16 Years Since "Gamera The Brave"

Above, the Yurakucho Mullion Building. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

When the news came out overnight that the daikaiju Gamera is returning in Gamera; Rebirth, courtesy of Kadokawa Pictures and Netflix, it reminded me that it has been 16 years since the last Gamera movie was produced.

I planned a trip to Japan in April 2006 and it just so happened that the premiere of Gamera The Brave (a.k.a. Gamera: The Little Braves) would have its premiere at the same time. The premiere was held at the Marunouchi Piccadilly theaters in Tokyo in the Yurakucho Mullion Building. (The Yurakucho Mullion Building was trashed by Godzilla in Return of Godzilla (1984), by the way.)

Above, yours truly at the souvenir table at the Gamera The
 Brave premiere in Tokyo from a Kadokawa DVD video.

That was the Japan trip in which I visited Sendai and Matsushima to see where my dad was briefly stationed before being sent to Korea. 

At the premiere, the stars and director appeared onstage and addressed the audience that included yours truly, following my excursion to Sendai and Matsushima.

Above, Gamera The Brave tickets.

Even though I don't speak Japanese and Gamera The Brave wasn't subtitled, I still enjoyed it. At the time, it was hoped that Gamera The Brave would usher in a new series of Gamera movies, but that didn't happen. 

The following summer, Gamera The Brave was premiered at the Pickwick Theater in Park Ridge, Illinois as part of G-FEST XIII. 

Gamera Is Back and Netflix Got HIm!

It was announced today that the giant fire-breathing turtle Gamera is back!

There hasn't been a Gamera movie produced by Kadokawa since 2006's Gamera The Brave. I was in Japan at the time and attended the premiere.

According to Bloody Disgusting:

Officially announced by Netflix Japan tonight on social media, the kaiju known as Gamera is coming back to life with Gamera: Rebirth, a “new work” that’s coming soon to Netflix!

The project’s official Twitter bio states, “From the Showa era to the Heisei era, the production of the new work “GAMERA -Rebirth” of the giant monster Gamera that has been loved by monster fans all over the world has been decided! Global distribution on Netflix!”

Director Mr. Shusuke Kaneko said in a statement, “When I came up with my own idea for Reiwa Gamera and made a proposal, KADOKAWA has already started a new project, and it’s content that makes me think that’s what happened, so I can expect this too. With that in mind, I would like to support the team from the position of a baseball commentator who has experience as a manager of the Gamera team until they win the championship and pitch again.”

It is not surprising that Kadokawa is getting back into the kaiju game after 16 years with the recent successes of Godzilla in Japan (Shin Godzilla) and in America (Legendary Pictures/Warner Bros. Monsterverse). 

Regardless, it will be nice to have the old fellow back!

To read more, go here.

Here's the teaser trailer:

About Tokyo's Street Names and Address System

Above, a Roppongi intersection. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

It took me about three trips to Tokyo before I got some sort of semblance of being able to figure out the city's street system. Finding an address is another story.

Back in 2006, I had to find the office of Kadokawa Pictures. I was in the general area but was unable to find the place. Fortunately, the New Otani Hotel in Chiyoda (which was used as Osata Chemicals headquarters in You Only Live Twice) was in the area and I checked with their concierge desk and they gave me a detailed map. I just handed it to a taxi driver he got me there within minutes.

Still, it is not unusual to get "mighty bewildered" when trying to find an address. What I found helpful (besides a hotel) was to ask a local, go to a police koban or, if lucky, go to a visitor information office.

Time Out Tokyo has an article explaining Tokyo's street system.

It begins with:

Were U2 singing about Tokyo all along? In this city, only a handful of the main thoroughfares and shopping streets have honorary street names, such as Meiji-dori and Takeshita-dori. Other than that, rather than having street names, we’ve given names to areas and assigned numbers to the districts or sections within them, which are then counted as ‘chome’. For example, Aoyama It-chome is thus Aoyama (District) 1. 

