KAI'S KAIJU BLOG

A variety blog dedicated to posting random, obscure and semi-frequent kaiju media facts, trivia, photos, GIFs, videos and other interesting tidbits. Longer and more detailed posts will be exclusive to this Tumblr blog. For more bite-sized posts, visit the Bluesky blog. Expect occasional joke posts. Unofficial fan account run by IshaBoiAlex.

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And with that, the Shin Godzilla Takeover of Kai's Kaiju Blog has come to a close.

If you ask me, the film deserves as much praise as Minus One, with its bold and impactful political commentary, incredible cinematography and soundtrack, and uniquely terrifying and otherworldly take on the King of the Monsters. Definitely one of my personal favourites of the franchise now that I've rewatched it.

Thank you all for celebrating its 10th anniversary with me. Regular content on the blog will resume very soon!

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From what I could gather in my own research for this topic, I believe it is entirely possible that the seeds for Shin Godzilla (2016) were planted as far back as 1992 by the creator of Godzilla, Ishiro Honda, sometime before his passing.

A documentary titled "Ino-san’s Trunk: The Untold Bond Between Akira Kurosawa and Ishiro Honda" (rough translation) aired on the Japanese broadcasting service NHK BSP in December of 2012, and supposedly it re-aired in December of 2017. Not much info is known about the documentary itself, but from what we know of its core subject, it explored the lifelong friendship and creative partnership between Honda and Kurosawa. It also revealed items from Honda's wartime trunk, containing personal notes, wartime mementos and historical documents of his time in World War II that were locked away for decades.

However, the most interesting revelation came in the latter half of the documentary; a memo from 1992 written by Honda was uncovered titled "Shin Godzilla", which envisioned a film where Godzilla could solidify and aerify, grow larger and even self-divide, creating its own rogues gallery of kaiju to fight.

It is unknown whether or not this memo was handed over to Toho, but the concepts presented are eerily similar to the ones Hideaki Anno created for the Shin Godzilla film we eventually got, even if some such as the self-division and creation of other kaiju went unused.

That said, the timing between the first and second airings of the documentary, as well as the beginning of pre-production for Shin Godzilla in 2015, are very peculiar. I won't rule out the possibility of a coincidence, as we have no evidence to suggest Anno was inspired by Honda's concepts when writing the film, but I speculate that he was at least partially influenced by them. Perhaps he watched the documentary and sought to bring Honda's vision to life? Perhaps Toho suggested that he make the film Honda envisioned all those years ago? We really have no way of knowing, but I'd love to hear what some of you think! And if I got any of this info wrong, please feel free to correct me in the replies and I'll be sure to make an addendum.

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The final fact/tidbit I have in mind for the Shin Godzilla Takeover may require more extensive research on my end, but in the meantime, here's a selection of amusing edits of the Japanese Shin Godzilla (2016) theatrical poster made to promote various products in Japan around the time of the film's release, where Godzilla is holding said products in his hands. Seems like all these brands had the same idea!

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The manufacturer of the blood coagulant used to defeat Godzilla in Shin Godzilla (2016) is named Smart Brain Peculiar Chemicals Pharmaceutical Company. It is a reference to a conglomerate featured in the Kamen Rider series named Smart Brain, retroactively foreshadowing Shin Kamen Rider (2023).

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During our glimpse of the public's social media response to the revelation of Godzilla's radioactivity in Shin Godzilla (2016), we see a user with Asuka Langley Sohryu, a character from the anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion, as their profile picture in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment. The user's handle is also a reference to a nickname she gives to Shinji Ikari, the protagonist of the series.

While this was merely a fun easter egg left in by the filmmakers, it would seem to imply that the Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise exists in the universe of Shin Godzilla. It's a funny coincidence considering this film's directors are Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi, as well as the fact that this film's Godzilla would cross over with characters from that franchise numerous times in the years following its release.

Also, it is worth mentioning that no such user exists on Twitter/X, or at least one whose profile picture and spoken language match with that of the one seen in the film, thus confirming that this is merely an easter egg.

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To make up for a lack of a post (or at least a non-joke one) yesterday, how's about I do two posts today? Well, it's partly because I can't make up my mind on which bit of trivia is more interesting, but keep your eyes peeled like this Godzilla cream puff!

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Kai's Kaiju Blog | SHIN GODZILLA TAKEOVER (@kaiskaijublog.bsky.social)

A portion of a deleted scene from Shin Godzilla (2016) featuring the Japanese Prime Minister, which highlights his dread, pain and desperati

Unfortunately I am unsure of Tumblr's policies when it comes to copyrighted video content, though it's likely I'd get in trouble for posting any copyrighted video, including that of today's Shin Godzilla tidbit, to this site. As such, I've provided a link to the post on Bluesky. Be sure to follow me there too, if you haven't already!

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In Shin Godzilla (2016), after the discovery of Godzilla's regenerative capabilities from just a single severed dorsal fin, a member of Rando Yaguchi's team theorised that the creature could evolve further and adapt to new situations in several ways (e.g. making itself smaller or sprouting wings capable of intercontinental flight). However, this was merely a hypothesis presented in the film as additional forms for Godzilla beyond his 4th and 5th forms were never actually considered, even if the concept art seen in the film's official art book provides intriguing insight into what Godzilla could have looked like had he been allowed to continue evolving.

The claims of Godzilla having 6-8th forms and "becoming one with the universe", as well as the 5th form's specific powers and abilities, were hoaxes that likely proliferated from mistranslations of interviews seen in the art book, but we cannot say for certain. Still, it's an interesting thought experiment to imagine a version of Godzilla that rapidly evolves and grows to consume the universe and create a new one inside him.

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A fake smartphone in the shape of Godzilla’s second form (aka Kamata-Kun) in Shin Godzilla (2016) was unveiled by Toho as an April Fool’s Day prank in 2017. The prank was so well-received that a large plush toy smartphone case of Kamata-Kun was officially released later that year.

(This post was meant to go up here yesterday but I forgot because I was unusually exhausted yesterday, my apologies.)

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Godzilla was initially going to have some new roars in Shin Godzilla (2016), rather than reusing some Showa-era roars and a Heisei-era one. However, according to co-director Shinji Higuchi in an interview found in G-Fan Fanzine #116 (Summer 2017, p. 9-10), they felt they couldn't surpass the originals. Shown here is one of the new roars they experimented with, which combines Godzilla's Millennium-era roars with his roars from Godzilla (2014). This was included in the bonus features of a 4-disc 4K UHD Deluxe Collector's Edition for the film, originally released only in Japan in 2017 before receiving a North American release by GKIDS in 2025.

(Video credit: RickDaSquirrel on YouTube)

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Starting tomorrow and running daily until the 29th July, I'll be sharing as many facts and tidbits from Shin Godzilla (2016) as I can find in the build-up to the 10th anniversary of the film's Japanese theatrical debut.

Hope you're ready for the Shin Godzilla takeover of Kai's Kaiju Blog!