Thanks everyone for the warm reception this video has received! I’m truly humbled that this manages to reach so many views in a little under two weeks! That said, I should probably address some criticisms I’ve been repeatedly receiving: - Yes, I missed some stuff. Big things like Gamera: Rebirth and the IDW Godzilla comics which are admittedly major oversights. These were the result of re-recording year-old narration to better cover more recent topics that I only alluded to in earlier drafts (such as Minus One and the MonsterVerse shows), and these got lost in the shuffle by mistake. Then there’s minor stuff like Reptilicus, the Ultraman Netflix anime, Gridman, etc. which was left out intentionally as they were either too minor to reference or that I didn’t want to overstuff the video with just a list of things that happened. It’s a history video, not a compilation. - Audio mixing is admittedly pretty wack at times. That’s just one of those kinks I’ve gotta work out as I make more videos. - A few pronunciation errors and minor mistakes made it by accidentally, sorry about that! I recorded each section in real time and was bound to mess something up lol Thanks again for the support, hopefully you’ll stick around for future videos!
TBH, the IDW comics are so unique and cool, they'd be well worth their own video. Great job on this one! I'm subbed with the bell on for what you do next.
evangelion is a mecha anime, not a kaiju or tokansatsu series. maybe gridman seems more appropriate here but not eva. you should have watched the video lol
Brazilian 50 year-old here. Brazil has the largest Japanese community in the world outside Japan itself. Japanese migration officially started in 1908, and their culture has been ingrained into ours since then. And this pretty much includes Japanese Pop culture. My grandpa watched the original Godzilla in the movies back in the late 50s, my mom used to watch National Kid, and I used to watch Ultraman on TV when I was 5 years old, among others (Johnny Sokko And His Flying Robot, UltraSeven, Magma Taishi etc). My brothers grew up on Changeman and Jaspion, and my son on the Power Rangers. But none of this is new here: I dare say we Brazilians have had more contact with this kind of content long before the Americans. As for the video itself, kudos man. Great research and I had a lot of fun watching it.
I would have had no idea Brazil had such a large Japanese demographic (like very large) but that's fantastic and only makes me more interested in both cultures!
Even the Heisei era intro here goes hard. It’s hard to beat the Heisei era. Also this is a MASSIVE hot take but I feel KOTM is the best of the Legendary films. From the score to the monster battles, it scratches every itch for me.
King of the Monsters is the first non-Japanese Godzilla movie that truly understood Godzilla. It reminded me a lot of Marc Cerasini's books (Especially Godzilla 2000) and just hit the vibes perfectly. Besides all that, some of the cinematography was absolutely stunning.
The first time i was underwhelmed, but seeing it a second time recently i was blown away. Serizawa's sacrifice was beautiful and the monster awakenings were all amazing
I think every fanbase dreams of seeing their favorite thing get the "Big Budget Hollywood" treatment. KOTM is that for Godzilla. It's perfect as an adaptation of the old-school kaiju battle movies.
Being from Hawai'i, Japanese media was a big part of my childhood. There was Kikaida, Power Rangers, and of course Godzilla. My dad got me into Godzilla, and I've been a life long fan ever since. I'm glad to see Tokusatsu and Kaiju become part of main stream pop culture.
You absolute LEGEND the love and care that went into this is unmatched, I’m gonna show this to everyone I know who is even slightly interested in the genre
very very VERY well done, this was such a great watch! I'm so happy to see this video getting the views and reception it deserves. I'm so excited for whatever you work on next and in the meantime you should be so, so proud of your work here. this is going to be my go-to for introducing people to kaiju from now on.
wow, well done video sir. this was well worth the two hour watch. among all the crap that been on youtube lately, it nice and refreshing to a well put together essay video on this topic. as a kaiju movie fan myself, it's good to know kaiju movies were always a part of our history and are here to stay for decades to come.
Excellent documentary! Probably the best documentary about Kaiju media on youtube! Though I will say I'm surprised you didn't mention Gamera Rebirth, since it's the first Gamera project since the mid 2000s. Also Gareth Edwards' 2010 film Monsters since it's not only one of the few big British Kaiju films but also Gareth Edwards' first Kaiju project. At least, I'm pretty sure it's a Kaiju film. Also surprised you didn't mention how the Cloverfield franchise crashed and burned. Especially since Clover makes a cameo in Paradox (tho this cameo is in the video's outro). And finally, I'm surprised you didn't mention the rest of the Pacific Rim franchise (Uprising and Black). I thought they'd get mentioned especially since Uprising was a complete failure that basically killed the franchise. But these are just really small nitpicks, fantastic video! I'm excited to see what else you got planned!
Solid deep dive documentary style video on the Kaiju genre. However I'm a bit bummed you didn't talk more in depth about these topics: -Studio Trigger's SSSS.Gridman series which pays homage to the classic Ultraman -Evangelion and the rebuild movies igniting interest in mecha and kaiju within the anime sphere -The many King Kong movies after the original, including the Peter Jackson remake
to be fair to the guy the peter jackson film is not only 3 hours long but offers just about nothing to the audience and genre as a whole. not many of the king kong sequels do, and anime isn't too much of an influence (unless you can prove me wrong?) on modern mainstream kaiju. I say this as someone whos favourite show of all time is possibly evangelion.
48:26 the Funny thing about Ultraman Great (Toward the Future). Is that places like Richmond near San Francisco (especially San Fran) also got some International Stations! And so I was able to Watch a few Episode of that Series when I was Young!
