Godzilla General Election, and other celebrations

[lhb412]

Japanese TV special where folks were polled on their favorite kaiju. It's part of a night of programming showing Shin Godzilla and the Shin Chan vs. Shin Godzilla episode. All to promote the new movie, of course. Pretty neat!



http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2 ... l-election

They'll also be more TV stuff and some triple features in theaters on Godzilla's November 2nd birthday (one is Mothra '61 and the two Kiryu movies, the other is, I think DAM, vs. Mechagodzilla 2, and Mothra 2).

[Benjamin Haines]

Those posters rock! They remind me of the posters Toho made for the Champion Festivals.

[Geno]

The only movie worth watching is Mothra lol

[angilas]

[lhb412]

Mothra '61 is the best movie to see, and I think that triple feature will be more accessible to non-fans because the movies all link up, but I think the other triple feature would be more fun overall even though none of those films are favorites of mine.

[Joseph Goodman]

Not like most of could make those screenings, anyway, but the 35mm print of Mothra '16 is apparently a brand new one. The print of DAM is apparently an old Champion Festival print.

[lhb412]

The results of the election are in! The interesting thing here, as opposed to when they did a similar 'fans vote for best Godzilla movie' a few years ago (Biollante, if you recall, won) is that after the enormous success of Shin Godzilla reigniting Godzillamania in Japan we're now dealing with a larger, enthusiastic fanbase full of new people who've gone back and watched the classics for the first time. As such, the results have some very interesting surprises!

This is all via twitter (posted on the #ゴジラ総選挙 hashtag) and this page, btw.



Favorite Godzilla movies:

1. Shin Godzilla
2. Mothra vs. Godzilla
3. Godzilla (1954)
4. Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster
5. Godzilla vs. Mothra

Favorite kaiju:

1. Mothra
2. King Ghidorah
3. Rodan
4. Minya
5. Mechagodzilla
6. Anguirus
7. Mecha King Ghidorah
8. Baby/Little/Godzilla Jr.
9. Gigan
10. Hedorah
11. Biollante
12. Kiryu
13. Super Mechagodzilla
14. Jet Jaguar
15. Keizer Ghidorah
16. Baragon
17. Destoroyah
18. Varan
19. Godzillasaurus
20. Battra




First off: Shin Godzilla was a shoo-in for #1, but it warms my heart to see three Showa flicks make up the bulk of the top five. I'm not the biggest fan of Godzilla vs. Mothra '92, but I at least understand its appeal.

Wowed to see Minya so high in the kaiju rankings, but with the success and popularity of the ugly-cute early forms of Shin I suppose it makes sense. My beloved Anguirus doesn't quite make the top five, but #6 is still pretty respectable. Interesting how the three Mechgaodzillas were considered distinct enough to be different entries, while Mothra and Ghidorah were not.

[Benjamin Haines]

It makes sense that Godzilla vs. Mothra would be not just the most popular Heisei entry but one of the top five favorites of the whole series. Lots of Japanese folks probably have fond memories of going to see that in '92/'93.

[Geno]

Good to see that Shin Godzilla was number 1.

[Rody]

I'm not at all surprised (much less displeased) to see Shin Godzilla rank #1 so soon after its wildly successful release. It's also very satisfying to see those Showa film following it.

Now, who would've thought Minilla would outdo three different varitions of one of the "big 5" in popularity?! Congrats to our little Goji squirt! Seeing Varan, Kaiser Ghidorah, and Godzillasaurus make the list is a bit of a shock, too (but I'm all for Varan getting more love!).
I'm very interested in watching if/how these results might steer media and merchandising in the near future. A return to the big screen and some new vinyl toys would be most welcome.

[Benjamin Haines]

The top five kaiju aren't surprising. They're the only five besides Godzilla to appear in the Showa, Heisei, and Millennium Series. It figures that the "basic" versions of King Ghidorah, Minilla, and Mechagodzilla would draw the most votes while variant incarnations would appear lower on the list. I wonder if Fire Rodan or any alternate Mothras were voting options.

[klen7]

Didn't Godzilla vs Biollante top the list before Shin was released? It isn't in the top 5 now.

[lhb412]

^That was for, I think, a special airing during the 60th anniversary in 2014.

[mr.negativity]

[lhb412]