Posters at the Cine Pathos Theater in Ginza, advertising the Godzilla birthday celebration and Gunhed event.
Saturday, November 3, was a big day for kaiju fans lucky enough to be in Tokyo. The Cine Pathos Theater played host to not one but two big events for fans of tokusatsu. Appropriately enough, the first event focused on Godzilla's birthday. Thus, attendees were treated to screenings of
Destroy All Monsters (1968),
Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla (1994), and
Godzilla: Final Wars (2004).
Let the Yuki Special shine a light on me! A toy replica of Space Godzilla's Yuki Special was offered for free to all attendees.
But movies turned out to be a small portion of what was on tap. Advertised to appear were screen (and scream!) legend Kenji Sahara,
Space Godzilla star Jun Hashizume and director Kensho Yamashita,
Final Wars SFX director Eiichi Asada, and longtime Toho SFX director Koichi Kawakita. Little did any of us know that these guests were just the tip of the iceberg!
Kenji Sahara reminisces about Destroy All Monsters following the screening of the film!
The first guest was none other than Kenji Sahara, who entered the theater immediately after
Destroy All Monsters played to a packed house. Sahara-san clearly enjoyed sharing his memories from the set of
DAM as well as other Toho features. After Mr. Sahara's talk show wrapped, he signed autographs for the fans in attendance.
Following Kenji Sahara's appearance,
Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla was screened. Not having seen the film for a number of years, I was particularly interested in seeing it again. I found it enjoyable for the most part, but the "climactic" battle at the end was badly paced and bored me to distraction.
Director Kensho Yamashita and actor Jun Hashizume talk Space Godzilla.
Once
Space Godzilla ended, two new guests took the stage: Kensho Yamashita and Jun Hashizume. The pair (naturally) recalled their work on
Space Godzilla. At one point, Hashizume-san mentioned that he's a fan of
Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster, which I found quite interesting. (Hashizume-san went on to work with
Sea Monster star Akira Takarada in
Godzilla: Final Wars).
Jun Hashizume and Kensho Yamashita sign autographs.
Even before the
Space Godzilla interview ended, more special guests joined the lineup! SFX director Eiichi Asada appeared along with Godzilla suit actor Tsutomu Kitagawa and kaiju suit maker Shinichi Wakasa. They signed autographs for fans with the
Space Godzilla guests.
Godzilla himself signs his name for his adoring public!
In preparation for the screening of
Godzilla: Final Wars, Messrs. Asada, Kitagawa, and Wakasa held a Q&A session about the making of the film. After that, the film screened. Unfortunately, Don Frye (and the other English-speaking actors) were dubbed into Japanese. Noticeably, the crowd had practically no reaction to any of Don Frye's lines. Something must definitely be lost in translation!
Eiichi Asada listens to his fellow interviewees recount their Final Wars memories.
Overall, I still enjoy the movie immensely, but it would benefit greatly from a bit of editing. The movie really bogs down once the principal characters are taken aboard the spaceship. Aside from that, I had a blast watching it, but I missed hearing Don Frye's line readings!
Shinichi Wakasa, Tsutomu Kitagawa, and Eiichi Asada tell you all you need to know about monster fights!
After the
Final Wars credits rolled, Koichi Kawakita was introduced to the audience. His appearance was no surprise, as he was an advertised guest. But it was the night's final surprise guest who really surprised me!
Yukiko Kobayashi and Koichi Kawakita talk Godzilla on the Big G's big day.
Destroy All Monsters leading lady Yukiko Kobayashi made her way into the theater after being introduced by the emcee. This came as a complete surprise to me, especially since her movie was screened at the very beginning of the event! But I'm not complaining; it was great to meet her at long last!
What an event it was. Last year's Mechagodzilla event was great fun, too, but I'd have to give the edge to this year's shindig. The guests were more accessible, which in my book is always a big plus. Full marks!