Bro cooked for real, absolutely loved this documentary, if it's even that. A love letter to the genre and to all those who built something grandiose out of nothing.
This is an absolutly wonderful video that you've made! As a lifelong G-fan it's great to have a comprehensive history of not only the Godzilla series, but the entirety of major kaiju releases. The fact that this seems to be your first high production video as well, gives me hope that if I can find the time and learn a little video editing, I can make some good content as well. You definitely earned yourself another subscriber, and I'm exited to see what you put out next!
Fantastic video dude. I like the respectful and intensely analytical approach you gave; it clearly comes from a place of pure love. I look forward to seeing more of your writing!
This is an excellent exploration of a genre over 70yrs old. Godzilla and giant monsters were the backbone of my childhood, as I'm sure is the case with most of those commenting on this page. Please keep posting! I thoroughly enjoyed this video! And those who want to criticize because you may have left out a detail or two need to put their money where their mouths are and post their own videos if they feel they can do better. I recognize the time and effort and research that went into producing something like this, so keep doing what you're doing!
This was so well thought out and executed. Thanks for the countless hours and hard work you put into this documentary. Your love for the genre is inspiring.
I think Kaiju has an element of Yokai (妖怪, both of these characters mean strange or suspicious). Yokai are monsters that appear in Japanese folklore. Because Japan is an animistic country, people attribute terrifying phenomena such as earthquakes and flood damage to Yokai. During the Edo period, thanks to Ukiyoe (Japanese etchings), Yokai became more popular among the people and gained more variety. One example is a huge, haunted skeleton (がしゃどくろ), while another is a creature only washing beans in a river (小豆洗い). I believe that the animistic thought of likening this phenomenon to monsters and the rich variety have been inherited by kaiju. sorry for bad English!
Excellent documentary. I'm so glad that you gave a shout-out (brief though it was) to "Colossal," one of my fave films of that year. Oh, and don't decry the appearance of the parodies. At least in the West, parodies signal the end of a cycle for the genre they're poking fun of. They can only exist when a genre's tropes and cliches have built up to such a level that they become almost universally recognized. Once that happens, the genre is freed head off in new directions, often directions that fans tied to the old orthodoxy, the orthodoxy that made the parodies possible, cannot accept.
This is one of the few videos where I come back to watch it a second time. I love this video's ability to include as many topic as possible. Well done! Just realized that we are 9 months away from the centennial anniversary of Lost World(1925). Honestly the centennial anniversary of many of these famous kaijus, a once-in-a-generation experience; I cannot wait to live through.
I'm a longtime monster movie fan and I really enjoyed your documentary. I can tell there was effort put in and I applaud your overall excellent accuracy so many other channels fall short of. I use letterboxd lists for organizing the more general "giant monster movie" genre Pre-1953: Gensis 1954-1968: Golden Age 1969-1983: Copper Age 1984-2004: Silver Age 2005-2012: Bronze Age 2013-Present: Kaiju Renaissance Aka the 2nd Golden Age. Your video is almost 2 hours long and has a lot of great info for newcomers. Personally I've never been drawn to Ultraman (read Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters so I'm familiar with the early years of that series), so this really let me know how much I was missing. You earned a subscription. Looking forward to what you do next.
What a fantastic documentary on the genre. I got notified of this video on my feed and got curious on it but was busy to see it fully until recently and I was impressed. The editing and your narration flows nicely and it was a good listen while doing homework. For a start of your channel this was great. This and your other video on humans are informative and reflective on the mindset of the fandom and notions towards the genre that it is noticeable. Consider me subbed and following your channel from now on. Props on the content.
This has to be perhaps one of the best videos I have ever seen on this website and your analysis is what I would consider one of the best summaries of all time for the kaiju genre. The way you structured the history of the genre is the way I would've done it almost exactly. I can only give you infinite praise for your efforts on this video and wish you continue work on this channel in the future. I've seen many other videos about this genre and I must say you have put the most sincerity and care into this documentary. While it is impossible to cover the full extent of this genre in two hours (you missed Gamera Rebirth😢)I was honestly impressed with what you achieved. All I can say is bravo to you for teaching me stuff I didn't know myself and for this sole video you earned a new subscriber.🎉
Thank you so much! And yeah I forgot to mention Gamera Rebirth, that was an accidental omission. I had to re-record the entire last part of the Resurgence and Reiwa section because I finished the first recording back in May of last year, way before we even knew anything about Minus One and before everything came out lol so I ended up accidentally missing Rebirth there.
Thank you for making this! This was truly an incredible documentary on a genre that is somehow omnipresent and yet often ignored. As a 9 year old kid who first got into kaiju (mainly Godzilla) in the wilderness years I’ve gotta say I’m insanity grateful to live in the Reiwa era.
This is a fantastically well researched and presented documentary! I can't imagine how much work was put into this, truly an impressive feat and worthy of far more views. Great job!
There's some slight omissions (the Super Robot Boom and latter mecha subgenre and its ties born from the kaiju one) BUT, otherwise, this documentary is a fantastic overview of Japanese giant monster fiction and, as your stated intention, an excellent crash course in said phenomenon.
