The Kaiju Transmissions Podcast

Byrd and Matt take a look at Toho's disaster epic, SUBMERSION OF JAPAN. What happens when Toho decides to make destruction spectacle without giant monsters? We take a look at Shiro Moritani's SUBMERSION OF JAPAN (1973), Shinji Higuchi's SINKING OF JAPAN (2006), and Minoru Kawasaki's parody film THE WORLD SINKS EXCEPT JAPAN (2006). We compare and contrast the films by talking about their political themes, effects, and how each version is a product of their times.

Byrd and Matt are joined by very, very special guest, G-Fest organizer Jeff Horne! With G-Fest 2017 on the horizon, Jeff talks to us about a variety of topics, including the history of the convention, how it has evolved over the years, online fandom vs real life, convention guests, movie screenings, favorite G-Fest moments, and all the work that goes into organizing a convention every year. We also talk about what first time attendees can expect. We also announce that Kaiju Transmissions will be part of a live panel at G-Fest! G-FEST XXIV will be held from July 14th to July 16th, 2017, at the Crowne Plaza Chicago Oâ??Hare.

Byrd, Matt, and Eric take a deep dive into Daiei's OTHER kaiju franchise, Daimajin! In 1966, Daiei released not one, not two, but THREE films all starring the gigantic stone god Daimajin. A combination of the Japanese daikaiju and jidaigeki (period drama) genres, these are some of the most unique and interesting giant monster films to date. We discuss the three films and we also touch on the Daimajin reboots that got cancelled over the years, the TV series Daimajin Kanon, how Daiei never quite took full advantage of their monster roster, and the future of their monster franchises!

Byrd and Matt are joined by Hedorah superfan Chris (of the musical project Cosmic Monster) to discuss the life and career of Yoshimitsu Banno, who passed away on May 7th, 2017. Banno is most well known for writing and directing Godzilla vs. Hedorah, but he did quite a bit more in his career. We discuss his life and career from his early days as an assistant director for Akira Kurosawa to writing/directing Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971), writing/assisting on Toho's Prophecies of Nostradamus (1974), his cancelled Godzilla 3D IMAX project, executive producing the Legendary Pictures Godzilla film in 2014, kick-starting the MonsterVerse, and everything in between! We hit on the genesis of these projects, environmentalism and Banno's place in kaiju history. Banno never got the credit he deserved for his contributions to the genre, so we wanted to give the father of Hedorah his due! RIP Mr. Banno!

For our MOTHER'S DAY SPECIAL, we take a look at a angry kaiju mothers! We start by talking about 1961's GORGO out of Britain. Then we talk about Nikkatsu's GAPPA: THE TRIPHIBIAN MONSTER (1967) and the long forgotten Fox television movie GARGANTUA (1998). We also touch on other angry gigantic mothers. Mothra, Jurassic Park's T-Rex, Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend, and more! We also touch on the part our own mothers played in our hobby, Byrd's daddy issues and the latest King Kong, Jurassic Park and Ultraman news. Happy Mother's Day!

Byrd and Matt are joined by Trev (Days of Future Podcast/If It Bleeds, We Can Kill It) to discuss the recent giant monster indie COLOSSAL directed by Nacho Vigalondo. We discuss male entitlement, alcoholism, dissociation from foreign violence, toxic relationships, and giant monsters as an externalization of real life personal problems. Of course we also touch on the now infamous Toho lawsuit that held up the production. Colossal is a very different type of movie in the giant monster landscape. So listen and find out what the guys thought of this dark, offbeat giant monster dramedy!

On this episode, Byrd and Matt are joined by frequent guest Eric to discuss and celebrate the Shochiku studio's lone kaiju Guilala, one of the genre's oddest creations! We discuss 1967's "The X From Outer Space" and the 2008 comedy sequel "Monster X Strikes Back" (which turns into one of our most contentious reviews and leaves Byrd speechless). In addition to Byrd having a meltdown, you'll also hear us discuss Guilala's bizarre non-film career, how to pronounce "Guilalanium," possible racist undertones, and the charm of such a bizarre beast! Enjoy and keep your Guilalanium handy!

In celebration of Mystery Science Theater 3000's brand new season on Netflix, Byrd and Matt are joined by MST superfan Trev (Days of Future Podcast/If It Bleeds We Can Kill It), this time to discuss the phenomena that is MST3K! Although the show's reputation among kaiju fans is rather split, there are a great many who got their first taste of the genre through MST, spawning a life long obsession with all things tokusatsu. We start by discussing the genesis of MST and the misconceptions about it in some genre film circles, which leads into a spirited defense of the show. Then we discuss the history of the show, network changes, host switches, what the show did for the Gamera franchise stateside, and the true value of a film being loved on an ironic "so bad, it's good" level. And of course, we discuss our favorite episodes, riffs, and moments from the series!

At long last, we finally have the results from our Godzilla movie ranking poll! Over the winter, we conducted a survey asking listeners to rank all 31 Godzilla movies and Byrd, Matt, and Tom have the results. We give some predictions and then discuss what we found. Do certain age groups prefer certain eras of the franchise? Where do strange outliers like Godzilla (1998) fall? Where did the recent Legendary film and Shin Godzilla place overall? What movies are the most loved/hated? We have the answers! But first, we read and answer some listener mail, where we'll discuss box office, our favorite non-kaiju monster movies, and more!

At 3:00AM, an exhausted Byrd and kinda drunk Matt consider rebooting the podcast as ORCACAST, where we will dedicate each episode to the 1977 masterpiece, ORCA. What better way to start such an experiment than with a full blown audio commentary on the movie? We'll talk stiff whale props, aborted rubber whale fetuses, how an Orca would know how to start an explosion, how the Orca could have fought King Kong in the aborted sequel, Blackfish, globsters, exploding whale carcasses, and more! Byrd's semi-drunk roommate also acts as our first ever live audience. How did the OrcaCast experiment go? Was it a roaring success or was it one of the worst, least professional podcasts ever recorded? Decide for yourself! Happy April Fool's Day.