In what may be the Return of the Jedi of our adventures, Kaiju United has returned to Days of the Dead/All Monsters Attack for our third outing with the show! This time in the City of Angels, the opportunity to see the local kaiju community in a spot especially known for its devoted kaiju scene was too good to pass up! Happening a week after Japan World Heroes, Californian kaiju fans were treated to a hybrid show, featuring the likes of the entire Dream Warriors crew of kids, a good chunk of the Aliens cast, and of course, our favorite kaiju guests returning for another round of larger-than-life fun.
Personally, my journey into Los Angeles began a day early. I had to hit the local spots, since the con didn’t start until Friday at 5pm. The highest priorities of course being the legendary JUNGLE, and of course, Monster Patrol Toys. Both seated within the heart of Little Tokyo, a Japanese district located in central LA. For those that don’t know, Jungle is a legendary anime/otaku shop that carries unbelievable amounts of kaiju figures., gunpla kits, and anything your inner fan would desire. I’m based in Salt Lake City, and we don’t have ANYTHING like this, so it was truly a wondrous sight to see. Wall-to-wall Godzilla figures. What a dream! You’re eating good, LA!
Monster Patrol Toys is similar to Jungle, lots of figures lined up in beautiful glass cases, but more Sofubi-focused, and watched over by the largest Hedorah figure in the world. We’re not joking here. Owned by Paul and Nobu Sottler, the local store hosts pop-up events featuring the minds behind sofubi brands such as Marmit and Marusan in exclusive autograph sessions and/or meet & greets. It’s a hot spot and hive for soft vinyl figure fanatics, and the owners are lovely, inviting people! It’s also right in the same area as Jungle, so definitely double dip when you’re out there in Little Tokyo! Local businesses are essential to any community, so we deeply encourage you to support them.
Friday was the standard “convention” day for Kaiju United. Joined by Adam of Thirsty Thursday Toys, whom we’ve developed a strong bond and friendship with after our interview with him, we got to meet the guests, get some autographs, and have a generally relaxed convention through the first day. Days of the Dead typically does their event from 5pm-10pm on Fridays, making it a later in the evening happening. Since this is a kaiju eiga-related site, I will be talking about the roster of giant movie monster legends.
Eight guests filled up the roster of AMA DOTD Los Angeles, each with their own mountain of stories and resumes to tell fans here in the West. Ranging from convention regular and Showa-era icon, Bin Furuya (The ORIGINAL Ultraman), to almost everybody who suit acted in the Heisei and MIllennium era of Godzilla, the monsters invaded Los Angeles for three days of nonstop destruction and mayhem! The convention at this time was rather calm, relaxed, and like an old school G-FEST or Chiller show. There was space to breathe and plenty of opportunity to get the autos you want, or to say hello to the people tabling. Shows like these are some of our favorites, as it allows down time, and it makes everything feel more personable.
In terms of the community’s presence at this show, this weekend in particular felt like each day had different community “guest stars”. On Friday, it was lovely getting to chat with the vendors, with indie comic book creator KaijuNoir/Andres Perez, monster figure sculptor, Creacher Preature, and sofubi experts Last Bastion Studios popping up tables this time. Of course, we hung around community artist and good friend, Mary Bear, for a moment in the convention, after our amazing trip around Los Angeles with her at the helm. Saturday’s “guest stars” began with Jonathan Portman of @gojiultraedits, someone I’ve had personal bonds with since the old days of being an admin for the former Facebook group, Toho Kaiju Union, almost ten years ago! Later on in the evening, Robert Moreno, founder of “The Kaiju Brotherhood”, joined us for our exciting dinner with the esteemed Japanese guests. Attending hibachi specialty restaurant Benihana, located in Santa Monica, we saw fire erupt from the grills as talented chefs delighted us with flips, spins, and oh of course, delicious steaks and lobster. And on Sunday, we got to run into Jessica Tseang, who you might remember from our G-FEST recap! Co-host of The Kaiju Kingdom Podcast, we got to say hello and chat for a moment. Just a fun, revolving door of characters. Her KK partner-in-crime Chris Eaton was there earlier in the weekend as well, and it was great to meet him for the first time! The community turnout on the kaiju side was erupting with lovely individuals!
I think the biggest theme of this convention was the quality time we spend with these guests. Sure, lots of us are there to just spend money, get our autographs, and get out, but personally speaking, I felt like I spent a good deal of time with these amazing suit actors and got to know them a little better because of it. Most of this was because I hosted *all* of the kaiju Q&A’s for this convention, but doing those and the VIP dinner, I really got to see their personalities shine bright, as we reflected on their careers, and even with some, what they enjoy doing in their spare time. We won’t spoil everything, as we’d love for you to watch the actual panel videos, but here’s a rundown of the Q&As!
