07.31.2019: Shusuke Kaneko Panel from G-Fest 26

Heisei Gamera and GMK director, Shusuke Kaneko shares the development process behind his kaiju films.

Looks like it’s time to add a THIRD panel recording from G-Fest 26 – this time with the director of the Heisei Gamera trilogy (1995 – 1999) and Godzilla · Mothra · King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001), the one and only Shusuke Kaneko.

In preparation for the panel, I wrote down a jillion questions for the director, but was quite happy when he showed up with his own stories to tell from filming with “the big Gs”. It was really great to be able to chat with him a little, but hopefully I can ask more questions in a future interview – until then those will just live in a note on my phone…

But enough about me, let’s get you guys prepped for the panel. This was recorded in the room, not from the board, so the sound isn’t awesome (think of it like you’re in the room too). Hope you enjoy hearing directly from the man who helped elevate kaiju eiga in the late 1990s. Please sit back and enjoy the monster tales from Shusuke Kaneko’s giant monster movies!

MODICUM OF MUSIC:
1. The Descent Of Iris by Ko Otani from Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris (1999)
2. The Forgotten Horror by Ko Otani from Godzilla · Mothra · King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001)

07.29.2019: Akira Takarada Panel from G-Fest 26

Veteran actor Akira Takarada entertains the crowds from G-Fest 26, right here in episode 266.

We are back with another panel from G-Fest 26 with the always amazing Akira Takarada! You know this actor of course, in addition to being on the podcast back in 2013 and in my documentary, Hail to the King: 60 Years of Godzilla, Takarada played Ogata in the 1954 original Godzilla film, plus he’s returned to tokusatsu with many film roles over his 65 year long acting career. Huge thanks to the staff at G-Fest for this incredible opportunity!

I wanted to ask Takarada-san about his life outside of Godzilla and learn a little bit more about Godzilla’s classmate in this interview. Holy moly, did Takarada-san ever deliver on schooling me (and the audience) about his life — and near life-and-death adventures…seriously!

Since this was recorded from the room, the audio quality is not as great as I’d like it to be, but I hope this interview entertains AND gives you much more insight into the actor Akira Takarada. 

MUSICAL MOMENTS OF MONSTROSITIES:
1. Escaping the Base by Masaru Sato from Godzilla vs The Sea Monster (1966)
2. Monster Zero by Akira Ifukube from Invasion of Astro Monster (1965)

We’ll return before the end of the month with another interview from G-Fest!

07.24.2019: Kaijucast 10th Anniversary Podcast from G-Fest 26

Listen to all of this awesomeness with Kyle, Hiro (our interpreter), Sonoe Nakajima, Daisuke Sato and Gretchen in this special live episode from G-Fest!

This episode was recorded LIVE at G-Fest earlier this month and it’s the 10th Anniversary Kaijucast Talk Show panel! Big thanks to the G-Fest staff for giving us the opportunity to interview these amazing guests – especially Tim Bean, Martin Arlt,  Jeff Horne & JD Lees. Without their help, we definitely could not pull off what we do at G-Fest!

Let’s talk about the guests for this episode!

Daisuke Sato was part of G-Fest last year after successfully kickstarting his independent kaiju film, Howl From Beyond the Fog. The film is not completed yet, but Sato brings us a very cool update. If you’d like to follow along with his slideshow I’ve included it below. We cannot wait to see the end result – Gretchen loved the 15 minute version he showed at the convention!

HOWL FROM BEYOND THE FOG Photos

01-Practical-Fog

Image 1 of 14

Sonoe Nakajima is the daughter of veteran actor, Haruo Nakajima (1929 – 2017). Nakajima played Godzilla from 1954 – 1972 and his daughter shares stories of her father and their life before and after Godzilla. We were so thankful to not only have the opportunity to speak to her, but also to share with the audience the BOSS Coffee commercial that was recently made as a tribute to Nakajima’s legacy. I’m embedding the video below so you can watch along.

