A Look Back at Asian SciFi Throughout the Year
Author: Aaron Cooper
Special Thanks: The entire staff of SciFi Japan

2007 was an interesting year in the landscape of Japanese science fiction and fantasy films. With Godzilla appearing only in a cameo and no Gamera films to be seen, Korean studios stepped up to the plate with their own brand of monster madness. Tokusatsu television programming was as strong as ever, the DVD market boomed, studios saw major changes, and yet another year with the unfortunate passing of far too many industry greats. The staff of SciFi Japan took another moment to ponder over the events of the past year, and attempted to come up with the most defining moments of the year. You may agree or disagree but regardless, 2007 held moments for everyone in all demographics of fandom.

10. Atari ‘unleashes’ GODZILLA UNLEASHED across multiple gaming platforms. Getting the video game fans into giant monsters is always a good thing!

9. Chronicle Books publishes EIJI TSUBURAYA: MASTER OF MONSTERS by August Ragone, the first definitive book in English about the man behind Toho special effects films of the Golden Age and the father of Ultraman.

8. Godzilla goes CGI! After a three-year vacation, Godzilla returned to the big-screen with a crowd-pleasing sequence in ALWAYS – SUNSET ON THIRD STREET 2, the sequel to the Japanese Academy Award-winning 2005 blockbuster. For the first time ever in a Japanese feature film, Godzilla was created completely via computer animation rather than the traditional suitmation techniques. Could this be a precursor of things to come?

7. The DVD archives opened up with a treasure trove of classics. We got THE BURMESE HARP from Criterion, YONGARY from MGM, with LATITUDE ZERO and FRANKENSTEIN CONQUERS THE WORLD emerging from Media Blasters. BCI gave us IRON KING and JNP unveiled KIKAIDA 01 and KAMEN RIDER V3. Other notable releases included LEGEND OF DINOSAURS AND MONSTER BIRDS, MASKED RIDER THE FIRST, SAYONARA JUPITER, and SHINOBI. Take out that second mortgage on the house, get to shopping and just imagine what 2008 releases will be like. RED BARON and SILVER KAMEN already loom on the horizon!

6. Toei Productions continued its fine tradition of releasing more Kamen Rider! Movie-goers got the MASKED RIDER THE NEXT theatrical release and those opting to stay home got MASKED RIDER DEN-O on the airwaves, though they probably ventured out to see MASKED RIDER DEN-O: I AM BORN on the big screen too!

5. Another anniversary year means more Japanese heroes for us! Tsuburaya Productions celebrated 40 years of Ultraseven with the release of the thirteen-episode teleseries, ULTRASEVEN X. This was followed by another series, ULTRA GALAXY: GIANT MONSTER BATTLE, based on the video game of the same name. Classic Ultra monsters square off against one another in each episode.

4. Not enough Japanese giant monsters in your life? No worries, Korean studio Younggu Art Entertainment took up the slack with their blockbuster hit D-WAR (released as DRAGON WARS here in the States). Giant dragons destroy Los Angeles. What’s not to like?

3. Apparently, Korea was discerning the kaiju void in our lives in 2007. Another Korean studio, Chungeorahm Film releases their smash hit THE HOST in the U.S. with THE HOST 2 already in development!

2. Riding high on the release of their outstanding DVD release of GOJIRA, Classic Media released superior editions of GODZILLA RAIDS AGAIN, MOTHRA VS. GODZILLA, GHIDORAH – THE THREE HEADED MONSTER, and INVASION OF ASTRO-MONSTER, with a boxed set also containing ALL MONSTERS ATTACK and TERROR OF MECHAGODZILLA. Featuring great prints, brilliant extras and both English and Japanese versions, these DVDs are not to be missed!

Last but definitely not least:

1. The machine that is Tsuburaya Productions: After celebrating 40 years of Ultraman last year, 40 years of Ultraseven this year, Tsuburaya Productions wins over a major court battle against Chaiyo over international rights and then subsequently gets bought into the TYO media group. It will be interesting to see what possibilities this holds for future projects! Already there have been three Ultra-themed shows and a new ULTRAMAN film has started production!

As always, you can count on SciFi Japan to cover the best (and worst) of what 2008 has in store for us!

IN MEMORIUM: Unfortunately, 2007 saw the passing of far too many assets in this field we’ve all come to love and respect. It seems more apparent as the years continue. We take a moment to remember those who contributed to the genre:

• Jerry Ito – star of MOTHRA, THE MANSTER, and THE LAST WAR as well as established singer and entertainer.
• Shinsuke Achiha – star of ULTRASEVEN
• Hitoshi Ueki – beloved Toho Studios’ comedian, co-leader of the Crazy Cats comedy troupe.
• Eiji Funakoshi – star of GAMERA and GAMERA vs. GUIRON
• Kyoji Kobayashi – radio and voice actor, narrator of SPECTREMAN.
• Fuyuki Murakami – over 55 years in the business including roles in GOJIRA, THE MYSTERIANS, VARAN, BATTLE IN OUTER SPACE and many more.
• Toki Shiozawa – Golden Age actress that appeared in HUMAN VAPOR, MONSTER ZERO and a re-occurring role in RAINBOWMAN
• Shinji Nakae – voice actor best remembered as the narrator of the Kamen Rider shows
• John Rocco Roberto – founder of Kaiju Con, and the Kaiju Fan magazine and website. Co-founder of G-Con.

These great people will be missed. At least we can continue to appreciate all the contributions they have made.