So when you’re looking at a map, you first need to find the area and then you can go searching within it. Theoretically it’s a lot faster than trying to figure out at what end of that long street number 98 is.

To read more, go here. 

It's Been A While

Above, my tickets to the 2006 Tokyo premiere.

Earlier this afternoon, I was rummaging around my collection of music CDs and came across one by singer Mink (stands for Made In Korea) that was part of the soundtrack for 2006's Gamera The Brave.

That was the last Gamera movie made by Kadokawa Pictures (the successor to Daiei). I attended its premiere at the Yurakucho Mullion in Tokyo on April 29, 2006 and wound up in the Japanese DVD in footage from the premiere in the extras. I am seen at the doorway to the theater and later at the souvenir stand (I got my mom a small Gamera plush key ring that now hangs on the rear-view mirror of my RV). It was an enjoyable event as was the movie, even though I don't understand Japanese and there were no subtitles.

Above, Gamera souvenirs for sale at the premiere. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

After playing the CD, I decided to pop in the DVD of Gamera The Brave and watched it over dinner, since I haven't watched it in years (I have no idea of when).

It is an enjoyable monster movie with beautiful cinematography and acting. It is a stand-alone film and not a sequel to the Gamera trilogy directed by Shusuke Kaneko of the 1990s. It is really too bad that Kadokawa didn't press on with any sequels to Gamera The Brave. Apparently, the box-office take wasn't sufficient enough to warrant making any more.

Above, at the 2006 Tokyo premiere, from the Japanese DVD.

Anyway, it was enjoyable to watch Gamera The Brave after so many years. It is hard to believe that twelve years have passed since the premiere.

New Gamera Trailers

Above, a scene from Gamera The Brave (2006). Kadokawa Pictures photo.

It has been a bit over nine years since Kadokawa Pictures released Gamera The Brave (2006) (a.k.a. Gamera, The Little Braves) in Japan. I attended its premiere in Tokyo in April 2006. Since then, there's been rumors that the giant turtle/tortoise monster will be returning to the big screens, but nothing came of those rumors.

Until now.

Kadokawa has presented trailers for their latest Gamera movie at the New York Comic Con (Godzilla suit-actors Haruo Nakajima, Kenpachiro Satsuma and Tsutomu Kitagawa are attending) and they were posted yesterday at YouTube. I looked at several trailer postings and have not detected any release date.

Here's the short and long versions:




Like Gamera The Brave, this movie (I am guessing that its title is just Gamera) begins with a Gyaos attack. It does not appear to be a sequel to either 1999's Gamera 3 or Gamera The Brave. It appears to be a stand-alone or the start of a new series of movies (provided this one's a money-maker). Kadokawa is celebrating Gamera's 50th anniversary with this release.

It appears Gamera got his voice back in this one!

Gamera To Return For 50th Anniversary?

Above, yours truly (right, background) at the souvenir stand at the 2006 premiere of Gamera The Brave. Image from the Region 2 DVD.

Ken Hulsey over at Monster Island News reported that Kadokawa Pictures is in the early stages of producing a 50th anniversary Gamera movie.

According to Hulsey's article:

The plans for this new film were revealed recently when the Japanese retailer Amiami listed an advertisement for the upcoming Summer issue of Newtype magazine that has the exclusive scoop on the details. The issue will reportedly contain storyboard images and other pre-production art. Until now a 50th anniversary Gamera film had been speculated but not confirmed.

It would be nice to see a new Gamera movie come out. The last one was in 2006, Gamera The Brave, that fans generally liked, but failed to generate great box office receipts. I attended the April 2006 premiere of Gamera The Brave in Tokyo, which did have a packed theater audience.

Above, the souvenir and actual ticket to the Gamera The Brave premiere.

Will the movie be a continuation of Gamera The Brave, or will it be the beginning of a whole new series (provided it does well in ticket sales) or a stand-alone movie?

To read Ken Hulsey's article, go here.

