That Giant Shrimp-Looking Thing

Crap…Well, I was going to publicly announce my love for a certain sphinx lady tonight, as part of my month-long salute to Obscure and Overlooked Kaiju.

But then Anime News Network had to come along, and rain on my parade, by announcing a new series of Japanese-produced Godzilla films, to be produced independently from the Legendary Pictures series.

Now, we had a similar jump-the-gun moment with this same news earlier in the year, so I'm going to wait until more confirmation comes in (UPDATE: It's for real).

And although I’m happy to hear even more Godzilla films coming (along with the Legendary Godzilla sequels, Gamera’s 50th Anniversary, ”Kaiju Gaiden”, "Hail to the King", "Skull Island", "Pacific Rim 2", "Pacific Rim: The Animated Series", "Tremors 5", Liongate’s "Power Rangers", "Attack On Titan", and "Jurassic Park 3"), I’d rather indulge in the Monster Obscurities for now.

So let’s do a Godzilla related one, shall we?

COP OUT! COP OUT! COP OUT! COP OUT!

Giant Shrimp-Looking Thing (as it's flippantly referred to, by one character), made its minor debut in the 2014 graphic novel "Godzilla: Awakening", as one of the lesser-sized mutants to hail from the same wacky age as Godzilla and the MUTOs had.

Unfortunately, the less-than-comprehensive artwork, and pretentious nature of "Godzilla: Awakening", doesn't give this new monster (along with all the other archived beasts at a secret Monarch Museum), any decent exposure.

Though unlike ’The Saber-Toothed Gorilla’ from Dark Horse’s Godzilla comics, Giant Shrimp-Looking Thing does shows up for one more panel. And by doing so, suggests that these prehistoric sea creatures were common prey for larger monsters; like the deadly cell collective dubbed The Shinomura.

Nom...nom...nom..nom...

And yeah, these Giant Shrimps may be puny, when compared to Godzilla himself, but they’re still quite big in comparison to a human. And worth mentioning like similar overlooked ‘Minor Kaiju’, such as Giant Condor (from ”Godzilla vs The Sea Monster”), and Giant Sea Snake (from ”King Kong Escapes”).

I’d include Oodako to that same list...But considering the secret history of that giant octopus, in-and-out of the main Toho-produced monster movies, one comes to the simple conclusion that...OODAKO IS THE GREATEST MONSTER TO EVER LIVE!!!

But that, dear friends...is a tale for another time.

Obscure Kaiju: Yagosu

UPDATE: Unlike some people, I'm more than open to correcting my own mistakes, and updating my blog posts if there's inaccurate information. But I hope my readers understand that we're dealing with obscure monsters from equally obscure media. So please give ME some slack, in that regard.

Thankfully, I was able to confirm with another site of Segosu's correct name and English spelling, that of Yagosu.

********

The following guy is so obscure, that I only discovered him on some long defunct (and some still active) tumblrs by chance! 

"Daikaiju Yagosu" (or "Yagosu the Giant Monster") appears to be an original manga or story book from the 1960's, featuring a crustacean-type monster. And with a bulging-eyed face that only a mother could love.

And that's all I know about Yagosu, as again, it's that obscure! Of course, if more information comes in, I'll be sure to share it in a follow-up.

However, I will say that The Golden Age of Japanese Monsters, or the 'Kaiju Boom' of the 1960's, went far beyond mere films and television shows.

Resulting in original Kaiju being created for comics, books, magazines, toys, board games, bromide cards, record albums, and advertising. There was even renewed interest for Yokai mythology (Please SEE Shigeru Mizuki), and imported movie and television from America, and elsewhere!

With Yagosu here, being only a small part of this long passed decade of giant monster mania.

Tuko sa Madre Kakaw (1959)

Enshohma's going 'Kaiju Krazy', by sharing obscure and overlooked giant monsters, all throughout the month of December!

"Tuko sa Madre Kakaw" (or "Gecko in Madre Cacao") is a currently lost Pinyo (Philippine / Filipino cinema) science fiction movie from 1959. And probably one of a handful of such Pinyo films to feature giant monsters from that period. And as such, these are the only known images available from this currently lost production, courtesy of the blog Video48.

