Monster Zero x SciFi Japan - Archive Only

I get so tired of hearing people referring to this infamous scene between Ayana and Iris as the tentacle sex -or rape- scene. It's just not a proven scenario.

I think its obvious that Iris was doing *something* to Ayana that would alter her body - resulting in her saying "Irys...it's so hot," show it the amulet and allow herself to be enveloped by her "pet." I find it more likely that some sort of pshychic assertion was executed.


You can call me naive if you want, but as a viewer we see Iris wrap its tentacles around Ayana, the camera tilts back and the next time you see her, she's in that embryonic(?) sack with a mess of tentacles plugged into her back.

You can say that I'm over-reacting to what fans on the internet say, but when people who haven't seen the film actually think that there was a scene in which Iris had sex with Ayana, it hurts the film's reputation.

The truth is, that none of us know what Itô or Kaneko meant for that scene. While Nagamine says that Iris may have tried to bond with Ayana's nervous system - she is only guessing. Viewers should that recognize whatever was happening, Irys was growing or transforming from one stage of its development to the next.

So if we (as a collective) refer to that scene as the "rape" scene- even if in jest, its just going to perpetuate the myth. I, for one, would prefer that we (as a collective) put a stop to this derogatory label.

-Kyle
PS - I am a great advocate of the film. It is one of my favorites. I guess that I just fall under that category of fan that doesn't have a difficult time viewing a monster movie from multiple humans' points of view. I will watch this film time and time again. And as I see (over time) the effects dating themselves, I can still say to myself at least that this was the most engaging kaiju film available at the time and still falls in my "top five" favorites ever.

Well, its really, really hard for someone whos seeing it for the first time to take it any other way. Look what happens.

Irys grows up - at this point, its still ok.

Ayana says 'Irys, Im hot' and unbuttons her shirt - Okk....

Irys stares at the Jewel - that bit is ok

Irys wraps her tentacles around Ayana, and Ayana closes her eyes as she is drawn closer - Ok.... Im nervous now

But the real kicker, the big sin, is when Irys tentacles start going nuts. That is the one part that changes it to something that can easily be taken as naughty.

Now let me stress: I UNDERSTAND WHAT WAS REALLY GOING ON

But unless you do some REAL close watching (some people, myself included, don't pay that close attention to the talky parts of the movie) and it is very, VERY easy to see this out of context.

But then its easy to differintiate it later when you see her in the cocoon thing, but the first time you watch the scene, it is quite disturbing, and easily so. Several director changes could have fixed that (maybe changing the music at that point.... and removing the tentacles going wild.... and the 'Im hot' and unbuttoning the shirt.......)

I can understand why the Irys and Ayana thing is taken as sexual. Heck, I think it has a fairly obvious sexual side to it. They are coming together as one creature (the greatest euphemism for humpin' until "Othello" and the "beast with two backs"), merging on every conceivable level. Heck, Irys is even holding and caressing her.
If it were Ayana and, say, Dracula doing the whole "consumption" thing people wouldn't be debating the sexual connotations, they'd just accept it.
I'm not suggesting that there was outright hot and heavy tentacle love going on, but I am saying that I don't think that the presence of sexual symbolism and connotation is really open to question.

hey mouth for war,
are you going to G-fest?





OFFICIAL GOON SQUAD MEMBER

I agree pretty much with what Tiny Gigan said. There is certainly an overtone there, but it's no different than the overtone that exists in, say, any vampire film (including the Legosi version) when a vampire mesmerizes a person just before feeding on them.

Clearly Ayana is being manipulated by Irys (the glowing pendant is enough to show that something is going on) and it would be fair to say that by that point she's already been seduced (using a non-sexual meaning of the word) by Irys.

It's the people who can't get past that who are really off the mark. Maybe they've seen too many "tentacle sex" scenes themselves and just can't ignore even minor associations without thinking of grotesque porn. Or maybe they're just, for whatever reason, determined to see something sexual going on there.

As long as someone's emotional maturity has passed beyond puberty it shouldn't be at all difficult to recognize that while the scene suggests a kind of sensuality or even (maybe) sexuality, that's really not in fact what's going on. Instead, the girl is being manipulated by the creature. She's already been mentally subverted to Irys's agenda, and now is being physically taken over by the creature.

It also interesting to compare/contrast the Irys/Ayana relationship with Gamera and Asagi's connection in the 2 previous films.