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Daimajin

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Daimajin
1984 film poster for a screening of the three Daimajin feature films.[1]
Films and television
Film(s)Daimajin (1966)
Return of Daimajin (1966)
Daimajin Strikes Again (1966)
Television seriesDaimajin Kanon (2010)

Daimajin (Japanese: 大だい魔神まじん, Hepburn: Daimajin) is a series of Japanese films. The trilogy of films were all shot simultaneously and released in 1966 with three different directors and predominantly the same crew.[2] The series was produced by Daiei Film and contained similar plot structures involving villages being overthrown by warlords, leading to the villagers attempting to reach out to Daimajin, the great demon god, to save them.[3]

History

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See also: Gamera, Yokai Monsters: Spook Warfare, and The Great Yokai War: Guardians

Daimajin was originally designed to be the first foe of Gamera, and its concept was feedbacked into both Daimajin and Barugon appearing in the 1966 film Gamera vs. Barugon.[4] The filmmakers were also inspired by the golem appeared in the 1936 Czechoslovakian film Le Golem.[5]

Daimon the vampire, the recurring character which made its debut in Yokai Monsters: Spook Warfare, was heavily inspired by the former professional baseball player Chikara Hashimoto's acts of Daimajin, and Hashimoto was also appointed for the role of Daimon.[6]

After the original film trilogy in 1966, the series was revived in 2010 as a television drama titled Daimajin Kanon, broadcast on TV Tokyo.[7] The Daimajin character also made a cameo appearance in the 2021 film The Great Yokai War: Guardians.[8]

Since the bankruptcy of Daiei Film, all of its representative tokusatsu franchises (Gamera and Daimajin and Yokai Monsters) have faced repeated inactivity in productions. There existed several revival attempts of Daimajin and Yokai Monsters along with the Gamera franchise, the most popular of the three, by Daiei Film's successors (Tokuma Shoten and Kadokawa Corporation).[9][10] For example, Tokuma Shoten's cancelled Daimajin project along with the Heisei Gamera trilogy was supposed to feature Steven Seagal, the father of Ayako Fujitani who played the human protagonist of the Heisei Gamera trilogy, and this plot was later published as a novelization.[11]

Among the three franchises, only the Daimajin has not received any new film productions as of 2024 (except for Daimajin Kanon and The Great Yokai War: Guardians). Takashi Miike, who has directed The Great Yokai War and The Great Yokai War: Guardians, had also attempted to revive Daimajin in the late 2000s along with the 2006 film Gamera the Brave.[12] Miike described the difficulty to revive the Daimajin franchise based on budgetary problems; Daimajin (as a character) is physically much smaller than traditional kaiju and Ultraman, and directly interacts with humans. This results in necessity of expensive, large-scaled, life-sized models and props for filming.[13]

Films

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Official English title Japanese title Japanese release date Ref(s)
Daimajin 大だい魔神まじん (Daimajin) 17 April 1966 [14][15]
Return of Daimajin 大だい魔神まじん怒おこる (Daimajin ikaru) 13 August 1966 [16][17][15]
Daimajin Strikes Again 大だい魔神まじん逆襲ぎゃくしゅう (Daimajin gyakushu) 10 December 1966 [14][15]

Daimajin

[edit]
Main article: Daimajin (film)

In Japan, a household of peasants cower during a series of earth tremors that are interpreted as the escape attempts of Daimajin, a spirit trapped within the mountain. These events are observed by Lord Hanabasa, and his chamberlain, Samanosuke, who are attempting to seize power in the area. As the villagers pray at a shrine, Samanosuke and his henchmen slaughter Hanabasa's family, with only his son and daughter escaping, who are assisted by the samurai Kogenta. Back at the shrine, Samanosuke's men begin to take over and forbid gatherings at the shrine. After failing to warn Samanosuke about his actions, the priestess Shinobu returns home, finding Kogenta and the two children. Shinobu takes them up the side of the mountain into forbidden territory, where the stone idol which is Daimajin stands, half-buried in the side of the mountain. The children grow to adulthood with the son, Tadafumi (Yoshihiko Aoyama) reaching his 18th birthday. Meanwhile, Samanosuke has enslaved the village. After several attempts to return peace and freedom to the village, Samanosuke's men travel up the mountain to smash Daimajin. Damaijin is asked by the daughter, Kozasa (Miwa Takada) to save her brother, with the idol removing a mask to reveal Daimajin's real face, leading it to rise from the mountain and exact its wrath on Samanosuke and his fortress. Daimajin's wrath begins to grow to attacking everything in sight, only stopping when Kozasa's tears land on Daimajin's feet.

