Podcasts – Kaijucast

The Kaijucast Finale features nothing but Kyle and his cohosts – like almost all of them!

This final mission will decide the fate of the human race… this is Operation Final Kaijucast!

Welcome to a bittersweet episode release: the final episode of the Kaijucast.

For this finale, I wanted as many cohosts as possible to get an one last opportunity to interact and say goodbye (or ja mataa) to our listeners.

There’s not a lot of Godzilla chatter in this episode, just a bunch of my favorite nerds talking about the podcast and what it’s been like to be part of this experience; this qualifies as a Yak Attack, but I’ve bleeped the few instances where we might have dipped into the “explicit” category. Now everyone can listen!

I want to thank the cohosts, those that listened to the episode live and every single person who has supported the Kaijucast in one form or another over the past ten years.  

MUSIC TO MONSTER BY:

1. Monsterman by DEVO from Monsterman (2012) 

2. “Major Spielberg” audio clip from Godzilla vs King Ghidorah (1991)

3. The Giant Fang by Kow Otani from Godzilla Mothra King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All Out Attack (2001)

4. “Go Go of One Million” audio clip from Godzilla vs the Smog Monster (1971)

5. Mothra Metal by Isao Bito from Mothra Song The Best (1998)

6. Monster From A Prehistoric Planet Trailer Audio (1967)

7. Monsters Over Tokyo by Famous Monsters from Around the World in 80 Bikinis (1999)

8. “Red Dots are decreasing” audio clip from Godzilla vs Monster Zero (1965)

9. Destroy All Monsters AIP Trailer (1968)

10. Main Theme performed by the Bukimisha Weird Secret Society from Daring Daimajin (2006)

11. Gammera the Invincible Trailer (1965)

12. Stomp Tokyo by the Creeping Cruds from The Incredibly Strange People Who Stopped Living & Became… (2005)

13. Ending / Raymond Burr’s Monologue clip from Godzilla 1985 (1985)

It’s been a helluva decade… THANK YOU FOR ALL OF THE MONSTER MEMORIES!

The stunning Rodan painting by Bob Eggleton, a gift from the cohosts to the controller, who might have gotten a little choked up in this live and final episode.

The Kaijucast FanVader crew poses with the Godzilla statue outside of Toho Studios: (from L to R) Mike, Stephan, Clancy, Laura, Andrew, Bryan and James (with Kyle being a dork up front)

The 2019 Kaijucast FanVasion is complete! Clancy and Kyle have returned from their trip to Tokyo (and beyond) with the rest of the “FanVader” team and the two of them sit down to unpack the whole damn thing.

There’s a list below of all the places we went on the trip with some helpful links to anyone heading to Japan themselves – big thanks to our travel group, you guys were awesome!

Make sure to check out the links to our housekeeping announcements! 

MUSICAL MOMENTS OF MONSTROUSNESS:

1. Booska Theme performed by Animetal from Animetal Marathon III (1998)

2. “Kong versus Godzilla” Audio Clip from King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962) 

3. Appearance Of Gamera by Ko Otani from Gamera 2: Advent of Legion (1996)

4. Cleansing the Earth of Humanity’s Existence by Oxygen Destroyer from Bestial Manifestations of Malevolence and Death (2018)

FANVASION HITLIST:

Ultraman town/street

Toho Gates’ Godzilla Mural, Statue etc

Kurihama Flower Park for the Godzilla slide

Kawasaki’s “Your Warehouse” Arcade [NOW CLOSED]

Kaiju Sakaba in Kawasaki

GODZILLAFES 2019

Evangelion Store in Ikebukuro

Akihabara Shopping

Kadokawa Studios in Chofu + Shop Majin

Nakano Broadway Mall

Godzilla Store in Shinjuku

Shinjuku Gracery Hotel (Godzilla Terrace / Godzilla Room)

Sukugawa Tsuburaya Museum

Ikebukuro’s Owl Cafe

Shibuya’s Tower Records and DiscUnion

and… for those traveling to Tokyo, check out the following not done as part of the FanVasion

TeamLab’s Borderless Exhibit in Odaiba 

MIKE’S FIRE RAMEN VIDEO 

TSUBURAYA MUSEUM DIORAMA

Sukagawa’s Tsuburaya Museum houses this beautiful Studio Diorama. Photo courtesy of Monster Attack Team Magazine & Toho Co. Ltd.

