My first experience with what could be called Kaiju was the Godzilla cartoon (and Godzuuuuuuki... ignore the cries of horror) when I was a kid. My second was the Power Rangers series when I was in my twenties. The most recent was the latest Godzilla movie and Pacific Rim. I always thought they were fun, but not much more than that.

Giant Creatures in the World takes a long look at the Kaiju genre, and uses it as a reflection of the culture of the various times. While I doubt that producers were quite as deliberate as the essays might make it seem, they do make a good argument for a reflection between the movies and attitudes of the various times towards women, foreigners, the military, government and other subjects.

The essays in the collection were intriguing, covering from the era of the first Godzilla movie (and before by bringing in movies like King Kong as a predecesor) through to the far more recent Pacific Rim.

This book is very interesting but a little bit complicated. Not for beginners in the kaiju. Ce livre est très intéressant mais un peu compliqué pour les non-avertis. Il faut déjà avoir de bonnes bases dans l'univers des kaiju pour lire ce livre.

Oh, I am a huge fan! Never knew there was a name for there monsters until this book! This book was so informative; a joy to read! I learned quite a bit about the Japanese side of these movies I didn't know; And I've bee a fan since my first Godzilla flick back in the really early 60's! The only thing I need to explore in more detail, which I only heard of in this book were Kamen Rider. I have no clue...but much of the end of the book, which is really pretty short, dealt with it. Old and new fans are going to enjoy this book!