Dark Horse Manga began as most things do—with Godzilla rising from the sea. Yes, the very first manga Dark Horse ever published, back in 1988, was Kazuhisa Iwata’s adaptation of the 1984 film version. A primal creature, Godzilla has been around a long time—the film series having begun with the original 1954 Godzilla film directed by Ishiro Honda. Next Tuesday, October 11, the fittingly entitled Shin Godzilla (“New Godzilla”), also known as Godzilla Resurgence, will hit four different Portland-area theaters for a one-night showing. For a complete listing of North American showings, check the official Funimation movie site.
I have my ticket; Dark Horse co-founder and V-P of Publishing Randy Stradley has his ticket. And you need to get yours, because Shin Godzilla is a film made by Hideaki Anno, the creator of Neon Genesis Evangelion, together with the director of the live-action Attack on Titan, Shinji Higuchi! This is no vanity project—Anno and Higuchi are of the generation that grew up making amateur films inspired by the live-action special effects tradition in Japanese movies and TV known as tokusatsu, a wide genre that includes works like Godzilla and Power Rangers.
It’s long been observed that Evangelion’s close combat between its giant Eva Units and Angels is reminiscent of monster-fighting series such as Godzilla and Ultraman, and that is absolutely no coincidence. Godzilla has had a profound influence on the anime of Anno and Higuchi; now in Shin Godzilla they return what they owe with interest, giving the King of the Monsters a new incarnation that’s been a box-office hit (the last time a Godzilla film sold this many tickets in Japan was in the 1960s). It’s surely because people there responded to Shin Godzilla both a giant monster movie and as a political satire. The film doesn’t have to imagine what their nation’s bureaucracy would do when faced with a terror from the sea—the Japanese already know it, with the bungled response to the tsunami and nuclear meltdown in Fukushima, Japan’s deadliest disaster since the devastation of WWII that influenced the original 1954 Godzilla.
If you’re a fan of anime and manga but you’ve never seen a kaiju (giant monster film), you haven’t been in touch with one of the great roots of Japanese pop culture. There’s no better chance to get connected than with Shin Godzilla!
—Carl Horn
Manga Editor
Dark Horse Manga began as most things do—with Godzilla rising from the sea. Yes, the very first manga Dark Horse ever published, back in 1988, was Kazuhisa Iwata’s adaptation of the 1984 film version. A primal creature, Godzilla has been around a long time—the film series having begun with the original 1954 Godzilla film directed by Ishiro Honda. Next Tuesday, October 11, the fittingly entitled Shin Godzilla (“New Godzilla”), also known as Godzilla Resurgence, will hit four different Portland-area theaters for a one-night showing. For a complete listing of North American showings, check the official Funimation movie site.
I have my ticket; Dark Horse co-founder and V-P of Publishing Randy Stradley has his ticket. And you need to get yours, because Shin Godzilla is a film made by Hideaki Anno, the creator of Neon Genesis Evangelion, together with the director of the live-action Attack on Titan, Shinji Higuchi! This is no vanity project—Anno and Higuchi are of the generation that grew up making amateur films inspired by the live-action special effects tradition in Japanese movies and TV known as tokusatsu, a wide genre that includes works like Godzilla and Power Rangers.
It’s long been observed that Evangelion’s close combat between its giant Eva Units and Angels is reminiscent of monster-fighting series such as Godzilla and Ultraman, and that is absolutely no coincidence. Godzilla has had a profound influence on the anime of Anno and Higuchi; now in Shin Godzilla they return what they owe with interest, giving the King of the Monsters a new incarnation that’s been a box-office hit (the last time a Godzilla film sold this many tickets in Japan was in the 1960s). It’s surely because people there responded to Shin Godzilla both a giant monster movie and as a political satire. The film doesn’t have to imagine what their nation’s bureaucracy would do when faced with a terror from the sea—the Japanese already know it, with the bungled response to the tsunami and nuclear meltdown in Fukushima, Japan’s deadliest disaster since the devastation of WWII that influenced the original 1954 Godzilla.
If you’re a fan of anime and manga but you’ve never seen a kaiju (giant monster film), you haven’t been in touch with one of the great roots of Japanese pop culture. There’s no better chance to get connected than with Shin Godzilla!
—Carl Horn
I have my ticket; Dark Horse co-founder and V-P of Publishing Randy Stradley has his ticket. And you need to get yours, because Shin Godzilla is a film made by Hideaki Anno, the creator of Neon Genesis Evangelion, together with the director of the live-action Attack on Titan, Shinji Higuchi! This is no vanity project—Anno and Higuchi are of the generation that grew up making amateur films inspired by the live-action special effects tradition in Japanese movies and TV known as tokusatsu, a wide genre that includes works like Godzilla and Power Rangers.
It’s long been observed that Evangelion’s close combat between its giant Eva Units and Angels is reminiscent of monster-fighting series such as Godzilla and Ultraman, and that is absolutely no coincidence. Godzilla has had a profound influence on the anime of Anno and Higuchi; now in Shin Godzilla they return what they owe with interest, giving the King of the Monsters a new incarnation that’s been a box-office hit (the last time a Godzilla film sold this many tickets in Japan was in the 1960s). It’s surely because people there responded to Shin Godzilla both a giant monster movie and as a political satire. The film doesn’t have to imagine what their nation’s bureaucracy would do when faced with a terror from the sea—the Japanese already know it, with the bungled response to the tsunami and nuclear meltdown in Fukushima, Japan’s deadliest disaster since the devastation of WWII that influenced the original 1954 Godzilla.
If you’re a fan of anime and manga but you’ve never seen a kaiju (giant monster film), you haven’t been in touch with one of the great roots of Japanese pop culture. There’s no better chance to get connected than with Shin Godzilla!
—Carl Horn
Manga Editor