The Whale God (鯨神, Kujira Gami), alternatively as Killer Whale, ^[2] is a 1962 Japanese tokusatsu ( kaiju) film ^[3] produced by Daiei Film based on the 1961 Akutagawa Prize winning novel of the same name by Kōichirō Uno. It was presumably inspired by the 1851 novel Moby-Dick by Herman Melville. ^{[4] [5] [6]}

Plot

The story takes place in early Meiji era when large-scale shore-based whaling was still in operation along the Japanese Islands. Somewhere down the line, an unusually large and powerful North Pacific right whale drew attentions among whalers as no one had been able to hunt this extraordinary whale for years while the whale outsmarts humanity and instead killed a number of whalers. Spontaneously, the whale was entitled the "Whale God". ^[7]

On Hirado Island, dozens of whalers were killed by the Whale God and villagers became vengeful to slaughter the whale especially Shaki who lost his grandfather and father and brother for the whale. One day, the boss of fishermen declared that he will give his myōseki and properties and land and daughter Toyo to the person who succeeds to capture the whale. However, a barbarous whaler named Kishū from the Kishū region suddenly appeared and unilaterally perceived Shaki as a rival, and raped a girl named Ei, who is in love with Shaki, to warn and provoke Shaki. When the hostility between the two became decisive, a sighting of the Whale God approaching the village was reported. ^[7]

Cast

• Shintaro Katsu as Kishū
• Kojiro Hongo as Shaki
• Shiho Fujimura as Ei
• Kyoko Enami as Toyo

Production

Yonesaburo Tsukiji was originally appointed for the tokusatsu filming of The Whale God, however he was suddenly appointed for the 1962 film The Great Wall, and Toru Matoba instead became a tokusatsu director for The Whale God. ^[7]

Manga

The three-episode comicalization by Takao Saito was released on Weekly Bokura Magazine in January, 1979. It was later made into a Tankōbon in 2008. ^[8]

Legacy

Although not strictly depicting a fictional monster ( kaiju), The Whale God was the first Daiei Film production to feature a rampaging megafauna. It predates the Gamera franchise ^[a] where the successes of Gamera, the Giant Monster in 1965 and Gamera vs. Barugon presumably influenced the sudden increase of Non-Toho kaiju productions and the prosperity of the genre, while the Six-Company Agreement led by Masaichi Nagata, one of creators of Gamera, restricted non- Toho companies to easily engage in kaiju productions. ^[b] A number of film makers and actors who had participated in The Whale God later worked for Daiei Film's representative tokusatsu franchises, Gamera, Daimajin, and Yokai Monsters. ^{[c] [11]}

Fuminori Ohashi and Ryosaku Takayama co-worked for The Whale God, and the production of Tsuburaya Productions's Ultra Q was presumably influenced by The Whale God as Ohashi lessoned Takayama on tokusatsu techniques right after The Whale God. ^[13]

The Dai-kaiju, the right whale-based kaiju with an alias of "Whale God" from GeGeGe no Kitarō franchise, which is by Shigeru Mizuki and later yielded connections to the above-mentioned Daiei tokusatsu franchises due to Mizuki's involvements in Yokai Monsters, ^{[14] [15]} was presumably influenced by The Whale God. ^[16]

The yokai manga series Mononoke Soushi by Yōsuke Takahashi has an episode The Whale God (鯨神, Kujira Gami) to feature a supernatural right whale, ^[17] being somewhat reminiscent of Uno's The Whale God in which the titular whale was briefly suggested to be a supernatural being at the end.

Notes

References