Character actor Vic Diaz plays the role of a mad biologist, who plots to conquer the world and destroy mankind, by formulating a serum (or formula) that can increase the size of animals a hundred times. He tests the serum on a ‘tuko’ (gecko), which turns into a giant menacing reptile.

"Tuko sa Madre Kakaw" is reported to be based on the novel by Clodualdo del Mundo, and was serialized in the magazine "Hiwaga Komiks". The finished film also starred Willie Sotelo, Nita Javier, Hector Reyes, Luz Valdez, and Oscar Obligacion, and was directed by Richard Abelardo.

Talented artist and fellow DeviantART member, Elden Ardiente, shared with me that he actually WATCHED this film on television, back in the day.

This brings some hope that "Tuko sa Madre Kakaw" is not completely lost from history. And might find its way onto the internet, like other lesser known fantasy movies in recent years ("The War God" for example). I posted the first half of this article over at my DeviantART page, from which Elden had this to say:

Oh my Word! 

I've watched that film when I was very little. It was one of them after-lunchtime movies that no one ever gets to watch, but only when either you're too young for school or you took a sickie from work. I thought that movie was very cool. At this point in my life, the only movie monsters I've seen were "King Kong" (1976), Sinbad Monsters from the trailers, a giant crab from God knows what movie, and this Giant Gecko. And have never known Godzilla yet. 

Thanks for showing this; brings back some great memories.

As an historian of giant monsters, to actually know someone who's seen this film, and one who's a well-liked acquaintance from DeviantART, is an awesome coincidence indeed!

So I had to ask Elden some further questions, like if there was more than one enlarged animal in the movie? And how 'Tuko' (The Giant Gecko) was brought to cinematic life?

As far as I remember, I think I was 4 years old that time, it felt like it there was a man in a suit and some puppetry involved. It was convincing enough. I think the Tuko was the only monster there. I remember the mad scientist played by a popular actor - he was quite scary. I'd love to see this movie again!

Major thanks for the information, Elden! I myself would just love to see this film period!

Based on his reply, along with the images posted above, confirms that 'Tuko the Giant Gecko' is a man-in-suit creation. And the stand alone 'mon-star' of "Tuko sa Madre Kakaw".

*******

If more details around this lost Pinyo-Kaiju-Eiga comes about, I'll be sure to share it in a follow-up article. For now however, check out the official Facebook page for "Godzilla: Heritage"; an ambitious fan-film in-development, of which Elden Ardiente is doing creature designs for.

And here's some of Elden's computer-generated renderings, done for the project:, straight from his always impressive DeviantART account:

Related Links:

Club de Monstres Gallery (whom I helped established)

My DeviantART post on the matter

Pachimon Kaiju Showcase: Shirako

Whoa...That last article on the giant primate Nink was really, really long!

So for today's Pachimon Kaiju Showcase, I'm going to keep things as simple as 'Enshohmaly Possible', and discuses a fairly simplistic reptilian named Shirako!

Shirako (name translated from the katakana at the upper left corner)

While going through all these different Pachimon Kaiju, I've come to discovered that even the fully illustrated characters, are taken from preexisting sources. Including some from American comics, and picture books. Such as "Boris Karloff's Tales of Mystery", and the works of science fiction illustrator Edd Cartier.

Despite my initial hopes, it looks as if these vintage bromide cards, really do live up to their modern nickname of Pachimon ('Stolen Monsters').

However, Shirako here (along with past showcase Danopura) appear to be fully original designs, made exclusively for these offbeat cards. Or at least until I stumble onto said monsters' origins, within some obscure Japanese source. Courage.

Alternate Shirako file, take #1

Not much to say on Shirako himself, other than he's a old school reptile monster, done with a healthy amount of appealing goofiness. And the chosen colors of violet-blue skin, piercing red tongue, and bright yellow eyes are nice touches.

