Techno Brothers (2023) [Film Review]

Techno Brothers; or, A Musical Oddity
     The greatest musicians of our time. Genius comparable to Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Miles Davis and the Beatles! Brothers, yes. Their name? Techno Brothers!
I have already written my thoughts about the 2023 edition of the JFF+ Independent Cinema online streaming event on MyDramaList and also on AsianFilmFans, but I felt like giving more detailed focus to Hirobumi Watanabe’s film that was a part of this year’s lineup. That is to say, I would like to talk about Techno Brothers that had the official premiere last July.

Release Info

Directed by: Hirobumi Watanabe Starring: Asuna Yanagi, Hirobumi Watanabe, Yuji Watanabe, Takanori Kurosaki

Language: Japanese Original Title: テクノブラザーズ Runtime: 98 min

Synopsis
In the town of Otawara, a mysterious figure known as “the Boss” and her interpreter send the Techno Brothers band and their insensitive manager Himuro (Asuna Yanagi) to Tokyo, so they could strike a deal with a record label and become famous. The group embarks on a difficult journey through which they struggle to gain money so as to stay alive.

On the Road Again
The main reason as to why I decided to focus on Techno Brothers was mixed reception of the film across the internet. On MDL, there is a negative opinion which calls the film straight up boring, some viewers on letterboxd just can’t get their heads around the long-ish music sequences, whereas Japan Times gave the film a fairly positive review, but called the concept “the Yellow Magic Orchestra minus the charisma” (source).

Well, I went in for the music... and basically stayed for the music. Some people may regard the music aspect as creative stalling for the sake of not telling the story, but I believe the purpose of Techno Brothers is primarily to bring back the good old beats of Kraftwerk (even their overall appearance is similar). As a result, making an association between legendary YMO and fictional Techno Brothers is essentially doing a disservice to YMO.

The comedy in the film is very good, but could have been played out better in certain scenes. This movie feels like an homage to The Blues Brothers (1980), and it essentially takes the road film premise from its source picture. Whereas The Blues Brothers strived to be a musical, Techno Brothers desires to be a music-driven film.

What I mean is that you never get the sense that you are watching a complete story. Techno Brothers is a series of funny vignettes crosscut with music sequences. It tries to be as witty as Kitano's Kikujiro while remixing the ambience of Aki Kaurismäki’s Leningrad Cowboys Go America (1989), but without the emotional drama.

With regard to performances, Techno Brothers themselves (Hirobumi Watanabe, Yuji Watanabe, Takanori Kurosaki) obviously try to replicate the emotion-less aura of Elwood Blues and Jake Blues. Interesting addition is Asuna Yanagi as the manager because the vanity of her character really elicits a lot of humour in the film.

By the end, you get the sense "Is it the end already?!" Rest assured, the post-credits scene hits you with a lead-in to a sequel. This musical comedy film marks the 10th anniversary of the filmmaking collective “Foolish Piggies Films”, led by director Hirobumi Watanabe and his brother, film composer Yuji Watanabe, based in Otawara, Tochigi Prefecture.

Recommendations
All things considered, do I recommend this film? Ultimately, yes. If you view Techno Brothers purely as an instance of independent filmmaking, then it is a very good film that strikes the similar feels of a musical comedy you know already. I must say I look forward to the sequel and the movie actually got me interested in the previous endeavours of director Hirobumi Watanabe. Overall score: 7/10

«Enjoyed this post? Never miss out on future posts by following us»

The Sounds of Awe and Terror: Revisiting the Music of Godzilla [Part 5- American Reinventions]

 

     I hope that my message to Godzilla fans is something that is stated overtly through the score that I created. And that message is that I adore Ifukube’s music and I credit him as being one of the key reasons that a Godzilla film even exists today. One of the things that people love about the legacy is its musical sound, and without Ifukube’s contributions to the franchise, I truly don’t believe it would have lasted as long as it has, and resonated with so many millions of fans around the world. ~ Bear McCreary

