11.21.2014: Godzilla FX Director Koichi Kawakita

Distinguished panelists JD Lees, Kyle, Koichi Kawakita and Robert Scott Field

Distinguished panelists of G-Fest: JD Lees, Kyle Yount, Koichi Kawakita & Robert Scott Field

It is my pleasure to bring you an interview with Koichi Kawakita, the special effects director for most of Godzilla’s “Heisei” era. It has been a goal since I started the podcast to interview Kawakita-san and when he was announced as a guest for G-Fest XXI, I made it my objective to spend some time with him at the convention. Thankfully, JD Lees was fine with having me join him for the second Kawakita panel (the first was a two hour look at some of his non-Godzilla work, which was very, very cool). Because I’d been looking forward to this opportunity, I had a myriad of subjects that I wanted to cover about his career and I was more than happy to share the stage with JD, Robert Scott Field (our acting interpreter) and of course, Mr. Kawakita. I was definitely surprised by how quickly the hour long panel went by.

I know I did this in the audio, but it’s been several months since I want to sincerely thank JD Lees, the editor of G-Fan Magazine, for giving me this incredible opportunity. I hope you enjoy hearing about Kawakita’s career and hopefully we can get him back on for another episode in the future!

MINIMAL MONSTER MUSIC:
1. Main Theme by Toshihiko Sahashi from Ultraman Mebius (2006)
2. The God of Destruction Appears by Ko Otani from Godzilla· Mothra· King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001)

SUGGESTED READING:
Crunchy Roll Ultraman Mebius, Max AND Leo!

*Our next episode (our Daikaiju Discussion for Godzilla’s Revenge) WILL be posted by the end of the month!