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Noriaki Yuasa

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Noriaki Yuasa
Noriaka Yuasa in 1967
Born(1933-09-28)28 September 1933
Tokyo, Japan
Died14 June 2004(2004-06-14) (aged 70)
Japan
OccupationFilm director
FatherHikaru Hoshi (jp)

Noriaki Yuasa (湯浅 憲明, Yuasa Noriaki) (28 September 1933 – 14 June 2004) was a Japanese director. Yuasa was the main director of the Japanese film series Gamera, about a giant flying turtle that befriends small boys and battles giant monsters; he directed seven of the first eight films in the series while also providing special effects for one of them.[1] The series was created by Daiei Film Studios after the box office success of the Toho Godzilla series.[1] Yuasa's career for television dramas marks him as one of the best hitmakers for domestic television industries during 1970s.[2]

Biography

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See also: Nezura 1964 and Daimajin Kanon

Noriaki Yuasa was born 28 September 1933 in Tokyo, Japan.[1] Yuasa was the son of a stage actor Hikaru Hoshi (jp). Additionally. his paternal grandmother was a shinpa actress Hideko Azuma, and his uncle Koji Shima was a movie director.[2] Yuaasa began work at a young age as a child actor,[1] while some of his careers were cancelled due to the World War II.[2][3] Yuasa's childhood experiences to witness adults, including his own teachers, to manipulate children for war and political affairs influenced his direction to make Gamera as the faithful protector of children.[4] Regarding war issues, he was vocally critical of the 1954 film Godzilla for its depictions of war aftermaths, which he deemed incorrect.[4]

After graduating university, he began to seek work on the production of films.[1] Yuasa joined Daiei Studios in 1955 and became director in 1964 with the musical comedy film If You're Happy, Clap Your Hands (jp).[1] He also participated in the 1956 tokusatsu film Warning from Space by his uncle Koji Shima as an extra, where Yuasa in his youth appeared in Shima's drama Twelve hours before going to the war (出征前十二時間, Shusseimae Jūnijikan), and Yuasa later studied under Shima.[2][3]

Yuasa's next project was a film tentatively tiled Giant Horde Beast Nezura which would involve real rats crawling over miniatures of cities.[1] The rats received for the film had fleas, which halted production on Nezura.[1] As the miniatures for the film were already built, Masaichi Nagata had to develop a giant monster to attack the city and had the idea for a giant flying turtle.[1] Yuasa, with his screenwriter Niisan Takahashi, developed the idea into the 1965 film Gamera the Giant Monster.[1]

Yuasa continued work directing films in the series except Gamera vs. Barugon, where he was only the special effects director. Yuasa's personal favorite of his Gamera films was Gamera vs. Viras.[1] Following the collapse of Daiei in 1971, he predominantly directed work for television, such as Electroid Zaborger, Iron King, and Ultraman-related productions; Princess Comet, Ultraman 80, and Anime-chan (jp) where Ultraman 80 instead influenced the production of the Heisei Gamera trilogy by Tokuma Shoten although Yuasa was critical of the trilogy.[1][5][2][6] His last full film was Gamera, Super Monster, which included extensive stock footage from the previous seven Gamera films.[1][5] At the bankruptcy of Daiei Film, Yuasa allegedly destroyed suits and models of Gamera productions due to frustration and distress.[7]

He later worked on smaller V-Cinema videos such as Kosupure senshi kyūtī naito 2 teikoku-ya no gyakushū (transl. Cosplay Warrior Cutie ・ Night 2 Counterattack of Imperial Shop) where he had appeared as the character "Dr. Yuasa",[8] and also directed the acting of Gamera by Hurricane Ryu who has also written the 1994 comic Giant Monster Gamera.[9][10]

Yuasa died of a stroke in Japan on 14 June 2004.[11] Most of stakeholders of himself and Daiei Film were unaware of his condition and knew after his death due to Yuasa's testament to "fade out" and to keep it confidential.[2]

