In July 2022, the “Tokusatsu DNA: Tokyo Tower SOS / Godzilla, Mothra and Toho Tokusatsu Exhibition” was held in Japan. While the showcase was largely focused on displaying various suits and props used in movies featuring Godzilla, Mothra and Mechagodzilla, one particular corner of the expo featured a concept plot written by director Masaaki Tezuka with accompanying collaborative artwork by illustrator Tokyo Genso. Created exclusively for the exhibition, Kiryu Genso takes place over 20 years after the events of Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. (2003), acting as a loose follow-up to the Kiryu duology. The full translation of the short story can be found below, as well as bonus images of Tokyo Genso’s art that was created based on Tezuka’s story and the merchandise sold to commemorate the occasion.

As usual, the biggest thanks to Noah Oskow for the following translation! In addition, I’d like to give special thanks to hengyo__osakana for sharing story details through social media, and an especially big thank you to Danarms6693 for being the source of the information and citing the exhibition this story was originally hosted at! This one would’ve flown completely under the radar otherwise.

~ Joshua S.

A compilation of six of the earliest GMK drafts, as seen in the 2022 Japanese publication Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack Completion (ISBN: 9784798627793), and a follow up to an earlier article. The section covering these proposals in the book starts with its own foreword, which is included below.

As usual, VERY special thanks to Noah Oskow for the following translations!

~ Joshua S.

Included in this article is a collection of 12 early draft synopses for several Heisei (VS) Series Godzilla movies, including Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992), Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (1993), and Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (1994). These translated synopses and subsequent images are from the special features of the Japan-only DVD releases of their respective movies. The descriptions paint a timeline on how the manuscripts subtly changed over time to the movies as we know them today, though most of the presented information may already be fairly familiar to international fans.

As usual, VERY special thanks to Noah Oskow for the following translations!

~ Joshua S.

A complete translation of one of the earliest available drafts for 2004’s Godzilla: Final Wars, as seen in the Japanese publication Godzilla: Final Wars Completion (ISBN: 4798631353). Though this early proposal differs from the final product in many ways, it’s easy to see just how many of the same beats it hits even this early in the movie’s planning stages.

Starting off this article is a brief breakdown of the earliest manuscripts and the dates they were completed, then following the proposal translation are snippets from other drafts, namely the monsters that were considered to appear and a brief rundown of the final battle in each draft. As usual, VERY special thanks to Noah Oskow for the following translation!

~ Joshua S.

A translation of a 4-minute video interview with screenwriter Kazuki Omori and special effects director Koichi Kawakita, from the special features of the 2002 DVD release Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992). It can also be found in the 2016 DVD re-release and 2019 Blu-ray release of the movie.

The video interview is divided into 3 segments, with Omori appearing in the 1st and 3rd, and Kawakita appearing in the 2nd. This interview headlines a “Making of Godzilla vs. Mothra” section of the special features, touching upon the history of events that led to the movie’s inception, and how the “bad” Mothra, Battra, came to be.

As usual, special thanks goes to Noah Oskow for the following translation! This article was made as something of a trial run, which can hopefully lead to more interesting discoveries from older video interviews like this down the road.

~ Joshua S.

A complete translation of the 150 page considered draft for Godzilla X Varan, Baragon and Anguirus: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, as seen in the 2022 Japanese publication Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack Completion (ISBN: 9784798627793). Following the story translation is a “staff message” interview with GMK modelers Fuyuki Shinada and Takuya Yamabe from the same book.

Director Shusuke Kaneko penned 3 early drafts – Varan x Baragon x Anguirus Giant Monsters All-Out Attack: Godzilla 2002, Varan X Baragon X Anguirus Giant Monsters All-Out Attack: Godzilla 2002 PROT2ND, and Godzilla 2002 ver.3 – before a significant amount of the story and characters were further fleshed out by Keiichi Hasegawa in his 49 page draft, Varan X Baragon X Anguirus: Godzilla Giant Monsters All-Out Attack.

In this 5th version of the story, much of the foundation has already been laid for the familiar characters Yuri Tachibana and her father, as well as a majority of the supporting cast. In previous iterations, the Gotengo (or equivalent) was to play an important role in defeating Godzilla, but the familiar superweapon would be phased out over time by the D-03-equipped Satsuma. The draft shared here would also be the final one to prominently feature Varan and Anguirus as the Yamato Guardian Monsters before the two were replaced by Mothra and King Ghidorah respectively.

As usual, VERY special thanks to Noah Oskow for the following translation!

~ Joshua S.

A complete translation of one of the earliest available drafts for 2016’s Shin Godzilla, as seen in the Japanese publication The Art of Shin Godzilla (ISBN: 490503308X). As an aside, this translation was the winner of a poll held on our Twitter account back in November 2020!

Many similarities between this and the final product are easy to spot, but there are also some wildly unusual elements that give this early draft a unique flare. Since this manuscript begins with its own preface, it may be best to let that do the talking. As usual, VERY special thanks to Noah Oskow for the following translation!

~ Joshua S.