Giant monsters are often synonymous with toppling skyscrapers, civilians screaming as they flee through crowded streets, cars crushed, windows shattered. What we see less often are those titanic terrors in an environment less advanced than the modern age of rolling tanks and atomic bombs. Before we had the Super-X to take on the likes of Godzilla with futuristic weaponry, there were swords and primitive guns fighting the good fight against all things scaled and gnarly. That’s where Koujin comes in. The kaiju film set in ancient Japan, where humanity’s ability to defend itself may be a bit lacking. It’s All You Can Eat Week at the Human Buffet, boys and girls.
Author Miyabe Miyuki’s eponymous novel about neighboring villages beset by monstrous attacks sets this NHK television film adaptation in motion, featuring an opportunistic one-eyed warrior who may prove to be the people’s best option for survival, or an even speedier descent down the buffet line toward Koujin’s multi-tongued mouth.
A behind-the-scenes feature offers a glimpse (or seventeen) of the film and its cast. Directed by Matsura Zennosuke, the movie stars Uchida Yuki, Yanagisawa Shingo, Daichi Yasuo, Hiraoka Yuta, Hira Takehiro, Maeda Aki, Nakamoto Ken, and Shinagawa Toru, to name a few.
Also appearing is Maekawa Yasuyuki, whom we can’t seem to shut up about recently, as he currently stars as Isurugi Soichi, the quirky cafe owner with questionable motives in the special-effects action series Kamen Rider Build. Dude’s everywhere these days.
Whether Koujin turns out to be a small phenom or a forgotten footnote, it remains a curious addition to the ever-growing roster of kaiju and tokusatsu projects rolling out in the coming years with amazing regularity. We look forward to discussing this one more in the future.
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