Welcome to the fifth and final part of my journey through the OSTs of Godzilla films. In the previous editorial, I discussed the music scores from the Shin series. Now, we proceed to the American motion pictures.
     Hollywood obtained the licence to make a Godzilla movie in the early 1990s, but development hell resulted in a lot of production teams leaving the project. The organisational mess was ultimately inherited by director Ronald Emmerich and writer Dean Devlin who were super hot in the showbiz after the release of their sci-fi blockbuster Independence Day (1996).
     To cut the long story short, the two filmmakers did not really care much about the Japanese icon and their only goal was to make a profitable pop-corn action flick. Indeed, Godzilla (1998) made its money at the box office, but was also critically panned by Godzilla fans across the globe. I will write my thoughts in a separate text devoted to this movie soon, but let me just say here that Godzilla (1998) is a zombie-like amalgam of everything epic about 90s blockbusters that insults the intellect of its viewers.

David Arnold

    The music for the film was composed by David Arnold who already worked for Emmerich on Stargate (1994) and Independence Day (1996), and also created the soundtrack for a Bond flick, Tomorrow Never Dies (1997). I find the OST for Godzilla to be very uneven. There are many interesting action cues, but nothing extremely idiosyncratic or memorable. The music is just there. It is neither awesome nor ahorrently bad.

    It took 16 years for Hollywood producers to get a grip on reality and try to make a movie that will actually appeal to the kaiju fanbase. Gareth Edwards’ Godzilla (2014) was such an attempt which received mixed reaction (I personally loved the film!). The composer responsible for providing the Big G with new sound was Alexandre Desplat. Already around the release of the movie, there were questions from the fans whether Akira Ifukube’s music will be included in the picture, but Gareth Edwards rushed to answer that Desplat’s score will be entirely original.

Alexandre Desplat

    While taking a seat at the cinema on the 14th of May, 2014, I was full of doubts about the movie and the OST, but my worries immediately cleared away as soon as the intro kicked in. Desplat came up with an amazing, intense theme for Godzilla. As of writing this now, I can vividly hear it in my mind. To me, the music seems to represent a nuclear bomb that is inevitably ticking away.

    After the box-office success of the film, Gareth Edwards was supposed to return (and presumably Alexandre Desplat as well) for the sequel, but the director went for other projects (ex. Rogue One). Enter Michael Dougherty who hired his long-time friend Bear McCreary to write the music for Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019).

Bear McCreary

     This OST is undeniably the best out of all American soundtracks! Throughout the film, we can hear a lot of rearranged Ifukube’s music (Godzilla theme, Mothra theme), but also McCreary’s original tracks which are downright awesome (Rodan chase, Ghidorah theme!). The movie is so much fun and the music only enhances this experience. Oh, and the Godzilla song (feat. Serj Tankian) which plays over the end credits… I could not feel more happier as a fanboy at the cinema. Bear McCreary’s music is, indeed, a love letter to the Showa era.

Tom Holkenborg

    With regard to Godzilla vs. Kong (2021), I managed to check out this film like literally today. Oh gosh, I am still shaking. Hands down, it is a wonderful spectacle of monster rumble. As for the OST, Holkenborg provides a wonderful addition into the franchise of Godzilla. If you liked his music for Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), then you won't be disappointed. He does his own thing most of the time, but you can still pick up some classic music cues from the very beginning of the series. If I were to pick my favourite tracks, then they have to be "Pensacola, Florida (Godzilla Theme)" and "Hong Kong". You can listen to the whole album on YouTube via Warner Bros. official music label.

    All things considered, this was my “brief” trip down the music lane of Godzilla’s Hollywood productions. Please make sure to hit the hyperlinks in order to listen to mentioned tracks.As usual, I leave you with my “guide list” of the American movies and the people who scored them. Thank you for reading and participating in this revisited series together with me. The sounds of awe and terror will live on in new Godzilla movies!

• Godzilla (1998) music by David Arnold
• Godzilla (2014) music by Alexandre Desplat
• Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) music by Bear McCreary
• Godzilla vs. Kong (2021) music by Tom Holkenborg

Sources: Gojipedia * TohoKingdom * Bear McCreary Interview.

