Godzilla Kaiju Popularity Overview And The New Monster General Election

 

By Joe Gibson

 

Recently on our YouTube page, I ranked the kaiju in Johnny Sokko And His Flying Robot (Ranking The Kaiju, Robots And Seijin In Johnny Sokko And His Flying Robot)as I had done for the Gamera series a while ago. For a little while now, I have been planning on ranking the Godzilla series kaiju, but since Godzilla as an IP has an extraordinary amount of kaiju compared to Gamera, Kong, Giant Robo, or one season of Ultraman even put together, I knew I would have to approach it in a different way. I realized I would be better off grouping the kaiju in subdivisions for the rankings based on more objective metrics.

 

But I had other projects I wanted to work on first. Toho, in some ways, has forced my hand with the New Monster General Election that already has the fanbase in a state of frenzy. If you are unaware, for the past few years, every Godzilla Day (November 3rd) Toho has released a tokusatsu short featuring refurbished suits and puppets usually including a kaiju battle. I have loved watching these, and others in the fandom share this sentiment. The original wave of these reached their climax with the Godzilla from Final Wars teaming up with a Jet Jaguar with Gigan claws to defeat the King Ghidorah from GMK, and that series is no longer available on YouTube, but the relaunch started with a refurbished Godzilla 2000 suit rampaging and attaining a Burning form. That video is still up, and the ending teased that another monster would arrive through the smoke and fog to fight Godzilla next (now this) year. 

 

Monster X, a Ghidorah variant from Godzilla Final Wars (2004), has been confirmed to be the first opponent for Burning G2K, but Toho has more ambitious plans for next year’s short. The New Monster General Election features eight sketches of monsters that the general public can vote on, and the winner will fight Godzilla. It is still technically unclear if next year’s short will be live action tokusatsu in this new series or something akin to Gemstone’s animated specials Godzilla vs Gigan Rex and Godzilla vs Megalon, but I really want these new designs immortalized in suitmation.

 

 

With this new marketing campaign from Toho, the Godzilla fanbase is excited but puzzled. I have heard wild speculation that Toho’s larger plans for these new eight kaiju to appear in a new Ultraman style show no matter who wins the election, and furthermore the topic on everybody’s mind is that somehow the winner will get an immediate boost to the top of franchise importance, rising to place alongside the Big Five (Godzilla, Mothra, Ghidorah, Mechagodzilla, and Rodan) in Toho’s in-house productions. I find that part, at least, unlikely, but it serves as a fair segue into my approach for ranking the Godzilla series. This article will explore the concept of Toho’s Big Five and beyond as well as the limitations of such a schema to more effectively introduce these new eight upstarts.

 

Last year, I tried to use Toho’s Big Five to frame discussion of Gamera’s costars (https://planninecrunch.blogspot.com/2025/09/who-are-big-five-kaiju-in-gamera.html). I was able to mostly map a one-to-one comparison, but the entire premise needed some disclaimers that I should reproduce here. Ostensibly, the objective measure for the Big Five is box office appeals in Toho’s filmography. This was purposeful and helped return on investment in the Heisei and Millennium films after the films with new kaiju underperformed. Consequently, it resulted in a larger market share in popular culture, which translated into numerous mainline appearances, merchandise, other ancillary media and outside references in pop culture. As I explained, that means that it is really a Big 7 that adds in Kong and a child for Godzilla (which meant that I could include Daimajin and nonspecific baby kaiju for Gamera’s Big 5 but actually 7), but the current anthology approach to kaiju storytelling in the East means that the Reiwa Era is not likely to have a Big 5 that actually interacts with each other. Furthermore, the box office disappointment of Godzilla King of The Monsters and extenuating Covid circumstances of Godzilla vs Kong means that, by box office, the Monsterverse box office positions Godzilla, Kong, Mothra and nebulous swappable villainous doppelganger (Mechagodzilla, Skar King, Shimo, Spacegodzilla) as its Big Four.

 

The Big Five as a concept only really made sense in the decade between Godzilla: Final Wars and Godzilla 2014. That is the only time in history that those 5 uniquely were set aside for their “prophesied importance.” When the original films were coming out in the 60s and 70s, there certainly was a drive to revisit Rodan, Mothra, Ghidorah and Mechagodzilla in Godzilla sequels, but Gigan also got an immediate follow-up, as was also initially planned for King Kong and Hedorah. The Heisei series only relied on Ghidorah, Mothra and eventually Mechagodzilla and Rodan when Toho lost money introducing new kaiju, and Anguirus almost made it into what eventually became Godzilla vs Destoroyah while a different son of Godzilla than Minya also existed. The Millennium series, as the third time for Mothra, Ghidorah, Mechagodzilla and Rodan, finally set the pattern that The Big Five were the only Godzilla kaiju to reappear in every era (even if Mechagodzilla and King Ghidorah were excised to elseworlds continuities from each other). With Godzilla Final Wars as the end of the franchise and Godzilla 2014 a surprising new beginning, that 10 years codified the Big Five as a group that we expected to see in any sequels to G14. The issue is that announcing Godzilla vs Kong kind of screwed with things on that front as Kong has always had more marquee value than the other four of the Big Five, and his remakes, though divorced from Godzilla, also mapped closely enough on to the Showa, Heisei and Millennium Series. 

 

 

Secondly, you may also notice that the order of that Big Five kept changing, pushing Rodan further and further down essentially. Though of the KOTM crew, Rodan was the only survivor, he only reappeared after Ghidorah’s corpse created Mechagodzilla, Mothra was reborn to help Godzilla and Kong and the new Titan X grounded a whole season of television. Rodan may very well be the central kaiju in season 3 of Monarch Legacy of the Monsters or the Cold War themed spinoff, as he was arguably the main kaiju in Godzilla Singular Point, but he is also the only one in the Big Five that has not appeared outside of an offscreen fridging with Anguirus in a recap section (Planet of the Monsters) in a Japanese feature film since 2004. Ranking the kaiju by importance honestly is difficult because Rodan has this spot no matter what, unless Toho does restructure to include the election winner.

 

Mothra has not appeared in the flesh since then outside of the Monsterverse, but the same trilogy that reduced Rodan to a generic Pteranodon corpse kept her spirit as a central Deus ex machina. Still, there is a valid argument that Ghidorah and Mechagodzilla may be surpassing Mothra overall, and even so, the recent confirmation of Ghidorah’s role in Godzilla Minus Zero, produces an interesting dialectic in regards to his overuse. 

 

Ghidorah is the most overused antagonist, appearing directly in Ghidorah The Three Headed Monster, Godzilla vs Monster Zero, Destroy All Monsters, Godzilla vs Gigan, Godzilla vs King Ghidorah, Rebirth of Mothra, Rebirth of Mothra 3, GMK, Godzilla Final Wars, Godzilla: The Planet Eater, Godzilla King Of The Monsters, and Godzilla Minus Zero with ample stock footage cameos and multimedia presence (Godzilla vs Evangelion, Godzilla The Ride, etc.). These appearances all fall into a variety of contextual subsets based on if Ghidorah is in control of his own mental faculties, if he is from outer space or not, if he is King Ghidorah or a different type, etc. to the point it is simultaneously true that both the Monsterverse and Reiwa had a Ghidorah within a year of each other and that the last time Godzilla fought a villainous King Ghidorah in a Japanese live action film was 1991 (last time Godzilla fought a villainous extraterrestrial King Ghidorah in a Japanese live action film was 1972). There is equal parts hunger for and fatigue of Ghidorah’s role as Godzilla’s eternal archenemy.

