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bog-o-bones · 4 years

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Kaiju Media Forecast 2020

The kaiju fandom has certainly seen a gigantic upswing in content since the last time I did one of these “year going forward” reviews. Let’s take a look at some of the major movies, events, merchandise and more that kaiju fans have to look forward to in the coming year!

Movies

Every year since at least 2013, the kaiju fandom has had one “tentpole” film event of the year, usually the most highly anticipated feature coming out that year that most media and merchandise hype will surround. This year’s choice is the latest (and possibly last?) of the Legendary MonsterVerse which just last year introduced us to the first American incarnations of Mothra, Rodan, and King Ghidorah. Later this year, the King of the Monsters will once again take on the King of Skull Island in a rematch nearly 60 years in the making with Godzilla vs. Kong. The only snippet of footage we’ve seen is featured in the screenshot above and recently leaked toy fair displays have quite a lot in store for the big crossover event of the MonsterVerse. Godzilla vs. Kong drops November 20th.

According to your definition, the first kaiju film of 2020 launched two weeks ago with Underwater. The Kristen Stewart-helmed deep-sea monster movie isn’t really making the splash it was looking for box office-wise and most people who have seen it say that it’s okay at worst. Regardless, if you like big monsters and quasi-Cloverfield type films, you can give it a shot in theaters now or in a few months when it hits home media.

Godzilla’s sole big screen appearance won’t just be limited to the big crossover with Kong as a snow-covered cameo role will land him a spot in the new Shinkalion movie. From a clip posted on Yahoo Japan (refresh the page if it doesn’t work) Godzilla briefly faces Hatsune Miku piloting a giant train-based mecha (I tried pinching myself, believe me) at the very end. This role is likely going to be very short but nonetheless, it’s always satisfying to see Godzilla pop up in the most unexpected places.

Again, stretching the definition of “kaiju” here, but also apparently the Monster Hunter movie still exists and is coming out later this year in September? I don’t know much about the franchise, but I do know it’s probably going to be butchered with a Paul W.S. Anderson directed schlock fest. Who knows, maybe the monster scenes will make up for it?

As is tradition, the Ultraman franchise hits us once again with an annual theatrical movie based off the previous year’s show. Ultraman Taiga The Movie: New Generation Climax will be out in March and judging by the title, will feature a climactic event featuring the New Generation assortment of Ultraman heroes. I still have yet to see Taiga but hopefully this provides a fun conclusion to the show.

Famed director Hideaki Anno returns to the world of his most famous creation with Evangelion 3.0+1.0, the highly anticipated final installment in the Rebuild series to be released this June. I have not seen any of the Rebuild movies myself but this is sure to be a wild and crazy ride for Evangelion fans.

Finally, the oddball of the bunch. Kadokawa rises from it’s dusty grave with a brand new monster film focused on the unproduced predecessor to Gamera: Nezura 1964. Featuring giant rat monsters and a cast comprised of many Daiei/Kadokawa favorites, it’ll be interesting to see if this film can capitalize on the recent kaiju craze and be successful enough to possibly give our old turtle friend the revival he truly deserves. Nezura 1964 is due out in December in Japan.

Television

Not much on the television docket this year. It’s far too early to speculate about Tsuburaya’s next Ultra series, leaving us with little to discuss. Studio Trigger is supposedly making some kind of new series related to it’s Gridman show from last year (another item I have yet to see). Titled SSSS.DYNAZENON, nobody knows when it’s due out so for all I know this could be a rather outdated entry.

What we do know for sure is coming is something not particularly kaiju but still related via the tokusatsu connection is the continuation of Kamen Rider Zero-One, the first Rider series in Japan’s newly named Reiwa period. This isn’t really related to the year 2020 but honestly I’d rather have something in this TV section to talk about than just the Gridman sequel.

Merchandise

Last year was one of the greatest years in the history of the American Ultraman fandom with the officially sanctioned releases of Ultra Q, Ultraman, Ultraseven, Ultraman Orb and Ultraman Geed to Blu-Ray in the West for the very first time. In this new year, Mill Creek will continue to satiate the needs of Western Ultra fans with releases of previously unseen-on-western-disc series Return of Ultraman, Ultraman Ace, Ultraman X, and the Ultraman Orb Origin Saga. A schedule flyer released online also teases many other entries in the franchise making the continuous release of these beloved shows a treat to look forward to. You can pre-order the four releases discussed above on Amazon.

American toy company Playmates acquired the license for the Godzilla vs. Kong toyline last year and in early January, a few figures from their non-film focused toylines showed up at Walmarts across the country. They’re uh...well, let’s be honest: they’re not great. Leaked images of the Godzilla vs. Kong toyline were also shared around social media but I’ll avoid talking about them here for spoiler purposes. Let’s just say the line is looking mighty juicy for kaiju fans and it will be interesting to see if they’re promoted come New York Toy Fair.

