Return Of Daimajin (1966)/The Return Of Majin (1968)

Return of Daimajin (大魔神 怒る Daimashin Ikaru, lit. Angry Daimajin) is a 1966 tokusatsu kaiju film produced by Daiei Film Co. Ltd. It is the second film in the Daimajin trilogy.

Plot
In The Return of Daimajin, the second film in the trilogy, Daimajin has taken up residence on an island in the middle of a lake. The lake is surrounded by two peaceful villages, Chigusa and Nagoshi.

Near these two villages, but not bordering the lake, is another village. Ruled by an evil lord, the citizens flee to Chigusa as often as they can and make their way there, where the lords are only too happy to take in the refugees. One day the evil lord decides to take over the two villages, and he sees a window of opportunity in a festival that is held every year.

The heroes end up on the run as the villains chase them. People keep ending up back on the island with the statue. Eventually, the evil lord has his men shatter the statue with a large amount of gunpowder. Daimajin's shattered remains end up at the bottom of the lake. True to the samurai formula is the amount of melodrama in Return of Daimajin. Occasionally something paranormal happens, but such occurrences are met rather indifferently. In the final fifteen minutes of the film, Daimajin finally comes to life and, like his predecessor, inflicts serious damage upon the evil lord and the surrounding landscape.

Cast

• Hideki Ninomiya as Tsuruchiki
  
• Shinji Hori as Daisaku
  
• Masahide Iizuka as Kinta
  
• Muneyuki Nagatomo as Sugitatsu
  
• Junichiro Yamashita as Syohachi
  
• Tôru Abe as Hidanokami Arakawa
  
• Takashi Nakamura as Sanpei
  
• Hiroshi Nawa as Daizen Matsunaga
  
• Tanie Kitabayashi as Old Woman Kane
  
• Riki Hashimoto as Daimajin
  
• Yûzô Hayakawa as Yoshibei
  
• Yukio Horikita as Yada
  
• Manabu Morita as Toma Kuroki
  

Production
Original release date: 13 August 1966. Directed by Kenji Misumi.
Written by Tetsuro Yoshida
Music by Akira Ifukube
Assistant Directing by Hitoshi Obuchi
Also known as Wrath of Daimajin (A.D. Vision (this was a mistake on their part; they placed the third film's title on the second film)), Majin Grows Angry (literal English title), The Return of the Giant Majin (as released in the U.S. by American International Television), and The Return of Majin (international English title).