 

 

Mechagodzilla has the most unambiguous universal appeal/significance. “X vs Mecha-X” is a trope bordering on cliche at this point, and Mechagodzilla himself somehow made it into Ready Player One’s film without Godzilla (or Ultraman who Mechagodzilla fought in the book). Mechagodzilla has also made similar strides to what I pointed out for Viras in my Gamera Big Five video. Mechagodzilla was the last straight up villain and second to last antagonist to Godzilla introduced in the Showa series, and still came after Ghidorah in sequence in the Heisei, Millennium and Monsterverse series. Godzilla’s Reiwa series adapted Mechagodzilla before Ghidorah, and after Ghidorah and Rodan had to share Yamazaki’s first Godzilla the Ride, before Mothra has gotten any treatment from Yamazaki, Mechagodzilla gets the second Godzilla the Ride to himself to explore his fight against Godzilla. (This is especially significant because it took until 2002 for Mechagodzilla to be the only other kaiju/mech Godzilla interacted with in a film, and that has still only happened once since then.) Similarly, the first kaiju/mech to interact onscreen with both Godzilla and Kong was Gorosaurus, but the second one and first in an American film was Mechagodzilla, with Mothra next and Ghidorah and Rodan still not having achieved this. Despite making the least sense in the real world, a mechanical version of Godzilla has the smallest buy-in of any concept.

 

My own personal ranking based on enjoyment would be 1. Rodan, 2. Ghidorah, 3. Godzilla, 4. Mechagodzilla, 5. Mothra, but as I hope I have justified sufficiently, this is almost meaningless to say. If I do videos or later blog points following up on my Godzilla kaiju ranking, the most productive next step would be to rank the incarnations of each of the Big Five against each other, ranking the top 20 Ghidorahs for instance. And that should wait until after Minus Zero comes out for the sake of being thorough.

 

 

Expanding the Big Five into a Big 10 or Big 15 is something numerous people have tried to do, and I am still not sure that I have succeeded, but hear me out. Box office appeal is the primary metric for the Big Five, and so, logically movie attendance in Japan should be a consideration for expanding the Big Five, in which case the top 10 films are King Kong vs Godzilla (12.55 million), Godzilla 1954 (9.61 million), Godzilla Raids Again (8.34 million), Mothra vs Godzilla (7.20 million), Shin Godzilla (5.69 million), Ghidorah The Three Headed Monster (5.41 million), Invasion of Astro Monster (5.13 million), Godzilla Minus One (5.04 million), Ebirah: Horror of The Deep (4.21 million) and Godzilla vs Mothra 1992 (4.20 million) (https://www.reddit.com/r/GODZILLA/comments/1o75xmh/godzilla_series_japanese_box_office_charts/). 

 

In addition to the Monsterverse’s US and international appeal, KKvsG’s top placement means we can certainly keep Kong in the 6th slot, and while this list keeps Ghidorah, Mothra and Rodan pretty central, Anguirus’ debut film is in the top 3. I am hesitant to give Anguirus a slot here because he is not that popular in Japan (especially compared to Baragon, who, in turn, is less popular in the US), but he has been in as many films as Rodan and serves a similar role as “dinosaur inspired friend to Godzilla,” and he is the only one we can promote from this data. (For the American side of things, Anguirus has an almost cameo in the Monsterverse where a skeleton with his head appeared in Godzilla’s temple when it exploded, and Anguirus won the 2024 Toho Kingdom Hall of Fame vote, beating out Hedorah and Gigan.)

 

If we adjust and take out the films that only featured members of the Big Five, the top 10 films are KKvsG, Godzilla Raids Again, Ebirah Horror Of The Deep, Godzilla vs Destoroyah, Godzilla vs Spacegodzilla, Destroy All Monsters, Son of Godzilla, GMK, Godzilla 2014, and Godzilla vs Biollante, but GvB is about the point where we are getting into box office disappointments. This list confirms my other suspicion that the Son of Godzilla character, be it named Minilla or Godzilla Junior, is important glue in the franchise, so the 7th place spot I have earmarked for him stays (Anguirus being number 8). Put a pin in Spacegodzilla, Destoroyah, and Biollante for a moment; it makes more sense to get back to them after another Toho Kingdom indulgence. In a poll from 2020 with over 100 votes as to which kaiju should be considered the next five in a Big 10, Anguirus earned first place with 22 votes, Gigan second place with 20, Minya 12 (but Godzilla Jr 3 so our combined Son of Godzilla archetype gets 15), then Baragon with 11, Destoroyah 8, Biollante 7, and that is enough for the sake of this discussion. 

 

 

Gigan is another strong contender for a Big 10. He first appeared prominently in a film featuring King Ghidorah (though low attendance overall, it is the highest attendance of the Champion Fest era of the Showa series) and then got a direct sequel (kind of) and multiple appearances on Zone Fighter. The addition of Godzilla and Gigan together into Jet Jaguar vs Megalon and Zone Fighter indicates that, at least of the available suits, Toho considered them the quintessential hero and villain…for at least one year in the 70s. Gigan was prominent in Godzilla Final Wars, but there was no Heisei appearance, and the other continuities of Gigan have been in expanded multimedia material similar to Viras in the Gamera series. Still, multiple creatives working on the Monsterverse have voiced desire to bring Gigan into the universe, and the various repaints of Gigan are carrying the Godziburst toyline on their back, so the number 9 spot going to Gigan seems fair to me.

 

On April 10th, 2021, there was a Japanese popularity ranking, surveying modern favorites in the franchise. With 5730 votes and a two-week survey period, this is the most objective of the sources I have brought into this investigation today. The top ten films according to a modern audience (which should thus influence a modern Big 10) were Shin Godzilla (914 votes), Godzilla 1954 (662 votes), Godzilla vs Destoroyah (655), Godzilla vs Biollante (645), GMK (288), Godzilla Final Wars (274), Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla II (212), Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla (208), Mothra vs Godzilla (202) and Godzilla vs King Ghidorah (183). 

 

The Heisei series has been integral to Toho’s internal marketing of the character ever since they came out, and its new creatures Biollante, Spacegodzilla and Destoroyah deserve consideration for the last spot because even with no reappearances (yet), they have greater staying power than the Millennium kaiju (Orga and Megaguirus). GMK’s position vindicates Mothra and Ghidorah’s popularity, but also implicates Baragon as a profitable asset, and it is probably fairest to have Anguirus and Baragon share the number 8 spot, because where one is popular, the other is an afterthought basically. It is very difficult to narrow down who of the three Heisei kaiju should get that lost slot. The Monsterverse would otherwise be a kingmaker, but I do not really know if the confirmed impending revival of Spacegodzilla in Godzilla x Kong Supernova matters as much to the overall state of the franchise. Toho is introducing the eight new monsters this month before the new Spacegodzilla has the chance for so much as a trailer, and IF Toho truly does intend for the winner of the contest to be a new franchise mainstay, they would supplant Spacegodzilla here. 

