Shin Godzilla exemplifies the hypocrisy of this fandom

For the discussion of Shin Godzilla, Godzilla -1.0, the anime trilogy, Godzilla Singular Point and Toho produced and distributed films after 2015. Includes US movies financed by Toho like Detective Pikachu.
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Variola
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Re: Shin Godzilla exemplifies the hypocrisy of this fandom

Post by Variola »

Now that I think about it, most of my favourite incarnations of Godzilla are the more unusual ones; Burning Godzilla, GMK Godzilla, Legendary Godzilla, Shin Godzilla...

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Re: Shin Godzilla exemplifies the hypocrisy of this fandom

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Let me say that I am very fond of the Legendary Godzilla and have no significant complaints with the design or the character (and I never did, that I can recall). I also recognize GINO as Godzilla, since officially it is; I just consider it a lousy interpretation.

Before I go into this, allow me to share another post by Jomei:
Jimpluff wrote:I think I’ve said this before, but what Edwards needed to accomplish was a sufficiently authentic American Godzilla that was a good film that could launch a franchise. A rather tall order, and he did it.

Anno needed to prove there was still a reason to make Godzilla movies at all anymore. Also quite a hurdle, and well… the madman did it.
I think the intent behind the different versions of Godzilla is significant when evaluating them, especially the seemingly more radical ones. I believe Godzilla 98, 14, and 16 all accomplished what they meant to. The problem with 98 was that it was conceived to deliberately run counter to the principles of the character - a rebellious design in a bad parody movie. Shin Godzilla has a startling number of unusual traits & abilities, but these all serve the purpose of presenting Godzilla as an unprecedented, highly dangerous lifeform. Humanity was dealing with an unfortunate animal in 98; humanity is clearly out of its field dealing with the monster in 16. I suspect this is part of the Fukishima symbolism; even the asexual reproduction angle, which certainly sounds odd, may in fact have been a way of foreshadowing the closing shot of the film, which I think could be seen as a final comment on how our relationship with Godzilla (re: nuclear energy) and the dangers therein are continuously changing. I'm no expert on these subjects, but I believe the nuclear allegory is as strong here as it ever was - it's just that the threat of bombs isn't the most relevant fear today.
I can't really argue about how odd Shin Godzilla looks; but it works in this context because, again, this incarnation of Godzilla is meant to be unusual, even unsettling. I wouldn't call him "fat", though; his lower section is massive, yes, but I don't think it looks flabby by any means (those "rolls" just look like extreme skin texture to me). In contrast (since this design was initially mentioned), I take issue with the 90's suits because their aesthetics work against themselves, imo. I don't mind massive Godzilla designs - 54, 62, 84 and 14 are all pretty big - but the 90's suits don't look natural with their sumo wrestler girth combined with the exaggerrated bodybuilder musculature. It's also highly impractical for a Godzilla who does as much fighting as he does, since most physical fighting looks awkward. Shin Godzilla doesn't have to fight anything (similar to Godzilla 54), so there's no need for the design to be really flexible or particularly proportional (also, no requirement of fitting an actor inside).

About the "mixotroph" and Goro Maki theories: I don't think it was implied in the film that Godzilla was formed of multiple lifeforms, but I do like the idea of Maki somewhow "fusing" himself with Godzilla. I think it offers a little more perspective on why Godzilla behaved the way he did.
Godzilla didn't go on a proper rampage, because, in a sense, he couldn't. We know Goro Maki had a grudge, but it seemed to be an ill-defined one. He didn't hate any particular people or government body; he just hated Japan as a nebulous country. As a result, Godzilla's landfall appears aimless because he truly has no particular target.
The irony of this is, Godzilla doesn't need a particular target to enact Maki's revenge. Kamata-kun's trek alone caused massive damage at inordinate costs, and after Godzilla's devastating retaliation on Tokyo I'm pretty sure there were several comments on how Japan's economy and global value were being affected. Godzilla doesn't need a target - like a nuclear reactor gone bad, his mere presence, left uncontrolled, will ruin Japan.

My $00.02 on this stuff.

