Gamera

Japanese giant monster or kaiju

Fictional character

Gamera

Gamera film series character

Gamera, as featured in Gamera, the Giant Monster

First appearance| Gamera, the Giant Monster (1965)
Created by|

* Noriaki Yuasa
* Masaichi Nagata
* Hidemasa Nagata
* Tomio Sagisu[1]

Portrayed by|

* Teruo Aragaki
* Umenosuke Izumi
* Naoaki Manabe
* Jun Suzuki
* Akira Ohashi[2]
* Hirofumi Fukuzawa
* Toshinori Sasaki

In-universe information
Species|

* Giant turtle
* Artificial lifeform[3]
* Deity[4][5]

Gamera (Japanese: ガメラ, Hepburn: Gamera) is a fictional monster, or kaiju, originating from a series of Japanese films. Debuting in the 1965 film Gamera, the Giant Monster, the character and the first film were intended to compete with the success of Toho's Godzilla film series. Since then, Gamera has become a Japanese icon in his own right, appearing in a total of 12 films produced by Daiei Film and later by Tokuma Shoten and Kadokawa Daiei Studio (Kadokawa Corporation) respectively, and various other media such as novelizations, manga, video games, and so on.

Gamera is depicted as a giant, flying, fire-breathing, prehistoric turtle. In the first film, Gamera is portrayed as aggressive and destructive, though he also saves a child. As the films progressed, Gamera took on a more benevolent role, becoming a protector of humanity especially children, nature, and the Earth from extraterrestrial races and other giant monsters.[6]

On the contrary to its popularity and extensive social influences[7] such as references in numerous media globally and naming of two species of prehistoric turtles, Sinemys gamera and Gamerabaena, expansion of the franchise and public recognition of the character were severely hindered by financial obstacles.[8]

## Overview

[edit]

### Conception

[edit]

The Black Tortoise, one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese constellations, is a possible source of inspiration for Gamera.[9]

The original idea for Gamera was developed by Yonejiro Saito,[10] Masaichi Nagata, Hidemasa Nagata, Niisan Takahashi,[11] and Noriaki Yuasa. The character was created as a property of the production company Daiei Film, and was intended to compete with the Godzilla film series (which features the giant monster character of the same name), owned by rival studio Toho.[12][13][14] Prior to the idea of the flying turtle monster, there existed preceding concepts of an octopus kaiju called Dakora (Japanese: ダコラ)[a] and Nezura (Japanese: ネズラ) the rat monsters.[11]

The name Gamera (ガメラ) derives from the Japanese kame ("turtle"), and the suffix -ra, a suffix shared by such other kaiju characters as Godzilla (Gojira) and Mothra.[15] Gamera's name was spelled Gamela on a French newspaper in the 1965 film, and Gammera in the title of Gammera the Invincible, the re-titled American release of the first film in the franchise, Gamera, the Giant Monster.[16][17]

Gamera's turtle-like design may have been inspired by the Black Tortoise, one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese constellations in East Asian mythology.[9] The Black Tortoise is known as Genbu in Japanese, and is usually depicted as a turtle entwined together with a snake.[9] Each of the Four Symbols are said to act as guardians over each of the four cardinal directions, with the dragon Seiryu in the east; the tiger Byakko in the west; the bird Suzaku in the south; and the tortoise Genbu in the north.[9][18] In Gamera, the Giant Monster, the first film in the franchise, Gamera is depicted as awakening in the Arctic, the northernmost region on Earth.[9][19] Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris, the 11th film in the franchise, contains a scene featuring a book describing the Four Symbols, including Genbu.[9] Before the character was officially referenced to the Black Tortoise in the 1999 film, designs and background stories of Gamera and Gyaos were also inspired by ancient Chinese aspects during the production of Gamera: Guardian of the Universe while the original script of the film focused more on ancient India.[7]

### Characteristics

[edit]

Gamera's illustration and suits and models on the Kadokawa Daiei Studio office in Chōfu where the city features the character as one of mascots.[20]

Gamera resembles an enormous prehistoric turtle, and is capable of both bipedal movement and flight. He occasionally walks on all four legs in Showa films and Gamera the Brave in 2006. He possesses a pronounced crest on his head, his mouth contains rows of teeth, and two tusks protrude upward from each side of his lower jaw.[21]

He can fly by means of "jets" which can be ignited out of his limb holes when he retracts his legs into his shell.[22] The jets allow Gamera to rise into the air and spin, propelling him forward.[23] In later films, he is shown to be able to fly with only his rear legs drawn inside his shell, allowing his front limbs more freedom.

Gamera's shell is presented as being incredibly resilient and strong (only ever being cut by Guiron's knife snout), and can deflect missiles and other projectiles. His plastron (lower shell) is more vulnerable than his carapace (upper shell), however, and he has been wounded in his plastron to the point of bleeding.

