Is Heisei the most popular Godzilla Era?

[MechaGoji Bro7503]

Um, I like Showa films, Heisei films, and FW. I have my favorites in the bunch, but I overall like all eras.

Everything has flaws, Showa and Heisei. And honestly, I have sat through EVERY Godzilla film.

To the friends list you go!

you've been on my friends list for a long time, only now you add me? ( )

Added in 25 minutes 17 seconds:

Getting a little more back on the subject of "Is the Heisei the most popular Godzilla Era?" I ran across an interesting Japanese blog post.
http://lowbitter.hatenablog.jp/entry/2016/07/17/212043
He breaks down the viewership of films, not just by attendance, but by the number screens and how many people were going to see movies at the time. Then creates a「ゴジラ比率」aka Godzilla Ratio which is precent of the total going to Godzilla movies in the theaters.
The Golden age of Toho 1962-1968 average of 1.3%; Highest King Kong Vs Godzilla 1.9% and lowest Destroy All Monsters 0.8%
The Champion Festival films 1969-1975 average of 0.6%; Highest being Godzilla Vs Gigan 0.9% and lowest All Monsters Attack 0.5%
Showa era as a whole average 1% but I think it is important to note the difference.
The Heisei Series 1984-1995 average 2.5%; Highest Godzilla Vs Mothra 3.3% and lowest Godzilla Vs Biollante 1.4%
the Millennium Series 1999-2004 average 1%, Highest GMK 1.5% and lowest Final Wars 0.6% (the author also noted that Hamtaro could have boosted GMK)

He also talks about how there was a kind of a "Monster Ice Age" in the early 80's, where there was very little in the way of kaiju or even special effects until Godzilla Heisei films started a revival.

I am not a huge fan of the Heisei era as a whole, I enjoy the first 3 films and don't care for the rest. But I can't argue much against the points the author is making. Heisei films did start a revival of tokusatsu which lead to Ultraman and Gamera. The Heisei era may have lower attendance then some of the golden age films, but there were more theaters and people seeing films then during the Heisei era so his Godzilla Ratio make sense.

Nice find! That is pretty interesting.

[Billzilla1974]

Wait, Is that by percentage of who were seeing the films out of the entire population of japan? If so that's an interesting statistic.

[GigaBowserG]

Getting a little more back on the subject of "Is the Heisei the most popular Godzilla Era?" I ran across an interesting Japanese blog post.
http://lowbitter.hatenablog.jp/entry/2016/07/17/212043
He breaks down the viewership of films, not just by attendance, but by the number screens and how many people were going to see movies at the time. Then creates a「ゴジラ比率」aka Godzilla Ratio which is precent of the total going to Godzilla movies in the theaters. ...

Nice find! Very cool to hear how Godzilla was such an influence for reinvigorating tokusatsu movies during the 80s/90s, feels almost similar to what's going on now in Japan and Hollywood after G2014's release.

[Mini-Godzilla]

Even if Heisei Godzilla isn't the most popular, the things he has taught us...remain.

Also, the blogger was wise to divide the Champion Festival films from the main Showa series. Holding the faults of the 1970s Godzilla films against the golden age 1960s Godzilla films is akin to holding the faults of the Millennium series against the Heisei series.

[gzillafan17]

Getting a little more back on the subject of "Is the Heisei the most popular Godzilla Era?" I ran across an interesting Japanese blog post.
http://lowbitter.hatenablog.jp/entry/2016/07/17/212043
He breaks down the viewership of films, not just by attendance, but by the number screens and how many people were going to see movies at the time. Then creates a「ゴジラ比率」aka Godzilla Ratio which is precent of the total going to Godzilla movies in the theaters.
The Golden age of Toho 1962-1968 average of 1.3%; Highest King Kong Vs Godzilla 1.9% and lowest Destroy All Monsters 0.8%
The Champion Festival films 1969-1975 average of 0.6%; Highest being Godzilla Vs Gigan 0.9% and lowest All Monsters Attack 0.5%
Showa era as a whole average 1% but I think it is important to note the difference.
The Heisei Series 1984-1995 average 2.5%; Highest Godzilla Vs Mothra 3.3% and lowest Godzilla Vs Biollante 1.4%
the Millennium Series 1999-2004 average 1%, Highest GMK 1.5% and lowest Final Wars 0.6% (the author also noted that Hamtaro could have boosted GMK)

He also talks about how there was a kind of a "Monster Ice Age" in the early 80's, where there was very little in the way of kaiju or even special effects until Godzilla Heisei films started a revival.

I am not a huge fan of the Heisei era as a whole, I enjoy the first 3 films and don't care for the rest. But I can't argue much against the points the author is making. Heisei films did start a revival of tokusatsu which lead to Ultraman and Gamera. The Heisei era may have lower attendance then some of the golden age films, but there were more theaters and people seeing films then during the Heisei era so his Godzilla Ratio make sense.

Wow, cool find.

[szmigiel]

Also, the blogger was wise to divide the Champion Festival films from the main Showa series. Holding the faults of the 1970s Godzilla films against the golden age 1960s Godzilla films is akin to holding the faults of the Millennium series against the Heisei series.

