Showa era

Japanese political periods
← None	Showa	Heisei →

Godzilla film series
← None	Showa	Heisei →

The Showa era (昭和,   Shōwa), or Showa period (昭和時代,   Shōwa jidai), was a political period of Japan which lasted from 1926 to 1989 under the reign of Emperor Shōwa, formerly Hirohito. Films produced during this era, such as those of the Godzilla or Gamera series, may be identified as the Showa series (昭和シリーズ,   Shōwa shirīzu) of their respective franchises. The first Godzilla film began the Showa era of the kaiju industry, with Godzilla being the usual kaiju affiliated with this era. It was succeeded by the Heisei era.

During the beginning of the Showa era, Godzilla was mainly antagonistic in nature, taking on the likes of Anguirus and Mothra. By the time of Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, Godzilla adopted what would soon become his most famous image: a heroic monster, battling terrible villains with other monsters by his side.

The Showa era saw many other film studios such as Daiei, Nikkatsu and Shochiku attempt to enter the new genres of tokusatsu and kaiju films with their own creations, including Gamera, Daimajin, Gappa and Guilala, respectively.

After the formation of Tsuburaya Productions and the creation of their most famous series, the Ultraman franchise, Toho produced a significant number of tokusatsu television programs in the Showa era, one of which, Zone Fighter, even featured appearances by Godzilla and two of his other monster co-stars and is considered part of the official continuity of the Showa Godzilla films.^{[citation needed]}

Films

Godzilla series

While all of the Showa Godzilla films share continuity with each other, the Showa Godzilla series can generally be divided into three distinct cycles of films. The first two films in the Godzilla series were produced in 1954 and 1955, and were followed by a seven-year hiatus during which Toho produced several other kaiju films, including Rodan, Varan, and Mothra. The series was revived in 1962 with King Kong vs. Godzilla, after which a new film was produced almost annually throughout the 1960s (the one year that was skipped was 1963). During this period, Godzilla gradually began to transition from a villainous destructive monster to a more sympathetic and heroic character. 1968's Destroy All Monsters was originally planned to be the final Godzilla film, but Toho went on to produce six more films afterward from 1969 to 1975 as features for the Toho Champion Festival children's matinee program. The Godzilla films released during this period, collectively dubbed the "Champion Series" by kaiju historian August Ragone, in particular cemented Godzilla's image as a heroic monster "superhero," and all of its films take place chronologically after Son of Godzilla but before Destroy All Monsters. The series was placed on hiatus again after the box office failure of Terror of Mechagodzilla in 1975, and despite several attempts by Toho to continue the series another Godzilla film would not be produced until nine years later in 1984, thus beginning what would later become known as the Heisei series.

Original duology (1954-1955)

• Godzilla (1954)
• Godzilla Raids Again (1955)

Revival (1962-1968)

• King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)
• Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964)
• Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964)
• Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965)
• Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966)
• Son of Godzilla (1967)
• Destroy All Monsters (1968)

Champion Series (1969-1975)

• All Monsters Attack (1969)
• Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971)
• Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972)
• Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973)
• Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974)
• Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975)

Gamera series

The Showa Gamera series ran from 1965 to 1980, and consists of eight films. The final film in the Showa Gamera series, Gamera Super Monster, was produced nine years after the previous film, Gamera vs. Zigra, due to Daiei going bankrupt. Super Monster's monster scenes consist almost entirely of stock footage from the seven previous films, and its continuity with the rest of the Showa Gamera series is unclear.

• Gamera the Giant Monster (1965)
• Gamera vs. Barugon (1966)
• Gamera vs. Gyaos (1967)
• Gamera vs. Viras (1968)
• Gamera vs. Guiron (1969)
• Gamera vs. Jiger (1970)
• Gamera vs. Zigra (1971)
• Gamera Super Monster (1980)

Other Toho films

In addition to the Godzilla series, Toho produced numerous other kaiju, science fiction, and horror films during the Showa era, some of which would introduce monsters that would go on to make appearances in the Godzilla series.

1950s

• Invisible Man (1954)
• Half Human (1955)
• Rodan (1956)
• The Mysterians (1957)
• Varan (1958)
• The H-Man (1958)
• The Three Treasures (1959)
• Battle in Outer Space (1959)

1960s

• The Secret of the Telegian (1960)
• The Human Vapor (1960)
• Mothra (1961)
• The Last War (1961)
• Gorath (1962)
• Matango (1963)
• Atragon (1963)
• Dogora (1964)
• Frankenstein vs. Baragon (1965)
• The War of the Gargantuas (1966)
• King Kong Escapes (1967)
• Latitude Zero (1969)

1970s

• Space Amoeba (1970)
• Submersion of Japan (1973)
• Prophecies of Nostradamus (1974)
• ESPY (1974)
• The Last Dinosaur (1977) - [produced by Tsuburaya Productions and Rankin/Bass Productions, distributed by Toho]
• The War in Space (1977)
• The Blue Stigma (1978)

1980s

• Magnitude 7.9 (1980)
• Bye-Bye Jupiter (1984)
• Princess from the Moon (1987)

Other Daiei films

In addition to the Gamera series, Daiei produced numerous other science fiction and horror films during the Showa era.

