This year at SDCC 2025, we went a little Kaiju Crazy. It was the 70th anniversary of the king of the monsters, Godzilla. We started our Kaiju Craze by visiting the Super7 popup store. The scene was so sensational, one of the security guards at The Lodge (Paramount+) told me about it as we waited in line.

The Lodge has become a must-see stop activation and didn’t disappoint, but I’ll discuss that elsewhere.

Indeed, the Godzilla popup was a worthy way to worship our atomic reptilian protestor. People could enter a train car that was being crunched by the king of the monsters. There were some cool things, including deceptively cheery signs about safety which I loved. We both got a MechaGodzilla and a Godzilla coin.

Then Friday, we had a one-on-one with the director of the 2016 “Shin Godzilla,” Shinji Higuchi, but due to time constraints that became a round table.

Through an interpreter, Higuchi said, “My first memory (related to Godzilla) goes back to kindergarten when I first saw a Godzilla film in the theater. It was actually ‘Mothra vs. Godzilla’ (モスラ対ゴジラ). More so than the movie itself, it was the movie’s poster that I found really, really scary. ” It was all that hair and those big eyes which is not unlike what you might see with insects when they are magnified.

I might add on a cultural note, that many Japanese children are taught that moths (as opposed to butterflies) are dirty, but that’s a cautionary childhood lesson. There are some moths and caterpillar species in Japan that can cause skin rashes if touched. The tea tussock moth (Arna pseudoconspersa) and the gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar japonicus) are considered toxic. The tea tussock moth or Japanese brown tail moth is found in Japan, Taiwan, Korea, China, Vietnam and India. Both the larvae and the adult moth have hairs that can cause rashes and nausea in humans.

The Japanese Gypsy Moth also has hairs (setae) on both the caterpillar and the adult moth. The rash can also be caused by broken hairs that are carried by the wind or transferred on to other objects (such as clothing). Rashes can resembled poison ivy rashes. If the hairs are inhaled or come into contact with mucous membranes (eyes, nose or throat), other symptoms can manifest.

I will not touch caterpillars or moths with my bare hands even now due to my mother’s constant warnings.

The 1964 kaiju film “Mothra vs. Godzilla” (モスラ対ゴジラ) was directed by Ishirō Honda and the fourth film in the Godzilla franchise (after “Godzilla,” 1954; “Godzilla Raids Again,” 1955; “King Kong vs. Godzilla,” 1962). Higuchi was born in 1965.  “Mothra vs. Godzilla” came out in 1964, the same year that “Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster,” came out. Mothra (モスラ) first appeared in a 1961 film, “Mothra.” In the US, Dican International Pictures released “Mothra vs. Godzilla” as “Godzilla vs. the Thing,” most likely because Columbia Pictures released “Mothra.”

Growing up, Higuchi’s favorite Godzilla film was the 1974 “Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla” (ゴジラ対メカゴジラ). That film was directed by Jun Fukuda (福田 純).  Higuchi said, “I know Mechagodzilla is supposed to be the bad guy, but the missiles, etc. were really cool.” Higuchi especially liked that because Mechagodzilla is a “mech” he can turn his head fully around and defend himself form all angles.

In the film, King Caesar is the ancient guardian of the Azumi royal family of Okinawa. Together with Godzilla, King Caesar battles the imposter Godzilla, Mechagodzilla and destroy Mechagodzilla. The Mech is a creation of the Black Hole Planet 3 Aliens who had planned to invade Earth and in “Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla,” the Mech was released from the crater of Mount Fuji wearing a Godzilla disguise as it went to destroy Tokyo, first battling and defeating a giant Ankylosaurus kaiju, Anguirus (アンギラス).

When asked about what Shin Godzilla means or what he’d like people to take away from Godzilla, Higuchi said, “If you look at the world and think you might see some parallel with the original first Godzilla, when we think of what Godzilla’s existence means, perhaps it is almost a metaphor for human civilization being crushed under its own weight. Because I think in 1954, when there were all these advancements–weapons testing, etc., and when you look at 2016 or even 2025, there is this sort of fear that I think humans have of our own civilization accelerating to a point where’s it’s going to be the cause of it’s own demise. And I think it is that fear in ‘Shin Godzilla” that makes it a relevant topic.”

