Okay...so how about some of my custom shot-by-shot notes for the entire Godzilla Anime trilogy?
Well...I'm doing it anyway...so let's begin!
+ Godzilla: Planet Of The Monsters +
~ So this is only the second time I've watched this film...
~ So...the opening scene is our "Hero" committing a terrorist act...wonderful.
~ And now he's screaming...and it hurts my ears...
~ I don't watch much anime...but Haruo Sakaki reminds me a lot of Eren Jaeger from
Attack on Titan...only with a worse name...
~ Title Card...
~ And now we get an amazing prologue featuring Kamacuras, Dogora, (maybe) Hedorah,
Dagahra, Orga & of course Godzilla, the arrival of two separate alien species,
the construction & failure of MechaGodzilla & the human & alien alliance fleeing
Earth...this entire prologue could have been a trilogy in itself...but no...all
these interesting ideas & great action scenes are simply passed over in a prologue
& its such a waste...
~ I will admit the sound design of Godzilla's atomic breath/beam is awesome...
~ The "higher" ears on the Exif are weird...
~ Board meeting!
~ Everyone is talking!
~ The Bilusaludo remind me of the Maori race from New Zealand...
~ Hey...they have warp drive technology in this universe...
~ The design of the Aratrum is kind of basic...
~ And that was a quick warp jump...the Event Horizon has nothing on this ship...
~ DRONES!!!
~ 10,000 years?!
~ Godzilla doesn't like your drones!
~ Another board meeting!
~ More board meetings!
~ That's right...this Godzilla has a built in shield generator...
~ So...humanity has been brainwashed by an alien cult?
~ This film does have good pacing...I'll give it that...
~ And now this film is reminding me of
Prometheus...
~ So we arrive back on Earth...and we bomb the the shit out of it? Ugh...
~ Mech Suits just like in Avatar...but I do like the "walking" H-Tanks...
~ Let's go for a walk!
~ Metal plants?
~ I see a native...
~ Ruins...
~ DRAGON ATTACK!!! I mean SERVUM ATTACK!!!
~ So...the plants, dragons & Godzilla are all genetically connected? Okay...
~ YELLING!!!
~ REGROUP!!!
~ They have hover bikes as well?
~ Sorry to interrupt your speech but...GODZILLA!!!
~ So...that was a pretty intense little action scene...& I really like Godzilla's
design in these anime films...especially the sound design...which is just epic...
~ And now they are putting the terrorist in charge? Oh this is a great plan...
~ EPIC LEADER SPEECH!!!
~ The 20,000 Year Reign...put that on a shirt...
~ Rapid fire Military orders!
~ That's a lot of hoover bikes...
~ GODZILLA IS FIRIN' HIS LAZAR!!! EVADE!!!
~ LOOK OUT! THE DRAGONS...I MEAN THE SERVUM ARE BACK! AIR BATTLE!!!
~ Seriously...the sound design for Godzilla atomic breath is so epic...especially
with headphones on...
~ These actions scenes are pretty exciting...the pacing is fast & furious...
~ IT'S A TRAP!!!
~ The entire "trap attack" sequence is actually really well done...and the
look on Godzilla's face before he explodes is actually the perfect expression...
~ The idea of Godzilla exploding from a build up of pressure/power is a pretty
cool idea...although I'm still not sure why he couldn't just vent that energy
build up from his mouth...what did I miss here?
~ I like how the human/alien alliance has a win...for like 5 minutes...
~ So let me get this straight...they blow up the Godzilla "Filius" within spitting
distance of the dormant Godzilla "Earth"? That seems like a really cheap & lazy
plot development...
~ Creepy Priest Metphies is creepy...
~ RETREAT!!!
~ And Godzilla isn't having any of that...
~ Okay...so as cool as it looks/sounds...why can this Godzilla throw energy waves
with its tail?
~ Is it wrong that this story kind of reminds me of Attack on Titan?
~ & now we get a pop song over the credits...SKIP!!!
~ Post credit scene! I see a Native girl!
Okay...so after my second viewing my opinion hasn't really changed...but I will
give the film credit where credit is due.
~ The pacing is excellent...
~ The sound design is fantastic...
~ The actions scenes have a sense of energy & urgency...
&
~ Much like in Godzilla Raids Again, The Return of Godzilla, Godzilla vs.
Biollante & Shin Gojira its very cool to see a human made plan come together &
be executed successfully.
Honestly...despite its flaws I think its pretty solid for what it is & while I
know this anime trilogy has annoyed a lot a fans...I'm not one of them.
NEXT!!!
+ Godzilla: City On The Edge Of Battle +
~ So this is only the second time I've watched this film...and I first time I
watched it I was actually entertaining some company...so the film didn't really
have my full attention the first time around...
~ So we open with a quick & dramatic recap followed by a sexy title sequence...
~ So the "Mothra people" live on the side of cliffs?
~ This film has an automatic advantage being a sequel as we already know the set
up & story...
~ And we now have the advanced space fairing humans shooting at the local natives
with machine guns...and now the natives are pissed off...well done idiots.
~ Also...its nice to see someone has gone "stir crazy" for the sake of drama...
~ The Bilusaludo seem a little racist...
~ So...the "Mothra People" are named "The Houtua" Got it...
~ That telepathy must be annoying...
~ So...Mothra left an egg? Am I reading into the dialogue right?
~ The idea of "the world" adapting to be like Godzilla is pretty cool...
~ I like the way Haruo speaks to the natives...it shows he is a good guy...
~ Okay...so I'm calling them the "Mothra Twins" or the sake of these notes...
