Customer Reviews

Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters: Defending the Earth with Ultraman and Godzilla

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
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This is one of those gem of a book that crosses genres. August Ragone shows us behind he scenes of the man who created Godzilla and Ultraman. Well written at a level anyone can enjoy, and with a host of never seen before pictures (at least in America) of the behind the scenes making of these icons makes this a great read. Lots of information not readily known outside of Japan. Can't wait for volume 2!

This book is a meticulous, thoughtful, well-written, and beautifully laid-out tribute to a true master of special effects. It is a fascinating look, not only into Tsuburaya's life and career, but also the way the film industry works in Japan. An interesting read for non-fans; a must-have for fans of the genre.

Phenomenal book. Great quality, design, and content. If you have any remote appreciation for this kind of film making and monster design, this book is an absolute love letter... A must have!

This book was purchased as a Christmas gift for my husband, who wanted to stop opening gifts so that he could read it! His love of Japanese movies seems to be growing with every page he reads of this book... and I think I may have "created a monster" - husband is promising to show the baby tons of Godzilla & Ultraman dvds.

Tsuburaya Eiji was the Japanese special effects director who was behind so many monster movies that came out from Japan during the 1950s and 1960s. This is a pictorial biography of Tsuburaya Eiji that proves to be very well written and informative. I found the book to be rather insightful as the author included inserts written by men who worked with or worked under Tsuburaya Eiji during his career. The book also comes well illustrated with photographs and movie posters on almost every page as it traces the life and time of Tsuburaya Eiji's career. It was interesting to note that during World War II, he made a movie made from miniatures that showed the attack on Pearl Harbor. It was so realistic that during the initial post war period, Americans thought it was the real thing. Tsuburaya Eiji was also the man who made Godzilla what he was and creator of the Ultraman series that is still going on to this day.

Overall, this book is definitely worth your time and money to read over and treasure. Tsuburaya Eiji is one of the great pioneers of motion picture industry regarding special effects and his influence help shape this industry to this day. His influence in the science fiction genre will remains pretty strong as monster movies like Cloverfield still hit our theaters and on DVD to this day. The book strongly reflects the heydays of Japanese monster movie era history and it will remind many of us, the fun and wonder these movies brought us during our younger days. And it will inform otherwise misinformed that there is more to these movies then just a "guy in the monster suit" concept.

(And yes, I am writing the subject's name in Japanese style...sur name first always...Tsuburaya Eiji is the way you would address him if he was still alive today...as you would with any Japanese national.)

A Japanese book titled The Films of Eiji Tsuburaya has become a hard to find collectors item and for that reason I have never owned it. That indicates a level of interest which this new English language book meets very well. There are lavish illustrations and insightful text written by those who were fortunate to be able to research this topic firsthand. Pleasantly surprising is the section written by the now deceased Guy Mariner Tucker. The fact that Tsuburaya had such a hand in tokusatsu and kaiju eiga enables the writing of a book that covers multiple productions from Godzilla to Mighty Jack. Well done and well priced.

I found this to be a very enjoyable & informative book--the only thing that takes away from the reading experience is the Author's or Publisher's decision to run the captions for the photos VERTICALLY along their sides. What in the heck were they thinking?

Whether this was done to emulate traditional Japanese character-style writing or just to save space, I can think of nothing more annoying than constantly having to crane your head or turn the book sideways to read a photo caption.

I can't tell you how many times I wanted to throw this book across the room while reading it. I know, I'm probably over-reacting, but I hope the next printing involves placing the captions under the photo, so the reading experience flows better.

Otherwise it's a great book...

Written in chronological order, this book depicts the man's life from birth till his demise and beyond. This book is more heavily on Godzilla than Ultraman (and UltraSeven), but nevertheless, the influences that both has seemed eternal and endears to generations of follower.

How I wish to visit UltramanLand! Or get into a monster costume at Tsuburaya Productions and smash up some buildings... haha!

Wonderfully written with many articles contributed by various key figures in the life of Eiji Tsuburaya. Lots of photos in it as well. The only grouse I have about this book is the descriptions for all the photos, always inserted at a strange 90 degree, I have to [...] my head just to read them, very uncomfortable.

But on the whole, this is the must-have for the "Tsuburaya" fan.

Godzilla, Ultraman, Booska... they all come together in this book. Eiji Tsuburaya is a newly discovered hero of mine. Just reading George Lucas considered letting him do the special effects on Star Wars says so much about what place this great man (and his team) held in the special effects industry at one point.

Nice design as well, hefty, hardcover book. It's a coffeetable book really, so many pictures. The first hour I held it I didn't read, I just gasped in awe at all the great, great pics. Highly recommended, period.

This is a fantastic book for anyone interested in Eiji Tsuburaya and his work. It is full of biographical information and anecdotes about the man that is best known for bringing Ultraman and Godzilla to life. -Highly- recommended. ^_^