#i think i'm done with the monsterverse

[dappercritter]

So... Revenge of the Kongs now, eh?

[marigoldwriter]

Summarizing the fanfic I'm writing in a single sentence:

"No but- IT'S A BRILLIANT IDEA TO INJECT TITANS DNA INTO NEWBORN BABIES, ISN'T IT?? WHAT THE FUCK!"

[astoundingbeyondbelief]

Kaiju Week in Review (December 3-9, 2023)

I made a frame from this shot Wikizilla's Image of the Week. No regrets. Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, I love ya. When I was a teenager, explicit queerness was anathema to most big-name franchises. Those dominoes have been slowly falling, often in lower-profile tie-ins first, and to me this is a huge one: 69 years without a queer live-action Godzilla character are over. And Cate's the main protagonist of the show! I'm not under the delusion that media representation will cure all society's ills, but it sure doesn't hurt. Now, the non-Tumblr parts of the fandom are being completely normal about this, right? Right? Whatever, that's why you'll never get rid of me here. Cate had a couple more sweet moments with May in this episode, and Mariko Tamaki wrote episode 7, so don't expect her to stop kissing girls. Hopefully she's learned a valuable lesson about cheating though.

"The Way Out" is also another gift to those of us who have always wanted to see more of the ramifications of a world where Godzilla exists, from underground towns for the super-rich to ruined cities where federal troops shoot looters and harass people experiencing homelessness. And the show continues to find ways to use kaiju to talk about COVID, from Cate and Kentaro's exchange about San Francisco truthers ("It's easier than waking up every day and thinking, at any moment, the same could happen to you") to the blink-of-an-eye speed at which the threat went from on the news to her front door in the flashbacks.

As I foretold, we got a Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire trailer, an amusing contrast to the weighty Toho flick and Apple show already fore of mind. It's Adam Wingard unbound, that's for sure. The human cast seems pared back, a longstanding Monsterverse problem, and the kaiju fights were far and away the best part of Godzilla vs. Kong, so hopefully this approach will play to his strengths. But that movie also had excellent VFX, and some of the shots in here are rough. There's time to fix them, at least... which probably can't be said of Godzilla's design. I like that he's pink (did some Warner Bros. executive take the wrong message away from Barbie?) and sporting a thagomizer on his tail, but his proportions are uncanny. And I see Kong found the Infinity Gauntlet; good for him.

I am, of course, not done talking about Godzilla Minus One. It added over 200 screens and made $8.3 million in its second weekend in the U.S., a minuscule drop considering that its $11.4 million opening "weekend" spanned five days. Almost a third of all tickets sold this weekend were for Godzilla or Hayao Miyazaki's The Boy and the Heron, remarkable in a market so allergic to foreign imports. That brings its total to $25.3 million (more by the time you read this). With an avalanche of Christmas blockbusters on the way, its grip on premium-format screens is about to slip. Still, I see it hanging around theaters for a while. I have never seen the fandom so united in praise for a film before, and it's making plenty of new fans.

Some of those fans are in high places. Variety leaked that it's on the 20-film shortlist for Best Visual Effects at the Oscars (to be narrowed to five nominees), something I, again, never expected to read about a Toho Godzilla film. Alas, it's locked out of this year's Best International Film category due to the quirky nomination period.

Much has been made of how great the film looks on a $15 million budget. I have two caveats, one in each direction. No one is quite sure where the $15 million figure came from; Yamazaki said at a recent con appearance that he only wished he had that much to play with. (He has yet to divulge the actual budget, just that it was above ¥1 billion.) Now, unions in the Japanese film industry are much weaker than in Hollywood, so a given production budget goes a lot further in Japan. All the same, I doubt that alone explains Minus One looking better than most superhero movies made for twenty times the cost. I'll offer a couple more reasons: Yamazaki has extensive visual effects experience (he's been the VFX supervisor of all but one of the live-action films he's directed), and the film's big effects scenes aren't as busy or lengthy as many of the Hollywood counterparts. I don't know if Disney will ask Yamazaki to direct the next Star Wars movie (that would require there to be a next Star Wars movie), but the studios here should be taking notes.

the sphinx, a blog with a ton of American Godzilla rarities to share, has outdone itself—behold a continuity and dialogue script for the U.S. version of King Kong vs. Godzilla! Included in the download is a detailed comparison with the film. No huge differences, apart from the script giving the secretary added to the U.S. version a name, but a fascinating piece of history all the same.

The Minus One incarnation of Godzilla (MaiGoji?) has joined Godzilla Battle Line, accompanied by [SPOILER]. To be honest, my enthusiasm for this game has been flagging, and I'm not caught up on the strategies developing around these two, so I'll just refer you to Sir Melee's channel as usual. This Godzilla's also doing a collaboration with the Japanese mobile game Fleet of Blue Flame.

Tiffany Grant, Asuka's original voice actress, will narrate the audiobooks for the Neon Genesis Evangelion: ANIMA light novels which explore an Instrumentality-free path for the show. Seven Seas Entertainment published them in English from 2019 to 2021, which, to be honest, was also news to me.

