Halloween 2022's Godzilla-Maniapalloza Extravaganza #13...For the Love of Godzilla.
All Hail, the Monster King!
Director
Jun Fukuda
Cast
Katsuhiko Sasaki - Goro IbukiHiroyuki Kawase - Roku-chan Ibuki
Yutaka Hayashi - Hiroshi Jinkawa
Robert Dunham - Emperor Antonio of Seatopia
Kotaro Tomita - Lead Seatopian Agent
Wolf Ohtsuki - Seatopian Agent
Shinji Takagi - Godzilla
Tsugutoshi Komada - Jet Jaguar
Imagine being this kid.
According to wikizilla.org, the Japanese business group, Seiyu GK, which owned several grocery stores, shopping centers and department stores, held a monster design campaign called "Children's Monster University" around the end of 1971.
Robots were quite the rage back then. There were a few of them airing in Japan such as Ultraman, Spectreman, and Johnny Sokko and his flying robot, Giant Robo.
The campaign was sponsored by Toho Studios and Tsuburaya Productions (the studio that brought us the Ultra Series starring Ultraman.) It sounds like something I wish I could have been a part of.
Anyways, it certainly drew the attention of many young children over in Japan. A lot of submissions were entered.
At the end of the campaign in 1972, some of those kids and their monster designs were invited to appear on a television program called "Katsura Kokinji's Afternoon Show."
The winner was to be announced on a particular episode of the "Afternoon Show" and the lucky child would see their design in the form of a costume. On top of that, Toho Studios would feature the winning monster in their next Godzilla movie.
Masaaki Sano with his picture of the monster he called "Red Alone" was that lucky winner.
And the next Godzilla movie ended up being "Godzilla vs. Megalon."
Japanese special effects director Teruyoshi Nakano was given the task of redesigning Red Alone's appearance. Finally, Red Alone was reimagined into a robot and given a new name - Jet Jaguar.
According to audio commentary from the DVD of "Godzilla vs. Megalon," Jet Jaguar's suit slightly resembles Sano's design with a red, yellow and blue color scheme rather than his white design.
Toho delivered on their promise and included Jet Jaguar in their next Godzilla movie, which is the 13th film in the franchise for those who haven't been following.
Not only does he debut in "Godzilla vs. Megalon," Jet Jaguar also shows up in the T.V. series "Godzilla Island" (1997-1998) as well as "Godzilla Singular Point" (2021).
I don't know what became of Masaaki Sano, but I recently spotted a Jet Jaguar figure, part of a Toho Classic Series from Playmates, in the toy aisle at WalMart a few months ago. Evidently, Jet Jaguar is still around. Thank you, Masaaki!
What does happen involves nuclear tests, aliens, several monsters, the Japanese military, bad guys trying to take control over a giant robot, Godzilla, and stock footage. All the ingredients necessary to create the standard formula for a Godzilla movie.
After a second round of several nuclear tests are conducted along the Aleutian Islands, shockwaves from the blasts are felt as far away as Monster Island.
They eventually cause the ground on Monster Island to split open. The monster Anguirus (remember him from "Godzilla Raids Again?") falls into the earth, but Godzilla narrowly escapes.
Meanwhile, an inventor named Goro Ibuki (Katsuhiko Sasaki) is hanging out at the lake with his kid brother, Roku-chan Ibuki (Hiroyuki Kawase) and his friend and inventor colleague, Hiroshi Jinkawa (Yutaka Hayashi). While Roku-chan is out on the lake playing with a paddle boat, the water starts bubbling.
Hiroshi and Goro rescue him just in time as the ground underneath the water opens up, draining the lake in minutes.
A subterranean civilization called "Seatopia" has been living under the ocean floor for millions of years. And now they're making their presence known.
The Seatopians look as though they stepped out of the Las Vegas version of ancient Greece.
These underground inhabitants, led by Emperor Antonio (Robert Dunham), haven't minded the world nor its inhabitants above them until nuclear tests horribly affected their capital city.
