The King of the Monsters Begins His Purple Reign

Image courtesy of Kaiju No. 14.

If a man is considered guilty

For [putting fake director quotes in official Godzilla books]

Then gimme the electric chair

For all my future crimes, oh

Electric chair

-- Prince, "Batdance"

I firmly believe the Internet should talk about Hideaki Anno less (not more), but this bit of goony nonsense was too amusing to pass up. Last year, an "official" Godzilla book was released, which to this day I've never seen. Until recently, all I knew about it is that one of the authors promised some never-before-seen storyboards (or whatever), upon which a Twitter user pointed out that these would-be exclusives had already been published for years. Other than that, I didn't know much else.

That was until yesterday when I discovered that this "official" tome published an all-time howler, which you can see in the image above. Although I wasn't aware of it at the time, a fake quote attributed to Shin Godzilla (2016) director Hideaki Anno was making the rounds online at the time of the film's release, in which the auteur supposedly named Prince as an inspiration for his movie.

An example can be found here, but, as you can very easily see, the alleged quote was quickly debunked in the comments. So how did it get past our "masterclass" authors and into an official history of the Godzilla series?

That's a great question, but, if past is prologue, I'm afraid we won't get any satisfactory answers. Had this blunder occurred in some other book, either the aforementioned authors themselves or their social-media mouthpieces would be flogging it for years, using it as a cudgel to discredit the poor, duped, disgraced journalist and as proof that only a select few self-appointed experts should cover the genre.

To illustrate this point, another writer who tackled Ishiro Honda in his own biography got put through the ringer for a string of silly typos ("eye-pooping" being the most eye-popping example), which have been used ever since to discredit him and his research. The first Honda book does contain its share of flaws, but I'm pretty sure it didn't contain any fake quotes about how the director got the idea for the film while spinning some Paul Anka records.

Will the stench of this "Purple Rain" gag follow our heroic book authors and DVD commentators the same way that "eye-pooping" has followed the embattled first Honda biographer? Pfft! Who are we kidding? The reaction to the revelation of this gaffe on social media was mostly muted, and folks have already moved on to more pressing topics, like how Rental Family (2025) is pure cinema. 

Happily, this is something we can correct ourselves. Remember the laziness and sloppiness on display here, and make future book-purchasing decisions accordingly.

Toho Entertainment Store in Hibiya!

Photo by Brett Homenick.

While out and about in Hibiya on March 13, I discovered the Toho Entertainment Store quite by accident in Hibiya Chanter. As the name might suggest, this store is not another Godzilla store but sells goods related to various Toho properties -- Godzilla included. 

There were some cool items for sale, such as Blu-rays of Godzilla movies and other things, but I successfully kept my money in my wallet. I really ought to start spending less money, but that's easier said than done.

Godzilla is so well represented in Hibiya that a 7-Eleven in the basement of Tokyo Midtown Hibiya has its own Godzilla section. So, yes, you may be able to buy a Slurpee at yours, but can you buy a Godzilla keychain there, too? Yeah, that's what I thought! 

Kaiju Invade TV Asahi!

Sennengama at TV Asahi. Photo by Brett Homenick.

On March 13, I was exploring the TV Asahi Building in Roppongi when I stumbled upon an unusual sight -- a kaiju on display! It turns out it's Sennengama from the current TV series Kamen no Ninja Akakage (Masked Ninja Akakage, 2025-26). But you don't often see kaiju hanging out at TV Asahi, so it was worth a photo!

Seeing 'House' in 35mm!

A poster for House (1977) at the Shin Bungeiza. Photo by Brett Homenick.

On Friday, March 6, I returned to the Shin Bungeiza theater for a screening of House (1977), the infamous pseudo-horror movie directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi. The screening was in 35mm, and it was my second time to see it this way. Even though it is well-regarded in the West, largely due to the fact that it's been available through the Criterion Collection for years, I have my own thoughts.

I first saw House long before it had any kind of reputation outside Japan. I bought an unsubtitled bootleg in 2002, which I ordered just because I knew it was a "Toho horror movie" from the '70s. I watched maybe a third of it, but it was giving me none of what I was looking for in such a flick, so I remember turning it off after a while, figuring I'd finish it later. (I never did.)

At the end of 2010, I picked up the Criterion DVD and gave it a proper viewing for the first time. At the time, I thought of it as weirdness for its own sake and not much else. I also found the experience a bit depressing, as it really seemed to end the production of Showa-era genre films with a whimper. Then, in July 2016, I caught a screening of it in Japan and liked it a bit better than I had before, I guess. Even though I no longer despised it the way I used to, I still didn't think its reputation in the West was deserved.

With Prof in July 2016.