Kiyoshi Kawamura published a novel titled The Flute of Gomera in 1971 after the bankruptcy of Daiei Film, which featured Daiei Film's tokusatsu crews facing hardships regards Gamera and other productions; its protagonist was based on Yonesaburo Tsukiji while characters based on Yuasa and others also appeared.[2]

Select filmography

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Film

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Title Year Credited as Notes Ref(s)
Director Special effects director
Women Are Born Twice (jp) 1961 Assistant director [12]
Okoto and Sasuke Assistant director [13]
The Temple of the Wild Geese 1962 Assistant director [12]
The Graceful Brute Assistant director [12]
Giant Horde Beast Nezura 1964 Editor [14]
If You're Happy, Clap Your Hands (jp) 1964 Yes [1]
Gamera the Giant Monster 1965 Yes [1]
Gamera vs. Barugon 1966 Yes [15]
Gamera vs. Gyaos 1967 Yes [1]
Gamera vs. Viras 1968 Yes [1]
The Snake Girl and the Silver-Haired Witch Yes [16]
Gamera vs. Guiron 1969 Yes [1]
Anata gonomi no Yes [8]
Fire for the Glory (jp) Yes [8]
The Falcon Fighters (jp) Yes [8]
Gamera vs. Jiger 1970 Yes [1]
Hadaka de dakko Yes [17]
I am 5 years old (jp) Yes [8]
Gamera vs. Zigra 1971 Yes [1]
Seijuku Yes [8]
Snow Country Elegy Yes [18]
Gamera, Super Monster 1980 Yes [8]
Anime-chan (jp) 1984 Yes [1]

Television

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  • Investigative Prosecutor (1964-1965)[19]
  • The Guard-man (jp) (1965-1968)[2]
  • Saturday's Tiger (jp) (1966)[19]
  • Secret Order 883 (jp) (1967)[2]
  • Anata nara Dousuru (1967)[19]
  • Jun-ai Series (1967)[19]
  • Doremifa Nikki (1968)[19]
  • Okusama wa 18 sai (jp) (1970)[2]
  • Anata wa Inai (1970)[19]
  • Nantatte 18 sai (jp) (1971)[8]
  • Bijin wa ikaga? (jp) (1971)[8]
  • Medaka no Uta (jp) (1971)[19]
  • Onna no toki ga hoshiino (1971)[19]
  • Iron King (1972)[8]
  • Mom is the rival (jp) (1972)[20]
  • Ai chan ga iku! (jp) (1972)[8]
  • GO!GO Skyer (jp) (1973)[21]
  • Love Love Rival (jp) (1973)[8]
  • Onmitsu Kenshi Tsuppashire! (jp) (1973)[22]
  • Magokoro (jp) (1973)[23]
  • Denjin Zaborger (1974)[8]
  • White Fang (jp) (1974)[23]
  • Homeless Child (jp) (1974)[2]
  • False Parents (jp) (1974)[2]
  • Adventure (jp) (1975)[24]
  • Rainbow Airport (jp) (1975)[8]
  • Sore Yuke! Katchin (jp) (1975)[8]
  • Kofuku Yuki (jp) (1975)[25]
  • Papa is single (jp) (1976)[8]
  • Keiji monogatari: Hoshizora ni ute! (jp) (1976)[2][26]
  • Superdog Black (jp) (1977)[2]
  • Jiken Maruhi Oryōrihō (jp) (1977)[2]
  • Princess Comet (1978)[2]
  • Inochi Haterumade (jp) (1978)[19]
  • Keppare! Dai-chan (jp) (1979)[24]
  • Ultraman 80 (1980)[8]
  • Uwasa no keiji: Tommy and Matsu (jp)（1980-1982）[27]
  • Superdog Black 2 (jp) (1981)[8]
  • Secret Detective (jp) (1981)[2]
  • Dannasama wa 18 sai (jp) (1982)[2]
  • Dreadful family Geronimo (jp) (1983)[2]
  • Mandatory Retirement Friend (jp) (1986)[2]
  • Dreadful Residential Center (jp) (1986)[2]
  • Nagoya Marriage Story 2 (jp) (1990)[2]

V-Cinema

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  • Cosplay Warrior Cutie (1.0 and 1.3) (1995)[8]
  • Cosplay Warrior Cutie ・ Night 2 Counterattack of Imperial Shop (1996)[8]

Others

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Notes

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  1. ^ This influenced the production of Gamera vs. Viras.
  2. ^ A promotion film for the Japan Crime Prevention Association (jp).