This one's for my fellow library workers: the obscenely popular Who HQ nonfiction series for children is publishing a book about Godzilla next June. I don't know if this will have quite the same impact on today's young Godzilla fans as the Ian Thorne tome had on Gen Xers and Millennials, what with the Internet and all, but it's certain to be more factual. Expect illustrations instead of licensed photos, and not just because of Toho.

I can finally talk more about the Godzilla x Kong: Titan Chasers mobile game without fearing a DMCA. Not that there's much to talk about; it's freemium through and through and I'm not sure I know a single person who's excited for it. Interesting to see some critters from the comics break into another medium, at least. Here's the trailer.

[zzthekaiju]

Geez...

Call this whining, but now that Wingard's out of the director's seat (here's hoping they either get Dougherty back in the saddle OR someone like Guillermo del Toro on the line), I've been noticing a LOT of people wanting the next Godzilla movie to basically be "Godzilla gets fed up with humanity and turns on us all". And I really don't want that for a number of reasons (reinforces the bias against reptiles, been done before a million times, personal bias, etc.), particularly one specific detail...

It renders Serizawa's sacrifice, and the overarching themes of coexistence in the Monsterverse, entirely pointless.

That heart-tugging scene of him putting the fate of the world and its number one guardian above his own, of him making one last connection with the beast that inspired him, that moment they lock eyes before he gives his life to save him...it all goes down the drain if the ultimate endgame of the Monsterverse is Godzilla becoming our greatest threat when the OH SO PERFECT AND SQUEAKY-CLEAN APE gets to be the hero all the time (don't get me wrong, I love this version of Kong, but it just feeds into the "mammal good, reptile bad" trope I despise so much). Everything Serizawa and Monarch stood for as a whole ends up being for nothing if that's how it all goes down. And really, we've now done the whole "Godzilla gets pissed at us because of the actions of a few" thing with the Mechagodzilla situation.

NOW, I'm not saying Godzilla needs to be totally spotless. Absolutely not. I'm fine with him being kind of a jerk at this point...but what if he changed? What if, instead of just keeping him that way...we saw him develop? Y'know? As a character? Which is what he very much is, and NOT some glorified plot device?

Listen, making our relationship with Godzilla the centerpiece of the conflict isn't a bad idea. Not at all, as a matter of fact. A good way around it could be that the new monster he has to defeat is Hedorah, or a monster very much like Hedorah (considering the involvement of Yoshimitsu Banno, it feels inevitable). A horror conceived by our hubris and lack of care for the Earth. And yeah, Godzilla would be really angry at us...but he could also be tired. Overwhelmed. Borderline depressed at his Sisyphean life of having to undo every mistake we make. Maybe the real conflict could be him trying to find something, anything that makes his job worth it and not him not feel completely out of place in a world that's changed so much in the centuries he's been dormant. Maybe Monarch and/or a new cast of humans could help show the Big G that we appreciate him. They already teased this with how he acts around the Roman Coliseum (the novel confirms that he's homesick, awww), so why not give him that sort of emotional arc like they did for Kong? Maybe even give him more than just one scene with him and Mothra together, and show why their relationship works so well, ESPECIALLY when Big G's having a crisis! A unique jerk-to-nice-guy plot! I don't know, something that doesn't begin and end with him doing nothing but destroy things. That was cool for a while, but we need to get out of this "Godzilla can't be relatable because reptile" bunk that I have no doubt the higher-ups think. Heck, give him that son that Wingard clearly wanted to give him. Maybe the twist is that Little G absolutely adores humans and convinces his old man that they aren't so bad. That would work amazing! The possibilities are endless!

That, or they could go with my pitch for a "Godzilla X Mothra" movie. Please...?

I'm kidding, Twitter user Riamus came up with a WAY better premise, to be honest.

[iamblue15]

Calamity Kids VS Kaiju: Quotes Before Battle

Coraline VS Rodan (Monsterverse)

"If that overcooked turkey wants to squash that bug(Mothra), then he's gonna have squish this one first."

Dipper & Mabel VS Destoroyah

"Hey, you giant jerk demon! Guess who's here rain on your evil parade!" (Mabel)

"You think we're scared? Just give us what you got!" (Dipper)

"It's ON!" (Both)

Raz VS Spacegodzilla

"You're not the only one who has near-limitless psychic power that brings catastrophe wherever he goes. Well, except only I'M the one who's going to use these catastrophic powers to put YOUR reign of catastrophe to an end. So, uh...yeah, two can play that game. (Reminder: Work on better lines for when you're up against a villain who's as powerful as you are right now.)

Lili VS Biollante

"I'd really hate to kill a plant, but you've been through enough pain. So i'll try to make this quick."

Norman VS Hedorah

"I don't know what you are, but I can't let you get away with causing all this destruction! Not when I have the power to stop you."

Neil VS Leatherback

"You wanna mess with MY planet? Then you're in for the biggest knuckle sandwiches you've ever had in your life! You better be you're hungry!"

Wybie VS Mechagodzilla (Monsterverse)

"Well, this is gonna be the craziest, dumbest thing I've ever done."

