Monster Suit Actor Retrospective: Part 3 - 1984-1999

Ken Satsuma (with white head-band) being assisted into the costume for Godzilla (1984).

So, here we are with the third overview of monster suit actors, and this time we're back to our usual formats with this new entry.Seeing as how we're looking at individuals who worked on several projects at this time, it'll be a little easier to work our way into things with more regularity.

Hurricane Ryu (left) and Ken Satsuma on a break from Godzilla vs. King Ghidora (1991).

During this time-period, no actor was more prolific or prominent than Hurricane Ryu, who is one of the major names associated with these particular films. Initially getting his start with mangas in 1980, he supplemented that with suit-acting in 1982 where he would usually perform in live stage shows throughout Japan. By the time he got to Toho, he was working in the art department, relegated to storyboards or monster redesigns when he eventually got the urge to do suit-acting again. Tasked with playing King Ghidorah in Godzilla vs. King Ghidora after an on-set accident during the filming of Biollante, he only managed to perform the character during the Sapporo battle with the rest of the creatures' screentime capably created with wires which is what resulted in the final battle as Mecha King Godzilla. He would later play the larval form of Battra in Godzilla vs. Mothra before joining the human-drama side as Baby Godzilla in Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla before taking on the role of Kumasogami from the fantasy epic Yamato Takeru. The last Toho role would be as Godzilla Junior in Godzilla vs. Destoroyah, and would follow up that by taking on the role of Guilala in Monster X Strikes Back: Attack the G8 Summit outside of the studio.

Wataru Fukuda preparing for the final stage of the Mechagodzilla costume in Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1993).

Another prominent name in this time-frame is Wataru Fukuda who, like Ryu, started at Toho in King Ghidorah. Playing the Godzillasaurus in the WWII scenes, his performance was so well regarded by the staff that he was asked back for several more roles later on as he played the mechanical beings in both Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla and Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla. With both Mechagodzilla and Mogera being taller than Godzilla, the 6-foot tall actor was a natural choice to appear in the roles, and it saw him earn a series of roles later on once he was done. Also tackling a role in Yamato Takeru by playing Utsuno Ikusagami, he later began working on the Chouseishin Gransazar series playing Sazer Remis that belonged to Impactor Logia in that series. Work in several other tokusatsu series, from Gridman to Super Star Fleet Sazer-X, throughout the late 90's and early 2000's continued, leading him to one of the more productive faces under the costumes at the time.

Masashi Takegami (center) marveling at the Biollante costume inbetween takes of the final fight.

Otherwise, it's time for a series of actors who had less-prominent but no less noteworthy roles in the films. Assisting Satsuma in the Godzilla costume for Biollante was both Shigeru Shibazaki and Yoshitaka Kimera, With Shigeru only being known for the stuntwork of a Jidaigeki short Ketsuzoku in the mid 2000's, and Yoshitaka credited with appearing but not with any named role in a 1986 film called Hoshizora no mukou no kuni, they don't have much else out there for this role. Also in Biollante was Masashi Takegami, who was in both versions of the creature. Sitting atop a giant platform for both creature costumes, he would be forced to angle the head at the attacking Godzilla both times with the rest of the time relying on the wire-works staff to animate the vines which gave life to both versions.

Ryo Hariya in the Space Godzilla costume receiving direction from SPFX director Koichi Kawakita

As well, another name worth mentioning at this point would be Ryo Hariya (also credited as Ryo Haritani), who also has just several credits to his name. He's known for being responsible for the last two opponents in Godzilla's history with being the bulky Space Godzilla from Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla and the large form Destoroyah in Godzilla vs. Destoroyah for the final fight in that film. Another of his co-stars, Little Frankie or Ritoru Furankii, is also a name with a few minor appearances. Sometime after his role as Little Godzilla in this one, he took on the iconic role of Issunbôshi the Dwarf in Teruo Ishii's follow-up to his iconic classic Blind Beast vs. Dwarf which also managed to get him included in a documentary about the eccentric director so there's a few extra bits out there for him as well.

Yuhmi Kaneyama stepping into the Gyaos costume for the finale of Gamera: The Guardian of the Universe (1995).

Other names during this so-called Heisei period would crop up in the concurrent Gamera series. Starting with the first film, we have two performers in the costume, starting with Naoaki Manabe and Jun Suzuki. Manabe has a few other credits, including a turn in the horror film Rasen and a made-for-TV jidaigeki effort for his efforts, while Suzuki has only appeared in a TV series from several years ago as his only other appearance. Alongside them would be perhaps the most important contribution to the genre since the start of the genre in that Yuhmi Kaneyama was responsible for Gyaos, which is deserving of mention. This is the first time a suitmation monster in a kaiju eiga film was to be played by a woman, and with Yuhmi a veteran of previous Sentai series throughout the early parts of the decade she was no stranger to the scene. However, this was the first time that a woman had been involved in a suitmation film and to have played an important part of the film here is quite an achievement that should be celebrated overall.

Akira Ohashi getting removed from the suit after a take on G2: Gamera vs. Legion (1996).

To round out this time-period in grand fashion, we'll look at G2: Gamera vs. Legion. Playing the titular creature was Akira Ohashi, who also has a lot to mention in this section. Appearing in a fantasy/kaiju film called Roboman Hakaider before joining in up to play the heroic turtle, he then appeared in G3: Gamera vs. Irys where he played the creature again in the nightmare sequence as well as the Irys' creature's final form for the big battle in that film. In addition, he also managed to snag plenty of roles in the motion-capture industry portraying numerous personnel and stunt-work in various video games in the early 2000's where he also managed to squeeze in one more monster film appearance as he donned the King Ghidora suit for the finale of GMK: All Giant Monsters All-Out Attack. As well, it should still be noted that it's Mizuho Yoshida in the Mother Legion suit but we'll talk later about his efforts. In the opposite costume is newcomer Hirofumi Fukuzawa in his only real film-appearance as instead he is one of the major actors involved in the small-screen tokusatsu shows playing on everything from the Super Sentai shows to Kamen Rider, Metal Hero and even Ultraman shows so he'll be discussed in depth at that point.

And at that we'll close out our part here before it gets even deeper and more convoluted. We'll be back with another entry soon, so check back and we'll have more to discuss with this series.