Higuchi further stated, ” It’s been 10 years since ‘Shin Godzilla,” and I think a lot of the problems still haven’t been solved. But in the film, you want to leave a ray of hope so there’s hope that somehow the world will solve this problem of Shin Godzilla. If you look at Japan and the Fukushima power plant incident, I think there’s some sentiment that in 10 years, someone’s going to figure something out and it’s going to be okay, but there’s still this nuclear fallout that’s hasn’t been fully solved and eradicated in Japan. I think there’s a sense of reality that we have to accept that not everything can be solved like in the movies.”

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster occurred on 11 March 2011. There are several documentaries on the aftermath, including the PBS Frontline report from Season 2012 (Episode 8), “Inside Japan’s Nuclear Meltdown.”  There’s also the 2023 Netflix limited series, “The Days” and the 52-minute “The Fukushima Disaster: The Hidden Side of the Story” from Journeyman Pictures.

“Shin Godzilla” was the 31st film in the Godzilla franchise and the 29th film produced by Toho. It was the first film of the Reiwa era.

You can see the full roundtable interview:

Quickly done and then on to the panel. There were a few reveals, but not for film, for merchandising and comics. Then there was the possible evacuation announcement.

Higuchi did have something to say about his version of Godzilla and the panelists revealed their favorite Godzilla film.

Higuchi did love the new look with the refreshed, cleaned up version that will be in theaters on 14 August 2025.

“Godzilla was traditionally a man in a suit. We the filmmakers weren’t quite sure how far we could push that visual expression using CG as a medium. We ran some experiments and actually got some good CGI expressions. Then we thought if we take Godzilla and try to make him more like an ancient dinosaur there’s no way we’re ever going to meet the same level as the Jurassic Park series in CG. So we wanted to make sure there was something inherently Japanese and combine the Japanese culture with the CG medium.” As a result, they went back to look at the 1954 original Godzilla. Noting the awkward wrinkles in the suit, the production team tried to re-create that. And they concluded, “so why don’t we just use a suit.”

Higuchi elucidated, “This may be a Japanese way of thinking, but we knew that probably the best CGI that we would be able to produce doesn’t come close to a lot of the international megascale blockbuster CG, so we come from a different angle.”

Higuchi’s favorite Godzilla film is the 1973 “Godzilla vs. Megalon” (ゴジラ対メガロ), directed by Jun Fukuda.

O’Shea Jackson Jr., who made a surprise visit to the “Godzilla at 70” panel began asking the panelists what their favorite Godzilla films were.

• O’Shea Jackson Jr.: “Godzilla: King of the Monsters” (2019)
• Shinji Higuchi: “Godzilla vs. Megalon” (1973)
• Jake Williams, editor of Godzilla comics (IDW Comics): “Shin Godzilla” and “Godzilla vs. Megalon” (for Jet Jaguar)
• Brian Buccellato, comic writer (DC Comics): “King Kong vs. Godzilla” (1962). Because a bolt of lightning revives Kong.
• Brian Flynn, Super7: “Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla” (1974)
• Peter Santa Maria, Senior Creative Director of Collectibles at Mondo: “Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster” (1971). This film was released in Japan as “Godzilla vs. Hedorah” (ゴジラ対ヘドラ).
• Hector Arte of Mondo: “The Return of Godzilla” (1984), but also known as just “Godzilla.” Directed by Koji Hashimoto (橋本 幸治).
• Jeff Gordon of Bandai: “Godzilla” (1998) and “Godzilla” (2014)

We ended out SDCC weekend by visiting Pizza Kaiju for an East Asian-influenced pizza. Initially we were going to order a Mentaiko Royale pizza, but worried if it would be good. So we got a half-and-half of spinach and mushroom and a sisig pizza.

Sisig has calamansi cream, mozzarella, red onion, garlic, pork belly and pickled serrano peppers. This is more Filipino influenced than Japanese. The place is clean and filled with light, but not kaiju-related paraphernalia so that was disappointing. The pizza was good so we’ll be back again.

 

This is only part of our SDCC 2025 adventures so there’s more to come soon.