Legacy
Successes of Gamera and Daimajin franchises contributed in subtle improvements of financial situation of Daiei Film (while rushed productions of Daimajin films worsened the strength of the company[24]), and resulted in the launching of the Yokai Monsters including the creation of Daimon the vampire.[15] Kazunori Ito had presumably inserted references to Wrath of Daimajin within his Heisei Gamera trilogy; snowscapes in Gamera 2: Attack of Legion, and taboo breaking of a mountain village and its hazardous consequences in Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris.[33]
The character and the term "Daimajin" became influential among Japanese popular cultures, and have appeared as characters or have been referenced as parodies among numerous mediums, such as manga and anime, video games,, variety shows, production varieties,[48][49] and so on. A number of figures were nicknamed after the character; such cases are various professional baseball players most notably Kazuhiro Sasaki, a boat racer Masato Aki and a competition race related to him,[53] and several comedian groups.[54]
The aforementioned GeGeGe no Kitarō and Akuma-kun series by Shigeru Mizuki, who had associated with Yokai Monsters,[55] and Urusei Yatsura, introduced characters based on Gamera and Daimajin franchises. Kyogoku Natsuhiko made Gamera, Daimajin, GeGeGe no Kitarō characters, Sadako Yamamura[27] Inuyasha and Sesshomaru (jp) to co-appear in his USO MAKOTO Yōkai Hyaku Monogatari series.[28]
Daimajin's influences can be seen in other productions, such as It! (1967), God Mazinger (1984), Pulgasari (1985) which itself was produced under the influences from Godzilla, and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) by aforementioned Kevin Costner.[15]
In response to the repeated vandalisms targeting national treasures and important cultural properties of Nara Prefecture in 2010s (jp), the prefecture and its school committee (jp) and the Nara Prefectural Police designated Daimajin as the mascot character for crime prevention posters.[60]