I divided the Showa Golden Age and Champion Festival from the data he provided. I think since you are talking attendance and screens, it is important to note when a change like the Champion Festival started up. But his point holds up even if the films themselves are not the highest rated for quality by the Japanese fanbase.

[Chrispy_G]

Quality and opinion is always suggestive, but it's always been pretty hard to argue, for better or worse, the increased popularity and awareness of the Heisei era. It's always seemed pretty clear.

And also, not to be mean, but the generation who grew up in the 90s is moving into being the dominant pop culture generation(The 90s kid nostalgia has helped drive the insane performance of films like Jurassic World and Beauty and the Beast).....the generation that 'grew up on' the Showa era as their main Godzilla films is, for better or worse, an aging, dying breed.

Just as one day we'll have fans who FIRST heard about and saw Godzilla in the 2014 movie, and don't consider anything before that film to be too interesting or relevant. The Heisei and Millennium eras will all one day be looked upon with puzzlement or disdain like the 70s entries...heck, you could argue that is already starting to happen.

[Kaeyas]

This post should have been called "Showa VS. Heisei Battle to the Death"
I like all Godzilla movies myself. I have a soft spot for Heisei but I love them all (except Godzilla's Revenge and 98' of course) My first movie was ROG the first Heisei film, my second was GvsTSM one of the WORST of the Showa Era but I still enjoyed it. At the end of the day, we're all G fans.

Edit: GvsTSM=Godzilla VS. The Sea Monster (aka Ebirah aka Horror Of The Deep)not Godzilla VS. Hedorah aka Smog Monster

[Zarm]

This post should have been called "Showa VS. Heisei Battle to the Death"
I like all Godzilla movies myself. I have a soft spot for Heisei but I love them all (except Godzilla's Revenge and 98' of course) My first movie was ROG the first Heisei film, my second was GvsTSM one of the BEST of the Entire Godzilla Franchise but I still enjoyed it. At the end of the day, we're all G fans.

Edit: GvsTSM=Godzilla VS. The Sea Monster (aka Ebirah aka Horror Of The Deep)not Godzilla VS. Hedorah aka Smog Monster

Despite your edit, you still had a typo. I fixed it for you.

[HerryGrail]

I wandered over to this thread because I'd like to give the later two eras another chance...a fair chance I didn't give them at the time. It's hard to put into words...something intangible about my preference for Showa over the later eras. It’s probably all been said here before, and much better than I will.

For one, I’m in my fifties, and grew up on big-screen Showa Godzilla at matinees and in all the vintage-monster-craze literature that came out in the 70s. The toys I had were Showa toys. That’s Godzilla to me, and it always will be...Godzilla with pupils (maybe that’s why I love Shin so much LOL).

As I got older, I was barely aware of new Godzilla films. They were straight-to-video or cable, so they were saddled with a low-rent aura they probably didn’t deserve, and when I caught a few minutes here or there, they seemed to have the overlit cinematography and weak characterizations of other 80’s and 90’s TV shows and movies I avoided. I’m not saying that’s fair, but to someone like me, that style of filmmaking seems more dated than pre-1980 output, where acting was bigger, personalities were stronger, and everything just seemed like it had more heart.

Also, when you're in Blockbuster and see these King Ghidorah and Mothra movies that you never heard of, and which are newer than the ones you know, you wonder why people are remaking your favorite movies, and straight-to-video at that. Reboots are all the rage now, but back then they had to be big-budget media events (like Superman) to seem worthy of their basic unoriginality.

In addition, my taste for dubbed movies had evolved a lot since I was a child. Now, I wanted to see my foreign films with subtitles, and the fact that these movies were all dubbed made them feel inauthentic to me. That was a prejudice/preference that I adopted as an adult, and the Heisei and Millennium eras were a coincidental casualty.

Finally, there’s something over-the-top about the Showa era that makes it OK that Godzilla is a man in a suit, but in later movies he has always struck me as...a man in a suit. It probably doesn’t help that special effects were in transition, so a lot of what you see in later movies seems more dated because much of it was “new,” where in the Showa films everything is so comfortably old-school.

As an example, I watched the Shindo death from GvKG the other day as I was reading about Yoshio Tsuchiya, who just turned 90. When you have a closeup of Godzilla’s face in a Showa movie, it’s OK, because there’s something other-worldly and excessive about the movie itself. But GvKG trains so long on Godzilla’s face in back-and-forth close-ups with Shindo, it just looks like a guy looking at a toy, or a mechanical doll. Such is the effect of cutting 90’s-style realism so directly with a huge mechanized rubber head.

Even though it's technically Millennium, I had a similar feeling rewatching GMK a few weeks ago, especially in the early composited monster appearances. It seemed dated, direct-to-cable, and it’s hard to make the leap when the human scenes have that stark, casual 80's/90’s realism. (As dynamic as FW is, it dates sketchily for me as well.)

