The Luminous Faeries and Mothra by Takehiko Fukunaga; Yoshie Hotta; and Shin'ichiro Nakamura. Translated and essay by Jeffrey Angles


The Kaiju universe at its roots with Godzilla as its "King" is inherently political, it is one of the reasons these stories continue to be told and retold over decades. The Luminous Faeries and Mothra not only follows this rule, it may actually set the standard for some of the remakes we have recently received. 

The three authors who contributed to making this novella were politically active in their own ways so it should not come as a surprise that this ends up being an open letter to the U.S. and Russia (but mostly the U.S.) that they need to leave Japanese politics to Japan. It is in turns petty and snarky and holds back nothing when alluding to real-life protests and deaths that had recently taken place in JP. The only female character is named after a student who died during the Anpo Protests. You genuinely can't get more blunt than that. I think what makes this stand out just as Godzilla did for its stance on Nuclear powers, it's not just these three authors' voices being projected. It is the will of Japan as a whole that Angles goes into great depth in his essay at the end. The essay is once again a treasure trove of information regarding the political situation in Japan at the time. 

Truly an exceptional read and one that I think anyone interested in post-WWII Japanese history must read. 

As always thanks to NetGalley and a very special thanks to The University of Minnesota Press for allowing me the opportunity to read this eArc!

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