The Godzilla Anime Trilogy

The Big G has had a ton of exposure when it comes to entertainment media and is no stranger to the world of animation, although it hasn't always played out in his favor. I'll be honest, I don't think the Hanna Barbara Godzilla cartoon is that great and as for the animated series based on the 1998 film? Look, I know that show has it's fair share of fans and if your one of them then that's great, but I'm just not one of them.
However, those were American productions. There had never been any from Japan, the birthplace of one of the most well known forms of media: Anime. 
For the last few years, I've been wondering weather or not Godzilla would ever be featured in a full length Anime film or even a series. And now we have a whole trilogy of films. Each given a theatrical release in Japan and were eventually released via Netflix. 

GODZILLA: PLANET OF THE MONSTERS
Japan: November 17,2017
Netflix: January 17, 2018

Looking at this first teaser poster you'd probably never even guess that this was a Godzilla movie. There really couldn't have been a shot of his head? tail? foot? A silhouette in the background? Just something to tell me that this isn't just a generic mech, war movie, without even a hint of Godzilla? There would eventually be a better poster released. But your not here to hear me rant about posters, you wanna know what I thought about Planet of the Monsters right?
Or is it Monster Planet? Or Godzilla: Part 1: Episode 1? I dunno, it wouldn't be a Godzilla movie if it didn't have at least 5 different titles, right?

I have to say, Planet of the Monsters falls into the category of Godzilla movies that I don't enjoy more than others but would still want to watch on occasion. So it's in the same camp as films like Godzilla Vs. The Sea Monster, Son of Godzilla and Destroy All Monsters.

Probably the films biggest shortcomings are the characters. Most of them are pretty stock and generic. You'd think even Yuko, the female character would have something interesting to do/say, given the series' history of strong female characters. But no, she's just kinda there...
The main character, Haruo, is a bit of a mixed bag. On the one hand you can understand his motivations and he does come off as a smart character. On the other he acts recklessly and shows an Ahab complex with Godzilla.
The only other characters I was interested in were the 2 leaders of these alien races. One of which, initially offers to help earth get rid of Godzilla with the help of their Mechagodzilla, or at least that confusing pile of scrap they call "Mechagodzilla". There's this one character named Metphies who keeps talking about their races god, who I had a sneaking suspicion has 3 heads. 
Also, am I the only one who thinks that Metphies likes Haruo a little bit more than a friend?

I suppose I should talk about Godzilla himself now.
First of all, I want to issue an apology to the 2001 Godzilla, for years I've been referring to him as "Grampzilla", given his posture and appearance. But looking at the 2017 design, this Godzilla deserves that name more. 
At first, I wouldn't have called the design one of my favorites. But I will say that Godzilla looks a lot better in the actual film than he does in any promotional material (and especially the toys).
If there's one thing I absolutely LOVE about Godzilla in this movie though, it's his behavior. He puts little to no effort into annihilating whatever threats come his way, and I mean that in a good way. You get a real sense that this is more than a  monster, but rather an all powerful God! His Atomic Breath is more like an instant kill laser that flashes by in an instant, it reminded me of that moment from 'The Return of Godzilla' where Godzilla merely fires a small portion of his breath to destroy a nearby helicopter.  And as if his tail wasn't already a weapon of mass destruction in it's own right, it can now emit a powerful shock wave.
The action scenes were pretty fun to watch and the plan used to fight Godzilla was pretty creative. And that's the main reason why I can't hate this movie, even the lesser Godzilla films have fun action that make them worth it. That and Godzilla, then again why wouldn't you watch a Godzilla movie for Godzilla?
Take it for what it is and remember it's only the first part of a bigger story.

GODZILLA: CITY ON THE EDGE OF BATTLE
Japan: May 18, 2018
Netflix: July 18, 2018

I will admit, I had no real expectations for the next part of this series. But still, I would give it a chance. I sat down and watched it with my buddy, Kaiju Kidd. And after it was over, we both agreed that this installment was a pretty big improvement over 'Planet of the Monsters'.

