Episode 46: Daniel DiManna vs. ‘Gamera: Super Monster’

The Monster Island Film Vault

Hello…kaiju…lovers…. The only reason this episode is long as it is because Nate’s guest, Daniel DiManna (creator/author of the Godzilla Novelization Project) is the most talkative introvert ever of all time. But even if “Danny Boy” was Superman with a Beta Capsule, he couldn’t save this week’s Year of Gamera movie, the infamous Gamera: Super Monster. This 1980 cash-grab from a barely-alive Daiei Film is easily the Guardian of the Universe’s lowest point. On paper, Nate should love this movie because it has three of his favorite things—spaceships, superheroes, and kaiju—but he doesn’t. From public access channel special effects to a nonsensical plot with everything but the kitchen sink to the truckloads of stock footage—this must’ve been a plot by the Board of Directors to break Nate. Meanwhile, Danny keeps MIFV's intrepid producer, Jimmy From NASA, quiet by getting him to bet his Pteranodon-bot that he can't interrupt them during the broadcast. The Toku Topic, fittingly, is the rise and fall of Daiei Film, the studio that introduced the world to Akira Kurosawa and Gamera but dug itself into a financial hole it couldn’t escape. It’s a crazy story, to say the least.

Before the broadcast, Nate and Jimmy are visited by the Board’s executive assistant, Ms. Perkins. She tells Nate that she made arrangements for him to interview Spacewoman Kilara from Gamera: Super Monster on MIFV, much to his chagrin, and then fangirls over her. But the more Nate asks Ms. Perkins questions about her past, the stranger she acts.

Listen to Nate and Travis’s spinoff podcast, The Henshin Men Podcast, on Redcircle.

This episode’s epilogue, “Interviewing a Superheroine,” was written by Nathan Marchand.

Guest stars:

• Celeste Mora as Ms. Perkins

Additional music:

• “MegaRanger Cover” by nypad5
• “Opening the Way” by Pablo Coma
• “Chant My Name!” by Masaaki Endo

Sound effects, including some by InspectorJ and klankbeeld, sourced from Freesound.org.

We’d like to give a shout-out to our MIFV MAX patrons Travis Alexander and Michael Hamilton (co-hosts of Kaiju Weekly); Danny DiManna (author/creator of the Godzilla Novelization Project); Eli Harris (elizilla13); Chris Cooke (host of One Cross Radio); Bex from Redeemed Otaku; Damon Noyes, The Cel Cast, and TofuFury! Thanks for your support!

You, too, can join MIFV MAX on Patreon to get this and other perks starting at only $3 a month!

Buy official MIFV merch on TeePublic!

This episode is approved by the Monster Island Board of Directors.

Timestamps:

• Prologue: 0:00-7:47
• Intro: 7:47-19:26
• Entertaining Info Dump: 19:26-26:43
• Toku Talk: 26:43-1:37:52
• Henshin Men Promo: 1:37:52-1:41:08
• Toku Topic: 1:41:08-2:13:12
• Listener Feedback, Housekeeping & Outro: 2:13:12-end

Podcast Social Media:

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© 2021 Moonlighting Ninjas Media

Bibliography/Further Reading:

• “Daiei Film.” (Wikipedia).
• Danny’s brain.
• Flower, James. “A Guide to English Language Gamera” (Arrow Video Gamera: The Complete Collection).
• Galbraith IV, Stuart. Japanese Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films: A Critical Analysis and Filmography of 103 Features Released in the United States 1950-1992.
• Gamera: The Complete Collection, Disc Four Special Features.
• Gamera: Super Monster Commentary by Richard Pusateri (Arrow Video’s Gamera: The Complete Collection).
• Kaijuvision Radio, Episode 12: Ebirah - Horror of the Deep! (1966) (The Changing Kaiju Film Audience)
• Kalat, David. “Chapter 19: Survival of the Silliest.” A Critical History and Filmography of Toho’s Godzilla Series, 2nd
• LeMay, John. The Big Book of Japanese Giant Monster Movies Volume 1: 1954-1982.
• Macias, Patrick. “A History of Gamera: Gamera: Super Monster” (Arrow Video’s Gamera: The Complete Collection).
• Shoemaker, Greg. “Daiei: A History of the Greater Japan Motion Picture Company.” (The History Vortex).
• Wiki Articles on Gamera: Super Monster
  • Gamera Wiki
  • Gojipedia
  • IMDB
  • Wikipedia
  • Wikizilla