 

The FanVasion in the Godzilla Room at the Shinjuku Gracery Hotel!

HOUSEKEEPING: FINAL EPISODE RECORDING

THIS IS IT, GEORGE: The FINAL Episode of the Kaijucast will be recorded LIVE on December 14th, please follow the link below to our Facebook Event and join us in the chatroom if you can!

 KAIJUCAST Final Wars Episode FB Event !

HOUSEKEEPING T-SHIRT OF THE MONTH CLUB:

We’re moving the “club” to RedBubble! And to celebrate, there are TWO designs available now:

ANCIENT MONSTER GOMESS Design!

METAL UP JIRASS Mashup Design!

Live from Tokyo’s Godzilla Festival celebration, Kyle and his FanVasion crew talk about the event!

Wow – Tokyo knows how to throw a Godzilla celebration!

Today, I spent the day in Tokyo’s Ginza district at Godzilla Square with my group trip’s kaiju freaks (aka the Kaijucast FanVasion) and we had a great time! The stage shows were fun, the programming was great, the exclusives were super cool – I wish I could have tried some of the food truck-style food but phew! those lines were mega long!

In order to get this episode released ON godzilla’s birthday, it’s a little on the short side, but make sure to check out the two videos I linked to below too (and you can pretend YOU were there)!

MUSICAL MONSTER MOMENTS:

1. Suite From Godzilla 1954 from Akira Ifukube 100: A Legacy of Monster Music (2014)

2. Godzilla’s History According to Dr. Arnold Johnson from King Kong vs Godzilla (1962)

3. Godzilla by The Creatures from Hai! (2003)

4. Look Up There…Gigan & King Ghidorah from Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972)

5. Goodbye Godzilla by Josie Cotten from Attack of the B-Girls (2007)

SUGGESTED VIEWING:

Akira Takarada’s Opening Ceremonies Speech (all in Japanese)

The Shodai Godzilla suit walks to the stage!

Happy Halloween, Kaiju Fiends!!! 

Celebrate the spookiest day of our calendar with an all new, super scary episode of the Kaijucast!

Dave, Gretchen and Kyle sit down to discuss the cultural phenomenon that has grown to kaiju-sized levels. Thanks to animated shows like Yokai Watch, Rise of the Yokai Clan and so many more, the world of Japanese ghosts and goblins and things that go obake in the night has really opened up to the West (that’s us, folks!) – anyway, we knew it was time for another Yokai Spooktacular.

Inside of this episode is an interview that Gretchen and I recorded at Rose City Comic Con with yokai author, Zack Davisson. We discuss his newest book Yokai Stories, his career as an author and translator and where you can find his stuff – make sure to click on those show notes below!

We hope you enjoy this conversational and hopefully slightly informative chat by a bunch of yokai fans who want you to become fans yourselves. 

MYSTERIOUS MUSIC:

1. Shrine Worship (1969) by Chumei Watanabe from Yokai Hyaku Monogatari (1968)

2. Hellboy Sword of Storms Trailer (2006)

3.  Kappa Audio Clip from Gegege No Kitaro (2018)

4. Avant Title from Gegege No Kitaro (2018)

5. Hakaba Kitaro Audio Clip (2008)

6. Karankoron no uta from Gegege no Kitaro (1968)

7. Ending by Chumei Watanabe from Yokai Hyaku Monogatari (1968)

8. Oshiete Jiji (the Azuki Bean song) by Kiyoshiro Imawano & Yosui Inoue from The Great Yokai War (2005)

SUGGESTED VIEWING:

Maser Patrol’s Incredible Yokai Resource from last year Night Parade of 100 Monster Movies

Zack Davission’s website

Zack Davission’s books:

Yokai Stories,

Yurei: The Japanese Ghost 

Kaibyo: The Supernatural Cats of Japan

Yokai.com – serious encyclopedic website! 