But I think most people cant seem to look past the fact that despite being featured on the poster, Mechagodzilla is not featured in the movie and doesn't have a big slugfest with Godzilla.
Is it Toho's fault for displaying Mechagodzilla prominently on the poster in the back? Or is it our fault for missing the point of the title?

If I'm being completely honest, I never really liked that design of Mechagodzilla. So in a weird way, I'm glad I didn't get to see it in action. What we got instead was a Mechagodzilla made from a nanometal substance that reformatted itself and became an entire city. I personally found that concept to be intriguing. The way the Bilusaludo talk about the ways to use the nanometal to enhance the newly dubbed "Mechagodzilla City" and also create weapons to fight Godzilla reminded me of scenes from 'Shin Godzilla' with Yaguchi and his team. Those scenes are fast paced and exciting.

Surprisingly, Haruo is a better character. Following his crushing defeat at the hands of Godzilla in the last part, he got a slap in the face by the reality that is Godzilla and is actually more of a sensible character. 
A lot of the new technology is cool, including the Vulture mech, which is an especially badass weapon. And hey, it gives Yuko more to do. 

Once again the final action scene is the highlight of the movie. And it gets pretty off the wall bonkers! Especially when you find out the full extent of what the Bilusaludo can do with thier nanometal.
Overall, this is a pretty fun entry in the series and a nice change in quality.

GODZILLA: THE PLANET EATER
Japan: November 9, 2018
Netflix: January 9, 2019

Oh...boy...
I thought only the climaxes of these anime movies were supposed to be crazy? This entire third part is bat-sh*t insane.

Following an even bigger soul crushing defeat by Godzilla, Metphies calls upon the god of his people to rid the earth of Godzilla. And he doesn't intend to stop at Godzilla.

This god as many of us predicted, ends up being Ghidorah. Y'all know Ghidorah right? The three headed golden dragon that spits lighting? Well, this isn't the monster we're familiar with.
This Ghidorah is portrayed as more of a Lovecraftian horror, each of the creatures heads come from protals in the sky with the length of thier necks seeming virtually infinite. And his very presence causes space, time and reality to distort beyond rational belief. 

This time, Metphies gets to show his true intentions, in a genuinely terrifying and creepy manner. He convinces most of the surviving humans to submit to Ghidorah and he pretty much makes them drink the Kool Aid.
And the rest of the movie deals with some heavy, existential stuff. So much so that I started to wonder if maybe Hideaki Anno directed the wrong Godzilla movie, if you get what I'm sayin'. 

Admittedly, Godzilla and Ghidorah don't exactly have a huge fight and one particular monster is only shown for a few seconds. This would be a major disappointment for most G-Fans. Enough to say that this movie sucks
...
So, why am I not disappointed? 
Is it possible for a Godzilla movie with little to no Godzilla action in it to be a good movie on it's own?

Planet Eater took the same tension and action I enjoyed from the previous films and turned the dial to 11. As creepy, uncomfortable and depressing as the movie was overall, I still enjoyed watching it. It gave me stuff I'd never seen or even knew I wanted to see in a Godzilla movie.
Even Haruo's final decision to bring peace to the Earth once and for all, even though it makes for such a downer ending, it does make sense. 

The Godzilla series is almost 65 years old and has had many different versions and interpretations. Godzilla can be the enemy of mankind, the savoir of humanity, protector of the environment. A symbol of man's folly, weapons of mass destruction, and the wrath of nature. A series needs to evolve and present new ideas to stay relevant and interesting while keeping the elements that worked before.
Did this series do that? In some ways no, but in a lot of ways it did. 
I myself liked 'Planet of the Monsters' fine enough. And the next 2 installments got better as they went on. So I enjoyed this series overall, enough to want to buy the movies on Blu-ray if Netflix decides to do that. (But not before Daredevil Season 3!)

If anything, this series as a whole proved that Godzilla can work as an Anime. And if Toho decides to make another series like this, I am more open to the possibility then I was before. 

Till next time, I have been your host Gryphon
and thank you for joining me here in my lair.
So long...

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