But poor Shirako would still disappear among all the other reptile and dinosaur-inspired beasts from the golden age of Japanese giant monsters.

The photo background before Shrako, is clearly New York from the same time period (possibly the '60's). But Shirako's placement within the image raises some visual confusion for me; is Shirako standing on a skyscraper, looking down onto an already massive Big Apple, via King Kong?

Or is Shirako so ridiculously colossal, that even skyscrapers hundreds of meters in height, are literally beneath his titanic foot?

I favor the former theory, due to my appalling habit of applying logic to silly fantasy monsters, without denying base silliness.

And here's Take #2

Kaiju Images: That Destoroyah Toy Of Mine

Nothing major this time around, but thought I’d share these photos I took of a Bandai produced Destoroyah toy, which I bought super-cheap earlier this year.

I may be a massive fan of giant monsters, but I’m NOT an avid collector of their toys. Unless an extremely lucky (again, cheap) opportunity arises.

This is of course the title opponent of 1995’s “Godzilla vs Destoroyah”, who is a mutated Precambrian life-form; extremely ancient, extinct life-forms of whom the real Trilobites was apart of).

And is directly linked in its origins to The Oxygen Destroyer - the only super weapon in the franchise that can positively end Godzilla’s life.

Since these photos are originals, you’re all more than welcome to save and re-post them on your ends. And expect more impressive images, and equally as obscure monster subjects, posted at this blog, all across December!

Pachimon Kaiju Showcase: Nink

Nink; today's featured Pachimon Kaiju.

From my experiences among American Kaiju fans, giant primates in the vein of King Kong are surprisingly unpopular. Maybe it’s a sort of bias against such simple monsters, when compared to more imaginative laser-blasting dinosaurs, jumbo-sized space invaders, or super robots of the genre.

That...Or a lot of die-hard Godzilla fans here in the states, are still sore about King Kong winning his famous fight with The King of the Monsters.

Kong won. Deal with it America.

I actually love a lot of these giant primates and similar simian monsters. But even I must admit, that there’s very little in the way of creative variety, within this category.

And if I was to do two separate articles separating the creative and unique ‘monkey monsters’, from the giant primates that could all pass off as ‘The Clones of Kong’, I’d probably end up with more of the latter, than the preferred other.

Such is the case with today’s Pachimon Kaiju, the suspiciously named Nink.

And I say suspicious, because there is no real name for this guy. Beyond the original file name connected to this image, when I originally ‘saved’ it from a now long-defunct Japanese web-site.

Oh yes, there is a Japanese katakana name on the bromide card itself. But obscured by such background darkness, that not even my sufficient Photoshop skills can salvage it. So we’ll just call this hairy fellow Nink!

Not counting the bright orange-colored fur, there’s not much to Nink’s simple design, thus adding to the ‘primate monsters are boring’ argument. The face is an artistic, painted original (possibly along with his one visible foot), but the body appears to be taken from photos of Goron; an arguably more interesting monkey villain from “Ultra Seven”.

Goron, from the classic Tokusatsu series "Ultra Seven"

Alien Goron (alias Goron-seijin) first appeared in episode 45 of “Ultra Seven”, entitled "The Great Apeman of Terror" (original air-date: August 11th, 1968).

Despite his primitive looks (and likewise fighting style), Goron is actually an intelligent alien invader. Sent from his home-planet as a vanguard, to convert humans into ape-like slaves. Or to simply mind-control others with his technology, at a Japanese zoo.

The only transformed ‘ape man’ that we’re shown is Gorry; a hapless janitor, who serves as Goron’s brutal pawn.

Goron’s nefarious plan is ultimately discovered by the paramilitary organization dubbed The Ultra Garrison, forcing the ‘Space Monkey-Man’ to reveal himself and go giant size. Goron than battles the title hero, Ultra Seven, who is a benevolent alien on mankinds’ side, often disguised as Garrison member Dan Moroboshi.

Goron made additional appearances in the television shorts of “Ultra Fight” (1970-to-1971). And more recently in cameo capacity, in the full-fledged series “Ultraman Ginga” (2013).

