What does it take to bring a giant heroine and a monster to life?
Director Takeshi Yagi takes viewers deep into the world of Japanese tokusatsu, exploring its history, creative philosophy, and filmmaking techniques. Building on the cinematic tradition pioneered by Eiji Tsuburaya, Yagi reveals how the artistry and practical methods of classic tokusatsu can be reimagined for a new generation.
Now available on Galxy.
But this is more than a filmmaking lecture. Together with American producers and co-writers Todd Silverstein and Jordan A. Y. Smith, Yagi assembled an extraordinary international team to create AKARI, an original science-fiction short film conceived as a practical demonstration of tokusatsu filmmaking.
The team brings together legendary Japanese craftspeople and outstanding creative talents from around the world.
Akihiko Iguchi, the legendary designer of the original Mechagodzilla in Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974), created the monster Pythagodon. American kaiju artist Matt Frank, celebrated for his Godzilla comics, designed the giant heroine AKARI, portrayed by Kanon Miyahara, a Japanese actress, national karate champion, and action performer known for Kamen Rider Amazons and Kamen Rider Gotchard.
The film’s striking cinematography is by Alexandre Bartholo, who also served as director of photography for the Japan unit of John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023).
The production also features miniature and character construction by Marbling Fine Arts, action direction by Tatsuro Koike, practical effects by Yoshinori Muraishi, visual design by Mad Dog Jones, editing by Niko Lanzuisi, and music and sound design by Darin Dahlinger.
From story development, character design, and worldbuilding to miniature construction, suit creation, action choreography, filming, and post-production, the masterclass takes viewers behind the scenes of an actual international tokusatsu production.
A Japanese cinematic tradition meets a new generation of international creativity.
Discover how the techniques, imagination, and philosophy of tokusatsu are transformed into moving images, and how a new world of giant heroes and monsters comes to life.