First up on the interview docket, was Tsutomu Kitagawa and Motokuni Nakagawa. Both paired up because of their shared histories, — each being true veterans of the famous Super Sentai series as stuntmen and performers. Kitagawa-San is known for Dairanger and Bioman, 1980’s era Sentai releases, having continued to contribute and perform in Sentai roles ever since. Motokuni-San is best known for being labeled as “Mr. Pink”, due to him being the stuntman doing all of the physical work for the female pink rangers, due to his petite frame. The two would end up directly facing each other as opposing forces in Godzilla: Tokyo SOS and Godzilla: Final Wars, as Kitagawa would go on to play Godzilla from 1999-2004 (with the exception of 2001’s GMK, but we’ll get there!), and Motokuni playing foes Mechagodzilla/Kiryu and Monster X/Kaizer Ghidorah in the aforementioned films. Each gave their best energy possible, showcasing how two men would play a big monster like Kaizer Ghidorah, and sharing stories about their crazy times in Sentai. It was the best possible interview, and my second experience being on stage with Mr. Kitagawa, and he sure did remember me from last time! He told me “You are my suit!”, and would tell me “Time to get in!” as he dived towards me, for a big laugh.
Next up, was legendary suit actor and manga artist Hurricane Ryu and suit actor Wataru Fukuda. Their pairing was of course the shared bond of being Heisei era Godzilla character actors. Ryu-San played King Ghidorah in 1991’s Godzilla Vs. King Ghidorah, Battra in the following year’s Godzilla Vs. Mothra, and most known to fans, Godzilla Jr. in 1995’s Godzilla Vs. Destoroyah. Fukuda-San is best known for playing robotic monsters, like Godzilla’s antagonistic mechanical doppelganger in Godzilla Vs. Mechagodzilla (1993), and anti-Spacegodzilla weapon M.O.G.U.E.R.A. in Godzilla Vs Spacegodzilla (1994). These two were also ribbing each other back and forth; Ryu enjoys telling stories and explaining in great length about his career and path, with Fukuda loudly going “LONG STORY!” to poke fun at his friend, often mimicking his mouth movements or pretending to fall asleep in his chair during the Q&A session. Doing these Q&As will give you so much insight into these larger-than-life characters in our fandom, especially unexpected tidbits like Wataru Fukuda being a Godzilla fan and movie fanatic, often going to the cinema by himself to enjoy a truly immersive, “movie church” style film experience. Ryu, on the other hand, loves Rambo, (Yes, you read that right. RAMBO, Sylvester Stallone.), and based his Godzilla manga Monster Warrior Godzilla on the lonely warrior archetype popularized by the character. One would think it would be Toshiro Mafune’s famous outing in Yojimbo, but nope, it was First Blood!
Lastly, Kitagawa-San joined me again on stage for a Q&A with his fellow Godzilla performer, the hilarious and always full of vim and vigor, Mizuho Yoshida! Tsutomu is cited as Yoshida-San’s senpai, so it was insightful and epic to see the two talk about their different approaches to Godzilla, how long it takes to block one scene in Tokusatsu (four hours for maybe 3 minutes of film!), and of course, get up and demonstrate a fight scene for the audience, directed by me! What a treat! This was the final panel at DOTD LA, so of course, I was surprised by the return of previous Q&A guest, Hurricane Ryu, who got on stage and surprised us with his impersonations of Haruo Nakajima’s Godzilla, and Kenpachiro Satsuma’s Godzilla! What a delight. And of course, he had me direct him. As a moderator, this was true panel magic; the audience was in awe of the flash mob unfolding before them. As a fan, well, I can say I’ve directed some Toku now! Truly one of the highlights of the entire year for me.
I really do emphasize the theme of this convention being the quality time we spend with our beloved guests. I feel like that is just as important as regular people in our community, as it keeps these events alive, and keeps these guys coming back to the United States. I believe the regulars really enjoy being here and meeting their fans, and getting to see firsthand that there are hundreds of people here ready to pay to see them. I got to spend a majority of my weekend with them, developing fun banter, and engaging with them on a level I have not seen before in my own personal work as a moderator, nor as a fan. On both ends, I feel like I have grown, and I will never forget this convention for allowing me to do so. I feel like this is the closure of the first “arc” of Kaiju United. We’re culminating into something really exciting leading into the six-month milestone. The convention schedule for KU in 2023 is done, save for one more local show, but we treasure each and every one. AMA Chicago gave us the opportunity to run panels with the community at our side, G-FEST got us up and close with the people we love in this fandom, and this convention got us closer to the people that work on these films, and reminds us that we’re all human, we all love to bond with each other, and we deeply enjoy having the opportunity to share our stories. It’s a nice reassurance that we’re all fans of something, even the celebrities.
May the monsters be with you, and see you next year!
Special Thanks:
Jim Cirronella and the entire Celebrity ICONS team, thank you for allowing me the opportunity to moderate ALL guest Q&As.
Tim Bean and the Japan’s Legends team, for always being warm and welcoming, and for bringing out some true legends to the United States.
Bill Philputt for showrunning DOTD and AMA, it was a pleasure finally meeting you at this show!
Mary Bear, thank you for driving us all around LA and Hollywood!!!
Adam J. Griffin for being my wingman at this show, filming panels with me, and doing mic duty. You made the Q&As go as smoothly as possible, and I owe you one.
Jessica Tseang, Jonathan Portman, Robert Moreno, and anyone I may have missed that is in the California kaiju community. Thank you for your warm welcomes, kind chatter, and overall presence at the show. You are beloved by Kaiju United!
