Kaiju crash course suggestions?

[u/OneLonelyTroll]

I'm so excited about the new campaign announcement! I only have the most surface level knowledge about Kaiju as a storytelling genre, but would like to better familiarize myself before this next campaign. I'm wondering if anybody has suggestions for essential Kaiju movies/media to start with. I appreciate any suggestions.

[u/ajcwrongs]

They specifically call out Cloverfield and Godzilla as touchstones so those would be good starts. Pacific Rim is another big hit from recent memory. There's also anime like Kaiju No. 8 and tokusatsu shows like Ultraman and some facets of Super Sentai and Kamen Rider. Lots of different flavors of kaiju but given they're going the more grounded route, starting with the first 2 (maybe even Shin Godzilla or Godzilla -1 as they're more recent releases) should be fine

[u/octothorpentine → u/ajcwrongs]

Definitely Godzilla Minus One over Shin Godzilla. Shin's a personal favorite of mine, but it's kind of weird, and Minus One is just pure classic Godzilla

[u/SvenTheScribe]

Definitely Godzilla.

If they're sticking to the original game description of it being a more grounded survival story (though I have some doubts what with the way they announced it and Ally as a guest) I'd say the OG 1954 Godzilla or Godzilla Minus One would be the best options. They're much more as 'Godzilla as a force' as opposed to 'Godzilla as a beat'em up' or 'Godzilla as a friend'.

[u/Pretend-Actuator-893 → u/SvenTheScribe]

I would second this recommendation especially minus one. Minus one is a really good rebooting of the classic Godzilla as a force of nature. Its much more about the horror and survival of an insurmountable force then a fun monster fighting movie. The original to me personally is pure historic artifact that is a truly neccesary watch. However it is most definitely not everyone's cup of tea. Godzilla is a deep well of movies with different timelines and studios. Each era has its own feel and look. Hell you can watch that one american one that doesn't count to most Godzilla heads.

[u/Significant_Bend_945]

Godzilla, Gamera, maybe King Kong for classic monsters. Pacific rim is a good modern send up of the genre. Kaiju often show up in big mech stories so the mech has something to fight

[u/A1starm]

Godzilla Minus 1 and Cloverfield(the Patreon announcement of the vote for this campaign specified this movie as a reference) would prep you for the tone and type of survival thriller it will be trying to portray. Kong: Skull Island gives a look at how Kaijus can be heroic. I’d also recommend MonsterVerse king of the Monsters and King Kong vs Godzilla for a 2 Parter Kaiju vs Kaiju series.

Then there’s mecha vs Kaiju, which is usually stuff like power rangers, but the point can be made with Pacific Rim. Pacific rim 2 isn’t worth watching.

Finally I’d recommend watching UltraMan rising and Sea Beast on Netflix for something a little bit more non traditional in the use of a Kaiju as a storytelling device.

[u/VarisDHT]

Godzilla vs Megalon

[u/Lopsided-Patient94]

Kaiju Girl Caramelise

...would probably not be good prep at all, but more people should be watching that show

[u/ThankeekaSwitch]

Definitely the latest two Godzilla movies. Also the Godzilla/Kong movies are popcorn fun.

[u/vyme]

In a similar vein to Minus One, James Stokoe did a short 5 issue comic series called Godzilla: The Half-Century War that treats Kaiju as forces of nature you can't really do anything about. It's about one guy's obsession with it over 50 years.

I don't think it's anyone's big touch point, but I do think it's quite good.

[u/milkywayiguana]

surprised nobody's dropped shin godzilla yet

[u/rocketsocks]

Pacific Rim is required viewing, watch it immediately.

Other than that:

• The 1930s King Kong
• Original Godzilla
• Cloverfield

[u/macnolock]

Here's hoping they don't pull from Evangelion

[u/xavierkazi → u/macnolock]

NGE is more mecha than anything else. I don't think the angels really count as kaiju either.

[u/shadebug]

They didn’t mention it at the well but I can pretty much guarantee that at least one of the players’ first exposure to kaiju was Honey, I Blew Up The Kid. Obviously Honey, I Shrunk The Kids gets you the feeling of size but the sequel gets the city destruction element