Kaiju Fan Confessions

[Gigantis]

I have a confession...one I am not proud of... I get confused as to why "Mechagodzilla" is not spelt "MechaGodzilla" while "SpaceGodzilla" is spelt "SpaceGodzilla". Why doesn't the spelling for Mechagodzilla not capitalize the G?

I heard about a weird theory for this once. Since Mechagodzilla is just a faker created by humanity/ aliens only made to mimic Godzilla, he doesn't get the capital G. BUT, since SpaceGodzilla is in fact a real Godzilla clone, arguably even better than his Earth counterpart, he gets the capital G, since he really is a Godzilla.

[Terasawa]

BabyGodzilla, LittleGodzilla, and SpaceGodzilla are all consistent with each other, maybe because they were all trademarked in the same time frame, whereas Mechagodzilla was trademarked twenty years earlier. But I wouldn't look for reason in Toho's romanized monster names. There's probably no tangible reason why Mechagodzilla is different, it just is.

[Gerdzerl]

Another size confession. Showa sizes make no sense.

King Ghidorah is apparently twice as tall as Godzilla, Gigan is apparently far taller than Godzilla, apparently Baragon weighs 200 tons, it’s stupid.

I presume that the 100-meter figure for the Showa King Ghidorah is measured at the top of his wings. At the heads, he'd be around ~55 meters tall.

[Terasawa]

^Godzilla only looks so much smaller than Gigan in that picture because they aren't on the same plane. Standing side by side, the Gigan and Soshingeki Goji costumes were essentially the same height, certainly not 15 scale meters different.

Here, both monsters have roughly the same posture and are in line with each other parallel to the camera. There are other photos from the same event that confirm they were roughly the same size.



This is why I don't put much stock in the monster statistics, especially prior to the Heisei era. We know some of these are accurate, like the 50-meter Godzilla (because that's how they determined the size of the models in Godzilla) and a few others. I'd guess that many of these sizes were determined later on by people who weren't involved in the production of the films.

[Kaltes-Herzeleid]

Speaking of Godzilla Vs. Gigan, the refinery battle in the movie is one of my favorite sequences in all of Godzilla. It's just a perfect scene to me.

[BlankAccount]

Speaking of Godzilla Vs. Gigan, the refinery battle in the movie is one of my favorite sequences in all of Godzilla. It's just a perfect scene to me.

Hear hear.

[Spuro]

You know, I think I'm still a lot more hyped for Godzilla vs Kong than I am for Godzilla: Singular Point. It's not because of the trailer or the monster redesigns. Truthfully... I have just had very hit-or-miss experiences with (non-Ghibli) anime.

I've seen the supposedly critically renowned anime series Fate Zero, and kinda-sorta hated it.

I've seen the extremely acclaimed Akira, and was left lost, confused and indifferent.

I even started Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood and stopped twenty episodes in. (I didn't dislike this one; maybe it was anime fatigue, but it just didn't quite grab me. Meaning to give it another try.)

And, of course, the infamous Godzilla Anime trilogy certainly hasn't done me any favors.

The only anime series I can say I really LIKED were Black Lagoon and, to a lesser extent, Gurren Lagann, although that latter one still has pretty problematic elements to it. And, of course, the aforementioned Ghibli movies.

To put it simply, it's hard for me to be hyped for an anime Godzilla in the same way I can be hyped for a live action Godzilla film or series, or even a western animated Godzilla. Anime just inherently comes with so much baggage and garbage tropes that live action Japanese films seem to mercifully lack.

[Demon Lord Gira]

I've seen the supposedly critically renowned anime series Fate Zero, and kinda-sorta hated it.

*Moves hand toward the Perma-Ban button*


In all seriousness, I'm likewise feeling a little... tepid toward Singular Point, but not because it's an anime. Yeah, most anime love to stick with cliches and tropes and that can sour a person's enjoyment depending on how they view such things... but really, my issue is the fact that it's Toho. Toho recently have been VERY hands on with their movies and works to the point of trying to turn their directors into puppets. They tried this with Anno for Shin, and while Anno had enough clout and power to buckle them off somewhat, they were still the reason the movie's sound design is so all over the place and frankly horrid, with un-updated sound effects and music alongside the brand new tunes. Then with the Anime Trilogy, they went full on with assuming direct control, directly placing in a director who had not only zero experience with Godzilla, but also didn't care or understand the Toku genre at all, who continued to shoot down Urobuchi's ideas and insisted on producing a "SHAKESPEAREAN HUMAN DRAMA", with Toho themselves demanding there be little to no kaiju action in some misguided/stupid attempt to try and prove Godzilla was more than just guys in a rubber suit trashing a city. Toho basically got to hand craft the movies they wanted with the anime trilogy, and they STANK.

Yes, I am happy to see actual obscure monsters from the Showa era make their return, but I just don't trust Toho with this. Not when they're so hellbent on whatever is produced being to their specifications and to their liking, at the cost of the medium's integrity and enjoyment.

[edgaguirus]

I have yet to see the anime trilogy, but based on what I've heard here, I may not want to see it.

[Demon Lord Gira]

I have yet to see the anime trilogy, but based on what I've heard here, I may not want to see it.

