Kaiju Fan Confessions

[Spuro]

Prior to Minus One, I truly don't think the Godzilla franchise ever had a good romance, which is something that I could've given less than a shit about as a youngin, but is something that's standing out as weirder and weirder to me. Why is romance such a rare topic in the kaiju genre? I'm not REALLY complaining that hard because so many sci-fi/action movies have atrocious shoehorned romances, but it does seem weird to me that across all the dozens of Godzilla, Gamera, etc. movies there are only like a handful of storylines where romance plays any role at all.

I think it's simply because most films in the kaiju genre are the products of a different country. These aren't Hollywood films, which were all but advertised on star-crossed romances ever since the 1930s. Other Japanese genre films I've watched often seem to follow a similar trend of there being fewer romance plotlines front and center.

[JVM]

One of the few Showa era Godzilla movies that I've begun to sour upon with age is Monster Zero / Invasion of Astro-Monster. There are a few reasons but I think the biggest one is the much overhyped "romance" between Glenn and Namikawa. It's something that's often treated as a high point of the film despite feeling like an afterthought in the movie itself. I'm pretty sure I've mentioned before that this barely-existent onscreen relationship does nothing for me, but I thought it warranted a slightly longer post to see if I'm really in the minority here. We get like one or two scenes of them together before the big reveal that Namikawa is from Planet X. I think because they're one of the few (only?) couples in a Godzilla movie to share a kiss onscreen and implicitly have S-E-X (cover your ears, kids), a lot of fans have created a headcanon of this being some torrid, tragic, Shakespearian love affair and it's... really just not at all. Glenn's overacted reaction to Namikawa's demise doesn't help matters.

I am always shocked how little Namikawa is in the final film every time I watch it again. It feels like less and less every time. I think a major factor is just the fact she's a very memorable character visually.

[edgaguirus]

That Xilien uniform is an interesting design, and it does look flattering on her.

[JVM]

When I get in a good mood like today, I absolutely revert a little to how I loved kaiju as a wide-eyed twelve-year-old. In a couple days at most, it'll subside and I'll go back to the very cynical jaded takes, but I still have days here and there where I want to scream about obscure kaiju making comebacks and 'remake this but with modern sfx' and unmade Toho films and all that jazz. My confession is that that still happens.

[Tyrant_Lizard_King]

Only the Showa films really give me that feeling still but maybe it's just the comfort of nostalgia. Even up through Biollante and somewhat less with Godzilla vs King Ghidorah. Post 1991 however the only film to ever give me that feeling again was Shin Godzilla. That's not to say there aren't films that I like during that time span, GMK most notably, but I'm much more cynical towards them overall. After all I'm one of the few who isn't completely smitten with Minus.

[JVM]

Only the Showa films really give me that feeling still but maybe it's just the comfort of nostalgia. Even up through Biollante and somewhat less with Godzilla vs King Ghidorah. Post 1991 however the only film to ever give me that feeling again was Shin Godzilla. That's not to say there aren't films that I like during that time span, GMK most notably, but I'm much more cynical towards them overall. After all I'm one of the few who isn't completely smitten with Minus.

I can't tell if this is in response to me (by your use of "that feeling") or a separate confession and I'm missing part of the point.

[edgaguirus]

I hope you can keep that feeling going, JMV. It makes the watching experience more enjoyable.

[King-Goji]

I like Godzilla's Revenge
I prefer Godzilla King of the Monsters and Godzilla 1985
I like Godzilla vs Megalon more than Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla and Terror of Mechagodzilla

[Tyrant_Lizard_King]

Baring the anime movie trilogy, which I've never bothered to watch, Minus is easily my least favorite project to come out of the Reiwa era. It's still infinitely better than anything to come from WB/Legendary but for some reason it just hasn't quite clicked with me the same way it has for so many other people.

[Jetty_Jags]

Baring the anime movie trilogy, which I've never bothered to watch, Minus is easily my least favorite project to come out of the Reiwa era. It's still infinitely better than anything to come from WB/Legendary but for some reason it just hasn't quite clicked with me the same way it has for so many other people.

I consider it a really well made "fine" movie. I had some initial good discussions about it, but the film feels very complete upon a first viewing. The most interesting conversations I've had since have been about the character Noriko and whether she was or was not underutilized. Beyond that, the thing I find myself most attracted to are actually the set pieces. I'm kind of excited to rewatch it for the action sequences, and it'll be nice to have some engaging characters to supplement it, but I'd be lying if it wasn't mostly for shots/scenes like this



, I might have to take back a comment from an initial post viewing where I thought Shin had stronger visual iconography.