In canonical films, Gamera has never been depicted to feed on any faunal or plant organisms, and exclusively relies on thermal energy, electricity, radiation, and other energy sources.[b][25] Using conventional weapons even including nuclear weapons against Gamera may also empower him instead.[25]

All incarnations of the character have an affinity for humans (especially children) and nature, and protect them at all costs even by sacrificing themselves.[3][11] They may also save animals, wildlife, and innocent kaiju even if they are offspring of antagonists.[25] His incongruous ferocity in Gamera, the Giant Monster and the beginning of Gamera vs. Barugon[c] was presumably due to an uncontrollable starvation and confusion after 8,000 years of hibernation caused by the entrapment by the Atlanteans, and Gamera's rampage against humanity was only to feed on thermal energy and electricity; his attack on cities was also to lure military operations so that he could feed more on thermal energy of weapons.[25]

All incarnations of the character possess several supernatural abilities most notably telepathy, and others such as healing humans, understanding human speeches, and potential reincarnation, and some of book-only incarnations have been depicted to be actual deities with further abilities.[4][5]

#### Showa

[edit]

A poster of Gamera vs. Gyaos depicting Gamera's iconic abilities to breathe fire and fly.

During the franchise's Shōwa period, Gamera is depicted as feeding on flammable substances, such as oil and fire.[26][27] According to notes by frequent series director Noriaki Yuasa, Gamera's internal anatomy includes sacs which allow him to store oil, lava, coal, and uranium.[28][29] In Gamera, the Giant Monster and Gamera vs. Barugon, cold temperatures are shown to weaken Gamera although he is capable of acting in outer space and deep sea.[30] Gamera is also presumably capable of performing supernatural feats such as telepathy and remote sensing.[25]

The original 1965 film, Gamera, the Giant Monster, depicts Gamera's origins as being a result of United States military fighters launching an attack on enemy bombers (presumably belonging to the Soviet Union),[31] which causes the detonation of an atomic bomb on board one of the aircraft. The nuclear blast releases Gamera from a state of suspended animation in the ice. Meanwhile, a Japanese research team stumbles upon an Inuit tribe in possession of an ancient stone etching that depicts a giant turtle, which the tribe refers to as "Gamera".[31]

His exact origin was not verified aside from his association with the ancient civilization of the Atlantis.[32][25] Inuit's fear of Gamera and his confinement in the Arctic, on the contrary to his heroic personality and favor of thermal energy, was presumably due to his entrapment by the Atlanteans and inherited memories of their ancestors to mistake him as a threat.[d] Gamera's intention behind bizarre displays including acrobatic and musical acts in later films was presumably to calm and entertain onlooking children.[25]

The incarnation of the character appeared in the 1980 film Gamera: Super Monster was depicted to be potentially a different individual from the previous films where a normal Pond slider was magically turned into a kaiju by the Spacewomen, a group of supernatural female aliens. In the end of the film, Gamera sacrificed himself to destroy the Zanon, a gigantic spaceship of antagonists, while the 1994 manga Giant Monster Gamera depicted this Gamera's fate where Gamera was artificially resurrected by the descendants of Atlanteans with ancient technologies of the Atlantis, gaining characteristics of the Heisei trilogy Gamera, and was sent back to the ancient period to change the history to avoid a demise and to save and monitor humanity.[33]

#### Heisei Trilogy

[edit]

In the franchise's Heisei period, which began with the 1995 reboot film Gamera: Guardian of the Universe, Gamera's in-universe origins were changed. In the Heisei films, Gamera is portrayed as an ancient, bio-engineered creature from Atlantis, created for the purpose of defending the people of Atlantis from Gyaos, a bat-like creature which breathes a destructive supersonic beam when on the attack.[21][34] Human researchers find Gamera floating in the Pacific Ocean, encased in rock, and mistake him for an atoll.[35] Within the rock, they discover a large monolith explaining Gamera's origins, along with dozens of magatama made from orichalcum, which allow for a psychic link between Gamera and humans. In Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris, an undersea graveyard containing numerous Gamera-like fossils is shown, suggesting that Gamera was not the only one of his kind. One character in the film refers to these fossils as "beta versions" of Gamera, possibly failures in Atlantis' attempts to create the final version.

This Gamera has retractable claws protruding from his elbows,[21] and is shown to be able to shoot plasma fireballs from his mouth.[36][37] Gamera has also been portrayed as being able to absorb mana from the Earth,[38] to fire a plasma beam from his chest, and to manipulate the energy to create a pseudo arm composed of fire to destroy a foe. Within the first and the third films of the trilogy, Gamera magically healed harmed humans including reviving temporary deceased or half-dead individuals although he was unable to revive nearby humans whose corpses were physically destroyed.[39] In the 2003 comic, he was depicted to be (supernaturally) capable of triggering eruptions among nearby lands and volcanoes.[40] Within the comicalized adaptaion of the 1999 film by Kazunori Ito and Moo. Nenpei, who had also published another Gamera manga Gamera vs. Morphos in 1999, Gamera performed extreme regeneration to restore his head from mimicked Plasma Fireballs by Iris, and defeated the antagnoist with either an empowered fire blast or fireball instead of the "Vanishing Fist".[41]

