Monster Zero x SciFi Japan - Archive Only

@anguirus23:

> With regards to the Heisei Gameras [...], he defends humanity but in
> Gamera 2 his psychic link to them is broken. So in Gamera 3, he still
> seeks to destroy humanity's foe the Gyaos but is careless and incredibly
> destructive as he does so.

@Battrarules:

> Gamera cares about getting rid of the Gyaos. Now, Gamera GOTU, he was
> connected. Gamera vs. Legion, he had the connection broken. Gamera 3, the
> man just annihilates Shibuya. Coinecedence, I think not.

Gamera was never connected to "humanity" and in Gamera 3 he does not act very differently. As we can see at the beginning of Gamera 3, there were also victims in Tokyo during his first battle with the Gyaos in Gamera 1. In Gamera 2, he completely annihilates Sendai while he was still connected to Asagi. In both cases there were probably less victims, but that was not because Gamera acted more considerately in those movies, but simply because the cities had already been evacuated when he appeared (there is a "The New York Times" headline in Gamera 2 stating "swift evacuation minimized casualties"). So, the Shibuya battle in Gamera 3 actually is not different from other incidents that happened before.

In fact, it's not Gamera who's changing, it's mankind. During the three movies, mankind slowly realizes that there is a war going on where human concerns do not matter much, a war between forces that do not regard mankind as the center of the universe. That is why the character of Mr. Saito is so important -- he represents the process of learning and the slow changing of mind. In Gamera 1, politicians and the military treated Gamera like an enemy, gravely misjudging the whole situation and underestimating the Gyaos. But at the very end of Gamera 3 (and after much damage caused by Gamera), the same people agree to fight alongside Gamera against the attacking Gyaos. They have finally learned that in order to survive mankind has to form at least a strategic alliance with Gamera. Fighting alongside Gamera does not mean that there'll be no more deaths caused by him or that Gamera will suddenly become a "friend" -- but if they don't do it, mankind will be doomed anyway.

@anguirus23:

> That was the Legion flower!

You're right ... I was wrong ... however, this minor mistake does not invalidate the rest of what I said.

> Very few.

I already explained the low number of casualties: "simply because the cities had already been evacuated"! In Shibuya, on the other hand, nobody could foresee what was going to happen, so the district still was full of people. It was the situation that was different, not Gamera.

> If Gamera doesn't care about individual humans before his connection
> is severed, it's hard to explain much of his behavior in G1. He takes
> a hit to save three strangers...he had no idea they were connected to
> Asagi.

That's true, but it is this very scene (on the bridge) and Gamera's motivation in Gamera 1 which is deliberately put into question later in Gamera 3 during the Shibuya attack. In my opinion, the disturbing "copy" of this scene in Gamera 3 does not serve the purpose to tell us that Gamera acts differently now, but instead is designed to raise the question whether we really understood Gamera's motivations in the past or whether we were wrong in assuming that Gamera was mankind's giant pet turtle simply because he was connected to Asagi.

You know, whenever I am watching Gamera 3 I have the feeling that this film was meant to create an atmosphere of uneasiness and uncertainness. Like: In Gamera 1 all we saw at it's end was a nice, clean monster battle. But, was it really? Obviously no, because in Gamera 3 we suddenly find out that there were casualties and that there's this little girl haunted by terrible nightmares, because her parents died during that fight. Or: In Gamera 2 all we saw at it's end was that really cool "belly shot" which totally annihilated the Legion. But, was it really that cool? No, because in Gamera 3 we suddenly hear about the true nature of that mighty mana shot and it's dire consequences. So, what I wanted to point out with these two examples is that Gamera 3 repeatedly explains past events in a completely new way. That is why I think that it is not Gamera whose motivations or behaviour is changing, rather it is our understanding of Gamera which is changing while we're watching Gamera 3.

Uhm ... sorry if what I've written is hard to read ... I am definitely bumping into the language barrier when trying to express such things.

> He also avoids attacking the JSDF even when they attack him.

He always tries to do this. After all, Gamera is not humanity's foe.

The big turtle is setting everyone up for a surprise attack. Get the kids on your side and the adults will follow....then BAM!!!! Gamera: GOTU becomes Gamera: Ruler of Earth!!!


Note: To all you die-hards and loyalists, this is a joke....I repeat, only a joke...