Vantage Point Interviews Returns with New Content!

Masaaki Daimon in April 2021. Photo by Brett Homenick.

There is new content available on Vantage Point Interviews!

Masaaki Daimon stars in the original Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974) as Keisuke Shimizu, but he also appeared in a bevy of other notable films throughout the 1970s. Mr. Daimon talks all about his acting career in my brand-new interview with him.

Jay Hackett was taken over by the evil alien Gudis on Ultraman: Towards the Future (1992) -- and lived to tell the tale! Read all about his Ultra-adventures Down Under here!

Content is always king on Vantage Point Interviews!

An Evening with Minoru Kawasaki!

Minoru Kawasaki poses with a poster for Planet Prince 2021. Photo by Brett Homenick.

On Saturday, February 19, I attended an event with director Minoru Kawasaki. Kawasaki-san is best-known for his low-budget kaiju romps that often feature luminaries from Showa-era tokusatsu productions. The movie of his I'm most familiar with is Monster X Strikes Back: Attack the G8 Summit (2008), which was released on DVD in the U.S. back in the day.

It was a fun event with a few familiar faces who often attend such gatherings. Kawasaki-san showed me some materials from his next movie, which looks just as wacky as anything else he's done. 

 I wasn't able to see the screening of his new film Planet Prince 2021, which is his version of Prince of Space, but I hope to check it out soon. Overall, it was a very fun evening!

'What to Do with the Dead Kaiju?' (2022) Review

What to Do with the Dead Kaiju? poster outside Toho Cinemas Roppongi. Photo by Brett Homenick.

What to Do with the Dead Kaiju? opens today in Japan, and I had a chance to check out the first screening at Toho Cinemas Roppongi. Overall, the film is disappointing, but what really makes it a real disappointment is that it had the potential to be much better than it turned out.

For most of the first hour, I was basically enjoying the movie. Unlike most other Japanese films these days (which look like they were shot for TV), this one at least tried to be cinematic. It may not be able to compete with current multimillion-dollar Hollywood tentpoles, but by Japanese standards it was quite impressive for a movie of its type. I suppose I remember all the other "parody" kaiju movies that came out in the years after the release of Godzilla: Final Wars (2004), which were low on budget, quality, and laughs, and essentially expected more of the same here.

Theater-exclusive goods for What to Do with the Dead Kaiju? Photo by Brett Homenick.

But I was pleased that such wasn't the case. The direction and cinematography were commendable, the visual effects were enjoyable, and the actors (especially the older ones playing the politicians) did a good job. The major problem here is that the first hour led to the second hour, by which point the movie wears out its welcome. A film like this should tell its story in a brisk 90 minutes. This one drags on for a hair under two hours -- way longer than this movie has any right to be. 

What's more, given the premise, you'd think that the film would explore all kinds of fun ways that a military clean-up crew would dispose of dead monsters once they've been neutralized. Not here. Oddly, the kaiju basically looks the same at the start of the movie as it does at the end (which defeats the purpose of making a movie like this), and the various ways the government tries to get rid of the carcass aren't imaginative in the slightest. 

Since we never see the monster in action, and since there's only one creature onscreen, the movie lacks the kind of excitement or intrigue that fans of the genre would expect from it. It's sort of like someone watched Shin Godzilla (2016) and thought it would be funny if the focus were on removing the dead body instead. And it's not a bad concept; you just have to do something with it.

Chibi Godzilla is happy the military is trying to blow someone else up for a change. Photo by Brett Homenick.

The ending proved that the filmmakers really had no idea what to do with the premise. I won't spoil it, but the resolution comes out of nowhere, and, if you're expecting something creative whatsoever, it'll just make you roll your eyes. In fairness, they do set up (in a way) what happens early on in the film, but the joke -- if you can call it that -- simply doesn't work. It's not funny, and it's the movie's way of telling you that you've just wasted two hours of your time. 

There's also a subplot involving mushrooms that I suppose is some kind of tribute to Matango (1963), but, other than giving the film an excuse to make raunchy jokes (um, you'll just have to see the movie to find out), it adds nothing to the story and should have been excised. (Anything bringing the running time down would have been a huge benefit.) I mean, there's even a (monsterless) post-credits gag! Didn't these guys hire an editor?

In short, this one can easily be skipped. But that's not because this was a shabby production -- quite the opposite. It just didn't know what to do with its premise and dragged on for far too long. If you want to see monster action, this one definitely doesn't have any. It's a shame that the script wasted its potential, but I guess we'll have to see whether Shin Ultraman does any better later this year.

Godzilla Tissue Dispensers (and Hedorah!) at Toho Cinemas Hibiya!

I went to Toho Cinemas Hibiya today and finally decided to snap a few photos of the Godzilla tissue dispensers on display, as well as the Hedorah figures there. I felt they were worthy of a blog post. Enjoy!

Shintaro Ishihara, Former Toho Director and Screenwriter (and Governor of Tokyo), Passes Away at Age 89

Akira Takarada, Reiko Dan, and Shintaro Ishihara on the set of the 1960 Toho film The Dangerous Kiss.

Shintaro Ishihara, the outspoken and controversial former governor of Tokyo from 1999 through 2012, passed away on February 1 at age 89.

