A Former Toho SFX Director Brings a New Hero to the Stage!

Yuichi Kikuchi. Photo by Brett Homenick. 

After work on Friday, June 28, I headed out to catch the latest stage play directed by Yuichi Kikuchi. I blogged about him a few months ago, but to recap, Kikuchi-san is best known for serving as SFX director on Godzilla against Mechagodzilla (2002), 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.

The stage play was quite interesting, as it centered around the making of a superhero movie. The "movie within a play" sequences were a lot of fun to watch, as a suit actor battled several baddies onstage in scenes reminiscent of most Toei TV programs.

After the show, the inevitable photo ops took place. Kikuchi-san signed my mini poster of the show, and I took a photo of the play's superhero in all his glory, Not too shabby, eh?

Meeting Godzilla's Millennium SFX Director!

Yuichi Kikuchi. Photo by Brett Homenick.

As soon as I finished work, I made a beeline to Suginami to attend a stage play directed by Yuichi Kikuchi. Kikuchi-san is best known for serving as SFX director on Godzilla against Mechagodzilla (2002), as well as working as assistant SFX director on such movies as Gamera 3 (1999) and Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000). 

The Tokusatsu DNA staff sent its congratulations to Kikuchi-san. Photo by Brett Homenick

Following his work on the kaiju genre, Kikuchi-san returned to the Ultra-series, working as SFX director on Ultraman (2004), Ultraman Nexus (2004-05), Ultraman Max (2005-06), Ultraman Mebius (2006-07), among others.

Following the performance, Kikuchi-san greeted attendees in the lobby. Kikuchi-san knew who I was based on the message I wrote him, and I guess I'm pretty easy to spot in a Japanese crowd, anyway. We had a nice chat and talked a bit tokusatsu.