by Gwangi » Thu Oct 07, 2010 1:52 pm
At the beginning of the year, I did Toho’s top 10 human villains. Coming towards the end, I thought I would do the top heroes during the Showa era. Heroes are harder because it is usually a monster that comes out as the true hero, but there have been several notable human good guys (and I am talking about ordinary human beings, not ones playing aliens or with any superpowers).
10. Ichiro – Godzilla’s Revenge (Tomonori Yazaki). Grade school student, latch-key kid. Foils the plans of two bumbling robbers long before Macaulay Culkin.
9. Nanbara – Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (Shin Kishida). Interpol Agent. One cool dude, even if he smokes too much!
8. Yoshimura - Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster (Akira Takarada). Bank Robber. Is on the bad side and with a temper at first, but helps thwart the evil plans of the Red Bamboo.
7. Susan Watson – King Kong Escapes (Linda Miller). Lieutenant, UN Submarine Explorer. With the help of the big ape, finishes off a megalomaniac.
6. Shindo – Ghidrah, The Three-Headed Monster (Yosuke Natsuki). Police Detective. Assigned to keep watch on the lovely princess Akiko Wakabayashi, a job many of us would probably like to have!
5. Katsuo Yamabe – Destroy All Monsters (Akira Kubo). Captain, SY-3. Akira Kubo at his most commanding.
4. Sen-chan 'Bulldog', Shin'ichi Chûjô, & Michi Hanamura – Mothra (Frankie Sakai, Hiroshi Koizumi, Kyôko Kagawa). Journalist, Professor and Photographer. Had to include all three as one, since they were virtually a team.
3. Tetsuo Teri – Monster Zero (Akira Kubo). Inventor. Goes to show you don’t need to be brawny in order to be hero. Just invent a simple device and you could possibly save the world!
2. Daisuke Serizawa – Godzilla, King of the Monsters (Akihiko Hirata). Marine Biologist. No need for explanation.
And
1. Glenn – Monster Zero (Nick Adams). Astronaut, World Space Authority. Just very fun to watch!