Bandai’s Movie Monsters Series line will likely continue to issue newly reissued/remolded monsters in the Godzilla line (as well as produce new figures for Godzilla vs. Kong) but coming out in March is a sight for sore eyes: a brand new sculpt of the 1995 Gamera design for the 25th anniversary of Gamera: Guardian of the Universe. Hopefully a Super Gyaos is not far behind!

The S.H. MonsterArts line had a fairly predictable and underwhelming list of releases last year. Great figures for the most part, but obvious choices without much surprise. This being a movie year, I don’t expect much to change and we’ll likely see Godzilla vs. Kong figures soon enough. What is confirmed and releasing in May is their take on the Burning Godzilla design featured in Godzilla: King of the Monsters last year. Originally a Tamashii WebShop exclusive, it’s being released in America by Bluefin around June.

Media company SRS Cinema continues to throw unexpected independent kaiju films our way with releases of Deep Sea Monster Reigo and Deep Sea Monster Raiga last year on limited Blu-Ray and wide-release DVD. They’ll continue the assortment this year with Attack of the Giant Teacher and Raiga vs. Ohga. The films likely won’t be much to look at, but more independent kaiju films seeing a western release is never a bad thing. Here’s hoping Daikaiju Eiga G or Gehara see a release soon.

In an almost perfect repeat of Daiei and Toho’s box office bout sixty years ago, boutique label Arrow Video has reportedly secured the rights to the Gamera franchise and are planning a box set that could rival Criterion’s late 2019 release of the entire Showa Godzilla series. Arrow Video puts out sublime products and kaiju fans will likely want to keep their eyes peeled for this set, even if they’ve already secured Mill Creek’s rather dull bargain sets from years past.

While not on the docket for tie-ins to Godzilla vs. Kong (yet), NECA will likely be continuing to pump out new figures in their Classic Godzilla line. No brand new sculpts are known at the moment, but fans can look forward to a blue, poster-styled repaint of their KOTM Mothra figure and some reissues of their older molds in new box-styled, poster-featuring packaging. Some, like the 1985 Godzilla, might even feature newly molded details.

In rather shocking news, Media Blasters has seemingly propped one of its kaiju films up from the depths of licensing hell with an announcement of a Blu-Ray release of Gappa the Triphibian Monsters scheduled for a February release. The out-of-nowhere circumstances surrounding this release as well as a proclaimed inclusion of an “uncut” Japanese release (despite the International version containing more footage than the Japanese version) and Media Blasters rather spotty history regarding kaiju Blu-Rays should have folks taking this with a grain of salt until the actual discs are in collectors’ hands.

Events

As per usual, the kaiju fan’s Woodstock G-FEST will be continuing it’s annual celebration of all things giant monster from July 10-12 at the Crowne Plaza Chicago O’Hare in Rosemont, IL. No guest announcements at this time, but fans looking to go should register and book a hotel immediately as attendance will continue to spike and rooms in the convention’s hotel are already sold out.

As is tradition, the San Diego Comic Con will take place this summer a week after G-FEST is over and will likely bring with it new information on Godzilla vs. Kong and many other kaiju-related media. NECA will possibly show off new figures and we may even see some post-2020 information on the MonsterVerse.

Not necessarily guaranteed, but kaiju fans may also want to look out for this year’s New York ToyFair taking place in February. ToyFair has pretty much become the SDCC for toy collectors with many companies showing off their new products for the new year. Kaiju collectors will possibly get a glimpse at the Playmates Godzilla vs. Kong assortment as well as a few other possible surprise reveals from other companies like NECA or Diamond Select.

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2020 is looking to be a monstrous year for kaiju fans. Hopefully the fandom will enjoy everything to come from our favorite franchises.

Here’s to a happy 2020!

#kaiju #2020 #kaiju fandom #daikaiju #godzilla #godzilla vs kong #gamera #arrow gamera #ultraman #mill creek ultraman #bandai #sh monsterarts #neca #neca godzilla #g-fest

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israbelle · 6 years

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voltron - episodes 1-2

so, i’ve actually watched the first three episodes already, since about 80% way through with ep 3 i had the idea for this blog to begin with, so i’ll just be grouping in some of the reactions i had for two of them — i originally wanted to do all 3 but it ended up taking too long so, 2 today and i’ll do 3 tomorrow — in a short thing before it really starts

“they’re gonna die, aren’t they”

-me, two seconds before they got captured by the killer aliens

“i don’t know who this girl is yet, but i love her!” at that point my friend’s only response was girl??? and i soon realized my mistake

aand i already love the dynamic, i’m a sucker for rivals i guess

i’m disappointed that wasn’t followed up by “...i guess you did just have to knock”