Don't. You are missing literally nothing but boring melodrama and a Captain Ahab MC who is propped up as the center of the entire goddamn universe for the trilogy, with EVERYTHING revolving around him. Also very little actual kaiju stuff aside from Godzilla in the first movie and Ghidorah during the latter part of the third. There's some interesting ideas, but the execution falls off a cliff.

[DirektorSplennic]

I have yet to see the anime trilogy, but based on what I've heard here, I may not want to see it.

I wouldn't say to outright not see it.

But it's one of the biggest missed opportunities in Godzilla's history.

There are tons of awesome ideas that are shoved to the wayside for the (as stated above) absolutely awful main character and cardboard supporting cast (Metphies and Martin are cool though)

Personally I like the hyper futuristic look of everything and the designs are cool, but the trilogy falls flat on its stupid face because of how it fails to deliver certain ideas. Especially in COTEOB. There were some incredible ideas introduced that never got realized and Godzilla's in the movie walking around for like five minutes.

There are some cool scenes, especially in Planet Eater with Ghidorah's entrance, and the trilogy has a really solid soundtrack (I love Monster Planet's soundtrack especially) so it does have those elements going for it. They're just not enough to save it.

[BlankAccount]

I have yet to see the anime trilogy, but based on what I've heard here, I may not want to see it.

Godzilla had a fight with a city, Asuka Fortress, er, I mean Mechagodzilla city. And that was more of a fight than the 3 spaghettified Ghidorah heads.

That's not me making a danger noodle joke or flying spaghetti monster joke, spaghettification is something that happens to you when you fall into a black hole and I think that's what they were doing with his heads/necks since they pop into our world from 3 black holes.

Added in 3 minutes 36 seconds:

In all seriousness, I'm likewise feeling a little... tepid toward Singular Point, but not because it's an anime. Yeah, most anime love to stick with cliches and tropes and that can sour a person's enjoyment depending on how they view such things... but really, my issue is the fact that it's Toho. Toho recently have been VERY hands on with their movies and works to the point of trying to turn their directors into puppets. They tried this with Anno for Shin, and while Anno had enough clout and power to buckle them off somewhat, they were still the reason the movie's sound design is so all over the place and frankly horrid, with un-updated sound effects and music alongside the brand new tunes. Then with the Anime Trilogy, they went full on with assuming direct control, directly placing in a director who had not only zero experience with Godzilla, but also didn't care or understand the Toku genre at all, who continued to shoot down Urobuchi's ideas and insisted on producing a "SHAKESPEAREAN HUMAN DRAMA", with Toho themselves demanding there be little to no kaiju action in some misguided/stupid attempt to try and prove Godzilla was more than just guys in a rubber suit trashing a city. Toho basically got to hand craft the movies they wanted with the anime trilogy, and they STANK.

Yes, I am happy to see actual obscure monsters from the Showa era make their return, but I just don't trust Toho with this. Not when they're so hellbent on whatever is produced being to their specifications and to their liking, at the cost of the medium's integrity and enjoyment.

I can get Toho trying to get the point across these movies are more than just giant monsters, the original is a human drama and that's a noble act, but it's still human drama about humans reacting and adapting to something impossible. Even Gojira had the monster show up eventually so there can be something to cause the drama in the first place and the story can progress.

[CommanderBowser]

I have a confession

When I was younger, I used to think Titanosaurus was a mutated Parasaurolophus, mainly due to the crest resembling the classic version of that dinosaur's crest.

[JAGzilla]

I have yet to see the anime trilogy, but based on what I've heard here, I may not want to see it.

You're not missing a lot, but it's not without its good points, and I generally say that every fan should see every entry in the series. You never know what you may end up liking. If I, for example, had passed up Godzilla's Revenge based on the standard fandom opinion, I'd have missed out on what became one of my favorite Godzilla films.

[KingKong2005]

I have a confession

When I was younger, I used to think Titanosaurus was a mutated Parasaurolophus, mainly due to the crest resembling the classic version of that dinosaur's crest.

I could totally understand that! It seems now they're making him more of a mosasaurid!

[edgaguirus]

What I don't like about that Singular Point trailer is JJ's arms. They look out of place on that body.

[Gigantis]

What I don't like about that Singular Point trailer is JJ's arms. They look out of place on that body.

Honestly i'm not really even too sure if JJ is finished being built in the trailer? Maybe he'll look beefier once he's finish?

[edgaguirus]

I hope so.

[KingKong2005]

What I don't like about that Singular Point trailer is JJ's arms. They look out of place on that body.

Honestly i'm not really even too sure if JJ is finished being built in the trailer? Maybe he'll look beefier once he's finish?

Yeah same here! He definitely does not look finished. Seeing his waist, there's just an extremely frail hip-rig going on. There is no way he's finished, but then again maybe he is and they're going for a much more frail JJ. It would not look good to me personally!

The only other complaint I really have is Godzilla's weird googley eyes. That and I'm hoping he isn't 1,000 feet or moves slowly like Shin and the anime trilogy and the snow Godzilla did.

[G2000]

BAAAAARNEY GOOGLE
WITH THE GOO-GOO-GOOGLY EYES