The film was released in the United States by Daiei International with subtitles in an English-dubbed version by Bernard Lewis.[14] The film has been released under many English alternative titles, such as The Devil Got Angry, The Vengeance of the Monster, and Majin, the Monster of Terror.[14]

Return of Daimajin

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In Japan, Daimajin is found on an island in the middle of a lake which is surrounded by two peaceful villages, Chigusa and Nagoshi. In a distant third village ruled by an evil lord, the citizens flee to Chigusa to take refuge. One day, the evil lord decides to take over the two villages and attempts to do so at an annual festival. After being pursued by the evil lord's army, the people of Chigusa and Nagoshi find themselves on the island with the Daimajin statue. The evil lord has his men shatter the statue with a large amount of gunpowder. Daimajin's shattered remains end up at the bottom of the lake. Daimajin awakens to inflict chaos to all around it, including the landscape and the evil lord.

Return of Daimajin was never released theatrically in the United States, but was released to television by AIP-TV in 1967.[17] It also has been released under the alternate title Return of the Giant Majin

Wrath of Daimajin

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In Japan, Daimajin is found at the top of a mountain. Fathers in a village have been captured by an evil lord and forced to work in labor camps. Four of their sons decide to go rescue them, even if it means crossing the mountain where Daimajin is. The four sons pay their respects to the statue when they pass it so that they do not incur its wrath. The evil lord eventually angers the statue, who comes to life and destroys all those who have not been paying respect to it. The children and their fathers are spared, while the work camp is destroyed.

Wrath of Daimajin was never released theatrically in the United States, but received the international English title of Majin Strikes Again.

Television Drama

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Main article: Daimajin Kanon
Official English title Japanese title Japanese release date Ref(s)
Daimajin Kanon 大だい魔神まじんカノン (Daimajin Kanon) 2 April 2010 [18]

The 2010 drama Daimajin Kanon is the first television series of the franchise. Originally, Noriaki Yuasa from the Gamera franchise was appointed for the director along with Mamoru Sasaki as the writer and additional film crews from Toei's Kamen Rider franchise.[18]

Recurring cast and characters

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List indicator(s)
  • This table only includes characters which have appeared in more than one film.
  • A dark grey cell indicates the character was not in the film, or that the character's presence in the film has not yet been announced.
Character Film
Daimajin
(1966) 		Return of Daimajin
(1966) 		Wrath of Daimajin
(1966)
Daimajin Riki Hoshimoto [14][16][17]

Crew

[edit]
Occupation Film
Daimajin
(1966) 		Return of Daimajin
(1966) 		Wrath of Daimajin
(1966)
Director Kimiyoshi Yasuda Kenji Misumi Kazuo Mori
Producer(s) Masaichi Nagata
Screenplay Tetsuro Yoshida
Composer(s) Akira Ifukube
Director of photography Fujio Morita
Editor(s) Hiroshi Yamada
Ref(s) [14] [16][17] [14]

Home media

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Title Format Release date Films Reference
Daimajin Collection: Daimajin, Return of Daimajin, Wrath of Daimajin DVD October 22, 2002 Daimajin, Return of Daimajin, Daimajin Strikes Again [19]
Daimajin February 1, 2005 Daimajin [19]
Daimajin: Return of Daimajin April 12, 2005 Return of The Giant Majin [20]
Daimajin: Wrath of Daimajin May 3, 2005 Daimajin Strikes Again [21]
Daimajin Blu-ray September 18, 2012 Daimajin, Return of Daimajin, Daimajin Strikes Again [2][22]
The Daimajin Trilogy Blu-ray July 26, 2021 Daimajin, Return of Daimajin, Wrath of Daimajin [23]

Legacy

[edit]

