Transnational Kaiju

Dr Steven Rawle is Associate Professor in Media Production at York St John’s University.

Across six chapters, [Rawle] provides in-depth analyses of the first Godzilla movie and the subsequent monster-movie boom in Japan; kaijū film in the two Koreas; the Western localization of Japanese kaijū films and production of domestic variants; kaijū as cult and exploitation cinema; and kaijū in Hollywood. [Rawle] does a good job of detailing the complex relationships—economic, industrial, and semiotic—between national cinema and transnational culture. Its study of international film distribution networks is particularly strong.

• Introduction: ‘Every Country has a Monster’ What is the kaijū eiga? Cult Movies Transnational Cinema Transnational Kaijū Chapter 1: National Films, Transnational Monsters Kaijū and the Japanese National Imaginary Carl Denham’s Giant Monster The Lost World and The Beast Kaijū emerge Chapter 2: The First Monster Boom Kaijū at Tōhō Kaijū at Daiei Kaijū at Shōchiku, Nikkatsu and Toei Chapter 3: Exchanging monsters: Korean Kaijū The kaijū meme Kaijū head west Kaijū on the Korean Peninsula Kim Jong-Il’s kaijū Kaijū in new Korean Cinema Chapter 4: Distributing Kaijū: Localisation and Exploitation National Cinema: Quality and Trash Popular Cinema to Exploitation Film Long Live the King Cozzilla The Return of Steve Martin Chapter 5: ‘Paul Bunyan never fought Rodan’ Appropriation, Borrowing, Exchange European Kaijū Hollywood Kaijū Kaijū Mockbusters Kongsploitation Chapter 6: Legendary Monsters Legendary Entertainment Marked/Unmarked Transnational Cinema Pacific Rim The Great Wall Pacific Rim: Uprising Into the MonsterVerse Conclusion: The Limiting Imagination of Transnational Monsters National Kaijū Nostalgia and fandom