«Enjoyed this post? Never miss out on future posts by following us»

The Sounds of Awe and Terror: Revisiting the Music of Godzilla [Part 4- The Shin Era]

 

     18 years after Godzilla 2000, I am glad to be back in the world of the new Godzilla which was opened by Shin Godzilla. This is the first animated film in the history of Godzilla, and I am excited to be able to take on the challenge while at the same time I feel it is a very big mission. I think this will be a Godzilla movie that you can’t possibly imagine. 

~ Takayuki Hattori

Welcome to the fourth part of my journey through the OSTs of Godzilla films. In the previous editorial, I discussed the music scores from the Millennium series. Now, we proceed to the Shin era (also labelled by some fans as the Reiwa era).

    The Big G’s triumphant return to the silver screen in a 2014 American production, reinvigorated the franchise. The Toho Studios, which sent the King to retirement 10 years earlier, also wanted a piece of the action. However, being bound by contract with the Legendary Entertainment, the Japanese executives had a very narrow time window in which they could make a new Godzilla flick. In consequence, they gave the job of making the film to Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi. The final product released in 2016 was Shin Gojira (a.k.a. Godzilla Resurgence), a brand new take on the Godzilla character and a smashing hit at the Japanese box office.

Shiro Sagisu

     Personally, I have a lot of issues with this film. A lot of kaiju fans love Shin Gojira, but in my opinion, the movie tries to be too many things at once (I wrote more about that in my retrospective article Godzilla’s Loose in Japan: Celebrating 65 Years of Kaiju Rampage). The music for the film was composed by Shiro Sagisu. The composer already worked on the directors’ other projects, like Neon Genesis Evangelion and Attack on Titan. The OST is, indeed, very haunting and reflects the grim tone of the picture (that theme!). Nevertheless, I cannot forgive the blatant inclusion of military music from Neon Genesis Evangelion (Hideaki Anno is obviously too enamoured with his anime franchise). In addition, you can also hear a lot of original music by Akira Ifukube, but due to problems in the sound mix, there’s noticeable drop in quality whenever the music plays.

Takayuki Hattori

     Although not being an official continuation but stand-alone features, Godzilla anime trilogy co-produced by Toho Animation and Polygon Pictures is also counted as a part of the Shin era. Even though the animated movies were not favourably received by the fans, I do appreciate that they tried to take a different route (basically, no monster fights) and ground Godzilla more within the science-fiction domain. Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters (2017), Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle (2018), and Godzilla: The Planet Eater (2018) were all scored by Takayuki Hattori. The composer already had a great deal of experience with the franchise, having written music for Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (1994) and Godzilla 2000: Millennium (1999). In my opinion, Hattori’s OSTs for the anime movies are simply top notch across the board. The composer obviously had a lot more resources at his disposal this time, and he came up with awe-inspiring themes (Total War, Bilusaludo's Technology, Ghidorah to name a few). Takayuki’s work on anime features jettisoned him to spot number 3 on my personal list of fave Godzilla composers (right behind 1. Akira Ifukube and 2. Michiru Oshima). Even though the trilogy does not have a lot of rewatch value, I come back to it just to listen to Hattori’s compositions. He deserves another chance at scoring a live-action Godzilla movie!
     All things considered, this was my “brief” trip down the music lane of Godzilla’s Shin era. Please make sure to hit the hyperlinks in order to listen to mentioned tracks. If you enjoyed the read, please stay tuned for the fifth and final editorial in which I will go through the musical history of the American films (to be posted soon after the premiere of Godzilla vs. Kong (2021)). In the meantime, I traditionally leave you with my full “guide list” of the Shin movies and the people who scored them. Thank you for reading:

• Shin Gojira (2016) music by Shiro Sagisu
• Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters (2017) music by Takayuki Hattori
• Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle (2018) music by Takayuki Hattori
• Godzilla: The Planet Eater (2018) music by Takayuki Hattori

Sources: Gojipedia * TohoKingdom.

