Daimajin (Film Series)

Daimajin (大魔神^?) is a trilogy of films were all shot simultaneously and released in 1966 with three different directors and predominantly the same crew. The series was produced by Daiei Film and contained similar plot

The Original 1966 film's Poster

Films

Official English title	Japanese title	Japanese release date	Notes
Daimajin	大魔神 (Daimajin)	17 April 1966	first (Ever) film
Return of Daimajin	大魔神怒る (Daimajin ikaru)	13 August 1966	second (Ever) film
Daimajin Strikes Again	大魔神逆襲 (Daimajin gyakushu)	10 December 1966	third (Ever) film

Main article: Daimajin (1966 film)

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.

second film poster

Return of Daimajin

In Japan, Daimajin is found on an island in the middle of a lake which is surrounded by the 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. Daimajin's shattered remains end up at the bottom of the lake. Daimajin awakens to inflict chaos to all around him, including the landscape and the evil lord.

Return of Daimajin was never released theatrically in the United States, but was released to television by AIP-TV in 1967.

Third film poster

Daimajin: Strikes Again

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 him. The children and their fathers are spared, while the work camp is destroyed.

Daimajin Strikes Again was never released theatrically in the United States, but received the international English title of The Return of Majin.

2010 TV Show

Kanon Mikazaki is a young student who moves to Tokyo with the dream of becoming a singer, but is left heartbroken after her ambitious boyfriend betrays her by stealing a treasured family song and using it to propel himself to instant stardom. Falling into a deep depression, Kanon is suddenly approached by a spirit who reveals an unbelievable fate: that Kanon and her family song are the key to summoning an ancient guardian known as Bujin, whose presence is desperately needed to fight against a coming onslaught of demons. The problem is that the song is one of love and happiness, and the magic is only effective if Kanon sings with all of her heart.

And so Kanon, along with the aid of some eclectic guardian spirits, begins a slow journey to pull herself out of her depression and rediscover both her dream of becoming a singer and her faith in humanity. But time is running out, as the demonic hordes have begun to possess people to lay the groundwork for their main invasion, and only Bujin has the power to save the world.

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