 

Biollante and Destoroyah each have interesting rhetorical situations, Biollante being the result of a similar contest that actually also inspired the Ultra series kaiju Leogon, while Destoroyah was the (retconned) logical extension of the Oxygen Destroyer and also went through several drafts that would have seen him interact with Anguirus. Godzilla vs Biollante is consistently a critical darling in Japan and America, and I would give Biollante the edge just for having half the theatrical attendance of Godzilla vs Destoroyah but as much, if not more, staying power.

 

So, with these next five, I would rank them a little differently. Kong should really have his own ranking inclusive of his opponents, but Son of Godzilla includes Minya, the three different suits for Godzilla Junior, Zilla Jr, Godzilla Filius, etc, so that would be its own post or video, as would the different incarnations of Anguirus. I will just rank the rest now. I like Biollante more than Destoroyah, but then Gigan, Spacegodzilla, and Baragon.

 

There are, of course, a few more secondary kaiju in the franchise: Ebirah, Kumonga, Kamacuras, Hedorah, Jet Jaguar and Megalon had multiple appearances across films, series or official shorts. And Titanosaurus, Orga, Megaguirus, the MUTOs, Skar King and Shimo are still prominent in their own films. The tertiary kaiju and Toho expanded catalog would add Varan, Moguera, Oodako, the giant lizard, the Giant Condor, Shukra, Momagon, The Griffon, Sanda, Gaira, Frankenstein, and so, so many more. That would be its own video to parse. Let us know which of those you would like to see first (a video ranking the incarnations of Ghidorah, the same video but with a kaiju the caliber of Anguirus or a wild obscure ranking like what half of my Gamera kaiju picks were).

 

 

In the meantime, we have a new bottom eight with the potential of rising stars, so let us go through the new contenders, knowing that they will either rise to the top of our lips or die in obscurity like Firelion and Lightning Bug.

 

Though this post is technically more about grouping the different Godzilla kaiju than ranking them, I still did include my best guess of the order of importance of the Big Five as well as my own ranking of the major stars. As we know little about these new kaiju, the order of importance seems to be their billing on the website and the order their silhouettes were first revealed. This is like how, in my Gamera ranking, I had to rank Vaora, Sohra and Bodera fairly low, as I only had access to their designs in a still image. So, the objective ranking is Gigasecto, Candyroy, Gilx, Sagius, Xenolhu, Madomuh, Minacias and Rigedoh, but, for fun, I will introduce them to you in the opposite order.

 

 

Rigedoh is ostensibly a triceratops but resembles a roided up fusion of Godzilla Evolved, Shimo and the Ultra series kaiju Gomora. Rigedoh thawed out of ice, due to global warming, and went through an evolution into its final form, per the information provided on the election website. A whole movie’s worth of context already exists just leading up to Rigedoh using his Dino Trident energy move against Godzilla, so I voted for Rigedoh rather early on in this election process (the first block of voting allows one vote per day between September 16th and October 4th, at which point the top 4 advance to midterms). I like Rigedoh, and I could see him as a suit very easily, but I kind of hope he does not win. 

 

Still, we must recall that the most likely Godzilla for these kaiju to face is Burning Godzilla 2000, and I must admit that a jagged, spiky Burning Godzilla in black and orange would contrast nicely with a muscular, spiky white and pink triceratops. I also appreciate the recent trend of bringing herbivore kaiju into the fray with Therizirus in Ultraman Omega being a Therizinosaurus. I have not voted for Rigedoh a second time, but my second vote was for him.

 

 

My fourth vote overall was for the 48 meter ancient mecha Minacias, which resembles a thorny unicorn. Evidently, it was the peacekeeping guardian of an ancient prehistoric society that they used as a weapon, which wiped them out (bringing to mind Heisei Gamera and Gyaos). Upon its awakening, it passed judgement on modern day weapons testing, misconstrued Godzilla for a weapon of destruction and sought him out to make an example of him. In this case, it feels like the “movie pitch” here necessitates Godzilla, especially as its ‘Electric Damned’ unicorn electricity could beam clash with Godzilla and would effectively target the infrastructure Godzilla would not attack (siphoning energy from communication networks and causing total electrical gridlock). The spindly appendages make this difficult for me to visualize as a suit, but the silhouette is strong; of all the creatures here, I recommend flipping through the front, back and side profiles provided most of all.

 

 

I have joined consensus in declaring that Madomuh is the least unique, clearly just a copyright-able version of Cthulhu (Xenohlu, who we will get to, takes the concept of an eldritch horror interacting with Godzilla to a more fresh place), but Cthulhu vs Godzilla has always been a popular match-up that I would not mind seeing, and Toho inevitably was always going to make their own Cthulhu for this match-up to make money. Madomuh has arisen from the sea, following a period of dormancy, to re-establish itself as a ruler of earth. It can brainwash other lifeforms, is 50 meters tall (these new opponents range from 40 to 60 meters for the most part), and has a self-destructing mutagenic Grand Spore that can enter a creature to bring it under Madomuh’s control.

 

 

So far, Xenohlu is especially popular in the West, and even though I voted for it only third, this is probably my favorite to win and favorite overall. It has telekinesis, causes hallucinations and arrives, seeking out Godzilla out of a “sinister curiosity” about Godzilla’s atomic breath. This is easily the most bizarre and alien concept, as its Abyss Gaze uses a giant eye to override a person’s willpower and disintegrate them. Also, Xenolhu can fly by warping reality with his tentacles. This is almost too inventive to waste on a short film, but the odds of a feature film from a visionary director featuring this kaiju is next to nothing if he loses the poll I would think, so I still hope he wins. Starfish squid is how I would describe this design, and I think they could realize it in suitmation pretty similarly to Pestar from the Ultra series. The 58-meter height also makes Xenolhu more imposing than Madomuh, and the marquee value of “Godzilla vs Cthulhu" is present no matter which of the eldritch abominations wins this election.

 

Sagius is the other mecha, with the general shape being a cross between the Gamera monsters Iris and Legion, as is the centaur to Minacias’ horse. It was seemingly made to fight Godzilla and has drones that can come off its back as well as a variable maser attack from its chest or from its drones in an array. I would wish to actively campaign against Sagius making top 4, because it is a less cool version of the scrapped Asuka Fortress Mecha Mobile Facility with tentacles and smaller ancillary robots. I still voted for Sagius out of the interest of fairness, but I would not do so again.

 

 

Gilx feels like a Spacegodzilla offshoot concept, an extraterrestrial world destroyer that goes to earth to seek Godzilla’s energy (that already has Godzilla’s general build just with Ghidorah inspired features, in this case twin tails, and if he gets his hands on Godzilla’s energy, I suspect he would assimilate him further). Gilx’s goal with Godzilla’s energy is to destroy Earth with a beefed-up version of its Planet-Destroying ray. This is a cool enough monster and seems perfect for a short film (as opposed to a feature), but I find it weird to make Godzilla’s big 70-meter opponent that weighs over 40,000 tons only capable of destroying Earth by using Godzilla’s power. Godzilla’s victory would be ensured in the premise if his power exceeds Gilx’s already.