«Enjoyed this post? Never miss out on future posts by following us»

The Sounds of Awe and Terror: Revisiting the Music of Godzilla [Part 3- The Millennium Era]

 

     No matter what type of music, I always want to create music that would touch the heart of people. I do the orchestration and the composing of the music at the same time, so by watching the scenes, I would select the instruments that would be suitable. 

~ Michiru Oshima

 

Welcome to the third part of my journey through the OSTs of Godzilla films. In the previous editorial, I discussed the music scores from the Heisei series. Now, we proceed to the Millennium era.
     I believe it would not be too much of an exaggeration to say that the Millennium movies owe their existence to the atrociously disastrous, burning dumpster fire that Ronald Emmerich’s Godzilla (1998) movie actually was. After the death of veteran producer Tomoyuki Tanaka, it was Shogo Tomiyama who assumed his duties and greenlit Godzilla 2000: Millennium (1999). The director (Takao Okawara), the writers (Hiroshi Kashiwabara, Wataru Mimura), and even the main star (Takehiro Murata) were already old hands at Godzilla flicks because of their experience gained during the Heisei series. The same applied to the composer who was Takayuki Hattori. He previously scored Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (1994) and again provides a familiar style of digitally-modulated sounds. In addition, the composer also sparingly remixes classic Akira Ifukube’s themes. Interestingly, the American cut of the film sees the inclusion of additional music by J. Peter Robinson who provided a bit of pumped up action cues.

Takayuki Hattori

     Although the Millennium movies are being rediscovered nowadays and appreciated by kaiju fans, it has to be noted that they struggled at the box office. This resulted in lack of continuity throughout the era. Almost every new production (Tokyo S.O.S. being the exception) started from scratch (ignoring everything that was before storywise) in order to appeal to the fanbase. As a result, Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001) was helmed by director Shusuke Kaneko. The OST for this particular entry was created by Kaneko’s long-time collaborator, the great Kow Otani.

Kow Otani

     The composer is known nowadays for having scored numerous anime shows (the music for Outlaw Star will always be number 1 in my heart!), video games (ex. Shadow of the Colossus) and other Tokusatsu flicks (Gamera: The Heisei Trilogy). In fact, Kow Otani holds the distinction of being the only composer who worked on both the Godzilla as well as Gamera series. His music for the GMK (2001) movie is certainly unique. It can be exotic/haunting and easily turn into a hardcore, meancing march. Kow Otani is certainly a go-to guy for monumental music with space opera vibes. “His music was so emotional and classical; it reminds me of old-fashioned kaiju movies, (Akira) Ifukube’s sound. His music makes me excited. It makes your heart beat,” stated Shusuke Kaneko (source).

      The other films in the Millennium series, Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000), Godzilla X Mechagodzilla (2002), and Godzilla X Mothra X Mechagodzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. (2003) are arguably the most consistent in terms of style. This was mostly due to the fact that all three pictures were directed by Masaaki Tezuka, written by Wataru Mimura, and scored by Michiru Oshima. The composer had a great deal of experience in writing music for anime, video games, television dramas, and motion pictures but she was never into Godzilla. She went on record to say the following: “Being a female, I had no interests in Godzilla at all; I’ve never watched or known much music of it before. When I composed the music for those films for the first time, I did not watch the movie or listen to music from the previous ones. The director just told me how big and how scary Godzilla was. The rest, I just used my imagination” (source).

Michiru Oshima

     Allegedly, director Tezuka proposed the job to Oshima after hearing her music for the Shomuni (1998) drama. Also, Toho gave her a boxset of Godzilla films for music reference, but she refused to revisit other soundtracks in order to have a fresh approach. It has to be noted that Oshima is well versed in symphonic as well as synthetic music, having been greatly influenced by the classical giant Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. She also admires the works of other film composers, like Masaru Sato and Jerry Goldsmith. Needless to say, her work on Godzilla films is hands down breathtakingly awesome. The romantic music is enchantingly beautiful, whereas the battle pieces are heartbreakingly intense and dramatic. The OSTs by Michiru Oshima are definitely my favorites right after the compositions of Ifukube. I hope I’m not overstating by saying that Oshima reinvented the sound of the entire franchise: “I think that the role of [film] music is like the blood in the human body, and also like a human heart, expressing the feelings that cannot be done by words” (source). Oshima herself considers the soundtrack for Godzilla X Mechgodzilla (2002) to be one of her finest works.

Keith Emerson

     The movie that concluded the Millennium era was Ryuhei Kitamura’s Godzilla: Final Wars (2004). Honestly, I am not a huge fan of this film. It desperately tries to pay homage to Godzilla's past while trying to be as action-packed as possible, but a lot of charm is lost in the process. The same thing goes to music. Pieces written by Keith Emerson, Daisuke Yano, Nobuhiko Morino, Sum41 (plus a touch of remixed Akira Ifukube) are all over the place. The music tries to be hip and all, but ultimately did not win me over. It seems more fitting to a video game rather than a proper motion picture.
     All things considered, this was my “brief” trip down the music lane of Godzilla’s Millennium era. Please make sure to hit the hyperlinks in order to listen to mentioned tracks. If you enjoyed the read, please stay tuned for the fourth editorial in which I will go through the musical history of the Shin era. In the meantime, I leave you with my full “guide list” of the Millennium movies and the people who scored them because I could not find such a rundown anywhere on the internet. Thank you for reading.

• Godzilla 2000: Millennium (1999) music by Takayuki Hattori
• Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000) music by Michiru Oshima
• Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001) music by Kow Otani
• Godzilla X Mechagodzilla (2002) music by Michiru Oshima
• Godzilla X Mothra X Mechagodzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. (2003) music by Michiru Oshima
• Godzilla: Final Wars (2004) music by Keith Emerson, Daisuke Yano, Nobuhiko Morino, Sum41

Sources: Talking to composer Michiru Oshima * Michiru Oshima Interview * TohoKingdom * Kow Otani Profile * Shusuke Kaneko Interview.

«Enjoyed this post? Never miss out on future posts by following us»

The Sounds of Awe and Terror: Revisiting the Music of Godzilla [Part 2- The Heisei Era]

 

     When Godzilla was born, a phase of my life began. Now Godzilla is gone, and that phase is over. It was very emotional. ~ Akira Ifukube

Welcome to the second part of my journey through the OSTs of Godzilla films. In the previous editorial, I discussed the music scores from the Showa series. Now, we proceed to the Heisei era.
     Ever since the premiere of Terror of Mechagodzilla (1974), the Toho Studios was keen on bringing its most iconic monster back to the big screen. The chance finally arrived with an idea of making a reboot that would ignore all the preceding entries apart from the original 1954 film. Koji Hashimoto’s The Return of Godzilla (1984) is a fresh and serious take on the King of the Monsters in the Cold War era. The job of composing the music went to Reijiro Koroku, a classically trained musician mainly known from working on TV productions, variety shows, straight-to-video flicks, and video games. (Akira Ifukube declined to return because he was too busy teaching at Tokyo College Music.)

Reijiro Koroku

     In all honesty, Koroku’s soundtrack for The Return of Godzilla (1984) is one of my all-time favourites. You can hear a heavy use of synthesizer, but there are also lots of orchestral arrangements. The viewers can definitely feel the sense of wonder and dread thanks to these bold, dark, and larger-than-life tracks. The main theme is “an ominous, rumbling piece played by a full orchestra accented with low-end brass” (Ryfle 1998: 237). Together with the movie, the soundtrack was a breath of fresh air into the franchise. Interestingly, there was also a special song made for the end credits “Godzilla: Love Theme” sung by The Star Sisters pop group. A different song “Sayonara Lover” by Yasuko Sawaguchi accompanied alternate releases of the film.

     Although the release of The Return of Godzilla (1984) was a financial success for Toho, the studio did not really know in which direction to carry on the series. After holding a special script competition for the fans, they greenlit the idea of Godzilla fighting a genetically-engineered plant. For Kazuko Omori’s Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989), Koichi Sugiyama (famous for his work on Dragon Quest RPG series) was chosen to compose the music. Some fans remark that the score has a distinct, John Williams-like, symphonic feel. Surprisingly, Sugiyama did not participate in the orchestration process, which in turn was handled by conductor David Howell. The conductor was never shown the film, which resulted in him imagining potential sequences when conducting the orchestra.

