- Kaiju is the name of the giant monsters in the movie Pacific Rim, which comes from some outer galaxy through a wormhole at the bottom of the pacific ocean. The pronunciation of word kaiju resembles the pronunciation of word monster in Japanese. The director specifically choose this word from Japanese, rather than some given word like monster and godzilla, is because he want to homage to the Japanese animation business, which is the birthplace of movies of giant metal robots fighting giant monsters.
kaiju
other word formation type novel creation; sound symbolism
giant alien monsters from the bottom of the pacific ocean, blue-blood clones.
Etymology : Novel creation; pronunciation resemblance of Japanese word for monster, possible sound symbolism with that.
Source : “Kaiju signature rising!” Pacific Rim 2013.
Last modified: 25 November 2013