Character Discussion: Terror of MG

[edgaguirus]

The Showa series ends with this one, and its dark tone provides some good characters.

Sadly, the first is not that interesting. Commander Mugal is back, but it's more of the same from the previous film. He's a delicious villain, but we've seen it before. He does seem more cruel here, though. He has his own men executed for letting the heroes escape.

Ichinose, the biologist, seems bland at first. He's a brave and smart guy, but so have other good guys. His relationship with Katsura is what makes him worth noting. He has clear faith in Katsura, even though he probably did have some suspicions about her. His love for her blinds him somewhat, but that's what helps keep Katsura human. He provides that human connection that ultimately overrides her cyborg programming and gives humans the victory.

Dr. Mafune looks and seems like your typical mad scientist. However, his love for his daughter is stronger than any desire for revenge. As the movie goes on, he becomes a conflicted man. He's more than willing to help destroy humanity, but as he realizes the cost of revenge, he regrets what his daughter has been transformed into. He loses everything, including his own life.

The tragic Katsura is the one person most remembered in this film. Her life is that of a pawn. Her father tries to turn her against people for his hatred of them; She is made into a cyborg by the Simians; and then she's made into a living weapon. Still, she remains human. She's still able to feel love and fear. Her humanity shines through even in a mechanical body, allowing her the courage to make the ultimate sacrifice.

[Ivo-goji]

Kuronuma died in the previous movie, Mugal is a different guy. I figured their similar physical features stemmed from the space men having a limited number of human 'skins' to choose from- like maybe every chief operative gets the same disguise when stationed on earth. Personality wise, Kuronuma was a lot more smug and relaxed than our space man duo in Terror of MG, who seem to be losing patience with the human race. Granted, out of all the aliens we see in this series, Mechagodzilla's creators are easily the most luxuriant- always smoking, toasting wine, lounging around in posh hideouts. Pretty chill invaders overall. We're very used to the alien conqueror of the week in G films so it's easy to overlook how much effort was made to give these particular aliens some character.

Terror of Mechagodzilla uses the familiar trio of two guys and one girl to carry the human drama, but there's no denying Katsura and her dad are the stars here. Katsura is probably one of the most memorable (semi) human characters in the franchise, and she brings a lot that's original to the story which helps this film stand out from its predecessors.

[Mechagigan]

Mugal wasn't the same character from GvMG? I'm not sure how I never noticed that... I figured he had simply healed himself up from the last film, not dieing as the others had. I do like the 'choice of appearance' concept, anyway.