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Re: Shin Godzilla exemplifies the hypocrisy of this fandom

Post by SpaceG92 »

Rody wrote:-snip
Accidentally hit "edit post" instead of quote. I restored your post, sorry about that D: Thought i'd own up to it - my bad.
Anyhow - because it's really starting to bug the crap out of me.
wikipedia wrote:A mixotroph is an organism that can use a mix of different sources of energy and carbon, instead of having a single trophic mode on the continuum from complete autotrophy at one end to heterotrophy at the other.

Possible combinations are photo- and chemotrophy, litho- and organotrophy, auto- and heterotrophy or other combinations of these. Mixotrophs can be either eukaryotic or prokaryotic.[1] They can take advantage of different environmental conditions

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Re: Shin Godzilla exemplifies the hypocrisy of this fandom

Post by Gerdzerl »

Hasn't Godzilla kinda sorta technically already been a mixotroph before, anyway? I know that at least Godzilla Junior both killed and (presumably ate) whales and metabolized radiation, like his adopted father.

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Re: Shin Godzilla exemplifies the hypocrisy of this fandom

Post by OneMillionTomsBC »

Inferno Rodan wrote:Shin Godzilla gave us a very different take on the Godzilla character, and in doing so has perfectly highlighted the double standards that Godzilla fans have regarding what they deem acceptable about what makes him Godzilla.
blah blah blah blah blah....
It really bothers you that people like this film, doesn't it? :lol:

This is f*cking laughable. You spent so much effort on those paragraphs to prove your point.
By your logic, all Godzilla fans would be hypocrites because every Godzilla has had different traits throughout the years. Every one of them are vastly different from 1954's Gojira anyways so what's the big deal? IT'S OKAY to like Godzilla '98, LP Godzilla, Shin Godzilla, and every other Godzilla.

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Re: Shin Godzilla exemplifies the hypocrisy of this fandom

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OneMillionTomsBC wrote:
Inferno Rodan wrote:Shin Godzilla gave us a very different take on the Godzilla character, and in doing so has perfectly highlighted the double standards that Godzilla fans have regarding what they deem acceptable about what makes him Godzilla.
blah blah blah blah blah....
It really bothers you that people like this film, doesn't it? :lol:

This is f*cking laughable. You spent so much effort on those paragraphs to prove your point.
By your logic, all Godzilla fans would be hypocrites because every Godzilla has had different traits throughout the years. Every one of them are vastly different from 1954's Gojira anyways so what's the big deal? IT'S OKAY to like Godzilla '98, LP Godzilla, Shin Godzilla, and every other Godzilla.
What the hell are you talking about Godzilla has barely changed in his 29 films,this including legendarys! All the changes were insignificant.Shin is the only one that changed things to the point were it's not even him any more, it really is completely different in every aspect.You can't just turn Godzilla into anything you want.
Last edited by godzilla5417 on Thu Nov 24, 2016 2:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I'am an atheist, and the closest thing to a god that I have is.......GODZILLAAAAAAAAA! :godzilla:

Little known fact, both Zilla and Shin Hangout at the same gay bar called GINO"S!

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Re: Shin Godzilla exemplifies the hypocrisy of this fandom

Post by daveblackeye15 »

I'm confused? I really like Shin Godzilla and Godzilla 2014. I do find it funny when I realized that Shin Godzilla did several things Gino did. But I think it's totally fair I like Shin Godzilla while disliking Godzilla 1998. One massively disappointed me when I was 12 and one did not present day me. It's all about execution. Gino was a wimp, ran away, did not have atomic breathe I don't have a beef with the look of it nor the idea of a speedy digging Godzilla. Shin Godzilla is different but executed well.

Zilla Jr. is cool with me BTW.

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Re: Shin Godzilla exemplifies the hypocrisy of this fandom

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daveblackeye15 wrote:I'm confused? I really like Shin Godzilla and Godzilla 2014. I do find it funny when I realized that Shin Godzilla did several things Gino did. But I think it's totally fair I like Shin Godzilla while disliking Godzilla 1998. One massively disappointed me when I was 12 and one did not present day me. It's all about execution. Gino was a wimp, ran away, did not have atomic breathe I don't have a beef with the look of it nor the idea of a speedy digging Godzilla. Shin Godzilla is different but executed well.

