Daimajin

Daimajin's prototype concept was originally designed as the , an extraterrestrial humanoid monster and the first foe of Gamera. Its concept was redeveloped into both Daimajin and Barugon appearing in the 1966 film Gamera vs. Barugon. The filmmakers were also inspired by Jötunn from the Norse mythology, the Giant of the Snows from the 1912 film The Conquest of the Pole, and the golem from the 1936 Czechoslovak film Le Golem, which was redistributed by Daiei Film in the post-war period. Expertise obtained during the production of the 1964 film Flight from Ashiya, in which Noriaki Yuasa and others had also participated in, also contributed in the launch of the franchise. Daimon the vampire, the recurring character which made its debut in Yokai Monsters: Spook Warfare, was heavily inspired by the former professional baseball player Chikara Hashimoto acts of Daimajin, and Hashimoto was also appointed for the role of Daimon. Daimajin Kanon (2010) was produced under the influences from the Kamen Rider franchise, and the television drama series didn't follow the basic concept of the character originating in traditional images of western golems. This presumably stagnated both the receptions and the ratings of the show, and The Great Yokai War: Guardians (2021) was inferred as an attempt to fix the course. The film and its major objective "Yokaiju" (and its fate) are potential references to previous Daimajin projects in particular for the endings of Wrath of Daimajin (1966) and the below-mentioned reboot attempt by Yasutaka Tsutsui, GeGeGe no Kitarō series, and Studio Ghibli movies. ==History==

at Kadokawa Daiei Studio office in Chofu, in which the is situated.They along with characters from the (indirectly related) GeGeGe no Kitarō series serve as mascots of the city. Using two studios in Tokyo and Kyoto, Daiei succeeded in simultaneously producing Gamera, Daimajin, and Yokai Monsters franchises, exceeding Toho in production rates. On the contrary to this, Noriaki Yuasa rejected the request from Daiei to produce two or three Gamera films annually due to the production constraints and impoverishments of staffs from budgetary constraints. Following the bankruptcy of Daiei Film in 1971, all of its representative, post-Gamera tokusatsu franchises (Gamera and Daimajin and Yokai Monsters) have faced repeated inactivity in productions. There existed several revival attempts of Daimajin and Yokai Monsters along with the Gamera franchise, the most popular of the three, by Daiei Film's successors (Tokuma Shoten and Kadokawa Corporation). For example, (aside from previously cancelled Gamera projects after Gamera: Super Monster) the Heisei Gamera trilogy initially started as an attempt to revive Daimajin, and the company later launched another Daimajin project along with the Heisei Gamera trilogy. This was supposed to feature Steven Seagal, the father of Ayako Fujitani who played the human protagonist of the Gamera trilogy, and the plot written by Yasutaka Tsutsui and Katsuhiro Otomo was later published as a novelization. There had been additional revival attempts, such as one by Ishiro Honda in 1980s an alleged 1990s project by Orange Sky Golden Harvest with starring Kevin Costner, and Kadokawa, after acquiring the copyrights of Daiei properties from Tokuma Shoten, announced a Daimajin project along with Godzilla vs. Gamera crossover in 2002, however Toho eventually turned down the proposals and Gamera the Brave was instead produced. Among the three franchises, only the Daimajin has not received any new film productions, except for the television drama Daimajin Kanon and the 2021 Yokai Monsters installment The Great Yokai War: Guardians. Takashi Miike, who has directed The Great Yokai War and The Great Yokai War: Guardians, had also attempted to revive Daimajin in the late 2000s along with the 2006 film Gamera the Brave, which was allegedly cancelled due to the box office result of the 2006 Gamera film and was eventually redeveloped into Daimajin Kanon. The 2021 film was the first direct theatrical appearance of the character since 1966, and its prequel side story involved Gamera's cameo appearance. Along with the budgetary requirement, a rather predictable storyline of the franchise had also triggered the cancellation of the reboot attempt as a television series in 1960s Daimajin along with Gamera and Daimon and Sadako Yamamura and characters from the GeGeGe no Kitarō series and multiple other characters from various franchises made cameo appearances in the novel series USO MAKOTO Yōkai Hyaku Monogatari by Natsuhiko Kyogoku. Additionally, Daimajin made an appearance in the 2015 novel Daimajin Denki. Daimajin has appeared in several television advertisements such as ones by Toyota, Suntory, and . In 1988, Masahiko Katto produced a independent film titled The Resurrection of Daimajin. ==Films==