 

 

Though I cannot verify this, I have heard that Candyroy is especially popular in Japan, and I can see why. A Hedorah type creature composed of candy wrappers in this huggable exterior is the most “late Showa Ultraman” coded thing imaginable, and it satisfies the itch for Hedorah to return in a suitmation format while not making a CGI reimagination irrelevant. Candyroy is exceptionally weird. He looks like Alien Zamu but with a Hedorah skin texture and ranges from 0 to 55 meters. Like Hedorah, he came from space but assimilated an earthly pollution problem upon arriving. Still, like Hedorah, he seems to be a powerhouse, able to turn him body partially into particles to make a Particle Cannon shockwave or turn his arms into swords. Candyroy is neat, and I would like to see him in something. Now may be his best chance, but I figure if he makes it top four, he still has a chance to appear later on down the road.

 

 

Gigasecto was my first vote in this race, because I think he was one of the better concepts, and leading with him in the marketing tied my hands. If, after reading this whole article, Gigasecto still grabs you, then he has a unique appeal that could lead to him landing top 4. I certainly hope so, though he may be too close to Megalon (Megalon appeared in Gemstone’s Godzilla Day short in 2023, so we could do without Megalon lite this soon after). This is a detailed beetle design with six limbs and a tail, and he spent 65 million years feasting on nutrients in the Amazon rainforest before sensing Godzilla and becoming territorial. Like Megalon, his backstory could make him the lesser or greater of two evils, and if we are drawing from Megalon to make Gigasecto, I think it would be neat if Gigasecto and Gilx develop an inexplicable friendship. The Sonic Blade attack seems a little bit out there if it truly is a “vacuum blade that slices through spacetime,” but Megalon’s firepower was on par with that of King Ghidorah, so I should not complain too much. The four arms would make for interesting grappling choreography as well.

 

Well, that is the overview of the Godzilla kaiju as best as I can group them. Let us know if you agree with my drafts for the Big 10 and which of those Big 10 you would like to see ranked individually first. Also, let us know which, if any, of the new eight kaiju appealed to you in the comments below. Stay tuned for more kaiju coverage from a variety of angles in a variety of styles.

Part 2: Godzilla's Anime Trilogy - Attack On Titan On PCP - Transcript Version

 

By Joe Gibson

 

The following is the second part of the transcript of a recent video on Plan9Crunch’s YouTube page that you can watch here: Godzilla's Anime Trilogy: Attack On Titan On PCP

Previously, we covered the first film in the trilogy, describing its similarities to the first few arcs of Attack On Titan (which you can find here: Plan 9 Crunch: All About Cult Films: Godzilla’s Anime Trilogy: Attack On Titan On PCP, Part One),. This entire project will spoil AOT and the anime trilogy quite heavily. Make sure to watch those first or proceed with the utmost caution and discretion. At the end of the first film, after they kill the average size Godzilla Filius, an absurdly large specimen called Godzilla Earth showed up.

 

All in all, this moment of false confidence from Haruo constitutes the first couple episodes of Eren’s first battle in Trost in terms of challenging his confidence leading his comrades into battle. But whereas those episodes used that opportunity to flesh out Armin, Mikasa and Jean Kirstein, Haruo gets rescued by one of the humanoids that watching them earlier, a young girl with buglike antennae, and we will focus again on his perspective as he finally starts to have an arc in Godzilla: City On The Edge Of Battle, but right now I’m going to call it–

 

GODZILLA: Cigarettes On The Edge Of Battle

Okay, we are now reaching the section of this essay where I have to go beyond the first film, and that also means spoiling more parts of Attack On Titan. If you are so inclined to proceed, I would encourage you to find this trilogy and AOT whether in print or animation. The trilogy is on Netflix, and Hulu has Attack on Titan. Okay so in Attack on Titan, something very interesting happens in the Battle of Trost, and this is a spoiler for the first season but in the marketing of every subsequent one: Eren somehow becomes a 16 meter tall intelligent Titan. In order to destroy that which he hates, Eren literally becomes it. I’m going to be a lot lighter on the AOT spoilers from here on out, because I want you all to watch it, but when, at the end of the season, Armin tells Eren that in order to defeat monsters, they have to let go out of their humanity, that is built into the stakes of the show. That statement from Armin comes back in every major plot point after, and that is the question City On The Edge Of Battle tries to explore through its 100 minute runtime: is it worth it to defeat your enemy if the cost is your humanity?

 

Okay so you already know two of the titles by which to refer to this film. Well let’s add a third. The direct translation is GODZILLA: Battle Mobile Proliferation City.

 

Okay so the film opens with the central committee offering a bit of foreshadowing on the Aratrum. Meant as an “oh crap” moment, they ascertain that anything on the scale of the 300 meter Godzilla Earth could destroy their mothership by shooting its beam into the sky at them. There will be no payoff for that in this film, and it won't even be Godzilla that destroys the ship, but the purpose of the scene is clear. Plot twist that jeopardizes the perceived safety of their enclosure that the characters are reacting to with reasonable fear.

 

This is the “the damage at Stohess district reveals there are Titans inside of the walls” moment, in other words. And I want to take a brief moment to again talk about how the action adventure show handles foreshadowing for plot twists as opposed to the melodramatic philosophy lecture.

 

I told you Eren is a Titan. Well, a couple episodes before the reveal, you see actual evidence of this. When he gets injured, his head steams to heal, a trait unique to Titans. It is a very subtle thing but lays the groundwork for the first major plot twist of the show. To solve its mysteries, you have to take note of what cuisine and technology our heroes have and what our villains have. Some plot points are as obvious as Metphies’ manipulations, but we see those characters acting in ways that the reveal contextualizes not, as this trilogy did, one of our first scenes of Metphies being him and a Bilusaludo member both casually admitting to each other that they both tried to take over the Earth before and are manipulating things to take the coalition back there.

 

Again, the point of this essay is not how AOT is the only way to tell this story. Different approaches work. NBC's Grimm has a surprising amount of plot points and arcs in common with AOT, but it plays those out in its own unique way. This trilogy just oozes of pretension when the runtime gives us more quiet moments to solve its mysteries, and they are easier.

 

Alright I should clarify the point I made a few paragraphs ago about how the chain of command should have prevented Haruo from taking control even though you can chart a chain linking Leland then Metphies then Haruo. For one thing, Yuko is directly Haruo's superior on this mission and has to give him a power suit later, but she wasn't the one to free him. That was Metphies against the orders of Leland who was still alive at that point. And then he is risking not only his company's materials and soldiers but other companies, and Belu-be, Galu-gu and Martin have all been able to move more freely on this mission than Haruo and at least have comparable power to Metphies when he was advising Leland earlier. Though they are friendly with Haruo, as I pointed out, the film was more concerned with showing the technological means of transmission for his message reaching all of them and less so about his charisma to convince them. After his speech, I guess I have to take for granted that he can convince them to go on the same mission that just killed Leland, but the film didn't show us why they would go along with it. They just do and for some reason don't take any of the available outs to discredit him that they have. The reason I bring this up is again that scene about the Aratrum that opens this movie.

