The Dai-Majin (大魔神 Dai-Majin, lit. Great Demon God) or Arakatsuma (阿羅羯磨 Arakatsuma) is a warrior god.
Appearance[]
Akuma-kun (1966)[]
Akuma-kun (1989)[]
Although the general appearance of the giant statue was based on the 1966 incarnation, it has a largely refined appearance with more anatomically correct humanoid proportion.
The Great Yōkai War: Guardians[]
The Dai-Majin appeared in The Great Yōkai War: Guardians drastically differs in physical appearances from the original Showa incarnation of the character both in calm and rage modes. The general outfits including the helmet and the rest of armors are also different from previous incarnations.
The 2021 incarnation, while in calm mode, possessed rather a blunt and haniwa-like appearance while the rage mode gained fiery attributes including the fire on top of his head and magma like skins and eyes. The 2021 incarnation is roughly 9.8 meters in height, making him taller than the Showa incarnation[1] and smaller than the Heisei incarnation while the size of Showa incarnation inconsistently ranges among literatures from 4.5 meters to 15 meters.[2]
Personality[]
Daimajin in the Akuma-kun franchise is drastically different both in appearance and background stories although it bears several similarities with the original incarnation of the character by Daiei Film. For instance, Daimajin usually stays as an immovable stone statue while it goes on rampages to fend off intruders to the Shiva's Sacred Palace. Additionally, Daimajin's eye beam somewhat resembles unused, book-only mentioned abilities of Daiei's Daimajin.
Similar to the original lore, the 2021 Dai-Majin responses to calls from benignant individuals while once he awakens and enters the rage mode, he becomes a violent and unstable being who even tries to attack the summoners. Only the descendants of Watanabe no Tsuna can summon him.[3]
History[]
Akuma-kun Live-Action Drama[]
It appeared in the 10th episode as the guardian god of Shiva's Sacred Palace. It attacked protagonists, however Mephisto reflected its eye beams with a mirror and the moving statue was destroyed.
Akuma-kun 1989 Anime[]
He appeared in the 39th episode as the guardian god of Shiva's Sacred Palace. After passing thorough the "tests" by King Solomon, Shingo Umoregi and others headed to the palace, however Daimajin awoke and attacked them. However, as protagonists used the power of the Ultimate Hexagram which they obtained through the king's tests, the statue stopped attacking and turned back to the original state.
Other Media[]
The Great Yōkai War 2005[]
In the novelization, Gamera and Dai-Majin were briefly mentioned by Yōkai without much details about them revealed.
USO MAKOTO Yōkai Hyaku Monogatari[]
"Japan Yōkai Promotion Committee", whose members include Shigeru Mizuki, Natsuhiko Kyōgoku, Hiroshi Aramata, summoned "beings" to fight against evils led by Daimon and Yasunori Katō. Dai-Majin was summoned along with many other "beings" such as Gamera, Kitarō, Yo-kai Watch characters, many other Yōkai and fictional characters.
The Great Yōkai War: Guardians[]
Dai-Majin marching with protagonists and Yōkai
The Great Yōkai War: Guardians: Side Story: Heian Hyakkitan[]
In the final battle against antagonists, yōkai considered to summon Dai-Majin to protect the city of Kyoto, however they gave up due to the distance between Kyoto and eastern Japan while Gamera appeared instead and defeated Nue.[4]
Powers and Abilities[]
Transformation
Durability
Physical Prowess:
Beam: Daimajin in the Akuma-kun can shoot energy beams from their eyes.
Divine Powers: Daimajin in the Daiei productions can cause variety of phenomenon such as thunderstorm and earthquake.
- Telekinesis: Daimajin in the Daiei productions can perform telekinesis to manipulate a wide range of elements from wind to water currents.
- Fire Manipulation: Daimajin in the Daiei productions can emit fireballs and fire blasts respectively. He can also magically extinguish fire.
- Electricity
- Flight
Equipments[]
Sword: Both Daiei Film's Daimajin and those in the Akuma-kun franchise wield swords as their primal melee weapons.
- Extendable Flame Sword: In The Great Yōkai War: Guardians, Daimajin wields a sword which can extend and ignite to increase its offensive capability.
Legend[]
Daiei Film's 80th Anniversary event poster featuring Gamera and Dai-Majin and Daimon and various yōkai.
The Daimajin, the great demon god, is a divine spirit from Daiei Film's series of the same name. It was inspired from Czechoslovakian film Le Golem in 1936, and was originally designed to be Gamera's enemy for the 1966 film Gamera vs. Barugon, which its name during development was Uchū Hyōjin (宇宙氷人 Uchuu Hyōjin, lit. Space Iceman). Its ice-related settings were reused for Barugon's ice breath. This is in contrast to Dai-Majin who later gained affinity to fire in The Great Yōkai War: Guardians.
There had been several attempts to reboot Dai-Majin since the 1980s. For example, an attempt by staring Steven Seagal was planned in 1998 due to positive receptions of Heisei Gamera Trilogy which featured Ayako Fujitani, the daughter of Seagal as the human protagonist Asagi Kusanagi. Although the project was eventually scrapped, a novelization of the script was later published.[5] Additionally, a plan to reboot by Takashi Miike was launched in 2007 along with the release of Gamera the Brave.[6] While this never materialized, Miike's attempt to revive the character bore a fruit in The Great Yōkai War: Guardians.
Concepts of Daimon appeared in The Great Yōkai War and subsequent productions was largely influenced by Dai-Majin. Chikara Hashimoto was appointed for Daimon's role because Yoshiyuki Kuroda was fascinated by Hashimoto's acting as Dai-Majin, and various ideas of Daimon's acting was based on Dai-Majin.[7]
Trivia[]
Comparison of Daimajin's calm mode and Yoroi-Musha in the 1985 anime adaptation.
- Dai-Majin's design may serve as the basis for the Yoroi-Musha's design in the 1985 anime adaptation of GeGeGe no Kitarō.
- Coincidentally, Dai-Majin's affinity to fire in the 2021 film is in contrast to the above-mentioned Space Iceman, the scrapped character whose idea was later feedbacked into the Dai-Majin and Barugon.
External Links[]
References[]
- ↑ 三池崇史監督が語る「大魔神」復活の意外な真実とは!?『妖怪大戦争 ガーディアンズ』に込めたメッセージと子供たちへの眼差し
- ↑ Rikao Yanagita, 2006, Kūsō Kagaku Dokuhon 3, p.193, Media Factory, ISBN: 978-4840115674
- ↑ 55年ぶりに復活した「大魔神」「妖怪大戦争 ガーディアンズ」での“進化”とは？
- ↑ Hirokazu Minemori, 2021, The Great Yōkai War: Guardians: Side Story: Heian Hyakkitan, p.234, pp.262-263, pp.265-271, Media Works Bunko, Kadokawa
- ↑ Kengo Nakamura, 1999, From Princess Mononoke to Yamada-kun, pp. 38 and 41., Tokuma Shoten
- ↑ 三池崇史監督新作『大魔神』の現状。
- ↑ The Gamera Chronicles (ガメラ画報 大映秘蔵映画五十五年の歩み), 1996, P.99, Takeshobo, ISBN 4-8124-0166-6