{"id":4902,"date":"2009-10-25T15:04:36","date_gmt":"2009-10-25T04:04:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/roberthood.net\/blog\/?p=4902"},"modified":"2009-10-25T16:58:06","modified_gmt":"2009-10-25T05:58:06","slug":"demeking-plummets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/roberthood.net\/blog\/index.php\/2009\/10\/25\/demeking-plummets\/","title":{"rendered":"Demeking Plummets to Earth!"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Godzilla’s absence, it’s good to know that Japanese daikaiju en masse<\/em> haven’t forgotten to make an occasional excursion to the Big City. We’ve had news of an Ultraman movie, then there’s the exciting discovery of Daisuke Sato’s The Fog Horn<\/em>, and re-builds of the monstrous Angels and opposing bio-mecha of Evangelion —<\/em> to name a few of the more prominent. But one potentially exciting giant has hitherto slipped the Backbrain’s radar. In March this year, Demeking<\/strong><\/em> made an appearance in Japan, heading for Tokyo with all the enthusiasm of a rabid urban re-developer.<\/p>\n

Demekingu<\/strong> [aka Demeking; Space Monster Demeking] (Japan-2009; dir. K\u00f4tar\u00f4 Terauchi)<\/p>\n

\"Demeking-poster\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Synopsis<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

Set in a dreary port town in 1970, the story revolves around a group of boys led by the older Kameoka (Kohei Kiyasu) who form their own exploration group. One day Kameoka meets a strange man named Hachiya (Takeshi Nadagi) who works at the local amusement park. Hachiya is convinced a vision of the future he experienced is real, and one day he will have to fight a giant monster called Demeking to stop it from destroying Tokyo. When the time comes, Hachiya suddenly up and leaves. However, with the guidance of a note he leaves behind, Kameoka and his friends set off on an adventure to discover the true nature of Demeking. (Nippon Cinema<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"demeking02\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Demeking01\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Demeking03\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"director\"<\/a>The 99-minute live-action movie adaptation of Takashi Imashiro\u2019s popular 1991 manga — an inspiration behind aspects of Naoki Urasawa’s 20th Century Boys<\/em> (which has also been filmed of late), or so it has been said — was directed by K\u00f4tar\u00f4 Terauchi (pictured at left). Terauchi also wrote and directed the sequel to K\u00f4ji Shiraishi’s Kuchisake-onna<\/em> [aka A Slit-Mouthed Woman<\/em>] in 2008 — based on a creepy urban legend about a ghost woman with a grotesque mouth. Demeking<\/em> stars Manami Honjou (The Handsome Suit<\/em>), Guts Ishimatsu (Blood<\/em>), Kohei Kiyasu\u00a0, Takashi Matsuo (Gamera: The Guardian of the Universe<\/em>; Japan Sinks!<\/em>; The World Sinks Except Japan<\/em>), Takeshi Nadagi , Hiroshi Yamamoto (Exte: Hair Extensions<\/em>), and was filmed around the city of Kamogawa <\/a>(see on-location pics below).<\/p>\n

\"demeking-behind-the-scenes01\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"demeking-behind-the-scenes02\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Two trailers and a teaser have been released so far.<\/p>\n

Teaser Trailer<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

<\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n

Trailer 1<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

<\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n

Trailer 2:<\/p>\n

<\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n

The theme song heard in Trailer 2<\/strong> is by pop group Pe’zmoku<\/em>. It hit the Japanese charts as a single and the DVD and Music CD<\/a> are already available in Japan.<\/p>\n

The Monster<\/strong>:<\/h2>\n

So what of Demeking itself? The trailers are rather careful not to show us the monster, though the image of its footprint can be seen as a full-size drawing surrounded by suitably tiny people. This image plays a big part in the film’s advertising, second only to the helmet, dark-glasses and bikie leather of Hachiya (Takeshi Nadagi).<\/p>\n

\"footprint\"<\/a><\/p>\n

From the trailers we can determine that Demeking comes to Earth as a meteor that lands in Tokyo harbour, whereupon it swims ashore to the consternation of a group of fishermen, one of whom decides to stand and gawk at it instead of fleeing.<\/p>\n

\"demeking-coming00\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"demeking-coming01\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"demeking-coming02\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"demeking-coming03\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And the monster clearly has some sort of radiation beam-weapon that it uses on its victims.<\/p>\n

In fact, Demeking appears to be a hybrid critter, combining the long neck, toothless mouth and stalk eyes of a snail with a rough, spiky, slightly reptilian, asteroid-like body. It is bipedal and has a tail. The images below (in order: an animatronic model of its head, t-shirt design, reflections in Hachiya’s glasses and rampaging on the DVD cover and on the poster that follows it) can be scoured for hints.<\/p>\n

\"demeking-model\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"tee_no1-500x375\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"demeking-poster08\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"demeking-poster04\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"demeking-poster3\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The film is currently available in Japan<\/a> on DVD. That’s the good news. The bad news is, of course, that it does not have English subtitles. Hopefully, we’ll see a release in the West before too long.<\/p>\n