Gamera: Rebirth

While an epic and amazing piece of media. The animation does leave a lot to be desired. The characters are classic while avoiding the Kenny trope that predominants much of classic Gamera. The Guardian of the Universe is back abd he is still Friend to the Children. The fights have the weight that you'd expect and Gamera is the bruiser that'd you expect him to be. The classic monster gore is back and Gamera even has motal kombat style fatalities. His classic villains from the Showa era are back and actually threatening as opposed to comical. Gamera's orgins along with his villains orgins are more Heisei.

We truly live in a glorious age of titans. Godzilla, King Kong, and even Ultraman have been gracing us with their presence for a decade now, but, weirdly, someone was missing. Godzilla's old box office rival, the giant turtle Gamera, had been absent from cinema since 2006. In comes Netflix to the rescue as he's given a 6-part anime series to give him much-needed life: "Gamera Rebirth". Did it succeed?

Plot: In the year 1989, four children suddenly find themselves amidst numerous attacks by man-eating kaiju that are especially fixated on them. Lucky for them, one beast, Gamera, comes to defend them, though the military is very reluctant to trust him. Where did the kaiju come from? Why is Gamera different? What makes these children special? Grand battles and shocking revelations ensue.

The best way I can describe this series is "Stranger Things" with giant monsters. Though the protagonists are children, don't mistake this for silly kid stuff. They occasionally find themselves in violent situations and even swear from time to time; there's a shocking number of F-bombs thrown in. We get insight into what makes each of them tick and why they are so close, and the story and conflicts allow them to mature and contribute in individual ways. There are a few standout characters too like James, a jaded man with dreams and insecurities of his own forced to watch over the children, and an American army general struggling to deal with the crisis. There are also some sprinkles of social commentary like military relations between Japan and America to help spice things up a bit. Admittedly, the way the characters look and move in the animation are a little odd, but the writing behind them compensates for it.

Gamera has never looked better, ferociously taking action without hesitation and putting others before himself as is true to the spirit of the character. He also comes with a rockin' musical theme that gets you pumped for action. The turtle's enemies, most of which have been absent from film for half a century, are all given awesome updates and are treated as formidable foes for both Gamera and the humans, providing intense fight scenes that don't shy away from being bloody and violent as combatants throw each other around, trade blows, and show off cool abilities. The mystery surrounding the kaiju and their origins was engaging, leading to big reveals that I didn't see coming in a good way, especially with how the humans play into them. I do think the pacing of the episodes can be improved by speeding things up a little.

All in all, "Gamera Rebirth" is a smashing shell of a good time. Slight shortcomings aside, it is a much-needed refreshing take on a classic monster that provides both monster mayhem and a compelling human narrative interweaved into it. Hopefully, another season is made as well as a new movie.

With a straight forward, valanced plot overflown with jaw-dropping monster fights and a sympathetic cast of characters, Gamera: Rebirth is probably Netflix's best take on Kaiju Eiga to date, and a more than worthy return for the Guardian of the Universe himself.

While the human animation might look pretty awful at times, it doesn't take long to get used to it. The stars of the show --Gamera, Gyaos, Jiger, Zigra, and Viras-- on the other hand, look absolutely gorgeous, shining their brightest during the fights.

Scale is managed perfectly, making every step, punch, and bite feel as massive as they can. The human aspect, on its part, is pretty decent. The cast isn't exactly the best or the most outstanding for kaiju films, but the characters are easy to like and care for.

The only drawbacks I would take into consideration would be the animation and the feeling that Gamera's relationship with the main cast could have been done better.

Gamera is a friend to all children, and on the face of it, that's what we get here: three plucky Japanese boys thrown together with a cowardly, low-IQ, thuggish US antihero - careful now, there's a bit of politics creeping on the stage here.

The first three episodes follow the same basic kaiju trope of introducing a new villain-monster which eventually gets stomped or toasted by ol' rocket-shell. But before the showdown, you have to sit through half an hour or so of annoying kids doing annoying kid things, and getting into all sorts of avoidable scrapes.

And that's where it gets weird, as the pre-teen lads getting up to their boys-will-be-boys hijinks makes this seem as though its for children of that age. But this is intercut with graphic and bloody dismemberment and devouring, and some unnecessarily jarring adult language in the English dub, which makes it unsuitable for Gamera's younger chums.

The art and animation are also disjointed. There's a mix of hand drawn and CG backgrounds and buildings, basic low frame rate flat cell-shaded CG characters and vehicles, and spiky 3D kaiju that look very peculiar when they share the same scene. It's possible that this is a deliberate homage to the compositing in the original films, but it doesn't make it any less quirky.

All that said, if you stick with it, you'll find that the protagonists are well fleshed out with backstories, their interactions become increasingly character-based, and there's a commendable amount of development among the boys - with some very surprising twists and payoffs that I've carefully avoided spoiling - so full credit for that. The series gets a lot more mature and consequential as it progresses, and actually develops a solid plot, which is a surprise given its frivolous early feel.

This isn't the worst animation that Netflix has produced, not by a long way, and it improves as it goes on. It's just that I suspect some of its audience will tune out in the first two episodes as it doesn't settle on a consistent tone quickly enough.

I'm have been a Gamera fan since I was a kid in 70s. I watched it with my son who is a huge Gamera and Godzilla fan. The story is almost astonishing where it goes and yes the animation isn top tier but when the battles with the legendary opponents it's epic. Imagine if this was live action with that script lol. Yes the adults are basically clueless and dumb and the kids save the day but this has been Gameras MO for decades. The Kaiju designs are a little risky but I appreciate there take on those legendary characters in the Gamera universe hell I have bought several of them for my collection.. recommend Stay with it the last episodes are worth it.