Thoughts on Godzilla vs Biollante from Shinichiro Kobayashi

ゴジラVSビオランテにかける想い

Thoughts on Godzilla vs Biollante

小林晋一郎
(原案)

Shinichiro Kobayashi
(draft)

こばやし しんいちろう
Kobayashi Shinichiro

1955年北海道生まれ。
Born in Hokkaido in 1955.

「帰って来たウルトラマン」で投稿作品が採用され、「許されざる命」として放送。ゴジラとウルトラマンを愛す。萩尾望都の作品と早見優の大ファンという意外な一面も!?

The submitted work was adopted in “The Return of Ultraman” and was broadcast as “Unforgivable Life.” He loves Godzilla and Ultraman. An unexpected aspect of being a big fan of Moto Hagio’s works and Yu Hayami!?

Moto Hagio is a Japanese manga artist. Regarded for her contributions to shōjo manga, Hagio is considered the most significant artist in that genre and among the most influential manga artists of all time, being referred to as the “god of shōjo manga” by critics. (Source: Wikipedia)

Yu Hayami is a Japanese singer and tarento. In 2011, the Japanese music television program Music Station listed her as the 50th all-time best-selling idol in Japan, with 2,850,000 records sold. (Source: Wikipedia)

四年前、仙台での学会発表を終えた五月末。ゴジラ原作募集の小さな新聞広告は、ずっと頭の片隅にあったものの、それまで学会準備に忙殺され、ほとんど応募は諦めていた。しかし、締め切りの日が迫るにつれ、何もせず腕をこまねいていて、本当に後悔しないのか、という自問の声が大きくなった。自信があったわけではない。落選は覚悟の上。ただ自分は真に怪獣を、東宝特撮映画を愛しているのだという想いが、たとえ空しくとも何らかの形で実作に参加することへ、私を駆り立てただけである。ひと晩徹夜の実質二日間で五十枚を書き上げ、締め切りの朝に速達で投函した。それが今、望外の実を結び、ひたすら幸運に感謝しつつも、まだ夢を見ているような気持ちである。

Four years ago, at the end of May, I finished presenting an academic conference in Sendai. A small newspaper advertisement calling for Godzilla original works had been in the corner of my mind for a long time, but until then I was so busy preparing for the academic conference that I almost gave up on applying. But as the deadline drew nearer, he sat idle and asked himself if he really had any regrets. He wasn’t confident. Be prepared to lose. However, the feeling that I truly love monsters and Toho special effects movies only drove me to participate in the actual production in some way, even if it was in vain. I wrote fifty sheets in two days, staying up all night, and mailed them by express mail on the morning of the deadline. Now, while I am grateful for the unexpected fruition that I have received, I still feel like I am dreaming.

幸い、「帰って来た「ウルトラマン」の頃からそれとなく書き留めていた怪獣ドラマ用のアイディアはかなりの数があった。その中から何を選ぶか。八四年版「ゴジラ」の経験から、今回は対決ものにしたいと決めていた。だが破壊力のみを競い合うよう怪獣プロレスの再現はしたくない。恐怖の魔獣として甦ったゴジラの脅威に、正しく対峙し得る現代の脅威とは何か。結局、たどりついたのは、人類に与える恩恵と誤用による恐怖の大きさにおいて、まさに原子核技術と双璧を成す生命工学の世界だった。対戦怪獣のモチーフとしては、過去の東宝作品で扱われていないパターンとして「植物」を選んだ。古今東西の映画・TV番組再点検して、植物怪獣の代表と呼び得るものが意外に少ないことも確認した。ゴジラを抱きすくめるかのような巨大な花それは剛対柔、暗黒対華麗、リアリズム対幻想性などのいくつもの対比を描き得るだろう。そしてこの花と生命工学を結びつける、マッドサイエンティストの強力な動機。それを決めてくれたのは、当時生後六ヶ月だった娘と妻の安らかな寝顔だった。最愛の者たちに魂以外の不滅を願うあまり、渾身の研究を追悼に捧げたとしたら……。

Luckily, there were quite a few ideas for monster dramas that I had written down since the time of “The Return of Ultraman.” What to choose? Based on my experience with the 1984 version of “Godzilla,” I decided that I wanted to make it a showdown this time. However, I don’t want to reproduce monster wrestling as if only destructive power is competed. What is the modern threat that can correctly confront the threat of Godzilla, who has been revived as a terrifying demon beast? In the end, we arrived at the world of biotechnology, which rivals nuclear technology in terms of the benefits it gives to mankind and the horrors of its misuse. As the motif of the battle monster, I chose “plants” as a pattern that has not been used in past Toho works. I re-examined movies and TV programs from all over the world, and confirmed that there are surprisingly few that can be called representatives of plant monsters. A gigantic flower that looks like it’s hugging Godzilla. It can draw many contrasts such as hardness vs. softness, darkness vs. splendor, and realism vs. fantasy. And the mad scientist’s strong motivation to connect this flower with biotechnology. It was the peaceful sleeping faces of his daughter, who was six months old at the time, and his wife that decided that. What if he dedicates his whole body of research to mourning his loved ones, wishing for immortality other than souls…

あのレオゴンとは全く別の必然から、ビオランテは生まれた。ゴジラにせよウルトラマンにせよ、私にはその作品世界の中に絶えず、「人間と神の領域」というテーマが見え隠れしてならない。最後に、ビオランテの名は、ヴェルレーヌの詩”秋風のヴィオロンの節ながき啜り泣き……”から採った。風に吹かれて泣いているかのような巨大な花の声が、ヴィオロンの声に重なったためである。

Biollante was born out of a completely different necessity than that Leogon. Whether it’s Godzilla or Ultraman, I can’t help but see and hide the theme of “the realm of humans and gods” in the world of their works. Finally, the name of Biollante is taken from Verlaine’s poem “A violin’s long sobbing in the autumn wind…” This is because the voice of a giant flower that seems to be crying in the wind overlaps with the voice of the violin.

Paul-Marie Verlaine was a French poet associated with the Symbolist movement and the Decadent movement. He is considered one of the greatest representatives of the fin de siècle in international and French poetry. (Source: Wikipedia)

「ゴジラ」は日本が世界に誇るエンターテイメントである。邦画界のエース・大森一樹監督、特撮界の四番打者・川北紘一特技監督をはじめ、田中友幸氏が新たな時代の新たな才能を結集して製作されたこの作品が、日本特撮映画の復活を高らかに宣してくれることを、今はただひとりの観客として心から信じ、かつ祈ってやまない。

“Godzilla” is Japan’s world-class entertainment. The ace of the Japanese film world, director Kazuki Omori, special effects director Koichi Kawakita, the fourth best hitter in the special effects world, and Tomoyuki Tanaka, who brought together the new talents of the new era, produced this work, which marks the revival of Japanese special effects movies. Now, as the only spectator, I sincerely believe and pray that he will loudly proclaim this.

Source: ゴジラvsビオランテ Special Graphic Godzilla vs Biollante, p 48