Godzilla: The Ultimate Illustrated Guide

For the discussion of Toho comics, books, posters, trading cards and any other merchandise that doesn't fall under the other categories.
Legion1979
Justiriser
Posts: 15857
Joined: Fri Jul 23, 2010 7:45 pm

Re: Godzilla: The Ultimate Illustrated Guide

Post by Legion1979 »

I'll probably get it because I love books but damn, it really doesn't look like it's anything special. Anything Toho-approved isn't going to be.

User avatar
GigaBowserG
Vice President
Vice President
Posts: 5622
Joined: Tue Mar 13, 2012 3:25 am

Re: Godzilla: The Ultimate Illustrated Guide

Post by GigaBowserG »

If you're into the movies, there won't be any mind-blowing revelations as part of the trivia, the info's incredibly basic with simple facts sprinkled here and there. It's a digestible way for people not already versed to hop in and sample what the series has to offer. There's an astonishing amount of pictures, though!
Mecha M wrote:[after seeing Shin Godzilla's design] Looks like partially cooked carne asada
/crawls back under rock

User avatar
KingCornetto
GPN Volunteer
Posts: 135
Joined: Mon May 31, 2021 7:01 pm

Re: Godzilla: The Ultimate Illustrated Guide

Post by KingCornetto »

It’s a good Christmas present for kids who’re just getting interested in Godzilla. This will be very valuable for youngsters. I can see it getting checked out over and over at libraries.

Legion1979
Justiriser
Posts: 15857
Joined: Fri Jul 23, 2010 7:45 pm

Re: Godzilla: The Ultimate Illustrated Guide

Post by Legion1979 »

The more I see products like this the more I want to see something like Steve Ryfle's "Japan's Favorite Mon-Star" updated, or at least a volume 2. There's been enough to justify it.

User avatar
FlawedCoil82
G-Force Personnel
Posts: 785
Joined: Sat Jul 24, 2010 6:43 pm
Location: Troy, Ohio
Contact:

Re: Godzilla: The Ultimate Illustrated Guide

Post by FlawedCoil82 »

I am more than halfway through the book. I am enjoying it overall. There are many awesome photos in it. I do wish they would have had a section where they spotlighted each monster from the franchise (something along the lines of an expanded/updated “Official Godzilla Compendium”), but as for books written in English, I think this book is best one to get if you want lots of images from the films.
Katatonia, Within Temptation, Klone, Tool, Poets Of The Fall, Lacuna Coil, Flaw, Breaking Benjamin, The Birthday Massacre, My Epic, Autumn, A Perfect Circle, Evanescence, Bush, Silverchair ('94-'01), Evergrey, Metallica, etc.

Legion1979
Justiriser
Posts: 15857
Joined: Fri Jul 23, 2010 7:45 pm

Re: Godzilla: The Ultimate Illustrated Guide

Post by Legion1979 »

I'm sure the photos are cool. But is there anything of substance in the way of text?

User avatar
FlawedCoil82
G-Force Personnel
Posts: 785
Joined: Sat Jul 24, 2010 6:43 pm
Location: Troy, Ohio
Contact:

Re: Godzilla: The Ultimate Illustrated Guide

Post by FlawedCoil82 »

Legion1979 wrote: Sun Nov 06, 2022 1:47 pm I'm sure the photos are cool. But is there anything of substance in the way of text?
So far, not likely to be anything that I believe hardcore Godzilla fans wouldn’t know about already. But I have only just made it through the Heisei Series thus far.
Katatonia, Within Temptation, Klone, Tool, Poets Of The Fall, Lacuna Coil, Flaw, Breaking Benjamin, The Birthday Massacre, My Epic, Autumn, A Perfect Circle, Evanescence, Bush, Silverchair ('94-'01), Evergrey, Metallica, etc.

Legion1979
Justiriser
Posts: 15857
Joined: Fri Jul 23, 2010 7:45 pm

Re: Godzilla: The Ultimate Illustrated Guide

Post by Legion1979 »

Like a bunch of other people I got this today. Going in I knew I was just buying this to say I had it (and I needed something to spend a gift card on). It's a lot like the Official Compendium, in that you're not going to learn anything you don't already know and the text is simplistic, sanitized and 100% Toho approved. It even calls Final Wars a success, for crying out loud. There are some cool photos of the earlier movies but it's mainly stuff we've seen a million times elsewhere. They even use the wrong photos to represent certain movies (a photo of the ratty Ghidorah costume from Zone Fighter is included in the section for Ghidrah the Three-Headed Monster). It's really a book that does the bare minimum to get by. Recommended if your bookshelf is in desperate need of some Godzilla content, but that's it.
Last edited by Legion1979 on Tue Nov 08, 2022 3:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
Angilasman
G-Grasper
Posts: 1443
Joined: Fri Mar 13, 2020 3:12 pm

Re: Godzilla: The Ultimate Illustrated Guide

Post by Angilasman »

Well, the fact it's sold out everywhere may be a good sign for further Godzilla books! There's many, many Japanese books I'd love to see get an English language release.