Zilla Jr. is cool with me BTW.
Zilla jr is pretty cool, i'v only seen clips of the series. Zilla doesn't have shit on his son.I don't dislike Shin, but I consider it a completely different character, not Godzilla.Calling Shin, Godzilla is like saying Crypto from"Destroy all humans" is James Bond.
I'am an atheist, and the closest thing to a god that I have is.......GODZILLAAAAAAAAA! :godzilla:

Little known fact, both Zilla and Shin Hangout at the same gay bar called GINO"S!

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Re: Shin Godzilla exemplifies the hypocrisy of this fandom

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godzilla5417 wrote:
daveblackeye15 wrote:I'm confused? I really like Shin Godzilla and Godzilla 2014. I do find it funny when I realized that Shin Godzilla did several things Gino did. But I think it's totally fair I like Shin Godzilla while disliking Godzilla 1998. One massively disappointed me when I was 12 and one did not present day me. It's all about execution. Gino was a wimp, ran away, did not have atomic breathe I don't have a beef with the look of it nor the idea of a speedy digging Godzilla. Shin Godzilla is different but executed well.

Zilla Jr. is cool with me BTW.
Zilla jr is pretty cool, i'v only seen clips of the series. Zilla doesn't have shit on his son.I don't dislike Shin, but I consider it a completely different character, not Godzilla.Calling Shin, Godzilla is like saying Crypto from"Destroy all humans" is James Bond.
I mean - I hate to say it, Shin IS Godzilla. All things considered, he's under the same license. Hell, I believe 98 is still under the Godzilla license as well. I have accepted that for a while now, while the character may not be Godzilla we all know, but it's still a family member none of the less. That uncle or cousin no one ever talks about :P

Saying that he isn't the "cookie cutter, we all know Godzilla" I think is a better way of expressing that thought.

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Re: Shin Godzilla exemplifies the hypocrisy of this fandom

Post by Huan_of_Valinor »

I dislike this version of the character for most of the reasons that the OP

I also don't accept the reasoning that Godzilla has done crazy stuff in the past, so that makes the gigantic departures from the established character ok. sure, Godzilla has flown before, but he didn't literally *grow wings* to do it, like it was hinted that Shin could do.

Shin Godzilla is basically Godzilla x Gino x Destroyah x Evangelion.

but you know, the movie wasn't terrible. It's average imo

no huge debates from me lol
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Re: Shin Godzilla exemplifies the hypocrisy of this fandom

Post by Mechagigan »

I've argued this before, but Toho making Shin really has little to do with the fan response - especially considering it took most of us a while to warm up to Shin anyway, a fact that's kind of faded with time.

As has been said, it's all about execution... Shin is hideous, but then again, we were told to expect a 'nightmare'. His 'evolution' and origin is out of the norm, but nobody really expected a traditional Godzilla - and even then, each form remained true to the character, simply thanks to the fact that it does become something that can be totally defined as a 'traditional' Godzilla. He was definitely out there and maybe a big exaggerated, but, the tagline is (paraphrased)'Reality Vs Fiction'... and what 'nightmare' is totally logical, anyhow?

Even disregarding those points, the film placed a totally unbelievable concept in a setting that relied on that parameter; Shin is supposed to be unusual and unpredictable. It's almost the entire point of the movie that he is.

Maybe more flack would have risen if Legendary made Shin, but again, it's not like he came through completely scott-free. He's gotten a hell of a lot of criticism, and rightly so, for arguably the biggest departure in Godzilla's design since Zilla. What Shin retains that G'98 does not, however, is the defining traits and inflections of the character.

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Re: Shin Godzilla exemplifies the hypocrisy of this fandom

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Mechagigan wrote: As has been said, it's all about execution... Shin is hideous, but then again, we were told to expect a 'nightmare'.
And then we didn't get that at all. The movie was a dark comedy half the time (which I enjoyed), and when it did get serious... it wasn't any more so than Godzilla 1985. Kind of felt like they half-assed the dark tone of the second half, to be honest. :|
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Re: Shin Godzilla exemplifies the hypocrisy of this fandom

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Kaiju-King42 wrote:
Mechagigan wrote: As has been said, it's all about execution... Shin is hideous, but then again, we were told to expect a 'nightmare'.
And then we didn't get that at all. The movie was a dark comedy half the time (which I enjoyed), and when it did get serious... it wasn't any more so than Godzilla 1985. Kind of felt like they half-assed the dark tone of the second half, to be honest. :|
Eh, that's kind of true. I figured it was more referring to Godzilla himself... who, in concept, is pretty freaky (especially during the big destruction scene).

