Gamera: Rebirth Trailer Is Here!
This piece was initially published at KaijuRamenMedia.com on April 4, 2023. Click here to read the original.
Fans have been waiting with bated breath to learn more about the upcoming Gamera anime. Titled Gamera: Rebirth, the series was announced by Kadokawa towards the end of 2022 and since then, information has been trickling in. As of now, a release date isn’t announced but a proper trailer showcasing the animation and a new (old) monster has been released to build up some hype.
Per the Gamera: Rebirth website, the series is going to follow a group of kids during “Monster Summer.” During their last summer vacation as elementary school students, Boko, Joe, and Junichi find themselves bullied by a kid named Brody. The four of them, however, find themselves in the middle of Tokyo when Gyaos begins to attack. Luckily, Gamera arrives and saves the four young boys before Gyaos kills them. Throughout the series, Gamera will face five monsters consecutively through one summer. The synopsis implies that Gamera will get progressively more injured, making the battles more difficult as they continue.
Before the trailer dropped, a new teaser poster revealed the second monster in the show, besides Gyaos. It turns out another Showa monster will be making its return in the form of Jiger. Jiger was originally introduced in the 1970 film Gamera vs. Jiger and was portrayed as an ancient kaiju who inhabited the lost continent of Mu. The kaiju has received a modern upgrade for this new anime while still retaining some elements that make him recognizable as Jiger. His and Gamera’s designs adhere pretty close to the design sensibilities of the Gamera trilogy of the 1990s.
From the trailer, it’s clear that Hiroyuki Seshita directed this. The character animations look pretty similar to the ones seen in the “Godzilla Earth” trilogy that he directed at Polygon Pictures. While this is animated by the animation studio ENGI, it’s clear that he’s brought some of that sensibility to this new series. One of the more welcome changes to this than from the “Godzilla Earth” trilogy is the monster’s movements. Gamera isn’t as lumbering as Godzilla is and the scenes we see him in (of which there are plenty) showcase that. All in all the monster designs and movements look very solid. While the “Godzilla Earth” trilogy suffered with the human characters, specifically in their faces, this series looks to be a step up from that. A more traditional 2D show would have been preferred but this could have looked worse.
Not much about the overarching plot is seen in this trailer though. It opens with two characters in some sort of lab that get killed by an unknown kaiju. While unlikely, this could be Jiger’s new origin story. Perhaps this show will create a more scientific explanation for the arrival of these monsters. What is more likely is that this is a third, as yet, unannounced kaiju who hasn’t grown to full size yet. Elsewhere in the trailer, a child identifies Gamera by name which, in fairness, could be taken from a later point in the series, but could also mean that Gamera has appeared in this universe before. With all that said, Gamera’s full abilities are on display in this new trailer, with even a hint of his chest blast, which will certainly be an exciting moment.
All this is just speculation of course. There are still plenty of things in the trailer that doesn’t make sense at this time. Things that seem to point to a larger plot surrounding the emergence of these kaiju. All in all, the show looks promising and will hopefully deliver plenty of giant monster action as well as good character moments. More than anything this looks like a good representation of Gamera and could prove to be a solid jumping-on point for kaiju fans who haven’t dipped their toes into the Gamera well. This Netflix show will be the most accessible that Gamera has ever been to a global audience. It’s safe to say that Gamera is back, ready to show the world what he can do.