Godzilla: Singular Point Anime Review

Godzilla: Singular Point Anime Review by Simon Cary Enoch

Hanna-Barbera (1978 - 1980)

By http://animesgoldsilver2.blogspot.com/2013/07/desenhos-animados-desenhos-animados.html, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4186579

Godzilla is no stranger to animation. The big G was first animated in the late seventies by Hanna-Barbera in association with Henry G. Saperstein. It's considered corny now, mainly because of Godzooki and Godzilla's Scooby-Doo monster-style roars, but this is an important part of Godzilla history that I have a lot of nostalgia for. The first Godzilla tapes I had were Godzilla vs. Megalon and the first episode of this series. I didn't care as much for Megalon back then so this was Godzilla for me as a child.

Furthermore, it was rare that they showed Godzilla movies on television and when they did it was usually on TNT which showed the same five over and over again and only once in a great while such as a New Year's Day marathon. The animated series however, was shown on a much more regular basis by Cartoon Network in the 90's/early 2000's. So for me, most of the time when they showed Godzilla on tv it was Godzilla the animated version. 

This Godzilla was faithful to the character, but had several notable differences. He was bright green (the live-action Godzilla wouldn't be green until Godzilla 2000), breathed actual fire like a dragon or Gamera, had laser-beam eyes, and was a huge size with a height of 400 feet (121.92 meters) making him the tallest incarnation until Godzilla Earth.

The show doesn't feature any other familiar kaiju such as Rodan or Mothra but it has a lot of decent and interesting monsters including a creature made of seaweed and a "cyborg whale"! It also features some plots unique to the franchise, such as Godzilla being shrunk down by a mysterious fog that simultaneously enlarges a common housefly. I remember this series fondly as a child and honestly I think it would hold up a lot better if Godzilla retained his traditional roar instead of "Aaarggghhhh blublublaagarblah!"

Godzilla: The Series (1998 - 2000)

Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7937602

Next up was Godzilla: The Series which ran from September 1998 to April 2000. Based on the 1998 American Godzilla, many don't consider this to be Godzilla at all. But I strongly disagree! The Godzilla in this series is Godzilla. He looks a bit different, especially with the box-shaped head, but he acts much more like Godzilla than his silver screen counterpart. This Godzilla has a more upright stance, breathes actual atomic breath, acts more like a force of nature than a wild animal, and battles a vast array of unique and interesting kaiju that I would absolutely love to see return someday.

Most Godzilla fans have an extremely negative view towards the '98 film, which is perfectly understandable. The creature deviated drastically from the original, not just in looks (it looks almost nothing like Godzilla) but also in character and powers. There's no atomic breath and the creature is killed King Kong-style by missiles on Brooklyn Bridge. The film is called "Gino" by many fans, meaning "Godzilla in name only."

While I certainly agree with the above criticisms and admit the film is deeply flawed, my personal experience of it gives me a softer, less critical view of it. I was around eight years old when this movie came out. I was already a big Godzilla fan and had seen about a third of the Showa films and also both Godzilla 1985 and Godzilla vs. Biollante, so I was super hyped for this new film. I remember seeing the trailer in the theater showing Godzilla's feet stomping cars, and that brilliant shot of a huge foot smashing a tyrannosaurus rex's skeleton.

When I finally saw the film in theaters, I absolutely loved it. I wondered why Godzilla looked so different, but I greatly enjoyed the film. The new creature looked really cool and it was filled to the brim with dramatic action. It was the first movie I ever went and seen more than once. I loved both the old Godzilla and the new one.

So when Godzilla: The Series premiered one Saturday morning, I was sure to tune in. The show starts off with a very ominous-sounding opening theme that sets the mood perfectly. For a Saturday morning cartoon it had excellent animation. It has a unique look that I've only really seen replicated in the Men in Black cartoon from the same time period. It features the same cast of characters from the movie and follows the story of a second Godzilla that hatched from the last remaining egg at the end of the live-action film.

Whereas the Hanna-Barbera cartoon was very hammy and corny, even for someone such as myself that is a big fan of Showa-era kaiju and old sci-fi B-movies, the Fox version is surprisingly dark and serious for a children's cartoon. It reminds me a lot of the early 90's masterpiece Cadillacs and Dinosaurs of which I'm a huge fan. When this show aired it became my favorite cartoon next to Dragon Ball Z. It is a brilliant show, holds up extremely well, and I highly recommend it to everyone.