Koichi Sugiyama

     Another interesting thing about Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989) is the fact that a lot of Akira Ifukube’s older themes (featured prominently on his 1986 album Ostinato) were used in the film. Allegedly, a film historian and Godzilla expert Ed Godziszewski saw the rough cut of Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989) with only Akira Ifukube’s music.
     Akira Ifukube eventually returned to the world of Godzilla and stayed on as the composer for the majority of the Heisei era. His decision to go back to composing duties was triggered mainly by the track Bio Wars from Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989) which is basically a creative reinvention of the Godzilla theme in a funky style. Ifukube’s aim was to bring the stylish and epic monster music back to its glory. In my personal opinion, Ifukube’s work on Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991), Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992), and Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1993) are his best contributions to the franchise. However, you can clearly notice that he was rearranging a lot of his old material. In fact, if you listen to Ifukube’s scores to other films, such as Chushingura: Hana no Maki, Yuki no Maki (1962) and The Adventure in Kigan Castle (1966), you will hear the Godzilla theme as well.

Akira Ifukube

     That is not to say, however, that Maestro Ifukube relied only on previous scores. He managed to produce some original material which is absolutely breathtaking: the Mechagodzilla theme and the Destoroyah theme. Steve Ryfle wrote that “he delivers a tour de force proving that even in his late seventies he hasn't lost his magic touch” (Ryfle 1998: 295). Ifukube’s last score was for the final Heisei entry Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995). The Requiem of Godzilla Death track is an absolute stroke of genius! This piece of music alone not only marks Godzilla's farewell to the audience, but also Ifukube’s farewell to Godzilla. The composer stated the following in an interview: “The theme for Godzilla's death was one of the most difficult pieces I have ever had to compose. In a way, it was as if I was composing the theme for my own death.” (Ryfle 1998: 316)

Takayuki Hattori

     Last but not least, Takayuki Hattori also has to be mentioned. He was responsible for the Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (1994) OST because Akira Ifukube refused to return upon reading the script which reminded him too much about idol flicks. The movie itself is considered to be a mixed bag by Kaiju fans, but I regard it as a personal guilty pleasure. Hattori’s soundtrack is also a pleasure to listen to (that introduction!). Evidently, the music is not as big in scale as Ifukube’s OSTs, yet it has its idiosyncratic charm. Some tracks would perfectly fit a PS1 game, whereas others seem to be an homage to John Barry’s You Only Live Twice (1967) score.
      All things considered, this was my “brief” trip down the music lane of Godzilla’s Heisei era. Please make sure to hit the hyperlinks in order to listen to mentioned tracks. If you enjoyed the read, please stay tuned for the third editorial in which I will go through the musical history of the Millennium era. In the meantime, I leave you with my full “guide list” of the Heisei movies and the people who scored them because I could not find such a rundown anywhere on the internet. Thank you for reading:

• The Return of Godzilla (1984) music by Reijiro Koroku
• Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989) music by Koichi Sugiyama
• Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991) music by Akira Ifukube
• Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992) music by Akira Ifukube
• Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1993) music by Akira Ifukube
• Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (1994) music by Takayuki Hattori
• Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995) music by Akira Ifukube

Sources: Japan’s Favourite Mon-Star: An Unauthorized Biography of the Big G by Steve Ryfle * VGMdb * Interview with Koichi Sugiyama * Akira Ifukube Interview * Gojipedia * AkiraIfukube.org.