~ Is Yuko getting jealous? Seriously?! What the fuck?
~ TENTACLE PORN ALERT!!!
~ GODZILLA SNAKES!!!
~ Nice arrow tips...
~ ANOTHER DRAGON ATTACK!!! I mean SERVUM ATTACK!!!
~ Metphies survived...because of course he did...
"I say we will hear from the landing team."
"Bullsh!t!"
"Hello...this is the landing team."
"Told you so."
~ And it turns out we have a nanometal plot device...
~ So...basically the "carcass" of MechaGodzilla continued to grow & spread even
after the original "nanomech" was attacked & destroyed...I like that idea...
~ Empty spaceship is empty...
~ ANOTHER DRAGON ATTACK!!! I mean SERVUM ATTACK!!!
~ NANO SPIKES B!TCH!!!
~ And the Bilusaludo are incredibly happy with "MechaGodzilla City"
~ I like how MechaGodzilla rebuilt its own factory...
~ And they even tease the idea of rebuilding MechaGodzilla...damn you movie!
~ Okay...so the music that kicks in when the Bilusaludo activate MechaGodzilla's
head/A.I is funky as...I love it...
~ "We built this city! We built this city on Nan-O-Metal!"
~ And Godzilla is just sleeping?
~ But he's waking up every so often...
~ Another trap...
~ So...the Vulture is just a Gundam right?
~ So...its the same plan...just with more advanced tech...
~ So the Bilusaludo are slowly turning evil...
~ Those Vultures have some pretty impressive moves...
~ And we get some Haruo/Yuko romance...kind of?
~ Metphies is preaching to the choir...
~ So...Metphies believes the Bilusaludo are too logical? Its funny because the
entire final act of this film reminded me of the Borg from Star Trek when I first
watched this...
~ The pacing has slowed...which is shame because the overall pacing was the real
driving force of the first film...
~ Whisper, whisper, whisper...
~ So...Ghidorah destroyed the Exif home planet & drove them into space...got it.
~ The Mothra Twins & the Houtua speak in these weird riddles...& I don't get it...
~ KISS!!!
~ And the Bilusaludo are allowing themselves to be assimilated by the nanometal...
~ And they don't seem to have a problem with it...
~ "To be assimilated...or not to be assimilated...that is the question!"
~ So the Houtua want Godzilla to win & burn MechaGodzilla City to the ground?
~ I love how Godzilla went all "Sniper" with that long range atomic breath...that was cool...
~ Launch the Vultures!
~ So...these anime films excel at fast paced action scenes...I actually find them
really entertaining...
~ So...are these Vulture attacks actually hurting Godzilla?
~ So...they drop Godzilla into a pit...that leads into a trench that leads to the capture point?
~ FIRE EVERYTHING!!!
~ So...they flood the capture point with liquid nanometal then harden it...that's a pretty sweet trap...
~ So the plan worked...only this Godzilla didn't blow itself up...it simply
turned up the heat to vent the built up power...
~ And the Bilusaludo "give into madness" & fuse with the city...& the humans
rightly get the fukk out of town...
~ And now we have some forced assimilation...& its creepy as all hell...
~ So...its one monster or another...Godzilla...or MechaGodzilla City...
~ And Haruo makes the call...was it the right one? Probably...
~ And all that heat Godzilla built up is going to need venting...
~ HELL FIRE!!! BURN IT DOWN!!! BURN IT DOWN!!! BURN IT DOWN!!!
~ And the city begins to sink...& Godzilla with it...
~ And a scream of rage...followed by crying to end the film?! That was lame...
~ So...is Yuko dead? I hope not...
~ This credit song is actually better than the one for the first film...but I
still don't like J-Pop in my kaiju films...
~ And we now get a montage of footage & dialogue we have already seen before...
& Ghidorah...
And well...that ends my second ever viewing of Godzilla: City On The Edge Of
Battle & honestly...its a bit of a let down. Not for just the lack of
MechaGodzilla but the pacing f the film slows to a crawl at around the 40 minute
mark & doesn't pick up again till about an hour & 7 minutes in. When this film is
fast & focused its entertaining...but it does drag in that middle half an hour.
And with that said..there is one more film to go in this trilogy...and hopefully
its the best one yet.
And that brings the Planet Eater & this Anime trilogy to an end.
Final Thoughts:
So...I'm happy these films exist & as I've been stating since I joined this
forum...I've always viewed these films as nothing more than an experiment &
I don't find them offensive or think they damage the overall Godzilla brand.
Looking back in reflection...I think
Planet Of The Monsters is the best of the
three...mainly because it has great pacing, some solid action scenes & a very cool
reveal at the end.
City On The Edge Of Battle is...uneven & feels like a massive missed opportunity.
I will admit I am still disappointed that the anime version of MechaGodzilla did
not make an appearance...even if there was a perfect opportunity for it to reform
during the battle/trap with Godzilla.
The Planet Eater is...well...it reminded me way too much of the End of Evangelion
& for me that isn't a positive...and the ending is just...a depressing ending. I mean I
understand what they were going for...but it just felt empty & hollow to me. Like Haruo
just gave up...and I NEVER like seeing that in films or television.
Maybe if Haruo was a more likeable character & the films weren't so dark & dour?
I don't know...
These are just my opinions & how I feel about the entire situation.
Like I said...I'm happy these films were made & I do hope they get a Blu-ray
release here in Australia because I would like to add them to my collection.
Will I watch them again? Maybe in a couple years & maybe I'll feel differently
but until then...lets all get ready for
King of the Monsters yeah?
