Death Kappa

Death Kappa
Death Kappa
	DVD cover
Directed by	Tomoo Haraguchi
Screenplay by	Masakazu Migita
Story by	Tomoo Haraguchi
Produced by	Yoko Hayama; Yoshinori Chiba; Tomo Fukatsu; Hidemasa Iwashita;
Starring	Misato Hirata; Mika Sakuraba; Ryuki Kitaoka;
Cinematography	Yoshihito Takahashi
Edited by	Yoshitaka Honda
Music by	Masako Ishii
Production; company	Nikkatsu
Distributed by	Tokyo Shock
Release date	June 5, 2010 (Tokyo);
Running time	85 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

Death Kappa (Japanese: デスカッパ, Hepburn: Desukappa) is a 2010 kaiju film directed by Tomoo Haraguchi. An international co-production of Japan and the United States, it stars Misato Hirata, Mika Sakuraba, and Ryuki Kitaoka. In the film, a series of military experiments result in the appearance of a giant irradiated monster rivaled by a colossal mutant kappa (an amphibious, turtle-like yōkai).^[1]^[2]

Cast

Misato Hirata as Kanako^[3]
Mika Sakuraba as Yuriko
Daniel Aguilar Gutiérrez as Professor Tanaka
Ryuki Kitaoka as National Guard

The film features cameo appearances by Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi.^[3]

Reception

Steven Sloss of Our Culture Mag noted the film's use of traditional tokusatsu special effects techniques, but criticized its humor, calling it "among the very worst of the kaiju genre".^[4] Rob Hunter, writing for Film School Rejects, complimented the film's miniature city set and monster fight sequences but lamented that "Death Kappa's giant monster madness doesn't begin until halfway through the film though, and until then we're stuck with a mixed bag of scenes, gags, and characters that never quite come together as a whole."^[5] Spencer Perry of ComicBook.com called the film "preposterous and amateurish throughout", but concluded that "Even when the absurd effects are laughable it doesn't sway from the film's relentless enthusiasm for what it's trying to do."^[6]

References

^ Weinstock, Jeffrey Andrew (2016). The Ashgate Encyclopedia of Literary and Cinematic Monsters. Routledge. p. 355. ISBN 978-1409425625.
^ Foster, Michael Dylan (2015). The Book of Yokai: Mysterious Creatures of Japanese Folklore. University of California Press. p. 164. ISBN 978-0520271029.
^ a b "デスカッパ (2010)" [Death Kappa (2010)]. Cinema Today (in Japanese). 27 November 2010. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
^ Sloss, Steven (29 June 2019). "Absent Fiends: The "Wilderness Years" of the Kaiju Genre". Our Culture Mag. Archived from the original on 20 September 2020. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
^ Hunter, Rob (16 July 2010). "Another Hole In The Head 2010: Death Kappa". Film School Rejects. Archived from the original on 1 January 2012. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
^ Perry, Spencer (1 April 2021). "10 Monster Movies to Watch if You Liked Godzilla vs. Kong". ComicBook.com. Archived from the original on 2 April 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2021.

External links

Death Kappa at IMDb

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[1] Weinstock, Jeffrey Andrew (2016). The Ashgate Encyclopedia of Literary and Cinematic Monsters. Routledge. p. 355. ISBN 978-1409425625.

[2] Foster, Michael Dylan (2015). The Book of Yokai: Mysterious Creatures of Japanese Folklore. University of California Press. p. 164. ISBN 978-0520271029.

[Cinema_Today_2010-3] "デスカッパ (2010)" [Death Kappa (2010)]. Cinema Today (in Japanese). 27 November 2010. Retrieved 2 June 2021.

[4] Sloss, Steven (29 June 2019). "Absent Fiends: The "Wilderness Years" of the Kaiju Genre". Our Culture Mag. Archived from the original on 20 September 2020. Retrieved 2 June 2021.

[5] Hunter, Rob (16 July 2010). "Another Hole In The Head 2010: Death Kappa". Film School Rejects. Archived from the original on 1 January 2012. Retrieved 2 June 2021.

[6] Perry, Spencer (1 April 2021). "10 Monster Movies to Watch if You Liked Godzilla vs. Kong". ComicBook.com. Archived from the original on 2 April 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2021.