"Gamera The Brave" Blu-ray Coming

Above, yours truly perusing the souvenir table at the 2006 "Gamera The Brave" Tokyo premiere from the Region 2 DVD.

Media Blasters announced on their Facebook page that they will be putting out a Blu-ray edition of the 2006 feature, Gamera The Brave.

I already have the Kadokawa Japanese Region 2 and the Media Blasters U.S. DVDs, so unless Media Blasters includes extras that their DVD doesn't include, I may pass.

If Media Blasters includes the April 2006 Tokyo premiere, I'll definitely get it.

Honda Estate vs. Toho Ramifications?

Above, yours truly with the Godzilla statue at Toho Studios.

The story of the alleged copyright lawsuit against Toho by the heirs of Ishiro Honda over the Godzilla character may have some big ramifications if 1.) the story is true or, 2.), they actually win.

The story does not sound Japanese to me. Maybe in America, perhaps (i.e., Bela Lugosi Jr.'s legal actions over his father's image and The Three Stooges).

If the story is true and Honda's heirs prevail and win the Godzilla copyright from Toho, could we see Noriaki Yuasa's estate taking similar action against Kadokawa Pictures (the successor company to Daiei) over the Showa Gamera and Shusuke Kaneko over the Heisei Gamera? Who knows what (or who) may come out of the woodwork?

It will be interesting to see how this plays out, if true.

5 Years Since "Gamera The Brave"

Above, the Tokyo premiere of "Gamera The Brave." I am in the center waiting to get into the theater. This is a screen capture from the Region 2 DVD.

Following the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake, my concern and concentration was on Matsushima Bay and Sendai, which were hit hard by the quake and tsunami.

Despite my focus on Sendai and Matsushima, it dawned on me recently that it was five years ago last month that I visited both Sendai and Matsushima Bay in Tohoku. The visit was a highlight of that trip.

Above, at the premiere of "Gamera The Brave," I am at the souvenir table in this screen capture from the Region 2 DVD.

The other highlight of that April 2006 trip to Japan was attending the premiere of Gamera The Brave at the Piccadilly Theaters in the Yurakucho Mullion Building in Tokyo. The Japanese Region 2 DVD has a separate disc containing extras, including the Tokyo premiere. I am in a couple of shots in the premiere footage.

Gamera The Brave was an enjoyable little movie and greatly underrated. It brought Gamera back to his "friend of the children" roots and it was tailored to younger audiences. But it was scripted in such a way that it wouldn't make adult viewers cringe in their seats. It also had good special effects (on a par with Godzilla x Mothra x Mechagodzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. (2003)). The kid actors did a good job.

The premiere was packed to capacity. Unfortunately, the movie failed to wow them at the box office during its run. Had it been even a modest hit, Kadokawa Pictures would have been able to make sequels. The movie deserved better.

Tokyo Shock released the DVD in the U.S. It is probably now out-of-print. But if one should find a copy, I recommend watching the Japanese language version with English subtitles. The dubbed version is atrocious. At least the viewer is given a choice.

Sure has been a fast five years!

Yoshimitsu Banno Is Seeking Investors

Above, Yoshimitsu Banno when he announced his Godzilla 3-D project in 2004. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Godzilla vs. Hedorah director Yoshimitsu Banno is seeking investors for a proposed Gamera 3-D movie that is scheduled to be produced next year with the cooperation of Kadokawa Pictures.

Banno is seeking individual investors who would invest 15 million yen to the project.

To clarify, here's what 15 million yen is in today's dollar/yen exchange rate:

15,000,000.00 JPY = 184,430.41 USD

Source: Universal Currency Converter.

This means that an American investor would have to come up with $184,430.41 (simple, eh?).

Currently, Banno is executive producer of Godzilla 3-D that is being produced by Legendary Pictures and Warner Brothers. It is slated to be released in 2012.

For further details, go here.

The Case of the Missing DVD

The Case of the Missing DVD

by Armand Vaquer

An alert fan discovered today that the Retromedia DVD, Destroy All Planets 2010 has "mysteriously vanished" from Amazon.com's website.