Legion1979
Justiriser
Posts: 15857
Joined: Fri Jul 23, 2010 7:45 pm

Re: Godzilla: The Ultimate Illustrated Guide

Post by Legion1979 »

Amazon says it's still in stock, so I wouldn't say it's sold out everywhere.

Also, isn't this an original book and not derived from something Japanese? I dont think it's likely at all that they'll ever localize a Japanese book for release in this country, especially considering Toho wants to control anything printed in an official English book. This book was 100% surface level, and if you don't think that's how Toho wants it to be I don't know what to tell you.

User avatar
Angilasman
G-Grasper
Posts: 1443
Joined: Fri Mar 13, 2020 3:12 pm

Re: Godzilla: The Ultimate Illustrated Guide

Post by Angilasman »

^ I'm thinking more art books!

And Amazon is only selling through third part sellers. B&N is also sold out.

User avatar
ebirahsmeg1
Gotengo Officer
Posts: 1636
Joined: Mon Jan 23, 2012 11:31 pm
Location: Kanto region, Japan

Re: Godzilla: The Ultimate Illustrated Guide

Post by ebirahsmeg1 »

Legion1979 wrote: Tue Nov 08, 2022 3:28 pm Like a bunch of other people I got this today. Going in I knew I was just buying this to say I had it (and I needed something to spend a gift card on). It's a lot like the Official Compendium, in that you're not going to learn anything you don't already know and the text is simplistic, sanitized and 100% Toho approved. It even calls Final Wars a success, for crying out loud. There are some cool photos of the earlier movies but it's mainly stuff we've seen a million times elsewhere. They even use the wrong photos to represent certain movies (a photo of the ratty Ghidorah costume from Zone Fighter is included in the section for Ghidrah the Three-Headed Monster). It's really a book that does the bare minimum to get by. Recommended if your bookshelf is in desperate need of some Godzilla content, but that's it.
I share the exact same sentiments. Just received my copy recently, and to be honest, while a book like this would have been a God-send back in the 90s/early 2000s, it feels 2 decades too late. It's very nicely laid out and I like the cover texture. Beyond that, however, it offers very little in the way of interesting facts or tidbits, unique/rare stills, behind the scenes/making of info, no kaiju stats or mecha specs, etc. Instead, it's just a bare bones synopsis of each film and not much beyond that.

While I definitely don't regret picking this book up (it's always nice to have a Western G book up that's up to date through the Millennium-Reiwa-Legendary era), with books like Ryfle and Godzisewski's Honda Biography, Ragone's Tsuburaya Book, Sean Linkenback's Godzilla Poster Book, John Lemay's various books on Lost Godzilla/Kaiju films, the Yuji Kaido art book, the Legendary G14/KOTM/GvsKong books, etc. combined with the ease of acquiring quality Japanese G books without having to paying an arm & a leg these days compared to even 5-10 years ago, a book of this style just isn't going to cut it anymore (it's just a prettier version of the Godzilla Compendium from the mid-90s).
The more I see products like this the more I want to see something like Steve Ryfle's "Japan's Favorite Mon-Star" updated, or at least a volume 2. There's been enough to justify it.
Amen to that! :mugal:
Last edited by ebirahsmeg1 on Mon Jan 09, 2023 3:41 am, edited 1 time in total.
GIANT CONDOR!!!!!!!! :shock:

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

User avatar
Tyrant_Lizard_King
Sazer
Posts: 12850
Joined: Tue Jan 29, 2013 5:57 am
Location: The Planet Trade HQ
Contact:

Re: Godzilla: The Ultimate Illustrated Guide

Post by Tyrant_Lizard_King »

I wasn't gonna order one online but they had it at Books A Million today so I went ahead and grabbed a copy. It might not feature anything in the way of new information but the pictures are nice and I love the overall presentation of it. Really love how they did the cover.
Rocker, paleo buff, cryptid enthusiast, Dragonball fanatic, and lover of comic book, video game, manga, & anime babes!
Follow me on Twitter, if you dare! https://twitter.com/TLK_1983
Image

User avatar
CyberZilla
Gotengo Officer
Posts: 1585
Joined: Fri Jun 05, 2015 1:21 pm
Location: Drifting among the stars, lost in thought

Re: Godzilla: The Ultimate Illustrated Guide

Post by CyberZilla »

I haven’t finished leafing through it, but what really makes it nice is all the pictures included. Also, I just enjoy compendium style books, even if the info isn’t new. I’m sure I could let a friend borrow it if I want to indoctrinate them into Godzilla fandom :pelops2:
“You gave me strength. So did the others. No life is worthless. I believe you now."
Resized Image Resized Image :shingodzillapurple:Resized ImageResized Image:KingGhidorah64: Resized Image :godzilla2021blue: :kingkong1962:

Is your war… finally over?
Resized Image

User avatar
ebirahsmeg1
Gotengo Officer
Posts: 1636
Joined: Mon Jan 23, 2012 11:31 pm
Location: Kanto region, Japan

Re: Godzilla: The Ultimate Illustrated Guide

Post by ebirahsmeg1 »

Angilasman wrote: Thu Nov 24, 2022 9:54 am Well, the fact it's sold out everywhere may be a good sign for further Godzilla books! There's many, many Japanese books I'd love to see get an English language release.
We can only hope that this will lead to far better, more comprehensive books than this one.

