Kaiju – the Japanese term translating to “strange beast” – is both a term describing giant monsters, as well as the name of the entertainment genre that has frightened international audiences since its debut in the 1950’s, when Godzilla made his big-screen introduction, tapping into our primal fears. Since then, the giant-monster genre has spawned dozens of sequels, reboots, original properties, knock-offs, and an endless rogues gallery of massive monsters to pit against one another. Most of them are enemies, but many are misunderstood defenders of the universe. The one thing they all have in common is that they’re weird, imaginative, and captivating. And now, the Great Pop Culture Debate wants to determine: what IS the Best Kaiju?
Listen as Host Eric Rezsnyak, panelist Bob Erlenback, special guest Zack Derby, and Patreon sponsor Eric Cline discuss and debate 16 of the most notable kaiju in cinema history.
The Round 1 match-ups are:
Match 1: Godzilla (1) vs. Red King (4)
Match 2: Hedorah (2) vs. Jet Jaguar (3)
Match 3: Ghidorah (1) vs. Cloverfield Monster (4)
Match 4: MechaGodzilla (2) vs. Destoroyah (3)
Match 5: Gamera (1) vs. Iris (4)
Match 6: Gigan (2) vs. Anguirus (3)
Match 7: Mothra (1) vs. Rodan (4)
Match 8: King Kong (2) vs. Biollante (3)
Want to play along at home?
Download the listener bracket here and see if your picks match up with ours!
Looking for more related content?
Check out these other episodes from Great Pop Culture Debate:
And if you want more content, check out Bob Erlenback’s Top 10 Giant Robots list!
Have a say in future episodes!
Finally, if you want to have a say in what episodes we tackle next, vote in our Topic Polls! And we would love to have you pick your faves in the polls currently open for your votes!
EPISODE CREDITS
Host: Eric Rezsnyak
Panel: Bob Erlenback, special guest Zack Derby
Patreon Sponsor: Eric Cline
Producer: Curtis Creekmore
Editor: Jeffery Perry