What Books Are There Left to Write?

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shadowgigan
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Re: What Books Are There Left to Write?

Post by shadowgigan »

UltramanGoji wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 8:20 pm Yeah, if there's any time frames in tokusatsu history that are sorely unrepresented in academic books, it's Heisei onwards. That's why I'm excited to read Norman's book since he was on set for many of the Millennium series Godzilla movies. But some stuff on the 80's/90's output from Toho would be really cool to see.
I somehow messed up my comment, but ended up answering my own question. Meant to ask which book you were referring to.


Added in 3 minutes 7 seconds:
We now need an Akira Takarada biography.
Last edited by shadowgigan on Fri Mar 18, 2022 4:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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UltramanGoji
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Re: What Books Are There Left to Write?

Post by UltramanGoji »

shadowgigan wrote: Fri Mar 18, 2022 4:56 pm
UltramanGoji wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 8:20 pm Yeah, if there's any time frames in tokusatsu history that are sorely unrepresented in academic books, it's Heisei onwards. That's why I'm excited to read Norman's book since he was on set for many of the Millennium series Godzilla movies. But some stuff on the 80's/90's output from Toho would be really cool to see.
I somehow messed up my comment, but ended up answering my own question. Meant to ask which book you were referring to.
https://www.amazon.com/Behind-Kaiju-Cur ... 853&sr=8-1

This one. Gotta grab it one of these days. Just got paid so maybe this weekend.
Image

GoKelley85
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Re: What Books Are There Left to Write?

Post by GoKelley85 »

Well, I can say that I am currently in the process of writing my own Godzilla themed book!

"Godzilla: The Monster Fight Record" is a book I worked on during the early COVID days as something to give myself to do and I am happy to finally start sharing it with people within the fanbase.

The concept for the book is that I will go through all of the Godzilla related films to determine a definitive win-loss record for Godzilla and all of his Monster co-stars. Originally, my plan was to include all Godzilla media with comics, books, manga, TV shows, and everything else I could imagine, but that proved to be far too large an umbrella to make for a coherent book. Instead, I decided to reduce the scope of analysis to just the films.

I went through each film and detailed each and every fight that happened in each in-scope film to determine a winner. I outlined a process for determining what constitutes a win, a loss, and a tie, and also designated each win with a method of victory (Death, Knockout, Retreat, etc.). And then, as a final part of the analysis, I worked through the numbers to determine a win percentage for each Monster. These records are detailed for individual incarnations for each Monster (Showa Era Godzilla, Heisei Godzilla, MonsterVerse Godzilla, etc.) and a total record for each Monster that accounts for all of their incarnations.

The list of films includes all of the Showa Era Godzilla films (15 total from Godzilla '54 to Terror of Mechagodzilla), all of the Heisei Era films (7 total, from Return of Godzilla to Godzilla Vs. Destoroyah), Godzilla '98, the Millennium Era films (6 total with Godzilla 2000 to Godzilla: Final Wars), the three MonsterVerse Godzilla films (this may change depending on Godzilla Vs. Kong's sequel), the Anime Trilogy, and Shin Godzilla. My list also includes 15 non-Godzilla Monster films that connect to the Godzilla series in some capacity, including Kong: Skull Island and the Mothra Trilogy. In total, there were 51 in scope films analyzed for this book.

This book has been a passion project of mine for a while and I am happy to finally start sharing it with people. The intent is to be a non-biased record book of sorts for the Godzilla series that highlights one of the major drawing points of these films, the Monster battles! Part of the reason for working on this was to throw my two cents in on some of the battles that have been long debated by fans (such as the infamous Kong Vs. Godzilla battle from 1962). I don't think my book will completely quell those debates, but hopefully will call attention to them and even keep the discussions about these movies going!

As for the current status of the book, the first draft of the manuscript was an overwhelming near 1000 page document! After getting some feedback about the length, I decided to trim the fat and split the book into two volumes. Vol 1 will be centered on the Showa Era films (1954-1975) and Vol 2 will cover all of the films from the 80s to today. Right now, I am working with an editor to get Vol. 1 cleaned up and ready for publication.

Speaking of publication, I am still early in that phase. My most important decision is to pursue working with a publishing house or to go the self publication route. If I decide on the later, then it is likely that Vol. 1 will be out for digital download by the end of the year with Vol. 2 out some time next year. Again, I am still early in this phase and nothing concrete has been decided.

I am excited to provide more updates as I move further along in this process. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that my love of Godzilla would turn to an attempt to become a published author, but here I am!

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Angilasman
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Re: What Books Are There Left to Write?