I’m sure all of you have heard all of this before. But I make no judgments...I acknowledge that my Godzilla-era preferences are really more about my own tastes than the merit or value of any of them. I do think Godzilla films are representative of the filmmaking styles of their eras, and frankly I can’t name that many 80’s and 90’s films that I love, though I do love movies. Fortunately, Shin Godzilla is a terrific example of the exciting style of today’s filmmakers, and I believe it will endure.

I’d love to know which Heisei movies I should watch to gain an appreciation for them...as an aging fan for whom Showa Godzilla is the only Godzilla I’ve really ever known. Some do intrigue me as I read about them here, and I’m sure I’ll be giving them a fairer viewing in the weeks to come.

[KaijuCanuck]

I can't speak for Japan, the fan community over here doesn't speak with the fan community over there too much so I have no idea. But I think one reason that Toho pushes the Hesei Godzilla design so much is that is very definitively Godzilla. It's not radical in the same way that, say, the millennium designs were or even the kiddy late Showa designs. It's just a more realistic look at the '54 Godzilla. Same in characterization, in the way he's a villain/anti-hero rather than full evil or full hero. Hesei Godzilla is just kind of the basic, classic, no frills Godzilla (okay one frill, the spiral heat ray hahaha)

[The Kongfather]

I’d love to know which Heisei movies I should watch to gain an appreciation for them...as an aging fan for whom Showa Godzilla is the only Godzilla I’ve really ever known. Some do intrigue me as I read about them here, and I’m sure I’ll be giving them a fairer viewing in the weeks to come.

Godzilla vs. Biollante and Godzilla vs. Destroyah are two of my most watched in the series, with GvD being a personal favorite. The problem with the Heisei arc is how manic its highs and lows are. The more colorful, sunny Heisei films (along with a few Millennium entries) make me feel like I'm watching the damn Power Rangers. I'm surprised at how many people love Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, and I struggle to make it past the abundant use of '90s digital effects in Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla. Meanwhile, the moody, darker Heisei movies are some of my favorites. I also consider Heisei Godzilla to be about as definitive as the Godzilla suit gets.

It's a pretty mixed bag for me.

[Shoe Yeti]

Among Americans I would say the Showa films are more popular. They were shown in theatres and on TV for decades so you had several generations of people who grew up watching them. The Showa films are more iconic in America and even casual fans know about them to a degree and can remember the monsters from those movies. The Heisei films didn't have theatrical releases in the United States besides Godzilla 1985 which was a chopped up version of The Return of Godzilla. The other Heisei movies were only available on video and you only occasionally saw them on cable. A lot of people in the United States didn't even know that new Godzilla movies were made in the 1980s and 1990s.

From what I have read the Heisei movies were very popular in Japan and the Heisei Godzilla design became iconic especially because of the success of toys based on the design. Among hardcore Godzilla fans in the United States opinion seems to be pretty split. Some people like the Heisei films a lot and others don't. The Heisei films are probably my least favorite. Some of them were quite good but overall it was a bland series and I think the attempt at continuity was a mistake. The Showa and Millennium eras may have been all over the place but that made the films more interesting.

[GodzillaBurgh]

The Heisei series is definitely a fan-favorite, but it's the Showa series that is the most popular, due to the older fans' first exposure to the Big G while me was introduced to Godzilla in the Heisei VS. Series.

[scottzilla]

I’d love to know which Heisei movies I should watch to gain an appreciation for them...as an aging fan for whom Showa Godzilla is the only Godzilla I’ve really ever known. Some do intrigue me as I read about them here, and I’m sure I’ll be giving them a fairer viewing in the weeks to come.

Godzilla vs. Biollante and Godzilla vs Destroyah are some of my personal favorite Godzilla movies, they're just great. Give them a go. I wasn't a fan of the rehashed Godzilla vs mechagodzilla or Godzilla vs Mothra pieces, personally.

I do agree about what someone said that Heisei is the most recognizable Godzilla, that's probably why the design is used so frequently in other media. I remember as a kid(born in the 90's here for some context), when I was 6, I just liked Godzilla, didn't really notice the design differences. As I got older, I sort of gravitated toward the Heisei designs because they're just so badass looking, and it made me sort of shy away from the Showa movies.

[Jermobooka]

In Japan? Yeah, the Heisei series is the most popular.

In the great US of A? That’s a bit harder to pinpoint. The honor of “most popular” either goes to the MonsterVerse or the Showa era.

[Gojira1604]

The Monsterverse is the most popular.

[Voyager]

The Monsterverse is the most popular.

In the US? Definitely. Outside of that sphere, it’s a lot harder. Mainland Europe has a lot of history with the Showa era, and Japan loves the Heisei films.

[CyberZilla]

Before the MV took off, I would say Heisei really was the most popular as a series. Since they all connected and had a more serious lens than Showa (though not that much more so), it was my understanding that they got most of the love. I remember around the time of the 2014 Godzilla, the popular opinion among the fans seemed to coalesce in favor of the Heisei films.
Nowadays, the MV is around there and even surpassing Heisei popularity, at least in the USA. I do wonder if Reiwa can reach the same levels. The only one that seems to be on that level or even close to that level (at the time of writing) is Shin Godzilla.

[LegendZilla]

It is in Japan. Why else would've the SH MonsterArts line fixated on them so much?