Attending a Special 'Godzilla against Mechagodzilla' Event!

In between Yuichi Kikuchi and Akinori Noma.

On Sunday, July 17, I attended a screening of Godzilla against Mechagodzilla (2002), a movie that, suffice it to say, I haven't seen very many times. The last time was more than 10 years ago when it was screened in November 2011 as part of a special "Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla" triple feature in Ginza. 

Yuichi Kikuchi. Photo by Brett Homenick.

The movie itself is just as I remember -- mostly bland. The tokusatsu surprisingly holds up quite well, but the CGI has aged poorly. The story isn't engaging, the lead actors are mostly forgettable, and it just feels like more of the same from this era. It's competently made, there are no glaring mistakes, but nothing stands out. It's just kind of there, which is how I feel about the majority of the Millennium-era films.

Yoshiaki Kondo. Photo by Brett Homenick.

While he didn't work on this Mechagodzilla film, Heisei-era assistant SFX director Yoshiaki Kondo showed up as a surprise. Having worked on Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991), Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992), Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (1993), Orochi the Eight-Headed Dragon (1994), Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (1994), Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995), Rebirth of Mothra (1996), and Godzilla 2000 (1999), he was a key member of Toho's SFX staff during the 1990s.

It was fun watching Kondo-san interact and laughing with the other tokusatsu staff on hand. He spent most of the evening reminiscing with his fellow tokusatsu assistant director, Akinori Noma.

Akinori Noma. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Akinori Noma is a tokusatsu assistant director who worked on Godzilla against Mechagodzilla and Godzilla: Final Wars (2004) in that capacity. His credits also touch various Ultraman projects.

He was a friendly guy and seemed surprised that I'd want to take his photo. Of course, I love meeting these unsung heroes of tokusatsu and spreading the word about their contributions.

Yuichi Kikuchi. Photo by Brett Homenick.

The guest of honor was tokusatsu director Yuichi Kikuchi. Kikuchi-san is best known for serving as SFX director on Godzilla against Mechagodzilla, as well as working as assistant SFX director on such movies as Gamera 3 (1999) and Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000). He was also SFX director on Ultraman (2004), Ultraman Nexus (2004-05), Ultraman Max (2005-06), Ultraman Mebius (2006-07), as well as other works.

I was pleasantly surprised that he recognized me from attending his stage dramas from a few years ago. It was very enjoyable to see him again.

I had a great time at the event. Seeing a Godzilla movie in 35mm is always fun, and hanging out with top-notch tokusatsu guests doesn't hurt, either. Bring on the next one!