For the second part of our three part look at the beginning of Tsuburaya's Ultra-franchise, Byrd, Matt and guest host Eric look at the original Ultraman! After the success of Ultra Q, Tsuburaya quickly got to work on a follow up, which introduced the world to the visitor from the Land of Light! Ultraman quickly became Japan's first real superhero phenomenon! Listen as we talk about the history of this classic show and discuss our favorite episodes, characters, and monsters. How does the original...
Feb 11, 2018•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 138
We're finally taking our first dive into Tsuburaya's Ultra-franchise! On this first episode of a three-part podcast series, Byrd, Matt, and guest host Eric discuss the very first Ultra-show, Ultra Q! Before Ultraman took Japanese airwaves by storm, Tsuburaya combined the Twilight Zone with the kaiju genre and gave us the delightfully weird Ultra Q! This classic series is still beloved to this day and spawned many of the most iconic Ultra kaiju. Listen as we trace back to the origins of Tsuburaya...
Feb 04, 2018•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 137
At long last, we're back with another commentary! This time, Byrd, Matt, and guest hosts Eric and Trev discuss what some consider the red headed stepchild of the Millenium series of Godzilla films. Maasaki Tezuka's directorial debut regularly shows up towards the bottom of people's Godzilla movie lists, but is it really all that bad? Which of our hosts lean negative, and who considers it a gem of sorts? Listen, as we discuss and debate the merits (or lack thereof) of the second entry in the thir...
Jan 28, 2018•2 hr 6 min•Ep. 136
Byrd and Matt are joined by guest hosts Tom and Trev (of Days of Future Podcast and If It Bleeds We Can Kill It) to dig into the new Godzilla anime film that was just released worldwide on Netflix. In this film, mankind has abandoned Earth, only to return and find that Godzilla has reigned supreme for 20,000 years. For years, people have wondered what a Godzilla anime would be like and now we finally have the answer! So how did the first part in Toho's Godzilla anime trilogy turn out? Listen and...
Jan 20, 2018•1 hr 36 min•Ep. 135
Byrd and Matt welcome back very special guest, Norman England! Many people people know Norman's work as a journalist, photographer, critic, and director, but he also lends his hand to translations quite often. The most crucial thing about watching and understanding any foreign language film is a good translation and Norman has quite a few subtitling credits under his belt (he also teaches classes on the subject). We were able to spend time with Norman to discuss the ins and outs of film translat...
Jan 08, 2018•1 hr 40 min•Ep. 134
Byrd and Matt welcome very special guest, author Steve Ryfle to the show for a sprawling interview about the life and career of Ishiro Honda, director of many classic tokusatsu films (among other genres). Steve co-authored the brand new biography, Ishiro Honda: A Life In Film, From Godzilla to Kurosawa (with Ed Godziszewski). This eagerly anticipated book is the first official English biography on Ishiro Honda. It was done with the full cooperation and participation of the Honda family and detai...
Dec 31, 2017•2 hr 16 min•Ep. 133
MERRY CHRISTMAS! To bring the holiday cheer, Byrd and Matt discuss Love and Peace, the 2015 film directed by acclaimed Japanese auteur Sion Sono. This offbeat holiday film concerns a wannabe rockstar that flushes his pet turtle down the toilet. Said turtle goes deep in the sewer where he meets other pets and toys that have been carelessly thrown away and taken in by a kindly drunk. Meanwhile, our rock star protagonist hits it big and becomes famous. We also get a giant monster attack with specia...
Dec 24, 2017•45 min•Ep. 132
With Christmas right around the corner, Byrd and Matt watched Kihachi Okamoto's BLUE CHRISTMAS (aka Blood Type Blue), deeper cut from the Toho science fiction library. This paranoia-fueled thriller is about a string of UFO sightings that turns the witness's blood blue. The blue bloods are feared by society and the government and well... things get worse from there. So how does this bleak holiday flick stack up? Listen and find out! But first, we give our thoughts on the trailer for Jurassic Worl...
Dec 21, 2017•43 min
With Star Wars mania once again sweeping the nation, Byrd and Matt take a look at this TV spin off of the infamous Japanese Star Wars rip off, Message From Space. After that film was released, Toei produced a television series spin off called Message From Space: Galactic Wars, which ran from 1978-1979. When the show was bought by an American distributor, the series was condensed into a feature length movie and released to VHS in the early 1980s under the title Sword of the Space Ark. So how did ...
Dec 17, 2017•46 min•Ep. 130
Byrd and Matt are joined by guest host and Kamen Rider fan Eric to discuss the cyborg-grasshopper warrior’s output in the 1990s. Commonly given as the easiest entry point for newbies getting into the Kamen Rider series, the franchise’s output in the 90s consisted of the films Shin Kamen Rider (1992), Kamen Rider Zo (1993), and Kamen Rider J (1994), along with the short films Kamen Rider SD, Ultraman vs. Kamen Rider, and Kamen Rider World. Most of these projects heavily involved acclaimed tokusat...
