This year has been a hard one for all of us. As the year ends it feels like a good time for reflection. Despite the seemingly unending darkness that was 2020, there were bright moments and most of those moments were driven by exploring and interacting with Tokusatsu and its fans. This will be a love letter for the things that made me smile this year.
New Podcasts and shows:
If you are not on here please do not take it personally. The fact is, I probably haven’t got around to your show! Please link me your amazing pod and I will check it out. Also just going with new discoveries from this year, I love shows like Tokyo Lives (for real I have spent days only listening to their back catalog) and The Kaiju Kingdom podcast but I have loved them for years.
The Kaiju Apostle Podcast: Technically I may have hopped onto this podcast late in 2019 but as they are currently on hiatus I have to give them a shoutout. It may not surprise anyone but I am not exactly a religious person, however, their podcast which looks through Godzilla movies from a religious perspective, offered thoughtful dissections that made me see many films in a different light. David and Chris bring on people from all walks of life and get to the heart of what makes these movies so special. They are hilarious and whip-smart. On a personal note, David’s friendship was very important this year — so thanks, David. Wherever they go next will be a must-listen.
One Missed Pod: Oh you didn’t think I would put Zack and Kelly on here because this appears on THEIR website? Well, too bad. Zack and Kelly are two of the greatest people to walk this earth and this podcast offered a wonderful viewpoint into why I love them both so dearly. J-Horror is a far-reaching and important topic in the world of Tokusatsu, which they tackle excellently.
Monsters vs. Men: They call themselves the bargain basement of podcasting but my favourite thing in the world is bargain basements (something 2020 took away from me), so this allows me to revel in its podcasting equivalent. Eric and Alex are smart hosts who tackle the films on a more direct criticism basis. Some podcasts can get mired down in the behind-the-scenes but they do a great job tackling the films as they are.
Godzilla Unmade: This miniseries heralded by the Kaijusaurus crew was a blast to listen to. Who knew that giant monsters could adapt so well to the world of audio drama? The soundscape of the classic Toho films are captured brilliantly and the cast portrays their roles excellently. The writing, the artwork, the EVERYTHING about Godzilla Unmade was top notch. Hopefully we can get more audio content from this crew in the future.
Collect All Monsters: I chatted about this earlier in the year so you can read about them here): but I’d be remiss if I didn’t give them another shoutout.
Kaiju Kim: Godzilla and Kaiju related Youtube channels can be very hit or miss which is why I was very happy to find Kaiju Kim’s channel. Kim is a professional video editor and it really shows. A tremendous sense of style, humour, and a wonderfully professional presentation. Her videos are the perfect length and you will find yourself consuming all of her content in a very quick succession.
Events:
Kaiju Quarantine: Another series I discussed earlier in the year, but it continued to be an enjoyment throughout its various iterations.
Kaiju Con-Line: Another event with a full write-down by me earlier this year. It was a blast.
Kaiju Masterclass: I was unable to fully attend this virtual event due to my ongoing medical issues but it is all archived on Youtube. Similar to Kaiju Con-Line in presentation, there are some outstanding panels that are a must see for Tokusatsu fans.
Books:
The Lost Films Fanzine by John Lemay: Lemay continues to bring in great contributors and uncovers so many great tidbits that any film fan owes it to themselves to pick up this ongoing Fanzine.
How to Have an Adventure in Northern Japan by Raffael Coronelli: My love of this book has been well documented. Pick this up!
DVDs and Blu-rays:
Mill Creek’s Ultraman: I cannot keep up with these releases which is a great problem to have. I will never tire of Ultraman in all their forms.
SRS Cinema: SRS continues to be releasing movies we would never be able to experience in North America, from Attack of the Giant Teacher (2020) to Howl from Beyond the Fog (2019). Be sure to follow them as they always bring something new and unexpected to the table, much to my delight.
Arrow: The glorious Gamera boxset is an all-time great release, however it was not their sole Tokusatsu output this year. Versus (2000) and Warning from Space (1956) show that the company is devoted to appeasing the Tokusatsu fanatics.
Notzilla: This was an independent release and as such deserves its own entry. I wrote a review on it earlier this year.
Media Blasters: I have not been able to pick up all of their releases but Media Blasters has quietly been re-releasing many tokusatsu films onto Blu-ray, many for the first time. Gappa the Triphibian Monster (1967) is the only one I’ve been able to get my hands on and it was well worth it to get the classic film on high definition at last.
Artists:
Like in podcasting, please keep in mind these are artists new to me and if you’re not on here please reach out and share your art, as I’d love to see it!
Revised_Dan: Dan and his work with ‘Godzilla: World of Monsters‘ is outstanding with some truly awesome redesigns for classic Kaiju.
Lisa Naffziger: Lisa is amazing both as a voice in the community and as an artist. Her style has the ability to make me smile on even the darkest days of 2020.
Kaiju-Hime: Heralding the amazing Girls Who Love Monsters project, Kaiju-Hime is a delightful artist and a tremendously important voice in the community.
This is a celebration of those who have helped me to make it through the most difficult year of my life. Thank you for reading this article series and for all of your support. I am certain I have forgotten many great people and projects.
We will all get through 2021, together.