In the American dubbed version “Ultra-7”, which aired on TNT (Turner Network Television) in the early 1990’s, Goron was renamed The Tamberlan Lion. That’s probably a humorous reference to the real-world monkey Goron shares some resemblance to, The Golden Lion Tamarin.

Goron vs Ultra Seven

Going back to Nink itself; the Japanese landmark of which the ‘Pachimon Ape’ is shown menacing, is non other than the clock tower of the Wako Department Store, in Ginza. The same clock tower of whom Godzilla himself knocked down, during his original 1954 film debut.

Godzilla attempting to stop Marty McFly from going back to the future.

Godzilla shamelessly ripping off Mommy Gorgo's Big Ben routine.

Judging by Nink and Godzilla’s relation to the Wako Clock Tower, I'd say both monsters are roughly the same height of 50 meters (roughly 165 feet).

And finally, I end this ridiculously long-winded article with pictures of the real clock tower, in more recent times. Because effects models based on real locations only scare and confuse most mortal men. Trust me...I know A LOT of unfortunate humans in this regard.

(Please insert Godzilla and Nink above)

Yes. It's real.

Brandon’s Cult Movie Reviews: Godzilla vs The Sea Monster

Holy crap! I forgot to share these!

Title Card for Brandon's Video Review

For well over a year now, I've been the lead title card artist for a one name Brandon Tenold - a Canadian film critic and musician, whose started a video series of cult movie reviews, delivered with a comical bent of course.

These online video-comedy-reviewers are obviously the unholy spawn from a long abandoned Satellite of Love. And the sheer number of them that keep popping up across the web is getting redundant, I must unfortunately say.

However, Brandon is one of the few such people to tackle a wider variety of horror, sci-fi, and fantasy films, especially from the olden days of the 1960s and 1970s.

Including the colorful and imaginative world of (what else) Japanese Monster Movies!

Text-less Version

“Godzilla vs The Sea Monster” (1966) is an underrated entry into the Godzilla franchise, as it tells a great island adventure tale, filled with likable human heroes and 'levelheaded levity'.

Sadly, where the film somewhat fails is in the Kaiju / Giant Monster department.

I have nothing against a gigantic shrimp / lobster amalgam as the title nemesis. And as such, I’m a bigger Ebirah (the shrimp / lobster amalgam) than Brandon acts as, within the following video. Or at least I think he's acting...?

But the monster action is limited, and takes a back-seat to the otherwise entertaining (at least this time around) human drama. That tends to be the common complaint with giant monster movies in general. But again, “Godzilla vs The Sea Monster” is one of the more acceptable examples of such.

Go Team Yentah!

Enjoy Brandon’s more extensive thoughts / rants / gags in live action video form below:

Direct Link, in case the embedded video isn't your respective bag.

I'll be sharing more Brandon videos, both new and old, in future blog posts. And until than, please check out his Patreon account.

Pachimon Kaiju Showcase: Daigoras

I know I promised the weird vampire critter Kyuradoros, but my hopeful collaborator Dr Zock is currently unavailable. And I wish not to showcase that monster if Zock has some unique, additional information to share. Needless to say, Kyuradoros will have to wait.

And besides, I have TONS of other Pachimon Kaiju to share until then.

Daigoras, also known as Dygorus - possibly from 1968

This handsome fellow is known as Daigoras, or Dygorus as it’s sometimes spelled.

Daigoras is a reworking of the character of Eleking; an electrical Space Kaiju who made his debut in the classic series “Ultra Seven” (1967-1968). And like all popular Ultra Monsters, Eleking would make multiple reappearances throughout the franchisee. Including that of a ‘Hero Kaiju’ in “Ultra Galaxy: Mega-Monster Battles” (2007-2008).

Eleking; the popular “Ultra Seven” character whom Daigoras is taken from

Daigoras...would not.

Like a lot of the Pachimon Kaiju, Daigoras has only this lone bromide card to be remembered by. Though there might be some Daigoras vinyl figures, made for the modern collector markets.