[theoxygendestroyer]

Tbh the MUTOs were one of the coolest Kaijus Godzilla had to face. I might be biased because they're my favorite kaiju of all time but I don't gaf.

They literally almost killed Godzilla? If his atomic breath had been completely out he would've been done for

But of course, Godzilla had the disadvantage because it was 2 vs 1, but I gotta give it to the MUTOs, they put up a very good fight.

Can we talk about their sound design as well?? One of the best sound designs in Monsterverse history imo.

The train track scene with the female MUTO? literal chills went down my spine when I saw the movie in theaters. If I had been there, I think I would've actually shit my pants, that scene was chilling asf.

I absolutely love the lower jaw thing they got going on, cool as fuck.

I draw them a lot too, here's something I'm working on atm :)

[hrodvitnon]

Ok, forgive me if the following is a bit aggro but I feel like a lot of people seem to forget some very important facts about Godzilla (the IP, not the character)

I genuinely can't take people who place blame on directors for 'bad Godzilla characterization' seriously. Especially Dougherty and Wingard. Before I get into my rant, I just feel the need to remind everyone of this quote Wingard gave in regards to writing Godzilla for GvK:

Toho actually has an entire laundry list of rules Godzilla needs to follow that came out around GvK's release. The actual list is super long and with a lot of frankly weird points, but this is one of their main ones. Theatrical Godzilla doesn't emote. That is what they tell directors and that's a rule they need to follow. But, on the same token, there are ways around it and some directors are afforded some negotiating power on this front. The quote, for example, is in reference to Goji's famous smile from GvK.

One of the largest ways around it in fact is having characterization come from external sources that aren't the films. In fact, almost every single piece of info that builds Godzilla's character in the MV comes either from moments in the films that are intentionally vague, things like the comics or novelizations, or Word of God tweets from Edwards and Dougherty (sidenote: the reason you never hear about stuff like the Dougherty tweets coming from Wingard is that he literally doesn't have Twitter. A lesson I think we can all learn from). This is not unintentional, these are literally the only times they're allowed to get away with breaking a few of these rules.

Wingard, Doughtery, Edwards- all are huge Godzilla fanatics and it gets on my nerves a tad when people tear into them for rules out of their control. I probably don't need to tell everyone that Dougherty used to retweet ship art for Mothzilla and engaged with fans at length back when he was still on Twitter (Oh yeah, he also has since left Twitter. Man, maybe these directors had the right idea or something?); and Wingard has come out saying he wants to do a Godzilla-focused movie next if Legendary lets him come back, probably because he himself recognizes he's been playing favorites a little bit. I'm sure the directors would love to give Godzilla more depth and personality, it's just that Goji's always been Toho's favorite boy that they're very picky about. Like- I hate to be that guy- but we easily could've gotten the Transformers treatment and gotten saddled with a director like Michael Bay for one of these films and the Monsterverse would be dead on arrival. These people clearly care but are obliged to follow some ground rules they may or may not agree with. Godzilla's characterization is left mostly ambiguous for this reason. Audiences are supposed to fill in the blanks. Hell, people in this blog/hellsite have already done that! We've done that with our own interpretations and that's what the directors are going for in lieu of being allowed to do that themselves. May just be a me thing, but I'd much rather have audience interpreted characterization and very high quality content then shitty/no content and Godzilla becoming a dead franchise again.

And- in regards to the Twitter stuff-

-I don't care. Nobody should care. Just- just don't even give them the light of day and let their asinine takes die in the darkness. It's better this way.

I understand all this. I understand. I've heard that Toho has their rules for what not to do with their favorite monster, and I still think "Godzilla can't emote" is a dumb rule, but what the fuck can I do about it beyond the usual fan content. I know this. I get it.

I'm just getting tired of discussing it and want to stop before the discussion starts going in circles or something.

I'm going to go outside for a while.

[i-didnt-hate-it]

I didn't hate Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire, honestly it was awesome!

I just got done watching it so I'm still digesting it, but here are my initial thoughts. Any potential spoilers will go under a break.

I went into GxK that it would be similar to GvK and the other Monsterverse films: big monkey hit big lizard, big lizard breathe laser, big monkey block laser with big axe, and so on. And don't get me wrong, it definitely was all that, all pro wrestling but with big monsters, but in a cooler way than what I thought. I'm still trying to figure out what all made GxK more than what I was expecting, but I think this is the main bit.

In today's media, there seems to basically be two options. Either you make a show on streaming, which means your seasons are too short so you have to sacrifice character to plot. Or you make a two to three hour long movie, which uses a big budget to explain either characters or concept, hopefully with something of a plot to tie it together.

But GxK is a secret third thing. Worldbuilding. Adding to lore. Letting the landscapes they paint and the creatures that inhabit them speak for themselves. There were long stretches of screentime where the titans weren't necessarily fighting, they were just doing their thing, exploring their worlds.

Now obviously we need some humans to A, be able to connect to the story some, and B, know what is actually going on. Because while I would love a completely dialogue kaiju movie, the concepts and gimmicks of the Monsterverse just get too convoluted to figure out without Exposition Lady.

