Big Man Japan
Dai-Nihonjin, released internationally as Big Man Japan is a 2007 Japanese comedy film written and directed by Hitoshi Matsumoto (of the Downtown comedy duo fame), who also stars as the somewhat-eponymous protagonist. The film utilises a number of styles including Mockumentary, Kaiju and mild satire to build its laughs.
The story follows Daisatô, an almost-ordinary middle-aged man, and a documentary being made about his life. Why is such a seemingly non-descript man deserving of the effort? Because he is able to take in great electrical surges to become a gigantic warrior whose purpose is to defend Japan from some truly bizarre monsters, that's why.
Sadly, this inherited superpower is no longer treated with the same grace as it once was. Daisatô's senile grandfather is spending his last days alone in a retirement home, and Daisatô himself has been forced to have his fights televised and judged by an insatiable mass while he lives alone in a rather decrepit house. He rarely gets to see his daughter and it seems he's a target of green activists and others for the collateral damage he tends to cause. Of course, he doesn't have much of a choice in the matter and by the end of the film, it seems his time has come at the hands of a particularly dangerous monster. Suitably the ending is of the Gainax variety.
The final product has recieved mixed reactions, but many were at least overjoyed with the surreal comic touch of the film (if not perhaps so with the near dramatic elements. Fans of Matsumoto's may be able to see recurring themes re-emerging here, as well as being able to the faces of some of his occasional collaborators.
- America Saves the Day: The Super Justice Team ganging up to defeat the devil monster.
- Apathetic Citizens: Big Man Japan is destined to protect Japan... but who cares about that when the (televised) fights are so boring?
- Badass Grandpa: Daisatô's grandfather turns into a rather odd variant of the trope towards the end.
- Breathe on the Fan: Daisatô's grandfather does it, while giant, with an airplane's propeller.
- Children Are Innocent: Pixellation and voice distortion are necessary in one particularly humourous examination of this trope.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Daisatô to a degree, though he's really more willfully ignorant because he's The Woobie.
- Companion Cube: A cultural example with Daisatô's umbrella.
- Curb Stomp Battle: Big Man Japan versus the devil monster, as well as said monster versus The Super Justice Team.
- Cursed with Awesome: Daisatô.
- Dramedy
- Eagle Land: The Super Justice Team.
- Evil Smells Bad: One of the monsters.
- Eyes Do Not Belong There: One of the monsters has its one eye in what's otherwise a more... private area.
- Fallen Hero: Daisatô/Big Man Japan. One scene uses mock-archive footage from the World War II era to show respected his family (and their ability to fight monsters) once was.
- Freud Was Right: The monster mentioned above under Eyes Do Not Belong There falls asleep in the dark.
- Gainax Ending
- He Who Fights Monsters: The opinion of just about everyone in Japan when it comes to Big Man Japan.
- Kaiju: A tribute/parody.
- Loners Are Freaks: In a more literal way than normal.
- Magic Pants: Defied. Big Man Japan's purple pants are really that huge.
- Mind Screw: Perhaps unintentionally at times, but the ending takes it to a more comedic extreme.
- Mockumentary
- Product Placement: In-universe, Daisatô is forced to have adverts plastered all over Big Man Japan to gain revenue. He's even told by his agent to be careful when fighting a monster so as not to have an advert obstructed.
- Stylistic Suck: The ending.
- Think of the Children : Big Man Japan accidentally kills a baby monster. People go apeshit.