Tokusatsu Talk!

Takashi Naganuma. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Last night, Saturday, August 6, I attended yet another tokusatsu party with two great Toho alums. They, of course were Takashi Naganuma and Eiichi Asada. 

Naganuma-san was a lot of fun, and -- as usual -- the conversation was less about special effects and more about language and word play. He's always a blast to talk with.

Eiichi Asada. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Eiichi Asada was the evening's other guest. As an assistant director on Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974), I asked him if he remembered the ape-face belt buckles on the Third Planet of the Black Hole aliens in the film. (This was a detail I noticed for the first time when I watched the flick on the big screen about a week ago.) As you could imagine, he didn't remember it. Well, it was worth a shot. I'm still fascinated by that minor detail that has eluded me all these years.

Asada-san and Naganuma-san were, as usually, very cool and friendly. Teruyoshi Nakano is still sorely missed at these gatherings. Suffice it to say, I'll never forget his kindness and presence at these events. But I'm glad that we can carry on with other masters of Japanese SFX. Gotta keep the spirit alive!