Gojiban (2019-)
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Gojiban (ゴジばん) is an ongoing multi-segmented Japanese puppet web series co-produced by Toho, AlphaBoat, and Studio Koganemushi which premiered on the Godzilla Channel YouTube channel on August 9, 2019. The series is the result of a Godzilla-based audition campaign held by the collaborative project GEMSTONE and reuses puppets from Koganemushi's 2004 puppet show, Gekigoji.
Plot
Gojiban episodes typically alternate between Go! Go! Godzilla-kun (Go! Go!ゴジラくん, in which Go Go Gojira-kun)Godzilla-kun teaches his brothers Minilla and Little various Godzilla skills, such as breathing atomic breath or tail sliding, and Attention! Godzilla (かまった!ゴジラ, in which Kamatte Gojira)Kamatte-kun appears before people in times of need. Each episode ends with Old Man Hedo (ヘドじい, where a conversation occurs between the titular Hedojī)Old Man Hedo and his grandson Hedochi as they trek through a seemingly endless wasteland. Some episodes of the series, however, feature all three segments, along with an additional fourth short. In episode 6, this consisted of a bonus second installment of Old Man Hedo entitled Old Man Hedo Extra (ヘドじい番外, while episode 8 introduced the segment Ask Jet Jaguar! Hedojī Bangai) (ジェットジャガーに訊け!, in which Jetto Jagā ni Kike)Jet Jaguar is an advanced robot created by Dr. Roborobo who answers press questions from a podium at a news conference.
A fifth segment, titled Moshi Mosu (もしモス), was featured in the show's pilot but has yet to make an appearance in the final series. In it, two Mothra larvae communicate through a pair of cups attached by string.
Episodes
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Staff
Staff role on the left, staff member's name on the right.
- Directed by Hideyuki Kobayashi
- Written by Hideyuki Kobayashi
- Executive producing by Keiji Ota, Taichi Ueda, Akihiro Yamauchi
- Produced by Koji Azuma, Takanori Higuchi
- Music by Hideyuki Kobayashi, Nana Morohoshi
- Cinematography by Koichi Inokuchi, Jun Shimazaki
- Puppets Created by Hideyuki Kobayashi, Mile Paxton
- Puppet Operators Hiroto Nakayama, Megumi Kawano, Emi Takita
- Title Logo(s) by Yukihide Toyoda
- Illustrators Junko Kubota, Marunana, Onigiri, Shiu Yoshijima
Cast
Actor's name on the left, character played on the right.
- Yumiko Takahashi as Godzilla-kun (voice)
- Rino Shimomura as Rino, office lady
- Masahiro Omura as Rino's boyfriend
- Clair as Mia, ballerina
- Marie Katsura as Ballet master / Marika, warrior girl
- Yuko Amami as Yuko, office lady
- Aiko Yuhara as Aira, warrior girl
Appearances
Monsters
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Weapons, Vehicles, and Races
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Gallery
Awards
A pilot for Gojiban was submitted in March of 2019 to the first GEMSTONE Creators Audition, which had the theme of "Godzilla." It was awarded the grand prize of 300,000 yen, along with G vs. G, Fiction, Gifu Godzilla, DRESS, and Godzilla Trailer.[2] The prize-winning creators were thus given the opportunity to work with producers at Toho, with Gojiban becoming a full series aired on the official Godzilla Channel months later.
Award | Category | Recipient(s) | Result |
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GEMSTONE Creators Audition Vol.1 | Godzilla | Gojiban | Won[2] |
Manga adaptation
A 4-panel comic strip-style manga adaptation of Gojiban, entitled Gojiman (ゴジ漫), began being serialized by the Japanese anime news site Animage Plus beginning on September 12, 2019.[3] New issues are released every Thursday.
Videos
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Trivia
- Gojiban marks the first Godzilla-related series to be produced since 1999's Godzilla TV. It is also the first ever web-exclusive Godzilla series.
- A number of episodes of the Go! Go! Godzilla-kun segment feature references to previous Godzilla films.
- In episode 1, Godzilla-kun stepping on Minilla's tail to make him fire stronger smoke rings is a reference to the film Son of Godzilla, in which Godzilla stepping on Minilla's tail causes him to fire atomic breath, rather than smoke rings.
- Anguirus communicates with Godzilla-kun through roars and speech bubbles at the request of Japanese YouTube user Uchi no Angirasu (うちのアンギラス). This is in reference to the Japanese theatrical version of Godzilla vs. Gigan, which featured Godzilla and Anguirus' dialogue being represented with speech bubbles. Anguirus' recurring line "OK!" is even taken directly from the film.
- The "Godzilla Kick" move that Godzilla-kun teaches to Minilla and Little in episode 4 is a reference to an identical move performed by Godzilla in Godzilla vs. Megalon. This too was a fan request, by user Yoshio-kun (ヨシオくん).
- The ending to episode 6 of Go! Go! Godzilla-kun may be seen as a reference to Gamera. Minilla and Little, dressed as turtles, spin around and lift off into the air, similar to the manner in which Gamera flies.
References
This is a list of references for Godziban. 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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