Koichi Kawakita, former head of the special effects department at Toho Studios, died from liver failure on Dec. 5, 2014, his 72nd birthday.
The IMDB does not list him, but our Japanese monster movie expert tells us MSTies will remember his work as assistant visual effects cinematographer for “Gojira, Ebirâ, Mosura: Nankai no daiketto,” aka the movie in episode 213- GODZILLA VS. THE SEA MONSTER.
Beginning his career at Toho as a cameraman in 1962, he worked his way up through the special effects department until becoming head of that department and director of special effects on the Godzilla series from 1989 to 1995.
While critics and fans praised his work on such films as “Gunhed” (1987) and “Godzilla vs. Biollante” (1989), his sfx work was more criticized as time went on, perhaps due to his admitted alcoholism. His monster fights focused more on beam battles than grappling, and increasing the size of Godzilla and his foes from 50 to 100 meters resulted in less detailed miniatures. One scene in 1995’s “Godzilla vs. Destoroyah” saw the use of actual toys of the titular foe.
Despite this, Kawakita was popular and accessible with fans. He was a frequent guest at fan gatherings, appearing at Monsterpalooza in Burbank in May and G-FEST in Chicago in July earlier this year.