#### Gamera the Brave

[edit]

The continuity of the franchise was rebooted a second time with the 2006 film Gamera the Brave, the 12th entry in the series. This incarnation was designed after African spurred tortoise, and also possesses supernatural traits[11] such as instant growth, telepathy, comprehending human speeches, sensing and foreseeing emergences of evil monsters from afar, and so on.[42] Gamera's origin is unclear, and governmental officials and scientists try to use him as a weapon against villainous kaiju while protagonists try to save him.[11] Gamera and Gyaos were designed to be much smaller yet heavier than previous incarnations,[11] corresponding with the original scripts of Gamera: Guardian of the Universe which became the basis for the 2006 film.[e][7]

The opening scene of the film, set in 1973, depicts the original Gamera, so called "Avant Gamera", sacrificing himself by means of self-destruction to save a coastal village from four Gyaos.[11][43] 33 years later, a young boy named Toru Aizawa finds a glowing, heart-shaped rock near his home, with a small egg lying on top of it.[43][44] A baby turtle hatches from the egg, and begins to grow in size at an alarming rate.[44] The turtle, dubbed "Toto" by Toru after his own nickname by his deceased mother,[11] quickly forms a bond with the boy and develops the ability to breathe fire and fly.[44] After consuming the glowing rock found with his egg, Toto fully transforms into the next incarnation of Gamera, gaining the power to defeat a lizard-like monster known as Zedus, which was once a normal reptile turned into a kaiju by feeding on Gyaos' corpse, and was presumably controlled by the vengeful spirits of the villainous flying creatures.[45][42]

#### Gamera Rebirth

[edit]

Gamera Rebirth, the first installation in the Reiwa era introduced monsters' characteristics to represent not only homages to previous films but also some of unused ideas of previous films and scrapped projects. All kaiju in this series are artificial life forms created by ancient civilizations for warfare and to control the overpopulation of humanity.[3] This incarnation of Gamera was also originally created for mass-massacres, however he was re-programmed by a rebellious figure to become the protector of civilians from other kaiju. During the downfalls of ancient civilizations, Gamera presumably stood against 24 different kaiju to protect the humanity.[46]

While previous incarnations of the character possessed affinities to elements most notably fire, electricity, and plasma energy, Gamera in Gamera Rebirth further expanded combat attributes to include electromagnetic pulse, jamming, gravitation, energy shield, and baryon. This incarnation also possesses several supernatural traits such as telepathy, psychic link with humans, interfering mental contacts by other kaiju on humans, bestowing a power to sense presences of other kaiju on certain children, and his name itself contains a power to somehow encourages a specific children and makes humans to feel that the name "Gamera" is the correct one.[3][47]

Gamera appeared to protect protagonist children from other monsters trying to feed on the children and other civilians. Through battles, Gamera was severely damaged and almost died, and during the battle against S-Gyaos, an enormous Gyaos mutant who fed on Viras' corpse, Gamera was injected with specific RNA viruses to reprogram him for the original usage. However, Gamera managed to regain his consciousness by willpower and a telepathic link with a boy. To prevent himself from being enslaved for carnage, Gamera sacrificed himself to destroy the Moonbase of final antagonists, the descendants of nobles of an ancient civilization who were using kaijus. Using all of his remaining power for the planet-penetrating Charged Baryon Cannon, the "Moon Buster", Gamera was literally dissolved into ashes, leaving behind an egg for the new incarnation of Gamera who strongly resembles Toto from the 2006 film.[3][46]

#### Others

[edit]

There have been multiple other incarnations of the character appeared in various other media from novelizations to manga and video games.

The origin of the Gamera appeared in the 1995 novelization Gamera vs. Phoenix by Niisan Takahashi, which was originally a script for a cancelled film in 1994,[48] is unclear; Showa Gamera defeated villainous monsters like in the previous films while the "new" Gamera who emerged from underneath the Nazca Lines possessed characteristics of the 1995 film Gamera: Guardian of the Universe. This "new" Gamera initially attacked chemical plants all over the world, resulting in hostility from the humanity, however his intention was to prevent an oncoming catastrophe caused by environmental degradations and to warn the humanity. After sealing the Phoenix, an immortal but suicidal, fiery entity constantly suffering due to its immortality, the new Gamera sacrificed himself to save the Earth from further destruction caused by harmful sunlight triggered by air pollutions, following a similar fate with the Phoenix where both monsters cannot die for the sake of the planet which was damaged by the humanity.[7]

The incarnation of the character, the "Black Tortoise", appeared in the spin-off novelization of the 2021 film The Great Yokai War: Guardians was uniquely portrayed to be an actual goddess, being capable of various supernatural abilities such as materialization, speaking human speeches, and making yokai and humans to feel that they somehow know her since their childhoods even if it is their first encounter with her. She in spirit-like form appeared from the Mount Ooe and surrounding mountains in north of the Heian-kyō, a presumed reference to the 1960 yokai film The Demon of Mount Oe by Daiei Film, and manifested a physical form and battled Nue, a gigantic yokai being empowered by vengeful Abe no Seimei, to save the world from antagonistic humans and yokais. Gamera overwhelmed and severely weakened Nue with her fireballs and spinning jet, and left the rest to yokai and humans so that they can fulfill their destiny, and secretly disappeared (dematerialized).[4]

