2000 – March 24, 2001)
• SFX Giant Legend: Line (Independent; April 25 – May 26, 2003)
• Chouseishin Series (Toho Company; October 4, 2003 – June 24, 2006)
• Bio Planet WoO (Tsuburaya Productions; April 9 – August 13, 2006)
• Geharha: The Dark and Long Hair Monster (2009)
• Daimajin Kanon (Kadokawa Pictures; April 2 – October 1, 2010)
• SciFi Japan TV (ACTV Japan; August 10, 2012–present)
• Attack on Titan (Wit Studio and MAPPA; April 7, 2013 – scheduled)
• Kong: King of the Apes (Netflix; April 15, 2016 – May 4, 2018)
• Mech-X4 (Disney XD; November 11, 2016 – August 20, 2018)
• Darling in the Franxx (Studio Trigger; January 13, 2018 – July 7, 2018)
• SSSS.Gridman (Tsuburaya Productions and Studio Trigger; October 7, 2018 – December 23, 2018)
• Godziban (Toho Company; August 9, 2019–present)
• I’m Home, Chibi Godzilla (Toho Company; July 15, 2020–present)
• Pacific Rim: The Black (Polygon Pictures; March 4, 2021–present)
• Godzilla Singular Point (Toho Company; April 1, 2021 – June 24, 2021)
• SSSS.Dynazenon (Tsuburaya Productions and Studio Trigger; April 2, 2021 – scheduled)

Other appearances

• Steven Spielberg cited Godzilla as an inspiration for Jurassic Park (1993), specifically Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956), which he saw in his youth.^[18] During its production, Spielberg described Godzilla as "the most masterful of all the dinosaur movies because it made you believe it was really happening."^[19] One scene in the second movie (The Lost World: Jurassic Park), the T-Rex is rampaging through San Diego. One scene shows Japanese businessmen fleeing. One of them states that they left Japan to get away from this, hinting that Godzilla shares the same universe as the Jurassic Park movies. Godzilla also influenced the Spielberg film Jaws (1975).^[20][21]
• In the Japanese language original of Cardcaptor Sakura anime series, 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.^[22]
• The Polish cartoon TV series Bolek and Lolek makes a reference to the kaiju film industry in the mini-series "Bolek and Lolek's Great Journey" by featuring a robot bird (similar to Rodan) and a saurian monster (in reference to Godzilla) as part of a Japanese director's monster star repertoire.^{[citation needed]}
• The Inspector Gadget film had Robo-Gadget attacking San Francisco a'la Kaiju monsters. In addition, similar to The Lost World, it shows a Japanese man while fleeing from Robo-Gadget declaring in his native tongue that he left Tokyo specifically to get away from this.
• Alternate versions of several kaiju – Godzilla, Mothra, Gamera, King Ghidorah and Daimajin – appear in the Usagi Yojimbo "Sumi-e" story arc.^[23]
• 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 its homeworld Malastare to the city-covered planet Coruscant, where it breaks loose and goes on a rampage.^[24][25]
• 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.^[26]
• In The Simpsons episode "Treehouse of Horror VI" segment "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.^{[citation needed]}
• The South Park episode "Mecha-Streisand" features parodies of Mechagodzilla, Gamera, Ultraman, and Mothra.^{[citation needed]}
• Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters features the "Insanoflex", a giant robot exercise machine rampaging downtown.^{[citation needed]}
• 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.^{[citation needed]}
• The Japanese light novel series Gate makes use of the term kaiju as a term for giant monsters – specifically an ancient Fire Dragon – in the Special Region. Also, one of the Japanese protagonists refers to the JSDF's tradition to fight such monsters in the films, as well as comparing said dragon with King Ghidorah at one point.^[27][28]
• Godzilla and Gamera had been referenced and appear many times throughout the Dr. Slump series.^{[citation needed]}
• In Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero, there is a dimension that is filled with giant monsters that live on one island where they co-exist with humans that live on a city island.^{[citation needed]}
• On May 18, 2018, US artist Space Laces released a Bass House song title "Kaiju", released by Never Say Die Records as a part of his album Overdrive.^{[29][importance?]}
• In "Sorcerous Stabber Orphen" series kaiju are sent as a form of punishment for the breakage of everlasting laws of the world by the Goddesses of Fate.^[30]
• Batholith The Summit Kaiju (Japanese: バソリス) is a mountain (kaiju) originating from "Summit Kaiju International" an American media company based in Denver, Colorado. Batholith was first introduced to Godzilla fan during G-Fest 2017, which is an annual convention devoted to the Godzilla film franchise. Batholith The Summit Kaiju has appearing in various print media, including Famous Monsters of Filmland "Ack-Ives: Godzilla Magazine, MyKaiju Godzilla Magazine MyKaiju Godzilla Magazine, Summit Kaiju online video series and other online media related to the Godzilla and Kaiju genre.
• In the "Nemesis Saga" series of novels, Kaiju, also known as Gestorumque, are genetic weapons sent by an alien race.
• Naoki Urasawa's 2013 one-shot manga "Kaiju Kingdom" follows a "kaiju otaku" in a world where kaiju actually exist.^[31]
• In the 2019 Vanillaware video game 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, protagonists battle large mechanized aliens called Kaiju.^[32]

See also

• Yokai
• Media related to Kaiju at Wikimedia Commons

References