SHIN GODZILLA RETROSPECTIVE: Hideaki Anno's Terrifying Rebuild of The King

My final Godzilla retrospective and a look at Hideaki Anno's Shin Godzilla and how it responded to the Fukushima nuclear disaster, how it reinterprets the themes of Neon Genesis Evangelion, its satirical critique of the Japanese government, how it responds to the legacy of Godzilla, and its larger themes of hope in a country's resiliency, plus a ranking of every Godzilla movie.

#Godzilla
#ShinGodzilla
#Gojira

Music:

"The Rising Sun" by WWE Music

"Shin Godzilla" OST by Shiro Sagisu

"At Night" and "Dragon of the Black Pool" by Hello Meteor

"Godzilla" OST by Akira Ifukube

"Neon Genesis Evangelion" OST by

"Maximum Black" by Gunship

"Jupiter" by FM-84

"In The End" by Traxx

Sources:

[billygarcia]

Toho: I don’t know, 4 different versions of Gojira? That seems a bit-
Bandai: LUCRATIVE. MAKE IT NOW.

[mog-myownbestfriend]

This is the first time I have ever heard somebody say that the ending bit with the half-mutated tail was meant to show how close to annihilation we were and not just a reveal of what was to come, and that is honestly some positivity I could really use

[flying-axolotls]

A fact about Shin: Since he was frozen and can’t be moved shin is still in there watching everything and anything going by and is always suffering.

[damianstarks]

Shin Godzilla is definitely one of the most terrifying versions of Godzilla.

[nobodyyouknow]

Turns out that Godzilla is way more scary when the JSDF are all great shots.

[owensreviews]

What I really love about this film is how they’re really able to bring Godzilla back to being a destructive force of nature like in the original. Super excited to see what Anno will do with both Ultraman and Kamen Rider.

[scoobers]

"As a tragic figure that doesn't comprehend what's happening to it as it rages and screams from a pain it can't define..." A line this fantastic is part of why I love this channel! Keep doing what you're doing, Mr. Draper.

[purplehaze]

I think the thing I appreciate about this depiction the most is that, despite being entirely CGI, by intentionally animating it to look and act like a suit, they actually made it look more realistic than if they had animated it to look like a living thing.

[jacobcox]

The scene where Gojira first uses his atomic death ray actually horrified me the first time I saw it. Gojira bending over and violently throwing up a pyroclastic flow made me feel its pain, it's like it was violently ill from radiation poisoning. When Gojira focused its beam and sliced through buildings, it actually scared me. The music, the imagery, everything about that scene is what makes Godzilla/Gojira. Not the epic monster brawls of the Monsterverse, not the campiness of the 60s, but the raw emotion of seeing such destruction. The feeling of helplessness as the world burns and people die all around. Being in awe of humanity's defiance in the face of oblivion and seeing them fight til' their very last breath, until the tortured creature that has caused so much pain and suffering is no more.

[BubblegumCrash]

I was lucky enough to see this in Theaters. It quickly became one of my favorites. 54, 84 and Shin I can watch anytime. I like my Godzilla solo, evil and dark.

[asteranightshade]

To me Shin Godzilla is a story of a mind that wants to die, but a body that refuses to let it. I see it as a tragedy, and it is by far one of my favourite movies.

[The_Rutabaga]

I feel like Shin will only become more appreciated with time. I still remember sitting in the theater and thinking this was exactly the kind of change Godzilla needs and deserves.

[Comicbroe]

It's honestly really cool how Anno did this film while reinterpreting HIS own franchise with the Eva rebuilds. And both this one & the final Eva movie ended up being great.

[mickeymouse]

Such a creative redesign of Godzilla probably the coolest atomic breath sequence

[chikex]

This episode was everything I was hoping for, including Shin Godzilla as the best film.

Shin Godzilla was the only Godzilla film to truly show me how frightening the concept of Godzilla could be, from the perspective of what an entity like that could truly do, to the true ineffectiveness of government in the face of such overwhelming disaster, to the utter helplessness we all know is there, but we try to fight and deny.

I also am throwing my vote for an animation perspective-but do NOT forget the 70s cartoon when you do it. Yes, it is INCREDIBLY cheesy by today's perspective, but it played its part in bringing Godzilla to America's consciousness...even if they made many people assume Godzilla was green...

[maylabrown]

Very happy to hear working on Shin Godzilla helped Ano with his depression, makes watching the movie that much better

[WyattoonsComics]

I appreciate that you include Godzilla 98 in your list. It’s not a good movie and really only borrows the name to tell it’s own story, but it does exist. And I’m kind of bothered that so many try to retcon reality and pretend it never happened. It happened. And that’s okay.

[chrisnicholson]

I got to see シン・ゴジラ at the Toho Cinemas theater in Shinjuku. Fans, spray, shaking seats, the works. It was AWESOME. Already familiar with Japanese bureaucracy, I caught all jabs and in-jokes. Was surprised when one of my friends started giggling as the creature knocked down an office building. Then she leaned over and whispered that she used to work in that building. Such is the realism of that movie, using then-current Tokyo as the setting. It definitely left an impression on me. Like you, I've seen all of the series and シン・ゴジラ is my favorite.

[PersonWMA]

I always found this movie relaxing to watch. If there was ever a way to get away with "Bureaucracy The Nail Biting Drama", this was it. Your interpretation of the film, especially how humanity collectively rising up to meet Godzilla as a god of its own is an interesting take.

[ProfessorKB]

God I loved this series of yours.

Shin Godzilla is my favorite by a mile. Though this is 100% a product of the culture and country it was created it in, the incompetency of the government and the bullshit of bureaucracy is extremely relatable all over the world