@@bog0bones For future context (and to the best of my understanding), the 1970s Henshin Boom (second Kaiju Boom) helped spawned an early anime boom filled with its own hefty variety of kaiju, notably the colorful American cartoon and superhero inspired shows from Tatsunoko Productions (Gatchaman and Time Boken) and the many, many, MANY super robot shows from Toei and other companies, some based off the works of author Go Nagai (the original 1970s Devilman series also had strong kaiju elements). While animation is no small feat, the numerous super robot shows offered a cheaper yet visually dynamic alternative to Ultraman and Kamen Rider-style programs, ones limited by their budget and, eventually, ended by the 1970s oil crisis. The super robot genre would give rise to the 'realistic mecha' subgenre which Gundam helped usher in and would tie overall into the anime renaissance / golden age of the 1980s though, by that point, kaiju based anime shows and movies would be relatively rare minus notable outliers (The Guyver, Roujin Z, Patlabor, Evangelion, Mobile Fighter G Gundam, etc.). Cut to ATTACK ON TITAN and kaiju focused anime (along with just more kaiju characters appearing in anime overall) becoming a little more common than ever before. It should also be noted that the 1970s super robot boom also included live action entries such as Red Baron, Mach Baron, and Daitetsujin 17 (that last one is a major favorite of mine). The live action giant robots would lead the surprise success of Leopardon from SPIDERMAN and, in turn, similar mecha included in Super Sentai (Power Rangers' Japanese origins) and other Toei shows from the 1980s.
Wow… just… wow… That was phenomenal. The effort and passion put into this is astonishing, even if there were a few kaiju properties I think you should have covered, such as Gamera Rebirth, Project Nemesis, and Reptilicus. I kinda wish I found this earlier before I got to work on my own Kaiju history project lol.
This was an absolutely tremendous video. Props to you for the heaps of research that you did. Not to mention fitting all of this into one video. This deserves some serious recognition. Well done.
Sick as a dog right now, but this was a wonderful documentary. I've always been interested in Kaiju films (I think my first Godzilla movie was Godzilla vs Hedorah!), but have probably seen only a handful of the movies you mentioned here. I certainly HEARD of a lot of them, but never anything regarding Ultraman or Gamera. I thought it was super fun seeing the history of this genre of film! Wonderful work!!
wow, thank you so much for this amazing video, i cant believe your channel hasnt gotten more traction, although after this it seems you might have gotten the recognition you deserve, this is really interesting and very high quality. i look forward to seeing future uploads :)
Great Job brother! I have long wanted to find this type of post. This one satisfies. Also, great job on recognizing The Lost World, King Kong, The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms.
Now this, THIS is a fucking documentary. I gotta give you all the props in the world dude. I've been a kaiju fan since I was a kid, and I thought I knew everything. But somehow there was stuff in here I didn't even know about. Really went "Hold my Beer" fr. It's ashame you couldn't add the fact that Godzilla Minus One is now the first film in the franchise to win an Oscar. Would love to see a companion video covering the History of Henshin heroes such as Kamen Rider and Super Sentai.
Solid retrospective, appreciate the included context around everything. Interesting timing with this; I myself am actually about to do a big kaiju/monster viewing marathon that is ordered and structured remarkably similar to how everything is laid out here (some additions include the works of Ray Harryhausen between the earliest stuff and the Showa era proper, and some animated content with heavy ties to kaiju media, namely Evangelion, the better seasons of Digimon, SSSS Gridman & Dynazenon, Kaiju No.8 when that finshes). What with the genre nearing 100 years old as pointed out here, I wonder how many others are embarking on similar journeys...
I can’t say enough good things about this documentary. Incredible writing and research as well as just story telling. I’ve seen most of these movies multiple times yet everytime you brought up a new film I got a little excited like wow another cool film came out I should watch that, oh wait. Anyways just great video can’t wait to see what you do next.
Excellent! Keep on with the good work! My only nitpick is that Godzilla Minus One came of a little shortchanged at the end. More like an appendix than the crowning highpoint in Kaiju-history it is considered now.
This video was incredible. I kinda wish there was at least mentions of some other things like Mystery Science Theater 3000 showing Godzilla and Gamera movies but also the Danish movie Reptilicus.
Began watching this, got interested, then checked elapsed time. 20 minutes into 2 hours! What the...? As an 8 year old in 1970, Ultraman and Speed Racer were my after-school babysitters in the late 60's. Holding up the Beta Capsule led to many a play fight that consisted primarily of one or all kids involved throwing up the arms in a cross at the wrists, making the best Ray sounds with our mouths as we could. Lots of flying kicks and "judo chops". Thanks for the history lesson. I'd totally forgotten Raymond Burr being in that movie.
Oh man this is the best creator done documentary highlighting Godzilla and what's amazing is that this documentary just ain't about Godzilla, but largely all the other Kaiju he inspired on after with the exception of Kong. I learned about so many other movies that look like they are great movies. I saw Minus One and gotta say that after seeing that truly great retelling of the original that this genre ain't going no where any time soon. I also have enjoyed the Monsterverse movies and am really looking forward to Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire. It's a great time to be a Kaiju fan especially with such iconic beast being on the big screen. I had the pleasure to also see Godzilla Vs. Kong at the theater which up until then the only other movies I saw were The Grinch and Star Wars: The Force Awakens at the theater and it wasn't until last year that I went to see more movies at the theater again starting with Indiana Jones & The Dial of Destiny. The best movie of the year though for me from what I saw was Minus One hands down!