Rather than submerge and tell the Japanese government to cut it out with the bombs and stop being so damn loud, they want revenge. They plan on getting it by letting their beetle-like monster, Megalon, loose on the surface. Megalon is no force to be messed with. He spits bombs and has drills instead of hands. So, in other words, Emperor Antonio wants to stop Japan's bombing by unleashing a monster who spits bombs. Take that as you will.
Meanwhile, Goro has been working on a humanoid robot fighting machine - Jet Jaguar.
When they return from the lake, a group of Seatopian agents try to ambush the three of them and take control over Jet Jaguar. But they fail and are forced to flee.
After Jet Jaguar is finally finished, the agents return. This time they manage to subdue Goro, Hiroshi, and Roku-chan, and gain control of their robot.
They want to use Jet Jaguar, who can fly, to lead Megalon in destroying whatever city they choose at will.
Hiroshi is taken as a hostage while Goro and his little brother are sent to be killed.
The Seatopians waste no time in putting their plans into action. Megalon is revealed to the world, and Jet Jaguar is under their control. Their sights are first set on Tokyo. So, that's where Megalon goes.
The Japanese Self-Defense Forces throw the strongest weaponry they have against this new monster, but to no avail. No surprise!
Goro, Hiroshi, and Roku-chan manage to escape alive. And Goro has a remote device he can use to regain control of Jet Jaguar.
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| Megalon (left) and Gigan stand over a nearly-defeated Jet Jaguar in "Godzilla vs. Megalon." |
While waiting for Godzilla to show up, Jet Jaguar decides to ignore all commands and take matters into his own hands. He grows to the same size as Megalon and tries to take him down.
Seeing that their plans are being sabotaged, the Seatopians send a distress signal to their pals, the Space Hunter Nebula M aliens. They're the same aliens from the previous movie, "Godzilla vs. Gigan".
They send Gigan to fight with Megalon. Together, they put Jet Jaguar through a pretty nasty beating.
Finally, Godzilla shows up and teams up with Jet Jaguar. It gets brutal.
The ending fight, two against two, is like a WrestleMania match before that was a thing. The two of them really start fighting dirty
In one scene, Jet Jaguar throws Gigan into the air, and Godzilla nails him with his atomic breath.
And the pièce de résistance to this masterpiece of a monster fight comes when Jet Jaguar puts Megalon in a hold as Godzilla gets some distance, and then runs towards Megalon. He leaps and slides on his tail to drop kick him in the stomach. The producers must have thought they shot a scene so brilliant, it needed to be shown twice. So, they show the same shot twice.
Jet Jaguar certainly looks like he was designed in the mind of a child. I appreciation this kid's imagination. However, Toho could have at least made his appearance not-so-laughable. He carries this dopey grin on his face which is hilarious as the fighting gets serious.
After Megalon and Gigan are defeated, Godzilla and Jet Jaguar shake hands and Godzilla heads back to Monster Island.
Goro, Hiroshi, and Roku-chan wave goodbye to Godzilla, and don't forget to thank him for his help.
They walk away, with Jet Jaguar tossing the kid on his shoulders. The end.
Emperor Antonio's mustache, sideburns and hairy chest don't make him look like the leader of an ancient hidden subterranean civilization. He looks more like he was working as the set's key grip or, perhaps, the caterer and the part needed to be filled on the spot.
He just happened to be at the right place, at the right time. So they offered him a paycheck, told him to put on a costume that was previously used in the entertainment line-up at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, and gave him the direction to "Get out there, Bob, and... earn that paycheck."
Seriously, Robert Dunham, who plays the Emperor, is no stranger to Godzilla fans. He plays the police chief of New Kirk City in "Mothra." He also has roles in "King Kong vs. Godzilla," "Mothra vs. Godzilla," and the next film "Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla."
"Godzilla vs. Megalon" follows the same formula as before while trying to turn up the fight sequence a few notches. Though film after film is formulary, writers try to be more ambitious than before to some small degree or another. That's certainly true with "Godzilla vs. Megalon."
At least the story flows well, and the effort to write something entertaining is obviously there. It gives fans what they want.
And Jet Jaguar even has his own theme song played proudly at the end of the movie. Masaaki Sano should still be proud.
Go, Jet Jaguar!
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