The presence of "Black Tortoise" was also confirmed in the 2015 novelization Holy Beast War Chronicle: White Shadow (聖獣戦記 白い影, Seijū Senki - Shiroi Kage), which was written by Shinichiro Inoue who was trying to reboot the franchise in early 2010s (and has also participated in Daimajin Kanon),[49] bears several plot similarities with the 1958 Daiei film Nichiren and the Great Mongol Invasion. In this novelization, Barugon and Jiger directly appeared as the Azure Dragon and the White Tiger respectively. Each monsters are spiritual and sacred entities, being regarded as actual deities with supernatural powers such as telepathy, weaponizing weathers, destructive energy beam, levitation, and time manipulation. These monsters choose specific humans as summoners and forms supernatural links with them through magatamas, and bestow them superhuman prowess. The chosen ones can summon materialized monsters to perform tremendous feats, however, if summoners use monsters for destructive deeds, the world would be spiritually poisoned, only being cured by other chosen ones by the Four Symbols; Nichiren, the current summoner of the Black Tortoise who was also bestowed abilities including to manipulate the time, tries to restore the world after the battle of Barugon and Jiger during the Mongol invasions of Japan.[5]

In the 2015 short film for the 50th anniversary of the franchise,[50] Gamera saved a boy from a swarm of Gyaos attacking Tokyo and incinerated them with a powerful fire blast. A decade later, another monster appeared to cause a havoc, and the boy again witnessed Gamera to return to fight against it.

## Relationship with Godzilla

[edit]

Both Gamera and Godzilla franchises played significant roles in expanding modern cultures in Japan.[7] Both along with other productions most notably Daimajin and Ultra Q and Ultraman franchises, formed the "First Kaiju Boom", which became the basis for the "Second Kaiju Boom" and the "Yōkai Boom".[11][51]

While Gamera has been described as being a rip-off of Godzilla by some authors,[6][22][52] Godzilla films including later Showa films,[53][54][55] "Millennium" films including Godzilla 2000 (1999),[55] Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000),[56] Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (GMK) (2001), Shin Godzilla (2016), Godzilla Minus One (2023),[57] and MonsterVerse series by Legendary Pictures have been pointed out to be influenced by Showa Gamera films and Shusuke Kaneko's Heisei Gamera Trilogy and GMK.[58][59][60] Gamera was represented within a concept art of Godzilla: King of the Monsters,[61][62] and Kaneko himself acknowledges similarities between his films and MonsterVerse films[58][59] where the scrapped 2011 project Gamera 3D by Yoshimitsu Banno served as one of its predecessors.[63][64] Shusuke Kaneko utilized some aspects of Showa Gamera and his Heisei Gamera trilogy for GMK such as "submarine within kaiju's body" from Gamera vs. Jiger, and Kaneko reused ideas which he originally wanted for the Heisei trilogy and its cancelled sequel(s).[65]

Eiji Tsuburaya depicted Godzilla to be more heroic and to bleed in later Showa films despite disliking bleeding kaiju, and having avoided this in previous Showa films due to his belief in Christianity.[25] Later Showa films featured more child-friendly aspects, depicting kaiju as characters than monsters, increasing the number of scenes involving kaiju, and adding more fancifully designed kaiju. Yoshimitsu Banno, who later planned to direct Gamera 3D,[63] made Godzilla to fly in his Godzilla vs. Hedorah.[66] These later Showa Godzilla films were presumably influenced by Gamera.[11][53][55] The creation of Minilla, a child-friendly son of Godzilla, was also possibly influenced by the Gamera franchise[54] while Toto in the 2006 film Gamera the Brave in return bears physical and conceptual similarities to Minilla and Godzilla Junior in the 1994 film Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla. While Gamera the Brave re-used the original script of Gamera: Guardian of the Universe, its plot was also influenced by the Heisei Mothra trilogy.[7]

Ishiro Honda highly praised the 1967 film Gamera vs. Gyaos, pleasing Niisan Takahashi greatly and freeing him from his feeling of inferiority towards the Godzilla franchise. Takahashi later sent his script for the cancelled 1994 film, which later became the basis of the novelization Gamera vs. Phoenix, to several tokusatsu film makers including Honda; however, despite Honda's encouragement, Takahashi's attempt failed to materialize.[67][48]

In 2002, Kadokawa acquired the copyrights of Daiei Dilm properties from Tokuma Shoten and approached Toho to achieve a crossover between Gamera and Godzilla,[68] however the latter turned down the offer and Kadokawa therefore produced Gamera the Brave instead[69] as Toho temporary ceased Godzilla productions after Godzilla: Final Wars.[11][53] Zedus, the main antagonist of the 2006 film was intentionally designed to resemble Toho monsters such as Varan and Gorosaurus, and it notably resembles Jirahs, the Godzilla-based kaiju from Ultraman.[f][7][71] Additionally, Gamera was at one point considered to appear in the 2007 videogame Godzilla: Unleashed.

