BLOOD WORK: KAIJUOLOGY: GANIMES

Subject: Ganimes a.k.a. Ganime

Documentation: Space Amoeba a.k.a. Yog ~ The Monster From Space (1970)

History: Ganimes is a breed of Gigas-Daldorfia Horrida from the Parthenopidae-Colossa family. The creature was discovered in 1970 by Japanese biologist Dr. Kyoichi Miya while on an expedition of the Selgio Atoll. Ganime was the second kaiju discovered upon the island along with the giant cuttlefish Gezora and the gargantuan chelonian Kamoebas being the other kaiju.

Selgio Island is located in the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and the Marianas Islands. Selgio was long inhabited by a small population of natives, roughly 80 individuals, and was occupied by the 105th Army Corps of the Japanese military in World War II where the islanders were taught to speak Japanese. After the war the occupation of Selgio ended and the island remained relatively undisturbed until 1969 when associates of the Japanese company Asia Development arrived to survey the island for a proposed hotel resort construction.

During the occupation of Selgio strange reports on the island were filed regarding certain wildlife existing on the atoll as well the islanders beliefs in ancient wild gods, Gezora being the greatest of these primal deities. These reports were originally sealed away by the Japanese government, but after the "Rise of the Kaiju" beginning in 1954, many similar reports began to resurface in the 1960's. In 1967 biologist Kyoichi Miya discovered the reports on Selgio Island.

Through further research he gathered from other documents, Dr. Miya hypothesized that Selgio could sustain higher predators such as the beasts described in the War reports. Without sufficient backing to mount an expedition from any of the Japanese scientific institutes Dr. Miya was hired by the Asia Development Company to travel to the island and assess any potential environmental risks to the construction of an island resort.

First Dr. Miya encountered the great Gezora. Next Ganime came ashore and began traveling inland. Ganime, according to the doctor's reports was as large as Gezora, towering nearly 50 meters tall. The beast scuttled along the ground by use of its eight legs, not unlike the common crab of which Ganime is related. Attracted by the horrified screams of the natives, the kaiju continued inland displaying incredible destructive power and tremendous strength of its pincers.

One of the Japanese men accompanying Dr. Miya, a photographer named Kudo, bravely shot out the eyes of the monster and then lured Ganime over the edge of a cliff where dozens of gasoline cans and explosives awaited below. Ganime was blown apart by the resulting explosion.

Art by Yasushi Torisawa

A second Ganimes appeared days later, again advancing inland towards the surviving natives. While moving closer to Selgio's active volcano in the center of the island, this other Ganimes encountered yet a different monster, a colossal chelonian known as Kamoebas. Sonic frequencies emitted by the cries of bats native to the caves on Selgio drove the two kaiju into a frenzy in which Ganimes and Kamoebas battled up the side of the volcano. Their struggle took the two creatures up to the rim and both beasts seemingly perished over the side into the volcanic depths.

Dr. Miya's report mentions several bizarre occurrences which resulted in the existence of these mammoth creatures. The most outlandish claim is that the kaiju of Selgio, including Ganimes, were ballooned to their monstrous sizes by an extraterrestrial amoeba he referred to as "Yog," an apparent astro-quasar. This Yog creature was susceptible to sonic frequencies, such as those emitted by bats, and thus the alien amoeba was defeated. This claim, which Dr. Miya and those who accompanied him insist is true, appears to be invalidated by the resurfacing of yet more Kamoebas and Ganimes on the island.

See articles on Kamoebas and Gezora for further information on the kaiju and events that occurred on Selgio Island.

The Rubble Crab

Review: Ganimes is one of the three kaiju introduced in the classic Toho science fiction film SPACE AMOEBA. Ganime or Ganimes was based on the Rubble Crab, common in the ocean area between the Izu Island chain to Hawaii, the Indian Ocean, South Pacific, and the African coastline. The Rubble Crab lives in rocks and coral reefs where it blends in with its surroundings, a master of camouflage. Looking at the Rubble Crab and being in a kaiju mindset it is an obvious choice for transforming into a giant monster. Besides, giant crabs are cool. Ray Harryhausen thought so.

Ebirah from Godzilla Final Wars on the left compared to Ganimes on the right.

Ganimes is interesting in that it is very similar to another kaiju, the enormous EBIRAH, the titanic lobster from Ebirah ~ Horror of the Deep also known as Godzilla Vs the Sea Monster. Between the two of them I feel Ebirah was more successfully realized and far more convincing. Even so, Ganimes is a pretty cool and interesting design. Interestingly the redesign for Ebirah in Godzilla: Final Wars reminds me more of Ganimes in certain ways than Ebirah.

The evil earth kaiju with Ganimes in the far back left between Gabara and Gezora. Art by Yasushi Torisawa

The fact that the kaiju has only ever appeared in one film adds to the novelty of watching Space Amoeba. Of the three kaiju in Space Amoeba I prefer Gezora and Kamoebas over Ganimes, but Ganimes is still a wonderful kaiju. It's also curious that certain art depictions place Ganimes as an evil earth kaiju along with Gezora and Megalon but yet Kamoebas is placed on the side of earth's monster defenders. These good and evil distinctions must be due to how turtles are viewed in Japanese mythology.

Anyway, for a rarely seen and underused kaiju, Ganimes is far from the worst of Toho's stable and one that, if revisited, could have great potential.