Title
 Everything Godzilla: The Complete Super Encyclopedia
Author(s)
 Koji Oshima and Toho
Language: Japanese Release: 2004
Publisher: Kodansha Pages: 122
Genre: Non-fiction ISBN: 4063045579

Preview: Order
Page 36 - Page 57 - Page 71 - Page 116
Back Cover
 
Comments
Anthony Romero

Despite what the title might imply, this book actually covers far more than just the Godzilla series as most of Toho's science fiction films up to Godzilla: Final Wars (2004) are included. This includes some of the more obscure movies such as Half Human (1955) and Mikadroid (1991), although predominately this is dedicated to Toho's kaiju productions.

The presentation itself is very light on text, making it ideal for those not able to read Kanji/Hiragana, and heavy on pictures, often times with a large one as the center piece that is then flanked by smaller shots near the edges. The contents are ordered mostly in chronological order, although a few of them with smaller mentions, like the stuff from Gunhed (1989), are out of order. Sadly, the look of the book is a little uneven at first, as it often times opts for black and white shots or what look to be rough captures from the early films. Thankfully, the publication improves drastically as it goes along, doing a much better job with the 1960's productions in nearly full color until it reaches the Heisei and Millennium stuff which look fantastic. It's also worth noting that this book actually features King Kong and Mechani-Kong, something that is very rare on more recent publications due to licensing agreements.

The best part about this book, though, is simply the price, as it retails for around $15, and for that price point it's hard to think of a better publication on the subject matter if one collects these primarily for the photos (especially the glorious color ones here).