Godzilla and Godzilla Raids Again Novelisations

[JNewbold54]

If you followed the behind the scenes stuff for the original Godzilla, you've probably heard of Shigeru Kayama, the science fiction author who Tomoyuki Tanaka hired to write the initial story for the original Godzilla, and who would return to do the same for Half-Human, Godzilla Raids Again, and The Mysterians. In addition to this however, he would also pen novel versions of his Godzilla scripts, and this year, those novels are being published in English for the first time.


https://www.amazon.com/Godzilla-Raids-A ... 278&sr=8-2

I, for one, am very excited to read them.

[StardustGenius]

Fascinating! I'll lobby my workplace to carry these!

[Angilasman]

This is extremely exciting! The various books and print materials are some of the things I'm most interested seeing translated and officially released over here!

[GigaBowserG]

Seriously looking forward to digging into this once it's released! Super curious how the characters from the respective movies will be portrayed, and what sort of differences to expect.

[Major sssspielberg!]

Oh no way!! This is too cool. Hopefully this release opens the door for more translated Godzilla works, but even if it doesn't I'm drooling at the idea of adding this release to my bookshelf.

[LSD Jellyfish]

I’m really excited for this. I’ll definitely get a kindle copy but if I can I’ll also try to import a physical copy.

I like the cover too. Something about it is simple yet cool. Tbh, I’m really excited to see what differs in Godzilla raids again.

[Angilasman]

Yeah, cover is really cool: classy and vintage looking, but still fun. I assume it's a real piece of vintage art repurposed?

[StardustGenius]

I work at a libary, I can clue you in on the art. That's most likely vintage art repurposed, and that kind of visual is what publishers, book stores, and libraries are expecting when it comes to stories from an older era.

[LSD Jellyfish]

I work at a libary, I can clue you in on the art. That's most likely vintage art repurposed, and that kind of visual is what publishers, book stores, and libraries are expecting when it comes to stories from an older era.

Yeah.


Reminds me of my copy of Gravity’s Rainbow.

[PuzzledAmphibian]

Never in a million years did I think these would get an official translation.

[Creature22]

Very much looking forward to this. These are the things I wish could get English releases and I love the artwork as well. I wonder how the translation will fare.

[UltramanGoji]

Hoping this leads to a "Luminous Fairies & Mothra" translation/reprint too.

[Pkmatrix]

Amazon says my copy will be arriving today! Unfortunately, I'm a thousand miles away right now and won't get to it until Tuesday.

[Angilasman]

I'm saving this for a Christmas present, so I'm excited it's not delayed (very common for boks recently). Listened to a podcast where Matt Frank interviewed the translator and he said Luminous Fairies and Mothra is on the table!

[Pkmatrix]

I'm saving this for a Christmas present, so I'm excited it's not delayed (very common for boks recently). Listened to a podcast where Matt Frank interviewed the translator and he said Luminous Fairies and Mothra is on the table!

!!!

PLEASE PLEASE LET IT BE SO

[mikelcho]

I'm saving this for a Christmas present, so I'm excited it's not delayed (very common for boks recently). Listened to a podcast where Matt Frank interviewed the translator and he said Luminous Fairies and Mothra is on the table!

!!!

PLEASE PLEASE LET IT BE SO

I couldn't agree with more! Should it happen, that's next on my book list after this one.

Now, if only someone could do the same thing with both The Godzilla Comic and The Godzilla Comic Raids Again: Gigantis the Fire Comic...

[GigaBowserG]

I'm saving this for a Christmas present, so I'm excited it's not delayed (very common for boks recently). Listened to a podcast where Matt Frank interviewed the translator and he said Luminous Fairies and Mothra is on the table!

That'd be fantastic. Would personally love to see the Anime Godzilla Trilogy tie-in novels get official translations... and/or the GvsKG1991 novel.

[JNewbold54]

Ok, so I have the novelisations, and I've just finished reading the first one. Mostly pretty similar to the film, but with some interesting differences:

Spoiler:

* So the biggest difference is the main character. Ogata is still in the story, but his role is vastly reduced. Shinkichi, the young man from Odo island whose family is killed by Godzilla and gets taken in by Dr Yamane, fills in most of his part in the narrative, particularly as Emiko's confidant and Serizawa's diving partner. In most respects he acts the same as Ogata did in the film, but the arguments between him and Yamane about whether Godzilla should be killed or not are much more civil, probably due to Yamane sympathising with his loss.

