Originally published November 29th, 2022 on KaijuRamenMedia.com
Updated with new info as of May 30, 2024.
Back in 2019, I had the privilege to be in attendance at the premiere of Yoshikazu Ishii’s independent film Attack of the Giant Teacher (2019). The movie held its premiere at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Rosemont, Illinois, during the annual G-Fest convention. The film was about a teacher (by the name of Kenzo Miyazawa) who’s about to lose his job as the school could not justify staying open. With the remaining students in his class, they prepare and play for their last school festival. As the day gets closer, an alien with plans to abduct fugitive aliens (masked as some of his students) who have taken refuge on Earth tries to achieve his dastardly plan. It’s up to Kenzo Miyazawa to not only save his students but the world. The movie wasn’t very expensive but I left the showing in awe of what I had just seen, I was in love! My friend Nathan Marchand said it best, “The film is enduring and knows what it is, but doesn’t let itself get lost in the absurdity.”
Yoshikazu Ishii isn’t a new face in the world of kaijū or tokusatsu, he served as assistant director of special effects on Kadokawa’s Daimajin Kanon (2010), Tsuburaya Productions’ Ultraman Saga (2012), and Toho’s Godzilla: Final Wars (2004) assistant director on Shinji Higuchi’s Japan Sinks (2006), the fourth entry in the live-action Death Note movies Death Note: L Change the World (2008), Go! Godman (2008), director of Ultraman Ginga (2013), and among other credits to his name.
After SRS Cinema announced the Blu-ray and VHS release of Attack of the Giant Teacher, I waited with great angst to get ahold of this new favorite film of mine. Once the film was released, I would constantly talk about the movie and promote it on my Discord server because I wanted everyone to see it. Obviously, when Yuzo, The Biggest Battle in Tokyo, was announced, I was ecstatic to see what director Ishii had to offer. So I waited patiently for the film to come out. What I didn’t expect was what I would see many months later on my Facebook feed… Yoshikazu Ishii and I are friends on Facebook, and one day I saw a “Yuzo post” and something called “KCUFF”. Any time I see the letters “K” and “C” together, I think of Kansas City, the largest city near me. So I took a second look, and I saw “Kansas City Underground Film Festival”. I immediately gasped and rushed to research what was going on and in doing so, I learned about the world premiere happening close to where I live. I couldn’t miss it! So I quickly ensured that I could see it by requesting the day off, and made sure nothing could stop me.
Disclaimer: Before going any further, as a warning, there will be spoilers for the film going forth.
On my trip to the venue, I blasted Ifukube music (along with “A Cruel Angel’s Thesis”) till I got there. Once arriving, I entered the building with great excitement. I walked around and looked at everything going on, while I was there I met some fellow kaijū fans and got to know them. After waiting for the prior showing to end, the set-up was ready to show Yoshikazu Ishii’s newest kaijū film Yuzo! Before the film, we got to enjoy an introduction from the director (who flew from Japan to be present) about the film. I sat almost dead-set in the middle of the theater, and once the lights went down and the projector started, my eyes were glued to the screen!
The plot provided by the Kansas City Underground Film Festival reads:
“Yuzo Ooki is unexpectedly fired. Managing to find a new job, Yuzo navigates the maze of crazy coworkers. Yuzo is undaunted, but he is bullied by his new workmates and dumped by his girlfriend. Suddenly, an alien encounter changes everything as it feeds off the co-workers and melds with their madness creating an explosion of energy that plunges the town into chaos. Only Yuzo can save them from this crisis.”
Unlike Ishii-san’s prior film, Attack of the Giant Teacher, this film takes a deep dive into the comedy genre. This is similar to many recent independent kaijū movies like Minoru Kawasaki’s Monster Seafood Wars (2020) or the infamous Death Kappa (2010). Throughout the film, there are many moments that reminded me of the works of Minoru Kawasaki, due to director Ishii’s wishes to bring something to cheer people up after the COVID-19 pandemic. There are moments when people break out in song-and-dance and while jarring, I couldn’t help but smile and even occasionally laugh at the events happening on screen. The whole concept and story are so absurd that you have to see to believe. Events like a wannabe martial arts master trying to beat the kaijū named “Virus King” with karate make you realize that you have to be able to suspend your disbelief enough to the point you’re not even thinking about what you see. “Yuzo” however still stays true to its main story and the point of interest rests on the human characters like Giant Teacher.
Yoshikazu Ishii’s direction is also very welcome to see. The opening starts off with a fiery awesome logo in the same vein as Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995). That is followed by a very interesting scene with abnormal camera work while lingering on our main character who is distressed after losing his mind. While an exciting start, this isn’t indicative of the rest of the movie but the industry-standard camerawork is still enjoyable. The constant reminder of the impending doom of Virus King is also really well-directed. Right when you forget you’re watching a kaijū movie, you’re reminded with glimpses of a gradually approaching Virus King ready to destroy the whole world. He is shrouded in shadow and fire, hiding the full visual image of the kaijū until his full rampage.