Japandemonium Illustrated The Yokai Encyclopedias of Toriyama Seiken

Yokai Attack! The Japanese Monster Survival Guide by Matt Alt

100 Demon Night Parade by Matthew Meyer 

In Ghostly Japan by Lafcadio Hern

Japanese Ghosts and Demons by George Brazillier

YOKAI MOVIES AND VIDEOS:

Know Your Yokai on Youtube

Pom Poko — Kyle’s favorite movie from Studio Ghibli 

Hellboy Sword of Storms

Gegege No Kitaro on CrunchyRoll

Gantz 0 on Netflix

YOKAI WE TALKED ABOUT!

*links to entries on Yokai.com*

Yurei

Kappa

Tanuki

Nurikabe

Zashiki-warashi

Nukikube

Karakasa

Azuki Arai

Wa nyudo

ALL EYES ON DECK:

Hey folks, since this is the end of October, that means there are only two more months of podcast programming planned. Our final episode will be recorded in December and we want you to listen LIVE as we broadcast the final episode of the Kaijucast! We’ll be broadcasting a special “Yak Attack” episode live from the depth of Monster Island’s control room and will once again fire up the chat room. 

Mark your calendars for DECEMBER 14th!!!

Godzilla director Masaaki Tezuka joins Kyle for a chat about his career in kaiju cinema (originally recorded at G-Fest 2015).

Since the podcast is ending this year, I figured I should probably dig into the archives and find any unearthed gems. This is one of those gems – and it’s a bit shorter than I would have liked so I guess this is before we really had a lot of kaiju clout!

Waaaaaaay back in 2015, I was lucky to interview some of the guests at G-Fest 22 and one of those guests was the director of three Millennium series films, Masaaki Tezuka. Tezuka directed Godzilla X Megaguirus (2000), Godzilla X Mechagodzilla (2002), Godzilla X Mothra X Mechagodzilla: Tokyo SOS (2003), some seriously great entries in the franchise’s legacy.  

I’m a massive fan of his movies, and impressed that in an era where each film was supposed to have its own direction, continuity and director, Tezuka was able to come back to the series twice! 

I would love to see him return to the Godzilla series some day. Come on, Toho – Bring back this fan turned director!

MUSIC:

1. Fateful Confrontation by Michiru Oshima from Godzilla x Megaguirus (2000)

2. 20 Returning To The Sea by Michiru Oshima from Godzilla x Mothra x Mechagodzilla: Tokyo SOS (2003)

SUGGESTED VIEWING:

TerrorDave’s Recap of the G-Fest Tezuka panel from 2015

Massive thanks to Jim Figurski and his wife Akiko for their life saving interpretation skills!

Keith Aiken and Kyle finally have an opportunity to sit down and chat about all of the awesome stuff Keith has been involved in.

In the history of me of saying “this interview has been a long time coming”, this one might take the cake. In the  very first year of the podcast, I spoke with Keith Aiken about coming on the show to talk about some of the knowledge he had… ten years later, the conversation is finally happening but it’s much more about all of the super cool stuff that Keith has been working on.

If you don’t know Keith Aiken, you will after listening to this episode – he’s essentially been working in the background for a huge number of projects for kaiju fans: the Classic Media releases, commentaries, the 98 Godzilla Animated series – and that’s just the tip of the iceberg!

I truly hope you enjoy this almost entirely unedited conversation with one of the guys who I’ve been consistently impressed with for well over ten years: Keith Aiken!