No doubt this may be due to the issues Ryan Clark and other fans raised pertaining to the rights issue at Amazon.com and several kaiju-oriented message boards.

This is probably a cautionary move on Amazon.com's part until the rights issues are resolved.

UPDATE: The DVD is still being offered at Amazon.com.

FOR THE RECORD: Kaiju historian August Ragone commented on several message boards about the rights issues. I had quoted him as he has the most knowledge on Japanese movie companies, DVD & screening rights and many other facets. As his comments are on several public message boards, I took the liberty in quoting him. Unfortunately, I should have given him a "head's up" first. It was not my intention to box him into the fray which may give someone the impression that this was an "August vs. Retromedia" situation. It wasn't. He also expressed that he'd like to also hear what Carl Craig has to say in his commentary. He was only speaking as a fan and not in any official (or otherwise) capacity with his role in Shout! Factory's Gamera releases. I apologize if that is the impression given.

"Destroy All Planets" DVD Controversy - Part II

Avery Guerra, who has been a reliable source for news and behind-the-scenes info on many movie productions, posted this message from Fred Olen Ray at the Monster Zero message board about the Destroy All Planets 2010 DVD controversy:

"I have never been contacted by anyone associated with these films in the ten years we have distributed them except about five years ago when I emailed Daiei to ask about buying rights to the wide screen versions and they told me they didn't own the US rights. Toei likewise denied knowing anything about THE MAGIC SERPENT which we also tried to buy the wide screen rights for at the AFM three years ago.

Otherwise as far as we know there are no rights issues "a'brewing".

The biggest point that everyone is missing is that I only put this out because I was led to believe that the fans wanted it. I had no intention, or desire, to do this, all my usual distribution outlets had turned it down... but I was encouraged by fans to invest in doing the commentary, which we did, but then thought better of putting the show out as it would have to compete with a plethora of other editions.

Continual and repeated emails from fans made me want to offer it to them, but I didn't believe there was enough people really wanting it to do a big run so I went the Amazon.com route so copies would only be created for those who really wanted it... why can't anybody see that I only tried to give them what they kept asking me for? I could give a OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE otherwise... this could have stayed on the shelf for the rest of my life and I wouldn't care. I'm not going to make any real money off the Amazon release, it was done strictly for the fans who asked me for this. It might move a grand total of 25 copies, who knows? Get a life guys, I have bigger and better things to do. The DVD company is my hobby, not my business, I do it for the fans... but probably should have known better.

On different points "Ryan" posted his slander in Amazon's "Customer Review", a section created so that people who have actually bought products on Amazon can view them, then create a review of them. It's not your private flame forum, dude. If this basement dweller doesn't understand the concept of "customer review" then maybe someone should cut him off from a word processor.

Secondly, Copyright registrations begin with the letters PA, not V... don't you kids ever do your homework? The copyright registration the other ignorant guy puts forth is also BS... that's a transfer letter and has nothing to do with registration. Period. He hasn't a clue about copyright laws.

The item you mention is probably a transfer for banking purposes, I don't even need to look at it to know it's not a registration of copyright. Please write 100 times "I will know what I'm talking about before embarrassing myself on-line again".

Third, I'm legally not able to disclose the details of the settlement we made regarding this film and its legal action. However, drop your own dime and search the LA Court records... it's there as far as I know...

After all is said and done DESTROY is already out on 30 different labels and has NEVER been out of print on Retro in almost 10 years... I'd say the horse is out of the barn on this one."

FRED

In response to Ray's comments, August Ragone (who is involved in Shout! Factory's Gamera releases) posted this reply also at Monster Zero:

Avery,

Thanks for posting this. I just want to sort out the facts, and Mr. Ray isn't helping.