In 2023, the Netflix series Gamera Rebirth was directed by Hiroyuki Seshita who previously directed the anime Godzilla trilogy. This time, Toho instead proposed an offer for a crossover due to a large number of requests from players of the mobile game Godzilla Battle Line,[72] and an official collaboration between the Netflix series and the mobile game was made where Seshita's incarnation of Godzilla was chosen for the key art, and Gamera and Gyaos and Guiron appeared in the game as playable characters.[73][74]

Gamera and Godzilla and other monsters from respective franchises co-appeared in several exoteric productions and events such as stage shows,[75] television show, Dr. Slump and Dragon Ball,[76] The Simpsons,[77] Daicon III and IV Opening Animations,[g] MegaTokyo, City Shrouded in Shadow, The Slammie Brothers vs. Godzilla and Gamera,[78] and USO MAKOTO Yōkai Hyaku Monogatari.[79] Several franchises such as Dr. Slump,[80] Detective Conan,[81] and Jumbo Monster GOMERA[82] have characters with the names "Gamera" and "Godzilla". In 2005, Shusuke Kaneko directed the 11th episode on Ultraman Max, choosing to include a scene of children playing with toys of Gamera and Godzilla as a reference to the films he had directed in both franchises.[h] Ayako Fujitani also made an appearance as a guest in the episode.[83][84] The 1998 Shochiku film Giant Monsters Appear in Tokyo represented off-screen appearances of two battling kaiju, the "jet-flying turtle appeared on Fukuoka" and the "80 meters tall, fire-breathing, bipedal, carnivorous dinosaur-like lizard appeared on the port of Tokyo Bay", clearly referencing Gamera in Gamera: Guardian of the Universe and Godzilla in The Return of Godzilla where several casts from the Heisei Gamera Trilogy such as Hirotarō Honda and Tomorowo Taguchi appeared in the film.[78][85]

### Productions

[edit]

See also: Five-Company Agreement and Keizō Murase

Japanese posters of the re-released edition of King Kong in 1952 and The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms in 1954 by Daiei Film. The former was the first post-war release of monster films in Japan.[78][86]

Daiei Film distributed films that played major roles in forming kaiju genre. The company distributed the re-released edition of King Kong in 1952, making it the first post-war release of monster movies in Japan, and also distributed The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms in Japan in 1954, and these presumably influenced the productions of the 1954 film Godzilla by Toho and Daiei Film's own Gamera, the Giant Monster in 1965.[i][78][86]

The Six-Company Agreement led by Masaichi Nagata, one of creators of Gamera, prevented other companies from easily chasing after the success of Toho, and the Godzilla franchise didn't have notable competitors until the Gamera franchise; the agreement ironically made Daiei Film's own Dakora and Nezura to fail by using live animals (octopuses and rats) to avoid the Toho-style, and Daiel Film changed the direction for Gamera, the Giant Monster.[53][11]

Daiei Film's objective was not to surpass the Godzilla franchise, but to coexist with it, and the Gamera franchise achieved to differentiate from the Toho productions to appeal to its audiences, and gained popularity notably among children and rivaled the Toho productions.[53] Due to the Six-Company Agreement, which was also led by Masaichi Nagata, other companies, including Daiei Film itself, could not "openly" use tokusatsu techniques of Toho, and Eiji Tsuburaya's teams were appointed for Gappa: The Triphibian Monster by Nikkatsu and The X from Outer Space by Shochiku in 1967 to solve difficulties to avoid using Toho techniques. However, Daiei Film intentionally avoided receiving any assistance from Tsuburaya for the Gamera franchise to differentiate their productions from Toho. Successes of Gamera, the Giant Monster and Gamera vs. Barugon resulted in sudden increases of non-Toho kaiju productions.[j][k][l]

Showa Gamera films, especially since Gamera vs. Gyaos, were intended to appeal to children. This was to deal with budgetary problems and the Six-Company Agreement to differentiate from the Godzilla franchise. Due to the agreement and the direction to differentiate from Toho, Gamera's characteristics such as to breathe traditional non-atomic fire, occasional quadrupedalism, his personality as both a creature and a hero rather than Godzilla's theme to represent a "god of destruction",[m][n] Material choices for suits and miniature models were devised to avoid duplicates with the Toho productions. Plots of Showa Gamera films intentionally avoided to focus on "standards" of kaiju films by Toho, such as the JSDF and other military forces, weapons, scientific explanations, and so on. Instead, subsequent films since Gamera vs. Viras featured simple, childish, and eccentric plots for young audiences.[o] In the films, children play significant roles with the eccentric ideas presented, and children, unlike adults, always believe in Gamera.[53][25] This direction was initially decided because a number of children watching Gamera vs. Barugon got bored with the plot and left their seats,[8] and also to deal with drastically decreased budgets due to the financial situation of Daiei Film; the budget of Gamera vs. Viras was ¥24 million compared to budgets of Gamera vs. Barugon (¥80 million) and Gamera vs. Gyaos (¥60 million).[53]

