Man vs. God(zilla)

March 30, 2020 9:07 AM

In 1991, Osaka University of Arts student Shinya Takeshita filmed Godzilla vs Mito Komon (subtitled) in which he played all the roles. Including the high-voltage power lines.
posted by the man of twists and turns (27 comments total)

This is amazing. Thank you for sharing.
posted by Fizz at 9:16 AM on March 30, 2020 [1 favorite]

Like, I needed a smile today, and this did it. Thank you.
posted by Fizz at 9:18 AM on March 30, 2020 [1 favorite]

If this was the sole artifact left to explain humanity, it would be impossible to truly explain without the cultural context, but I honestly don't care and would happily nominate it to be the sole artifact to explain humanity.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 9:28 AM on March 30, 2020 [17 favorites]

There is a collection of short stories titled A Silver Thread of Madness, by Jessica Amanda Salmonson. One of the stories in that book, Samurai Fugue, expresses a very similar idea, where a film student decides as her project to do a movie fugue, where every person involved with the production of the movie is attempting to tell their own story. The actual story is that of a samurai who is the last person on Earth, which is where the Godzilla similarity kicks in.

If you somehow manage to find a copy of the book, check it out. It’s lovely.
posted by notoriety public at 9:43 AM on March 30, 2020

So good! Love that he was able to convey everything through acting and camera work, with only minimal props while keeping the same casually dressy outfit. I was pleased to see Daimajin get some respect for a change, but the transmission tower moment was the icing on the cake.
posted by gusottertrout at 9:47 AM on March 30, 2020 [2 favorites]

Beautiful.

There is a story, I am sure, in the two Assistant Directors, Stephen and Chad, who are also missionaries of the Mormon church. "Hello, my name is Elder Fife, and I would like to... oh, you need help shooting your movie? Gee, I guess, is it rude or blasphemous? No? Well, OK!!!!"
posted by alasdair at 9:54 AM on March 30, 2020 [11 favorites]

Helpless with laughter. It's pure note-perfect genius in every frame.
posted by Hogshead at 10:27 AM on March 30, 2020 [1 favorite]

Godzilla's screeches are killing me.
posted by The Notorious B.F.G. at 10:31 AM on March 30, 2020 [6 favorites]

Eehhhhh-h-h-h-hh!!
posted by stinkfoot at 10:51 AM on March 30, 2020

That was perfection!
posted by agatha_magatha at 12:13 PM on March 30, 2020

Unimprovable.
posted by inire at 4:20 PM on March 30, 2020

> oh, you need help shooting your movie? Gee, I guess, is it rude or blasphemous? No? Well, OK!!!!

This is the plot of Orgazmo.
posted by mbrubeck at 4:25 PM on March 30, 2020 [2 favorites]

Somehow this is a really excellent Godzilla performance. The pained, slow screeching. The short Godzilla arms with claws.
posted by betweenthebars at 5:13 PM on March 30, 2020 [3 favorites]

Leaning left and right to simulate walking. I'm less than one minute in.

This is how I felt when I first saw Monty Python.
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 5:53 PM on March 30, 2020 [2 favorites]

"Master, it killed everyone!"
"Let's wait and see what develops."
"Master, you always say that, and things just get worse!"

Absolutely perfect on every beat. Stunning. Incredible. I'm crying at how good this is.

I lost my fucking SHIT at "King Ghidora has flown by without doing anything."
posted by brook horse at 6:00 PM on March 30, 2020 [10 favorites]

This is literally the greatest post Metafilter has ever had. I am being absolutely fucking serious about this. I mean, the soundtrack alone.

I am imagining when this premiered at the Osaka University of Arts Film Festival and it must have been epic.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 7:01 PM on March 30, 2020 [6 favorites]

> I am imagining when this premiered at the Osaka University of Arts Film Festival

In a theater. On a big screen. At high volume.
posted by technodelic at 7:16 PM on March 30, 2020 [2 favorites]

That was incredible. All the thumbs up.
posted by mygothlaundry at 7:35 PM on March 30, 2020 [1 favorite]

There is a story, I am sure, in the two Assistant Directors, Stephen and Chad, who are also missionaries of the Mormon church.

Yes, I want to know so much more. Like, I am imagining this as his graduation thesis and after fucking off all year playing video games he put this together in the the 2 days before it was due.

I want to know what Takeshita and Stephen and Chad are doing today. Well, isolating of course, but besides...I am guessing this is him, but this just deepens the mystery.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 8:26 PM on March 30, 2020

It just gets better on repeated viewings.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 8:36 PM on March 30, 2020 [1 favorite]

Impressive! One wonders what Takeshita-san is doing today with his newfound fame.
posted by gen at 11:42 PM on March 30, 2020

From what I can tell, he settled into a career in TV but on the Japanese interwebs, his legacy is pretty strong. I found several sites that had now long dead links to this video and the one that preceded it where he acts out an episode of Mito Komon. And the thing he does at the beginning with his hands? He's doing the National jingle that would come before episodes of Mito Komon at the time.

Sadly, I can't find anything else he did. I did end up finding this video where someone does Luke blowing up the Death Star where all the ships are replaced by hands though.
posted by LostInUbe at 4:12 AM on March 31, 2020 [2 favorites]

ROFL
posted by a humble nudibranch at 7:33 AM on March 31, 2020

this is fantastic. I love me a good lo-fi cardboard costume.
posted by supermedusa at 10:16 AM on March 31, 2020

omg thank you
posted by Space Kitty at 10:18 AM on April 1, 2020

The screeches embody my internal monologues during the pandemic.
posted by gryphonlover at 10:14 PM on April 1, 2020 [1 favorite]

Is it wrong to make a suggestion? For my generation, this would be improved by bad dubbing.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 9:24 AM on April 19, 2020