Dec 10, 2017•2 hr 9 min•Ep. 129
We're back with an exclusive interview with suit actor/mo-cap performer Mizuho Yoshida! For this episode, Byrd traveled to Grand Rapids, Michigan and sat down with Mr. Yoshida for this career spanning interview. Fans know Yoshida best for many iconic roles, including the GMK Godzilla, half of the Legion Queen in Gamera 2, Zeiram, Death Ghidorah and Dagarah in the Mothra films, and Solid Snake in the Metal Gear games. We touch on his beginnings in suit acting, working with tokusatsu visionaries s...
Dec 04, 2017•50 min•Ep. 65
At long last, we're back with more Gamera talk! We are joined by guest hosts Tom and Eric to discuss Shusuke Kaneko's acclaimed Gamera trilogy and 2006's reboot, Gamera the Brave. Kaneko's Gamera trilogy of the 90s remains three of the most beloved kaiju films of all time by both fans and critics. We will talk about whether or not these films earned their reputation and discuss how they hold up in 2017. We then divert our attention to the 2006 reboot, Gamera the Brave which came and went with li...
Nov 13, 2017•2 hr 25 min•Ep. 65
As a Halloween bonus, Byrd and Matt discuss and review the first screen adaptation of William Hope Hodgson's "The Voice In The Night" (the short story that Toho's Matango was based on). This was an episode of the Alfred Hitchcock produced anthology TV series "Suspicion," which aired on NBC in 1958 and starred James Coburn, Barbara Rush, Patrick Macnee, and James Donald before their careers took off. This TV episode languished in total obscurity for decades until recent years when an old, faded p...
Oct 31, 2017•32 min•Ep. 66
Just in time for Halloween, Byrd, Matt and guest host Tom take a look at Daiei's Yokai franchise! This includes the original trilogy of 100 Monsters, Spook Warfare, and Along With Ghosts, as well as Takashi Miike's 2004 reboot, The Great Yokai War. You'll hear us discuss all four movies, as well as give a crash course on what a Yokai is, the influence of GeGeGe No Kitaro, and more! These are prime viewing in the month of October, so break out the Adzuki beans and enjoy!
Oct 30, 2017•1 hr 50 min
On a new October podcast, Byrd and Matt are joined by guest host Tom to discuss Toho's "Mutant Trilogy." It is time to discuss more of Toho's human sized monsters, as we discuss The H-Man (1958), The Secret of the Telegian (1960), and the Human Vapor (1960). Although not as popular as Toho's giant monster films, the mutant films are every bit as noteworthy. As always, we have a lively discussion, as we discuss the origins of these films and give our reviews. Listen and enjoy as we discuss radioa...
Oct 23, 2017•1 hr 27 min
In our second October horror episode, Byrd, Matt, and guest host Trev (Days of Future Podcast, If It Bleeds We Can Kill It) dip their toes into the Eko Eko Azarak franchise with a discussion on the first three live action movies. Produced by Gaga Co. and Tsuburaya Films, these were based on the popular manga of the same name. The series follows a young schoolgirl witch who travels from town to town as a protector against demonic activity. We discuss the original manga and review Wizard of Darkne...
Oct 16, 2017•1 hr 10 min
On another very special episode, Byrd and Matt and joined by actress Linda Haynes for this candid, career spanning interview. Kaiju fans know her best for her role in Ishiro Honda's Latitude Zero. She also starred in many 70s cult favorites such as Coffy, Rolling Thunder, and Human Experiments. We discuss these films, as well as variety of topics such as her work with directors like Ishiro Honda, John Flynn and Jack Hill, stars such as Joseph Cotten, Akira Takarada, Pam Grier, and Robert Redford...
Oct 12, 2017•1 hr 10 min
Happy October! KT is once again going through Japanese horror films for the entire month and we're kicking it off with the classic anthology film Kwaidan, directed by the great Masaki Kobayashi. This independent feature was produced by Ninjen Club and distributed by Toho in 1964 and features four horror stories based on the Japanese folk stories of author Lafcadio Hearn. We discuss how the film was made, the unique musical score, the struggles that Kobayashi went through to finish the film, and ...
Oct 09, 2017•1 hr 10 min
Byrd and Matt welcome special guest, author John LeMay ("The Big Book of Japanese Giant Monsters" book series) on the podcast to discuss kaiju movies that almost were! It seems almost as if for every Godzilla movie that got made, there are several scripts for other movies that never saw the light of day. John's newest book, "The Big Book of Japanese Giant Monsters: The Lost Films" details that very subject. We talk to John about his book, his beginnings as a writer, the process of writing the bo...
Oct 05, 2017•1 hr 41 min
On a special episode, Byrd and Matt welcome Linda Miller, best known for her role as Susan Watson in the Toho/Rankin-Bass classic King Kong Escapes! In addition to her starring role in one of Toho's golden age kaiju films, she also made an appearance in Toei's cult favorite, The Green Slime. Linda discusses both films, her modeling career, being directed by the great Ishiro Honda, language barriers on the Japanese sets, working with stars like Akira Takarada, Rhodes Reason, and Richard Jaeckel, ...
