Kaiju (Japanese: 怪獣, Hepburn: Kaijū, lit. 'Strange Beast') is a Japanese media genre involving giant monsters. The word kaiju can also refer to the giant monsters themselves, which are usually depicted attacking major cities and battling either the military or other monsters. The kaiju genre is a subgenre of tokusatsu entertainment.
The 1954 film Gojira (US: Godzilla) is commonly regarded as the first kaiju film. Kaiju characters are often somewhat metaphorical in nature; Godzilla, for example, serves as a metaphor for nuclear weapons, reflecting the fears of post-war Japan following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Lucky Dragon 5 incident. Other notable examples of kaiju characters include Rodan, Mothra, King Ghidorah, and Gamera.
John's Notes
I grew up watching kaiju movies so I can admit I've pretty much seen them all (even modern examples, but really my favorites are from the Showa era). I can't really add to much to the definition above. While most Shogun Warrior collectors think of Rodan as a Godzilla enemy, in the various films they end up being friends, sharing Monster Island.
Popy and Mattel
As with other
popular anime and tokusatsu series, Popy and other manufacturers
produced a plethora of toys related to Godzilla and the other residents of Monster Island, eventually leading to a
Mattel licensing deal as Shogun Warrior toys
- Popy Jumbo Zaurus Gojira - Mattel #2440 Godzilla (jumbo)
- (no Popy equivalent) - Mattel World's Greatest Monsters # Rodan
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