“i dont know who she is, but she’s an elf lady and she said ‘Father!” and fell down and i love her already”

lance, you’re horrible at flirting

ohhh man, she’s epic as well as graceful!

my god, it’s an eccentric elf uncle and i love him sm

also him and lance? amazing comedic potential

side note, hunk looks like a teenage mutant ninja turtle from behind

don’t tell me you don’t see it

partially unrelated, but my internet is trash atm so the image quality is probably pretty bad, nothing i can do unfortunately

damnit lance, i wanted to hear that lore >:[

they’re not gonna be peaceful, are they

aand, called it

rover had better be part of the team forever

oh hey, a plot point

word of the day: quiznak. verb (used with object), adjective, noun 1. meaning “something has gone wrong”, used reginionally by residents of Fictional World

amazing, absolutely wonderful. i love it then the mandatory “TEAMWORK is the answer!” lmao

the show is called voltron, i dont think i could call this post a voltron post without including a picture of... voltron

episode one’s a blast, now the other two i’ve seen before, (other than the fact that ive seen the first three episodes before, i’m going in 100% blind)

me too, lance

ah, it must suck being the shortest :3c

or the comic relief, really

...my point still stands

i like it when aliens have different terminology, but i also like knowing what that terminology means... i hope i see a yalmor (yalmore sounds better?) someday soon!

who’s this guy, and what does he have to do with shiro ?? wasn't shiro a complete prisoner; did he fight his way out or smth?

ahah, amazing, i love this

summary of voltron: everyone but shiro sucks at riding a lion

hmm, this next part shows us into the minds of the characters!! im gonna take that as the queue to see what theyre about

keith’s thinkin about a house that looks to be by the beach, i think it’s his? either it’s his childhood home, and he’s remembering it, or it’s what he’s purposefully imagining as what he’d think appropriate for part of a “clear your mind” exercise; a calm, serene place! it might be both, though? maybe things will be known more after we know more about him!

at first i thought lance was thinking of a bunch of ladies, which wouldn’t be too far off his personality tbh, but there’s at least 4 guys in that group (which i guess could just suggest he’s bi but nah) but also,, what looks to be an old lady and two little kids? so i think it’s just his friends and family; although i don’t think i see anyone from the main group here? so that could either mean it’s solely his family, OR it’s just a metaphorical representation of “friends and family”

hunk’s, as the joke character, has.... the simplest thing. He Likes Food. any deep dark secrets? nah,, he just likes food. if they ever have a buildup to one, it’ll probably be something like “i actually like pineapple pizza!”

hey voltron, i cant take a screenshot of your video properly if you make it only appear for a few frames.... thanks.. anyways, pidge’s is a picture of him and his girlfriend, the same picture as that one that was shown earlier that i forgot to comment on. i... cannot parse this screenshot i took (it’s the best one i got after 5 tries, trust me) so i’m gonna go back to that other picture for reference

isn’t pidge supposed to be really really short? how short is his girlfriend?? anyways, he’s standing outside of the space station with her, which makes sense, and honestly i think he just really cares about her? although, i wonder what happened to her ?? youd think she’d be around more often, or if they broke up that such a happy singular memory would be the one thing to come up? yeah, the picture is rational, but the memory itself would probably be something more eventful if they had broken up or something. idk, this one’s the most confusing

shiro is thinking of literally the exact same station that pidge & girl were in front of, so it’s the station that the... kerberos(?) mission left off in. it’s something he values a lot, and something he obviously remembers a lot, since the memory wipe and all, so it makes sense that he’d be thinking of it

ywow, that was a lot of text, dang!!

ooh, the gladiator sounds interesting ...jee, they sure all failed pretty fast

ywow, they sure failed pretty hard also, on another note i really like this hairstyle/outfit

...amazing, i love this guy everyone in this show is just amazing, i cant wait to see what comes out of this-

or, not, cool music and plotpoints are good too

a psycheout x2 combo! i guess we’re at the food again!

THINGS ARE ON NOW!!

food fights are always funny

wooo! teamwork, finally! i wonder how long it’ll last before someone inevitably mucks something up...

voltron again!! and this time hunk didn’t get there ten minutes late

the comedy in this show is sometimes just, gold

there’s that photo again.... i kind of doubt it’s his girlfriend, honestly, judging by his reactions; unless she died somehow ? idk though, not yet at least

hoo boy, whatever “this beast” is i’m sure it’ll be a biiig problem later in the show!!

anyways, that’s the end of episode two, and it’s gettin pretty late here ha so i’m gonna finish up here! i thought i could do 3 episodes in a day, but i think i’m gonna stay to 1-2 episodes each instead, depending. seeya!!

#liveblog #voltron #part 1 #episodes 1 & 2

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