Monster Zero x SciFi Japan - Archive Only

I just wanted to share my opinions on these books that I've been lucky enough to find...

I have those Illustrated Guides... those kick ass.

What is the one with Guilala on the cover?

Sorry guys, I had started this thread as a test and thought I had deleted it but I guess not...so I might as well finish what I started. I'll start with the top left and one note...since I can't read Japanese, I may get the titles of some wrong, so please forgive my ignorance.
The first book on the top left is Yuji Sakai's "Godzilla Dream". This book is a collection of original sculptures by Yuji Sakai, most of which were available as model kits. This book contains some really beautiful pictures of Sakai's many works including many shots of him at work on various Kaiju. Of particular interest is the section where you get to see the complete building process of a 3 foot tall King-Goji done specificly for this book.
I would say that this book is a must for model fans and because of the detail of the sculpts, I think even non-model fans should give this a look. A very nice book which also comes with an exclusive mini-figure of the Godzilla 2000 maquette.
Just below this book is one I'm not sure of the title, but it seems to be "Godzilla, 1954-2002".
This isn't a bad book, and if I could read Japanese, it would proabaly be even better as this is a rather text-heavy book with mostly black and white smaller size photos. The one bonus of this book is that the last page is a collection of stickers of all the Godzilla suits through GXMG. Definately not for someone looking for a good photo book, at least in my opinion.
The next 2 books are Hobby Japan's "Pictorial Book of Godzilla", volumes one and two. I've heard a lot of people rave about these books and I have to agree. These books are a wealth of pictures with volume one containing every conceivable(and a few that aren't)shot of all the Godzilla suits through Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla and volume 2 covering virtually all of Toho's other Kaiju up to Destroyah, including Burning Godzilla(seeing as G vs. D hadn't been released when the first book was issued). Both books have a color section in front followed by all black and white pics. In fact, this is the closest thing that I have to a complaint with these books...more color photos would have been really nice... but even this minor complaint detracts nothing from the fact that if your interested in getting really good reference books on Godzilla and co., these are definately worth searching out, simply wonderful...
The next book is without a doubt the crown jewel of my library. "The Toho All Special Effect Movie Encyclopedia". This book covers, rather extensively, every Toho SPFX movie up to Godzilla 84. This includes not only Kaiju, but also Toho's war films(which look really great! If only I could find some...), general sci-fi, fantasy, and horror films. This is a really big, thick, book with a wealth of behind the scenes photos. this book also has a couple of really nice fold outs of artwork representing each genre of Toho's effects movies. There are also a couple of blueprints in the back of the Atragon sub and of the masers from Mothra, among others. This book also includes a nice pamphlet on Godzilla 84, and a fold out of the cybot Godzilla, showing the various controls and hydraulics.
If you should run across this book, be prepared to pay a decent sum, but don't worry, it's worth every penny! Simply amazing...
Below this book is the re-issue of "The Films of Eiji Tsuburaya". This book is kind of similiar to the one Godzilla book listed above...probably best enjoyed if you can read Japanese. Not a lot of pictures, but what there are are rather interesting. Many shots of Tsuburaya from his youth and a couple of nice behind the scenes shots. A nice book to have, but not one of my favorites. Now, if I could read it, I'm pretty sure that opinion would change.
On top of the last row on the right is the "Toho SFX Mechanic Chronicles".
This book covers all of the various Mecha from Toho's sci-fi movies, although Mechani-Kong is strangely absent. They have the submarine and landing craft, but no Kong. Maybe it was a right's issue...Anyway, like almost all of the other books, this one has a nice little color section at the front of the book followed by all black and white pictures. A very nice book worth having.
And lastly is not a book but a magazine,"Kodansha Official File Magazine-vol.3". This magazine is actually pretty thin at only 30 pages, but there sure is a lot crammed into them. Definately the best reference I've found for "The X From Outer Space", this magazine has pre-production drawings for Guilala, a cut-away drawing showing his internals, and what looks to be some really good info on the movie itself, but because of my "linguistic" barrier, I'll proabaly never know(In the Godzilla-Collectibles section I have a couple of pictures from this magazine posted under the "Are There Any Kitbuilders Out There" thread). There are also articles on Gappa, Godzilla and other Toho Kaiju, and the Gerry Anderson show,"UFO". Plus there is an original ad pictured near the back for some early Marusan toys and model kits. This mag really makes use of those 30 pages! This is another one that, if you see it, buy it, you won't be dissappointed.
Well, those are my personal thoughts on these books, if anyone would like further info on any of these, please, ask away!