Monster Discussion: Godzilla (2002-2003/Kiryu Saga)

[Blackout286]

Godzilla 2002-2003, also known as the Kiryu-Goji from Godzilla X Mechagodzilla and Godzilla Tokyo S.O.S. This version of the King of Monsters, although not highly popular compared to fan favorites within the fandom its a surprisingly good design.
And even though some dislike it, I recently became a much more solid fan of this design and I know that there are other fans of this design as well. So I thought this could use a thread of its own.

Let's rewind slightly shall we? When I first saw this design I thought it looked fair, not bad but not amazing either. It was just balanced and everything in between. Fair, or pretty much average. But then one day I rented Godzilla against Mechagodzilla from blockbuster which would mark the day that I official watched the movie since I never seen it before. After the movie, I loved this Godzilla. I loved it more than any of version ever made and from that point on I prayed that this Godzilla would appear in the next movie. And thankfully it did. Of course over time I slowly begun to like the version less and less due to how it was executed in the Kiryu-Saga having slow reactions. But then about yesterday, I decided to look at movies again on my 360 out of boredom...Well, when I was done I remembered all the reasons why I loved this Godzilla and decided to do some research on the Tokyo S.O.S film to see if Godzilla was purposely given more of a animal personality.
Truth be told, the Director indeed purposely did that, wanting this Godzilla to be something more and understanding. Godzilla does not want to intentionally harm Kiryu because that's his own kind due to sensing the bones of the original Godzilla inside of the mecha. Which would explain why Godzilla wasn't reacting in a offensive aggressive manner when he was attacked by Kiryu during some moments. He was confused not low in intelligence. And from that I was able to understand this Godzilla and feel sympathy for him.

Kiryu-Goji, It had a more animalistic atmosphere around it, especially within the face and the eyes. Tokyo S.O.S further brought out this which to me made this Godzilla more interesting and more appealing to me. It held enough bulk to give off the impression of power, it was given enough animal like behavior to make it seem alive and instinctive, although its similar to the G2K appearance's in most ways, it has enough details to separate itself completely.

I have no problem with this design and this is the main version of Godzilla for me, the movies made me absolutely love this version and a official fan of it.

[Starfishman]

I do love this version of Godzilla. This Godzilla design looks so cool. He really looks more like an animal and had a presence of power.

[Blackout286]

True he's more of a plot device, but also cool.
I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one who likes this version.

His dorsal fins do look more sharp and yeah the scar he gotten later on was a nice touch, and somehow added a bit more appeal to the design IMO. Also I love the Kiryu Saga, even though in some moments things do feel a bit drawn out I still enjoy it.

[Xx_The_Masquerade_xX]

I didn't really like this suit... but i rather the ''GMK'' style suit esp for the face, an im sure ill get hell for this but whatever i also like the ''Final Wars'' design more as well.

[Lionblaze]

I like how you started the thread Blackout, very good

Anyways, yes I like Kiryu Goji, the design is diffrent but not a bad thing.
This Goji's most recognizable feature to me is the wide neck, kinda like a cobra.

[edgaguirus]

It was a good design.

[Gigan X3]

It looks pretty cool in those images, too bad the suit is so stiff, in motion, it looks quite bad.

[Blackout286]

Yeah it did looked stiff in motion after thinking about it, but it didn't bother me at all to the point in which I never noticed during the movies.

And Hellspawn G2K has been used fairly enough, it had its time lol.

[Goji]

Very fond of this design, it's definitely my favorite from this era after the GMK Goji. I like that it retains similar spines to the G2K/GxM Goji, but isn't as small looking, or hunched over like that design. The character of this particular Godzilla isn't anything to write home about, but at least the suit looked awesome in the films. The suit is very stiff looking though. That's it's biggest fault.

[HayesAJones]

I like the design. The suit itself is a bit stiff and looks awkward from the side, but for the most part it looks pretty good. A very menacing look.

[ZigraDude]

Very frond of this design, it's definitely my favorite from this era after the GMK Goji. I like that it retains similar spines to the G2K/GxM Goji, but isn't as small looking, or hunched over like that design. The character of this particular Godzilla isn't anything to write home about, but at least the suit looked awesome in the films. The suit is very stiff looking though. That's it's biggest fault.

Agreed. Great design but poor execution.

[Blackout286]

The Godzilla suit from 2000 and Megaguirus I thought it was the traditional colors from certain shots, but it was indeed greenish. A well done design and color scheme but just not my cup of tea.