* Serizawa is much the same in personality, but the wound that cost him his eye also left one side of his face heavily scarred, and his hair is very long, partly to hide the scars. He doesn't seem to be engaged to Emiko in this version, and his request for Shinkichi to be happy with her is less loaded as a result.

* There's a minor subplot where an apparent cult following Godzilla springs up, and Dr Yamane is suspected of being its leader, but it ultimately turns out to only have one actual member who is killed during Godzilla's rampage. It's ultimately not very consequential, and I can see why it wasn't included in the film.

* Godzilla is, like in the film, a Jurassic era animal, a transitional form between land and sea reptiles, who has survived at the bottom of the sea until the present day, before being driven out of his habitat by nuclear testing. Unlike in the film, the novel has little sympathy for Godzilla, and it is portrayed solely as a threat, a representation of the nuclear bomb, but not a victim of it. There isn't much of a detailed description of its appearance, but it is noted to be have a constant blue-white glow on its entire body from the radiation. The Atomic Breath is described as a beam of light, closer to its depiction in later films than the misty spray of the 1954 film.

* The Oxygen destroyer seems to be a purely electrical device, as opposed to the chemical compound described in later films, and the device is controlled remotely by a wire.

* The anti war and anti nuclear messaging of the final film is, if anything, even stronger here, with Yamane's desire to discover the secret of Godzilla's invulnerability ad give it to mankind explicitly stated to be due to his desire to atone for Japan's actions in WW2.

I very much enjoyed the novel. Once I've finished the second one, I'll describe it here too, though as I haven't seen Godzilla Raids Again, I might not have as much to say.

[LSD Jellyfish]

Ok, so I have the novelisations, and I've just finished reading the first one. Mostly pretty similar to the film, but with some interesting differences:

Spoiler:

* So the biggest difference is the main character. Ogata is still in the story, but his role is vastly reduced. Shinkichi, the young man from Odo island whose family is killed by Godzilla and gets taken in by Dr Yamane, fills in most of his part in the narrative, particularly as Emiko's confidant and Serizawa's diving partner. In most respects he acts the same as Ogata did in the film, but the arguments between him and Yamane about whether Godzilla should be killed or not are much more civil, probably due to Yamane sympathising with his loss.

* Serizawa is much the same in personality, but the wound that cost him his eye also left one side of his face heavily scarred, and his hair is very long, partly to hide the scars. He doesn't seem to be engaged to Emiko in this version, and his request for Shinkichi to be happy with her is less loaded as a result.

* There's a minor subplot where an apparent cult following Godzilla springs up, and Dr Yamane is suspected of being its leader, but it ultimately turns out to only have one actual member who is killed during Godzilla's rampage. It's ultimately not very consequential, and I can see why it wasn't included in the film.

* Godzilla is, like in the film, a Jurassic era animal, a transitional form between land and sea reptiles, who has survived at the bottom of the sea until the present day, before being driven out of his habitat by nuclear testing. Unlike in the film, the novel has little sympathy for Godzilla, and it is portrayed solely as a threat, a representation of the nuclear bomb, but not a victim of it. There isn't much of a detailed description of its appearance, but it is noted to be have a constant blue-white glow on its entire body from the radiation. The Atomic Breath is described as a beam of light, closer to its depiction in later films than the misty spray of the 1954 film.

* The Oxygen destroyer seems to be a purely electrical device, as opposed to the chemical compound described in later films, and the device is controlled remotely by a wire.

* The anti war and anti nuclear messaging of the final film is, if anything, even stronger here, with Yamane's desire to discover the secret of Godzilla's invulnerability ad give it to mankind explicitly stated to be due to his desire to atone for Japan's actions in WW2.

I very much enjoyed the novel. Once I've finished the second one, I'll describe it here too, though as I haven't seen Godzilla Raids Again, I might not have as much to say.

Interesting.

I hope more people talk about this. It’ll be a few months, but I intend to pick up a copy when I’m back in America for a few weeks in a few months.

[JNewbold54]

Have read the Raids again novel. As I haven't seen that film, I can't say how different it is overall, but there is one major change from a Kaiju fans perspective:

Spoiler:

In the book, Anguirus has Atomic Breath as well.

Didn't enjoy this one quite as much, the highlight was the fight between Godzilla and Anguirus, which happens a surprisingly long time before the end of the story, and the human cast are less engaging. These are, I gather, also issues with the film.