Thread by @Matt_Alt

Let me tell you about Shoji Otomo. You may not know his name, because he died 50 years ago this day in 1973 at the far too young age of 36. He was a proto-otaku, a super-influencer. They called him Professor Kaiju. (1/x

Otomo rose to prominence in the mid-Sixties, when waves of new mass media washed over children of the era: anime shows, manga magazines, live-action dramas. A churning sea of content, in which new forms of entertainment continually evolved. (2/x

As an editor at "Shonen Magazine,” he had a front-row seat. He loved all sorts of sci-fi and fantasy, but particularly a new form of pop culture called “tokusatsu,” special-effects driven TV shows featuring kaiju — giant monsters. (3/x

(Can I digress for a second here just to say: GOD those covers. Wow.) (4/x

King of the tokusatu shows was “Ultraman,” which debuted in 1966. It was a kind of early prestige TV show with movie-grade special effects. It proved a massive, transformative hit, temporarily dethroning anime as the object of kids’ affection for a time. (5/x

(Side note: do not let anyone convince you these live-action shows were “cheesy.” They were absolutely cutting-edge for 1966, awesomely scripted, and sparked the idea of collectible character action figure toys a decade before George Lucas ever got the idea.) (6/x

Otomo specialized in “explainers,” illustrated features that expanded the stories seen onscreen. For Ultraman, he hit on the idea of showing the biology of kaiju. He made sketches, then directed artists to expand them into cutaways howing innards and organs. (7/x

These cutaways were huge hits. Compiled into encyclopedias, they sold like hotcakes, a massive fad. At one point, the Crown Prince Naruhito was spotted buying one on a shopping trip, meaning there’s a kaiju encyclopedia in the (now retired) Emperor’s library! (8/x

Otomo helped fuel a kaiju boom that swept Japan in 1967. Kaiju were everywhere. Numerous kaiju shows appeared on TV and films in theaters. Kaiju started popping up in fashion spreads and labor protests. Even Yukio Mishima weighed in, declaring “I too am a kaiju.” (9/x

Otomo didn’t limit himself to kaiju; he also directed top artists to create dynamic illustrations for extensive features he wrote on books, movies, and folklore from Japan and abroad. He introduced works of Poe and others to Japanese kids. (Art: Shunji Yanagi) (10/

He died ten years before “otaku” entered lexicon, but the way he engaged with what was supposed to be kids’ entertainment seriously & rigorously had a huge impact. Perhaps most visibly in the use of cutaways to highlight “realism” of robot characters. (11/x

Anyway. Take a moment to remember a pioneer of pop culture: Otomo Shoji, the first to perform kaiju "autopsies" in the world! (12/end

Thanks for reading. If you dig deep dives into the lives of Japanese creators, and how their "fantasy-delivery devices" transformed dreams & lifestyles around the world, I write about many more in my book Pure Invention. amazon.com/gp/product/198…

BONUS ROUND! This is from an issue of Shonen Mag that just literally arrived in the mail. It's part of a classically Otomo feature on "forbidden folklore of the Japanese islands." Deep in the mountains on certain moonlit nights, the cats gather... Art by Takashi Minamimura.