Originally published in 1967, the Kaiju Zukai Nyumon ("An Illustrated Introduction to Giant Monsters") is finally back on the shelves of Japanese bookstores. "Practically every man in his forties today -- including Crown Prince Naruhito, born in 1960 -- looked at this volume as a child," wrote Takashi Murakami of the book in the catalog for the "Little Boy" exhibition. Reissued after a decades-long hiatus by Shogakukan, stuffed full of amazing illustrations of the innards of kaiju from the Ultraman series, Kaiju Zukai Nyumon is a legend, a cornerstone of the otaku aesthetic, and an absolute pleasure to read.
The book is the crown jewel in the career of Shoji Otomo (1936 - 1973), a magazine editor and tireless proponent of Japanese science fiction until his untimely death at age 36 from a prescription drug reaction. His meticulously detailed illustrations, which resemble those from an actual biology textbook, are a perfect crystallization of the off-the-wall mix of seriousness and playfulness that characterize Showa era kids' entertainment. They also laid the groundwork for an entire aesthetic in Japan: the inevitable super-realistic cutaway illustrations of famous giant robots and vehicles so common during the Seventies and Eighties are direct descendants of Otomo's brainchild. If any single book embodies the glory of an era when giant monsters ruled the airwaves, this is it. Buy it now!
Those are some pretty awesome illustrations.
If I liked kaiju eiga and had skills I'd do a parody on this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wALYAV0V_KQ) and replace all the shots of human organs with monster organs. I'd also have a bunch of monsters dancing like Michael Jackson.
Posted by: wildarmsheero | November 24, 2008 at 08:13 AM
I think I had one of those in the past when I was 4 or 5 years old.
I read through every pages over and over again that finally that book teared apart in half...
Very very "nastukashii" books to see... I bet you will never find in here.
Posted by: yutte | November 25, 2008 at 12:58 AM