The Monsters Never Sleep: KU Visits KAIJU BROOKLYN 2!

Eendraght Maeckt Maght.

That’s Brooklyn’s iconic official motto.  Coined by early Dutch settlers, it roughly translates to “In unity, there is strength.” That motto perfectly encapsulates the spirit of what I have seen within Brooklyn itself as an outsider, and is shared by the mind behind Kaiju Brooklyn, organizer John Bellotti Jr. (Who is also known by his artist moniker ‘Robo7’.)  He has set out to bring something truly special for kaiju fans in the NYC area, and has done an incredible job so far! Kaiju Brooklyn 2 has been attracting the eyes of attendees from all over the country, some coming from as far as Washington state! We won’t spoil what some of John’s future goals for Kaiju Brooklyn are, but the end result will deliver events and attractions never-before-seen here in the United States. Mr. Bellotti emphasized this, stating: “Kaiju Brooklyn is my gift back to the community.”

In the freshman year of Kaiju Brooklyn, we sent out Senior Editor Nick Crispino to check out the event – documenting everything he could possibly see – and returning back to KU HQ afterwards with his amazing recap, “Big Monsters in the Big Apple”.  This go around, local fans & attendees demanded panels, so the team at KB reached out to us, expressing interest in having us come out to NYC to talk on a few.  I joined Nick for this sophomore iteration, flying almost coast to coast from Utah to New York, to see firsthand how this event shaped up.  KU was heading to Brooklyn in full force!

Our KB2 journey began with some setup of the show. I didn’t volunteer to work on the show aside from the panels, but knew that the KB squad might need some extra hands.  John was joined by Anthony of BrooklynOne Productions and kaiju expert Henry Winston, whom you might remember from the retired It Came From a Monster Movie podcast.  We all set up the tables and chairs throughout Friday afternoon, exchanging jokes and fun banter, but also maintaining an environment of productivity and teamwork – the perfect balance, in my opinion.

I found the event venue itself equally fascinating. Industry City is a huge series of sixteen buildings, providing restaurants, shops, and public events for any kind of resident. For the Kaiju United folks, a trip upstairs to Japan Village was mandatory. Not just for the panels occurring in The Loft during the show, but for the delicious cuisine, incredible selection of collectibles from across all aspects of Japanese culture, and the overall coziness that is provided. Hearing that this venue had stores for comic books, records, and kaiju/tokusatsu collectibles was music to my ears. I would definitely be here every weekend off, if I was a local!

Friday’s schedule culminated with an epic VIP Party. The familiar faces, including Thirsty Thursday Toys’ Adam J. Griffin, Henshin John, and KU contributor Joseph, gathered together for some music spun by KU interview alumni Map and the Bright Humans, the official DJ for Kaiju Brooklyn 2. The host of the party, Brooklyn Kura, crafted some epic cleverly titled kaiju-themed drinks, including Happiness is Submission to Godzilla, and Call Me Mothra.  Don’t let the fun names fool you; these drinks were not to be taken lightly!

Afterwards, the evening culminated in a screening of what may be my favorite piece of Ultraman media yet – the Infinity War of the Ultra Franchise, titled Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy Legends The Movie.  That’s quite the mouth full of a title, but it tremendously holds up, providing nonstop action, epic set pieces, and a brand new threat in Ultraman Belial, who very well may be the first truly evil Ultraman. It’s also the debut of Ultraman Zero, my personal favorite Ultra, and a seminal figure for the New Generation era of Ultraman. He will be important for the next decade of Ultraman shows and media, going on an arc of his own that I really appreciate and highly recommend as an access point for new fans.

The screening was introduced by the wonderful folks at Ultraman Connection, providing insight to the film for new viewers & a background on who UC is, including an epic tale of Starlight Runner CEO Jeff Gomez’s own story of being a tokusatsu fan in the 1970’s. We swear, every single time he says Zaborgar, we get chills! Jeff is an expert at storytelling, not only because of his role in transmedia production, but his vocal delivery is always just so exciting and thrilling. Finally, before the film started, UC hosted an awesome giveaway of Millcreek Entertainment’s release of Superior 8 Ultra Brothers, another fun film in the series that was released before the movie we were about to watch.  Ultra Brothers is another highly recommended installment in the vast Ultraman library. Ej Couloucoundis, Editor-in-Chief of Ultraman Connection, puts it best. He stated at the event, “It’s the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate version of Ultraman.  Everyone is here!”.  So, if you want to check that film out, it’s now readily available from Millcreek.

Saturday was the main event! I began my morning preparing for the first ever Kaiju Brooklyn panel.  That’s history-making right there… no pressure, right?  I sat down with John and EJ to talk about Ultraman Connection, how they’re pushing Ultraman into the mainstream public consciousness in the USA, and because we could, talked a bit about the upcoming Ultraman: Rising, which will premiere on Netflix starting June 14.  John holds the rare title of having officially licensed Ultraman shirts with his art on them, and of course, EJ is responsible for day-to-day operations on Ultraman Connection matters.  The two have incredible chemistry, bounce off each other frequently, and made for a great panel that had standing room attendance and a passionate and involved audience.