«Enjoyed this post? Never miss out on future posts by following us»

The Sounds of Awe and Terror: Revisiting the Music of Godzilla [Part 1- The Showa Era]

     I pursue my composition with abundant spiritual force, soul, and vitality rather than national and heuristic emphasis. ~ Akira Ifukube

 

Motion pictures would have never been the same without music scores. Instrumental compositions constitute an integral part of a multi-sensory system which ultimately results in a powerful viewing experience. Can you imagine such memorable cinematic moments as the Death Star trench run, the Godfather making the no-to-be-refused offer, or James Bond chasing a killer on Gibraltar without any music whatsoever? Since the beginning of film, moviegoers have been blessed with many memorable themes and soundtracks created by wonderful composers around the globe.
     Being a Godzilla fan, I can’t help but appreciate the music of this movie series. In view of the approaching Godzilla vs. Kong blockbuster, due to be out at the end of March this year, I decided it would be fitting to do a sort of a mini editorial-series appreciating “the sounds of awe and terror” of the most popular monster franchise ever. Each part will be devoted to a specific era of Godzilla’s history. In addition, after careful consideration, I decided to categorise all the information by individual composers rather than discussing all of the movies and their soundtracks chronologically (for your own reference, I will always include a special “guide list” at the end of each post). Last but not least, I have to underline the fact that I am not an expert on music; in fact, I am a complete noob, so reader discretion is advised because I am not going to deconstruct the OSTs' technicalities.

     So, the Showa era of Godzilla films: 21 years, 15 movies, and 4 composers in total. Hardcore fans obviously know that everything began in 1954 with the original Gojira film directed by Ishiro Honda. Composer Akira Ifukube had the privilege of scoring the original picture and it can be safely said that this man defined the music of the franchise. Not only did he come up with the famous Godzilla theme, but he created the monster’s iconic roar and footstep sounds. Maestro Ifukube repeated numerous times that working on the first picture was a difficult and challenging endeavour, but he pressed on because he was fascinated by the subject matter of the story. Indeed, the original soundtrack contains classic cues used later on in the series (Main Title, Bingo-maru Sinking, Attack Godzilla!, Fury of Godzilla), but it is primarily sombre and dark (Devastated Tokyo, Prayer for Peace, and Ending get me every time). Often overlooked nowadays, the original Gojira OST is a must-listen if you want to experience the craft of the 40-year-old Ifukube in its full glory. “When Westerners hear my music, they think of church music of the Middle Ages. When Japanese hear it, it sounds like Japanese [music] but its tempo is slow and sounds like a requiem,” said Ifukube (Ryfle 1998: 52).
     The next movie on which Ifukube worked on was Godzilla vs. King Kong (1962). The style of this particular score is very naturalistic, sprinkled with interesting chorus orchestrations. Additionally, Godzilla’s theme was pumped up as well. Interestingly, The battle track was repurposed by Ifukube years later as the battle theme for King Ghidorah in Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991).
     After Godzilla vs. King Kong (1962), Ifukube went on to score three subsequent Showa entries: Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964), Ghidorah: The Three-Headed Monster (1964), and Invasion of the Astro-Monster (1965). The first soundtrack of the three seems extremely exotic. Obviously, Ifukube had to implement Yuji Kosaki’s Mothra theme, but he also managed to add his personal spin, giving the whole music an unearthly feel. The OST for Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964) is easily my favourite music score of the Showa Era.

Akira Ifukube

     Ghidorah: The Three-Headed Monster (1964) preserves the ethereal style of the previous soundtrack. Apart from Godzilla theme and action cues, we get to hear the original (extremely menacing) theme for King Ghidorah, and Rodan’s theme (composed by Ifukube for the 1965 movie) is included as well. In Invasion of the Astro-Monster (1965), on the other hand, we have some interesting and unconventional music for the parts involving the aliens, and the popular Army March can be heard as well. The rest of the score is known from the previous soundtracks.
     For the Showa era, Ifukube also composed music for Destroy All Monsters (1968) and Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975). The OST for Destroy All Monsters (1968) is, indeed, very classy and stylish, and apart from having memorable themes, there are also some unique pieces (for example, Kilaak Aliens). The score for Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975), the concluding movie of the Showa series, sees the inclusion of the Godzilla theme, the version of which is so popular nowadays. Up to this point in the series, Ifukube always meant to have (what we know today as the Godzilla theme) associate with the military, rather than Godzilla himself. Due to the fact that the Big G was a hero in Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975), Ifukube decided to compose a remade version of the theme to represent him. As a result, this film cemented Godzilla's main melody as the official theme.

