User:Les/Sandbox/Director of special effects
Director of special effects (特技監督 tokugi kantoku, or 特撮監督 tokusatsu kantoku) is a position which exists in Japanese special effects productions, or tokusatsu. Directors of special effects typically lead a dedicated crew in shooting special effects sequences, allowing for the production's main director and their crew to focus on traditional scenes involving human characters. Occasionally, however, a single director may be put in charge of both units, or a director and director of special effects may share the same unit. The two-unit system was established by Toho for their war films in the 1940s, carrying on through their later kaiju and science fiction productions. Toho effects technician Eiji Tsuburaya was the first person to ever receive the title of director of special effects, first being formally named as such in the credits of 1955's Godzilla Raids Again.
With the popularization of tokusatsu, this and similar titles were adopted by various other companies including Daiei, Toei, and Tsuburaya's own Tsuburaya Productions. During the Showa era of Japan, Toho's Sadamasa Arikawa and Teruyoshi Nakano, Daiei's Noriaki Yuasa and Yoshiyuki Kuroda, Toei's Nobuo Yajima, and more all bore the title of director of special effects. Today, the title is primarily survived by Tsuburaya Productions and Toei, creators of the Ultraman franchise and Kamen Rider and Super Sentai franchises, respectively. Notable creatives include Kiyotaka Taguchi, Katsuro Onoue, and Hiroshi Butsuda.
Usage by Toho
Though Eiji Tsuburaya was in charge of the effects for 1954's Godzilla, he and his key staff were grouped together under a single credit for tokushu gijutsu (特殊技術), meaning "special technology" or "special techniques." This terminology stemmed from the name of the Special Technology Division of Toho's Tokyo Studio, which was established in late 1937 and presided over by Tsuburaya through to the end of World War II. Though the Special Technology Division was dissolved after the war due to its creation of Japanese propaganda films, Tsuburaya continued utilizing "special technology" in Toho films. Tsuburaya was officially christened as tokugi kantoku (特技監督) in the credits of Godzilla's sequel Godzilla Raids Again, a contraction of tokushu gijutsu combined with the word for "director," kantoku. This title, which had never before been used, was approximated to English by Toho in their 1955 Toho Films catalog as "Special Technical Supervisor."
The tokugi kantoku terminology would not stay consistent for another several years, however. Tsuburaya's title reverted back to tokushu gijutsu for 1955's Half Human and 1956's The Maiden Courtesan, then briefly returned to tokugi kantoku for 1956's Madam White Snake, and went back to tokushu gijutsu again on 1956's Rodan and 1957's The Paradise Island Story. It was more or less solidified with The Mysterians, the effects for which were created by a newly reestablished Special Technology Division in 1957. Tsuburaya would be credited as a tokugi kantoku on all but one film—Submarine I-57 Will Not Surrender from 1959—for the next 10 years. The Americanizations of The Mysterians and Godzilla Raids Again, both released in 1959, offered the translation "Director of Special Photographic Effects" for the title. The American version of The H-Man, released the same year, was the first to use the "Director of Special Effects" translation commonly understood today.
Tsuburaya's health began to decline around the mid-1960s, and though he was credited as the director of special effects of Ebirah, Horror of the Deep, his protegé Sadamasa Arikawa in fact took up the mantle. Arikawa went on to direct the effects for Son of Godzilla and Destroy All Monsters, with Tsuburaya being given the title of "special effects supervisor" (特技監修 tokugi kanshū) despite having little to no involvement. In a first for the Godzilla series and Toho's tokusatsu in general, the 1969 Godzilla film All Monsters Attack did not have a separate special effects unit nor director of special effects; all of the movie's scenes were directed by Ishiro Honda, with consultation from another of Tsuburaya's assistants, Teruyoshi Nakano, for the special effects portions. Tsuburaya passed away in 1970, after which Arikawa only directed the effects for one more movie: Space Amoeba. Arikawa shed the tokugi kantoku title for this film in favor of tokushu gijutsu, perhaps out of respect for Tsuburaya's passing.
Arikawa was succeeded by Nakano as the director of special effects of the Godzilla series, debuting on Yoshimitsu Banno's Godzilla vs. Hedorah in 1971. Like All Monsters Attack before it, the movie did not employ separate drama and special effects units, but differed in its use of two directors. Like Arikawa, Nakano was not credited as a tokugi kantoku, and continued not to be for the next two Godzilla films, Godzilla vs. Gigan and Godzilla vs. Megalon. However, in 1973, Nakano earned the title of director of special effects on Submersion of Japan, and was credited as such for the rest of his career. Nakano worked on the Godzilla films until The Return of Godzilla in 1984, and worked on his final Toho film, Princess from the Moon, in 1987. Four years after The Return of Godzilla, a sequel was produced entitled Godzilla vs. Biollante, for which Koichi Kawakita took over as effects director. Kawakita had worked under Tsuburaya as a cameraman and optical photographer since the early 60s, and had previously directed Godzilla in three episodes of the 1973 television series Zone Fighter. Kawakita directed the effects for all of Toho's kaiju films thereafter until 1997, summing to nine films including Biollante, and was consistently credited as tokugi kantoku through all of them.
Kenji Suzuki, Kawakita's 1st AD on all but one of his kaiju films, debuted as a special effects director on Rebirth of Mothra 3 in 1998 and went on to direct the effects of the first two Godzilla movies of the Millennium series: Godzilla 2000: Millennium and Godzilla vs. Megaguirus. However, Suzuki was credited for tokushu gijutsu in all three films. In fact, not a single one of the Millennium-era Godzilla effects directors would be acknowledged as directors in their films' credits. The tokugi kantoku credit would not appear on another Godzilla film after Godzilla vs. Destoroyah until 21 years later, when Higuchi took up the position on Shin Godzilla. The title has otherwise been mostly phased out in the 21st century, with the only other person to receive it being Koichi Kawakita for his work on the three Ultra Star God Series shows, their 2005 movie Super Fleet Sazer-X the Movie, and the 2007 series Kawaii! JeNny. Instead, the term tokusatsu kantoku (特撮監督), which was used by all other Japanese studios except Toho and Tsuburaya Productions up to this point, has been adopted. Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack effects director Makoto Kamiya was credited as the tokusatsu kantoku of Shinji Higuchi's 2006 remake of Submersion of Japan, entitled Sinking of Japan, as well as 2011's Gantz and Gantz: Perfect Answer, and 2016's I Am a Hero. Additionally, Tokusatsu Lab co-founder Katsuro Onoue has served as a tokusatsu kantoku on various movies including Onmyoji and Onmyoji II, Takashi Yamazaki's directorial debut Returner, the 2007 film Monkey Magic, and Higuchi's 2015 live-action Attack on Titan adaptations Attack on Titan the Movie: Part 1 and Part 2.