I can confirm that Legendary realized that the less human characters they have the better. The cast was relatively small, and while character development was minimal, they did make me feel some feelings toward some of the humans. But they made the right call not giving them too much of the story. What is this, Godzilla Minus One?

It's not, and if you can go into it knowing that it isn't even close to being the same movie as Minus One, and just watch it as a fun Monsterverse entry, I think you'll love it. The music is great too, better than GvK, imo. VFX were awesome too.

Okay, now for some spoilers, just random extra thoughts:

Godzilla really did the OMG MOTHRA!!! thing from that one meme! And I did too tbh, our Queen is back and beautiful as ever!

I love how it wasn't an instant father/son connection between Kong and Mini-Kong (I don't remember his name). Kong tried to help him out a couple times, but then gave up after MINI KONG TRIED TO KILL HIM LIKE MULTIPLE TIMES! Like come on, this little guy is just chaotic. But like they actually had growth in their trust and relationship, it wasn't just like "me big, you little, I dad now".

Scar King was actually a lot cooler than I was expecting. Shimo/Shimu whatever her name is did not have as big a role as I was expecting, but I'm glad she's okay.

Shout out to Mothra for stopping her boyfriend from killing Kong, helping them in Hollow Earth, and then just chilling when they all went to Rio. She said, "you guys got this, right?"

When I saw there was another hollow earth inside Hollow Earth, I'll admit I had a bit of an eye roll. But they explained it away pretty well.

SCOTTISH GUY THAT SAID SHIT IN STAR WARS. Alex Ferns is literally the same character he was in Andor.

I love how they imply that they basically imply that the Iwi had something to do with building the pyramids in Egypt by having the portal thing open RIGHT NEXT TO THEM. Made a cool setting for the fight, too.

At this point, I have no idea how big the Coliseum actually is.

Last thing, for now. For having top billing, Godzilla wasn't in it as much as I thought he might be. I think Legendary is realizing that if you have a character like Godzilla who can just level up his powers instantly to take on anything, and just kinda does his own thing, you've gotta limit that screen time. Since Kong is kinda humanoid, it's easier to empathize with him and thus add character development. Godzilla can only convey so much emotion that most humans can relate to (obviously Shin and Minus convey a lot of emotions, but anyway). Godzilla is in the movie, but Kong is more of the star. Honestly the world of the Hollow Earth and the Iwi people and their history are almost as much of the focus.

[dovahkiin796]

Sonic X Godzilla

Ok, hear me out. We had Super Sonic vs Titans.

But what about Super Sonic vs... THESE Titans?

It's no secret Sonic IDW will be getting a crossover soon, but we just don't know what franchise the comic will be crossing over with. People want it to be Dragon Ball however I doubt that. There has to be a super contrived explanation as to why Sonic won't get killed by Goku from a single punch. No matter how much Goku is holding back. The point of these crossovers is to have the heroes fight each other over a misunderstanding and Sonic is NOWHERE near Goku's level.

I think IDW will try a crossover with an IP they already have the license to, or one they know they can get without much effort. Godzilla would be the easiest IP I think they can crossover with as DC had done it recently and even IDW had done a Godzilla crossover with the Power Rangers in the past.

I know the image above is the Legendary versions of Godzilla, Kong, Mecha Godzilla, and King Ghidorah. But I think Legendary won't be that stubborn for IDW to acquire the license for their versions of the giant monsters. At best they could get Godzilla and Kong. IDW will probably also have to reach out to Toho as Legendary is basically renting the King of the Monsters.

But if anything, I think IDW would most likely use a different era of Godzilla to fight Sonic. But imagine it for a second.

Super Sonic fighting against Legendary-Godzilla would be the coolest thing ever. For this to work I think Sonic and maybe Tails, would find themselves in the Monsterverse with Sonic probably already in this Super form. Godzilla, who tries to maintain balance of the Earth, would sense Super Sonic's presence and awake from his slumber to deal with this disturbance in nature.

Whatever city the two Mobians found themselves in, Godzilla would arrive and cause classic city destruction in order to kill Sonic and restore balance. Godzilla wouldn't go down so easily, and Super Sonic can't be hurt. It's basically a stalemate match till the eventual de-transformation of Super Sonic.

Sonic, knowing he can't fight Godzilla like this, would run away with Tails in tow. This is also done to minizine the destruction of the city. It would then turn into the classic "Gather all the Chaos Emeralds" kind of adventure. But no matter where they go Godzilla is always right behind them. As Godzilla would be using the portals that connect both the surface and Hollow Earth to get to wherever Sonic currently is. Much to their surprise as to them the giant lizard should always be hundreds of miles behind.

I'm sure eventually the pair would learn about Hollow Earth and with Tails' Miles Electric would detect the last Chaos Emerald is down there. Though the biggest question is would Sonic and Tails sneak into a Monarch base to steal one of their H.E.A.V.s to get there without getting crushed by the gravity? Or would they reveal themselves to Monarch?

Regardless they find themselves in Hollow Earth and I can picture Sonic loving it down there. Virtually all the room he wants to run at high speeds and dodging the giant wildlife. Tails would also love it because he would want to know how such an ecosystem can exist below the Earth's crust.

