Friday, August 21, 2015

DRAWN TO GODZILLA! An Evening with Illustrator Shinji Nishikawa!

Manga artist and kaiju designer Shinji Nishikawa poses with a '93 Mechagodzilla toy. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Tonight I enjoyed a great evening with Godzilla series designer Shinji Nishikawa. Having worked on everything from Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989) to Godzilla: Final Wars (2004) and just about everything in between, Nishikawa-san has certainly made an indelible impact on the series.

Yours truly with another fan's Mosugoji puppet. 

The event was an informal dinner of Godzilla fans who gathered in a restaurant in Kichijoji. Many familiar faces were on hand, but I also got to meet new friends. Many cool items were passed around, ranging from kaiju puppets to obscure books. It was a veritable collectors' paradise!

Godzilla series composer Akira Ifukube enjoys a reunion with G-Force's Mechagodzilla. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Nishikawa-san was the guest of honor, and even though I've encountered him at other events over the years in Japan (dating as far back as 2011), this was my first time to get to know him. I found him to be extremely warm and welcoming. It was great to share a few laughs with him this evening.

Hanging out with Shinji Nishikawa -- a very nice and friendly gent!

Suffice it to say, a fun time was had by all. Afterward, most of our group headed to a local McDonald's to continue the conversation, but I had to pack it in. (Working on Saturdays has its drawbacks.) I'll just have to wait for the next event. Thanks to everyone who had this night one for the history books!

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