 

ULTRA MUSIC:

1. The Science Patrol Returns by Kuniyo Miyauchi from Ultraman (1966)

2. Two Giant Monsters by Kuniyo Miyauchi from Ultraman (1966)

SUGGESTED VIEWING/LISTENING:

SciFi Japan 

SciFi Japan on Twitter

SciFi Japan’s Facebook Group

Mill Creek Entertainment’s Ultraman Releases

Mill Creek Entertainment’s 2nd Release Announcement

More information about the Tsuburaya Legal Troubles:

Episode #141 Behind the Booska with Brad Warner

Episode #149 Ultra Mess with August Ragone

Jeff, Kyle, Gretchen and Rachel after our presentation at Rose City Comic Con 2019!

Once again, the Kaijucast stomps through Portland’s own pop culture extravaganza, Rose City Comic Con! 

This episode serves up the audio from our presentation at the convention: Release the Kaiju with my co-hosts playing the role of Monarch Outpost researchers and scientists… just a little fun with the subject matter. Obviously none of us work for an organization that tracks and studies titans across the world! 

After the panel, stick around to find out what other shenanigans the crew was up to during the convention! 

Oh, here’s that definitive list of our panels from the life of Rose City Comic Con:

2013 The Kaiju of Pacific Rim

2014 Godzilla vs Everything

2015 GIANT MONSTER HAPPY CHALLENGE Game Show Panel

2016 Monster Oddities

2017 Expanding the Legendary Monsterverse

2018 How Godzilla Got His Groove Back

2019 Release the Kaiju (or Mega Fauna Co-Existence and You)

Hope to see you there next year!

MUSICAL MOMENTS:

1. Welcome to Monarch by Bear McCreary from Godzilla King of the Monsters (2019) 

2. Mothra vs. We Are Scientists by We Are Scientists from Safety, Fun, and Learning (in That Order) (2002)

GALLERY

Since we had such a great time talking about things you should see from the con, check these photos out!

[See image gallery at www.kaijucast.com] Thanks for coming out to our panel this year, and if you missed it, we hope to see you next year!

Motion Capture performer TJ Storm chats with Kyle about his experience in bringing the King of the Monsters to life!

Over the past 65 years, Godzilla has been played by all sorts of awesome people: Haruo Nakajima, Kenpachiro Satsuma, Tsutomu “Tom” Kitagawa (just to name a few). Not all Godzilla actors hail from the land of the rising sun, however. We are thrilled to share this conversation with a new kind of Godzilla actor. He doesn’t wear a foam rubber suit in order to play the role of the King of the Monsters; he instead wears a lycra suit covered in ping pong balls. He grapples with other actors in similar lycra suits, and the end result is history’s and Hollywood’s beefiest beast of all, Legendary Pictures’ Godzilla. Our guest for this episode is none other than TJ Storm, the man who has brought life to the CGI Godzilla from Godzilla (2014) and Godzilla King of the Monsters (2019).

Big thanks to Jessica Tseang for helping to arrange the interview and to Bob Johnson and his crew from Bay Area Film Events for the opportunity to steal some of TJ’s time during Godzilla Fest!

Godzilla gets his motivation from actor TJ Storm during the filming of Godzilla King of the Monsters

Please make sure to visit the links below to learn more about our guest and all of the awesome stuff that TJ helps organize!

MOMENTARY MUSICAL MINUTES:

1. Godzilla King of the Monsters “Intimidation Display” TV Spot (2019)

2. Old Rivals by Bear McCreary from Godzilla King of the Monsters (2019)

SUGGESTED VIEWING:

Minds Eye Tribe

SyFy “Genre MVP: The Motion Capture Actor Who’s Played Groot, Godzilla & Iron Man

CBR’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters’ MoCap Actors Are IRL ‘Kaiju Brothers

Befores & Afters’ Life As A Motion Capture Performer 

HOUSEKEEPING:

Our 4th enthy in the KAIJUCAST T-SHIRT OF THE MONTH: Return Of The King (a collaboration with MyKaiju Godzilla ) 

Rose City Comic Con is coming up, make sure to come out to our events:

Kaijucast’s RELEASE THE KAIJU Panel at Rose City Comic Con 2019! 

