Editing Kaiju (section)

==Terminology==
[[File:Mosura trailer - Mothra attacks.png|thumb|[[Mothra]] attacking a city in the 1961 film ''[[Mothra (film)|Mothra]]'']]
The term ''kaijū'' translates literally as "strange beast".<ref>{{cite book|last1=Yoda|first1=Tomiko|last2=Harootunian|first2=Harry|title=Japan After Japan: Social and Cultural Life from the Recessionary 1990s to the Present|publisher=Duke University Press Books|page=344|year=2006|isbn=9780822388609}}</ref> ''Kaiju'' can be [[antagonist]]ic, [[protagonist]]ic, or a neutral [[Natural phenomenon|force of nature]], but are more specifically preternatural creatures of divine power. They are not merely "big animals". [[Godzilla]], for example, from its first appearance in the initial 1954 entry in the [[Godzilla (franchise)|''Godzilla'' franchise]], has manifested all of these aspects. Other examples of ''kaiju'' include [[Rodan]], [[Mothra]], [[King Ghidorah]], [[Anguirus]], [[King Kong]], [[Gamera]], [[Megalon]], [[Destoroyah]], [[Biollante]], [[SpaceGodzilla]], [[Clover (creature)|Cloverfield]], [[Gappa: The Triphibian Monster|Gappa]], [[The X from Outer Space|Guilala]], and [[Yonggary (character)|Yonggary]]. There are also subcategories including ''[[Mecha]]'' ''Kaiju'' (Meka-Kaijū), featuring mechanical or [[cybernetic]] characters, including [[Moguera]], [[Mechani-Kong]], [[Mechagodzilla]], and [[Gigan]], which are an offshoot of ''kaiju''. Likewise, the collective subcategory ''Ultra-Kaiju'' (Urutora-Kaijū) is a separate strata of ''kaijū'' that specifically originates in the long-running ''[[Ultraman|Ultra Series]]'' franchise but can also be referred to simply by ''kaijū''. As a [[noun]], ''kaijū'' is an ''[[invariant (linguistics)|invariant]]'', as both the singular and the plural expressions are identical.{{Citation needed|date=June 2021}}

===''Kaijin''===
{{Redirect|Kaijin|the Chinese and Japanese legendary creature|Hairen}}
({{nihongo2|怪人}} lit. "Strange person") refers to distorted human beings or humanoid-like creatures. The origin of ''kaijin'' goes back to the early 20th Century Japanese literature, starting with [[Edogawa Rampo]]'s 1936 novel, ''[[The Fiend with Twenty Faces]]''. The story introduced Edogawa's master detective, [[Kogoro Akechi]]'s arch-nemesis, the eponymous "Fiend", a mysterious master of disguise, whose real face was unknown; the ''Moriarty'' to Akechi's ''Sherlock''. Catching the public's imagination, many such literary and movie (and later television) villains took on the mantle of ''kaijin''. To be clear, ''kaijin'' is not an offshoot of ''kaiju''. The first-ever kaijin that appeared on film was ''[[The Great Buddha Arrival (1934 film)|The Great Buddha Arrival]]'' a lost film, made in 1934. After the [[Pacific War]], the term was modernized when it was adopted to describe the bizarre, genetically engineered and [[Cybernetics|cybernetically]] enhanced evil humanoid spawn conceived for the ''[[Kamen Rider Series]]'' in 1971. This created a new splinter of the term, which quickly propagated through the popularity of superhero programs produced from the 1970s, forward. These ''kaijin'' possess rational thought and the power of speech, as do human beings. A successive ''kaijin'' menagerie, in diverse iterations, appeared over numerous series, most notably the ''[[Super Sentai]]'' programs premiering in 1975 (later carried over into ''Super Sentai''{{'}}s English iteration as ''[[Power Rangers]]'' in the 1990s).

This created yet another splinter, as the ''kaijin'' of ''Super Sentai'' have since evolved to feature unique forms and attributes (e.g., [[gigantism]]), existing somewhere between ''kaijin'' and ''kaiju''.{{Citation needed|date=June 2021}}

===''Daikaiju''===
{{Redirect|Daikaiju|other uses|Daikaiju (disambiguation)}}
''Daikaijū'' ({{nihongo2|大怪獣 | daikaijuu}}) literally translates as "giant ''kaiju''" or "great ''kaiju''". This hyperbolic term was used to denote greatness of the subject ''kaiju'', the prefix ''dai-'' emphasizing great size, power, and/or status. The first known appearance of the term ''daikaiju'' in the 20th Century was in the publicity materials for the original 1954 release of ''[[Godzilla (1954 film)|Godzilla]]''. Specifically, in the subtitle on the original movie poster, ''Suibaku Daikaiju Eiga'' ({{nihongo2|水爆大怪獣映画 | suibaku daikaijuu eiga}}), lit. "H-Bomb Giant Monster Movie".{{Citation needed|date=June 2021}} ''[[Gamera, the Giant Monster]]'', the first film of the ''[[Gamera]]'' franchise in 1965, also utilized the term where the Japanese title of the film is ''Daikaijū Gamera'' ({{nihongo2|大怪獣ガメラ| Daikaijuu Gamera}}).

===''Seijin''===
''Seijin'' ({{nihongo2|星人}} lit. "star people"), appears within Japanese words for extraterrestrial aliens, such as ''Kaseijin'' ({{nihongo2|火星人}}), which means "[[Martian]]". Aliens can also be called ''uchūjin'' ({{nihongo2|宇宙人}}) which means "spacemen". Among the best known ''Seijin'' in the genre can be found in the ''[[Ultra Series]]'', such as Alien Baltan from ''[[Ultraman (1966 TV series)|Ultraman]]'', a race of cicada-like aliens who have gone on to become one of the franchise's most enduring and recurring characters other than the Ultras themselves.{{Citation needed|date=June 2021}}

[[Toho]] has produced a variety of ''kaiju'' films over the years (many of which feature Godzilla, Rodan, and Mothra), but other Japanese studios contributed to the genre by producing films and shows of their own: [[Daiei Film]] ([[Kadokawa Pictures]]), [[Tsuburaya Productions]], and [[Shochiku]] and [[Nikkatsu]] Studios.{{Citation needed|date=June 2021}}