Kaiju Fan Confessions

[MoK 13]

I've only ever seen 5 Godzilla movies subbed - G1954, Shin Godzilla, and the anime trilogy. Maybe one of these days I'll give subs a shot. Very curious to see how much more I'll either enjoy or dislike certain movies (KKvsG and G2000 come to mind).

Really give it a try. I as I am sure other here will say grew up watching subbed anime. By the time I was in my mid 20’s I had no problem with subbed movies. It was in my early 30’s that I watched Infernal Affairs staring Andy Lau, first dubbed. Then a couple months later subbed. That is when it clicked for me.

When watching dubbed you are only really getting half of the performance IMO. Watching subbed you get the full performance with the original audio track. Just one way of thinking about it.

Now with that being said I like watching dubbed anime now. It may seem a bit hypocritical, but it isn’t 1989. I am not paying $25 for a third gen subbed vhs of Lensman.

[LSD Jellyfish]

It’s fun getting into a subs vs dubs argument in 2019, but I’ll say this:

A lot of the Toho actors and actresses are legitimately fantastic. Watching the films dubbed, while sometimes the voice actors are good, for the most part completely ruins the natural acting, and removes a lot of subtle stuff.

And whether it’s conscious or not, seeing a Japanese actor, poorly dubbed, will inherently make the film seem less serious.

I do like a lot of the dubs though. They have their own personality to them, and I think ultimately everyone should experience the films in many different ways. I myself, and most likely 95% of this fandom, grew up watching the films dubbed. If it weren’t for the dubs I most likely wouldn’t be a Godzilla fan today.

[Marp]

Usually, I just go for dubs when I can unless I find it hard to bare, which is rather rare these days I find with companies such as Funimation putting out really good anime dubs. That said, though, I will always no matter what watch stuff like Shin Godzilla with subs because I find the dub unbearable.

Maybe anime's better suited to dubbing than live action shows and movies due to the fact the animation doesn't exactly match the lip movements so you can have a bit more freedom in what voice you can have come out? I'm not sure, I just have my preferences.

[BlankAccount]

If Toho wants to focus on marketing Godzilla to the world more, they need to market his allies and foes better and not just focus on him. A hero is only as good as his rogues gallery. To some people a sea monster dinosaur shooting lasers might be meh but something crazy like Gigan or Biollante might get their attention.

[Breakdown]

If Toho wants to focus on marketing Godzilla to the world more, they need to market his allies and foes better and not just focus on him. A hero is only as good as his rogues gallery. To some people a sea monster dinosaur shooting lasers might be meh but something crazy like Gigan or Biollante might get their attention.

Godzilla's name alone has a lot of marketing power though. I do agree that other monsters should gdt the spotlight aside from Ghidorah, Mothra, Rodan and MechaGodzilla. While those may be very popular in Japan, who's to say that something like Hedorah or Gigan like you mentioned won't be a hit here in the US?

[BlankAccount]

If Toho wants to focus on marketing Godzilla to the world more, they need to market his allies and foes better and not just focus on him. A hero is only as good as his rogues gallery. To some people a sea monster dinosaur shooting lasers might be meh but something crazy like Gigan or Biollante might get their attention.

Godzilla's name alone has a lot of marketing power though. I do agree that other monsters should gdt the spotlight aside from Ghidorah, Mothra, Rodan and MechaGodzilla. While those may be very popular in Japan, who's to say that something like Hedorah or Gigan like you mentioned won't be a hit here in the US?

Can somewhat confirm Gigan appealing to westerners, at least in the fighting game community. Lot of them have said seeing and playing him in the Atari games is what got them to give the movies a watch, some even became fans.

[LSD Jellyfish]

I do think a serious issue is how that we have three American films, that are literally just Godzilla. Sure, G19 has a subtitle, but it’s literally just focus on Godzilla. I think that does lead to some stagnation and fatigue from the character. I feel that there was more general hype and advertising around G14(remember all the snickers and other adverts), because at that time there was some genuine interest to come back. G19 was just more Godzilla, and nothing new so hence a lot of issues.