If you’d like to see some more “behind the scenes” videos from the creation of this commercial, check these out:
Godzilla Special Report (1:00)
The Hero Who’s Face You Cannot See Making of Video (2:00)

GODZILLA VS HEDORAH FOR SETSUBUN
Here’s that photo of Haruo Nakajima and Ken Satsuma performing the traditional setsubun activity of throwing dries soy beans at the devils (oni) – one of my favorite images from the 1970s.

 

I would also like to give a huge thank you to both Daisuke Sato (Howl From Beyond The Fog) and Sonoe Nakajima (daughter of Godzilla suit actor Haruo Nakajima) plus our incredible interpreter, Hiro for joining us for this celebratory episode!

 

06.30.2019: Godzilla King of the Monsters (2019) Daikaiju Discussion

The Kaijucast crew and the listeners review the hell out of the new Godzilla film!

Our very last Daikaiju Discussion episode comes in with flying colors – we had thirty listeners send in their homework for this film, and that’s on top of our hour plus chat too! No time to fill this space with extra verbiage; you’ve got a podcast to listen to!

MUSIC OF THE TITANS:
1. Godzilla Main Theme by Bear McCreary from Godzilla King of the Monsters (2019)
2. Godzilla King of the Monsters (2019) Japanese Trailer
3. Godzilla King of the Monsters (2019) “Monsters Are Real” Promo Material
4. Godzilla (featuring Serj T) by Bear McCreary/Blue Oyster Cult from Godzilla King of the Monsters (2019)

SUGGESTED VIEWING:
Scifi Japan’s coverage of the Hollywood Premiere
End Title Screengrabs via Japanese Blog (1 – 10)
End Title Screengrabs via Japanese Blog (11 – 22)
Godzilla King of the Monsters Hits Box Office Milestone

 

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR MEME OF THE MONSTERS  CONTEST WINNERS!

3rd Place and Prize pack 3 goes to Nathan Marchand

2nd Place and Prize Pack 2 goes to Jack Horowitz

First place and Prize pack #1 goes to Evan M Hodge!

06.15.2019 G-Fest Prepisode

Once again, it’s time to release the G-fest Hype Beast!

Holy smokes, you guys, the world’s biggest annual festival of kaiju is coming up and coming in fast! Gretchen joined me to build a little hype for the convention that’s taking place next month in Chicago, Illinois (Rosemont, actually) G-FEST XXVI. We’re super excited for her to experience the awesomeness, so we hope you enjoy hearing us talk about what’s going on at the show next month!

MUSICAL MOMENTS:
1. Mothra’s Song conducted by Michiru Oshima from Godzilla Tokyo SOS (2003)
2. Destroy All Monsters Promo from the Sci-Fi Channel
3. ULTRA 7 by Katokutai Band from Kaiki To Seigi (2018)
4. Monster Mash (Bonus Track) by Henry Jackman from Kong: Skull Island (2017)

G-FEST LINKAGE:
G-Fest website
G-fest Schedule
G-Fest on Facebook
Kaijucast Listener Party Facebook Event

For Those Who Wish to Note the Kaijucast Panels:
Friday July 12:
4pm [DOJO STUDIOS] Dream Planet Kawakita Interview

Saturday July 13:
10am [BALLROOM 2] Akira Takarada Interview
11am [BALLROOM 2] Shusuke Kaneko Interview
1pm [DOJO STUDIOS] Takuji Yamada Interview
3pm [BALLROOM 2] Kaijucast Live Talk Show

SUNDAY July 14
2pm [BALLROOM 2] Collect All Monsters episode

SUGGESTED VIEWING / HOUSEKEEPING:
New T-Shirt of the Month: Daimajin by Gruesomgrphx
It’s Terrible I Love It Podcast

DAIKAIJU DISCUSSION
We are handing out the final homework assignment for the daikaiju discussion segment and it’s for the brand new Legendary Pictures Monsterverse epic, Godzilla King of the Monsters. We know that just about every Godzilla fan is going to get out there and see this as soon as they are able, and we expect a lot of you to send in your homework – here’s some extra credit for you: what was your favorite moment from the movie? Please have your homework turned in by June 21st to have it included in the episode.