The Japanese tokusatsu version of Spider-Man was a television series produced by Toei Company in 1978, based on Marvel’s superhero of the same name. While Spider-Man’s costume was certainly based on the original, the storyline had nothing to do with the Marvel character. The series had a major impact on other Japanese live-action shows, and in particular the Super Sentai series, by popularizing the use of piloted giant robots to destroy giant monsters
Tōei Company, Limited (東映株式会社) is a Japanese film and television production and distribution corporation. Tōei was a pioneer in the use of character transformation in live-action martial-arts dramas, a technique developed for the Kamen Rider, Devilman and Super Sentai series; the genre currently continues with Kamen Rider and Super Sentai.
Godzilla is an American science fiction film directed by Roland Emmerich and starred Matthew Broderick, Jean Reno, Maria Pitillo, Hank Azaria, Michael Lerner and Kevin Dunn. It is the American movie remake of the popular Japanese film Gojira (Godzilla). Fans of the original film and franchise considered the film to be so apocryphal that Toho Studios officially named this film’s title monster “Zilla” to differentiate it from the original Godzilla.
Godzilla: Final Wars (ゴジラ ファイナルウォーズ, Gojira: Fainaru Wōzu) is the 50th anniversary film and the 28th installment in the Godzilla film series.
The movie was released theatrically in Japan on December 4, 2004 grossing an estimated ¥1,200,000,000 ($10,000,000[1]. Godzilla: Final Wars has the largest budget ever used in the Godzilla franchise around ¥2,000,000,000 ($20,000,000)[2] outgrossing all the other Godzilla movies. The film was released on DVD and Video in Japan on July 22, 2005, and in America on Sony Pictures Home Entertainment DVD on December 13, 2005.
Godzilla vs. Hedorah (ゴジラ対ヘドラ, Gojira tai Hedora), also known as Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster, is a 1971 film. Part of the Toho studio’s Godzilla series, it was directed by Yoshimitsu Banno with special effects by Teruyoshi Nakano. The score was composed by Riichiro Manabe.
The Godzilla Power Hour was a Japanese animated television series/Saturday morning cartoon, originally aired in 1978 on the NBC television network. In Japan, it was released in 1977. Produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, the series was an animated adaption of the Japanese Godzilla films produced by Toho. Airing alongside Jana of the Jungle, hence the “power hour” aspect of the title, the series continued to air until 1981, for a time airing solo as The Godzilla Show, until its cancellation. In Japan, it was simply called Godzilla. Toho helped with the series production, they even did the animation for it and the monster concepts.
Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (ゴジラvsデストロイア, Gojira tai Desutoroia), is a film where Godzilla fights Destoroyah, a creature that was created by the Oxygen Destroyer weapon that killed Godzilla back in 1954. It was released in Japan on December 9, 1995. It was originally intended to be the last Godzilla film until 2004, but due to the worldwide fan-disappointment of the 1998 American Godzilla film, Toho decided to release a film in 1999.
King Kong vs. Godzilla (キングコング対ゴジラ, Kingu Kongu tai Gojira) is a 1962 tokusatsu kaiju film directed by Ishiro Honda with visual effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. It was the third installment in the Japanese series of kaiju films featuring the monster Godzilla.
Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, released in Japan as San Daikaijū: Chikyū Saidai no Kessen (三大怪獣 地球最大の決戦, San Daikaijū: Chikyū Saidai no Kessen? lit. “Big Three Monsters: Greatest Decisive Battle on Earth”) and alternatively spelled Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Monster, is a 1964 tokusatsu kaiju film, and is the 5th film in Toho’s Godzilla series. It was directed by Ishiro Honda with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya.
This movie is noted for having Godzilla playing a role where he benefits Japan, instead of trying to destroy it. It also features Mothra and Rodan, and introduces King Ghidorah, a very Chinese-looking space dragon, perhaps representative of Japan’s anxieties surrounding China’s satellite weapon program at the time.