Global distributions of videos of the franchise was also affected by the Godzilla franchise. Daiel Film avoided the market in the United States and instead focused more on European countries to decrease competition with Toho productions. Foreign cast members became increasingly well-represented due to requests from European buyers; however, these buyers also requested to avoid hiring black cast members. Daiei Film obliged, though some criticized Daiei Film for this decision.[53]

After the bankruptcy of Daiei Film, the franchise increased its efforts avoid direct competition against the Godzilla franchise, including the Heisei trilogy,[p] and Gamera: Super Monster by Tokuma Shoten and Gamera the Brave by Kadokawa were released in 1980 and 2006 respectively because Toho temporary ceased producing Godzilla films due to declined box office results.[8][11][53] After the commercial failure of the 2006 film, Kadokawa cancelled various projects, including reboot attempt(s) in 2010s,[7][89][90] and instead released a short film for the 50th anniversary of the franchise in 2015;[50] MonsterVerse by Legendary Pictures began in 2014, and subsequent Godzilla productions were continuously developed among theatrical releases and streaming media. Shin Godzilla and anime Godzilla trilogy were directed by filmmakers who have either previously or subsequently worked for Gamera productions.[73] Gamera Rebirth was released on Netflix in 2023 after Godzilla Singular Point in 2021.

Additionally, the Heisei trilogy was distributed by Toho as Daiei Film lost its theater chains after its bankruptcy. However, the trilogy was distributed by Toho Western Films unlike Godzilla films, and the number of movie theatres for the trilogy was much smaller than Godzilla films, further reducing potential box office results.[91] However, Shōgo Tomiyama noted that he did not perceive the Gamera franchise as a rival, but was instead happy to see its revival along with the Godzilla franchise which was the sole support the kaiju genre received for years.[92] Filming of Gamera: Guardian of the Universe was also affected by the 1994 film Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla as both films were filmed in Fukuoka.[91]

Shusuke Kaneko and Shinji Higuchi, who have previously worked for The Return of Godzilla, respectively directed GMK and Shin Godzilla where Kaneko and Kazunori Ito originally wanted to take the 1992 film Godzilla vs. Mothra, [93] however Kaneko and Ito and Higuchi's preferences of Godzilla and other Toho productions (and their disfavor of Showa Gamera) resulted in controversial outcomes of the Heisei trilogy.

Gamera's voice effect was used in Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah,[94] and Gamera was represented within a concept art of Godzilla: King of the Monsters,[61][62] and several Godzilla productions have presumed references to Gamera.[95][96][97]

A number of filmmakers, such as Akira Ifukube and Fuminori Ohashi and Ryosaku Takayama, and actors and voice actors and extras have participated in both and related franchises, and some suit actors such as Eizo Kaimai, Hurricane Ryu, and Akira Ohashi have played kaiju in both and related franchises.[33][98] Keizō Murase and Masao Yagi[q] and Tōru Suzuki and Michio Mikami, who have previously participated in Godzilla and other Toho kaiju films and worked with Eiji Tsuburaya, and Akira Takahashi and Nori Maezawa founded the tokusatsu modelling company Ex Productions after Gamera, the Giant Monster, and Murase also founded another tokusatsu related company called 20Twenty afterward.[r] These companies contributed in various tokusatsu productions including non-Daiei franchises such as Godzilla and its related Zone Fighter, Ultraman, and Kamen Rider.[99]

## History

[edit]

See also: Daimajin and Yokai Monsters

Gamera, the Giant Monster (1965) Gamera vs. Barugon, the first colored film of the franchise which also yielded the Daimajin during the production and indirectly resulted in the creation of Daimon the vampire of Yokai Monsters.[105]

The Gamera film series is broken into three different eras, each reflecting a characteristic style and corresponding to the same eras used to classify all kaiju eiga (monster movies) in Japan. The names of the three eras refer to the Japanese emperor during production: the Shōwa era, the Heisei era, and the Reiwa era.

Since original 1965 film production and merchandising budgets of each film have been confined due to financial situations of Daiei Film and Tokuma Shoten[s] respectively, resulting in repeated copyright transfers of Daiei properties and limited productions overall, including cancellations of various projects and failed global expansions despite frequently featuring foreign casts in Shōwa films. Further declining public recognition of the character due to years of inactivity of the franchise and limited advertising expenses, where Gamera's heroic concept and irrelevance from Godzilla franchise were "forgotten" and new audience segments often viewed him as a mere, "corny" and "childish" imitation of Godzilla,[t] has negatively affected on box office results and made it more difficult for Tokuma Shoten and Kadokawa Corporation to restore the series along with other Daiei tokusatsu franchises such as Daimajin and Yokai Monsters.[7][8][11][53][107]

There have been several major hiatus in productions: one between Gamera vs. Zigra in 1971 and Gamera: Super Monster in 1980, followed by Gamera: Guardian of the Universe in 1995, Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris in 1999 followed by Gamera the Brave in 2006 and Gamera Rebirth in 2023.