Actually, that’s a little unfair for me to say, as Daigoras is one of the more recognizable Pachimon Kaiju since the frivolous internet began! And this bromide is an admittedly impressive piece of pre-digital photo art, at least where the lead monster is concerned.

It might be an altered Eleking photo. But the execution is so solid (compared to other Pachimon), that I was honestly convinced Daigoras might have been an actual creature suit. Instead of just well done airbrushing.

The only major give away (beyond the disconnected background), is Daigoras’ mouth and eyes, which is the most obvious in the airbrushing department.

As stated before, the background, and the foreground for that matter, suffers from a clear disconnect with the central monster figure. But it’s still quite dynamic, complete with a gorgeous fireball explosion, which almost dwarfs Daigoras.

Alternative version of the first Daigoras file

And if that tower (which Daigoras is crushing in one of its hands) seems familiar to you Kaiju fans, well then you’re not mistaken. It’s none other than Kobe Port Tower, located in Japan’s Port of Kobe.

Both the port and its iconic tower are very real places, which have been recreated in model form for both “Gamera vs Barugon” (1966), and episode 15 of “Ultra Seven”, “The Ultra Garrison Goes West, Part 2” (January 14th, 1968).

In the latter example, Ultra Seven defends Kobe Port Tower from the flying saucer robot King Joe. While in the former film, Kobe Port Tower has a far less fortunate fate, being destroyed by the reptilian demon Barugon. Clearly, Daigoras is taking a page out of Barugon’s playbook.

A compilation of Daigoras images, taken from ancient floppy disc storage

Garigari vs Berobero (Nippon Television, 1971)

I’m freaking done with wikis! All of them!

I am done with these blasted information ports, where it's either impossible to contribute, or some ‘veteran member’ deletes your work, without any consideration. Especially since my additions to sites like Wikipedia and Wikizilla were far from fanciful non-sense.
And my own attempts at creating an original Kaiju wiki, was constantly undermined by hackers, spam-text, viruses, and similar digital vandalism. This seems to be a problem for a lot of other people's better made wikis. Anime ones in particular.

So screw it! And happily so I might add!

All the amazing Kaiju information and images that I've collected since I was nine-years old(!) will be shared here, and here alone!

Long live my rarely visited blog!

Had you frequented giant monster-related ‘image dump sites' like Tumblr or Pinterest, than you might have come across the humorous rivals shown above.

Garigari vs. Berobero was a segment (or series of segments) from “Machaaki Maetake Hajimaru Yo” (literally “Begins Only with Machaakimae”); a 1971 Japanese comedy series which aired on Nippon Television (or NTV for short).

Garigari is the three-legged bird monster, while his more colorful opponent is Berobero, who's an overweight (fat) Chinese Dragon.

And that’s all I really know about these two rather obscure TV monsters,  though if more information comes my way, I’ll be sure to post a follow-up.

Until such a day arrives (if ever), here’s some more images for your viewing pleasure. Including vinyl toys of Garigari and Berobero, done for contemporary hobby collectors.

Special thanks to Famicomblog, Astro Monsters, and Nerd One at Flickr for these images.

Moguera Was Once A Real Boy!

As mentioned in my previous post on Roboes,  robots and other similar automatons are awesome! So I think I’m going to continue that line of thinking.

Because again, ROBOTS ARE AWESOME!

Despite the success of 1954’s “Gojira”, and its American adaptation “Godzilla, King of the Monsters” in 1956, Toho Studios didn't exactly begin the Godzilla franchise in full, until 1962.
Especially after the sequel “Godzilla Raids Again” (1955), failed to click with audiences, along with its pretty terrible 1959 American version “Gigantis the Fire Monster”.

“Gigantis” is a whole article of woe all on its own. But let’s just say that the renaming of a popular character like Godzilla, in an decade without the internet, or reliable entertainment news sources, did not go over well.

Thankfully for fantasy fans, Toho continued their string of science fiction and monster movies throughout the fifties. They just did it without Godzilla.