Daimajin In Japan, a household of peasants cower during a series of earth tremors that are interpreted as the escape attempts of Daimajin, a spirit trapped within the mountain. These events are observed by Lord Hanabasa, and his chamberlain, Samanosuke, who are attempting to seize power in the area. As the villagers pray at a shrine, Samanosuke and his henchmen slaughter Hanabasa's family, with only his son and daughter escaping, who are assisted by the samurai Kogenta. Back at the shrine, Samanosuke's men begin to take over and forbid gatherings at the shrine. After failing to warn Samanosuke about his actions, the priestess Shinobu returns home, finding Kogenta and the two children. Shinobu takes them up the side of the mountain into forbidden territory, where the stone idol which is Daimajin stands, half-buried in the side of the mountain. The children grow to adulthood with the son, Tadafumi (Yoshihiko Aoyama) reaching his 18th birthday. Meanwhile, Samanosuke has enslaved the village. After several attempts to return peace and freedom to the village, Samanosuke's men travel up the mountain to smash Daimajin. Damaijin is asked by the daughter, Kozasa (Miwa Takada) to save her brother, with the idol removing a mask to reveal Daimajin's real face, leading it to rise from the mountain and exact its wrath on Samanosuke and his fortress. Daimajin's wrath begins to grow to attacking everything in sight, only stopping when Kozasa's tears land on Daimajin's feet. The film was released in the United States by Daiei International with subtitles in an English-dubbed version by Bernard Lewis. The film has been released under many English alternative titles, such as The Devil Got Angry, The Vengeance of the Monster, and Majin, the Monster of Terror. Return of Daimajin In Japan, Daimajin is found on an island in the middle of a lake which is surrounded by two peaceful villages, Chigusa and Nagoshi. In a distant third village ruled by an evil lord, the citizens flee to Chigusa to take refuge. One day, the evil lord decides to take over the two villages and attempts to do so at an annual festival. After being pursued by the evil lord's army, the people of Chigusa and Nagoshi find themselves on the island with the Daimajin statue. The evil lord has his men shatter the statue with a large amount of gunpowder, and the pieces are thrown into the lake. Nevertheless, Daimajin awakens and attacks the lord and his men, destroying them, before being calmed once again. Return of Daimajin was never released theatrically in the United States, but was released to television by AIP-TV in 1967. It also has been released under the alternate title Return of the Giant Majin Wrath of Daimajin In Japan, Daimajin is found at the top of a mountain. Fathers in a village have been captured by an evil lord and forced to work in labor camps. Four of their sons decide to go rescue them, even if it means crossing the mountain where Daimajin is. The four sons pay their respects to the statue when they pass it so that they do not incur its wrath. The evil lord eventually angers the statue, who comes to life and destroys all those who have not been paying respect to it. The children and their fathers are spared, while the work camp is destroyed. Wrath of Daimajin was never released theatrically in the United States, but received the international English title of Majin Strikes Again. The Great Yokai War: Guardians Daimajin appears as a notable character in the 2021 film The Great Yokai War: Guardians, which is a sequel to The Great Yokai War and part of the Yokai Monsters series. ==Television Drama==

The 2010 drama Daimajin Kanon is the sole television series of the franchise. Originally, Noriaki Yuasa from the Gamera franchise was appointed for the director along with Mamoru Sasaki as the writer and additional film crews from Toei's Kamen Rider franchise. ==Recurring cast and characters==

• This table only includes characters which have appeared in more than one film. • A dark grey cell indicates the character was not in the film, or that the character's presence in the film has not yet been announced. ==Crew==

Successes of Gamera and Daimajin franchises contributed in subtle improvements of financial situation of Daiei Film (while rushed productions of Daimajin films worsened the strength of the company and so on. Various figures were nicknamed after the character; such cases are a number of professional baseball players most notably Kazuhiro Sasaki, a boat racer and a competition race related to him, professional mahjong player , and several comedian groups. The aforementioned GeGeGe no Kitarō and Akuma-kun series by Shigeru Mizuki, who had associated with Yokai Monsters, and Urusei Yatsura, ==See also==