Netflix Anime I

By Toho - https://www.cinematoday.jp/news/N0092165, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=54287722

It was a while before Godzilla would be animated again. As an otaku (anime fan) I often wondered why there was no Godzilla anime and speculated about how awesome it could be. Well actually, there sorta kinda was an anime... Godzillaland, a series of children's educational programs that featured chibi-style animated versions of various kaiju including Anguirus and Mechagodzilla. There were several OVA's during the mid-90's. It's not much to watch, but it does have a ridiculously catchy theme song!

But in 2017 there was finally a proper anime movie titled Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters, not to be confused with the rare 1994 short Monster Planet of Godzilla. It is the first film of a trilogy produced for Netflix. I was super excited for this when it premiered, but unfortunately, I found myself quite disappointed. First off, the animation was computerized rather than proper anime and looked more like an Xbox 360 cut-scene. I've never been a bit fan of computer animation and this was a big strike against the film for me personally. But beyond that, I just simply found it boring and unlikable.

Netflix Anime II

By Godzilla Singular Point Anime Reveals Opening Song Artists, March 25 Netflix Japan Debut, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=65696695

So finally, we come to Godzilla: Singular Point in 2021, another Netflix Godzilla anime. I held off on watching this one because I wasn't happy with either Shin or the previous anime and because there were a lot of difficulties in my personal life. However, streaming service Tubi recently added nearly all the old Showa films which are also available on youtube with ads. So I've basically been having a Godzilla-thon lately. My personal favorites at this time are Godzilla vs. Monster Zero, Son of Godzilla, and Destroy All Monsters.

So after watching all the classic films, I was hungry for more and decided to give Singular Point a try and boy am I glad I did! This is everything I wanted from a Godzilla anime! The artwork is beautiful and stunning, the voice actors pitch perfect, and it honors the source material while creating something fresh and new. 

The first episode is kind of a slow build-up, but with episode number two it really takes off and just continues to shine brilliantly! What I love most about this show is that it brings back long forgotten Showa-era kaiju, episode two treats us to a match between Jet Jaguar and Rodan, a fight I never thought I'd see outside of a video game. The monsters are given brilliant modern designs that both honor and respect the original versions. The kaiju are much smaller here. Rodan is the size of an actual Pteranodon instead of skyscraper-height. This really helps with the interaction between the humans and monsters.

There are entire flocks of Rodan, similar to the Gyaos flocks of Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris. Soon more kaiju appear, including Anguirus, Manda and a new monster that is based upon Gabara from Godzilla's Revenge. I love seeing these old kaiju, especially Rodan and Anguirus which are two of my absolute favorites. The design for Jet Jaguar is perfect, he is controlled by the humans but also has an A.I. component.

The big G himself is also treated well. They take a lot of cues from Shin Gojira, having the creature start out as a whale and then transform on dry land, but I like the way it is handled here much better. He doesn't have that weird fake dead fish eye look nor does he spend a bunch of time standing completely still.

However, it does take Godzilla a good while to actually show up and do anything and the first several episodes just merely hint at his existence, which may disappoint some fans. Personally, I greatly enjoyed the focus on the other kaiju, I've always wished that some of them could be given their own films like the Rebirth of Mothra series in the late 90's. Also, the slow build up of Godzilla works extremely well and makes him seem more mysterious and ominous.

But what helps Godzilla: Singular Point really stand-out among the franchise is its characters and plot development, two things often sorely lacking in Godzilla films both new and old. My favorite is the bespectacled purple-haired genius grad student Mei Kamino. I also really like the hilarious cross-eyed old man Goro Otaki. It's nice to watch an anime with highly intelligent characters that doesn't descend into too much psycho-babble. I don't want to give too much away about the story but if you're a fan of the Heisei Gamera films it is like that but with shades of Shin too. 

Ultimately, I can't recommend this anime enough, not only to Godzilla fans (though especially to Godzilla fans), but to anime fans as well, along with more causal viewers looking for something unique, intelligent, and entertaining. If you are reading this, please watch Godzilla: Singular Point it is the Godzilla we've been waiting for! It's the perfect giant monster anime and if you'd like to read about real life giant monsters, especially sea monsters then check out my book Legends & Lore of Sea Monsters!

Toho, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons