The Kaiju Connection: Giant Monsters and Ourselves

This book explores the boundaries of the kaiju genre, revealing that our definitions of humanity and monsters are not as solid as we think. It focuses on newer kaiju works and touches on classics, exploring the rigidity of moral structures and the fleeting borders of our definitions of humanity within the kaiju film genre.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 277 pages
Publication date: 31 October 2023
Publisher: McFarland & Co Inc

What makes a kaiju a kaiju? What makes an ape a large ape, and why do we sympathize with some, such as King Kong, and not with others, such as Konga? And what makes a giant person become a monster? This book provides a new perspective on kaiju and reveals that our boundaries for the genre are perhaps not so solid.

This work focuses primarily on newer kaiju works, ranging from Colossal to Shin Godzilla to Godzilla vs. Kong, but also touches on classics such as King Kong, Mighty Joe Young, Godzilla Raids Again, and lesser-known works such as What to Do With the Dead Kaiju? and Agon.

Like our ancestors, we have collectively adopted giant monsters into our culture, especially our pop culture. Within the domains where giant monsters walk, we experience the rigidity of our moral structures and the fleeting borders of our definitions of humanity. Within the kaiju film genre rest our own assumptions about what makes a monster a monster and, more importantly, what makes a human a human.

Weight: 272g
Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781476693514