Our annual Kaijucast LISTENER PARTY at Killer Burger (Saturday night)

Hope you enjoy this interview – we’ll be back for more episodes later this month!

Michael Dougherty, director of Godzilla King of the Monsters, joins Kyle in this episode of the Kaijucast. [Photo credit: Robert Moreno]In this episode I sit down to speak with the director of Godzilla King of the Monsters (2019), Michael Dougherty, to discuss his love for the genre, his work on the newest film and even how his world view aligns with some of his characters’ motivations. If you haven’t seen Dougherty’s Godzilla King of the Monsters, you might want to wait until you’ve seen the film. 

Consider this an obvious SPOILER WARNING that we talk at length and depth about his film. Also, please take note that I really enjoyed this new entry in the new era of American monster movies.

This guy gets it, kaiju fiends! Also, make sure you keep an ear out for a twitter challenge from Dougherty himself  

Major thanks to Bob Johnson, Bay Area Films Events and the Balboa Theatre.  Please make sure you check out the show notes below for more information about some of the subjects we chat about during the interview.

Also, thanks to Michael Dougherty for taking the time to speak with me during his time in San Francisco!

MUSICAL MOMENTS:

1. UK TV Spot for Godzilla King of the Monsters (2019)

2. Godzilla King of the Monsters Theme by Artificial Fear (2019) 

SUGGESTED VIEWING:

Godzilla King of the Monsters out on Blu Ray August 27th

Cinefx Magazine’s online coverage of Godzilla King of the Monsters

DopePope’s Gigan

Every Titan in Godzilla King of the Monsters (via ScreenRant)

ADI sculptor Tim Martin details the Rodan clay maquette, used to consolidate design concepts into a single physical sculpture (from Cinefex.com)

HOUSEKEEPING/CATASTROPHIC EVENTS:

GodzillaThon happening this weekend at the Hollywood Theatre!

Our newest entry & collaboration with MyKaiju in our Tshirt of the Month project

Kyle and Gretchen cover the latest kaiju news in episode 270 of the Kaijucast!

We cannot ignore the importance of this episode’s news – and if you haven’t heard about it, get in here and listen! Just a heads up, this episode is really nothing but news. Gretchen and Kyle chat about the slew of kaiju-related articles and announcements that have broken headlines and brains over the past month – please make sure to check out the links below! 

MUSICAL MONSTER MOMENT:

1. Godzula by MOD from Gross Misconduct (1989) 

SUGGESTED VIEWING:

Shin Ultraman details via Variety / via Polygon / via Skreeonk.com / via SlashFilm / via ComicBook.com

Ultraman via Mill Creek Entertainment Announcement on Scifi Japan

Ultra Q and Ultraman on Mill Creek Entertainment’s website

10-Minute Previews of Ultraman via Moviespree.com

…also did you catch our Ultra Q and Ultraman episodes?

Godzilla The Showa Era (1954-1975) is getting released on Blu Ray via Criterion

+ Scifi Japan’s Criterion set announcement

SDCC News: Toho’s first ever Official SDCC Booth 

SDCC News: Toho launches official English language Twitter & Instagram 

SDCC News: Famous Monsters of Filmland to distribute X-Plus figures in the USA

Godzilla Channel (official) on Youtube

+ Goji-ban show (episode 1)

CNET Article on Godzillaban by Bonnie Burton

REIGO and RAIGA preorders available from SRS Cinema

CATASTROPHIC EVENT:

8/22 – 8/22 GODZILLA FEST in San Francisco, CA (make sure to listen to episode #268 with Bob Johnson)

…and do not forget about GODZILLATHON happening at the Hollywood Theatre! The titles being shown are DESTROY ALL MONSTERS (1968), GODZILLA ON MONSTER ISLAND (1972 – aka Godzilla vs Gigan)

8/30 – 9/1 GODZILLATHON at the Hollywood Theatre in Portland, OR

Godzilla vs Portland courtesy of the Hollywood Theatre (poster art by Nate Ashley)