So that's where things stood when I went into screening. I more or less expected to have a repeat of my 2016 experience, in other words, thinking the movie was OK but overrated. Unfortunately, my opinion is a bit closer to where it was in 2010 but perhaps not quite as negative.

I was more or less onboard with the movie in the first half, but the directionless chaos of the second half wore me out. Absurdity is fine in movies, but, when it just meanders about in random ways, I lose interest after a while. I also got the sense the filmmakers thought they were being much more clever than they actually were, which is always annoying.

Believe it or not, my favorite parts of the movie had nothing to do with its overhyped weirdness. There were wistful shots in the film that, for lack of a better word, evoked a sense of nostalgia. I found myself wishing I were watching that movie instead of this one. Sometimes you don't need singing cats or dancing skeletons to make a good movie.

After the screening, there was a Q&A with a film critic, but, as we have learned from the positive reviews of this movie in the West, "one has to dismiss everything they know about film criticism" when reviewing House, and "the 'rules' of film criticism are almost impossible to apply to it," so I'm not sure what they were going for there.

Seeing 'The Street Fighter' at the Theater!

A poster for The Street Fighter (1974) at Shin Bungeiza. Photo by Brett Homenick.

"The Cherokee fists of Sonny Chiba!" -- a quote certainly not used during this TV spot for Roaring Fire (1981)

On Thursday, March 5, I returned to the Shin Bungeiza theater to catch a screening of The Street Fighter (1974), the notorious Sonny Chiba actioner with some outlandish fight scenes. The presentation was clearly not a 35mm print, but whether it was 4K specifically is unknown to me. Unquestionably, however, it was a DCP, and it looked quite good. 

I first saw The Street Fighter in the fall of 2001 when I found it on the Diamond Entertainment double pack with Return of the Street Fighter (1974). I liked the movie and often revisited parts of it at the time, but I don't believe I ever sat down and watched the whole thing again in its entirety until about two years ago when I finally watched it again on DVD. There's a reason for that.

While the movie has genuine moments of bonkers brilliance, it can really drag the rest of the time. This screening only reconfirmed my view. Essentially, whenever Sonny Chiba is offscreen, the movie can become a bit of a chore. By no means is it horrible, but I guess you'd expect a bit more from a movie with this reputation.

The audience I saw the movie with was mostly silent, but there was a smattering of guffaws in the audience when Chiba gets his revenge on Chico Lourant. (If you know, you know.)

About two years ago, I read a post by some goofball on Twitter, who was asserting (without evidence, of course) that The Street Fighter was somehow an inspiration for Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974). In particular, the guy stated that Godzilla does "Chiba's chi redistribution pose" (his words, not mine) somewhere in the film. The only problem here is, the two movies were released about a month apart in Japan, making any similarities between the two about as purely coincidental as it gets. When I read nonsense like this, I wish genre research were based less on connecting dots and making assumptions and based more on, well, research.  

Overall, it was a fun experience, and, when I saw that they were showing The Street Fighter, I made sure to attend. The movie is good, but it wished it flowed much better than it does. 

Seeing 'The Ninja Hunt' in Ikebukuro!

The Ninja Hunt (1964) at the Shin Bungeiza. Photo by Brett Homenick.

On March 4, I saw a screening of the Toei actioner The Ninja Hunt (1964) at Ikeburkuro's Shin Bungeiza theater. Not only had I not seen this one before, I'm not sure I'd seen any Toei ninja film from this era, so I was particularly curious to see how I'd like it.

Overall, the movie is pretty good, but it's nothing too extraordinary. It's a typical action programmer that doesn't have huge ambitions beyond telling a simple story and delivering some excitement. The movie did surprise me, however, in just how explicit it was. It's very violent, especially by the standards of the time. Several characters experience Lucio Fulci-style eye trauma, and, even more shockingly, there's a teaspoon of nudity. (It's brief and semi-hidden, but you can definitely see it.)

The 35mm print was kind of rough in parts, but it was very watchable. Despite being made in 1964, it looks like it could have been shot 10 years earlier. I'm not sure if that was a film stock issue, but the movie looked much creakier and more antiquated than its year of production would suggest. 

The Ninja Hunt was a decent watch. Its bad guys were certainly bad, so you will likely find yourself rooting for their demise by the end. I look forward to seeing other offerings at this theater very soon!

OPERATION: FINAL WARS INVADES SHINJUKU! There Goes Kabukicho!

Godzilla takes on his enemies at the Hotel Gracery Shinjuku! Photo by Brett Homenick.

Hotel Gracery Shinjuku has a new Godzilla: Final Wars (2004)-themed display on the eighth floor of the hotel. On March 3, I stopped by the Hotel Gracery Shinjuku to check it out. Here's what I saw. Enjoy!