As the Godzilla series continued, the monster has been both a hero and an anti-hero. Godzilla is one of the most recognizable aspects of Japanese popular culture worldwide. To this day, Godzilla remains an important facet of Japanese films, embodying the kaiju subset of the tokusatsu genre. Godzilla has been considered a filmographic metaphor for the United States. The earliest Godzilla films, especially the original Gojira, attempted to portray Godzilla as a frightening, nuclear monster. Godzilla represented the fears of many Japanese of a repeat of the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The Peanuts are a Japanese twin sister singing group. They are Ito Emi (Ito Hideyo) and Ito Yumi (Ito Tsukiko). The twins were born in Nagoya on April 1, 1941. They are probably most known internationally for their appearances in the Mothra and Godzilla movies of the 1960s, in which they appeared as fairies called shobijin (small beauties) who had telepathic communication with Mothra. Although of course now played by different actresses, the characters have continued to appear in the more recent films as well.
Translation: Dainihon Jochugiku Corporation manufactures and sells insecticide and medicine.
Cockroaches (or simply “roaches”) are insects of the Order Blattodea. The name of the order is derived from the Latin word for “cockroach,” blatta. There are roughly 3,490 species in six families. Cockroaches exist worldwide, with the exception of the polar regions.
Samurai (侍, Samurai) was a term for the military nobility in pre-industrial Japan. The word “samurai” is derived from the archaic Japanese verb “samorau”, changed to “saburau”, meaning “to serve”; a samurai is the servant of a lord.
Godzilla (ゴジラ, Gojira) is a fictional monster featured in Japanese films and has become one of the world’s most recognized movie characters. He was first seen in the 1954 film Gojira, produced by Toho Film Company Ltd. To date, Toho has produced 28 Godzilla films.
Animal Planet, launched in 1996, is a cable and satellite television network co-owned by Discovery Communications, Inc. (parent company of Discovery Channel, TLC, and Discovery Health Channel) and BBC Worldwide. The channel is dedicated to programming that highlights the relationship between humans and animals.
Mothra vs. Godzilla (モスラ対ゴジラ, Mosura tai Gojira) is a tokusatsu kaiju film, fourth in the Godzilla series, produced by Toho Company Ltd. in 1964. The film was the product of the celebrated creative team of Shinichi Sekizawa (screenplay), Ishirô Honda (human drama), and Eiji Tsuburaya (special effects); it was exhibited in 2.35:1 widescreen aspect ratio.
American International Pictures originally released the film in the United States in September of 1964, and it opened in New York City on November 25, 1964. Retitled Godzilla vs. the Thing, Mothra’s appearance was kept out of promotional material, which hinted that Godzilla’s opponent would be a hideous tentacled creature and referred to it only as “The Thing”.
Canon Inc. (キヤノン株式会社, Kyanon Kabushiki Gaisha) is a Japanese company that specializes in imaging and optical products, including cameras, photocopiers and computer printers.
Kiss (sometimes typeset “KISS”, to fit the official logo) is an American rock band formed in New York City in 1973. Easily identified by their trademark face paint and stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid-1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured firebreathing, blood spitting, smoking guitars, and pyrotechnics.
Tokyo Tower (東京タワー, Tōkyō tawā) is a tower in Shiba Park, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan (35°39′31″N, 139°44′44″E). It is 332.6 m (1091 ft) tall, making it one of the world’s highest self-supporting steel towers and the tallest man-made structure in Japan.
Giant Robo (ジャイアントロボ, Jaianto Robo), is a tokusatsu, anime and manga series created by Mitsuteru Yokoyama.
Tokusatsu (特撮, Tokusatsu) is a Japanese loanword which originally meant both “special effects” in general and more specifically, a genre of live-action Japanese entertainment, encompassing many subgenres of film and television; however, in non-Japanese languages, it only refers to the second definition.
