The Monster Island Film Vault

Nate, the secretly resentful host for Ultraman Nu, tries to get back into as normal a life as Monster Island will allow by visiting the Sekizawa Library to conduct research. There, he meets (and is smitten by) Jane, a lovely new librarian, who tells him a notorious T-rex is on display for the library’s “Dinosaur Day.” Nate goes outside to see it, meeting M.A.K.O.’s leader, Captain Darke, just in time for the beast break out of its cage and go on a rampage. Now it’s big dang hero time—even if Nate wishes it wasn’t!

Hello, Kaiju Lovers! Nate (technically) reaches the Heisei Era of ”Godzilla Redux” with The Return of Godzilla (aka ”Godzilla 1984”). He’s joined by kaiju author Neil Riebe (who saw it in the theatre!) and the ”unapologetic apologist” for the Heisei series, Andrew Wynja ”The Ninja.” They get into how this is the only true ”Cold War” G-film and offers a uniquely Japanese perspective that was almost completely lost in Roger Corman’s heavily re-edited Americanized version, Godzilla 1985. If history isn’t your thing, they also discuss the amazing special effects by Teruyoshi Nakano, Kenpachiro Satsuma’s first performance as Big G, and the incredible score by Reijiro Koroku, among other things. Strap in!

The infamous Rito Revolto (or Rito Bandora, depending on who you talk to) and some dude named Wade once again invade the MIFV podcast feed! They bicker and banter as they read all the important news stories from Monster Island, and then they get a phone from the Island’s resident Ultra Hero, Ultraman Nu. Rito hates it, because he’s had…an altercation with Mr. Nu. Is anyone surprised?

Hello, Kaiju Lovers! You’re not only getting a double feature in this episode of “The Ultra Journey” but also the long-awaited return of one of MIFV’s first guests, Nick Hayden. Nate also returns to one of MIFV’s original conceits: showing a kaiju/tokusatsu movie to someone who hasn’t seen it. This time, it’s the Ultraman Zearth duology. These quirky parodies feature an Ultraman trying to conquer his own trauma and phobias more than the deliciously evil alien supervillains. No, Zearth’s true archenemies are mud and a volleyball. Strap in for Nate having too much fun with his new equipment and for discussions of strangely ”NSFW” scenes in kids’ superhero movies. The Toku Topics are mysophobia (aka “germophobia”) and hypochondria, because the former plagues poor Zearth in his first cinematic outing.

Coming soon from MIFV and Moonlighting Ninjas Media: Ultraman Nu: An Unofficial Audio Drama! A 12-episode saga coinciding with MIFV’s season five theme, “The Ultra Journey,” with episodes written by Nathan Marchand and special guest writers. Featuring the voice talents of Shane Cochrane, Jenessah Schlatter, Ryan “The Omni Viewer” Collins, and more! Coming soon to a podcatcher near you!