Japan's Green Monsters

In 1954, a massive irradiated dinosaur emerged from Tokyo Bay and rained death and destruction on the Japanese capital. Since then Godzilla and other monsters, such as Mothra and Gamera, have gained cult status around the world.

This book provides a new interpretation of these monsters, or kaijū, and their respective movies. Analyzing Japanese history, society and film, the authors show the ways in which this monster cinema take on environmental and ecological issues—from nuclear power and industrial pollution to biodiversity and climate change.

"Evergreen Avengers"

After a decade of dormancy following the release of Tōhō Studios’ Godzilla: Final Wars (2004), Godzilla and other kaijū burst back onto the scene with Legendary Pictures’ Godzilla (2014). Several American sequels and a television series set in Legendary’s MonsterVerse quickly followed over the next ten years. Meanwhile, Japan’s Tōhō used their radioactive creation’s global success to reignite their own films with Shin Godzilla (2016), an animated trilogy, and Godzilla Minus One (2023). Short-format media like Chibi Godzilla and Godziban also circulated thanks to streaming services.

But how do these new installations relate to or depart from their predecessors’ predilection to address environmental concerns? This article continues the ecocritical analysis of kaijū eiga, expanding it to the 2010s and 2020s, as a coda to our duograph Japan’s Green Monsters (2018). This article picks up where we left off, examining the recent releases from an ecocritical standpoint. This analysis reveals that today’s films remain steeped in environmental commentary, but both fragmented and updated for the new concerns of the twenty-first century.

Biography

Sean Rhoads

Sean Rhoads is an author, instructor, guest speaker, and travel writer who specializes in contemporary science fiction and monster studies. He has broad experience teaching, researching, and writing in the humanities.

His research interests include speculative fiction in both literature and film, especially the intersection of science fiction and environmental issues through the lenses of genre and ecocriticism.

Best Author Awards 2012

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World's #1 Best-selling Book

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NYT Best-selling Author 2014

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Best Author Awards 2018

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