Mr. Ishihara's political opinions will be the subject of debate for years to come, and it should go without saying that they are well beyond the scope of this blog post. I would simply like to point out Mr. Ishihara's often-ignored stint as a writer-director at Toho.

For some background, let me quote from The Japan Times:

Born in Kobe on Sept. 30, 1932, Ishihara first rose to national fame as a young writer, winning the prestigious Akutagawa Award in 1956 for his novel “Taiyo no Kisetsu” (“Season of the Sun”), which he wrote a year earlier at the age of 22 while a student at Tokyo’s Hitotsubashi University. The book became a best-seller, and Ishihara’s younger brother, Yujiro, who would go on to become one of Japan’s top film stars, made his debut as an actor in the novel’s film adaptation.

That film adaptation was Crazed Fruit (1956), produced by Nikkatsu Studios, which garnered international acclaim. Shortly thereafter, he wrote and directed the boxing drama The Young Beast (1958) at Toho, starring Akira Kubo. In 1960, one of Mr. Ishihara's books was adapted into a much different boxing story, the farcical romance The Dangerous Kiss, starring Akira Takarada. This film, directed by Yuzo Kawashima with a screenplay by Zenzo Matsuyama, features a cameo by Mr. Ishihara himself.

The poster for The Dangerous Kiss (on the right), which prominently advertises the involvement of Shintaro Ishihara. Photo by Brett Homenick.

I saw The Dangerous Kiss theatrically back in 2017, so please follow this link if you'd like to read my writeup on it. 

It's quite amusing to think that such a consequential political figure in Japan once wrote the story on which an Akira Takarada comedy was based, but, lest we forget, the U.S. has seen its share of characters in public office, too. In this case, at least we can all put aside our political opinions and talk about some fun and entertaining movies for a change.

Revisiting a 2013 'Kamen Rider Super-1' Reunion Event!

Shunsuke Takasugi prepares to pose as Kamen Rider Super-1. Photo by Brett Homenick.

On Sunday, February 10, 2013, I attended a Kamen Rider Super-1 (1980-81) reunion event in Tokyo. To be honest, I originally wasn't even aware of the event until an acquaintance of mine told me about it when I was visiting Tokyo and invited me to join him. It was very short notice, but I was able to make some time.

At the time, I have to admit I wasn't that enthused about it, given that I'm not the biggest Kamen Rider fan or aficionado in the world. But I'm always up for something new, so I gave it a shot. In retrospect, I wish I'd paid more attention to it and gotten more involved, but that's only knowing what I know now. This was probably the last event featuring Kamen Rider Super-1 star Shunsuke Takasugi.

As you've probably gathered by now, Takasugi-san portrayed Kazuya Oki, the alter ego of Kamen Rider Super-1, on the series. But he became much more (in)famous in the months following this special event. 

According to Wikipedia:

In 2013, he was reported to have taken ¥50 million (about US$ 450,000) from his fans between 2003 to 2012. Takasugi used the influence of his role as Kazuya Oki/Kamen Rider Super-1 to cheat his fans and refused to return the money. He said that this was because "Super-1's henshin belt was taken by the Yakuza and I need money to get it back." He refused to appear in court after he was sued and disappeared sometime in 2017.

Suffice it to say, I was quite shocked when I learned about this several years ago. I was even more surprised that I actually met the guy just a few months before the scandal broke. It is certainly one of the strangest turns of events I've ever seen in Japanese fandom.

Shunsuke Takasugi, Yumiko Tanaka, and Tetsuya Nakayashiki pose for pictures. Photo by Brett Homenick.

My encounter with Takasugi-san was very brief. As I recall, I think my acquaintance stopped him as he was walking somewhere to introduce me to him. I didn't have much to say (not being that familiar with Kamen Rider Super-1), so I told him that I knew Ulf Otsuki, who played Professor Henry, the scientist in the first episode of the series who transforms him into the titular hero. He seemed happy to hear that Otsuki-san was doing well. Other than that, I just remember the polite small talk that one would normally associate with such a meeting.

Naturally, I never expected to hear that Takasugi-san would be caught up in a massive scandal. He certainly came across as friendly and soft-spoken to me, not at all dissimilar to a myriad of other actors I've met at such events. I was just as surprised as anyone else.

Also on hand at the event was Yumiko Tanaka, who co-stars in Kamen Rider Super-1 as Harumi Kusanami. She also appears in a small role toward the beginning of Godzilla (1984) in a scene with Ken Tanaka.

Tetsuya Nakayashiki, the remaining guest, is a prolific suit actor, closely associated with the Showa-era Kamen Rider series. Nakayashiki-san suit-acted at least part of the time as a Kamen Rider character from the original Kamen Rider (1971-73) through Kamen Rider Super-1. Naturally, his credits in Toei tokusatsu are far too extensive to list here. Beyond Toei, Nakayashiki-san can be seen in the Toho actioner Espy (1974) as well as episode 12 of Tsuburaya Productions' TV series Mighty Jack (1968).

As I mentioned earlier, I didn't stay long at the event, so I don't have much else to add. I just wanted to share these photos, as well as what I remember from it, given what we learned in the wake of it. I'll close by sharing a few more photos. Enjoy!