Demeking, the Sea Monster (2009)
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Demeking (2009)
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"It" is traveling across the galaxy... (「それ」は、銀河を越えてやってくる──。)
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— Tagline |
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TERROR LIES BENEATH
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— American tagline |
Demeking, the Sea Monster (デメキング Demekingu, lit. "Demeking") is a 2009 Japanese kaiju drama film directed by Kotaro Terauchi and written by Takashi Imashiro based on Imashiro's 1991 manga of the same name,[1] with VFX supervised by Tsuyoshi Kazuno (under the name Takeshi Kazuno). Funded by the Demeking Production Committee (consisting of Jolly Roger, OKWave, Organic, and DefStar Records) and produced by Tornado Film, the film stars Takeshi Nadagi, Kohei Kiyasu, Ryume Ito, Amane Nikai, and Goki Sano. Jolly Roger released it to Japanese theaters on March 7, 2009.
Description
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Plot
The year is 1970 in the Japanese coastal city of Akinohama. At Tanoura Middle School, Hiroshi "Kame" Kameoka quits his judo lessons, ostensibly to focus on his studies, only to goof off with the younger members of the Tanoura Youth Exploration Group, Kenji, Masaru, and Hiro. College dropout Koichi Hachiya works at the local Mamahama Marine Park. Though possessing no great career ambitions and oblivious to the affections of women, he works out tirelessly and practices stunts on his motorcycle.
Investigating reports of a ghost ship at the marina, the Youth Exploration Group is fascinated by the samurai armor and katana they find aboard. Both belong to Koichi, who appears behind them and announces his plans to fight "Demeking." When Kame asks what that is, he departs without answering. He asks again at the park; again, Koichi dodges the question, instead asking him why he isn’t in school. Kame explains that he’s just going to inherit the family tofu store, so his grades aren’t important.
Koichi suddenly quits his job and heads to Tokyo, leaving behind a map for Kame which he claims will explain Demeking. The Youth Exploration Group assembles and follows Koichi’s clues first to a street sign, then to the Ferris wheel in the marine park, and finally to the cave underneath the closest lighthouse, which is 13 miles away. They endure a punishing uphill climb on their bikes to reach it, during which Masaru’s bike gets a flat tire and has to be left behind, and unearth a metal box containing a banner which reads, "Space Monster Demeking, Witness Koichi Hachiya, 2019," accompanied by a drawing of a giant footprint. A letter inside the box explains that the banner represents a prophecy about a monster attacking Earth, one that Koichi has shared with no one else. They leave dejected, assuming that Koichi is playing a prank on them. Kame lags behind to walk Masaru’s bike home, arriving back in Akinohama after nightfall, and his parents scold him for disappearing the entire day.
That night, Kame dreams of a fighter jet crashing in the bay, followed by the appearance of an asteroid floating over Akinohama. It lands and splits open to reveal Demeking, a slug-like monster. It wades into the bay before unleashing its fire breath on the city, causing mass destruction. It briefly submerges before surfacing before a group of residents watching from a dock. Koichi tries taking a picture of it as it makes landfall, only to find a street covered in giant eggs. When he comes face-to-face with the beast, his camera flash provokes it and it unleashes its flame, causing him to wake up.
Kame dissolves the Youth Exploration Group, believing their best days are behind them, especially with Kenji starting after-school class. Two years later, he has started high school and plans to write a novel about Koichi’s story. His protagonist, Santa Minemura, builds a bomb in Tokyo in anticipation of Demeking's arrival—but the monster never comes, and Minemura unleashes his anger on the world instead, getting shot by a detective while trying to blow up the National Diet Building. With a new supermarket impacting the tofu store’s business, he sees it as his best chance for a future, aiming for the Akutagawa Prize. However, he struggles to actually put the story down on the page.
Koichi, now working as a gardener’s assistant, meets with his father in Tokyo, who berates him for wasting his life. Talking with his roommate afterwards, he declares that he’s unlikely to ever return home to Akinohama. Kame gives up on writing the novel. At the same time, Demeking's asteroid hurls through space.
Staff
Staff role on the left, staff member's name on the right.
- Directed by Kotaro Terauchi
- Written by Takashi Imashiro
- Based on the manga Demeking by Takashi Imashiro[1]
- Executive producer Takafumi Ohashi
- Produced by Kyosuke Ueno
- Assistant producers Kota Tateuchi, Erika Sato, Akira Sakai
- Music by Chika Fujino, Akiyuki Kubota
- Cinematography by Yoshiko Osawa
- Edited by Yoshitsugu Sagami
- Production design by Yuji Kasamura
- First assistant director Yuki Kondo
- Visual effects supervisor Takeshi Kazuno
Cast
Actor's name on the left, character played on the right.
- Takeshi Nadagi as Koichi Hachiya
- Kohei Kiyasu as Hiroshi "Kame" Kameoka
- Ryume Ito
- Amane Nikai
- Goki Sano
- Hiroshi Yamamoto as Yusuke Nagata
- Zenjiro
- Chiyoko Asami
- Takashi Matsuo
- Punch Sato
- Manami Honjo as Yoshihiko Hachiya
- Guts Ishimatsu as Tadashi Hachiya
Appearances
Monsters |
Weapons and vehicles |
Alternate titles
- Demeking (literal Japanese title)
Theatrical releases
- Japan - March 7, 2009
- South Korea - August 12, 2010
Video releases
Geneon Universal DVD (September 18, 2009)[3]
- Region: 2
- Discs: 1
- Audio: Japanese
- Subtitles: Unknown
- Special features: Behind-the-scenes featurette, stage greetings from the premiere, interview with screenwriter Takashi Imashiro, Flash animation
Cinema Epoch DVD (October 12, 2010)
- Region: 1
- Discs: 1
- Audio: Japanese
- Subtitles: English
- Special features: Photo gallery (1:34); trailers for Demeking, the Sea Monster (1:33), Death Tube (1:27), Slaughter Island (1:31), Killer Car (1:24), The Roommate (1:45), and Scream Girls (1:29)
- Notes: Out of print.
Gallery
- Main article: Demeking, the Sea Monster/Gallery.
Videos
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Trivia
- Demeking, the Sea Monster is the second film adaptation of the Demeking manga; the first was the 1998 pornographic film Molester Train: Ass of Benten, directed by Shinji Imaoka.[4]
External links
References
This is a list of references for Demeking, the Sea Monster. 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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