Former professional baseball player Kazuhiro Sasaki was nicknamed after the Daimajin, and Sasaki has participated in collaborations and advertisements with the franchise.[24][25][26]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Daimajin Festival (1966)". Jposter. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  2. ^ a b Marsiglia, Jason S. (October 11, 2012). "Daimajin: The God that Lives in the Shadows of Monsters". Diabolique Magazine. Retrieved February 8, 2019.
  3. ^ Oritz-Moya 2016, p. 43.
  4. ^ Junzo Takaki, ed. (1996-07-19). "chapterIII 大だい魔神まじんの章あきら（1966）『大だい魔神まじん』". ガメラ画が報ほう 大映だいえい秘蔵ひぞう映画えいが五ご十じゅう五ご年ねんの歩あゆみ. B media books special. Takeshobo. p. 85. ISBN 4-8124-0166-6.
  5. ^ Ishii et al., 1997, 日本にっぽん特撮とくさつ・幻想げんそう映画えいが全集ぜんしゅう, p.170, Keibunsha, ISBN 4766927060
  6. ^ Takeshobo, ガメラ画が報ほう 大映だいえい秘蔵ひぞう映画えいが五ご十じゅう五ご年ねんの歩あゆみ, 1996, P.99
  7. ^ Oritz-Moya 2016, p. 44.
  8. ^ "「大だい魔神まじん」55年ねんの歳月さいげつを経へてスクリーンに復活ふっかつ！ 三池みいけ崇史たかふみ監督かんとく「妖怪ようかい大戦たいせん争そう ガーディアンズ」本ほん予告よこく完成かんせい". Eiga.com. Retrieved 2021-06-07.
  9. ^ Movie Walker Press, 2021, 金子かねこ修介しゅうすけ監督かんとく、平成へいせいガメラ三さん部ぶ作さくを語かたる！令れい和わガメラにも「やる気き十じゅう分ふん」
  10. ^ ZAKZAK, November 13, 2002, 角川かどかわ大映だいえい、「ゴジラvsガメラ」製作せいさくへ - 「大だい魔神まじん」のリメーク版ばんも, FUJI Evening News
  11. ^ Kengo Nakamura, 1999, From Princess Mononoke to My Neighbors the Yamadas, pp.38-41, Tokuma Shoten
  12. ^ Eiga Hihō, April, 2007, 実写じっしゃ限定げんてい!巨大きょだいロボット映画えいがベスト30!-「トランスフォーマー」襲来しゅうらい間近まぢか!「ガンヘッド」もやってくるぞ!, Yosensha Co., Ltd.
  13. ^ Hyouri Takahashi, August 12, 2021, 三池みいけ崇史たかふみ監督かんとくが語かたる「大だい魔神まじん」復活ふっかつの意外いがいな真実しんじつとは!?『妖怪ようかい大戦たいせん争そう ガーディアンズ』に込こめたメッセージと子供こどもたちへの眼差まなざし, banger.jp.
  14. ^ a b c d e f g Galbraith IV 1996, p. 277.
  15. ^ a b c Daimajin. Mill Creek Entertainment. 2012. ASIN B008L0YMSW.
  16. ^ a b c Galbraith IV 1996, p. 334.
  17. ^ a b c d Galbraith IV 1996, p. 335.
  18. ^ a b Shuntaro Ono, December 28, 2018, Geistesgeschichte of Gamera: From Showa to Heisei, p.207-208, Takanashi Shobou
  19. ^ a b "Daimajin (1966)". Retrieved February 8, 2019.
  20. ^ "Daimajin ikaru (1966)". AllMovie. Retrieved February 8, 2019.
  21. ^ "Daimajin gyakushu (1966)". AllMovie. Retrieved February 8, 2019.
  22. ^ "Daimajin - Triple Feature Collector's Edition - Blu-Ray". Mill Creek Entertainment. Archived from the original on October 16, 2012. Retrieved February 9, 2019.
  23. ^ "Arrow Video Presents Daimajin Trilogy: Part Samurai, Part Kaiju, All Fun". Critical Blast. July 27, 2021. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
  24. ^ 「ホントに大おおきい!」『大だい魔神まじんカノン』主演しゅえん女優じょゆう・里さと久ひさし鳴な祐ゆう果はて、リアル大だい魔神まじん・佐々木ささき主浩おもひろのデカさに口くちあんぐり
  25. ^ CR大だい魔神まじん
  26. ^ ダイマンCR 佐々木ささき和弘かずひろ 野球やきゅうフィギュア 日本にっぽん大栄たいえい海かい寿ことぶきソフビ

Bibliography

[edit]
  • Galbraith IV, Stuart (1996). The Japanese Filmography: 1900 through 1994. McFarland. ISBN 0786400323.
  • Oritz-Moya, Fernando (2016). Murguía, Salvador Jimenez (ed.). The Encyclopedia of Japanese Horror Films. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9781442261679.
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