Next up was Nick’s panel with artist Jeff Zornow.  Doing heavy research into Jeff’s life, he interviewed Mr. Zornow about having internships at both Marvel & DC, what it was like working on IDW Publishing’s seminal Godzilla: Rulers of Earth, and general thoughts about the Godzilla series.  I watched the panel as an audience member, and Nick did a tremendous job diving into Zornow’s life and keeping the audience focused!  Nice work, Nick!

At 2pm, we had our KU-branded panel! Titled “From Minus One to the MonsterVerse!”, we spent the hour recapping the nonstop year we’ve had in GodzIlla media. To add some more excitement to the panel, we recruited another KU Alumni, local New York City-based filmmaker & extraordinary film buff, Yoko Higuchi.  Mr. Higuchi was also a Production Assistant on 2016’s Shin Godzilla, but that was saved for an awesome panel held later in the afternoon, cleverly titled A Tale of Two Godzillas!  Our panel was also attended quite well, with the audience loving the banter between the three of us.  To be honest, I acted a bit as Nick’s contrarian and devil’s advocate, but it made for an awesome stage presence and discussion between us all. 

That was going to be the end of our Kaiju Brooklyn panel journey, but fate willed us another go.  Unfortunately, Monster Island Buddies had to call in sick (We hope he’s feeling better!), and thus the 6pm slot was wide open. I want to thank John Bellotti for allowing Henry and I to collaborate on what to bring the Kaiju Brooklyn attendees in replacement of that meet-and-greet.  We ultimately decided to have Ultraman Connection join up for another panel, this time more casual and fun. Basically, we wanted to break down Ultraman, why we dug it, and perhaps talk about some fun moments, silly stuff, or have the audience ask general questions unrelated to licensing/the nuts and bolts.  I decided to assemble the Avengers of Ultraman experts for this panel.  Once we knew Jeff Gomez and EJ Couloucoundis were on board, I quickly recruited Kevin Derendorf, author of Kaiju for Hipsters, and one of the foremost kaiju experts in the entire community.  The five of us had a great time talking about Ultraman, and it was clear that this was the meeting of the minds, perhaps a United force of Ultraman authority, that was seated alongside me.  I was learning just as much as the audience was! How cool!

After that Ultraman panel, Kevin Derendorf quickly booked it over to the courtyard, and did his own solo panel: breaking down 70 years of Godzilla before the ultimate screening of the convention, The Return of Godzilla (1984).  Kevin’s panel was informative and accessible, and broke down the history quite well, perhaps the best crash course on Godzilla I’ve seen yet.  And then… it was time.  Godzilla fans got to watch the Japanese cut of G84 again to celebrate the 40^th anniversary.  Long out of print, it was the first time many fans in attendance had seen the film in entirety!

After the movie concluded, Kaiju Brooklyn 2 wrapped! The event truly went as fast as it sounds. KU readers, I gave you a rundown of my day at KB2, but I assure you, there was so much more to see.  From the amazing panels that other creators put on, like the toy collecting panel with Sal of Ultrazilla, or other events, such as the awesome cosplay contest full of brilliant community creations. Throughout Industry City, there was always something going on for kaiju fanatics to check out.  The vendors’ lineup was incredible – returning faces such as Muteki Sales and Seismic Toys graced us with incredible kaiju collectibles to bring home, and brilliant artists such as Mark Dos Santos and Nick Shev stole the show with their captivating art prints. 

Kaiju Brooklyn 2 did what a movie sequel should always do: go bigger and better, but maintain that consistent quality that made the first one so great.  It’s clear that John, the volunteer team, BrooklynOne Productions, and the team behind this convention are passionate and ambitious. There are the familiar things you’d find at a kaiju convention, but the team is not afraid to take risks together as a team, all together, and all in. The amount of teamwork and camaraderie I witnessed at this convention was second-to-none. Everyone was positive, cooperative, and willing to work together.  Even if there was a hiccup or two in the road, they all came together to confront it with a solution. Non-volunteers jumped in at a moment’s notice to help as well; I recall seeing Yoko Higuchi jumping in, without being asked, to help set up the equipment for the screenings at the show.

This convention will grow into something spectacular because the team truly embodies the spirit of Brooklyn itself.  Unity is strength. Community is the strongest thing we all have, and it’s something to treasure. Kaiju brings people together, we always assemble to share in our bonded love over the genre.  Events like these would not happen without a strong and dedicated community coming together in commonality, and Kaiju Brooklyn itself is a textbook example of what happens when the community rallies together to put on an event to remember forever.