Post by Angilasman »

I want biographies and other in-depth Japanese books translated into English. Just look at something like Gamera Heisei Perfection with all those interviews and concept art - translate it, add more photos, slap it in a hardcover, and BAM: you've got a neat coffee table book that a company like Titan could release.

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Re: What Books Are There Left to Write?

Post by H-Man »

GoKelley85 wrote: Sun Apr 03, 2022 5:06 pm Well, I can say that I am currently in the process of writing my own Godzilla themed book!

"Godzilla: The Monster Fight Record" is a book I worked on during the early COVID days as something to give myself to do and I am happy to finally start sharing it with people within the fanbase.
....

I am excited to provide more updates as I move further along in this process. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that my love of Godzilla would turn to an attempt to become a published author, but here I am!
Thank you for sharing! I hope this project is seen out to completion and that fans buy it and enjoy it! Keep working in the trenches, GoKelley85!

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Re: What Books Are There Left to Write?

Post by GoKelley85 »

H-Man wrote: Mon Apr 11, 2022 11:14 am
GoKelley85 wrote: Sun Apr 03, 2022 5:06 pm Well, I can say that I am currently in the process of writing my own Godzilla themed book!

"Godzilla: The Monster Fight Record" is a book I worked on during the early COVID days as something to give myself to do and I am happy to finally start sharing it with people within the fanbase.
....

I am excited to provide more updates as I move further along in this process. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that my love of Godzilla would turn to an attempt to become a published author, but here I am!
Thank you for sharing! I hope this project is seen out to completion and that fans buy it and enjoy it! Keep working in the trenches, GoKelley85!
Thank you for the kind words!

I have every intention of seeing this thing through to publication.

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Re: What Books Are There Left to Write?

Post by H-Man »

Are there any interesting books out there about the Anime Trilogy and Singular Point?

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Re: What Books Are There Left to Write?

Post by Legion1979 »

H-Man wrote: Fri May 27, 2022 10:21 am Are there any interesting books out there about the Anime Trilogy and Singular Point?
In English or Japanese?

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Re: What Books Are There Left to Write?

Post by H-Man »

Legion1979 wrote: Sat May 28, 2022 7:08 am
H-Man wrote: Fri May 27, 2022 10:21 am Are there any interesting books out there about the Anime Trilogy and Singular Point?
In English or Japanese?
Either of the two.

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Re: What Books Are There Left to Write?

Post by Legion1979 »

I would love to read a history of Tohos effects/monster films. Not an itemized film by film analysis but a full biography-style overview of the almost 70 years of special effects and kaiju films, the talent behind them, explanations of the highs and lows, details about the late 60s kaiju boom, why the 70s films are the way they are, why Final Wars turned out the way it did...stuff like that.

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Re: What Books Are There Left to Write?

Post by Pinkuu196X »

Legion1979 wrote: Sat Jun 18, 2022 5:02 pm I would love to read a history of Tohos effects/monster films. Not an itemized film by film analysis but a full biography-style overview of the almost 70 years of special effects and kaiju films, the talent behind them, explanations of the highs and lows, details about the late 60s kaiju boom, why the 70s films are the way they are, why Final Wars turned out the way it did...stuff like that.
Someone (me) pretty much just wrote and am writing that exact book. It's getting published in two volumes. The first, which covers nearly everything from the Showa era, is out already. Google "Japanese Special Effects Cinema: Godfathers of Tokusatsu" or search it on Amazon, seems like I can't post a link.

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Re: What Books Are There Left to Write?

Post by Legion1979 »

I'm talking about something specifically about Toho though.

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Re: What Books Are There Left to Write?

Post by Pinkuu196X »

Legion1979 wrote: Wed Jun 22, 2022 4:37 pm I'm talking about something specifically about Toho though.
The Godzilla series and Toho special effects cycle are covered, including the propaganda and war films. Toho gets the strongest focus of any studio so anyone who likes Toho tokusatsu will hopefully find much value. The book is ultimately about the greater tokusatsu industry in Japan and its history. The thing, at least with the subject matter I chose, is that a lot of Tsuburaya's acolytes did work for other studios and nearly every studio had a tokusatsu specialist. A few, like Michio Mikami, worked for nearly everybody. Even many of the FX guys at Daiei were trained by Tsuburaya when he was there after being exiled from Toho after the war. So to only focus on Toho would obscure some of this intended story, IMO.

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Re: What Books Are There Left to Write?

Post by H-Man »

GoKelley85 wrote: Mon Apr 11, 2022 9:01 pm Thank you for the kind words!

I have every intention of seeing this thing through to publication.
How is progress on this book?

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Re: What Books Are There Left to Write?

