What is it about giant fire-breathing turtles that can become airborne flying saucers that delights children and even worms its way into the hearts of cynical adults?
Welcome to Final Forum's Dragon Ball-oween Spooktacular!
In this episode, Jelli and Bekinney break down the 1969 film, Gamera vs. Guiron. It's part of our October/Halloween Festivities where we're taking a break from breaking down Akira Toriyama's worldwide manga and anime phenomenon and delving into times our franchise's creators have "put on a costume" and worked on other shows and movies. In this case, we're talking about Shunsuke Kikuchi, the composer behind Dragon Ball. And since we felt like we couldn't do it alone, we've brought along a friend: John DeSentis is a composer, musician, and kaiju fan who has conducted orchestras, scored films, and helped organize kaiju conventions. His credits include the anthology Worst Laid Plans, the short film The Conduit, and Kaiju Crescendo: An Evening of Japanese Monster Music. He has appeared on the Kaiju Transmissions podcast, as well as Imaginary Worlds, Growing up with Godzilla and is a frequent guest on the Gen X Lounge. (He also loves Vin Diesel memes and enjoys being confused with Ron DeSantis.)
In this episode:
- Jelli and Bekinney say hello to Johnny
- We discuss why we chose to look at Gamera vs Guiron
- Production facts and history behind 1969's Gamera vs Guiron, including its place in the Gamera pantheon of films, budget, and release history
- Brief discussion of Daiei studios as a company
- Why Gamera exists and how it kept Daiei afloat for close to a decade
- Discussing the film's "stars" including Yuko Hamada, Khan Omura (aka Kon-Chan, aka Cornjob), and Christopher Murphy
- A look at the life of director Noriaki Yuasa, his filmmaking prior to Gamera, including Nezura and If You're Happy and You Know it Clap Your Hands, how Gamera became his signature franchise, and how Yuasa differed from his contemporaries, especially Ishiro Honda
- Yuasa's filmmaking philosophy and his thoughts on the 1990s Heisei Gamera films directed by Shusuke Kaneko
- How budgetary limitations affected the production of the film including the creation of Space Gyaos and the Guiron suit
- Daiei's financial struggles in the late 60s leading to their bankruptcy in 1971, as well as a unique agreement worked out with screenwriter Niisan Takahashi and how that may have influenced some of the Showa Gamera crew's feelings about the 90s Gamera films
- A discussion of Counter Earth or Opposite Earth and the Greek philosopher Philolalus, a disciple of Pythagoras and Aristotles thoughts on Philolalean cosmology as well as Pythagorean discipleship
- Shunsuke Kikuchi, his life, his background, and his career including Doraemon and Grendizer
- A comparison of Gamera films to fantasy and fairy tales including Little Red Riding Hood, Goldilock and the Three Bears, Cinderella and Hansel and Gretel (including a recommendation to check out the 2025 film The Ugly Stepsister)
- A brief discussion of Mystery Science Theater 3000 (aka MST3K) and their history with the Gamera franchise including the KTMA season of the show
- A closing in which we talk about our Halloween viewings including the Hammer Dracula films (and particular focus on The Satanic Rites of Dracula), Blacula, Tales from the Hood, Let the Right One In, the Grudge films, Sadako vs Kayako, Weapons and the documentary Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror
- ...and more, including some general pop culture, trivia, and editorializing, as usual
Join us as we continue to uncover the cultural meanings, publication facts, inspirations and more behind the wildly popular Dragon Ball franchise....or in this case, the Gamera franchise....for our special Dragon Ball-o-Ween event!
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John DeSentis:
https://www.instagram.com/johndesentis/?hl=en
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5044010/
https://www.youtube.com/user/JDeSentis3
https://genxlounge.buzzsprout.com/
