GODZILLA VS. KING GHIDORAH REVISITED! An Evening with Heisei-Era VIPs!

From left to right: Kazuki Hayashitani, Makoto Kamiya, yours truly, Hurricane Ryu, and Kazuki Omori are all smiles. 

I just returned from a fun dinner with several alumni from Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991), which included director Kazuki Omori, suit actor Hurricane Ryu, assistant director of SFX Makoto Kamiya, and SFX crew member Kazuki Hayashitani.

This was my third evening to have dinner with Kazuki Omori in the last week, and it's always been fun. This time, I spoke to him about working with Izumi Yukimura on Goodbye to the Girls (1987), a film he directed before getting involved with the Godzilla series.

Suit actor Hurricane Ryu poses for a picture. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Hurricane Ryu is a versatile individual whose talent as an illustrator is second to none. But most Godzilla fans would know Hurricane Ryu as the Godzilla series suit actor who played King Ghidorah in Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, Battra in Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992), Baby Godzilla in Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (1993), and Godzilla Junior in Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995).  Other suit-acting roles include Kumasogami in Orochi the Eight-Headed Dragon (1994) and Guilala in Monster X Strikes Back: Attack the G8 Summit (2008). 

I last saw Hurricane Ryu almost a year ago at another event. It was nice to catch up with him again. I signed my King Ghidorah poster (also signed by Omori-san and Ueda-san), as well as my Godzilla vs. Mothra booklet.

SFX director Makoto Kamiya. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Makoto Kamiya was assistant director of SFX from Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989) through Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II, then served in the same capacity on Gamera: Guardian of the Universe (1995) through Gamera 3 (1999). After that, he became SFX director on GMK and Shinji Higuchi's Sinking of Japan (2006). 

To say that Kamiya-san enjoyed the evening would be a massive understatement. He enthusiastically chatted with just about everybody, and he especially seemed to have great chemistry with Hurricane Ryu.

And that's a wrap! It was a great evening, but more will be coming soon. Stay tuned!