Japanese Popularity Ranking April 10th 2021

[szmigiel]

https://nlab.itmedia.co.jp/research/articles/161642/

Survey outline
From: https://nlab.itmedia.co.jp/
Investigation Period: March 5th to 18th, 2021
Number of valid answers: 5730 votes
Question: Which is your favorite "Godzilla" series work?

Rank Title of work Number of votes
1 Shin Godzilla 914
2 Godzilla (1954) 662
3 Godzilla vs. Destoroyah 655
4 Godzilla vs. Biollante 645
5 GMK Giant Monsters All-Out Attack 288
6 Godzilla FINAL WARS 274
7 Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II 212
8 Godzilla x Mechagodzilla 208
9 Mothra vs. Godzilla 202
10 Godzilla vs King Ghidorah 183
11 King Kong vs Godzilla 173
12 Ghidorah the 3 Headed Monster 169
13 Godzilla (1984) 161
14 Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla 159
15 Godzilla vs. Hedorah 120
16 Godzilla: Tokyo SOS 117
17 Godzilla vs Mothra 105
18 Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla 74 94
19 Destroy All Monsters 86
20 Invasion of Astro Monster 55
21 Godzilla 2000 Millennium 53
22 Godzilla vs. Gigan 33
23 Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster 31
24 Godzilla x Megaguiras 29
25 Terror of Mechagodzilla 25
26 Godzilla Raids Again 24
27 Godzilla vs. Megalon 20
28 Son of Godzilla 17
29 All Monsters Attack 16

[Gigantis]

Can't really say i'm too shocked Shin came in first place. It pretty much revatilized the entire franchise in Japan.

Too bad we didn't see the American films on this poll though, kinda curious to see where Japan stands on those.

[szmigiel]

I was disappointed that no American film was included or the Anime trilogy.
But the top 10 is pretty evenly divided between all the era with Heisei getting 4 spots and Showa only getting 2

[Terasawa]

The most interesting thing to me is that Godzilla vs Mothra is way down the list. The only Godzilla movie that out-grossed it during the Heisei era was Shin Godzilla, and I think it's still one of the top ten highest-grossing Godzilla films in Japan.

[JAGzilla]

Meh, I was braced for worse. MvG cracked the top ten, and some of the Heisei films fell well short of the top ten. Can't complain too much about that.

Also, Japan has sixteen of the Truest Fans there will ever be. I hope none of them ever stumble onto Toho Kingdom... we fake fans don't deserve to be in their presence.

[LSD Jellyfish]

As much as I like Shin, I gotta say this makes me appreciate the western fanbase more. Son of Godzilla being the second least popular indicates the Japanese fanbase doesn't know how to have fun.

[Terasawa]

I'm not too surprised the Showa films are ranked as they are. It seems to be an unfortunate universal constant that appreciation of classic cinema diminishes with each successive generation.

[LSD Jellyfish]

I'm not too surprised the Showa films are ranked as they are. It seems to be an unfortunate universal constant that appreciation of classic cinema diminishes with each successive generation.

I mean sure, but 1954 is right there too.

And while not as old as the Showa era, I think it's still interesting that Biollante, classic by modern standards, is still ranked highly.

I'm curious what this would look like if Shin didn't exist/wasn't included in the poll. It got so many votes it skews everything so differently.

[szmigiel]

The gaps between votes is also interesting
Shin is the clear #1 with 252 more votes then G 54
The next three are pretty close in votes
Then a huge drop from GvB having 357 more votes then GMK which has only 288 total
So there seems to be a runaway top 4 films to the general Japanese film fans.
That is not necessarily the feeling of the more hardcore Japanese fanbase.

[Terasawa]

I'm not too surprised the Showa films are ranked as they are. It seems to be an unfortunate universal constant that appreciation of classic cinema diminishes with each successive generation.

I mean sure, but 1954 is right there too.

And while not as old as the Showa era, I think it's still interesting that Biollante, classic by modern standards, is still ranked highly.

I'm curious what this would look like if Shin didn't exist/wasn't included in the poll. It got so many votes it skews everything so differently.

Yes, but that's because the 1954 is the timeless Godzilla movie. It's like The Wizard of Oz - that's still greatly appreciated by a lot of people who have never seen or who have zero interest in seeking out its contemporaries. And to be clear, in my previous post, I was using "classic cinema" to refer to films of a certain period (in this case, Japan's golden age of cinema), just as some use "classic" to define the Hollywood golden age period and style as a whole (not just the truly classic/timeless films).

Biollante is analogous to something like Die Hard or Jurassic Park, i.e., something now old enough to be considered a classic yet modern enough to be appreciated by the present generation. The two western examples I just mentioned are already viewed as timeless movies and will likely stay that way, but I'm certain that, as the language of movies continues to evolve, other currently-popular movies from that generation will fade away.

It could also be that Biollante is more accessible in Japan today than the previous films (although I'm not certain of this), just as Die Hard is more accessible today than something like Bullitt. And I don't think sudden and widespread re-exposure to Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (for example) will greatly improve its performance on this list. I just see a parallel in these results and in my own observations about the steadily declining interest in classic cinema in the U.S. during my lifetime. Newer films enjoy greater saturation on TV (and streaming) and home video, making it harder to see older films. In part because of this, it's harder for those unexposed to those films to view other classic films in the context of their time, which creates a warped understanding and perspective. In short, unless you deliberately aim to do so, it's hard to view any given old film on its terms. That's all I'm trying to say in regards to the importance of exposure and accessibility.

