A simple
horror movie concept created by makeup artist Tomoo
Haraguchi. The project was beginning to take off as
props were created, including one of the Mikado Zombie
that is pictured above, while the film's crew was readied
as the production was going to be primarily independently
produced. Unfortunately, the timing for such a movie
in Japan was off.
In 1989, just before filming started, the controversy
surrounding real life serial killer Tsutomu Miyazaki
had began to pick up steam. Miyazaki's crimes became
popular tabloid fodder that year and a hot topic throughout
Japan as his graphic and inhuman slayings of four young
girls hit headlines across the country. As the killer's
background was explored, it was revealed that Miyazaki
was an avid collector of horror films, and that he even
re-enacted some of the onscreen murders with his victims.
Consequently, this made the horror genre in Japan a
controversial issue around this time. Fearing this climate,
Mikado Zombie was canceled.
Haraguchi didn't give up on the concept though, and
instead molded the idea into more of a science fiction
film by basing it on a World War II era cyborg that
would be resurrected in modern times. To adapt the idea,
various script writers were brought in, including Hara
Masami, although Junki Takegami was the one to finally
finish the screenplay in 1990, giving birth to Mikadroid
which would start filming on January 20th, 1991.
It's interesting to note that the models created for
this project would eventually get used in Mikadroid,
with the zombie props doubling as aged corpses in the
final film.
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