I’d also like to note, that the Japanese titles, for many of the films, are really cool. While yeah the heisei series is just “Godzilla vs. X”, the showa and millienium series has some great titles that really inspire some imagination.

I do think that the series has plenty of monsters that would be super popular if they were used more. Gigan is a perfect example of this. He appeared in 3 films, two of them regarded as the worst, and the other one, the titular film he’s in, is still a “bad movie”. If Gigan was placed, in something finally similar to GMK, or something, then he’d be super popular. Hedorah suffers from the same issue; another monster that could be super popular, and has the potential to be a serious threat, but only appears once (not counting the cameo in GFW) in the series.

[Breakdown]

If Toho wants to focus on marketing Godzilla to the world more, they need to market his allies and foes better and not just focus on him. A hero is only as good as his rogues gallery. To some people a sea monster dinosaur shooting lasers might be meh but something crazy like Gigan or Biollante might get their attention.

Godzilla's name alone has a lot of marketing power though. I do agree that other monsters should gdt the spotlight aside from Ghidorah, Mothra, Rodan and MechaGodzilla. While those may be very popular in Japan, who's to say that something like Hedorah or Gigan like you mentioned won't be a hit here in the US?

Can somewhat confirm Gigan appealing to westerners, at least in the fighting game community. Lot of them have said seeing and playing him in the Atari games is what got them to give the movies a watch, some even became fans.

I also know a lot of casual and non-fans who know who Gigan is and even Destroyah. They usually refer to Gigan as "the one guy with blade arms and one eye". The Final Wars version in particular seems to be the one that pops into mind for a lot of the people I talked to personally.

Unfortunately Toho seems to shy away from characters like Biollante who appeared in films that didn't live up to box office expectations. Ironically, GvsB was rated as the best Godzilla movie by Japanese audiences a few years ago. I really wish they'd give these one-shot or more obscure-but-have-potential characters another chance in this upcoming new market Toho is going for. Biollante, Hedorah, Gigan, Titanosaurus, Megalon, etc need some love.

[BlankAccount]

Godzilla's name alone has a lot of marketing power though. I do agree that other monsters should gdt the spotlight aside from Ghidorah, Mothra, Rodan and MechaGodzilla. While those may be very popular in Japan, who's to say that something like Hedorah or Gigan like you mentioned won't be a hit here in the US?

Can somewhat confirm Gigan appealing to westerners, at least in the fighting game community. Lot of them have said seeing and playing him in the Atari games is what got them to give the movies a watch, some even became fans.

I also know a lot of casual and non-fans who know who Gigan is and even Destroyah. They usually refer to Gigan as "the one guy with blade arms and one eye". The Final Wars version in particular seems to be the one that pops into mind for a lot of the people I talked to personally.

Unfortunately Toho seems to shy away from characters like Biollante who appeared in films that didn't live up to box office expectations. Ironically, GvsB was rated as the best Godzilla movie by Japanese audiences a few years ago. I really wish they'd give these one-shot or more obscure-but-have-potential characters another chance in this upcoming new market Toho is going for. Biollante, Hedorah, Gigan, Titanosaurus, Megalon, etc need some love.

The 2000's films, for all their faults, were nice enough to bring back some old, obscure and even at the time one shot monsters.

They could also market the weapons & tech a little more, things like the masers and Super-Xs, someone who might be interested in sci-fi weapons and tech might be interested in giving the franchise a shot if they are aware of those things. Most of the people I encountered going to see Pacific Rim were going for the robots.

[Stump Feet]

Jet Jaguar's had a huge boost in attention lately and appears on a good portion of merch in the Godzilla Store so there's that.

