Gamera Rebirth: Which Five Monsters Will Gamera Go Up Against?

This piece was initially published at KaijuRamenMedia.com on February 2, 2023. Click here to read the original.

Gamera is finally making his triumphant return, only this time as an anime series on Netflix. The streaming service has released a teaser for what audiences can expect when it comes to the Guardian of the Universe’s return. The short tease gives us a glimpse at the animation and tells us that Gamera will face five different kaiju over the span of six episodes. With Gyaos already confirmed to appear, the question remains who the other four could be?

While Godzilla has gone up against Mothra, King Ghidora, Rodan, and MechaGodzilla countless times, the creators behind Gamera have chosen to introduce new adversaries almost every time. The only exception to this was in Gamera: Guardian of the Universe which reused Gyaos. Now, going off of that logic, it's possible that Gyaos will be the only monster reused for this series, but that’s not a guarantee. Kodokawa may be interested in reimaging some of Gamera’s Showa enemies which haven’t been seen since those older films.

The likes of Zigra, Guiron, and Viras are fan favorites and have unique designs that could be translated into the darker tone the anime seems to be going for. While these monsters were originally designed for more lighthearted films, they could be easily tweaked to keep the same basic design but evolved to look more menacing. Again, taking Gyaos’ reimaging in the Heisei series as a baseline, it’s not impossible to do. With the three of them, that brings the lineup of monsters to four so that just leaves one more slot to fill.

The easy answer would be a creature from the Heisei era such as Legion or Iris. Both would be incredible to see brought back, but perhaps Kodokawa would like to go a bit more obscure. Gamera the Brave rebooted Gamera once again and introduced yet another new monster in the form of Zedus. Now Zedus doesn’t get a lot of attention from the Gamera fandom which would make him an unconventional choice for the series. Even though he’s clearly inspired by characters like Zilla, Zedus sports a fun design and ultimately proved to be an interesting villain. Zedus would fill the fifth slot nicely.

If they really wanted to throw audiences a curve ball, then they could introduce the tentacle monster from Gamera’s 50th anniversary short. It’s doubtful Kodokawa even remembers that short at this point, but it would be a very interesting choice. Most Gamera fans have been desperate for a follow-up on that short film so to finally see that pay-off would be cathartic to say the least. Of course, they’ll probably want to go with a safer answer and choose Iris, or Barugon for that fifth slot.

It’s also possible that all this speculation could be for nothing and Kodokawa will surprise everyone with brand-new monsters. As stated above, Gamera creators have opted to make new monsters whenever the possibility arose. As of now, there’s no information on who the creators of this series are or what guidelines Kodokawa have placed on the series. Gamera fans will have to wait for another trailer to find out more.

At any rate, it’s surreal that something is finally coming from the Gamera franchise after all these years. It’s fitting that he should make his return in the middle of a major kaiju renaissance. Many had resigned themselves to waiting for Hideaki Anno to get around to making a Shin Gamera movie, but luckily we don’t have to wait that long. A six-episode anime series is more than has been expected and hopefully, it’s not going to lead to another long and arduous hiatus.