The Daimajin, another iconic tokusatsu character by Daiei Film, was originally designed to be an antagonist for the second film, and its concept was fed back into both Daimajin and Barugon, the foe in the 1966 film Gamera vs. Barugon.[105] Daiei's yōkai films most notably the Yokai Monsters were also launched due to the success of the Gamera franchise, and productions of them and related later films such as Sakuya: Yôkaiden were largely influenced by Gamera and Daimajin series. Collaborations of the Daiei films with Shigeru Mizuki and Kazuo Umezu started because of Daiei's yōkai films and formed the "Yōkai Boom" together,[11][51] resulted in minor crossovers between Gamera and Daimajin and Shigeru Mizuki's GeGeGe no Kitarō series and Hiroshi Aramata's Teito Monogatari.[4][79][108][109]

Daiei Film, which was already at the brink of bankruptcy, somewhat recovered due to the unexpected success of the 1965 film, which was considered to be "cheap"[u], "being forced on Noriaki Yuasa as no one wanted", and "destined to flop",[11] and launched the above-mentioned Daimajin and Yokai Monsters, and these tokusatsu franchises gained popularity despite limited and continuously decreasing budgets and the decline of the "First Kaiju Boom".[8][108][109]

Villainous monsters since Gamera vs. Viras received their names from public submissions, and this was to draw public attention to compensate for limited advertising expenses.[25] Concepts for monsters' designs and abilities were also restricted due to budgets[v]; and film crews focused more on brutal melee fights to compensate for limited amounts of special effects.[53] Gamera vs. Zigra, the last film of the Showa continuity, was co-distributed with Nikkatsu due to the financial problems.[25]

The Gamera franchise solely supported Daiei Film until its bankruptcy, and Noriaki Yuasa destroyed suits of Gamera and other Showa kaiju and other models due to his frustration and distress when he heard about the bankruptcy of the company.[53][25]

Gamera: Super Monster, the first production by Tokuma Shoten, was not completely a new production as it relied on a number of stock footages. The direction to re-edit stock footages of former films was also influenced by budgetary problems and the success of the 1979 Ultraman video by Akio Jissoji, which contributed in the revival of the Tsuburaya Productions franchise.[w][11] Its box office result was not excellent partially due to the timing; kaiju genre in general stagnated between late 1970s and early 1980s where Toho ceased producing Godzilla films because of the box office result of Terror of Mechagodzilla in 1975.[8]

The Heisei Trilogy originally started as an attempt to revive either (or both of) the Daimajin and the Yokai Monsters by Tokuma Shoten where the project faced budgetary problems and higher popularity of Gamera was revealed,[110] while Tokuma Shoten and Kadokawa Corporation also aimed to revive the Daimajin along with the Gamera franchise respectively;[x][68] one in the late 1990s along with the Heisei Gamera Trilogy by starring Steven Seagal, the father of Ayako Fujitani who played Asagi Kusanagi, the human protagonist of the trilogy,[y][113] and another by Takashi Miike in late 2000s along with Gamera the Brave[11][111][114] while Miike made the Daimajin to appear in the 2018 film The Great Yokai War: Guardians where Gamera also made a cameo appearance within its spin-off novelization.[4] Daimajin Kanon was originally intended to be directed by Noriaki Yuasa and Mamoru Sasaki.[65]

Prior to the actual development of the trilogy, Niisan Takahashi wrote a script for a scrapped project in 1994 which later became the basis of the 1995 novelization Gamera vs. Phoenix.[67][48]

Financial vulnerability resulted in repeated avoidances from direct competitions against the Godzilla franchise, although there was a failed attempt to make a crossover in 2002, leading to the production of Gamera the Brave in 2006 due to Toho's temporal pause of Godzilla film productions since Godzilla: Final Wars.[11][53][68][69]

Ever since Gamera vs. Zigra which was co-distributed with Nikkatsu due to the financial problems,[25] the franchise has always relied on co-distributions as Daiei Film lost its theater chains after its bankruptcy, the Heisei trilogy was done so by Toho, so as Gamera the Brave by Shochiku, and Gamera Rebirth by Netflix. The Great Yokai War and The Great Yokai War: Guardians were also co-distributed by Shochiku and Toho. Heisei trilogy was distributed by Toho Western Films with much fewer theatres than Godzilla films, further declining box office results.[91]

### Influences of the Heisei Trilogy

[edit]

