Kodansha's All Godzilla Complete Super-encyclopedia Review!
Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2005 2:51 amOk folks, here is a brief review of Kodansha's book Television Magazine Deluxe 155 - All Godzilla Complete Super-encyclopedia - Definitive edition - Gotta love that title! :rockon:
For those who loved Shogakukan's amazing History of Godzilla 54-99 and the now infamous Pictorial Books of Godzilla Vol. 1 and 2, you will definitely enjoy this book as I did. For those who had misgivings about the lack of pictures in the recently released Godzilla Large Dictionary by Casacra will be more than satisfied with this beautiful picture-laden book. It runs about 122 pages and almost every photograph is in beautiful color and a real treat for the eyes. What I liked in particular about this book is that instead of using the same tired pics and film stills we have seen a thousand times before from countless other books and all over the internet, this book uses, for the most part, pics and stills that are either not commonly found, rarely seen, or alternate angles and different perspectives of more common pictures/stills. Another aspect of this book I liked is that it covers *ALL* of TOHO's kaiju films, not just Godzilla...from some of the older showa Non-Godzilla kaiju films such as Rodan, Mothra, Varan, Atragon, Half Human, Vapor Man, Mysterians, Frankenstein Conquers the World, Gargantuas, King Kong Escapes, Dagora, Matango, Yog, Gorath, and numerous others to the 90s Mothra trilogy. And of course, the book is completely up to date as it covers all the millinium films from G2000 thru GFW, thus making it to date one of the first true *comprehensive* picture books covering G54 all the way thru GFW. Furthermore, it covers almost every film's major mecha and mecha vehicles. Finally, for those of us (such as myself) who are still learning Japanese and going through the very difficult, tedious process of learning kanji, this book thankfully puts hiragana next to most of the kanji.
There were only a few minor quips I had about the book: Although it's up to date for all the G films, it's section covering GFW was a little disappointing and rather short, but that will make experiencing Shogukukan's GFW Delux Treasure book that more enjoyable when I finally get it!
Also, while it generally does cover most of TOHO's non-Godzilla films very well, there were some in which only a few minor pics or stills were shown (Matango, Dagora, Gorath comes to mind) and if you blink before turning the page, you'll miss them. Also, in contrast to Shogakukan's History of Godzilla 54-99, it didn't really go into much detail about some of the different factions/groups/and alien races in the Godzilla films(Xians, Kilaaks, Red Bamboo, Nebula Space Hunter M, Black Hole Apes, Seatopians, Futurians, etc etc etc). Also, there are no behind the scenes photos, so people interested in those type of pics might be let down.
Nevertheless, this is definitely now one of my favorite G picture books and should not be passed up....consider it as sort of an inexpensive alternative or a kid brother to the Pictorial Books of Godzilla and History of Godzilla 54-99 at a very low price for a quality, all color Japanese Godzilla book (got mine for around 20$). It is IMO the best new Godzilla book I have seen thus far of the recent batch of books released post GFW...I consider it a very nice appetizer to hold me over while waiting to Shogakukan's GFW Delux Treasure book to arrive! :drool: :calvin:
For those who loved Shogakukan's amazing History of Godzilla 54-99 and the now infamous Pictorial Books of Godzilla Vol. 1 and 2, you will definitely enjoy this book as I did. For those who had misgivings about the lack of pictures in the recently released Godzilla Large Dictionary by Casacra will be more than satisfied with this beautiful picture-laden book. It runs about 122 pages and almost every photograph is in beautiful color and a real treat for the eyes. What I liked in particular about this book is that instead of using the same tired pics and film stills we have seen a thousand times before from countless other books and all over the internet, this book uses, for the most part, pics and stills that are either not commonly found, rarely seen, or alternate angles and different perspectives of more common pictures/stills. Another aspect of this book I liked is that it covers *ALL* of TOHO's kaiju films, not just Godzilla...from some of the older showa Non-Godzilla kaiju films such as Rodan, Mothra, Varan, Atragon, Half Human, Vapor Man, Mysterians, Frankenstein Conquers the World, Gargantuas, King Kong Escapes, Dagora, Matango, Yog, Gorath, and numerous others to the 90s Mothra trilogy. And of course, the book is completely up to date as it covers all the millinium films from G2000 thru GFW, thus making it to date one of the first true *comprehensive* picture books covering G54 all the way thru GFW. Furthermore, it covers almost every film's major mecha and mecha vehicles. Finally, for those of us (such as myself) who are still learning Japanese and going through the very difficult, tedious process of learning kanji, this book thankfully puts hiragana next to most of the kanji.
There were only a few minor quips I had about the book: Although it's up to date for all the G films, it's section covering GFW was a little disappointing and rather short, but that will make experiencing Shogukukan's GFW Delux Treasure book that more enjoyable when I finally get it!
Also, while it generally does cover most of TOHO's non-Godzilla films very well, there were some in which only a few minor pics or stills were shown (Matango, Dagora, Gorath comes to mind) and if you blink before turning the page, you'll miss them. Also, in contrast to Shogakukan's History of Godzilla 54-99, it didn't really go into much detail about some of the different factions/groups/and alien races in the Godzilla films(Xians, Kilaaks, Red Bamboo, Nebula Space Hunter M, Black Hole Apes, Seatopians, Futurians, etc etc etc). Also, there are no behind the scenes photos, so people interested in those type of pics might be let down.
Nevertheless, this is definitely now one of my favorite G picture books and should not be passed up....consider it as sort of an inexpensive alternative or a kid brother to the Pictorial Books of Godzilla and History of Godzilla 54-99 at a very low price for a quality, all color Japanese Godzilla book (got mine for around 20$). It is IMO the best new Godzilla book I have seen thus far of the recent batch of books released post GFW...I consider it a very nice appetizer to hold me over while waiting to Shogakukan's GFW Delux Treasure book to arrive! :drool: :calvin:
I am starting to get angry...