 

Even though their literal captain is giving them the order to stay in Earth's orbit under risk of Godzilla beam, they have different privileges, responsibilities and expertise in their sectors so they argue because it is a matter of operational security. Since it concerns probabilities of landing team survival, the Exif delegate gets a say. Since it concerns physical vessels, the Bilusaludo have a say. And it's just really interesting that the conversion that should have been happening about Haruo's death march is happening based on a hypothetical about Godzilla's beam being capable of reaching their altitude.

 

The title card uses the imagery of replicating nanometal twisting to form the title, and the movie will utilize the nanometal in a way that ties into my PCP analysis so just keep that in mind.

 

Haruo wakes up, his maladies treated and skin covered in a fine powder. Now, this powder over his skin, some very sacred scales, is actually going to effectively grant him immunity from some of the other physical ailments that will lead to reduced respiration, reduced blood pressure and coma in the other characters. And why I find that important to note here is that it is an angelic dust granting Haruo immunity, an immunity that will amount to invulnerability that empowers him to use violence and anger to singlehandedly reverse the status quo. The whole PCP aspect of this is technically ‘Begging The Question’ in order to actually have a platform to talk about the storytelling of the trilogy, but you must admit this is the most apt comparison so far.

 

It takes only like 10 minutes for Haruo to reunite with the crew from the last film, and it does so in a way that removes so much of the tension that could have been there. We see a Houtua girl tending to Haruo’s wounds, and another identical one attacks Yuko, Adam, Marco and Belu-be, but the film makes it pretty clear almost immediately that they are two separate people, never allowing us as the audience to worry what she might do to Haruo if she is that hostile to the other humans. At the same time, after the Houtua people take our human survivors into custody, we almost immediately see that Martin is there, and he confirms that Metphies is not there (but says so in a way that implies he is still alive), and Belu-be and Galu-gu reunite. Not only are we confirming so soon that every main character survived, but we are literally just biding time until the Bilusaludo realize what the Houtua use for their arrowheads.

 

I do not want to be impossible to please. Yuko is finally being treated as a main character, even a leader among her group at the beginning of the film, and this film will show us friction in this coalition as the Bilusaludo have their own goals independent of the humans. Haruo is allowed to show more than one emotion, and this is the beginning of an arc he will have though it is against the way he was characterized. He genuinely believed that Godzilla robbed all of the attributes that made them human, but when he defeats them again, he is fine. Sorry I’m complaining again. This Haruo is a lot more pleasant to watch even if it took literal angel dust to get here.

 

 

Martin puts together that the people with antennae living in tunnels in the ground evolved from bugs, and the Bilusaludo expose their technologically based racism against the Houtua, all while the people still ultimately look to Haruo and accept it when he decides to go fight Godzilla again. Specifically, the old Haruo returns when he gets angry about the Bilusaludo casually talking about slaughtering the Houtua, and a flashback to Metphies reminds Haruo he should be angry at Godzilla.

 

A question I have to ask myself in this process is “how often can I just keep pointing to the same narrative confusion, the same detachment and violent tendencies from characters, sometimes the exact same dialogue, as unique talking points for this PCP comparison?” Well, the rage transfers from Haruo to Yuko for a good bit of this movie while she gets jealous about the attention and care Haruo seems to have for the twin Houtua girls Maina and Miana, the angry one and kind one respectively. This means that PCP-induced rage is an aspect of the trilogy, not just Haruo.

 

Martin’s exposition teaches us that the Houtua communicate psychically when the twins channel the Mothra egg’s power and that the Houtua, though seemingly primitive, have a rich culture. He has even also learned that Godzilla Filius was a subspecies and that the entire surface is mimicking Godzilla. Logic be damned, Martin will always be right because he is a mechanism in this story. I find the approach taken with Hange more suitable: someone who obsessively spearheads the search for truth because of the odd kind of person they are not for what the story can make them say.

 

At some point, I need to mention that during the initial landing of this Earth advance team, they had to drop some bombs to land, and the Houtua understood this to be terrorism on their home. Haruo earnestly tries to explain otherwise, and I think that is the actual reason his character needed to be more even tempered in these scenes. It’s the prequel Anakin Skywalker effect. A smart and empathetic woman like Padme is not going to fall for the emotionally stunted, genocidal fascist like Anakin unless he is really, really nice to her. Even so, our heroes suffer no consequences, and neither Houtua nor human/Bilusaludo blood is spilt. Now, obviously the lesson here is to be more like the Houtua, but this is a very shallow exploration of these actions in such a talky show. You may not have seen AOT, but you’ve probably seen Kong Skull Island, which used the Vietnam War as the lens through which to analyze the journey to Skull Island instead of colonialism, and the bombs they drop at the beginning are the first tangible effect of the violence that the film interrogates and punishes as its theme.

 

Now, Marco does confront Haruo about wanting to fight Godzilla again, but that conflict is pushed aside to favor the aforementioned resentment of the twins from Yuko, and that leads to worm-type Servum using their tentacles to pull her legs apart and then trying to ambush her. Since the filmmakers refused to give Yuko characterization in the previous film and are now borrowing objectifying imagery in having her be preyed upon when Haruo was not when he was in this area earlier…it puts a bad taste in my mouth. Even this escapade, Yuko’s biggest moment so far only exists so that we can see Galu-gu realize that the Houtua’s arrowheads are made of nanometal, and then Metphies does a Deus ex machina to save the characters from some flying type Servum. 

 

Earlier, we saw Haruo question himself again and cry out for Metphies, which shows the hold this Exif has over him. I actually cannot complain too much about this. I think the very simple and subtle way of showing that Haruo’s sense of self-worth and justice ties back to Metphies does the legwork of the foreshadowing here. As you will find out whenever I get around to reviewing Gamera Rebirth, I really appreciate foreshadowing that subtly reveals character dynamics through their relationships to each other. I guess that means Seshita does too. As you’ll see though, liking Metphies and Haruo a lot more in this movie is not going to affect my overall assessment of this film’s conflict and themes.

 

The argument aboard the Aratrum between the committee members representing the Bilusaludo and Exif sets the tone for the rest of the film. The Bilusaludo look to technology, and the Exif use their mysterious God to make decisions. When Metphies tells Haruo of the committee’s plan to leave the solar system, Belu-be and Galu-gu come up next to them, and Haruo is framed between the two delegations. After the Bilusaludo tell Haruo they can win using the nanometal, he addresses the survivors of their mission. Once again, Marco speaks out of turn, and Haruo invites Belu-be and Galu-gu to explain the nanometal. Haruo’s moment of asking the remaining men if they want to stay but not blaming if they do not is something Erwin did in Attack on Titan, but Haruo steeps it with his thoughts on living in the ship, which can best be described by how Eren regarded living in the walls, living like cattle.

