Monster Zero x SciFi Japan - Archive Only

So soon after losing Harao Nakajima, we lost one of the most beloved actors in the Toho stable.



Yoshio Tsuchiya was one of my absolute favorites, stealing the scenes in many roles - The Controller of Monster X (Monster Zero), the grouchy Furukawa (Son of Godzilla), the alien-controlled Dr. Otani (Destroy All Monsters) & business man Shindo (Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah).

In addition to those, I also loved his roles as Kasai in "Matango", Mizuno in "The Human Vapor" and Farmer Rikichi in "Seven Samurai". As a matter of fact, Mr. Tsuchiya was the last surviving main cast member in "Seven Samurai".

It really has been a tough couple of months.

Oh god dammit!!!!!

He was also in Ultra Seven.

Not just an icon of our genre, but through his inclusion in Kurosawa's stable of actors, an icon of world cinema. Rikichi is, for all intents and purposes, the 8th samurai in The Seven Samurai.

His performances are probably the most fascinating of any actor in the Toho genre films. His real life belief in the paranormal caused him to invest in characters like The Controller of Planet X and The Human Vapor in a way no other actor would have. He invented an alien language and accompanying hand movements for The Controller! His body language for the Vapor Man is such that I think you could eliminate all of his dialog and all the dialog describing him from the movie and you'd still have a a vivid impression of this emotionally disturbed man who's been given superpowers. Despite whatever problems the plot of Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah has, Tsuchiya sells Mr. Shindo so hard that he becomes the most memorable character of the entire Heisei series.

I congratulate Mr. Tsuchiya on 90 very fascinating years of life.

^Yeah, he's also the one who spearheads the plot until we meet Kambei.

Yoshio Tsuchiya was a staple of Akira Kurosawa's films as well as Japanese SFX movies and he was brilliant in every role. He brought gravitas as the leader of a costumed race of aliens in both The Mysterians and Monster Zero. He also got to play characters struggling with being stranded in different ways on remote islands in both Matango and Son of Godzilla. His portrayal of Shindo in Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah made for one of the most fascinating characters in the entire Godzilla series. I still need to see The Human Vapor.

R.I.P. Yoshio Tsuchiya

I loved how absolutely sarcastic the Controller was in Monster Zero and right now I'm watching G vs KG, my favorite Heisei film. That moment every moment between Shindo and Godzilla is on of the best in the series.