December Really IS the Biggest Month in Kaiju History!

Greetings, Friends and Fiends, from the Land of the Rising Sun!
Ye Olde Dragon has been remiss these past few months in my duty to note and celebrate the release date anniversaries of Toho’s Effects Films, and for that I truly apologize, so help me Godzilla.

Now I’m sure many of you are wondering what I mean by December being the most important month in Kaiju history. That statement has to do with the fact that there have been twenty-seven major tokusatsu (effects films) in the month of December dating back to 1954. For the sake of completeness, here’s how the rest of the year compares: July and August are tied for second with six releases each month (that’s quite a difference). Next comes March with four; October has three; April and November each have two; and June has a single entry. That leaves January, February, May and September with no entries. It’s probably a safe bet that during these months Toho released their comedies, war movies, and period pieces.

In any event, here are the twenty-seven tokusatsu that were released during the month of December between 1954 and 2004 (keep in mind that I am including more than just the kaiju movies). Please note that I’m using the titles that were used for the US releases, for the sake of familiarity.

12/24/54 Invisible Avenger
12/26/56 Rodan
12/27/58 The Mysterians
12/26/59 Battle in Outer Space
12/11/60 The Human Vapor
12/22/63 Atragon
12/20/64 Ghidrah the Three Headed Monster
12/19/65 Monster Zero
12/17/66 Godzilla Vs. the Sea Monster
12/16/67 Son of Godzilla
12/20/68 Godzilla’s Revenge
12/03/72 Godzilla on Monster Island (a.k.a. Godzilla Vs. Gigan)
12/17/77 The War in Space
12/15/84 Godzilla 1985
12/16/89 Godzilla Vs. Biollante
12/14/91 Godzilla Vs. King Ghidrah
12/12/92 Godzilla Vs. Mothra
12/11/93 Godzilla Vs. Mechagodzilla
12/10/94 Godzilla Vs. Space Godzilla
12/09/95 Godzilla Vs. Destroyah
12/14/96 Rebirth of Mothra
12/13/97 Rebirth of Mothra II
12/12/98 Rebirth of Mothra III6 627
12/11/99 Godzilla 2000
12/16/00 Godzilla Vs. Megaguirus
12/14/02 Godzilla Vs. Mechagodzilla II
12/13/03 Godzilla – SOS Tokyo
12/04/04 Godzilla – Final Wars

So as you can see December was a busy month for Toho. I hope this proves useful to you.