 

Now, are we meant to assume that seeing Leland’s sacrifice and being influenced by Belu-be as well as Metphies has led Haruo to mature, or should we assume that this dialogue and plot point was the starting point and Haruo was the easiest for the narrative to make say these words? I am clearly arguing for the latter perspective, but if you believe the former, we can have that debate at a later time.

 

The scene of the surviving cadets choosing to join Erwin’s Scout regiment was a very emotionally impactful scene because while we always knew our main trio was going to stay, the characterization of Jean throughout the last dozen episodes leads to a very difficult decision to stay and fight and avenge the people he has lost. There’s not really a moment like that here. Haruo was always going to stay and fight, Yuko was always to stay with Haruo, and Metphies needs to manipulate Haruo, with the Bilusaludo spearheading this part of the mission. Martin was always going to keep studying the planet’s curiosities, and Marco…was always going to leave because the story was never interested in exploring dissidence in Haruo's leadership outside of bastardizing the Bilusaludo in this film and the Exif in the next.

 

Martin, as the primary tool for exposition, explains monster factors in changing the florafauna and that Earth seemingly has restructured to serve Godzilla’s needs as if it chose him. Haruo already viewed his mission as taking the Earth back from Godzilla, and this justifies his perspective on that, inflating the self-importance of this mission. He defensively declares that they will have to take the Earth back. This also plants the seed for Haruo that humans should liberate Earth from this state and not accept that kind of control over the Earth coming from anyone other than them. You should keep this in mind when the characters then stumble on a city made entirely from the nanometal in Mechagodzilla’s carcass that spreads and consumes a few Servum. The Houtua twins warn Haruo that Mechagodzilla City is poison, but, since they use nanometal in their tools and technology, we can understand this warning to be of the same caliber as “hey be careful if you walk into an oil refinery, and just make sure to be safe around the product.” 

 

 

The nanometal’s AI explicitly serves the directive of fighting Godzilla, and the nanometal has reproduced Mechagodzilla’s production plant at a larger scale. And a Giant Mechagodzilla is on the poster, lording over even Godzilla so you would be forgiven for thinking that the nanometal will form a giant Mechagodzilla. The characters just handwave that aside immediately and end up augmenting the power suits into flying Vulture Mechs. For what it is worth, Metphies is the final person to speak against rebuilding Mechagodzilla, but Galu-gu this whole time was talking of other projects. The city itself becomes the very specific terrain needed for Haruo’s Godzilla Defeat strategy, and, though I think the film is only kind of aware of it, there is a very clear parallel between Haruo and the nanometal AI. 

 

Both operate mainly under the goal of defeating Godzilla, and both push aside ideas like Mechagodzilla to favor one singular ideal strategy. Consequently, unless we are drawing these similarities to their logical conclusion, the Bilusaludo created AI should have made another Mechagodzilla. That would have made more sense. The idea is supposed to be that the Bilusaludo will try to tempt Haruo into merging with the nanometal and becoming a monster by showing that the nanometal will be the only way to defeat Godzilla and the only conscious agent that cares as much about doing that as Haruo does, but already he is a synergy with the nanometal that Galu-gu, passionate creator of Mechagodzilla, isn’t.

 

As the movie develops, more and more Bilusaludo allow themselves to join with the nanometal, and this shapes the vague ‘destroy Godzilla directive’ into a more well-defined misanthropic worldview of submission. If you are familiar with Attack on Titan, you might know what comparison this naturally brings, and it is a pretty spoilery one. So I will put this in simple terms. Of the intelligent Titans, one is near omnipotent, however it comes with a certain mindset, almost a hive mind of all of the holders of this power. The arc in question is also the one that broke down Eren’s philosophy, making him question if his mission truly was the best one. And so for that to happen to Haruo now when the nanometal is on his same page makes more sense if they started with AOT and then extrapolated outward.

 

Metphies asks the Bilusaludo for the ability to repair his religious artifact, and Yuko practices flying in a Vulture. The former will diverge from the Bilusaludo’s intentions, and the latter will actually embrace them. First, however, Yuko reassures Haruo after he voices his insecurities, though it does not exactly work. Right after the film first alludes to it, Martin explains that the Houtua’s treatment and scales has made those treated with it functionally allergic to Mechagodzilla City, and so Haruo, who is suffering those symptoms, leaves the City briefly to ask advice from Metphies. Metphies spoonfeeds Haruo the author’s assessment of the nanometal as monstrous and parasitic, and then whispers the name “Ghidorah” into Haruo’s ear as the name of the Exif world’s monster. Now, when this scene was in the trailers, because of the art style and the way the camera pulls back, a lot of people thought Metphies was kissing Haruo. In the very next scene, Yuko kisses Haruo after his ego is sufficiently inflated to declare that they need to defeat Godzilla, will defeat Godzilla and that he will show Yuko what being on Earth was like. Checking back in on the PCP symptoms, yes that is the sense of invulnerability but also the allergy to the nanonmetal could be interpreted as nausea and dizziness depending on how you view Haruo clutching his chest and stomach. This is only the second Godzilla film to include two main characters kissing, and the first was Invasion of Astro-Monster. It’d be really funny if the next film jumped to a different milestone and featured the first sex scene in the franchise with just one of these characters and not both, but there’s no way that can happen right?

 

So Godzilla wakes up an hour into this movie. And when he finally starts moving, a single step takes over 7 seconds. That might contextualize what I mean about lethargy being a major motif on his end. 

 

Anyway, Adam informs Haruo that the City is eating some Bilusaludians, and all of the humans in the room instantly think this is too far even though it is a volunteer thing. Yuko, who overhears only part of this, wanders in and defends the practice. Having Haruo and Martin, the POV character and exposition machine respectively, both oppose it kind of poisons the well and takes out the suspense. Haruo is not even considering joining the nanometal now even though it flows so easily from his wants, and the way you write a suspenseful climactic decision is to make either choice seem possible based on cause and effect, think Luke’s temptation to the dark side in Star Wars episode 6, the suspense is there because of his struggle and the fact that his dark clothing and force choke usages suggests to us a level of compromise between light and dark. The only reason Haruo gets into the third Vulture for this final campaign is to resolve morale after the argument. It’s really taking the teeth out of the film’s central question to have the answer so clear not only to the audience but also the major characters aside from Yuko who spoilers will choose to regret her opinion.

 

 

The battle reenacts last film’s climax, but this time Godzilla Earth can weather the attack because he is a lot stronger than his offshoot. This manifests as Godzilla attaining a Scarlet Mode that somewhat references Burning Godzilla from the 90s films, and Martin explains this. At least this time, it makes sense to explain to people why they must evacuate, unlike his rants earlier and later. Martin leads the remaining humans away, while the Bilusaludo merge with the nanometal, and Galu-gu holds out hope that Harou will join them. Scarlet Godzilla is too hot for the Vulture pilots to approach, and since only the human inside is susceptible to heat, Galu-gu starts to fuse the pilots to the nanometal. Being rubbed with the scales earlier allows Haruo to resist, but Yuko loses control of her craft until Haruo can save her.