[Gigantis]

i'm not sure if this counts as a confession or more of a headcanon but here it is: I think Biollante's pregnant. the weird orange sack on her stomach is an egg housing her child. it's also why getting hit there hurts so much,it's harming her infant.

i also imagine that with the two fights Godzilla and Biollante had,the child will absorb more Godzilla cells than plant and look more like Godzilla,sorta like the one on the top left corner here https://www.deviantart.com/akitymh/art/ ... -285657946

[goji89]

i'm not sure if this counts as a confession or more of a headcanon but here it is: I think Biollante's pregnant. the weird orange sack on her stomach is an egg housing her child. it's also why getting hit there hurts so much,it's harming her infant.

i also imagine that with the two fights Godzilla and Biollante had,the child will absorb more Godzilla cells than plant and look more like Godzilla,sorta like the one on the top left corner here https://www.deviantart.com/akitymh/art/ ... -285657946

This hurt me physically and emotionally on every level of my existence.

I......hate you for it.

[Stump Feet]

i'm not sure if this counts as a confession or more of a headcanon but here it is: I think Biollante's pregnant. the weird orange sack on her stomach is an egg housing her child. it's also why getting hit there hurts so much,it's harming her infant.

i also imagine that with the two fights Godzilla and Biollante had,the child will absorb more Godzilla cells than plant and look more like Godzilla,sorta like the one on the top left corner here https://www.deviantart.com/akitymh/art/ ... -285657946

That's her nucleus my dude, not a baby.

This doesn't even make sense as a head canon as there's absolutely nothing that hints towards it- https://www.tohokingdom.com/articles/an ... llante.htm

But congratulations regardless, you ruined Biollante for me.

[Gigantis]

i'm not sure if this counts as a confession or more of a headcanon but here it is: I think Biollante's pregnant. the weird orange sack on her stomach is an egg housing her child. it's also why getting hit there hurts so much,it's harming her infant.

i also imagine that with the two fights Godzilla and Biollante had,the child will absorb more Godzilla cells than plant and look more like Godzilla,sorta like the one on the top left corner here https://www.deviantart.com/akitymh/art/ ... -285657946

That's her nucleus my dude, not a baby.

This doesn't even make sense as a head canon as there's absolutely nothing that hints towards it- https://www.tohokingdom.com/articles/an ... llante.htm

But congratulations regardless, you ruined Biollante for me.

....um...sorry for making it sound like i have a pregnancy fetish? i guess?... IDK i was in a weird place when i wrote that comment

[Chrispy_G]

Showa Series - Subs only
Heisei and onward - Dubs only

King of the Monsters, King Kong vs Godzilla, and Godzilla 2000 are the only US Edits worth anything....Godzilla 2000 is the only case where a US Edit was SUPERIOR to the original version.

I give zero skreeonks.

[BlankAccount]

Showa Series - Subs only
Heisei and onward - Dubs only

I can't watch the "NICE" in English Dub, if I watch Godzilla and Mothra: Battle for the Earth it has to be in the original language.

[goji89]

I give zero skreeonks.

So wait.......you aren't handing out fucks anymore? Awwww I wanted some fucks....

[Dracosaurian]

I want to see a new theropod monster in the future. Gorosaurus is nice, but I'd like to see something more interesting.

[Maritonic]

Showa Series - Subs only
Heisei and onward - Dubs only

I can't watch the "NICE" in English Dub, if I watch Godzilla and Mothra: Battle for the Earth it has to be in the original language.

100% this. Frankly, I always default to subs. The only exception is G2K; I do genuinely believe the American cut is more entertaining. Otherwise, it's the Japanese versions for me.

[Terasawa]

Showa Series - Subs only
Heisei and onward - Dubs only

King of the Monsters, King Kong vs Godzilla, and Godzilla 2000 are the only US Edits worth anything....Godzilla 2000 is the only case where a US Edit was SUPERIOR to the original version.

I give zero skreeonks.

Isn’t this a pretty dramatic change of tune from a few months ago? I thought you’d written that you were “coming around” to dubbed versions of the Showa films. What happened?