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Re: Shin Godzilla exemplifies the hypocrisy of this fandom

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godzilla5417 wrote:
OneMillionTomsBC wrote:
Inferno Rodan wrote:Shin Godzilla gave us a very different take on the Godzilla character, and in doing so has perfectly highlighted the double standards that Godzilla fans have regarding what they deem acceptable about what makes him Godzilla.
blah blah blah blah blah....
It really bothers you that people like this film, doesn't it? :lol:

This is f*cking laughable. You spent so much effort on those paragraphs to prove your point.
By your logic, all Godzilla fans would be hypocrites because every Godzilla has had different traits throughout the years. Every one of them are vastly different from 1954's Gojira anyways so what's the big deal? IT'S OKAY to like Godzilla '98, LP Godzilla, Shin Godzilla, and every other Godzilla.
What the hell are you talking about Godzilla has barely changed in his 29 films,this including legendarys! All the changes were insignificant.Shin is the only one that changed things to the point were it's not even him any more, it really is completely different in every aspect.You can't just turn Godzilla into anything you want.
Yes you can, and it has been done. A lot.

You're right though, all the changes are insignificant. Your argument is also insignificant. All Godzillas are fine in their own way because they are all different films. Different films of the same idea. Like it or not, it is up to the studio and the filmmaker's vision for how Godzilla is portrayed. What you get is what you get. Only the incredibly bitchy fans who are afraid of change and only want movies to play out the way they pictured it will be hurt or deeply affected by any efforts of the series. You can say you hated the movie, you either like the film or you don't, but nobody is a hypocrite for liking or disliking any f*cking Godzilla movie. The person who started this thread is stupid for trying to pin that on people. It's trivial bullsh!t and nobody cares what you think.
And let's face it... You're still going to buy a ticket for the next Godzilla movie anyways.

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Re: Shin Godzilla exemplifies the hypocrisy of this fandom

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OneMillionTomsBC wrote:
godzilla5417 wrote:
OneMillionTomsBC wrote:
It really bothers you that people like this film, doesn't it? :lol:

This is f*cking laughable. You spent so much effort on those paragraphs to prove your point.
By your logic, all Godzilla fans would be hypocrites because every Godzilla has had different traits throughout the years. Every one of them are vastly different from 1954's Gojira anyways so what's the big deal? IT'S OKAY to like Godzilla '98, LP Godzilla, Shin Godzilla, and every other Godzilla.
What the hell are you talking about Godzilla has barely changed in his 29 films,this including legendarys! All the changes were insignificant.Shin is the only one that changed things to the point were it's not even him any more, it really is completely different in every aspect.You can't just turn Godzilla into anything you want.
Yes you can, and it has been done. A lot.

You're right though, all the changes are insignificant. Your argument is also insignificant. All Godzillas are fine in their own way because they are all different films. Different films of the same idea. Like it or not, it is up to the studio and the filmmaker's vision for how Godzilla is portrayed. What you get is what you get. Only the incredibly bitchy fans who are afraid of change and only want movies to play out the way they pictured it will be hurt or deeply affected by any efforts of the series. You can say you hated the movie, you either like the film or you don't, but nobody is a hypocrite for liking or disliking any f*cking Godzilla movie. The person who started this thread is stupid for trying to pin that on people. It's trivial bullsh!t and nobody cares what you think.
And let's face it... You're still going to buy a ticket for the next Godzilla movie anyways.
I never said I didn't like the movie,It was good but not great.But the monster is to different for me to consider it an interpretation of Godzilla, it's a different character all together kind of like Space Godzilla.Maybe that's why it's called Shin Godzilla and not just Godzilla.You think about it Godzilla hasn't really change at all over the course of sixty years, he's a giant prehistoric reptile that shoot's atomic breath and eats radiation,know's martial arts and is bipolar.