 

Still, this is where Haruo realizes that it is not worth it to become a monster just to defeat one. His options are fusing with the nanometal to be able to kamikaze run into Godzilla and destroy him or follow Metphies’ advice to destroy Galu-gu and the City control center. Though I have voiced major criticism with the arc, this is Haruo’s arc in the movie, and it should make the next movie’s conflict impossible based on Haruo choosing his humanity, but we’ll get there. He does agonize over it in the moment though. Changes in body awareness is one of the weird psychoactive properties of PCP use that is hard to fit into any reading of media except insofar as merging with the nanometal changes the boundaries of your body and mind. That is all that we can use to describe that here really. Oh, and Yuko winds up in a nanometal induced coma, another side effect of PCP that we have not gotten to yet. This movie gives us a bingo.

 

The morality has also shifted in a notable way. For probably the first time in this series, we are meant to view Godzilla destroying a City as the lesser of two evils. While Godzilla was explicitly evil in the first film of the trilogy, he is a more amoral figure in the latter two. That is why it is so interesting to compare it to Attack on Titan. Armin, the wisest of the main trio, tells Eren that they have to let go of their humanity to defeat the Titans, and boy does Eren listen? But the point is that there is likely a point where you will stop agreeing with Eren. According to this film and most that try to tackle the problem of losing humanity to defeat an inhuman threat, that point is at the adoption of the belief not its fruits. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

 

In the kaiju genre as a whole, the audience has a certain level of detachment that allows them to condone certain operations. It is not just that it is an underdog military going up against an inhuman threat, though that certainly helps, but the audience also can quickly accept and move on from a plot point wherein the government severely raises taxes to build an anti-Godzilla mech that promptly gets destroyed. In the real world, there would be outrage for that. Not so for the kaiju audience. One question Attack on Titan asks you is how much will you reconsider the blank check you grant the heroes striking back at their Titan oppressors when there is a civilian cost or when they are using those same tactics against humans? Unlike this trilogy, where you are watching a rudimentary morality play, your introspection is part of the conversation within Attack on Titan.

 

That will be all for this upload. We will cover the third film at a later date. In the meantime, please watch Attack on Titan and the anime trilogy so that I have not spoiled everything for you.

March Godzilla Film Releases Ranked, Jun Fukuda Part Two

 

 

By Joe Gibson

 

Welcome back to Plan9Crunch, where, previously we gave a brief overview of the March Godzilla film releases, especially how they intersect with one man, director Jun Fukuda. Indeed, being directly responsible for the majority of the 70s Godzilla film releases, he incidentally made three March Godzilla films, with Honda’s March Godzilla film Terror of Mechagodzilla directly following up on Fukuda characters and plots and Wingard’s two wacky Godzilla and Kong March movies being spiritual successors to the themes and aesthetics. Consequently, March is the best time to unpack the influence Fukuda had on this franchise for better or for worse, and the best way to do this is to rank these March movies. (Note: I have also previously ranked the Gamera movies and refer to my thoughts there as analogies for some of the relationships of these movies. Reading that post will not be crucial to understanding this one, but I will provide a link.)

 

Link to Fukuda Overview: https://planninecrunch.blogspot.com/2025/03/introduction-to-jun-fukuda-plan9crunch.html

Link to Gamera Film Ranking: https://planninecrunch.blogspot.com/2024/11/joes-gamera-film-ranking-worst-to-best.html 

 

6. Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla 1974 directed by Jun Fukuda

 

In Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla, the core human ensemble uncovers an artifact linked to an Okinawan end times prophecy that teases the return of King Ghidorah but is actually about a robotic version of Godzilla disguised in a skin suit that defeats ankylosaur Anguirus before being stopped by a teamup of Godzilla and new monster related to the artifact King Caesar (an Okinawan Shisa dog lion hybrid that protects a specific royal family).

 

Having Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla this low is definitely a hot take. This is a favorite of many and, at first, appears to be a very strong film and showcase for Fukuda. As his last Godzilla film, he would know what works and what does not, and, for the most part, it is a great demonstration of his vision. The spy action is at its most thrilling and constant, there is genuinely great chemistry in the cast, and the campy underdog Godzilla is at perhaps his most compelling when Mechagodzilla makes him bleed the most he ever has. There are just a few practicality and plot considerations that make this a broken premise for me.

 

Least importantly, Godzilla and King Caesar have negligible chemistry and cooperation in the final fight in such a way that I honestly think is a detriment to both of their characters. Similarly, the “I have to rescue my brother” Fukuda staple is at its least compelling and most obligatory here (the lead’s brother gets kidnapped late in the movie and rescued very quickly). Next least important, the idea of a Mechagodzilla is such a bizarre thing for a smart and technologically advanced faction that it does require some suspension of disbelief (even stranger to first put it in a skinsuit that prevents it from using most of its arsenal). More importantly, there is a switcheroo with the artifact that results in the lead risking his life and literally almost dying just to procure a fake statue that he made and no one else knew about. The character survives due to outside intervention by a flamboyant James Bond named Nanbara and otherwise would have died for incredibly stupid reasons. That shatters much of the plot already. Most importantly, by the end of the movie, Godzilla defeats Mechagodzilla by turning himself magnetic, which he is only able to do because lightning happened to strike him earlier and for some reason it did not hurt him like lightning was established to do in previous films. This is a Gamera vs Viras situation where the movie is really good in many categories but has intense low points too. The next one is a bit more like Gamera vs Zigra (completely inept) but far more fun to watch in a way akin to Plan 9 From Outer Space through how bizarre it is.

 

5. Godzilla vs Megalon directed by Jun Fukuda

 

In Godzilla vs Megalon, nuclear tests anger underground Seatopians, who wage war on the surface with their monster Megalon but also humanoid agents that abduct Goro Ibuki and his kid brother to reprogram inexplicably size changing robot Jet Jaguar into guiding Megalon. Godzilla’s friend Anguirus falls into a sinkhole, so he makes friends with Jet Jaguar, and the two battle Megalon and a returning Gigan (we’ll get to his film soon enough). Here is a link to some video thoughts on how bizarre this movie is: https://youtu.be/1HMV1hMPgzs?si=eRpmfGNYJ78gxfVJ 

 

This is a movie that does not make sense scene to scene. Goro Ibuki and the aliens espouse and act on information that the audience learned from different scenes where they were not present, Jet Jaguar somehow changes size and the Seatopians somehow know the Nebulan aliens whose whole gimmick was that they were trying to help destroy humanity to inherit the Earth (they’re cockroaches; it surprisingly makes more sense than this entire film). So why is this film higher than Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla? That is a good question. Really, I could go either way on this, but it comes down to the fact that Godzilla vs Megalon is the culmination of bizarre genius that, like all the best cult films, takes on new meaning from its bizarre tendencies, while Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla is almost a really strong film that just was not able to stick the landing.