Eventually they would run into Kong himself. The giant ape would definitely be curious about these two strange creatures he has never seen before. And to make it even more interesting, unbeknownst to Kong the last Chaos Emerald embedded itself into his axe. Next would come the obligatory Godzilla vs Kong fight.

Kong would use his axe and to his surprise when he goes for a swing and misses Godzilla. A slash of energy shoots out of it. That's when Sonic and Tails realize where the last emerald is.

Now during this whole thing, I never mentioned a villain. Obviously, there would be an original Titan made for this crossover. And of course, we need Dr. Eggman and since he can't help himself. He would release this Titan from its slumber or imprisonment to use it against Sonic and then use it to conquer his world.

And like how it always happens, Eggman loses control of the Titan and Super Sonic, Godzilla, and Kong team up to defeat it.

That's basically my idea for a crossover with this version of Godzilla. It's not perfect and probably won't happen. But I can still dream. Whatever the franchise they choose to crossover with. I'll still be surprised by it.

[ifuckinglovedinosaurssomuchjesus]

GODZILLA MOVIE MARATHON: Godzilla vs Megalon (1973)

Oh hey, remember when I was doing this? I am at the whim of my hyperfixations and, luckily, I'm in a Goji mood again. So it's time to pick up right where we left off a year ago and keep this marathon going.

We're deep in the champion series, where Godzilla movies were made every year for Toho's annual movie festivals, which meant cookie cutter scripts and shoe string budgets.

The script is pretty standard by this point, except with the aliens replaced by hilariously incompetent Atlantians. It gets the job done ok, it keeps itself relevant and is relatively entertaining, even if you're still spending most of the runtime waiting for a rubber suit monster to show up.

Speaking of monsters, the plot mainly revolves around a little robot by the name of Jet Jaguar. He spends most of the movie getting yanked around by whoever is in control of him till he inexplicably against consciousness and joins the battle for good. He's an obvious Ultraman rip-off, but he's also a cult favorite for his goofy design and his antics. He gets a lot of love from fans, Evangelion even references him in the Jet Alone episode, and it's easy to see why. He's not the strongest, but he's got spunk, character, and a catchy theme tune. You can't help but love him.

The same goes for the other debut creature, the titular Megalon. The Kaiju in this movie have so much personality, Megalon especially is super expressive. I love his child-like personality, where he gloats and taunts when he's winning but throws a tantrum when he isn't. He cackles and claps and slaps his butt, and despite having no facial expressions, he might as well be talking with how well the suit actor portrays his thoughts. My favorite is his obvious "what the hell" pose when Jet Jaguar and Godzilla escape his fire trap. He's also ridiculously pathetic, dumb as bricks, he ultimately gets knocked down by swallowing one of his own bombs. I love how he just lays there while Goji and JJ just stare at him with contempt. Even his final departure is hilarious with him face planting into a hole as it collapses onto him.

Gigan also makes his return, as cackling and sadistic as ever, and he matches Megalon's energy perfectly. They really do make a perfect duo, real team rocket energy of bumbling bafoons thinking they're badder than they actually are. Gigan's justification for being here is the best, the Atlantians straight up just call the cockroach aliens from the last movie and ask to borrow their monster. Sure, why not?

And of course, Godzilla is here too. He's a full on children's hero, accentuated by the goofy circus music that plays as he walks up to the battle. He's got some cool moments, like singlehandedly stomping both Megalon and Gigan when he first arrives and of course the iconic tail-slide kick.

Overall, many people lump this movie in with vs Gigan as the bottom of the barrel when it comes to the franchise, which I think is unfair. They're both similar movies in that they both live and die by the final battle. While vs Gigan had a really slow, boring fight that really didn't justify having to sit through the rest of the movie, vs Megalon has one of the most fun final battles in the series. If you can sit through the rather tediousn, but not all bad first hour of human plot, you get 20 minutes straight of some of the most expressive and enjoyable Kaiju action of the Showa era.

Interestingly, for some reason a US executive decided this was going to be the Godzilla movie to grab that American demographic, and it was marketed and distributed far more than nearly any film before it. While not an immediate success, it did result in this easily becoming the most common Godzilla outing in video rental stores and late night TV reruns. It shaped Godzilla's image in America more than any other film, for decades the name was synonymous with cheap costumes, goofy effects, and bad dubs. Even to this day, the Monsterverse's take on a heroic Godzilla fighting evil monsters has its roots going back here. Some people may hold resentment towards it for that, but for me personally, I really enjoyed it. It's not the best the Showa era has to offer, but it's certainly up there, so 7/10 seems fair to me.

[dappercritter]

Why The Monsterverse Doesn't Feel Right to Me (not that I mind)

Honestly, as much as I tend to harp on about the Monsterverse for better or worse, I don't really hate the Godzilla and Kong movies anymore. They're made for fun, people had fun, and that's really all you can ask for at the end of a movie.

The only real complaint I have is how I would have liked to see what the sequels would have been like if WB stuck with Edwards and that moody, foreboding atmosphere or the Nolan Batman-esque direction they had before Kong came in. Or better yet if they just made them into their own thing.

