Godzilla Ponto Singular

Godzilla Singular point is a delicate weave of theoretical physics and mythology which returns to the roots of science fiction.

The anime weaves together a mysterious plot through the use of real concepts which are just on the edge of public general understanding and only engages in science-fantasy when necessary for the setting or plot. The "science" part of "science fiction" is often completely ignored in sci-fi works, and just explained with made up terms and an understanding that "it just works, because it's the future".

In Godzilla Singular Point I was astonished by just how well they weaved the science into the story. I excitedly showed it to friends of mine who have experience in the field of physics and they were similarly surprised and delighted. The show spends the majority of it's time building an expertly crafted atmosphere of mystique and mystery. I invite viewers to take their time digesting the terms and concepts which are introduced and search up terms they don't understand, altho I also recognize that some may see this suggestion as a recognition of a glaring flaw.

I do think the higher level concepts limit the shows audience. It's intended viewership seems to be those who have at least been curious enough to have looked up some videos on the subjects in the past. Where I see a refreshing take on science fiction, other viewers might see an unnecessarily complex series of jargon and become frustrated.

I'm shocked Japan has made very little animation of its most iconic monster. Coming straight to Netflix is "Godzilla Singular Point", a 13-episode anime that takes Big G and his monstrous costars to a brand new direction. There was some hype from fans like myself surrounding its release, but did it live up to expectations?

Plot: Engineer Yun Arikawa and graduate Mei Kamino are individually drawn to an Indian song tied to a scientist who disappeared years ago. Shortly after, a red dust with strange properties is discovered and it spawns monsters that evolve and multiply rapidly, the worst being Godzilla. Working with their allies, the two must unlock clues to stop the upcoming catastrophe from engulfing the universe.

The art style is beautifully drawn with a stunning array of colors ranging from scenic to apocalyptic and the animation is pretty solid. The main characters are basic but fine and have good designs that make it easy to tell them apart. The standouts include Mei who's cute in a dorky way, elderly but energetic Goro Otaki who is so entertaining to watch, and brilliant but prideful Bearach "BB" Byrne. I'm a little iffy with Yun; while functional, he's mostly straight-faced and not charming. By contrast, the kaiju are done with CGI with wicked designs heavily drawn from nature. Each has time to shine with some having a little personality like Anguirus. Godzilla only becomes active in the second half. When he shows up, he does what he does best: blowing stuff up and showing others who's boss. Most surprising is the robot Jet Jaguar, once infamously known from the silly "Godzilla vs Megalon" now a badass, endearing character that develops over time with a fairly heartfelt conclusion. There's substantial destruction (some of it reminiscent of "Shin Godzilla"), plentiful monster mayhem, fun fight scenes, and a real sense of escalation. Outside the classic Godzilla theme, the music is pretty memorable from the catchy opening theme by BiSH to the several iterations of the main song "Alapu Upala". Longtime fans will also spot the numerous nods to the franchise.

For all the good here, the anime is bogged down by certain elements. The story heavily centers on theoretical physics. While a unique concept for the franchise, there are extensive lectures of how this dimensional mumbo jumbo works and what the mystery scientist did prior to the events of this series in every episode. Even when they try to explain in simplified/comparative terms, it's still very hard to follow. Some of it is delivered via rapid fire text message conversations that go on longer than needed. It messes up the pacing and leaves little room for the protagonists' development beyond their base traits, not helped by the large cast. Mei and Yun spend most of the time apart on separate quests, which almost feels like I'm watching two different anime; a sci-fi disaster with borderline Lovecraftian horror and a monster-of-the-week action show. Despite enough screen time, Godzilla isn't the center of the story, more an accessory to a larger threat and a simple final boss, which is a real bummer. What's more, his few scuffles with other kaiju are very brief. Certain questions are left unanswered by the end, magnified by an after-credit scene that appears to tease a second season.

"Godzilla Singular Point" leaves me with conflicted feelings. The monsters and action are fun, Jet Jaguar is cool, and the humans are decent enough to carry the overall good story, not to mention nice music and animation. On the other hand, the show would benefit greatly from being longer, cutting down/out the overly complicated science, developing the protagonists more, and Big G being the main focus rather than a symptom to a bigger problem. All an all, an anime with ups and downs.

First off dont go watching it if you want to see a lot of Godzilla action. He is in it like for 1-5 min at most (yes all 13 episodes included.) in fact they could just rename the whole series to Jet Jaguar's adventures or Jet Jaguar Singular Point. Too much sciense talk, which you dont mind at first because you think you'll see some action towards the end but then after midway through the series you realize its all there is to this anime. All talk no action. I dont need some super calculater of whatever to know disaster is coming when Godzilla is plowing through the city. Even at the end you expect some epic clash between the title character and Jet Jaguar but you never get it. Characters are somewhat likable (AI was the cutest.) plot was.... waaay over my head which I stopped trying to make sense of it after a while. Every cool thing a sci fi nerd would like is in this anime: Time Travel (not like an actual time travel but sending information back in forth in time) and Kaijus what more could you want right? But it does nothing with it. Try watching your favorite godzilla movie and time travel movie at the same time you'll have much better time and it will hurt your head less. I only give it 5 because of its opening theme.

The originality of this story cannot be disputed. It's undeniably the most cerebral-or pseudo-intellectual, depending on your perspective-Godzilla tale ever narrated. It should not be shocking that this story is being conveyed through anime rather than live action as there are scenes in the program that, if done in live action, would require millions of dollars in special effects.

The personalities really appeal to me. They are all wise and rarely take any foolish actions that make you cringe. In previous Godzilla stories, certain characters might have been written off as uninteresting villains, but in reality, they are rather complex and have valid reasons for acting in the ways that they believe are correct.

Another Spring anime just ended. A mystery surrounding the hurricane of red dust and the appearance of many kaiju that swept through the world.

Right of the bat, the animation was awesome. There was heavy use of CGI on the kaiju. Even though I don't like CGI animation, it was pretty well done here. Godzilla looked mighty and more like a lizard than in the live-action movies. When Godzilla used atomic breath, there's an add-on animation with multiple circles that looked very cool.

The tricky part was the story. Even though I got the general plot, the physics behind it was beyond my comprehension. Because the plot was confusing, it was hard to follow at times and invest in the overall story. However, the pacing was still fast and didn't drag out. The AI spoke at the speed of light, so I had to work my eyes more to read all the subtitles. It wasn't an issue.

The characters didn't have any backstory, which was understandable because of the urgency of the plot. I didn't invest much in any of the characters, except Jet Jaguar, because of the complicated plot.

Overall, a pretty entertaining anime despite the complicated plot. 6.5/10.