Episode 22: The Metters vs. ‘Daimajin’

Hello, kaiju lovers!

Despite some recording/broadcasting issues with a new microphone (which will be remedied for future episodes), Nathan was joined once again by his friends Joe and Joy Metter, who were vacationing on Monster Island. They started the “Daimajin Days” by screening and discussing the first film in Daiei’s Daimajin trilogy from 1966. These films combine the kaiju and chanbara (“samurai”) genres to create some of the most unique examples of both. While Joe and Joy aren’t connoisseurs of kaiju, they are fans of samurai films. They, along with Nathan, connect this film to Rurouni Kenshin, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and of course Star Wars. (You can fill that space on your MIFV bingo card this week). Also making a return is their dog Teddy Kong, and he brought his friend, Bitzilla. You’ll hear them several times during the episode. Teddy really wanted to see Gamera for some reason. (Because he was hungry for turtle meat?) The only buzzkill—besides the recording issues—was MIFV’s intrepid producer, Jimmy From NASA, butting heads with Joy over sword fighting. Geez.

Since this is a period piece, the Toku Topics are the Sengoku Period of Japanese history and the coming of Christianity to Japan.

We’d like to give a shout-out to our Patreon patrons Travis Alexander and Michael “The Kaiju Groupie” Hamilton (co-hosts of Kaiju Weekly), Danny DiManna (Godzilla Novelization Project), Eli Harris, and Bex (host of the Redeemed Otaku) (who joined just before this episode was posted)! Thanks for your support!

You, too, can support us on Patreon!

This episode is approved by the Monster Island Board of Directors.

Read Jimmy’s Notes on this episode.

Timestamps:
Prologue: 0:00-2:34
Intro: 2:34-6:52
Entertaining Info Dump: 6:52-12:35
Toku Talk: 12:35-1:03:24
Toku Topic: 1:03:24-1:33:14
Outro: 1:33:14-end

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Bibliography/Further Reading:

• The Big Book of Japanese Giant Monster Movies Volume 1: 1954-1982 by John LeMay
• “Christianity in Japan” (Wikipedia)
• “Christians in Kyushu: A History – How Jesus was Introduced, Accepted, and Ousted from Japan” by Adam Ledford (with art by Aya Francisco) (Tofugu)  
• “Crucifixion” (Wikipedia)
• “History of the Catholic Church in Japan” (Wikipedia)
• The Kaiju Film: A Critical Study of Cinema’s Biggest Monsters by Jason Barr
• “Kakure Kirishitan” (Wikipedia)
• “Kirishitan” (Wikipedia)
• “Sengoku Period” by Mark Cartwright (Ancient History Encyclopedia)
• “Sengoku Period” (Wikipedia)
• Wiki Articles on Daimajin:
  • IMDB
  • Gojipedia
  • Wikipedia
  • Wikizilla (film) (monster)

The post Episode 22: The Metters vs. ‘Daimajin’ appeared first on The Monster Island Film Vault.