The worldbuilding of the Monsterverse is more likely to drive you to madness than anything Lovecraft came up with and each movie just adds a new weird wrinkle to the "literal-mythology-meets-hollywood-ecology" angle they've taken.

But the most frustrating thing is how every time Godzilla movies get rebooted to try taking themselves more seriously, there's always a cause-effect relationship between fans demanding more monster fights and the studios doubling down on making crowd pleasers to boost the box office results.

Sure that's par for the course in Hollywood, but that goes for Toho's own stuff too. Just look at the mood swings before The Return of Godzilla (1984)!

To put it in the ever popular superhero movie terms, imagine if Superman Returns' success turned The Nolan Batman trilogy into something campier and... well, that already sorta happened back in the 90s after Batman Returns, didn't it?

So let's imagine if after The Nolan Batman movies, WB decided that next Superman movie should be more grittier, darker--oh no wait, that already happened too.

Alright, then let's say Legendary made a Pacific Rim sequel but instead of the grungy underdog story GDT did they made it into a totally cliched blockOH GODDAM IT--

(Hmm... It's starting to feel like radical shifts in the quality and production of genre films in an attempt to become more profitable via mass appeal is standard practice for Hollywood...)

Well, all I'm saying is as far as future Kong reboots and western adaptations of Godzilla go, maybe we should just give cinematic universes a break and either do what Alien vs. Predator did.

Or better yet, hope Toho lets whoever gets the license next to take after the new WB-DC movies and find the right balance with solo movies and team-ups.

[giantmonsterpolls]

Hello!

Welcome to my kaiju sideblog (main blog is @junoniadoesart)!

Please call me Jun! Preferred pronouns are she/her.

This blog does post polls related to kaiju, but I also just post and reblog kaiju content in general. Sometimes miscellaneous toku stuff ends up here as well (this may become more frequent).

My tagging system:

#kaiju polls = kaiju poll #very important stuff = politics or activism-related (which will not show up much) #my art = my art #not my art = someone else's art I'm reblogging #my girrrrrl = Mothra tag

Current poll: None!

Polls I have done in the past:

What kaiju genre ship is your favorite?

How excited are you for Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire?

Which Gamera villain kaiju is your favorite?

Kaiju artists, do you draw Titanosaurus with horns or antennae?

Which Toho Mecha is your favorite?

Which MonsterVerse original kaiju is your favorite?

Which of the “Classic” Ultraman Kaiju is Your Favorite?

What Kaiju Defense/Research Organization Would You Most Want to Join?

Who Is Your Favorite Non-Ultraman Kyodai Hero?

What Is Your Favorite Gyaos Design?

Polls I want to do in the future:

Which version of Godzilla is your favorite?

Which Pacific Rim kaiju is your favorite? (will likely be released to coincide with War's End Day next January, a re-run of the first kaiju poll I did on my old account)

Polls I did on my main blog before making this one:

Which kaiju fandoms are you in?

Neurodivergency in the kaiju fandoms

Which Pacific Rim kaiju is your favorite?

Can I submit a poll?

Yes! Please use my askbox if you have an idea for a kaiju poll you want me to do.

Is there anything that's not allowed for a poll submission?

As of right now, not much. Currently my guidelines are:

No NSFW polls. Polls about kaiju media with NSFW content are tentatively allowed as long as the poll doesn’t revolve around NSFW.

No overly negative polls (i.e. "Who here agrees that XYZilla sucks?"). Questions like "What do you think of XYZilla?" with a range of answers are allowed.

Polls that do not center around kaiju/giant monsters. For fandom-related polls that aren't kaiju, please check out @nerdwithapoll.

Polls that are about specific people in the fandoms or specific kaiju film actors/directors/etc. This is especially true if these polls are related to drama or controversy that these people are involved in.

If you have any questions for me, you are allowed to put those in the askbox as well!

[astoundingbeyondbelief]

Kaiju Week in Review (December 17-23, 2023)

Episode 7 of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters laid down significant Monsterverse lore, showing the moment Monarch finally revealed itself to the public (under hilarious circumstances) and how the organization's partnership with Apex Cybernetics began. I did not find May's long-awaited backstory super compelling, to be honest, I think because the proto-Apex company was so thinly sketched. And that Frost-Vark better not be dead. :(

An incredible three Godzilla comics released last week: DC/Legendary's Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong #3 and IDW's Godzilla: War for Humanity #3 and Godzilla Rivals: Jet Jaguar vs. Megalon. The crossover lit a certain section of the Internet on fire with the revelation that Godzilla did, in fact, kill Superman the previous issue. Writer Brian Buccellato chalked it up to Godzilla's atomic breath having "a radioactive signature similar to [K]ryptonite," which as handwaves go is pretty good. Behemoth and Scylla had moments to shine as well, and the issue ended with Lex Luthor discovering a Mechagodzilla eye. Glad Godzilla won't be the only Toho character in the comic; that would've been a bit lame.