Among these were 1957’s “The Mysterians” (alias “Chikyū Bōeigun”, or "Earth Defense Force"); a Japanese take on the attempted alien invasions of Earth narrative. And one that also manages to do some things different, from the older American efforts which inspired it.

It was filmed in glorious color, and had a very decent budget, as it's often forgotten that Japanese monster movies were technically A-level productions. Until the downgrading of the 1970's. And featured plenty of cool super weapons and vehicles on both sides of the  interplanetary conflict.

Much more intriguing than how these alien invasion film’s usual play out, with the aliens having all the fun toys, and the human heroes only whipping up one useful, but otherwise unimpressive trinket to defeat the invaders at the end.
Including computer viruses programmed by David Levinson, and yodeling from vintage country music albums.

And straight from The Mysterians’ toy chest, comes the giant burrowing robot dubbed Moguera.

Moguera (as in Mole), may not be the first robotic Kaiju in Japanese fiction, but he is the first prominent one featured in the Kaiju film genre.
And although he / it has not appeared in more than two films, the original 1957 version of the character remained a mainstay in Kaiju / Godzilla merchandising for years.

Moguera is a giant burrowing robot used by The Mysterians to first help construct their underground headquarters on Earth. And then later, unleashed upon the surface as the first violent example of their otherworldly power. Despite the robot’s destructive presence and laser beam eyes, Moguera is taken out with multiple explosives across Koyama Bridge.

A second Moguera unit is briefly seen during the climax, as it creates ground fissures to swallow up the human’s own gigantic super weapons dubbed Markalites (mobile energy-shooting satellite dishes). Only to be destroyed by its own handy work, as one of the Markalites falls on top of it.

'Moguera 2', about to be crushed by a falling Markalite Cannon

A heavily reimagined Moguera, now called M.O.G.U.E.R.A (an acronym for Mobile Operation Godzilla Universal Expert Robot Aero-Type), appears in “Godzilla vs Space Godzilla” (1994). This human-built military machine is a successor to the previous year’s Mechagodzilla, whose pilot crew fights alongside Godzilla (however reluctantly), against his cosmic doppelganger.

I’m pretty supportive of almost any giant monster out there, but given a choice between the two Moguera automatons, I’ll take the 1957 vintage any old day.

Moguera (the first one) on the warpath!

The original story for “The Mysterians” had no monster in it, as Mogera's inclusion was a last minute idea from producer Tomoyuki Tanaka, whom felt the film needed a Kaiju. Bless him.

The original concept for Moguera was to have him / it be a half-mole, half-reptilian creature. Though the design was never brought to special-effects-suit life, some key details were later used for another burrowing giant, Baragon, from the 1965 film “Frankenstein Conquers the World”.

Director Ishiro Honda reworked Moguera into being a robot, as a way to further demonstrate the technological powers that The Mysterians possessed. Below is a compilation piece I put together, featuring design art and storyboards of the abandoned flesh and blood Moguera.

And plenty of alternate files of the unrealized Moguera, that you readers are welcomed to collect and share elsewhere online.

Pachimon Kaiju Showcase: Roboes

By this point, you all know the drill of what a Pachimon Kaiju is, and the story behind these odd bromide cards. However, I’m starting to realize that the term itself (which translates as ‘stolen monster’) might be true even for the original monster designs, and their related artwork.

There was a lot of Japanese picture books made for children during the Golden Age of Japanese Giant Monsters (the 1960’s Kaiju Boom). And a lot of said illustrations could have been re-purposed (borrowed) for these bromide cards.

But then again, maybe I’m just being paranoid here. And last showcase’s Danopura may have made his exclusive debut, in the same Pachimon card which featured him. And that’s my thought process behind today’s subject - the highly unimaginatively named Roboes!

Roboes (also known as Robosu), is probably one of my more favorite characters from these wacky cards.

I would argue that fictional robots are the coolest monsters in all of worldwide fantasy. Especially since they have a greater variety than other monster types, like Zombies, Vampires, or Werewolves, who often must abide to their respective and rigid genre rules.