[Tyrant_Lizard_King]

The boat chase scene will without a doubt go down as one of the most memorable and iconic sequences in franchise history but overall I find the film a bit generic looking for the lack of a better term. That's not necessarily a bad thing mind you but it doesn't make it stand out much in that regard. Shin on the other hand has a very distinct visual identity all it's own (at least within this franchise) and in some ways I think it seems more real. All in all while I vastly prefer Shin I do believe the two films compliment each other beautifully and make for a very compelling double feature.

[Mechagigan]

It will never cease to amaze me how terrible the anime movies were. Given, I only sat through about one and a half, but I trust the sentiment. If anything it's just disappointing because I dig the MechaGodzilla and Ghidorah designs - I'll be the first to say Godzilla Earth sucks, though. It's a melted bootleg G'14, barely anything original about it besides that he's a fan of earth tones. I just think it's crazy how they seem to be actively avoiding doing a fun, action oriented cartoon about big monsters. Even the Gamera show pretty much got it right.

Maybe a western Godzilla cartoon would actually hit the mark - HB and 1998's series are both pretty much what people wanted to see, one way or another.

Haven't seen Singular Point though - I kinda want to give it a chance but the fan reaction seems pretty telling

[edgaguirus]

Interesting how you mention the cartoons because my confession deals with that. After seeing both, I think GTS is the better cartoon version of Godzilla. I feel the monsters are more creative and the storylines are better.

[LSD Jellyfish]

Haven't seen Singular Point though - I kinda want to give it a chance but the fan reaction seems pretty telling

I beg you to at least give the first two episodes a chance. I think it well represents the series.

It highlights its strengths, as well as what some to perceive to be its weaknesses or issues.

[Gojira18]

It will never cease to amaze me how terrible the anime movies were. Given, I only sat through about one and a half, but I trust the sentiment. If anything it's just disappointing because I dig the MechaGodzilla and Ghidorah designs - I'll be the first to say Godzilla Earth sucks, though. It's a melted bootleg G'14, barely anything original about it besides that he's a fan of earth tones. I just think it's crazy how they seem to be actively avoiding doing a fun, action oriented cartoon about big monsters. Even the Gamera show pretty much got it right.

Maybe a western Godzilla cartoon would actually hit the mark - HB and 1998's series are both pretty much what people wanted to see, one way or another.

Haven't seen Singular Point though - I kinda want to give it a chance but the fan reaction seems pretty telling

It's definitely head and shoulders above the anime trilogy, but that's a tarnished crown if there ever was one. The monster designs are still a mixed bag (Godzilla Ultima and Jet Jaguar just look ugly but Anguirus and Manda were cool) and it still has that pretentious vibe to it, but the animation is MUCH better and it has an absolutely BANGER soundtrack.

[Jetty_Jags]

Slander, it's interpretation of Jet Jaguar (in character and design) is easily in my top 5 reinterpretations within this franchise. Dare I say it's comparable to what BTAS did to MR. Freeze.

[MC_Lovecraft]

Slander, it's interpretation of Jet Jaguar (in character and design) is easily in my top 5 reinterpretations within this franchise. Dare I say it's comparable to what BTAS did to MR. Freeze.

Ooo! A bold declaration. Considering how completely BTAS remade expectations for Mr. Freeze, to the point that his characterization from before the series basically never comes up anymore, I don't think SP JJ is quite THAT definitive a reinterpretation. That being said, he definitely was one of the highlights of the anime, and I'd like to see more SP inspired JJs going forward.

[edgaguirus]

Their interpretation of Anguirus was a great redesign of the character.

[Voyager]

I actually like Godzilla powerscaling. I keep it seperate from my love for the FMs but I do enjoy it a lot.

[Jomei]

Slander, it's interpretation of Jet Jaguar (in character and design) is easily in my top 5 reinterpretations within this franchise. Dare I say it's comparable to what BTAS did to MR. Freeze.

Yeah, it's actually fantastic. A totally different way of imagining the character but rather fresh in its execution and tremendously endearing. Despite being an AI, it has SOVL.

Singular Point will forever be underrated IMO because it's complex, challenging, and in perhaps its one true flaw, doesn't do quite enough with character depth to balance the difficulty of its technobabble. Shin Godzilla works without especially deep characters because of its length and because its other elements are almost precisely balanced. To sustain the interest needed for many viewers to go on Singular Point's rocky, theoretical ride, SP could have added more of an emotional arc to get people invested on that second level. Evangelion is the king of pulling this off (based Anno, itsudatte, itsudatte). I think some pathos is present in SP, but turning that knob up just a little more would have made it a much less controversial entry.