Film and special effects director Higuchi Shinji’s mind revealed over more than 600 pages!

This is a collection of Higuchi Shinji’s concept sketches for special effects appearing in movies such as Shin Ultraman, Shin Godzilla, Giant God Warrior Appears in Tokyo and more, in a single book. The ideas for filming sketched in these kokuyo sketchbooks, handy notebooks beloved in Japan for their portability, were sometimes filmed as is, while others were abandoned. Commentary on the value of these notes and sketches in communicating ideas to production staff, along with an extensive interview with Higuchi Shinji, are also included. The interview part has also been translated into English, making this a must for overseas readers and especially special effects fans.

When Higuchi creates his works, he makes detailed simulations to work out how surrounding objects move when Godzilla moves, or how the monster gets blown away when Ultraman shoots his Ultra Beam, and so on. Comparing storyboards, it’s fun to see which were adopted for the movies and which were rejected!

This book takes readers behind the scenes during the making of global hits like Shin Ultraman and Shin Godzilla, making this book a must-have not only for fans of these movies, but for all film creators.