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the Japanese term for giant monsters is daikaiju, while kaiju just refers to monsters in general (I think you mentioned that in passing). The Western use of the word, as you essentially said, refers to giant monsters. Also, the Heisei may have ended by 1998 for Godzilla, it wasn't that way for other kaiju like Gamera (since the actual Heisei Era didn't end until 2019).
You’re not wrong! The terms are basically interchangeable, though “daikaiju” has kinda fallen out of use in recent years. Most modern media, both in Japan and overseas, just use “kaiju” from what I’ve seen.
@@bog0bones It actually hasn't! The new Ultraman Blazar movie is subtitled "Dai Kaijū Shuto Gekitotsu" and the Ultraman shows use "kaiju" for monsters of any size, even in the recent seasons. :) Edit: Finished watching the entire vid and you've got a new subscriber!
I wish that the ''Dedicated To'' would have included the name of Raymond Burr. I know that Raymond Burr had little to nothing to do with the creation of Godzilla or Kaiju in general; but his addoned scenes in the Americanized version of Godzilla in 1956, had they been done without Burr and instead by a less capable actor, would have caused Godzilla to be a much less popular movie, with repercussions back in Japan. And also besides, Burr was a genuine Godzilla fan.
This is just great! So thorough and objective, great research, well produced and scored, excellent work! Delighted to see praise for Cloverfield as well mention of oddities like Death Kappa and Kaiju Mono. Enjoyed this so much! Thank you =)
Great video, sir😲👍 So well put, researched, and fun to watch. Happy to see more smaller channels with quality content. Subbed! My first introduction to kaiju genre was in 2002 in Nigeria when my dad bought me a VHS of King Kong vs Godzilla and i was hooked! Still love tge genre till this day.
WOW!!! I just finished watching this documentary. Must have proceeded to add this into my YT playlist "Daikaiju-san". Otherwise, was this narrated by the geezer from Atomic Snack Bar? Y'know, the raspy voice has sounded to me a bit familiar. 🙂
I love your video it was interesting and awesome, I love how you summarize all the kaiju films and the area and genre of kaiju films as well. I can't wait to see Godzilla x Kong the new empire
WELL DONE!! a very informative and well put together video, finally something I can show people who ask me about Kaiju, so I don’t have to go on one of my unhinged nerd rants and scare them away
Thanks everyone for the warm reception this video has received! I’m truly humbled that this manages to reach so many views in a little under two weeks!
That said, I should probably address some criticisms I’ve been repeatedly receiving:
- Yes, I missed some stuff. Big things like Gamera: Rebirth and the IDW Godzilla comics which are admittedly major oversights. These were the result of re-recording year-old narration to better cover more recent topics that I only alluded to in earlier drafts (such as Minus One and the MonsterVerse shows), and these got lost in the shuffle by mistake. Then there’s minor stuff like Reptilicus, the Ultraman Netflix anime, Gridman, etc. which was left out intentionally as they were either too minor to reference or that I didn’t want to overstuff the video with just a list of things that happened. It’s a history video, not a compilation.
- Audio mixing is admittedly pretty wack at times. That’s just one of those kinks I’ve gotta work out as I make more videos.
- A few pronunciation errors and minor mistakes made it by accidentally, sorry about that! I recorded each section in real time and was bound to mess something up lol
Thanks again for the support, hopefully you’ll stick around for future videos!
Let me cook for you when you reach 1 million subscribers
Pls post the bibliography or citations you've used !!
TBH, the IDW comics are so unique and cool, they'd be well worth their own video. Great job on this one! I'm subbed with the bell on for what you do next.
what about Evangelion?
evangelion is a mecha anime, not a kaiju or tokansatsu series. maybe gridman seems more appropriate here but not eva. you should have watched the video lol
Godzilla Minus One earning its Oscar is definitely a highlight of the entire Kaiju genre.
it should have been nominated for best foreign language film
@@thewkovacs316 As i understand it, Japan didn’t submit for consideration (!)
@@padawanmage71 really? why not? even a nom would have been a feather in tohu's cap.
I thought this said eating its oscar
@@thewkovacs316Because they missed the deadline for it
Brazilian 50 year-old here.
Brazil has the largest Japanese community in the world outside Japan itself. Japanese migration officially started in 1908, and their culture has been ingrained into ours since then.
And this pretty much includes Japanese Pop culture. My grandpa watched the original Godzilla in the movies back in the late 50s, my mom used to watch National Kid, and I used to watch Ultraman on TV when I was 5 years old, among others (Johnny Sokko And His Flying Robot, UltraSeven, Magma Taishi etc). My brothers grew up on Changeman and Jaspion, and my son on the Power Rangers. But none of this is new here: I dare say we Brazilians have had more contact with this kind of content long before the Americans.
As for the video itself, kudos man. Great research and I had a lot of fun watching it.
I would have had no idea Brazil had such a large Japanese demographic (like very large) but that's fantastic and only makes me more interested in both cultures!
2 minutes in, this is great. May the algorithm bless you, my friend. Just keep grinding, it'll happen.
52:44 Damn, Godzilla looked excited, he wanted to be a Hollywood star. 🥲😞
Even the Heisei era intro here goes hard. It’s hard to beat the Heisei era.
Also this is a MASSIVE hot take but I feel KOTM is the best of the Legendary films. From the score to the monster battles, it scratches every itch for me.
King of the Monsters is the first non-Japanese Godzilla movie that truly understood Godzilla. It reminded me a lot of Marc Cerasini's books (Especially Godzilla 2000) and just hit the vibes perfectly. Besides all that, some of the cinematography was absolutely stunning.