CyberZilla wrote: Mon Jan 23, 2023 8:38 pm I haven’t finished leafing through it, but what really makes it nice is all the pictures included. Also, I just enjoy compendium style books, even if the info isn’t new. I’m sure I could let a friend borrow it if I want to indoctrinate them into Godzilla fandom :pelops2:

One thing that irks me about this book is that no mention of non-Godzilla TOHO Daikaiju films (Rodan, Varan, Mothra, War of the Garguantuas, Frankenstein Conquers the World, the Human Vapor, The Mysterians, Atragon, Matango, King Kong Escapes, War in Space, Latitude Zero, Space Amoeba, etc. etc. etc.) is anywhere to be found. Even the smallest, most nondescript Japanese Godzilla books manage to cover these films as well as pack far more information on the entire genre (behind the scenes photos, kaiju stats, mecha stats, etc. etc. etc.) in far fewer pages than this extremely vanilla book. Below are just a few examples:

Image

Image

This issue of Pen Magazine managed to cover far more in just a fraction of the pages:

Image


Hell, even this tiny pocketbook-sized book blows it away, and it's only 500¥ (about $5):

Image


I've seen a lot of people here and elsewhere say "well, it's got nice photos, and it's good for introducing new fans to Godzilla!" recently when defending this book. But even with this very low bar, it falls short even as a "basic English compendium".
GIANT CONDOR!!!!!!!! :shock:

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

Legion1979
Justiriser
Posts: 15857
Joined: Fri Jul 23, 2010 7:45 pm

Re: Godzilla: The Ultimate Illustrated Guide

Post by Legion1979 »

Because this is all Toho wants you to know. This book is ridiculously vapid and a few nice photos and a texured cover isn't enough to save it. Everything in this book reads like publicity material without an iota of substance.

mikelcho
EDF Instructor
Posts: 2594
Joined: Sun Mar 19, 2017 12:23 pm

Re: Godzilla: The Ultimate Illustrated Guide

Post by mikelcho »

I also take it they didn't fix any of the book's errors that Wikizilla lists in its article on it.

Legion1979
Justiriser
Posts: 15857
Joined: Fri Jul 23, 2010 7:45 pm

Re: Godzilla: The Ultimate Illustrated Guide

Post by Legion1979 »

Man, some of the mistakes Wikizilla lists are valid, but a lot them are of the hysterically nit-picky, too trivial to be taken seriously variety. I'm sorry but give me a break. The book using both dubs usage of "1999" as the date DAM takes place instead of the vague mention of the end of the 20th century stated in the Japanese version is listed as a mistake? Like, what the fuck? I know we're all nerds but go outside and get some fresh air or something.
Last edited by Legion1979 on Fri Feb 03, 2023 6:06 pm, edited 2 times in total.

User avatar
CyberZilla
Gotengo Officer
Posts: 1585
Joined: Fri Jun 05, 2015 1:21 pm
Location: Drifting among the stars, lost in thought

Re: Godzilla: The Ultimate Illustrated Guide

Post by CyberZilla »

Legion1979 wrote: Fri Feb 03, 2023 2:09 pm Because this is all Toho wants you to know. This book is ridiculously vapid and a few nice photos and a texured cover isn't enough to save it. Everything in this book reads like publicity material without an iota of substance.
I get what you're saying, but there is something nice about having a book full of these great-quality photos. For me, that's the primary boon, especially since it does mention how it's an illustrated guide. That being said, I do wish it included more juicy info for the hardcore fans to complement the photos included, since that could make it worthwhile for more fans to pick up.
“You gave me strength. So did the others. No life is worthless. I believe you now."
Resized Image Resized Image :shingodzillapurple:Resized ImageResized Image:KingGhidorah64: Resized Image :godzilla2021blue: :kingkong1962:

Is your war… finally over?
Resized Image

User avatar
ebirahsmeg1
Gotengo Officer
Posts: 1636
Joined: Mon Jan 23, 2012 11:31 pm
Location: Kanto region, Japan

Re: Godzilla: The Ultimate Illustrated Guide

Post by ebirahsmeg1 »

Legion1979 wrote: Fri Feb 03, 2023 5:58 pm Man, some of the mistakes Wikizilla lists are valid, but a lot them are of the hysterically nit-picky, too trivial to be taken seriously variety. I'm sorry but give me a break.
You should see their latest video they just released on their YouTube channel where they try to "explain" the Godzilla vs King Ghidorah timeline....good lord :roll:
GIANT CONDOR!!!!!!!! :shock:

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

Post Reply