Kaiju Rampage

 Welcome to the next "big" thing on Geek Streak (or Time is a Spiral..., if you follow me there) and the destruction of civilization as we know it.  For almost 60 years, giant monsters have risen from beneath the Earth's surface to wreak havoc on humanity and each other.  These nigh unstoppable forces have awed audiences all around the world.

But what if you know little to nothing about these behemoths of the silver screen?  That's what I'm here for.  Now, I may not be the definitive expert on all things daikaiju, but I have studied these creatures in their natural habitat and observed their behaviors and decided that I should share my findings with the world.  So, without any further ado, this is Kaiju Rampage.

Let's start with a short primer on the subject.  In Japan, a genre of film and television was created called tokusatsu, which means "special effects," as these were live action films and television shows that heavily relied on scaled models, pyrotechnics, and men in rubber costumes as well as other special effects.  The genre originated with the use of action scenes and puppetry in early Japanese theater, but came into its own in the early 1950s.  Generally, tokusatsu focuses on sci-fi, fantasy, and supernatural horror and, in the early days, were very similar to American movies such as King Kong, The Day the Earth Stood Still, and Plan 9 From Outer Space.  This genre also includes Japanese super hero shows, such as Kamen Rider, Ultraman, and many of the shows that would be transported to the US as the Power Rangers series (most of these, you will notice, also mixes kaiju with their superhero action).

 The Power Rangers series (known, in Japan, as Super Sentai)

has been a longstanding staple of tokusatsu in television.

Of course, the most popular sub-genre in tokusatsu is kaiju, which heralded the birth of the genre with the release of Toho's 1954 film, Gojira (Godzilla).  The movie became such a huge hit, that it spawned a dynasty that has lasted over half a century; producing numerous sequels, spin-offs, and copycats.  The word kaiju means "strange monster," which doesn't, necessarily, denote a giant monster.  Daikaiju, "giant monster," is a more literal term, but kaiju is almost universally accepted to describe these radioactive titans.

Unlike King Kong, who was a naturally big ape in an island of primordial giants, a lot of kaiju tend to be radioactive mutations of animals that grew to monstrous size, the creations of ancient civilizations or alien invaders, or mystical guardians that rose from their slumber to heed the call for help.  While King Kong mostly fought dinosaurs and, in the fateful ending, a squadron of bi-planes, kaiju like to beat the crap out of the JDF (Japanese Defense Force) and each other in brutal, destructive battles.  A lot of times, kaiju die, only to be reborn or rebooted in another movie.  Only the original Gojira and a few other movies, including the original Gamera, featured only one kaiju.  Usually, the more kaiju you put in a movie, the better (from what I hear, Destroy All Monsters is a battle royale of epic proportions).

The movie that started it all.

However, I do feel that some kaiju movies do try to convey a similar message to King Kong, just in a different way.  In King Kong, mankind was meddling with one of the last great wonders left on Earth.  They made Kong a captive in a world that he cannot survive in.  By keeping this overgrown ape in their grasp, the magnificently savage beast dies and the promise of adventure in an ancient lost world dies with him.

With Gojira, it is something else that mankind is meddling with, as the 1950's were the dawn of the atomic age.  It was a cautionary tale of trying to harness destructive powers that mankind may not be able to contain (something that Japan was the only nation to completely witness firsthand at the end of World War II).  Godzilla is not a ferocious, but fragile beast that cannot survive in our world.  To the contrary, it is humanity who cannot survive in Godzilla's world.  Mankind has opened Pandora's Box and must deal with the impending age of destructive giants.  Humans must either subdue or placate the titanic reptile in order to survive.

Even Gamera, the "Friend of All Children,"

won't put up with your crap.

To posit one of my theories, Godzilla and other kaiju have become post-WWII kami, which is a catch-all term for spirits and forces of nature in Shintoism.  As America crushed the notion of a divine emperor in the wake of the war, Shinto beliefs dwindled. Japan had to find a new medium to convey the powerful and aloof personifications of nature that have been an integral part of Japanese culture throughout their recorded history.  Kaiju rose to fill that void, not only as "gods" of primordial nature, but as vengeful spirits, seeking to punish humanity for toying with things they cannot understand - a punishment that humans are foolish enough to lash out against.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, though.  Aliens have threatened the planet with slavery and destruction, which Godzilla, along with other kaiju, such as Mothra and Gamera, to name a few, have come to Earth's defense.  Kaiju is more than just the struggles of giant beasts played by men in rubber suits.  It's an ongoing war to prove who is master of Earth.  Humans may use and abuse the planet, aliens may bring violence and devastation to conquer it, but the world belongs to the kaiju, and they are not pleased.

When the Kaiju Rampage returns, we'll get into the different eras of tokusatsu and what each one brings to the table.