UPDATE—Read Our Review Of Deep Sea Monster Reigo Here!!
Kaiju independent film Deep Sea Monster Reigo is seeing the light of day after three years of news. First announced around 2005, there will finally be releases later this year! In theaters at first, but I would suspect it will show up on DVD soon after that. The brainchild of director/writer/producer Hayashiya Shinpei, who has several other kaiju offerings to his credits, as listed below. Quoted information is taken from the official Reigo website.
The original idea, planning, scene writing and direction are done by Hayashiya Shinpei, who has received rave reviews from special effects fans at home and abroad for his work on “Godzilla x Desugirasu” and “Gamera 4”
Gamera 4: Truth (Gamera 4: Shinjitsu) is a 45 minute fan film. Here is a well-written description of one of the sporadic screenings. Gamera 4 features a white Gyaos! I had not even heard of Godzilla x Desugirasu, but as Hayashiya is supposed to have a Godzilla fan film as well this must be it. It may also be titled Godzilla VS Seadora for us Americans. Searching for images from this film proved fruitless, but I did stumble across a bizarre Japanese website that may have something else even weirder on it, more on that in another update. If you have Godzilla vs. Seadora (Desugirasu) info, please let me know. As the director is from a fan film background, I am not expecting the best acting in the world, but he should at least know how to make something fun and well paced. That alone can forgive even the worst acting (unless they are annoying Kenny children, which hopefully aren’t on a WW2 battleship.)
The character design of Monster REIGO:
Reigo was designed by Amemiya Keita, who is known as the director of SF film “Zeiramu” and as the designer of characters for a number of special-effects films.
Based on his design, the character was made by Haraguchi Tomoo, well-known for the Heisei “Gamera” series.
Reigo looks like Godzilla humped a seal! Okay, it moves more dangerously in the trailer than this marionette, but still! Godzilla with fins…
The cast:
The leading role, Kaido Takeshi, is played by Sugiura Taiyo, who opened up a new phase in his career by playing in “Ultraman Cosmos.”
The heroin, Kojima Chie, is played by Nanami Mai, who also play the heroine of “Haru-urara”. This fresh couple gives an excellent performance as childhood friends who are attracted to each other but are separated under the wartime conditions.
Hotaru Yukijiro, who played the part of detective Osako in the Heisei “Gamera” series, appears in this film as Divisional Officer Osako, as well as Kurobe Susumu, who played the role of Hayata in the first Ultraman. You will notice Director Hayashiya’s homage to special-effects films expressed in various ways in this film.
The story:
In the midst of World War II, the battleship Yamato – the pride of the Japanese navy – along with the other ships of the Combined Fleet are lurking in the South Sea in the waters of the Truk Islands.
Ensign Kaido Takeshi, (Sugiura Taiyo) is one of the officers serving on the Yamato on the front lines of the naval war, while his childhood sweetheart, Chie, (Nanami Mai) awaits his return back in their hometown. They were lovers, but Kaido, uncertain of the future, went off to serve his country without publicly declaring his love for Chie. Yet, he still carries her photo in his jacket pocket, always.
One day, the Combined Fleet spots what is believed to be an enemy submarine and commences firing. The attack is a success, however what sinks to the sea bottom is not a submarine at all but a massive mysterious creature that will later bring disaster upon the fleet. That creature turns out to be the offspring of REIGO, a legendary deep-sea monster whose story has been passed down for generations in this part of the world
Seething with rage at the murder of its cub, the 80-meter long REIGO suddenly appears and lashes out at the battleship and escort vessels with awesome destructive power. Even though they have been caught off guard with the battleship and escort vessels heavily damaged, they regroup and work out a plan of attack, but….
Thoughts of family and lovers back home…fear at being confronted by an unknown enemy… conflict and confrontation among the officers and crew over attack strategies. Now the stage is set for the fierce battle that is about to unfold between the world’s biggest battleship, the Yamato with all its onboard human dramas, and the mysterious dragon-like REIGO that moves through the seas at will.
Someone is a little bit too much in love with the Yamato…
The Trailer:
This should be fun.
Thanks to Avery for the story!