Godzilla: War for Humanity remaining a thrilling read, and the Super MOGUERA debuting in this issue is not to be missed. Jet Jaguar vs. Megalon starts with a content warning for depiction and discussion of attempted suicide, which certainly surprised me. It's another strong issue, neither callous nor didactic, and told so efficiently there's plenty of room for the titular bout (which sometimes has felt like an afterthought in Rivals stories). Also, Jet Jaguar talks—something Toho forbade in a comic earlier this year, for whatever reason. Anyway, he's exactly the 'bot you would expect him to be. Hope IDW can keep him chattering in the future.

You've probably seen my flurry of posts already, but it bears repeating: The Boulet Brothers' Dragula, a drag reality competition found on Shudder, aired a kaiju episode. Reality TV isn't my bag, but I thoroughly enjoyed the competitors' kaiju-inspired costumes and performances. I also kept ping-ponging between awe that Americans are just expected to know what a kaiju is now and yelling at the hosts for, say, not naming any kaiju outside of Toho's Big Five.

Hot on the heels of the black-and-white re-release of Shin Godzilla comes Godzilla Minus One/Minus Color, which has to be the best title one of these things has gotten. As with Shin, this is no mere filter; each shot in the film was regraded, with director Takashi Yamazaki striving for "a style that looked like it was taken by masters of monochrome photography." It opens in Japan on January 12; no word yet on whether it will play in any other country.

Godzilla will follow in the steps of pop culture fixtures like The Lord of the Rings and Star Wars with Godzilla: The Official Cookbook by Kayce Baker, due from Titan Books on September 10. (You can tell it's official because he's actually on the cover.) 60 recipes lie within. It's a given that I'm going to buy something Godzilla-related that's this silly; I just have to pick up another cookbook first so it won't be the first one I ever own.

I was surprised to realize that McDonald's has never done anything Godzilla-related; far less prolific fast-food chains have worked with the monster, from White Castle to Carl's Jr. The first salvo in the campaign was pretty underwhelming—BE@ABRICK figures that can only be won via lottery, with an entirely plain Godzilla. That replica MogeGoji suit looked great in the ad, at least. Tokusatsu is being kept alive in the Godzilla franchise through some truly odd means. The follow-up ad/promo was a lot better, but that's a matter for next week's post.

This is at least kaiju-adjacent—James Wan's long-gestating The Call of Cthulhu movie seems to finally be going somewhere, as revealed in roundabout fashion by a Deadline article. I thought the 2005 silent version was just fine, but presumably this will be produced by his company Atomic Monster, which is long overdue for an actual giant monster movie.

[jimpluff]

Godzilla x Kong: First Impressions

Short review: Delicious fast food kaiju

A little bit longer now (avoiding spoilers and just giving overall impressions, so feel free to read even if you haven't seen yet): No, really, this movie's tickets should literally come with a Happy Meal set and one of the blind crystal mini figures. It is a very specific, deceptively expertly crafted junk food pleasure that I sometimes find hard not to love.

I went in expecting a passable but somewhat embarrassing mess. It was a lot better than that, and I actually think Wingard is something of a genius at walking a particular action/comedy/blockbuster tightrope. So many elements are done just enough to satisfy, not so much as to annoy or ever slow the pacing, just the right amount of comic relief, and a sprinkling of drama that's actually fairly tasteful despite being puddle deep. He's also quite the visionary for thinking up ridiculous moments that pay off enough to make you forgive how outrageous they are. I genuinely laughed several times, a first for a MonsterVerse movie, and there really wasn't a tedious moment.

And the thing that will catch the most flak? The new mantra that will annoy the Godzilla world more than even Can't Bin the Shin? Ackshully, Godzilla x Kong is quite a lot like a Showa film.

A few other statements: +Bernie is the best human character in the Monsterverse, and it's not close. +The humor and the Easter eggs in this movie were both done more deftly than in any other Monsterverse film. Did you all catch the 2014 poster in Bernie's place? Did you catch "Punch punch punch?"

+The music was cool, and I'm happy Wingard really put his '80s electronic, neon light stamp on this movie. His confidence in his own tastes shone on virtually every frame, and even when I didn't share every particular preference, it was just a pleasure to see a filmmaker commit to it, even knowing some would sneer. +I was skeptical about all the monkey business, but it was actually all right, and Skar King was cool enough. Shimo looked fairly impressive, too, and grew on me the more it reminded me of Ray Harryhausen's dragon from The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad. + I'm tempted to make a midwit curve meme with GxK on the dumb and brilliant ends and Godzilla Minus One at the 85-115 curve. But that would be hurtful, so I won't. (for the curve peakers - this is a joke)

Criticisms -The biggest one, which others noted and which was apparent from the trailers, was the cartoonish movement of the kaiju. This was most an issue in the final battle, which would have benefitted from a little more money and time just to make it feel more impactful. But the whole movie is loaded with action and Shit Happening that, drawn out toooooo much more, and it could have felt exhausting like KoTM sometimes did. Again, Wingard has a supernatural sense for how long he can get away with things and played it safe and light. -By now, I'm sure everyone knows about Kong's glove. How he gets it is almost laughably glazed over, but again, Wingard knows we don't really care for a drawn-out explanation and sequence there. The ridiculousness of it and the visual flair with how it's executed makes you throw up your hands and say, yeah, I mean that was dumb as hell but pretty sick, and here comes the next crazy moment. -Less a criticism than an anticipation of the objections to positive reviews, but yes, if this type of movie were all the Godzilla franchise had to offer, I think I would tire of it. But we already had Sukiyabashi Jiro level sushi in Shin Godzilla and Gion Kyoto-level Kaiseki-ryori in Minus One. It's cool to also treat the palate with a McDonald's double cheeseburger, fries, and a classic Coke whose sugary sludge we know is going to lead us to needing a very special false tooth. There are many kinds of pleasures in the world.

