The fierce beauty of classic Japanese movie monsters is dramatically captured in these black velvet paintings by artist Bruce White.
Gamera
Mechagodzilla
Godzilla
Ultraman
Hedorah
Mothra
[Via: @bonniegrrl]
The fierce beauty of classic Japanese movie monsters is dramatically captured in these black velvet paintings by artist Bruce White.
Gamera
Mechagodzilla
Godzilla
Ultraman
Hedorah
Mothra
[Via: @bonniegrrl]
Electric transformer boxes painted with the silhouettes of Ultraman monsters can be seen on the streets of Sukagawa (Fukushima prefecture), the hometown of sci-fi special effects master Eiji Tsuburaya.
Ultraman [photo]
Gomess [photo]
Ultra Seven [photo]
Clockwise from top-right: Antlar, Guts Seijin, Telesdon, Mephilas, Gomora [photo]
Borg Seijin [photo]
Pegira [photo]
In the 1960s and 1970s, Japan saw an explosion in the popularity of sonosheets -- cheap, flexible phonograph records printed on thin sheets of vinyl. Widely available from a variety of publishers, the most popular sonosheets featured theme music from TV anime, manga and tokusatsu, and they often came packaged inside booklets featuring colorful artwork. The sonosheet boom was short-lived, though -- many companies went under as the market became flooded in the 1970s, and the phenomenon all but disappeared by the 1980s. Here is a small sample of the vast array of sonosheet cover art from that era.
Batman vs. Iceman
Batman (front cover) [+]
Batman (back cover) [+]
GeGeGe no Kitaro (front cover) [+]
GeGeGe no Kitaro (back cover) [+]
Falcon of Shidenkai [+]
Kaiki Daisakusen (front cover) [+]
Kaiki Daisakusen (back cover)
Daikaij?sen
Space boy Soran [+]
Tetsujin Tiger Seven/ Inazuman/ Diamond Eye
Ultraman (front cover)
Ultraman (back cover)
Henshin Ninja Arashi
Frankenstein [+]
Robot Detective (front cover)
Robot Detective (inside) [+]
Space Monsters
[More]
The stomach contents of famous monsters are revealed in this series of Brazilian ads for Cup Noodles (a.k.a. "genuine Japanese fast food").
Godzilla [+]
Kanegon [+]
Gomora [+]
Alien Baltan [+]
[Via: I Believe in Advertising]
See also: Hungry (for giant prehistoric beasts)?
Character designer and kaiju evolutionist Yasushi Torisawa produced a fantastic set of classic Toho movie monster illustrations for the summer 2008 edition of Uchusen magazine.
Godzilla vs. Biollante [+]
Hedorah [+]
Rodan [+]
King Ghidorah & Gigan [+]
The Green Gargantua [+]
The Brown Gargantua [+]
King Ghidorah vs. Gorosaurus [+]
Baragon [+]
Via The Echinoblog's profile of starfish-themed monsters in Japanese cinema come these classic clips of Starfish Hitler, a Government of Darkness (G.O.D.) villain who battled superhero Kamen Rider X on TV in 1974.
+ Part 1: Kamen Rider X vs Starfish Hitler
+ Part 2: Kamen Rider X vs Starfish Hitler
[Link: The Echinoblog]
Flickr user modern_fred's Japanese movie monster scan collection includes a few vintage illustrations detailing the innards of Godzilla and other famous kaiju.
Godzilla
This anatomical sketch of Godzilla reveals a relatively small brain, giant lungs that allow underwater breathing, leg muscles that can support 20,000 tons of body weight, and a "uranium sack" and "nuclear reaction sack" that produce radioactive fire-breath and energize the body.
* * * * *
Jiger reveals her inner self
According to this anatomical drawing, Jiger has a pair of horns that can shoot missiles made of hardened saliva and one that fires a deadly magnetium (?) beam.
Jiger (uploaded by Paulkaiju)
Other characteristics include extremely powerful suction cups covering the entire body, an organ that enables Jiger to spit jets of seawater at 300 kilometers per hour, a stomach that can melt iron ore, and a tail that functions as an ovipositor.
* * * * *
Mothra larva
This anatomical sketch of Mothra in larval form shows a robust jaw, an enormous stomach, an elongated silk-producing organ, a row of breathing orifices on either side of the body, countless cilia on the bottom surface, and a rudimentary nervous system consisting of a cerebral ganglion and a network of nerve ganglia distributed across the body.
* * * * *
Guiron -- a peek inside the belly of the beast
* * * * *
Anguirus
This anatomical diagram of Anguirus shows eyes that can detect infrared light, a pair of sub-brains that control the forelegs and rear legs, highly developed rear leg muscles, and a heavily spiked rear carapace.
* * * * *
This illustration of "Flaming Monster Gamera" (from An Anatomical Guide to Monsters) reveals eyes that can see in the dark, arms strong enough to lift and throw a 50-ton boat, and "fire sacks" that let Gamera shoot flames from his hands.
Gamera
The illustration also shows a series of sack-like organs for storing lava, oil, coal and uranium (like Godzilla), as well as balloon-like organs in the legs that can blast air through the bottoms of the feet.
[Link: modern_fred's kaiju eiga photoset]
Related: Kaiju art collection
Kaiju collector/photographer Red Yoda adds a touch of colorful madness to an awesome collection of Japanese vinyl monster figures. Browse the entire photoset for more.
[Kameba]
[Zag!]