 

4. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire directed by Adam Wingard

 

If you need a refresher, Godzilla x Kong is the story of Kong finding others like him in the Hollow Earth, including one evil dictator Skar King, whose control over an army of apes and an ice dragon Shimo prompt a tripartite pact and teamup of Kong (protecting a baby ape named Suko he found), Godzilla and Mothra. Also, the humans have a subplot. You can listen to my review here: https://youtu.be/AI_FMxtTlIk?si=zwQoHpnG9JKFEoEx or read my review by following the links here: https://planninecrunch.blogspot.com/2024/07/part-three-nuanced-deconstruction-of.html 

 

Having argued GxK to be a four (or five) out of 10 in three Plan9Crunch articles and a video, it might be surprising to have it up this high. I am indeed the kind of person that thinks there are more good Godzilla films than bad, but I am uniquely situated in my poor evaluation of Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla 1974 (and I think of Godzilla vs Megalon as more of a pleasant fever dream than a movie). This is a movie that starts really strong, but the cathartic moments in acts 2 and 3 come at the cost of the storytelling’s internal logic…except for the stuff pertaining to the baby Kong called Suko who has a believable redemption arc in ways that enhance the characterization of villain Skar King and hero Kong. The movie excels in its visual storytelling to an almost unprecedented degree, but, as the creative team themselves articulated, they stopped caring about the logic of certain plot payoffs and worldbuilding details midway through production, consequently an uneven Best Worst Movie.

 

3. Godzilla vs Gigan directed by Jun Fukuda

 

In Godzilla vs Gigan, cockroach aliens seek to create “absolute peace” on earth through constructing an amusement park that doubles as an attack command post. When a Scooby Doo team forms to stop them (and Godzilla and his ankylosaur friend Anguirus arrive to investigate), the aliens’ arsenal includes beam launching Godzilla Tower, a new cyborg chicken Gigan and the return of King Ghidorah (last seen when he died in a movie canonically set after this one but which came out four years earlier).

 

If you are keeping track, Godzilla vs Gigan was the last chance for Fukuda to top this list, and it honestly could have if not for a couple of features. While a simple and streamlined film grounded in the perspective of a Scooby Doo team consisting of a young manga artist (with the manga aesthetic extending to speech bubbles from Godzilla and Anguirus), his karate girlfriend, a corncob wielding hippie (I will not elaborate, just watch the movie) and a young girl trying to find her missing brother, it falters in its Nebulan alien villains who constantly reveal aspects of their plan very stupidly (this is still vastly better than the contrivances in Godzilla vs Megalon). Also, despite great characterization for Godzilla and Anguirus in codifying their friendship dynamic, the technical problems with the film are quite distracting, and those include the stock footage changing a fight scene from night to day to night again, the Ghidorah suit/puppet being unreasonably stiff, and the Godzilla suit literally falling apart on screen (with the Anguirus water suit not looking much better). This is the kind of movie that I think would work perfectly for me to review, so just let us know if you want a more in depth review of Godzilla vs Gigan.

 

2. Godzilla vs Kong directed by Adam Wingard

 

In Godzilla vs Kong, the two title monsters fight but also shady humans manipulate events on each monster’s subplot to arrange events to line up to their endgame. You can read my review of it here: https://planninecrunch.blogspot.com/2023/06/review-godzilla-versus-kong-2021-remake.html 

 

I recommend you read my review of Godzilla vs Kong so that you can be on the same page about my thoughts on the movie. To make things short, the movie makes a lot more sense viewed through the implications of its visual language (i.e. Nathan Lind is the Carl Denham of the movie because he is introduced through Denham University and thus his climactic moment with Kong is the point of his story, which wraps back around to his previous moments of characterization in pinch points which do actually correspond to him gradually learning to take responsibility for and protect Kong. Also, Mechagodzilla’s eye must be the consciousness of Ghidorah deliberately luring Godzilla around because we see it glow whenever he attacks, and dialogue from Walter and Ren confirms they are not the ones responsible). 

 

However, this type of reading must note the constant coincidences that Lind and Walter Simmons both rely on, and, while I have argued that to be an intentional juxtaposition of how much each character is willing to sacrifice for the others around them once they are out of luck, I understand if you are reticent to adopt that. Moments like Godzilla digging through the Earth into the Hollow Earth cave that just so happened to be underneath where the action was happening are unfortunate and should count against the film. I will defend the team Godzilla trio, but I do have to admit that the trio at the heart of Godzilla vs Gigan’s Scooby Doo team (the protagonist, corncob hippie and young girl looking for her brother) carries out a more intelligent and better defined investigation. It was very close between Godzilla vs Gigan and Godzilla vs Kong for me. If Godzilla vs Gigan’s technical side were stronger, it might have gotten this spot, but really the only bad effects moment in GvK is Kong’s shoulder clipping through a building, which affects nothing.

 

1. Terror of Mechagodzilla directed by Ishiro Honda

 

Terror of Mechagodzilla is the direct sequel to Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla where the Simeon aliens and Mechagodzilla return but also with the help of a disgraced scientist, his cyborg daughter and new monster Titanosaurus. This is also notable for a moment where Godzilla’s suit catches on fire while he is running through Mechagodzilla’s full barrage, not a scripted moment but one that suit actor Toru Kawai salvaged for an iconic moment.

 

While I understand the optics of putting the one Ishiro Honda film above all the Fukuda and Wingard films on this list might be a little poor (and is the main reason I would like to conclude this trilogy of Fukuda posts with a YouTube ranking of just his movies), Terror of Mechagodzilla is just that good. One of the main criticisms of movies like Godzilla 2014 or Invasion of Astro Monster/Godzilla vs Monster Zero 1965 is the small amount of Godzilla screentime. While Monster Zero absolutely lacks Godzilla screentime (though the romance is strong enough to completely offset that), G14 actually has more than its sequel Godzilla King of the Monsters, despite the latter movie feeling like Godzilla is more relevant. This is all to say that the posturing and buildup of Godzilla in any movie is equally as important as his presence, and no film handles the expectation of Godzilla showing up better than Terror of Mechagodzilla.

 

After Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla, we know the stakes of the Simeons returning, and, with not only a stronger Mechagodzilla but also the new freakishly strong monster Titanosaurus, those stakes are even higher. Godzilla has long been the superhero by this point, and so the audience knows that once Godzilla shows up, everything will be alright. But then Godzilla does not show up, and our human hero is not a Fukuda esque Scooby Doo hero but frankly a pathetic man that gets overpowered and outmaneuvered by the villains, so we need a hero that we are not getting, which makes us more invested. The hero and love interest are in a tragic romance that is debatably better than that in Monster Zero but at the very least serves to humanize these stakes and show the cost of defeating the aliens. Indeed, in a sense, the success of Terror of Mechagodzilla is in reversing and deconstructing a Fukuda movie. It is not doing so maliciously because it still does keep Godzilla as this symbol of children’s hope when it would have been so easy to retcon him back to what Honda would have wanted, but Terror of Mechagodzilla respects the corners of the franchise that birthed it all while responding to the 70s Godzilla formula. (It is interesting that Mechagodzilla itself is also in three of these movies, one from each director.)

 

Conclusion

 

In conclusion, the Godzilla films of March are very diverse all while being encompassed in a type of vision of Godzilla. Here at Plan9Crunch we appreciate all the different types of Godzilla there can be and likely will focus some attention over to Godzilla Minus One once we have the space and time to carry out such a review. But in the meantime make sure to catch our upcoming video where we rank all of Jun Fukuda’s Godzilla films together with no Wingard or Honda films to get in the way. Stay tuned for that.