I also really love KOTM! I absolutely agree. It also scratches my itches
The first time i was underwhelmed, but seeing it a second time recently i was blown away. Serizawa's sacrifice was beautiful and the monster awakenings were all amazing
I definitely agree
I think every fanbase dreams of seeing their favorite thing get the "Big Budget Hollywood" treatment. KOTM is that for Godzilla. It's perfect as an adaptation of the old-school kaiju battle movies.
Being from Hawai'i, Japanese media was a big part of my childhood. There was Kikaida, Power Rangers, and of course Godzilla. My dad got me into Godzilla, and I've been a life long fan ever since. I'm glad to see Tokusatsu and Kaiju become part of main stream pop culture.
What does being from Hawaii have to do with anything?
@@supme7558 Hawai'i is a huge area for Japanese tourism and immigrants
this is a insanely underrated video, hope this blows up
You absolute LEGEND the love and care that went into this is unmatched, I’m gonna show this to everyone I know who is even slightly interested in the genre
very very VERY well done, this was such a great watch! I'm so happy to see this video getting the views and reception it deserves. I'm so excited for whatever you work on next and in the meantime you should be so, so proud of your work here. this is going to be my go-to for introducing people to kaiju from now on.
One of the best Kaiju Genre Essays TH-cam has to offer. Peak content, I hope this blows up even further. Subbed.
wow, well done video sir. this was well worth the two hour watch. among all the crap that been on youtube lately, it nice and refreshing to a well put together essay video on this topic. as a kaiju movie fan myself, it's good to know kaiju movies were always a part of our history and are here to stay for decades to come.
Agreed! This is so well done.
yup
Excellent documentary! Probably the best documentary about Kaiju media on youtube! Though I will say I'm surprised you didn't mention Gamera Rebirth, since it's the first Gamera project since the mid 2000s. Also Gareth Edwards' 2010 film Monsters since it's not only one of the few big British Kaiju films but also Gareth Edwards' first Kaiju project. At least, I'm pretty sure it's a Kaiju film. Also surprised you didn't mention how the Cloverfield franchise crashed and burned. Especially since Clover makes a cameo in Paradox (tho this cameo is in the video's outro). And finally, I'm surprised you didn't mention the rest of the Pacific Rim franchise (Uprising and Black). I thought they'd get mentioned especially since Uprising was a complete failure that basically killed the franchise. But these are just really small nitpicks, fantastic video! I'm excited to see what else you got planned!
Didn't expect to see you here
Be proud of what you've put together here. I stayed entertained the whole way through
Solid deep dive documentary style video on the Kaiju genre. However I'm a bit bummed you didn't talk more in depth about these topics:
-Studio Trigger's SSSS.Gridman series which pays homage to the classic Ultraman
-Evangelion and the rebuild movies igniting interest in mecha and kaiju within the anime sphere
-The many King Kong movies after the original, including the Peter Jackson remake
to be fair to the guy the peter jackson film is not only 3 hours long but offers just about nothing to the audience and genre as a whole. not many of the king kong sequels do, and anime isn't too much of an influence (unless you can prove me wrong?) on modern mainstream kaiju. I say this as someone whos favourite show of all time is possibly evangelion.
@@jimmyprattEvangelion has a gigantic influence over kaiju media, Gamera 3, pasific rim, shin godzilla and many more are inspired by it
@@jimmyprattpacific rim took heavy influence from Evangelion, and Shin Godzilla was directed Hideaki Anno himself.
@@srgoji8313 yeah i forgot about shin and i didnt really think of pacific rim cuz i just...wasnt a fan.
Much applause. My love for these movies and the people behind them has been reinvigorated
48:26 the Funny thing about Ultraman Great (Toward the Future). Is that places like Richmond near San Francisco (especially San Fran) also got some International Stations! And so I was able to Watch a few Episode of that Series when I was Young!
RRAAUUUH ABSOLUTELY HIGH QUALITY MASTERPIECE OF A VIDEO… TH-cam NEEDS more stuff like this!
I love, love, love "King of the Monsters" and especially its take on Mothra, and I fervently hope to see more of her.
Good news
Bro cooked for real, absolutely loved this documentary, if it's even that. A love letter to the genre and to all those who built something grandiose out of nothing.
This is an absolutly wonderful video that you've made! As a lifelong G-fan it's great to have a comprehensive history of not only the Godzilla series, but the entirety of major kaiju releases. The fact that this seems to be your first high production video as well, gives me hope that if I can find the time and learn a little video editing, I can make some good content as well. You definitely earned yourself another subscriber, and I'm exited to see what you put out next!
I've seen loads of Kaiju material on TH-cam and this is terrific. Well done. More thoughts when I've watched it all
Fantastic video dude. I like the respectful and intensely analytical approach you gave; it clearly comes from a place of pure love. I look forward to seeing more of your writing!
Hope there's more Gamera media. He's my favorite Kaiju
We need a Shin Gamera movie
@@chadgorosaurus4898 that's what I'm saying
This may very well be the BEST kaiju analysis i have EVER seen!
Very, very well made!
This is an excellent exploration of a genre over 70yrs old. Godzilla and giant monsters were the backbone of my childhood, as I'm sure is the case with most of those commenting on this page. Please keep posting! I thoroughly enjoyed this video! And those who want to criticize because you may have left out a detail or two need to put their money where their mouths are and post their own videos if they feel they can do better. I recognize the time and effort and research that went into producing something like this, so keep doing what you're doing!