Post by ebirahsmeg1 »

I'm fully aware that a lot of the following on my personal "Wish list" of Western G Books "that still haven't been written" are mere fantasies and will most likely never happen or see the light of day (mainly due to TOHO neither sanctioning nor allowing photos from their films to be used in books that either don't toe the line or are even the slightest bit critical of any of the films).

Some things I’d like to see:

- I think John Lemay has done a fantastic job filling a much needed void with his The Big Book of Japanese Giant Monster Movies: The Lost Films: Mutated Edition on lost projects and unmade G films. Definitely one of my current favorite Western Godzilla books. My only wish would be to see his books filled with concept art or photos of these un-made films (like "Hurricane" Ryu Hariken drew for G vs the Space Monsters / G vs Redmoon / Operation Robinson Crusoe: King Kong vs. Ebirah / Frankenstein vs Godzilla / The Return of Godzilla) or unused scripts fully translated into English.....that would be some real icing on the cake.

- Each era of the films or individual films covered in depth, similar to the Hobby Japan's current "Perfection / Completion" series.

- Updated edition of Steve Ryfle's Japan’s Favorite Mon-Star. Duh!

- Ed Godzisewski’s long lost “Frankenstein Conquers the World” edition of Japanese Giants finally seeing the light of day.

- A book dedicated to the "Making of" the Daikaiju eiga genre (similar to what Legion mentioned earlier in this thread), filled with behind the scenes stories, conceptional art and story boards, special Effects shots / etc. (i.e Imagine the very solid Cinema: Godfathers of Tokusatsu Vol. 1 by JL Carrozza, but filled to the brim with rare, high quality stills & photos from each era of the genre).

- As Ryfle/Ed G/August Ragone have done with their Tsuburaya & Honda books, I hope to see someone take a crack at an autobiographical book on the amazing suit actors (Nakajima, Satsuma, Kitagawa, etc.) that brought these beasts to life from the Showa to Millennium era.

- Another book in the style of Godzilla: The Ultimate Illustrated Guide….only good. It could even have the TOHO approved sanitized / vapid comments in regards to each film synopsis....but include all of the non-G TOHO Kaiju-Tokusatsu films (Rodan, Half Human, Mothra, Varan, Mysterians, The Human Vapor, Matango, KKE, WOTG, Frankenstein Conquers the World, Yog/Space Ameoba, Dogora, Latitude Zero, Atragon, etc. etc. etc). Load it with Kaiju stats and mecha-stats....Basically in the same vein of most standard Japanese G books (almost all of which are excellent and crammed more amazing photos/stills & monster/mech stats than the Compendium or The Ultimate Illustrated guide…even the small pocket sized books).

A follow-up to the excellent Godzilla on My Mind....just kidding :blackholealien: Seriously, screw that POS book... :spray:
GIANT CONDOR!!!!!!!! :shock:

"Someone kick me, kick me hard! We're stupid." - Corn on the cob eatin' Hippie (Godzilla vs Gigan)

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Re: What Books Are There Left to Write?

Post by Mr. Yellow »

An expanded edition of John Lemay's books with actual references would indeed be great.
"Monsters are tragic beings. They are born too tall, too strong, too heavy. They are not evil by choice. That is their tragedy. They do not attack people because they want to, but because of their size and strength, mankind has no other choice but to defend himself. After several stories such as this, people end up having a kind of affection for the monsters. They end up caring about them." - Ishiro Honda

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Re: What Books Are There Left to Write?

Post by Legion1979 »

I dont care about photos. I don't care about lost films. I dont care about any of that stuff. I want more production history of the films that exist a and full critical analysis of the history of these films. And I don't want anything that's held back by being "official".

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Re: What Books Are There Left to Write?

Post by StardustGenius »

A book like that has already been written like that recently. Godfathers Of Tokusatsu was released a year or two ago and have the kind of content you are talking about.
Last edited by StardustGenius on Fri May 05, 2023 9:28 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: What Books Are There Left to Write?

Post by Legion1979 »

StardustGenius wrote: Fri May 05, 2023 9:27 am A book like that has already been written like that recently. Godfathers Of Tokusatsu was released a year or two ago and have the kind of content you are talking about.
Does it cover the ENTIRE genre into the modern age?

Reading the Amazon description, it sounds like this book is specifically dedicated to the special effects side of things. Doesn't sound like the "critical history of the genre" kind of book I'm looking for.
Last edited by Legion1979 on Fri May 05, 2023 9:47 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: What Books Are There Left to Write?

Post by StardustGenius »

Its only the first volume, but yes its a historical and critical look of the genre in the Showa era. Toho's work is a large focus, but Daiei's and other studios are discussed. Its one of the few books of its type that explores the various war and disaster movies from the same period.
Last edited by StardustGenius on Fri May 05, 2023 10:16 am, edited 1 time in total.

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