Japan, as the first country hit be the horrors of Atomic explosions in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, has included this threat both in film (Godzilla - grown lizard due to radiation), manga (Barefoot Gen, for example) and popular culture. On the other hand, they also regarded atomic energy as a source of everlasting power for the future - power that could be used for the good of humankind (Astroboy = Tetsuwan Atom/Mighty Atom). This duality has come once again to surface with the latest Fukujima incidents.
This had of course also repercussions in the toy-world. From robots called "Mr. Atomic" to "Atomic rayguns", it was everywhere. In the Kaiju world, the Matango monster is the closest it gets. Even though it is a "fungus" monster - it strikes a cord to anyone who saw the atomic "mushroom" clouds.
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| Matango, Marmit, Japan, 1999 |
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