“Gamera vs. Guiron” (ガメラ対大悪獣ギロン)
Original release Japanese B0 two-sheet billboard poster, 1969 — unrestored and in very good+ to excellent condition
A spectacular, billboard-scale Japanese theatrical poster for Gamera tai Daiakujū Giron—released internationally as Gamera vs. Guiron and to American television as Attack of the Monsters—Daiei’s delirious 1969 outer-space kaiju adventure. This is an original first-release Japanese poster, not a reproduction or later reprint.
Printed as two separate B1 sections intended to align vertically, the complete poster forms a monumental B0/B-bai display approximately 147 cm high. This large station and theatre advertising format is dramatically scarcer than the standard Japanese B2 poster. Complete pairs were easily separated, damaged during installation or discarded after use, making a surviving unrestored set in this condition a major piece of Showa-era tokusatsu paper.
Details
• Film: ガメラ対大悪獣ギロン (Gamera tai Daiakujū Giron)
• English title: Gamera vs. Guiron
• Alternate English title: Attack of the Monsters
• Release date in Japan: 21 March 1969
• Studio and distributor: Daiei Film
• Producer: Hidemasa Nagata
• Director: Noriaki Yuasa
• Screenplay: Niisan Takahashi
• Cinematography: Akira Kitazaki
• Special photography: Kazufumi Fujii
• Music: Shunsuke Kikuchi
• Principal cast: Nobuhiro Kajima, Christopher Murphy, Miyuki Akiyama, Yuko Hamada, Edith Hanson, Eiji Funakoshi, Kon Omura, Reiko Kasahara and Hiroko Kai
• Format: Japanese B0/B-bai two-sheet billboard or station poster, printed as two B1 sections
• Approximate overall size: c. 147 × 102 cm; nominal Japanese B0 is approximately 145.6 × 103 cm, with minor variation normal in vintage theatrical printing
• Condition: Unrestored and unbacked; very good+ to excellent for its age and exceptionally demanding format
Context: Daiei sends Gamera beyond Earth
Released in 1969, Gamera vs. Guiron is the fifth film in Daiei’s original Showa Gamera series and one of its most distinctive entries. By this point, Gamera had evolved from the destructive creature of the 1965 debut into a heroic guardian—particularly protective of children—and Daiei increasingly distinguished the series through fast-moving adventure, extravagant monster abilities and an unusually direct appeal to younger audiences.
Directed by series mainstay Noriaki Yuasa from a screenplay by Niisan Takahashi, the film pushes the franchise decisively into space-age science fiction. The preceding Gamera vs. Viras had introduced an extraterrestrial threat, but Gamera vs. Guiron becomes the series’ first full off-world adventure, transporting its young heroes and central monster battle to the mysterious Tenth Planet Terra.
The result is a concentrated mixture of late-1960s space-race imagery, child-led adventure and some of the most memorably strange monster action in the entire franchise. It is also the source of Guiron—one of Daiei’s most recognisable original kaiju, designed as a living weapon whose enormous cleaver-like head functions as both armour and blade.
The film this poster represents
Planet Terra, alien women and Guiron’s blade-headed brutality
Young friends Akio and Tom discover and board a mysterious spacecraft, only to be carried across space to the remote Tenth Planet Terra. Gamera senses their danger and follows, crossing the solar system to rescue them.
Terra initially appears to be inhabited only by two elegant, silver-clad women, but their reassuring appearance conceals considerably darker intentions. They plan to escape their dying world and use the boys’ brains both as food and as a means of acquiring knowledge about Earth. Guarding the planet is Guiron, a weaponised monster whose immense knife-shaped head can cut through almost anything and fire shuriken-like projectiles.
The film’s most notorious demonstration of Guiron’s power comes during his encounter with Space Gyaos, which establishes the new monster as a particularly ruthless opponent before Gamera arrives. Their eventual battle involves aerial attacks, rocket-powered flight, fire breath, acrobatics and improvised tactics—an exuberant combination of violence, humour and invention characteristic of Yuasa’s later Showa Gamera films.