Everyone Else,

Since DESTROY ALL PLANETS is not PD, did Mr. Ray get the rights from Kadokawa? The issue is, that he has tried to copyright this as "DESTROY ALL MONSTERS 2010: Special Edition", much like a certain Wade Williams tried to copyright PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE. But, unlike PLAN 9, all the Gamera films reverted back to Daiei (owned by Kadokawa).

Something Weird Video were ordered to C&D once the rights to the Mexican Horror films that they planned to release (including the US dubs by K. Gordon Murray) reverted back to the original owners in Mexico via the NAFTA agreement. Another company, Casa Negra, secured the rights and released the original Mexican versions with Subtitles and the English dub option. How is this different?

Now, I'm not posting to bash this release. I'm passing along information and asking questions regarding the relative legality of this release—it doesn't matter that MGM doesn't own the rights anymore to DESTROY ALL PLANETS. The fact of the matter is that they are now in the hands of Kadokawa, despite claims to the contrary. I don't understand how Kadokawa can own this film and how its in the public domain?

"Settlement"? What settlement? So, he has paid someone for the rights to this? MGM has some original elements, but they know that they don't own the rights and that they reverted back to Kadokawa. Also, Mr. Ray's unwillingness to post the proof of licensing or ownership, in his own defense, is also suspect. "Check on your own dime"? Right.

BTW, the interesting thing about Mr. Ray's comment about trying to get the rights to THE MAGIC SERPENT from Toei... I contacted their LA office on the behalf of a friend of mine, a couple of years ago, and they said it was available. Perhaps Ray isn't asking the right people. At the time, Toei wanted about $20k for the North American Home Video license for this film (for five years), and I rather doubt that Retromedia would want to shell that kind of dough out.

I wonder if Ray tried to contact Kadokawa Pictures through their Los Angeles office when he began this project. It would have only taken a simple phone call at the very least. (I even have their number programed into my cell phone.)

He said he sent emails to Daiei five years ago (was he aware that Kadokawa took them over around about that time or earlier and released Gamera The Brave in April 2006?). We all know that emails get lost, deleted (people thinking they're spam and other reasons) and it appears he might've emailed the wrong person. A traditional business letter would have been more appropriate in this instance (but that's just my opinion), sent via registered or certified mail if need be.

For the record, I happen to like Ray's output and have posted articles about his movies my blog and at Monster Island News, so I have nothing against him. In the blog posts on this DVD, I tried to be even-handed (by posting both sides of the matter) and just stuck to the facts as we know them. He can get permission to release the documents giving him the DVD rights from the parties involved. Doing so could possibly put to rest this matter.

It appears something fell though the cracks involving this particular DVD.

"Destroy All Planets" Rights Battle Brewing

A new controversy is brewing over whether or not a Gamera DVD being issued by Retromedia is legitimate or not. Cries of "bootleg" are being posted at the Monster Zero message board. Is it?

The movie in question is Retromedia's DVD of Destroy All Planets 2010 which features a commentary by one of the movie's stars, Carl Craig.

At issue is whether Retromedia has the rights to issue the U.S. version of this movie. Shout! Factory is slated to release the same movie (the subtitled Japanese version) in a few months and this is seen by some as a bit of one-upsmanship by Retromedia.

The movie was originally released in 1968 by Daiei, which was bought out by Kadokawa Pictures.

According to August Ragone, noted kaiju film historian and who is involved in the Shout! Factory's Gamera DVDs, posted at the Monster Zero Message Board:

Meanwhile, doing a copyright registration check at the Library of Congress website, shows that Destroy All Planets was re-registered by Orion Pictures (who owned the AIP catalogue at the time). Orion was bought out by MGM, which still has all of the original materials in their vaults. But, a friend at MGM tells me that the rights reverted back to the Japanese owners (vis-a-vis Kadokawa through their ownership of Daiei).

And he adds, "This [the Retromedia DVD] was released under the assumption that it is Public Domain. Kadokawa claims that all the rights to any version of the GAMERA films have reverted back to them."