[foxgirltail]

Ok ok. I've thought more about it

Shin Godzilla's blasts are purpley, Singular point Godzilla's are red*. These were both done by toho within the last decade. So it's not like this is the first time the blue has been abandoned after incorporation

I'm a little biased against it though because 1) I much prefer the blue color and 2) I don't think the monsterverse movies are very good (Godzilla 2014 is the only one I feel was actually worth rewatching)

*although these are different incarnations of Godzilla than the "original", and sp isn't about nuclear power to the same extent as the common Godzilla)

[waheelawhisperer]

Top 5 designs from your formative years that defined your tastes

Bearing in mind that my formative years include a range that spans from "the moment I was old enough to understand concepts more complex than hunger and crying" to "the moment I started writing this post" and that a lot of designs have influenced my tastes over the years, here you go:

Goku and Vegeta, Dragon Ball Z

As a Latino I am quite literally obligated by law to put Goku and Vegeta on this list, but I was also huge into Dragon Ball Z as a kid and I actually think that show is what awakened the love of martial arts within me that still persists today. Toriyama's aesthetic is incredibly distinctive and had a great deal of influence over my initial forays into art and character design when I was much younger. These guys end up at #1 because DBZ has done so, so much to build my perception of combat and fight scenes and scale and and just sort of how a series should work that, like... I can't imagine myself getting into anime at all if I hadn't watched this show. Given how much of my taste is drawn from anime (although there's quite a bit coming from western media as well), my personal preferences would've taken a much different trajectory in that scenario.

Jotaro Kujo, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure

I don't think any character has influenced my tastes in the modern era more than Jotaro, to be honest. He's one of the reasons many of my characters wear a hat/long coat combo and why the men in particular tend to be tall, buff, and stoic and have deep voices. He also influenced my appreciation of cool poses and characters that just beat the shit out of people with their mighty fists, as well as intelligent and analytical heroes at a time when I was used to seeing heroes just be stronger or grittier or more determined than their foes.

Samus Aran, Metroid/Super Smash Bros.

I'm pretty sure that Zero Suit Samus was the start of my irresistible desire for tall badass blonde ladies with big boobs. I have a type because of her. Let's just leave it at that.

Charizard, Pokemon

I think dragons are super cool and Charizard is a big part of why. Kid me loved Pokemon, a love which extended into adulthood, and Charizard was my favorite for a very long time. I'm pretty sure he's also where my fascination with fire powers came from. Also, the narratives around Ash's Charizard's fights in the anime did a lot to shape my perception of storytelling in combat.

The Good Hunter, Bloodborne

The other reason a lot of my characters have hats and long coats and are very gruff and stoic. Bloodborne is arguably my favorite game I've ever played and had a huge influence on my tastes and aesthetic. I particularly loved the Gothic Horror aspects of it (never been as big on Cosmic Horror tbh) and it really reignited my love for big brutal weapons that just fuck enemies up. It's also the reason the ocean is fucked up and awful in many of my original settings.

Honorable Mentions:

So fucking many not gonna lie but I'll just list a few. Funnily enough, a lot of my western influences actually come from books more so than TV/movies.

Jackie Chan - DBZ started my love for martial arts, but watching a bunch of Jackie Chan movies when I was younger grounded that aspect of my taste in something a bit more realistic than aliens who could fly throwing around energy blasts and leveling mountain ranges.

Godzilla - This is how I learned I love watching giant monsters fight. Monsterverse Godzilla has had a lot of influence on my tastes recently because I love the way he fights and the way the people making the Monsterverse movies drew from real fights between animals to build his fighting style.

I had a huge crush on Cynthia Pokemon as a kid but I had to pick between her and Samus and Samus won by virtue of timing.

Brutaka from Bionicle is cool as shit.

Yang Xiao Long from RWBY and Nearl from Arknights did not build my tastes so much as reinforce them. Hard.

Arknights in general has been one of the big influences on my original work not gonna lie.

MCU's Iron Man, Halo's Master Chief, and the Marines from StarCraft all helped codify my ideas of what powered armor should look like.

Esdeath from Akame ga Kill heavily reinforced my desire to be femdommed despite most of the rest of that series being steaming dogshit

King Arthur - I read so voraciously and from such an early age that my family couldn't keep age-appropriate books stocked faster than I could read them, so at some point my dad said "fuck it" and handed a collection of Arthurian Cycle stories written for adults to an eight-year-old and I have loved chivalric romance and knights in shining armor ever since.

There's so much more but I don't think I can possibly list them all

Thanks for sending me this. Everyone please ask more, I had a lot of fun answering the ones I've gotten so far