The poster
Blade-headed Guiron, fire-breathing Gamera and full-scale space-age spectacle
This two-sheet design is among the strongest large-format compositions produced for the original Gamera cycle. Its immense vertical field is organised around a dramatic opposing movement: Guiron plunges downward through space while Gamera stands below, directing a blazing orange stream of fire upward toward him. The converging figures create an immediate visual confrontation that runs through almost the full height of the poster.
Guiron dominates the upper section in severe foreshortening. His segmented body recedes into the star field while his huge white-edged blade projects towards the viewer. The exaggerated low viewpoint makes him appear less like an ordinary animal than a descending extraterrestrial weapon. Behind him, a pale planetary disc and streamlined alien spacecraft establish the cosmic setting, while diagonal blue light trails reinforce the sense of speed.
Gamera anchors the lower half against the ochre, volcanic terrain of Planet Terra. His dark green body rises from the landscape as he fires directly into the upper composition, visually joining the two separately printed sheets. The deep cobalt background, orange flame, metallic spacecraft and stark white planetary form create a saturated space-opera palette that could only belong to the late 1960s.
At left, the two silver-clad women of Terra stand with controlled, expressionless poise, sharply contrasting with the comic panic of Officer Kondo beneath them. Akio, Tom and Tomoko appear at the bottom, looking upward into the action, preserving the film’s child-centred point of view. A small Daiei Records promotion near the lower centre adds another authentic period detail from the film’s original marketing campaign.
Key visual elements include:
• Guiron descending blade-first, his cleaver-shaped head enlarged by extreme perspective
• Gamera’s orange fire breath cutting diagonally upward across the two-sheet composition
• A rich midnight-blue star field, pale planet and sleek alien spacecraft
• The silver-uniformed women of Terra, the kidnapped children and the film’s comic policeman
• The huge jagged title 「ガメラ対大悪獣ギロン」, running down the entire right side in red, white and blue
• Original Daiei emblems, production credits and the prominent 「カラー作品」—“colour production” designation
• A particularly strong contrast between photographic monster imagery and hand-rendered space-age typography
The yellow promotional copy across the upper field roughly translates as:
“Aerial battle at the edge of the universe!”
“A great struggle on a mysterious planet!”
“An underwater battle plunging into the galaxy!”
“Will Guiron and his super shuriken win—or Gamera with his rocket jets?”
At standard B2 size this artwork is already striking. At full B0 two-sheet scale, Guiron’s blade, Gamera’s fire and the vertical title become architectural elements, giving the poster the physical presence of a genuine theatre or station billboard.
Rarity and survival
Why this B0 two-sheet Gamera poster is exceptionally scarce
The B0 or B-bai format sits among the largest regularly produced Japanese theatrical poster formats. This example was printed as two approximately B1-sized sections, each carrying half of a continuous composition and intended to be aligned into one display approximately 1.47 metres high.
These large posters were created for maximum public visibility in stations, theatre entrances and other prominent advertising positions. Their working life was often hard: examples were folded for distribution, mounted or pasted for exhibition, exposed to repeated handling and then removed when the engagement ended. Because the two sections could also become separated, complete surviving pairs are substantially more difficult to find than standard B2 posters.
This is especially significant for Gamera vs. Guiron. Original first-release Japanese paper for the Showa Gamera films is increasingly sought after, but the complete B0 two-sheet version is encountered only rarely. Its combination of billboard scale, extraordinary Guiron artwork, strong Daiei colour and one of the franchise’s most celebrated monster designs makes it a particularly desirable piece of vintage tokusatsu history.
Condition
Unrestored, unbacked and very good+ to excellent for the format
This poster is in very good+ to excellent condition for a two-sheet Japanese billboard poster more than fifty-five years old. Both original sections are present, complete and align correctly to form the full composition. The colours remain exceptionally strong, particularly the deep blue field, brilliant red title, orange fire and metallic silver costumes.
The poster remains entirely unrestored and unbacked, retaining its original paper, folds and period character.
The poster presents with outstanding visual impact and, once archivally framed, would make a commanding centrepiece for an advanced collection of Gamera, Daiei, Japanese science-fiction or Showa tokusatsu material.
Please inspect the photographs carefully, as they show the exact poster offered for sale. This is not a reproduction or later reprint.