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Fischer 2011, p. 657.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Shunichi Karasawa, April 14, 2006, Gamera Genesis: Movie Director Noriaki Yuasa, p.20, pp.26-29, p.59, p.63, p.66, pp.71-73, p. 201, p.209, p.220, pp.223, Enterbrain
  3. ^ a b c Steven Sloss, 2021, The Invincible Noriaki Yuasa, Arrow Films
  4. ^ a b David Milner, Yoshihiko Shibata (July 1996). "Noriaki Yuasa Interview". Archived from the original on 2 March 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
  5. ^ a b Fischer 2011, p. 658.
  6. ^ ASCII Media Works, 2014, Heisei Gamera Perfection, p.21-26, p.80, p.212, Kadokawa Shoten
  7. ^ OMEGA Flying Squadron, Yasuyoshi Tokuma (jp) (issuer), Noriaki Yuasa (adviser), Niisan Takahashi (adviser), Masao Yagi (jp) (adviser), 1995, Gamera is Strong!, pp.166-167, Tokuma Shoten
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t "湯浅憲明". Allcinema (jp). Retrieved 10 January 2025.
  9. ^ Hurricane Ryu, June 14, 2020, 本日は昭和ガメラでおなじみ湯浅憲明監督の御命日。, Twiiter (X)
  10. ^ "コスプレ戦士キューティー・ナイト version1.3 [DVD]" (in Japanese). CDJournal. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  11. ^ Lentz III 2005, p. 391.
  12. ^ a b c Musashino Art University, 湯浅 憲明
  13. ^ National Film Archive of Japan, お琴と佐助
  14. ^ Hirayama, Toru (1998). Kamen Rider Master Retsuden. Fudosha. pp. 1953–1954.
  15. ^ Galbraith IV 1996, p. 433.
  16. ^ Galbraith IV 1996, pp. 360–361.
  17. ^ MOVIE WALKER PRESS (jp), 裸でだっこ
  18. ^ "Snow Country Elegy". Japanese Film Database (jp). Retrieved 2 January 2025.
  19. ^ a b c d e f g h i Koji Saito, November 1985, Television Drama, "The world of Daiei television dramas part 2", Hoso Eiga Shuppan
  20. ^ TBS Television, ママはライバル
  21. ^ Ichiro Ogura (jp) , July 15, 1995, みんな、いい人, Taiyo Kikaku (jp)
  22. ^ Books Kinokuniya, 隠密剣士　突っ走れ Vol.2
  23. ^ a b Nihon Tarento Meikan, December 30, 1980, vol.1981, "Toshie Kobayashi", "Hideto Takeda", VIP Times Inc.
  24. ^ a b Himawari Theatre Group, September 22, 1981, 劇団ひまわり30周年史
  25. ^ TBS Television, 幸福ゆき
  26. ^ 【テレビ作品】昭和51年2月20日（金）
  27. ^ TBS Television, 噂の刑事トミーとマツ
  28. ^ "平成ガメラ3作品が最高画質の4Kデジタル修復で甦る『平成ガメラ4Kデジタル復元版 Blu-ray BOX』が発売". Amass. 13 May 2016. Retrieved 10 January 2025.
  29. ^ "幻の次回作　ガメラ対ガラシャープ". Allcinema (jp). Retrieved 10 January 2025.
  30. ^ One Screen (jp), Godzilla, King of the Monsters(原題), Ciatr (jp)

Sources

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  • Fischer, Dennis (2011). Science Fiction Film Directors, 1895-1998. McFarland. ISBN 978-0786485055.
  • Galbraith IV, Stuart (1996). The Japanese Filmography: 1900 through 1994. McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-0032-3.
  • Lentz III, Harris M. (2005). Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2004. Vol. 11. McFarland. ISBN 0786452099.
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