1940s

• The Invisible Man Appears (1949)

1950s

• Warning from Space (1956)
• The Invisible Man vs. The Human Fly (1957)

1960s

• The Ogre of Oeyama (1960)
• Killer Whale (1962)
• Daimajin (1966)
• Return of Daimajin (1966)
• Wrath of Daimajin (1966)
• Yokai Monsters: One Hundred Monsters (1968)
• Yokai Monsters: Spook Warfare (1968)
• Yokai Monsters: Along with Ghosts (1969)

Tsuburaya films

• Return of Ultraman (1971) [compilation film]
• Return of Ultraman: Terror of the Tornado Monsters (1971) [compilation film]
• Mirror Man (1972) [compilation film]
• Return of Ultraman: Jiro Rides a Monster (1972) [compilation film]
• Mirror Man: Dinosaur Aroza Reanimated (1972) [compilation film]
• Daigoro vs. Goliath (1972) [co-produced with Toho]
• The Last Dinosaur (1977) - [co-produced with Rankin/Bass Productions]

Shochiku films

• The X from Outer Space (1967)
• Goké, Body Snatcher from Hell (1968)
• Genocide (1968)

Nikkatsu films

• Gappa (1968)

Miscellaneous films

• Magic Serpent (1966)
• Legend of Dinosaurs and Monster Birds (1977)
• Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)
• Orochi Strikes Again (1984)

Television

Toho TV shows

During the late 1960s, Toho began producing numerous tokusatsu television series, many featuring kaiju, in a similar vein to Tsuburaya Productions' popular Ultra Series. Two of these series, Go! Godman and Go! Greenman, often reused monsters from other Toho TV shows or even from some of Toho's films, including the Godzilla films. The series Zone Fighter is particularly notable for featuring guest appearances from Godzilla himself, along with his enemies Gigan and King Ghidorah. Zone Fighter is considered to be part of the continuity of the Showa Godzilla films, set between the events of Godzilla vs. Megalon and Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla.

• He of the Sun (1967)
• Go! Godman (1972-1973)
• Warrior of Love Rainbowman (1972-1973)
• Zone Fighter (1973)
• Kure Kure Takora (1973-1974)
• Go! Greenman (1973-1974)
• Diamond Eye (1973-1974)
• Submersion of Japan: Television Series (1974-1975)
• Go! Kotaro Ushiwaka (1974-1975)
• Flying Saucer War Bankid (1976-1977)
• Megaloman (1979)

Miscellaneous

• Agon (1968) [produced by Nippon TV, distributed by Toho]
• Assault! Human!! (1972) [produced by Nippon TV and Union Motion Picture Co. in cooperation with Mot Boule]
• Warrior of Love Rainbowman (1982-1983) [produced by Tsuchida Productions]

Monsters introduced

Main article: Category:Showa Kaiju.

Godzilla series Godzilla Anguirus King Kong Giant Octopus Giant Lizard Mothra Mystery Bones of Infant Island King Ghidorah Rodan Ebirah Giant Condor Minilla Kamacuras Kumonga Baragon Gorosaurus Manda Varan Gabara Maneater Hedorah Gigan Jet Jaguar Megalon Mechagodzilla King Caesar Titanosaurus

Gamera series Gamera Barugon Gyaos Viras Guiron Jiger Zigra

Other

Snowman Rodan Meganulon Moguera Varan H-Man Yamata no Orochi Mothra Vampire Plant Maguma Killer Whale Matango Manda Dogora Frankenstein Baragon Gaira Sanda Daimajin

Giant Sea Serpent Mechani-Kong Gorosaurus Gappa Guilala Giant Rats Bat Men Griffon Kamoebas Ganimes Gezora Daigoro's mother Daigoro Goliath Tyrannosaurus rex Triceratops Pteranodon Space Beastman Dragon

See also

• Heisei era
• Millennium era
• Monsterverse
• Reiwa era

Trivia

• The Showa series is currently the longest of the defined eras of Godzilla films to date, as it had 15 films created over the span of 21 years.
• Politically, The Return of Godzilla is a Showa film, as it was the last film to be made in the Showa era of Japan, with the Heisei era beginning on January 8th, 1989.
• Despite the fact that the Showa era of the Godzilla franchise concluded in 1975, several unmade films that were to be released during the latter years of the 1970s indicate that this hiatus may have been unintended, with each successive cancellation inadvertently further increasing the length of the hiatus.
• This era features the majority of appearances for several monsters. Rodan, for example, appears in four films (or around 10, including stock footage appearances) in the Showa era, whereas in the Heisei and Millennium eras, he only has one appearance in each.
• With the exception of Mechagodzilla, none of the monsters and mechas introduced in the Godzilla series after Invasion of Astro-Monster made any appearances in the Heisei series. Ebirah, Minilla, Kamacuras, Kumonga, Hedorah, Gigan and King Caesar were all reintroduced in the final film of the Millennium series, Godzilla Final Wars, leaving Gabara, Megalon, Jet Jaguar and Titanosaurus as the only characters to have not appeared in a film since their debut, with the exception of cameos, stock footage, and appearances in other media.
  • Despite his popularity, Anguirus did not make any appearances in the Heisei series, although he appears in concept art for the unmade films Godzilla vs. Godzilla and Godzilla vs. Barubaroi.
• The Escape from the Hotel with Godzilla Approaching escape room at Atami Bay Resort Korakuen presents itself as a sequel to King Kong vs. Godzilla. It is unknown whether it acknowledges the subsequent Godzilla films in the Showa era.

References

This is a list of references for Showa era. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: ^[1]

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