One of my favorite aspects of Ishii’s direction is that he doesn’t rely on the kaijū to make it an interesting narrative. Both of his films create such an intriguing world you almost get lost in learning and experiencing the dynamics between each character that you’re too busy paying attention to and almost forget why you came. It reminds me of my favorite Godzilla movie in that sense, Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975), which doesn’t feature the titular Godzilla until over halfway through the film. This, I believe, is partly thanks to director Ishii also writing the film, and being the brainchild of the idea. By the time we see Virus King rampaging, we’re down to the last, roughly, twenty minutes (which is about our main characters using every possible way to beat the kaijū). This can be either disappointing for kaijū fans or a warm welcome as this film is yet another good example for the argument on how human characters do, in fact, matter in the grand scheme of things for kaijū cinema.
The film could be considered one of the only kaijū musicals as there are four scenes in which characters break out in song-and-dance and look right at the camera while doing it. It can be jarring for some audience members that aren’t familiar with musicals but for people that are familiar, the scenes are low budget, so no crazy choreography but the music I found is really catchy. It was fun and catchy, so much so that I found myself bobbing my head to it. Specifically, the trash man’s personal dance he created to try and become TikTok famous (you read that right). Clearly, director Ishii knew how entertaining this song was because it occurs twice in the film and the second time around is even more entertaining than the first.
The story is chopped up into learning about the different departments of the new company Yuzo is working for. This helps keep a steady pace and doesn’t allow the film to drag. Towards the final third of the film, the alien subplot and how everything is linked to each other are clearly established. While explaining the connections and exploring further, in The Chairman’s house, you can spot many callbacks and references even to Yoshikazu Ishii’s prior film, Attack of the Giant Teacher (with the appearance of the theatrical poster and the large puppet used in the film). The film is full of subtle references and easter eggs to the tokusatsu genre—such as an Ultraman-Esque narration at the beginning.
After the Q&A, I got to meet with the director and share my love for his prior film and tell him how much I enjoyed watching his newest film. Being able to meet with one of my current favorite working tokusatsu directors and talk about his newest movie was a dream come true. I had the privilege of talking to him at G-Fest in 2019, but this was something more on a personal level; I even got to take a photo with him on the red carpet! Thank you, director Yoshikazu Ishii, for keeping the art of tokusatsu alive and well; it’s in good hands with you! (石井良一監督、特撮の芸術を存続させてくれてありがとう、それはあなたのおかげです!)
Of course, the movie frequently references the COVID-19 pandemic and, in my opinion, will go down in history as the perfect COVID-19 film. Referencing video calls, money issues, quarantining, and so much more makes this film uniquely tied to that era in world history. To some people, they may not appreciate the reminder, but it’s interesting to see what it would look like in a kaijū story. At one point, I thought it would be a political message about how corporations created the issue we were in, but at the end of the day, the corporation fixes its wrongs. Perhaps this is a good reminder that there’s good in the world, even after making mistakes such as unleashing a kaijū onto the streets of Japan.
For me, watching Yuzo: The Biggest Battle in Tokyo was a surprising experience. The film is heavily set in the world of comedy and doesn’t take itself too seriously. But, like Giant Teacher, it’s enduring and doesn’t let its comedic tones stop it from being entertaining or fun to watch and get lost in. I think it doesn’t hit the same level “Attack of the Giant Teacher” does, but it definitely is a good follow-up to his directorial debut. After the films, we were given the opportunity to do a Q&A with director Ishii, and in there, we learned he paid for everything himself out of pocket. Can you believe that? One person funded this film! With a decent-sized cast and a great kaijū suit! Sure, sometimes the film shows its low budget with generic Adobe PremierPro effects, but I don’t think that’s a negative hit against the film, it’s independent and that’s the genre. It’s not supposed to be groundbreaking. It’s supposed to showcase talent, something that Yoshikazu Ishii definitely has.
Hopefully, Tsuburaya, Toei, or maybe even Toho recognizes the talent director Ishii had and can help fund his future projects because if this is what he can do out of his own pocket, imagine what he could make with a bigger budget! And unless he finds funding, this could be his last film. I would hate to see him cut his career short simply because he couldn’t afford to create more, he has so much untapped talent as a director and writer.
The film isn’t perfect, and it’s not as memorable as his prior film, but it’s a solid entry into the recent surge of independently produced kaijū films, it’s definitely one I think kaijū fans should watch to see what a COVID-19 kaijū film can look like (that isn’t Konga TNT (2019). It’s a fun and entertaining film, but there’s nothing I would say is outstanding in the world of tokusatsu. That being said, you shouldn’t sleep on Yuzo and give it a watch!
3 ½ out of 5 Stars