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SpaceG92 wrote:
godzilla5417 wrote:
daveblackeye15 wrote:I'm confused? I really like Shin Godzilla and Godzilla 2014. I do find it funny when I realized that Shin Godzilla did several things Gino did. But I think it's totally fair I like Shin Godzilla while disliking Godzilla 1998. One massively disappointed me when I was 12 and one did not present day me. It's all about execution. Gino was a wimp, ran away, did not have atomic breathe I don't have a beef with the look of it nor the idea of a speedy digging Godzilla. Shin Godzilla is different but executed well.

Zilla Jr. is cool with me BTW.
Zilla jr is pretty cool, i'v only seen clips of the series. Zilla doesn't have shit on his son.I don't dislike Shin, but I consider it a completely different character, not Godzilla.Calling Shin, Godzilla is like saying Crypto from"Destroy all humans" is James Bond.
I mean - I hate to say it, Shin IS Godzilla. All things considered, he's under the same license. Hell, I believe 98 is still under the Godzilla license as well. I have accepted that for a while now, while the character may not be Godzilla we all know, but it's still a family member none of the less. That uncle or cousin no one ever talks about :P

Saying that he isn't the "cookie cutter, we all know Godzilla" I think is a better way of expressing that thought.
Yeah I agree with you kind of, I consider Shin to be something like Space Godzilla for example. 1998 zilla on the other hand, no thank you sir I don't care who own's what license.
I'am an atheist, and the closest thing to a god that I have is.......GODZILLAAAAAAAAA! :godzilla:

Little known fact, both Zilla and Shin Hangout at the same gay bar called GINO"S!

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Re: Shin Godzilla exemplifies the hypocrisy of this fandom

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I see Godzilla as an expression of how 1 person might see him compared to another. I liken it to Bigfoot. When people report what they've seen, even though they've seen a being from the same species, the emotion from their experience tends to dictate their description. Godzilla, for me anyways, is Godzilla no matter whose eyes I'm seeing him through. I have not seen this film yet but I am totally excited while waiting for it's Blu-ray release. Every film has added something to the character that keeps it evolving in one way or another.

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Re: Shin Godzilla exemplifies the hypocrisy of this fandom

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JetrellFo wrote:I see Godzilla as an expression of how 1 person might see him compared to another. I liken it to Bigfoot. When people report what they've seen, even though they've seen a being from the same species, the emotion from their experience tends to dictate their description. Godzilla, for me anyways, is Godzilla no matter whose eyes I'm seeing him through. I have not seen this film yet but I am totally excited while waiting for it's Blu-ray release. Every film has added something to the character that keeps it evolving in one way or another.

Godzilla Rules!!!!
Shin Godzilla is an ok movie, but try to keep your expectations in check or you'll ruin it for yourself.
I'am an atheist, and the closest thing to a god that I have is.......GODZILLAAAAAAAAA! :godzilla:

Little known fact, both Zilla and Shin Hangout at the same gay bar called GINO"S!

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Re: Shin Godzilla exemplifies the hypocrisy of this fandom

Post by OneMillionTomsBC »

I pretty much spoiled the movie for myself before seeing it in theaters and I still liked it. Couldn't have predicted the subtle comedy within which makes it great.

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Re: Shin Godzilla exemplifies the hypocrisy of this fandom

Post by Variola »

I don't think Shin is that big a departure at all.

So he shoots energy out of his spines and glows. So did burning Godzilla in 1995.
So he looks scarred. The original 1954 version was designed to have keloid-scarred skin.
So he has a juvenile form that looks different from his adult form. Did we all just suddenly forget about Minilla, Godzillasaurus, etc?

He is a somewhat different take on the character, I'm just not seeing how this is some huge betrayal.
He looks and acts like Godzilla, I really don't see a problem.
Last edited by Variola on Fri Nov 25, 2016 4:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Shin Godzilla exemplifies the hypocrisy of this fandom

Post by OneMillionTomsBC »

Variola wrote:I don't think Shin is that big a departure at all.

So he shoots energy out of his spines and glows. So did burning Godzilla in 1995.
So he looks scarred. The original 1954 version was designed to have keloid-scarred skin.
So he has a juvenile form that looks different from his final form. Did we all just suddenly forget about Minilla, Godzillasaurus, etc?

He is a somewhat different take on the character, I'm just not seeing how this is some huge betrayal.
Pretty much this. Apparently it's some kind of hypocrisy! :lol:

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