This was so well thought out and executed. Thanks for the countless hours and hard work you put into this documentary. Your love for the genre is inspiring.
Literal peak fiction of a video, good work.
I think Kaiju has an element of Yokai (妖怪, both of these characters mean strange or suspicious). Yokai are monsters that appear in Japanese folklore. Because Japan is an animistic country, people attribute terrifying phenomena such as earthquakes and flood damage to Yokai.
During the Edo period, thanks to Ukiyoe (Japanese etchings), Yokai became more popular among the people and gained more variety. One example is a huge, haunted skeleton (がしゃどくろ), while another is a creature only washing beans in a river (小豆洗い).
I believe that the animistic thought of likening this phenomenon to monsters and the rich variety have been inherited by kaiju.
sorry for bad English!
I just finished watching this video and all I can say is, man, you've got yourself another subscriber.
This video documentary needs more views. It’s very well done.
Excellent documentary.
I'm so glad that you gave a shout-out (brief though it was) to "Colossal," one of my fave films of that year.
Oh, and don't decry the appearance of the parodies. At least in the West, parodies signal the end of a cycle for the genre they're poking fun of. They can only exist when a genre's tropes and cliches have built up to such a level that they become almost universally recognized. Once that happens, the genre is freed head off in new directions, often directions that fans tied to the old orthodoxy, the orthodoxy that made the parodies possible, cannot accept.
This is one of the few videos where I come back to watch it a second time. I love this video's ability to include as many topic as possible. Well done!
Just realized that we are 9 months away from the centennial anniversary of Lost World(1925). Honestly the centennial anniversary of many of these famous kaijus, a once-in-a-generation experience; I cannot wait to live through.
Amazing. Can't wait for the Transformers documentary that you're obligated to make now
Haha we’ll see on that front! I’d like to make a TF video but I think a lot of the history has already been covered on TH-cam. Maybe some day!
@@bog0bonesAw, I'd prefer a "Henshin Hero" video...from Ultraman to Cutie Honey to Sailor Moon...
As a fellow monster kid, I salute you. Glad to know we are not a dying breed. This is the Balls Marie right here. Subbed.
seeing this pop up in my subscription feed was such a pleasant surprise! this was really, really well done!!!
It's a really good deep dive into the Kaiju genre.
Always a guy with 6 videos that makes the best content
This was an amazing video! You're one of the few that deserve to blow up on this platform!
Wowza! I’m not even into kaiju but I watched this because it was well made and super interesting! Awesome stuff mate
I'm a longtime monster movie fan and I really enjoyed your documentary. I can tell there was effort put in and I applaud your overall excellent accuracy so many other channels fall short of.
I use letterboxd lists for organizing the more general "giant monster movie" genre
Pre-1953: Gensis
1954-1968: Golden Age
1969-1983: Copper Age
1984-2004: Silver Age
2005-2012: Bronze Age
2013-Present: Kaiju Renaissance Aka the 2nd Golden Age.
Your video is almost 2 hours long and has a lot of great info for newcomers. Personally I've never been drawn to Ultraman (read Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters so I'm familiar with the early years of that series), so this really let me know how much I was missing. You earned a subscription. Looking forward to what you do next.
What a fantastic documentary on the genre. I got notified of this video on my feed and got curious on it but was busy to see it fully until recently and I was impressed. The editing and your narration flows nicely and it was a good listen while doing homework. For a start of your channel this was great. This and your other video on humans are informative and reflective on the mindset of the fandom and notions towards the genre that it is noticeable.
Consider me subbed and following your channel from now on. Props on the content.
This has to be perhaps one of the best videos I have ever seen on this website and your analysis is what I would consider one of the best summaries of all time for the kaiju genre. The way you structured the history of the genre is the way I would've done it almost exactly. I can only give you infinite praise for your efforts on this video and wish you continue work on this channel in the future. I've seen many other videos about this genre and I must say you have put the most sincerity and care into this documentary. While it is impossible to cover the full extent of this genre in two hours (you missed Gamera Rebirth😢)I was honestly impressed with what you achieved. All I can say is bravo to you for teaching me stuff I didn't know myself and for this sole video you earned a new subscriber.🎉
Thank you so much! And yeah I forgot to mention Gamera Rebirth, that was an accidental omission. I had to re-record the entire last part of the Resurgence and Reiwa section because I finished the first recording back in May of last year, way before we even knew anything about Minus One and before everything came out lol so I ended up accidentally missing Rebirth there.
Incredible video man. Really pleased this came through my recommendations. Hope you keep creating videos, cause this is incredibly high caliber.
severely underrated vid, this the kinda clean 2 hour doc that i immediately hit subscribe afterwatching
Thank you for making this! This was truly an incredible documentary on a genre that is somehow omnipresent and yet often ignored. As a 9 year old kid who first got into kaiju (mainly Godzilla) in the wilderness years I’ve gotta say I’m insanity grateful to live in the Reiwa era.
Great work, dude! I have an ongoing history of giant monster movies series on my channel, but your video here blows my series out of the water.
This is a fantastically well researched and presented documentary! I can't imagine how much work was put into this, truly an impressive feat and worthy of far more views. Great job!
This is really a fantastic and comprehensive yet easily digestible overview of over 90 years of giant monster media. Great job!