Thank goodness Kiryu-Goji returned back to the traditional colors and the blue atomic breath. Kinda wished that the suit was more flexible, but hey its to be expected when your dealing with large suit-animation.

[Showa Gyaos]

I liked the design; it's one of the more realistic Godzilla incarnations. However, its execution seemed to be a step down in power, compared to the perseverance of the 1999-2000 incarnations.

[Arrow]

It's a decent design. Not one of my favorites as far as the Millennium suits go, but it's a lot better than the overblown G2K/GxM Godzilla and the downright atrocious GFW Godzilla. It doesn't touch the GMK Godzilla suit, though.

[Blackout286]

True, all in all Kiryu-Goji is second place behind GMK which is 1st. Third and Fourth would probably be G2K and GXM, last would be GFW.

I just love the Kiryu-Goji but I'm kinda having a hard time finding a bandai figure of it. The 2003 version that is from Tokyo SOS.

[TokyoVigilante]

I don't mind the build, but the cobra neck could be less wide. I can't get behind the head shape. It just generally looks like an awkward prop.

The flexibility is also a major issue. While it's probably no more inflexible then a Heisei suit, the Heisei suits mixed up the footage of the suit with the animatronic head. And the GMK Godzilla was a vastly more mobile suit then this one, and it was bigger.

Overall, I'd rate this as my third favorite, after GMK and G2K.

[Omegazilla]

Let me start this off my saying I actually like the Kiryu films in terms of personal enjoyment, but the Godzilla in that film just didn't sit right with me. Now this particular Godzilla incarnation is no doubt highly resilient(especially in GxMG as he survived the Absolute Zero Cannon) but the fact that he didn't fully heal his chest injury after a year's time has passed just does not seem to be very Godzilla-like. Now I know the Absolute Zero Cannon is a highly lethal (and frigid) weapon, but you'd be thinking that Godzilla's regeneration would even negate such heavy damage in that timespan. Regeneration aside, he is also no doubt less intelligent than most Godzilla's. I can see why he would be confused and subsequently hesitant to fight Kiryu as he has the original Godzilla's bones in him, but look how he fought the JSDF and Mothra as well. Throughout most fights, he was sheer brute force. The Kiryu Godzilla's breath seemed about right in terms of potency and as for his physical strength, I don't think it was showcased enough for me to judge it, but I assume it is average. So, is the Kiryu Godzilla, in your opinion, weaker, average, or more powerful than contemporary Godzillas?

On a small side note, this is my first post!

[Mini-Godzilla]

Let me pose this question: does it really matter how weak he is? Godzilla was an underdog in films such as Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster and Godzilla vs. Gigan, and yet those film work because he was weak. If anything, a weaker Godzila is a plus. Utterly unbeatable characters (whether they be heroes, villains, or antiheroes) are boring.

[Blackout286]

Kiryu Saga Godzilla is one of the weakest versions of Godzilla compare to 91-94, and Showa Godzilla. I will admit that Kiryu Saga Godzilla does have a great striking force, but it took him so long to heal the scar across his chest. Seeing how Manda surrived AZ then Showa Godzilla might too via powerscaling.

I don't see how he's the weakest version, he's pretty much average. Took him long to heal the scar across his chest? Absolute Zero tore a huge chunk out of him and it looked like some heavy damage. So really, it seemed logical and surprisingly realistic that it would take long to heal from a powerful hit.

Saying he's weak because he couldn't heal fast enough is pretty...lame, so Showa Godzilla is weak because he couldn't quickly heal his bone hand after his fight with Hedorah was done with? Or that the Heisei Godzilla was weak because he couldn't take down SpaceGodzilla all on his own and needed help even with his level of regeneration? Or that Godzilla GMK was weak because he couldn't heal his small wound in time that would have kept him from blowing himself up.

I mean really....That kind of thinking is just, off.

[Hotrod93]

Sure every version of Godzilla had its flaws but this version not only on lacks on the lines of fighting skill and intelligences but its just a disgrace.

As talked about above yes its nice to see Godzilla fighting something that can take him down but making him weaker isnt the right way to do it. Having Godzilla at full power and then having a monster of greater power coming in and kicking ass would add more to it, pretty much for the films they said "Hey so instead of making a powerful monster to fight Godzilla will just dumb him down and then have him fight Mechagodzilla and then Mothra in the sequel."