[Jermobooka]

I can’t believe we’re at the point where we call Son Of Godzilla fucking “classic cinema”

Shin Gojira winning is not too surprising, seeing as its incredibly popular and the best Godzilla movie of all time

[Terasawa]

I can’t believe we’re at the point where we call Son Of Godzilla fucking “classic cinema”

I was using "classic cinema" to refer to films of a certain period (in this case, Japan's golden age of cinema), just as some use "classic" to define the Hollywood golden age period and style as a whole (not just the truly classic/timeless films).

[JAGzilla]

It's worth emphasizing that the actual question being asked in the poll was "Which is your favorite Godzilla series work?"

So this poll is just people listing their favorite movies, not which ones they like. With that in mind, 17 people listed SoG as their favorite, and 16 picked AMA. That's... really pretty amazing. How many people here would call SoG their favorite? Out of our entire member list, I doubt you'd get much more than 17. And you sure as hell wouldn't get 16 for AMA. So the Japanese fans may well be better at having fun than we are.

....or most of those were troll votes, but let's pretend they weren't.

[shadowgigan]

GFW at number 6 surprises me.

[Voyager]

I’m saddened by ToMG’s placing. Although it’s not too surprising if you remember it’s box office results in Japan.

[Ivo-goji]

I see they have better taste than most western fans with Godzilla vs Destoroyah coming in ahead of Godzilla vs Biollante.

[Spuro]

I can’t believe we’re at the point where we call Son Of Godzilla fucking “classic cinema”

Shin Gojira winning is not too surprising, seeing as its incredibly popular and the best Godzilla movie of all time

Well now I have to jump into the Unpopular Opinion thread, don't I?

I just see a parallel in these results and in my own observations about the steadily declining interest in classic cinema in the U.S. during my lifetime. Newer films enjoy greater saturation on TV (and streaming) and home video, making it harder to see older films. In part because of this, it's harder for those unexposed to those films to view other classic films in the context of their time, which creates a warped understanding and perspective. In short, unless you deliberately aim to do so, it's hard to view any given old film on its terms. That's all I'm trying to say in regards to the importance of exposure and accessibility.

It makes me sad. I don't consider myself especially old at 26. I was born in '94 and grew up experiencing films of the early 2000s. Yet when I compare the films I watch to my peers, or especially to my younger siblings, it seems like so few people have even seen a film from before the 1970s. I've been trying to convince my little sister – a fellow self-described horror fan – to watch a variety of older horror classics like The Haunting, or Black Christmas, or Night of the Living Dead. So far, not much luck. The best I managed was getting her to watch The Thing and The Terminator, both movies from the 80s.

Between that and streaming services having such a poor selection of older films, compounded by my fears that physical media may die out... I worry that so many older films may someday vanish into obscurity.

[Gigantis]

Well even if older films vanish ibto obscurity, it5pretty onvious they can still live on in references if tye ton of Nosferatu refrenches are any indication.

But yeah, it was pretty obvious Shin was gonna reach first place. Though i gotta say, Biollante and Destoroyah did shockingly well.

[shadowgigan]

I’m saddened by ToMG’s placing. Although it’s not too surprising if you remember it’s box office results in Japan.

Wow that is frankly shocking and incredible, I can't believe I didn't notice that. I'm 27 and just don't see how you can prefer GvMG 93 over TOMG lol, at least not by that far a margin. Although I'm sure the results are somewhat skewed. Perhaps TOMG would perform better in a Top 5/ Top 10 list.

Added in 35 seconds:

I see they have better taste than most western fans with Godzilla vs Destoroyah coming in ahead of Godzilla vs Biollante.

These two films have aged like fine wine for me.

[Terasawa]

It makes me sad. I don't consider myself especially old at 26. I was born in '94 and grew up experiencing films of the early 2000s. Yet when I compare the films I watch to my peers, or especially to my younger siblings, it seems like so few people have even seen a film from before the 1970s. I've been trying to convince my little sister – a fellow self-described horror fan – to watch a variety of older horror classics like The Haunting, or Black Christmas, or Night of the Living Dead. So far, not much luck. The best I managed was getting her to watch The Thing and The Terminator, both movies from the 80s.

Between that and streaming services having such a poor selection of older films, compounded by my fears that physical media may die out... I worry that so many older films may someday vanish into obscurity.

Horror movies are a terrific avenue for exploration of classic cinema.

Well even if older films vanish ibto obscurity, it5pretty onvious they can still live on in references if tye ton of Nosferatu refrenches are any indication.

Your phone betrayed you, dude.

Nosferatu lives on in pop culture because it's long been lauded as a classic. My point is that, for every Nosferatu, there are dozens of films from the same period which deserve renewed interest. No, they may not be just as good, but that doesn't mean they're worthless. Many of these films have been nearly totally forgotten just because they're old.