Oct 02, 2017•1 hr 5 min
On a very special episode of the podcast, we are ridiculously excited to welcome the legendary and prolific martial arts action star Sonny Chiba! Matt ventured to Fandom Fest in Kentucky to sit down and talk with Mr. Chiba. With nearly 200 acting credits, Sonny Chiba has done it all. He's well known for his roles in cult classics like the Street Fighter series, Golgo 13, Message From Space, the Yakuza Papers and Bodyguard Kiba. He's been in everything from early tokusatsu films like Golden Bat a...
Sep 27, 2017•44 min
On a very special edition of the podcast, we present another celebrity interview with actor/stuntman Kenji Ohba! Kenji is best known for playing the long-running Toei tokusatsu superhero Space Sheriff Gavan, as well as his long career as a stunt man. Matt traveled to Fandom Fest in Kentucky this past July to conduct this interview. Ohba discusses his tokusatsu beginnings as a stuntman/suit actor in shows like Kikaider, being mentored by Sonny Chiba, mentoring Godzilla actor Tom Kitagawa, the dif...
Sep 21, 2017•43 min
Byrd and Matt are joined by silent film historian and film restorationist Nicolas Ciccone to discuss Willis O'Brien and Harry O. Hoyt's 1925 game-changer The Lost World. Nicolas had the experience of reconstructing the film with newly discovered footage for Lobster Films' upcoming blu-ray release (in addition to providing the audio commentary). This pre-King Kong dino-on-the-loose classic is the very first giant monster run amok film and the true great grandfather of the entire giant monster/kai...
Sep 11, 2017•1 hr 7 min
Byrd and Matt are joined by Trev (If It Bleed We Can Kill It and Days of Future Podcast) to take one of our occasional detours outside the giant monster landscape to examine the the Death Note franchise. In the early 2000s, this supernatural thriller became a worldwide phenomenon, starting with the successful manga and anime series. It also spawned multiple live action films from such genre heavyweights as Shusuke Kaneko, Hideo Nakata and Adam Wingard. Our discussion is mostly based on the two 2...
Sep 03, 2017•1 hr 59 min
From June 30-July 3 of 2017, Godzilla suit actors Haruo Nakajima and Tom Kitagawa were featured guests at the Days of the Dead convention in Indianapolis, Indiana. This is the panel Q and A with the two actors from the convention. Unfortunately, this would also become one of Haruo Nakajima's final interviews and his final convention appearance. The two men answer questions about how they got involved in suit acting, working in the suits, working with miniatures, their thoughts on the American Go...
Aug 31, 2017•44 min•Ep. 50
Matt and Byrd are joined by special guest, Ed Holland of Monster Attack Team magazine! We interview Ed about the creation of the magazine, its hiatus, and its resurgence over the last few years! Just how does one get a high quality magazine made in 2017? Ed also tells us about being on the sets of Ultraman Powered and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. But first, we discuss Ed's relationship with the late Haruo Nakajima, who passed away shortly before this recording. Ed did a lot of stateside events ...
Aug 27, 2017•1 hr 28 min•Ep. 49
For our very first LIVE episode, we present our 50th anniversary panel discussion on 1967's GAMERA vs. GYAOS. Byrd and Matt are joined by Nicolas Poling (of the Monster Report on YouTube) to take a deep dive through how it was made, how it originated, the SPFX, how it changed the Gamera franchise, the social climate of the time that is reflected throughout the film, differences in the rare manga adaptation, audience Q & A, and more! DISCLAIMER: The audio on this one isn't perfect since the c...
Aug 24, 2017•54 min•Ep. 48
Due to some MAJOR technical difficulties at G-Fest, the audio from our interviews with composer Michiru Oshima, director/SPFX Director Kiyotaka Taguchi and assistant director Kazuhiro Nakagawa were all unusable. To make up for it, we've transcribed the interviews for us to discuss them on the podcast, where we can talk about their answers and give our thoughts on what they had to say. Oshima discusses working on the Godzilla films, working with Seijun Suzuki, and composing for anime and video ga...
Aug 19, 2017•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 47
Byrd and Matt dig into the life and career of famed monster music composer Akira Ifukube! To do this, they interview Ifukube's official biographer Erik Homenick (who runs AkiraIfukube.org) and film music buff John DeSentis (conductor & co-organizer of the Ifukube 100 and Symphonic Fury kaiju music concerts). As an added bonus, they've brought some SUPER rare Ifukube music cues (reconstructed and recorded by John from Ifukube's manuscripts). This is UNHEARD Ifukube music you will only hear on...
Aug 12, 2017•2 hr 3 min•Ep. 46
Byrd and Matt are joined by guest Chris (of the Other Sounds Podcast and Cosmic Monster) to discuss the work and life of Haruo Nakajima, who passed away on August 7, 2017. Nakajima is best known for playing Godzilla from 1954-1972, as well as playing Rodan, Mothra, Baragon, the Green Gargantua, Varan, various Ultraman kaiju, and many others. Nakajima was the most prolific suit actor of the Showa era and endured plenty of dangerous situations by playing monsters underwater, being flung through th...
Aug 08, 2017•2 hr•Ep. 45
