Oh boy
There are two things from Japan that define my childhood
Video games
And Tokusatsu
Ultraman
Kamen Rider
Super Sentai
And of course
Daikaiju
It's a good time to be a Kaiju fan
With the new Godzilla film coming out
I think it's time we give the kaiju genre some love
So today, let's talk about Godzilla's greatest rival
A turtle name Gamera
For the non-weebs here
Gamera was a giant monster film series from Daiei films
Created in 1965 to compete with Toho's Godzilla series
Sort of a DC vs. Marvel scenario
The films were produced to target a younger audience
Which explains why the films seem so...
Cheesy, I guess?
But that is not always the case
There was a time
When Gamera represented the best of the best in the entire Tokusatsu industry
Not just the effects
But also the story
Let's take a look, shall we?
The year is 1995
Godzilla's popularity in the box office is declining
Toho released one last film for the series
Godzilla vs. Destoroyah
With the promise of killing off Godzilla
That same year
Daiei rebooted the Gamera series after a 15 year hiatus
With the release of
Gamera: Guardian of the Universe
The original Japanese title, by the way
Is Gamera: Giant Monsters Arial Showdown
A more tonally fitting subtitle
Brutal deaths
Animal cannibalism
A little bit of blood
It's much more serious in tone
For unknown reason, a bioweapon named Gyaos from an ancient civilization awakens
Eating humans for food
But along with Gyaos
Its arch-nemesis, Gamera, also comes to life
Hell-bent on restoring balance to nature
No, it's not here to protect humans
Humanity is caught in the cross-fire
The special effects are top notch
The fireballs packs a real punch
Composite shots that really show off the scale of Gamera
But of course, the real star here is the miniature
Even at its worst
It still looks impressive
And when it looks good
It looks unbelievable
I remember I showed this part in film school
And my classmates said
"That's quite an explosion"
In reality, it's probably not much bigger than a Metallica Concert Fireball
But the miniature is so good
You lose all sense of scale
Of course, the amazing cinematography helps
I dare say, it looks better than Godzilla
The masterful composition accentuates depth
Something that is lacking in Godzilla vs. Destoroyah
But the best part, is how this film tells a well paced suspenseful story
The film introduces a few human characters
As they learn about the monsters
So do we
This is nothing like Godzilla 2014
Where the film teases you for no good reason
This is more akin to the original Alien
You experience the slow revelation
And learning about the monster
In the human characters' perspective
Within the first 15 minutes
You go from seeing the aftermath of an attack
To seeing what a monster can do at a distance
To seeing it up close
And learning its weakness
All without the need of info dump
It's just a masterfully done film
Gamera 95 was a huge hit
It became one giant middle finger to Godzilla
Proving that Godzilla's declining box office return is not due to lack of interest in the genre
Continuing the success of the first film
Gamera 2: Attack of Legion is released.
It's a direct sequel of the last film
Set in the a post-kaiju era Japan
Remnants of the past attacks are still visible
The film follows an alien invasion on Earth
Swarms of locust-like insects build their hives on Earth
It's a battle of mother nature against mother nature
This time, Gamera is clearly overwhelmed by an enemy he has no experience with
Upping the challenge
The gore and horror are also dialled up
And so are the cinematography and special effects
The constant use of miniature foregrounds creates a sense of scale that is simply awesome
The addition of moving shots on a miniature further helps sell the illusion
But the show stopper is definitely Legion, the villain of the film
Technology has come far enough that we can step away from humanoid monsters
I honestly can't tell you what material Legion's costume is made out of
It looks alien
Added with its puppet legs and eyes
I still have trouble realizing that it's a suit with a human inside of it
It may also be the most terrifyingly powerful monster I've seen
It's like a horror villain
When you think it's dead
It comes back to life and completely dominates Gamera
Badass
1999 saw the release of Gamera 3: The Revenge of Iris
This time, the film spends much less time focusing on Monster Spectacles
They do show up a lot
But the battles and set pieces aren't as prevalent as before
Instead, the film spends its time in well crafted world building
Following the events of the last film The world fell into a state of decay
Where lovecraftian monsters live among us
Endless news broadcast about Monster sighting
For the first time, the film shows how it feels to be a human bystander
For a giant monster film, the mood is surprisingly grounded
One such bystander, is this film's protagonist
Whose parents were killed during the climactic battle of the first film
So, the girl seeks revenge against Gamera
It's like Batman v. Superman
But 17 years earlier and done better
The girl finds her own monster
Which she names "Iris"
With its tentacles
The monster looks like an eldritch god
Watching it grow
Viewers can feel this oppressive inevitability
Iris is this looming threat that the film keeps hinting at
But we don't know what it can do
And that, somehow, unsettles me.
And the suspense builds, and builds
Until the climax, where Iris and Gamera finally meets
In the rain
Kyoto on fire
An excellent, apocalyptic pay off
Sadly, a Gamera 4 was never made
In December 1999, Toho rebooted Godzilla, with Godzilla 2000
Taking back the spotlight
Gamera also got a reboot in 2006
Reverting back to a more child-friendly tone
20 years have passed since Gamera 3
It's once again a good time to be a Kaiju fan
A new generation of giant monsters is on the horizon
Visual effects have advanced so much
Practical effects don't always have the upper hand in realism, not any more
CGI also allows much more nuance and flexibility
But, there is something very visceral about the Gamera trilogy
Even if they look like a model train sets
The destruction still gives my brain a sense of awe that the most realistic CGI cannot provide
For this reason, the Gamera trilogy will always have a place in my heart