Didn't expect how a guy I subscribed six years ago because of a meme just suddenly come back a post this masterpiece!
WONDERFUL video. I don’t comment often but had to hear as this has kept me enthralled throughout its runtime.
This is a fantastic video! Very well researched and edited. Congratulations on its success!
this was insane and great, keep up the great work
There's some slight omissions (the Super Robot Boom and latter mecha subgenre and its ties born from the kaiju one) BUT, otherwise, this documentary is a fantastic overview of Japanese giant monster fiction and, as your stated intention, an excellent crash course in said phenomenon.
Thank you! The super robot boom wasn’t something I was familiar enough with to cover here but maybe for a potential updated version down the line!
@@bog0bones For future context (and to the best of my understanding), the 1970s Henshin Boom (second Kaiju Boom) helped spawned an early anime boom filled with its own hefty variety of kaiju, notably the colorful American cartoon and superhero inspired shows from Tatsunoko Productions (Gatchaman and Time Boken) and the many, many, MANY super robot shows from Toei and other companies, some based off the works of author Go Nagai (the original 1970s Devilman series also had strong kaiju elements).
While animation is no small feat, the numerous super robot shows offered a cheaper yet visually dynamic alternative to Ultraman and Kamen Rider-style programs, ones limited by their budget and, eventually, ended by the 1970s oil crisis.
The super robot genre would give rise to the 'realistic mecha' subgenre which Gundam helped usher in and would tie overall into the anime renaissance / golden age of the 1980s though, by that point, kaiju based anime shows and movies would be relatively rare minus notable outliers (The Guyver, Roujin Z, Patlabor, Evangelion, Mobile Fighter G Gundam, etc.).
Cut to ATTACK ON TITAN and kaiju focused anime (along with just more kaiju characters appearing in anime overall) becoming a little more common than ever before.
It should also be noted that the 1970s super robot boom also included live action entries such as Red Baron, Mach Baron, and Daitetsujin 17 (that last one is a major favorite of mine). The live action giant robots would lead the surprise success of Leopardon from SPIDERMAN and, in turn, similar mecha included in Super Sentai (Power Rangers' Japanese origins) and other Toei shows from the 1980s.
Wow… just… wow…
That was phenomenal. The effort and passion put into this is astonishing, even if there were a few kaiju properties I think you should have covered, such as Gamera Rebirth, Project Nemesis, and Reptilicus. I kinda wish I found this earlier before I got to work on my own Kaiju history project lol.
😋😋🤗🤗😃😃😙😙🐺🐺🐱🚀🐱🚀🐰🐰🐷🐷🐱🐉🐱🐉🐓🐓🕊🕊🦗🦗🐠🐠👬👬👨🏽🤝👨🏽👨🏽🤝👨🏽🧓🧓✍✍🤟🤟
1:51:01
That exiting summary of the genre made me emotional lol. Long live the age of monsters!
This was an absolutely tremendous video. Props to you for the heaps of research that you did. Not to mention fitting all of this into one video. This deserves some serious recognition. Well done.
very well made video! Oh yeah and congrats on 800 subs btw!
an absolutely amazing video, I enjoyed watching every minute. I hope ur channel continues to grow :D
Well done! The most concise, mature, documentary of the Kaigu franchise.
Sick as a dog right now, but this was a wonderful documentary. I've always been interested in Kaiju films (I think my first Godzilla movie was Godzilla vs Hedorah!), but have probably seen only a handful of the movies you mentioned here. I certainly HEARD of a lot of them, but never anything regarding Ultraman or Gamera. I thought it was super fun seeing the history of this genre of film!
Wonderful work!!
wow, thank you so much for this amazing video, i cant believe your channel hasnt gotten more traction, although after this it seems you might have gotten the recognition you deserve, this is really interesting and very high quality. i look forward to seeing future uploads :)
Great Job brother! I have long wanted to find this type of post. This one satisfies. Also, great job on recognizing The Lost World, King Kong, The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms.
This was so well done, you should be proud! Mox sent me to watch this, and I'm eagerly awaiting any future projects you have!
Now this, THIS is a fucking documentary. I gotta give you all the props in the world dude. I've been a kaiju fan since I was a kid, and I thought I knew everything. But somehow there was stuff in here I didn't even know about. Really went "Hold my Beer" fr. It's ashame you couldn't add the fact that Godzilla Minus One is now the first film in the franchise to win an Oscar. Would love to see a companion video covering the History of Henshin heroes such as Kamen Rider and Super Sentai.
Well done! This is an amazing video essay on the history of Kaiju in our media. This should be a must see for all new Kaiju fans.
Man. I can’t believe 2 hours flew by. I loved the breakdown and history. So much to learn. It was great!!! Thank you!!!
Solid retrospective, appreciate the included context around everything. Interesting timing with this; I myself am actually about to do a big kaiju/monster viewing marathon that is ordered and structured remarkably similar to how everything is laid out here (some additions include the works of Ray Harryhausen between the earliest stuff and the Showa era proper, and some animated content with heavy ties to kaiju media, namely Evangelion, the better seasons of Digimon, SSSS Gridman & Dynazenon, Kaiju No.8 when that finshes). What with the genre nearing 100 years old as pointed out here, I wonder how many others are embarking on similar journeys...
This is a spectacular watch! I’ve been wanting to get more into Godzilla and kaiju films in general so I enjoyed this very much
Fantastic work Joel! Loved every minute!
Amazing video! I learned some new stuff I didn't even know! Thank you so much!
