Kaiju

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Kaijū ( Japanese 怪 獣 , literally: "strange beast, enigmatic beast") is a Japanese term that refers to strange creatures, especially giant monsters such as those shown in Japanese fantasy films , series ( Tokusatsu ) and anime . The giant monsters are called more precisely Daikaijū ( 大 怪 獣 , German "giant monster"). The similar term Kaijin ( 怪人 ) refers to human-like monsters ( humanoids ) of this genre. The most famous of these monsters is Godzilla with 30 films now. The corresponding film genre is called Kaijū Eiga (monster film).

Other well-known Kaiju are, for example, Gamera , for which there have been twelve films in 40 years, Mothra , which after her debut film Mothra Threatening the World only appeared as Kaiju in Godzilla films, but later received its own trilogy, or Guila , a kind of oversized one Chicken. Ultraman ( ウ ル ト ラ マ ン , Urutoraman ) is usually not considered a kaijū (animal) in Japan . The term Ultra-Kaijū ( ウ ル ト ラ 怪 獣 , Urutora-Kaijū ) refers to monsters in the Ultra series , in which Ultraman mostly appears.

The best-known and most of the Kaiju Eiga come from the studios of the production company Tōhō . Eiji Tsuburaya was responsible for the special effects , who later founded his own production company under the name Tsuburaya Productions.

In the movie Pacific Rim , the gigantic alien monsters that attack Earth are named as Kaiju .

Examples