Kaiju Big Battel : A Practical Guide to Giant City-Crushing Monsters

Rating:
Summary: When cosplayers have too much time on their hands...
Review: After checking out Kaiju Big Battel's first and (so far) only DVD release "Terebi Sento" (check it out at www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000E1W2A/qid=1086996280/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl74/102-3193714-6236900?v=glance&s=dvd&n=507846), I found myself intrigued by this tongue-in-cheek melding of Japanese giant-monster-movie-type beasts and high-flyin' pro wrestling, with a little bit of comic-book-super-hero hokiness thrown in for good measure. My sudden interest in this absurd subgenre of 'sports-entertainment' eventually led me to the official hardcopy guide to Kaiju Big Battel-the very thing I'm reviewing here. Inside this softcover tome are approximately 170 pages of profiles and origin stories of the various combatants and background characters, the inside scoop on the more notable rivalries and story lines, tech specs on the various weapons (sanctioned and otherwise) and equipment used in the battels, and synopses & results of the most famous battels. Battels which, unfortunately, only seem to occur out on the east coast of the U.S. (primarily NYC and Boston, apparently), which leaves a west-coast-bound kaiju geek such as myself pretty much S.O.L. when it comes to hoping for a KBB showdown in my neck of the woods...

Also thrown in are tips, warnings, and other dos and don'ts for the average KBB spectator to follow in order to keep him/herself out of harm's way during a bout. And just for fun-- and to see if you're paying attention-- are various quizzes, puzzles, and memory games that test you on the chapter you've just read. Quasi-manga-style cartoon illustrations help add just the right touch of American-adoption-of-Japanese-pop-culture to this geekin' read. My fave part of this book is the full-color photo section featuring the various Kaiju contestants. Each batteler's mugshot is accompanied by a brief profile written in 'Engrish' (check out Engrish.com for some great examples of this amusing phenomenon). These grammatically questionable passages are the funniest pieces of text in this paperback, which aren't laden with quite as much of the groan-inducing corniness that the 'proper' collections of words possess.

Aside from the silly text, my only real gripe about the official guide to Kaiju Big Battel is the placement of adverts for KBB products throughout the book (i.e. the "Terebi Sento" DVD on page 42, the Gomi-Man Play Sludge on page 86, and KBB T-shirts on page 138), rather than on the fringes*. Now don't get me wrong-- I'm aware that this outfit needs to get in a few merchandising bucks in order to keep Kaiju Big Battel going, and I don't want to begrudge them their right to take full advantage of the capitalist consumer culture. But I feel that when it comes to advertising wares-- especially one's own wares-- in a mass-media paperback, one should do so with some decorum and restraint. You know, something like a nice full-color single-page ad at the beginning or end of the book that gives the name of the KBB website (Kaiju.com), and the array of merchandise that can be found in the Kaiju Mall section of the site. That's it, just one page of plugs. Now you've got a few extra leaves of paper to fill in with some more kaiju back stories! Or you can just save those extra pages, thereby saving the lives of a few hundred trees. Let's not come off looking like we're desperate for the almighty dollar, now...

'Late

Rating:
Summary: Danger Can Happen!
Review: This book is a clever parody of three silly genres all at once: Japanese monster movies, the Manga craze, and professional wrestling. Largely I think it works well as a satirical piece of humor and social commentary, but mostly it is just good old fashioned fun.

The basic premise is that the evil Dr. Cube has created giant monsters that fight each other in the "Kaiju Big Battel" arena for entertainment of the masses. There are good and evil Kaiju, and some rogues that can change allegiances at the drop of a hat. The monsters here are not your typical Japanese Godzilla copycats, but rather creative originals such as Call-Me-Kevin (my personal favorite), the ridiculous looking Sky Deviler, and the heroic tuber, Silver Potato.

The book is broken down into a biography section, a section of famous Kaiju bouts, and assorted other features such as "How Sky Deviler's Digestive System Works" and "Silver Potato's Holiday Miracle". There is even a color spread that has very amusing faux-Japanese translations like: "Who is the sphincter mouth of depth-perception irrelevant monster? Sky Deviler most high ugliness the dive bomb swoop. Special appetite skill combine with brain lentil size create the deadliest!"

I found the book quite entertaining and diverting. I particularly love old Japanese monster movies, and seeing this pay homage to them while concurrently mocking Manga and wrestling made this book totally worthwhile for me.