Big Man Japan has to be, by far, one of the strangest films I have ever seen. By the time I reached the end of it, I really wanted to pull some sort of deeper meaning from this cinematic acid-trip, but alas, it may not be there despite what I think. The film is shot in the style of a documentary, at least most of the time. It follows the life of the main character, Masaru Daisato (played by Hitoshi Matsumoto), who happens to be the fourth in the tradition of people who get very large when exposed to massive amounts of electricity. Upon reaching super-size, this unusual super-hero, named “Big Man Japan” grabs a big stick and some giant purple undies and goes out to beat up on the seemingly endless supply of giant monsters that hate on the small island country.
The documentary portion of the film paints Masaru’s life as a miserable existence, shunned
by the outside world and blamed not only for his failures, but his successes as well. He works for the government at the Ministry of Monster Prevention just like his father and grandfather did before him. Unlike his predecessors, however, he gets no respect. His job used to come with major perks, including ladies and money, but now he can barely make his rent and is forced to wear advertisements on his back and chest. In addition to all this, he has a failed marriage and a daughter who barely wants to be with him. It’s all quite depressing, especially his super-hero career. The whole movie is a sad look at the man’s sad life, broken up with monster-battling moments of “WTF?” Big Man Japan, while completely entertaining, is definitely not for everyone. If you manage to make it all the way to the ending, you might find yourself in a confusion-induced coma once the team of American super-heroes shows up to help Masaru fight a particularly troublesome creature. Those that thrive off of oddball Japanese films will find themselves right at home with this one.