Fred Olen Ray, who is the owner of Retromedia, said this in a response to Ryan Clark's review post at Amazon.com:

Since this program only became available yesterday it's physically impossible for "Ryan" to have seen it or even have received a copy of the DVD. Your "review" is a lie and obviously fueled by a personal agenda. Retromedia was the first company to ever present the AIP-TV Gamera films to the public on DVD and quickly became the source of material for all the cheap DVD labels that flooded the market afterwards. Retromedia also successfully initiated and won a copyright case based on their release of DESTROY ALL PLANETS, so your claim of illegality is BS as well. This DVD doesn't pretend to be anything it isn't. It's simply the best edition of the AIP-TV version of the film ever released on DVD and it has an actors commentary track with star Carl Craig. That's all it advertises as being and that's what it is. Next time try watching the film first before rendering your "opinion", and if you happen to work for a rival DVD company, I'd have to say I'm disappointed... these kind of smear tactics are nothing less than juvenile.

[Note: Ryan Clark never claimed to have viewed the DVD nor received a copy of it.]

In a comment post at the Classic Horror Film Board, Ragone took note of Ray's assertion of rights with:

Fred Olen Ray (who is Retromedia) has retorted to Ryan's comments on the Amazon page (Ryan is just a fan, and not an employee of Shout!), where Ray asserts that "Retromedia also successfully initiated and won a copyright case based on their release of DESTROY ALL PLANETS, so your claim of illegality is BS as well." I'd like to see the paperwork on that, because the rights to the AIP Gameras reverted back to them [i.e., Kadokawa Pictures. - Armand] once their contract with AIP expired. Now, I'm not accusing anyone of any wrong doing, but I'm curious to sort out the truth here (and not through second and third-hand parties).

If all U.S. rights to this film reverted back to Kadokawa (by virtue of buying Daiei), then Retromedia would be in hot water. However, if Fred Olen Ray is correct in claiming that he has the U.S. rights over the U.S. version (and can provide the paperwork to back that up), then he should be able to continue to offer the movie. At this point, no back-up material has been provided by Ray (he's welcome to send it me me and I'll be happy to post it).

As to the claim that Destroy All Planets (the AIP U.S. version) is in the Public Domain, Ragone posted this at Monster Zero:

Dubious Comforts* on the Classic Horror Film Board wrote: ...there exists a copyright registration to Destroy All Planets which precedes Retromedia's and Alpha's 2003 claims ("new soundtrack material" and "DVD box cover" respectively) by more than 10 years. Just look up document V2840P133 on the Library of Congress web site. The catalog only includes registrations from 1978 and onward, so there may be additional records prior to 1978.

[*"Dubious Comforts" is the handle of a member of the Classic Horror Film Board forum. - A.]

He continues in a subsequent post:

Copyright records, as well as a proper notice on the film's title sequence, show that the work is not public domain. The Library of Congress has guidelines pertaining to duration: http://www.bitlaw.com/copyright/duration.html

To see the CHFB thread for the above quotes, go here.

As August Ragone posted several times on this topic, "the plot thickens."

It will be interesting to see how this one plays out. The courts may have to be the ultimate decider in this matter.

Gamera DVD Set Coming May 18!

Kaiju fandom is abuzz over the news that Shout! Factory is going to release a Gamera DVD May 18th.

Shout! Factory's news release is as follows:

From Japan – the country that brought us such mythical movie monsters as Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra and King Ghidorah – storms Gamera, the titanic terrapin feared by adults and loved by children. On May 18, 2010, Shout! Factory will unleash Gamera, The Giant Monster – Special Edition on DVD for the first time in its unedited original version, with English subtitles — in anamorphic widescreen from an all-new HD master. The DVD includes a 12-page booklet with an essay by director Noriaki Yuasa, a photo gallery, trailers and more. The collectible Gamera, The Giant Monster Special Edition DVD is priced to own at $19.93.