Make a Zombie that can utter a single word of basic English? Zombie purists and the casual horror fans alike will give you unjust Hell for this one little detail!

But create magical clockwork robots in a fantasy fairy tale kingdom? Or demonic techno-organics (a more extreme take on the cyborg concept) for a grim space adventure? The only real guff you may get will be from the handful of sulking weenies who simply don’t like robots to begin with.

Despite all the ‘Giant Monster vs Giant Robot’ debates you'd find across the internet (First World problems indeed), for someone like myself, its a mute argument. Because there’s giant monsters out there who also happen to be giant robots! The best of both worlds!

And like the aforementioned, these too can come in a wide variety of shapes and story possibilities.

And that’s why I have a certain affinity for Robosu and his jumbo-sized mechanized ilk, because giant robots are almost always better than the regular sized ones.

But even if that wasn't the case, Roboes has a very fun design. Highlighted by an awesome red-coloring scheme, which separates him from the silvers and grays of most other robotic Kaiju.

The retro-pulp feel of Roboes makes it feel like it could exist as an actual creature suit. Or the chosen battle mecha of choice for Ming the Merciless, of “Flash Gordon” fame.

If there is one thing I don’t like about Roboes’ otherwise cool design, is the huge ‘spoon fingers’ on its hands. But that’s a minor complaint, and would still keep them if I could translate the artwork above into physical cosplay (convention costume) form.

Alternate file version of the same Roboes bromide card.

Next Time on the Pachimon Kaiju Showcase: as promised to a fellow Pachimon fan Dr Zock, we'll be discussing the bizarre vampire ace of spades known as Kyuradoros.

Pachimon Kaiju Showcase: Danpuraa

Although only the third entry into this series, this is the first fully original monster featured in our Pachimon Kaiju Showcase, as opposed to photo-edited redesigns of existing movie, or television characters.

Danpuraa (alias Danpurar, or Danopura) is a plump quadruped, with heavy mammalian features, like some sort of wonderfully freaky walrus beast from a “Flash Gordon” comic strip. And despite not being as large as most Japanese giant monsters, Danpuraa is nonetheless causing destruction by crushing cars, and setting off nearby explosions.

Of course, the stiff upper lipped London pedestrians could care less, as they casually walk away from the mayhem. And virtually giving Danpuraa little, to no attention what-so-ever.

Now I don’t like to harp upon the limitations of artists back in the day, especially since they were able to accomplish a lot with said limitations, than most computer savvy photo-shoppers of today could do with more (myself included).

But little oddball details like the un-amused Londoners are still immensely fun to point out.

Pachimon Kaiju Showcase: Tobozu

Pachimon is the collective shorthand used for various Japanese bromide trading and playing cards from late 1960's and early 1970's featuring original Kaiju (giant monsters), created through both drawn illustrations and photo manipulations from more famous creatures from Japanese films and television.

Despite the wealth of fully original characters from these bromide cards, it was the 'rip-off photos' that gave Pachimon (Japanese for 'stolen monsters') its more infamous reputation; terrible shame of inaccuracy and people's misconceptions, really, and I'm no better either, by continuing my series of Pachimon Kaiju articles with said infamy.

Today, we have Tobozu (sometimes called Tohboze), who seems to be some type of sea monster who's invading a ship filled harbor. Many of you will immediately notice that Tobozu is a thinly disguised Gamera, lacking his original turtle shell, given a brown / orange-ish colored skin in place of the original dark green, uneven looking head spikes, and an extended under-bite.

But what really gets my interest is the small group of vacationers by Tobozu's hands / feet who haven't noticed or simply just doesn't care about their approaching doom. If you think that tidbit with the oblivious causalities is hilarious, I'll introduce you all to the London-based Danopura next time!

Before I leave you, I'd like to share my own artistic interpretation of Tobozu which is less of an educated guess on the monster's off-camera body shape than I just simply copying Japanese fan art of Tobozu, notably the Mugen video game versions.

Further Reading and Viewing Online:

Wikipedia Article on Gamera
Trailer for Gamera's 1965 Debut
More Pachimon Kaiju Images