Masaru Sato

     Another composer who made a significant contribution to the lore of Godzilla was Masaru Sato. The man who often composed for Akira Kurosawa and Kihachi Okamoto, had his take on Godzilla early on the Showa series. The OST for Godzilla Raids Again (1956) can be best described as a spiritual companion piece to Ifukube’s Gojira (1954). The score treats itself seriously most of the time, and has noticeable horror undertones (just listen to Godzilla In Osaka Bay track).
     In the later years, Masaru Sato provided music scores for Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966) and Son of Godzilla (1967). Both soundtracks mark a departure from the style established by the composer in Godzilla Raids Again (1956). The music is very jazzy-ish and light-hearted (undeniably fitting the tone of both pictures geared towards children); “a la Quincy Jones and Henry Mancini” (Ryfle 1998: 78). At times, I found some tracks similar to Batman: TV Series (1966) music cues. However, this is not to say that these are weak scores. On the contrary, they have a certain indescribable playfulness that Ifukube would have never dared to come up with. In addition, a couple of action pieces resemble John Barry’s compositions for early Bond movies. The final movie scored by Sato was Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla (1974), which also has a lot of jazz vibes. In my opinion, it perfectly fits the “so cheesy so good” category. Sato himself stated the following: “I personified animals. The [monsters] started to have human personalities and characteristics... Mr. Ifukube succeeded because he didn't personify Godzilla. I turned the beast into a person” (Ryfle 1998: 78).

Kunio Miyauchi

     From other composers who had their shot at Godzilla, there was Kunio Miyauchi who wrote the music for the controversial Godzilla’s Revenge (1969). Obviously, he tried to mimic Masaru Sato, but the soundtrack is just uneventful, in my opinion. (The opening credits song “Monster March” was composed by Gendai Kano and sung by Lily Sasaki). Miyauchi later did the music for Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972). That score resembles a lot of generic music from American Westerns, so it is definitely not for everybody. Throughout the film, you can actually hear a lot of Akira Ifukube’s compositions from previous films.

Riichiro Manabe

     The final composer of the Showa era to be covered is Riichiro Manabe, who scored Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971) and Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973). Manabe’s music is undeniably a fresh take: it is neither too jazzy nor too grim. What is more, Godzilla receives a completely unique battle theme. In my opinion, Manabe’s compositions are a vast improvement over Miyauchi’s contributions.
     All things considered, this was my “brief” trip down the music lane of Godzilla’s Showa era. Please make sure to hit the hyperlinks in order to listen to mentioned tracks. If you enjoyed the read, please stay tuned for the second editorial in which I will go through the musical history of the Heisei era. In the meantime, I leave you with my full “guide list” of the Showa movies and the people who scored them because I could not find such a rundown anywhere on the internet. Thank you for reading:

• Gojira (1954) music by Akira Ifukube
• Godzilla Raids Again (1955) music by Masaru Sato
• Godzilla vs. King Kong (1962) music by Akira Ifukube
• Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964) music by Akira Ifukube
• Ghidorah: The Three-Headed Monster (1964) music by Akira Ifukube
• Invasion of the Astro-Monster (1965) music by Akira Ifukube
• Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966) music by Masaru Sato
• Son of Godzilla (1967) music by Masaru Sato
• Destroy All Monsters (1968) music by Akira Ifukube
• Godzilla’s Revenge (1969) music by Kunio Miyauchi
• Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971) music by Riichiro Manabe
• Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972) music by Kunio Miyauchi (Ifukube, stock)
• Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973) music by Riichiro Manabe
• Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974) music by Masaru Sato 
• Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975) music by Akita Ifukube

Sources: Japan’s Favourite Mon-Star: An Unauthorized Biography of the Big G by Steve Ryfle * Ishiro Honda: A Life in Film, from Godzilla to Kurosawa by Steve Ryfle and Ed Godziszewski * Gojipedia * AkiraIfukube.org.

«Enjoyed this post? Never miss out on future posts by following us»