Like all classic monster movies, it is the folly of man that unleashes a ginormous beast upon the world. This time it is literal fallout from the Cold War — a Soviet bomber is shot down over U.S. airspace in the Arctic Ocean, with the massive radiation from the resultant atomic explosion awakening the ancient, gargantuan Gamera. A long-forgotten legend of the lost continent of Atlantis, the 200-foot-long, fire-eating turtle isn't in a good mood, and proving impervious to all manmade weapons, the colossal chelonian smashes a cataclysmic swath across the globe. But when he arrives in Tokyo, a small boy forms an odd connection with him, allowing authorities to unleash “Plan Z.”

The classic Gamera was directed Noriaki Yuasa, who helmed all seven of the original Gamera entries in the Showa era series between 1965 and 1971, and stars Eiji Funakoshi (Fires On The Plain), Harumi Kiritachi, Junichiro Yamashiko and Jutaro Hojo (Wrath of Daimajin). The subsequent franchise was more kid-friendly (yet ironically bloodier) than Godzilla, who became less menacing and more cuddly himself during the Sixties. The Gamera series was creative in the monstrous nemeses that it pitted against the towering turtle, the most famous being the flying, pointy-headed Gyaos, who was resurrected for the successful trio of movies in the Heisei-era series between 1995 and 1999.

Created by the same company who brought Zatoichi to the screen, Daiei Studios’ titanic terrapin is the only true rival to Toho’s King Of The Monsters, able to hold his own at the box office and secure a place in the hearts of kaiju eiga (Japanese monster movie) fans around the world. The original films have woefully been underrepresented on DVD, a especially release featuring the authentic Japanese versions.

About Shout! Factory

Shout! Factory is a diversified entertainment company devoted to producing, uncovering and revitalizing the very best of pop culture. Founders Richard Foos, Bob Emmer and Garson Foos have spent their careers sharing their music, television and film faves with discerning consumers the world over. Shout! Factory’s DVD offerings serve up classic, contemporary and cult TV series, riveting sports programs, live music, animation and documentaries in lavish packages crammed with extras. The company’s audio catalogue boasts GRAMMY®-nominated boxed sets, new releases from storied artists, lovingly assembled album reissues and indispensable “best of” compilations. These riches are the result of a creative acquisitions mandate that has established the company as a hotbed of cultural preservation and commercial reinvention. With its fingers on the pulse of pop culture, Shout! Factory continues to impact the entertainment media landscape through acquisition of top quality programming for home entertainment releases. Shout! Factory is based in Santa Monica, California. For more on Shout! Factory, visit shoutfactory.com

Above, Gamera director Noriaki Yuasa (1933-2004) (left) at G-FEST in 2003. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

August Ragone, author of Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters, is the Special Features Producer for Shout! Factory's Gamera series.

Showa Gamera Movies Licensed By Shout Factory

Shout Factory is on the lookout for a 35mm scope print of the U.S. version of Daiei's 1965 feature Daikaiju Gamera, released here as Gammera The Invincible.

Shout Factory has licensed this film along with the 7 other early Showa Gamera films from Kadokawa Pictures, who now owns the Gamera character. Unfortunately, Kadokawa does not own a copy of the U.S. version.

Shout Factory plans to release these movies in HD transfer along with new subtitles and many extras.

The last Gamera movie was Gamera The Brave, released in 2006 by Kadokawa Pictures.

"Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris" Saturday On UTB

The Los Angeles-area UTB television Japanese network will be showing Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris this coming Saturday afternoon.

From the station's website:

June 27th（SAT） 3pm - 5pm

GAMERA 3 Revenge of Iris

I’ll never forgive Gamera. The end of the century. The supermutant Gyaos appear all over the world and finally emerge in Shibuya. Gamera chases Gyaos to Tokyo. Shibuya is destroyed by the battle of the two monsters. Meanwhile, a young girl named Ayana, whose parents were killed in the monsters’ battle four years ago, begins to raise a mysterious creature she calls Iris in hopes that it will kill Gamera.

