Showa era: Difference between revisions
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*''Golden Bat'' (1966) | *''Golden Bat'' (1966) | ||
*''[[The Magic Serpent]]'' (1966) | *''[[The Magic Serpent]]'' (1966) | ||
*''Terror Beneath the Sea'' (1966) | |||
*''[[Yongary, Monster from the Deep]]'' (1967) - Produced by Keukdong Entertainment, but distributed by Toei internationally | |||
*''The Green Slime'' (1968) | |||
*''[[Wolf Guy: Enraged Lycanthrope]]'' (1975) | *''[[Wolf Guy: Enraged Lycanthrope]]'' (1975) | ||
*''[[Legend of Dinosaurs and Monster Birds]]'' (1977) | *''[[Legend of Dinosaurs and Monster Birds]]'' (1977) | ||
===Other Films=== | ===Other Films=== | ||
*''[[The X from Outer Space]]'' (1967) | *''[[The X from Outer Space]]'' (1967) |
Revision as of 02:58, 14 January 2018
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The Showa series (昭和シリーズ, also known as Showa era and Showa period, is a term used to identify the years between 1926 and 1989 under the reign of Japanese Emperor Hirohito. Shōwa shirīzu)
The first Godzilla film was to begin the Showa era of the kaiju industry, and Godzilla is the usual kaiju to be affiliated with this era. During the beginning of this 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, Shochiku and Nikkatsu attempt to enter the new genres of Tokusatsu and kaiju films with their own creations, including Gamera, Daimajin, Guilala and Gappa.
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 some of his other monster co-stars and is considered part of the official continuity of the Showa Godzilla films.
Films
Godzilla Series
The Showa Godzilla series ran from 1954 through 1975, and consists of 15 films. While a seven year hiatus took place between the second and third films in the series, a new Godzilla film was produced almost annually from 1962 through 1975. The ninth film in the series, Destroy All Monsters, was originally intended to be the final film, but Toho elected to continue the series the following year with All Monsters Attack, and continued producing new Godzilla films throughout the first half of the 1970's. The series was placed on hiatus following the release of Terror of Mechagodzilla in 1975, and despite numerous unsuccessful attempts to produce a new film in subsequent years the series would not be revived until 1984 with The Return of Godzilla, thus beginning the Heisei series.
- Godzilla (1954)
- Godzilla Raids Again (1955)
- 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)
- 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 previous films, and its continuity with the rest of the Showa Gamera series is unclear.
- Gamera (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 and science-fiction films during the Showa era, some of which would introduce monsters that would go on to make appearances in the Godzilla series.
- 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)
- The Secret of the Telegian (1960)
- The Human Vapor (1960)
- Mothra (1961)
- The Last War (1961)
- Gorath (1962)
- Atragon (1963)
- Matango (1963)
- Dogora (1964)
- Frankenstein vs. Baragon (1965)
- The War of the Gargantuas (1966)
- King Kong Escapes (1967)
- Latitude Zero (1969)
- Space Amoeba (1970)
- Daigoro vs. Goliath (1972)
- Submersion of Japan (1973)
- Prophecies of Nostradamus (1974)
- The Last Dinosaur (1977) - Produced by Tsuburaya Productions and Rankin/Bass Productions, but distributed by Toho
- The War in Space (1977)
- Bye-Bye Jupiter (1984)
- Princess from the Moon (1987)
Other Daiei Films
- Invisible Man Appears (1949)
- Warning from Space (1956)
- Invisible Man vs. Human Fly (1957)
- Whale God (1962)
- Daimajin (1966)
- Return of Daimajin (1966)
- Daimajin Strikes Again (1966)
- The Snake Girl and the Silver-Haired Witch (1968)
- Yokai Monsters: One Hundred Monsters (1968)
- Yokai Monsters: Spook Warfare (1968)
- Yokai Monsters: Along with Ghosts (1969)
Toei Films
- Planet Prince (1959)
- Planet Prince: The Terrifying Spaceship (1959)
- The Final War (1960)
- Invasion of the Neptune Men (1961)
- Golden Bat (1966)
- The Magic Serpent (1966)
- Terror Beneath the Sea (1966)
- Yongary, Monster from the Deep (1967) - Produced by Keukdong Entertainment, but distributed by Toei internationally
- The Green Slime (1968)
- Wolf Guy: Enraged Lycanthrope (1975)
- Legend of Dinosaurs and Monster Birds (1977)
Other Films
- The X from Outer Space (1967)
- Gappa (1967)
Television
During the late 1960's, 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 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 costars 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)
- Agon: Atomic Dragon (1968) - Produced by Nippon TV but distributed by Toho
- Assault! Human!! (1972)
- Go! Godman (1972-1973)
- Warrior of Love Rainbowman (1972-1973)
- Zone Fighter (1973)
- Kure Kure Takora (1973-1974)
- Go! Greenman (1973-1974)
- Warrior of Light Diamond Eye (1973-1974)
- Submersion of Japan: Television Series (1974-1975)
- Go! Ushiwaka Kotaro (1974-1975)
- Flying Saucer War Bankid (1976-1977)
- Seishi Yokomizo Series (1977-1978)
- Megaloman (1979)
Monsters Introduced
Godzilla Series |
Gamera Series |
Other
Television
See Also
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 the 8th of January 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 1970's 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 ten, 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. Ghost Godzilla and Godzilla vs. Barubaroi.