Legends of Tokusatsu!

In between Eiichi Asada (left) and Toshio Miike.

In Tokyo, it definitely seems that business has been picking up. For most of the year, COVID has kept special events and other such gatherings to an absolute minimum. With the vaccines just barely getting rolled out, it seemed like this situation might continue a lot longer.

Toshio Mike. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Not so. As we enter summer, it does seem that more events are getting scheduled, and July might (emphasis on might) be about as busy as any month during the pre-COVID days. The timing's pretty good, too, as I hear that July is a good month to celebrate Godzilla and other such kaiju.

Last night was apparently the very beginning of the turnaround. I attended a fun event with Toshio Miike and Eiichi Asada. Miike-san is a veteran SFX art director and production designer who's worked on: Gunhed (1989), Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991), Zeiram (1991), Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992), Gamera: Guardian of the Universe (1995), Gamera 2 (1996), Gamera 3 (1999), GMK (2001), Godzilla against Mechagodzilla (2002), Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. (2003), Godzilla: Final Wars (2004), and Shin Godzilla (2016).

Eiichi Asada. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Also there was Eiichi Asada. As an assistant director, Asada-san's credits include: Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973), Submersion of Japan (1973), Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974), Espy (1974), Conflagration (1975), Zero Pilot (1976), The War in Space (1977), Deathquake (1980), The Imperial Navy (1981), Sayonara Jupiter (1984), and Godzilla 1985 (1984), among others. He was the special effects director on Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. (2003) and Godzilla: Final Wars (2004).

 As always, it was a great opportunity to spend an evening with two tokusatsu legends, which unfortunately has been a rarity of late. Thankfully, though, the times seem to changing.