Monster Zero x SciFi Japan - Archive Only

So this local toy store, which previously had some imported Japanese kaiju stuff, now has an entire wall of it. I mean, it was like going into a Japanese store: in addition to the boxes of SHMA and various American toys (Super 7, Mezco) they had what appeared to be the entire current line of Bandai Movie Monsters vinyls. Meaning toys from Shin Godzilla, Shin Ultraman, Singular Point, KOTM '19, Chiba Godzilla, Godziban, and the current classic characters in release (G2K Godzilla, classic Jet Jaguar, Megalon, Kiryu and MechaG '92, Daimajin - the only noticeable absences were the classic Gamera toys minus two Queen Legions and one Legion soldier).

Now, I'm flabbergasted. Didn't buy anything yet (we'll see... that SP Anguirus is real tempting, and I love how Bandai did Shin Zarab), but the reason I post this here is that they had the Gamera Rebirth figures! Gamera is quite the chunky boy, and Gyaos is pretty similar to every version of the character since '99, but I was most interested in (spoilers!) a certain bulbous extension of Jiger's belly, which I assume is a pregnancy bump filled with what I took as multiple eggs?

I wish, like, *any* stores over here sold Japanese/monster figures. Even the last couple of times I went to some Forbidden Planets (which granted was several years ago now) they had nothing. I remember back in the day going in there and seeing big Heisei Gamera figures and all sorts of imported stuff. Now, not so much.

On the plus side though (for Gamera, not for toys ), there's a new video out! A brief promo/behind-the-scenes look at the design philosophy that went into creating this new version (I'd recommend turning on subtitles for the last bit).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xY_F1ndGmvU

It's cool to hear a reiteration of what Hiroyuki Seshita said in that interview recently about absolutely wanting him to be "wrestling" with monsters in this. And we get to see a glimpse of it too! The action scenes in this series could definitely end up being the major standout if they're done as well as they have the potential to be.

^ Ha! That Jiger model is a pretty close match to the Bandai figure. I wonder if they scanned the finalized concept models to make the toys?

So, uh, yeah. I just finished binge-watching it, and that was hype as hell!!

The more I'm sitting here thinking about it, the more I think I loved it. It started off great and just got even better with each episode. The monster fights were awesome, imaginative, varied and brutal, but the human side of things was also a lot more engaging than I expected it to be, to the point where I was getting a bit teary-eyed at some moments, but also had a big beaming smile at others.

And DAMN were ALL the monsters awesome! Guiron acted like across between Glavenus and Odogaron from Monster Hunter, just flipping around and slicing buildings in half. Gyaos were badass and sinister. Zigra was super cool, powerful and menacing. Jiger was badass and brutal and Viras was just straight-up next-level, especially with that awesome build-up AND crazy abilities. Even speaking as someone who's never seen the original Showa films they starred in, I thought they were all fantastic.

This was just so damn great. Even better than I was hoping it would be. It NEEDS to get a second season, especially with the teases they set up for it. Honestly at this point I almost want that more than a new live-action Gamera movie I thought this was so good! Of course the best result would be *both*, so if you could make that happen Kadokawa that'd be great!

Haven't seen it yet (Lotta stuff going on personally) but I've been happy to see all the positive reactions!

We recently let our Netflix subscription lapse and probably won't renew it until next month at the earliest, otherwise I would be checking this out this weekend. I'm glad that a lot of fans seem to be digging it. My hype for this show is strong!

The series was terrific! I would rate it above Godzilla: Singular Point (which I did like) just on the basis of the fights alone. But the human story was better as well imho. And yes, it really does deserve a second season, if only to get Barugon his screen time!