Kaiju Week in Review (January 7-13, 2024)
Hard to talk about the Monarch: Legacy of Monsters finale without spoilers, so if you haven't watched it yet, skip ahead to the next item. No flashbacks this time (time dilation aside), just our surviving heroes finally all on the same page to solve a seemingly impossible problem. The momentous reunion between Lee and Keiko got the space it deserved, although I was a touch disappointed that the obvious budding romance between Cate and May got shortchanged. And of course we finally got our first kaiju fight of the series, with Godzilla dispatching the Ion Dragon in a quick but ferocious battle. Fun to see this version of the character take on a low-stakes, low-power challenger for a change. I am routinely frustrated by TV seasons ending on cliffhangers (some of which are then never resolved), but they managed to conclude this season's storyline while setting up the next one, should they have the chance to tell it. Good to have some payoff to the Apex episode earlier in the series. I'm wondering if the series is planning to pivot to Kong now. Since Godzilla: King of the Monsters still hasn't happened yet, the Big G still can't make any public appearances without breaking continuity, which is quite the writing complication.
@bog-o-bones has blessed us with an excellent feature-length video essay on the history of the kaiju genre. Even for a walking encyclopedia like me, it was fun to have it all laid out so cleanly—the way the three genre pillars of Godzilla, Gamera, and Ultraman rise and fall in popularity, never entirely in sync and consequently keeping us steadily entertained over the decades. So many narratives about the genre in print are decades out of date and/or act like barely anything past the sixties was worth making. This one's up-to-the-minute and gives the seismic influence of films like Cloverfield and Pacific Rim their due. I have my quibbles (last-minute re-records accidentally omitted GAMERA -Rebirth-; the original Mothra deserved more attention), but I acknowledge the amount of works covered here is staggering and every fan would tell this story a little bit differently. Highly recommended.
IDW's biggest Godzilla comic ever is coming in May, a one-shot anthology called Godzilla: 70th Anniversary. It'll have nine stories over 100 pages, with the writers including Joëlle Jones, Michael W. Conrad, Matt Frank, James Stokoe, Adam Gorham, and Dan DiDio. (Some of these folks will presumably be illustrating their comics as well.) The solicitation doesn't offer many plot hints, given that scope: "From the American Old West to modern Tokyo and beyond, this collection features stories of the King of the Monsters fighting with its allies like Mothra, against old enemies like the terrible Mechagodzilla, and reshaping the lives of all who fall in its path!" I'm surprised they're not waiting until November—hopefully it doesn't get delayed into November.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire will now release in the U.S. two weeks early—March 29. It's taking the place of Bong Joon-ho's Mickey 17, which is now undated. I can hardly complain about being able to see it earlier, though the move comes with some risk, as it's now opening the week after Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire.
SRS Cinema has opened preorders for their Yuzo the Biggest Battle in Tokyo Blu-ray. Or is it Yuzo: The Biggest Battle on Tokyo? That's what the product page says, but on the cover the title's unchanged. Oh, SRS. Anyway, bonus features are scant: just trailers and something called "A Brief Introduction To Ishii Yoshikazu."
Here's the teaser trailer for Volcanodon, a short film from Taiwan's Creator Union of Tokusatsu. They're aiming to have it uploaded to YouTube sometime this year, and I'll happily watch it. Obviously low-budget, but it's well-shot and it's nice to see a kaiju movie outside of Japan go all-in on practical effects.
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Doraemon: The Record of Nobita's Parallel Visit to the West (1988) のび太のパラレル西遊記
Director: Zhi Shannu
Screenwriter: Fujiko F. Fujio
Starring: Shinyo Oyama / Noriko Ohara / Michiko Nomura / Kazuya Tatebi / Kenta Kantsuke / Sachiko Chimatsu / Masayuki Kato / Keiko Yokosawa / Susumiko Shirakawa / Ryoichi Tanaka / Keiichi Namba / Katsushi Ikeda / Yuko Mizutani / Hideo Shibata Katsu / Kuri Yoko / Ishimori Tatsuyuki / Kato Seizo / Ishii Toshiro / Hara Eriko / Tahara Arnault / Shimaka Yu / Mitsuya Yuji
Genre: Science Fiction / Animation / Adventure
Country/Region of Manufacture: Japan
Language: Japanese
Date: 1988-03-12 (Japan)
Runtime: 91 minutes
Also known as: Doraemon: Nobita no Parareru saiyûki
IMDb: tt1147525
Type: Crossover
Summary:
In order to perform the drama "Journey to the West" at the welcome party for freshmen, Nobita's class held a drama rehearsal. Nobita (voiced by Nori Ohara) wants to be Monkey King, but he is just a villager. In order to prove that he is the most like Monkey King, Nobita used the opportunity to come to China's Tang Dynasty, wanted to meet the Monkey King, and say he actually met the "Monkey King". Later, Nobita bet on the props of Doraemon (voiced by Dashan Shindai), proving that the Monkey King is very similar to Nobita.
Daxiong and his friends came to Tang Dynasty, but did not see the Monkey King. Therefore, Nobita used Doraemon's analog game console to pretend to be Monkey King, and was finally find out. Because the machine was not closed properly, the monster in the game ran out of the game machine. Monsters finally ruled the world, Nobita and the others are also in danger. In order to restore history and save Master Xuanzang, Nobita, Shizuka (voiced by Nomura Michiko), Xiao Fu (voiced by Gan Fu and Tai) and Gang Tianwu (voiced by Libi Kazuya) pretend to be the Monkey King and other roles to protect Master Xuanzang and embark on an adventure journey ...
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doraemon:_The_Record_of_Nobita%27s_Parallel_Visit_to_the_West
Link: https://www.bilibili.tv/en/video/2046050017
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