Daiei's (now Kadokawa Pictures) Gamera 3 is considered by many Japanese science-fiction/kaiju fans as the high point in Japanese special effects. It was shown at G-FEST '99 in Hollywood to a packed house at the Egyptian Theater. It was directed by Shusuke Kaneko, with special effects directed by Shinji Higuchi.

Speaking of April Fool's

Speaking of April Fool's, this was posted at a Godzilla-oriented message group:

Late on Thursday March 26th Toho filed an injunction against charity event in Kobe scheduled for April 4th, some 16 hours later Diae filed it's own injunction against the same event. These legal actions stem from a perceived infringement on both film companies franchises. The event was organized to raise funds to modernize facilities at a local Zoo and was scheduled feature the bands Shonen Knife and the 1 2 3 4 5s as well a some comedians and personal appearances by
actresses Megumi Odaka (who played Miki Saegusa in the Heisei Godzilla series) and Ayako Fujitani ( who played Asagi Kusanagi in the Heisei Gamera series)

In the brief press statement Toho said that while they had no problem with former stars making personal appearances it was the nature of this appearance that they found unacceptable, Diae had yet to make a comment on the matter. The appearance was billed as "The Super Battle of the DaiKaiju Babes" and was to feature Miss Odaka and Miss Fujitani in two falls to a submission wrestling match in a vat of green Jello clad in string bikinis. Rumors that Odaka co-star Robert Scott Field was to be guest Referee have yet to be confirmed.

Ironically the event might gone on without Toho's knowledge were it not for members of the promoters staff contacting Toho's offices asking about how to get in contact with the management of some other Actresses who had appeared in Godzilla and Mothra series. When pressed for their reason for the information they let slip about the event and how they were trying put together an under-card of a "Shobojin VS Cosmos" tag team match.

Currently it is unknown wether or not the event will go on as scheduled and neither Miss Odaka, Miss Fujitani nor Mr. Field have made any statement as yet. However while being interviewed on an Australian radio show actor Steven Seagal, Father of Avako Fujitani, said of the injunction, "....that's a shame, I know my little girl could have taken her." Any thoughts on this April Foolishness?

What an actor/actress does on their own time is their business. Toho would have no grounds to obtain an injunction blocking an appearance, especially one for a charity event. If this were true, then Toho would have blocked the appearances of actors/actresses, directors, spfx directors, etc. from G-FEST, film festivals, etc. over the years. Logically, this was an obvious joke. Do you really think that Megumi Odaka or Ayako Fujitani would appear in string bikinis and wrestle in jello? Daiei was misspelled "Diae." And, Daiei no longer exists! Kadokawa bought them out. The last sentence was the big giveaway.

Kaiju and Classic Films To Be Streamed To Televisions

Above, "Rodan" is one Japanese classic to be offered in new streaming service.

It has been announced that five Japanese movie companies have started "Maru Maru Eiga," a service to deliver Japanese classic films through Actvila Corp's "acTVila Video" video delivery service for TVs on March 26, 2009.

The films are also delivered through "acTVila Video Full," which supports HDTV video.

The five companies are are Kadokawa Pictures, Inc., Shochiku Co., Ltd., Toei Co., Ltd., Toho Co., Ltd. and Nikkatsu Corp. Each will select classic and hit films from their libraries of 12,000 movies and deliver six of them each month. The selected films will be available for purchase for six months.

The price (which includes tax) is ¥630 (approx US$6.45) for an HDTV film and ¥420 for an SDTV film. Prices are subject to change.

The movies to be made available in April 2009 include "The Inugami Family," "Yogoreta Eiyu (Dirty Hero)," "Casshern," "Battle Royale," "Daigaku no Wakadaisho (Bull of the Campus)" and "Eagle and Hawk."

In May, "Gamera," "Giant Space Monster Girara," "The Yakuza Wives," "Message from Space," "Giant Sky Monster Radon" and "Gappa, the Triphibian Monster" will be available.

Viewers will not be able to copy the movies to DVD or other media.