Guillermo del Toro's love of Japanese culture seen in "Pacific Rim". “KAIJU” and robots with thorough attention to detail

Sympathy towards monsters among Mexicans, which also overlaps with professional wrestling

Why did Mexican Guillermo del Toro become a fan of Japanese monsters? When he was a boy, many Japanese children's TV programs were aired in Mexico. As Guillermo, a young boy who was unable to adapt to Catholic education and was bullied in class, was saved by many Japanese programs, as he has said in numerous interviews. Among Japanese works, his favorites included `` Tetsujin 28' ', `` Ambassador Magma '', `` Comet-san '', `` Ultraman '', and `` Ultra Seven' '.

"Pacific Rim" (c) 2013 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. and Legendary. All rights reserved.

What Guillermo also emphasizes is the closeness of Japan's and Mexico's ``views of monsters.'' Guillermo emphasizes that in Western culture, monsters are basically ``evil,'' but in Japan, monsters are ingrained in the culture and are attached to them. Rather than seeing them as ``bad guys,'' they see them as natural disasters like earthquakes and tornadoes.

In addition, professional wrestling is popular in Mexico, and there is also a national character that loves bad The Wrestler. That's why he enjoys movies like ``Godzilla vs. ◯◯'' as if he were watching professional wrestling.

Guillermo, who is attracted to Japanese culture and can proudly say that he loves monsters, has been working on a live-action project for Naoki Urasawa's " MONSTER " for many years, and has continued to explore the relationship between Japanese culture and Hollywood since "Pacific Rim." I consider myself to be a bridge builder. Now that he has become an Oscar-winning director, his role has become more difficult, but his words, ``My dream is to move to Japan like my respected Lafcadio Hearn (= Yakumo Koizumi)'' will someday become a reality. I just hope it happens.

Text: Hiroaki Saito

Became freelance in 1997, contributing movie reviews and interview articles to various media such as movie magazines, theater pamphlets, and movie sites. The column is constantly updated on Yahoo! News. Star Channel's program "GO! Theater" introduces the latest released works.

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