An Afternoon with the Creator of Kaiju!

Hideo Okamoto. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Earlier today, I spent the afternoon with kaiju designer Hideo Okamoto. His credits are legendary, but his best-known projects are Orochi the Eight-Headed Dragon (1994), Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995), Rebirth of Mothra (1996), Rebirth of Mothra II (1997), and Godzilla 2000 (1999).

Suffice it to say, it was a fun and informative time. Okamoto-san had many wonderful stories to tell about his career. I hope to meet him again soon!

Attending a Gathering of Tokusatsu Fans and Pros!

Atsushi Hagiwara. Photo by Brett Homenick.

On Friday, May 20, I attended a tokusatsu gathering of fans and professionals. Two of the pros on hand were ones I'd never met before, so I was eager to make their acquaintance.

One of them was Atsushi Hagiwara, who helped build many of the spaceships for Sayonara Jupiter (1984), one of Toho's most ambitious tokusatsu films of all time. Whatever you might say about the quality of the storytelling, no one can deny the quality of the SFX work. Hagiwara-san was surprised that I was familiar with his work, but it is most definitely great work!

Hideo Okamoto. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Also on hand was kaiju designer extraordinaire Hideo Okamoto. His credits are legendary, but his best-known projects are Yamato Takeru (1994), Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995), Rebirth of Mothra (1996), Rebirth of Mothra II (1997), and Godzilla 2000 (1999). 

I didn't have much of a chance to chat with him, so I just expressed my admiration for his work. He seemed pleased by that.

Overall, it was a fun evening, and the recently released Shin Ultraman was a hot topic of conversation.  A lot of interesting opinions were shared!