The Tragedy of Shin Godzilla

Kaiju on the other hand doesn't have this since it itself is a broader term than just a single monster type. Kaiju is less like the difference between Knights and Samurai, but rather the noble/elite martial caste containing both.

Kumonga and the Giant Tarantula are both giant fictional spiders. To only call Kumonga a strange beast aka kaiju but not the Giant Tarantula seems odd to me because wouldn't the Giant Tarantula also be a strange beast?

I mean sure the giant tarantula is just a normal tarantula blown up to appear gigantic while Kumonga is a puppet but that's just special effects styles rather than a classification of monster

But samurai and knights both have armor swords, so obviously it's okay to call a knight a samurai.

^This is about as intelligent of an argument as the one for using "kaiju" or "daikaiju" for Rhedosaurus or the giant spider.

There's a difference between "kaiju" the translation and "kaiju" in the English vernacular. If we're using the word merely as a direct translation, then we should just call them "strange beasts" or "giant monsters" and stop calling them kaiju.

But we don't. So what's the difference between a giant monster and a kaiju or daikaiju? Why bother using the Japanese word if we already have an English translation.

And the answer is simple, we appropriated the word to mean a specific thing in our English vernacular and are now abusing it to mean other things. "Kaiju" is a Japanese word. It refers to Japanese monsters and beasts. It is not meant for anything outside of that. If it's used for anything outside of that it defeats the purpose of using it in the English language and you might as well just use "giant monster" instead.

Fans have ultimately and timely nuetered the meaning of this word to be a catch-all for anything they feel like.

"Evolution", on the other hand, can still mean "transformation," "metamorphosis," and "modification," according to the Oxford Dictionary as well. So technically, based off its second definition, it makes just as much sense as using "kaiju" to describe a giant spider--If we go off literal meanings and definitions alone.

In both cases you and I are splitting hairs, because you can still twist both to be accurate.

its not okay to call a knight a samurai or viceversa because knights aren't gun-ho about honor to the point of killing themselves because their lords ask or demand of them to do so. Again knights are the lowest form of nobility while samurai can be of either noble or peasant background

I'm saying your comparisons of knights and samurai is a poor analogy

I like the idea that Godzilla sees Humans as a pest, a plague. And knowing that it cannot destroy this plague alone, it proceeds to create it's own.

@Jordan, I kinda like my depressing outlook on Shin. Goji 1954’s death was treated this same way, it was tragic for Goji and serizawa.

@Gman,

Question, If the word “Kaiju” means “a giant monster of a type featured in Japanese fantasy and science fiction movies and television programs.” then why are American monsters from Pacific Rim or the new ones from Kotm called kaiju? Or is this proving your point?

@SarcasticGoji

I enjoyed reading your outlook. I like it too.

well the japanese see american monsters like Xenomorphs, Frankenstein, and Smaug as kaiju as well. Its just weebs hate when americans use the terminology

GHman there is another about evolution you are over looking in your attempt to unify its definition.

Shin Godzilla/Marvel/Pokemon evolution is goal orientated and leads to an ultimate being/perfect state.

True Evolution is goaless, sandbox, freeform with both beneficial, neutral, and hindrance aspects to every adaptation. Specialists species evolve when the ecosystem is well adjusted and balance but the the enviroment changes like it has for 4.5 billion years, specialists are the first species to go extinct because they tend to get out competed by the new guy who is more adaptable before they too become specialists.

@Xeno
Same word describing two different things. I wouldn’t say true evolution, I would say Biological Evolution. I don’t know what to call the other one.

@Gman

I’m not trying to be rude, but out of curiosity, based in the definition of kaiju, would monsters like Yongary be not considered kaiju

I still want to see Shin vs Legendary.

That would be awesome.

SarcasticGoji,
That's an excellent question about Pacific Rim, but also pretty simple to explain. The monsters in Pacific Rim are simply called "kaiju" (or incorrectly "kaijus") in-universe. That is their designation in the fictional world of the film. It does not literally mean they are cinematic kaiju.

Things do get trick with stuff like Yongary, which include a large portion of filmmakers that were a part of Godzilla films. But I think it best to simplify it to Japanese cinema for the sake of confusion.

Some historians, like August Ragone, have insinuated the word be expanded to all Asian cinema, but I'd rather draw the line to Japan alone.

Xenotaris,
Okay, that's wonderful and all, but you're still crying over the misuse of the scientific definition of evolution. Once again, and for maybe the 5th or 6th time, both the Webster and Oxford dictionaries include a secondary definition that is not the scientific definition and is synonymous with "transformation," "metamorphosis," and "modification," none of which limit the definition to having or not having a "perfect state".

So the argument is pointless with that definition which is still perfectly applicable to Pokemon, Shin Godzilla, etc. This isn't me making up rules. It's literally right there in the definition.

This is why I'm perfectly okay with you finding the Samurai/Knight comparison poor--Because I find your argument against the use of the word "evolution" to be equally as insipid since there is (again) a secondary definition for the word that is applicable.

As for this nonsense that the Japanese use the word "kaiju" for Frankenstein and Smaug, that's untrue. Their subtitles use the word "monstura" which is a more literal definition of "monster" and they use the word "kaijin" for the Japanese Frankenstein.

But let's suppose they did use kaiju for these creatures. And? It's their language and their vernacular. There may not be a better word to describe it in their language.

But if we're going to culturally appropriate their word into our language, it needs to have meaning. And if we're just going to label any monster a "kaiju" because we feel like it, then it loses any meaning or reason for being used in the English vernacular. Why call everything a kaiju in English when we have our own word for "giant monsters". It makes no sense and is inaccurate.

But since I'm using the Oxford Dictionary anyway, I decided to look up the word "kaiju". Here's the definition:

n. 1. A giant monster of a type featured in Japanese fantasy and science fiction movies and television programs.

So there you go. "Japanese fantasy and science fiction movies and television programs." Not American. Not western. Not Chinese. Not Korean. Just Japanese.

Here’s a thought, do the definitions differ from language to language?

SarcasticGoji,
Yes, which is partially the point I've been making.

Those last two paragraphs were so chilling they changed my view of the film and I made an account on this site just to express that I love this interpretation. 

mbikkyu

Thanks very much! I wrote this like a few years ago or something, glad you liked it.