I can’t say enough good things about this documentary. Incredible writing and research as well as just story telling. I’ve seen most of these movies multiple times yet everytime you brought up a new film I got a little excited like wow another cool film came out I should watch that, oh wait. Anyways just great video can’t wait to see what you do next.
Excellent! Keep on with the good work! My only nitpick is that Godzilla Minus One came of a little shortchanged at the end. More like an appendix than the crowning highpoint in Kaiju-history it is considered now.
This was a fantastic summary video. You deserve way more subs than you have, my man. Keep it up.
Loved this video! So much passion and care for the genre. Please make more
This is fantastic! I learned so much about Kaiju history and even films I wanna aware of! Thank you and hat’s off!!!
This video was incredible. I kinda wish there was at least mentions of some other things like Mystery Science Theater 3000 showing Godzilla and Gamera movies but also the Danish movie Reptilicus.
Began watching this, got interested, then checked elapsed time. 20 minutes into 2 hours! What the...? As an 8 year old in 1970, Ultraman and Speed Racer were my after-school babysitters in the late 60's. Holding up the Beta Capsule led to many a play fight that consisted primarily of one or all kids involved throwing up the arms in a cross at the wrists, making the best Ray sounds with our mouths as we could. Lots of flying kicks and "judo chops". Thanks for the history lesson. I'd totally forgotten Raymond Burr being in that movie.
This was such a fun watch, I remember living through the wilderness era at a teen and patiently waiting for that 2014 release
Fantastic showing for what seems to be your first long-form effort!
This was so well done. Amazing time and effort put into making this! Thank you for such a great piece.
Oh man this is the best creator done documentary highlighting Godzilla and what's amazing is that this documentary just ain't about Godzilla, but largely all the other Kaiju he inspired on after with the exception of Kong. I learned about so many other movies that look like they are great movies. I saw Minus One and gotta say that after seeing that truly great retelling of the original that this genre ain't going no where any time soon. I also have enjoyed the Monsterverse movies and am really looking forward to Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire. It's a great time to be a Kaiju fan especially with such iconic beast being on the big screen. I had the pleasure to also see Godzilla Vs. Kong at the theater which up until then the only other movies I saw were The Grinch and Star Wars: The Force Awakens at the theater and it wasn't until last year that I went to see more movies at the theater again starting with Indiana Jones & The Dial of Destiny. The best movie of the year though for me from what I saw was Minus One hands down!
This video better blow up. It's a full on documentary.
:D
Amazing vid bud. I can only begin to imagine the time and energy that went into this.
Amazing video, informative, fun and with such a high quality! Hope to see this standard on next vídeo projects!
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the Japanese term for giant monsters is daikaiju, while kaiju just refers to monsters in general (I think you mentioned that in passing). The Western use of the word, as you essentially said, refers to giant monsters. Also, the Heisei may have ended by 1998 for Godzilla, it wasn't that way for other kaiju like Gamera (since the actual Heisei Era didn't end until 2019).
You’re not wrong! The terms are basically interchangeable, though “daikaiju” has kinda fallen out of use in recent years. Most modern media, both in Japan and overseas, just use “kaiju” from what I’ve seen.
@@bog0bones It actually hasn't! The new Ultraman Blazar movie is subtitled "Dai Kaijū Shuto Gekitotsu" and the Ultraman shows use "kaiju" for monsters of any size, even in the recent seasons. :)
Edit: Finished watching the entire vid and you've got a new subscriber!
A damn great video, sir. Damn, damn great! Thank you for sharing your talents and hard work with us.
IT'S HERE! Bravo, Joel!
Great job! This video is amazing!
Amazing video bro,cant wait on your next. Absolutely deserve a sub
I wish that the ''Dedicated To'' would have included the name of Raymond Burr. I know that Raymond Burr had little to nothing to do with the creation of Godzilla or Kaiju in general; but his addoned scenes in the Americanized version of Godzilla in 1956, had they been done without Burr and instead by a less capable actor, would have caused Godzilla to be a much less popular movie, with repercussions back in Japan. And also besides, Burr was a genuine Godzilla fan.
This is just great! So thorough and objective, great research, well produced and scored, excellent work! Delighted to see praise for Cloverfield as well mention of oddities like Death Kappa and Kaiju Mono. Enjoyed this so much! Thank you =)
Great video, sir😲👍 So well put, researched, and fun to watch. Happy to see more smaller channels with quality content. Subbed! My first introduction to kaiju genre was in 2002 in Nigeria when my dad bought me a VHS of King Kong vs Godzilla and i was hooked! Still love tge genre till this day.
WOW!!!
I just finished watching this documentary. Must have proceeded to add this into my YT playlist "Daikaiju-san".
Otherwise, was this narrated by the geezer from Atomic Snack Bar? Y'know, the raspy voice has sounded to me a bit familiar. 🙂
Thank you for this amazing trip!
Phenomenal job! I loved every single second of this.
I love your video it was interesting and awesome, I love how you summarize all the kaiju films and the area and genre of kaiju films as well. I can't wait to see Godzilla x Kong the new empire
Dude this is so well done! Hats off to you. Your subscriber count is criminally low. Best of luck in your TH-cam career!
WELL DONE!! a very informative and well put together video, finally something I can show people who ask me about Kaiju, so I don’t have to go on one of my unhinged nerd rants and scare them away
Incredible work, bro! Congrats from Peru!