The Heisei Trilogy by Shusuke Kaneko, despite its limited budgets and distributions overall,[z][91] was highly acclaimed among audiences (partially because a number of hardcore kaiju (tokusatsu) fans at that time were dissatisfied with the Heisei Godzilla continuity) and filmmakers that they are often considered as some of best kaiju films ever made,[aa] and it greatly influenced entire tokusatsu genre afterward. However, there are pros and cons regarding the outcome of trilogy.[7][11]

The box office returns of Gamera: Guardian of the Universe, the first installation of the reboot by Tokuma Shoten in 1995, were also negatively affected by the Great Hanshin earthquake as the numbers of film theaters further declined and the scenes of destructions of buildings triggered PTSD of the earthquake victims.[ab][107] Continuation of the series after Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris was cancelled due to the overall box office result of the trilogy, partially due to declined public recognition of the franchise and limited advertising expenses and limited distributions,[91][107] and the struggle to produce sequels after depicting the titular heroic monster as an unintentional threat to humanity in the 1999 film, where the film plot such as a girl (child) to detest Gamera, and depictions of human casualties in the battles of Shibuya and Kyoto largely displeased Noriaki Yuasa and others; Yuasa noted "that (Heisei trilogy) is not Gamera films", and the draft by Shusuke Kaneko and Kazunori Itō for the sequel to portray Gamera to be a further threat was immediately turned down.[7][110] This plot was later used for the 2003 independent film, GAMERA 4-TRUTH by Shinpei Hayashiya.[116]

Kaneko noted that he was at one point almost dismissed during the production of the 1995 film[110] due to considerable disagreements between Kaneko and Itō against executives and Showa staffs to depict Gamera to be both an artificial and mechanical "living robot" and a threat to humanity without caring at all for humans, not even children,[ac] partially because Kaneko and Ito originally wanted to make the 1992 film Godzilla vs. Mothra instead of Gamera,[93] and wanted to "take revenge on with Gamera" while they and Shinji Higuchi always preferred Toho productions, and regarded the concept of Gamera to be rather absurd and "childish", especially his ability to fly and affinity to children, child protagonists, and being a turtle.[ad]

During the trilogy, Kaneko and Ito tried to exclude children completely from the plot, and also tried to depict human casualties by Gamera from the start, however executives and Showa staff didn't approve such ideas, and scenes to involve children were briefly inserted although such scenes mostly depicted children to be helpless "burdens" unlike Showa films, and human casualties were not featured until Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris.[11] The 1999 film instead situated a girl (child) named Ayana Hirasaka as one of central antagonists to detest Gamera, however she was again portrayed as a "burden" that her parents and pet cat named "Iris" were accidentally killed by Gamera because their evacuation from the battle between Gamera and a Gyaos was delayed due to Ayana's hospitalization, and she brings a mass destruction with her misdirected hatred for Gamera, and Gamera loses his right arm to save her.[ae] Especially the 1999 film intentionally avoided to appeal to child audiences, and the trilogy in general didn't contribute in increasing young audiences due to the difficulty of the plot, lack of points that children can empathize, and fearsome and gruesome scenes.[7][11] On the other hand, production of Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris was delayed and was intentionally designed as a horror because of box office results of 1995 and 1996 films, declined popularity of kaiju genre, and contrasting popularity of horror films among children at that time.[af][ag]

These aspects resulted in controversies, even among film crews of the Heisei trilogy,[107] and a disapproval of it, especially Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris, by a number of executives and Showa staff where Tokuma Shoten's revenues were also reduced due to the intercompany treaty with Nippon TV and Hakuhodo to achieve Kaneko's demand to increase budgets.[107] Parts of two previous films in the trilogy, such as Gamera's origin as an artificial lifeform, the depiction of Gamera doing damage to Fukuoka in the 1995 film, and the "Ultimate Plasma" technique in Gamera 2: Attack of Legion, were also controversial, but were eventually approved.[ah] The plot of Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris and Gamera's depictions within the film partially followed those original ideas by Kaneko and Itō and Shinji Higuchi, while some of the originally cancelled depictions of Gamera for the 1995 film, such as his intimidating appearance and the ability to transform his arms into flippers during flights, were partially approved in Gamera 2: Attack of Legion. As above mentioned, the 2003 independent film GAMERA 4-TRUTH re-used the plot of cancelled "G4" in which Gamera no longer protects humanity and causes tremendous collateral damages to exterminate remnants of Gyaos. Kaneko, who dislikes the concepts of Showa Gamera, is aware of criticisms against him, however he in return criticized the concept of Gamera the Brave and advocated the superiority of the Heisei Trilogy.[7][110]

The 1999 documentary film GAMERA 1999 by Hideaki Anno focused on ruptures among film crews, even between Kaneko and Higuchi. Kaneko described that the documentary film was a harassment by one of producers to target Kaneko by using Anno.

Ironically, the popularity of the Heisei Trilogy indirectly triggered another setback for the franchise. Sequels after Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris potentially up to "G5" or more were cancelled, due to the plot for Gamera to become a threat,[110] and the 2006 film Gamera the Brave. The 2006 film, which was released during a "winter" of kaiju genre (akin to the situation of Gamera: Super Monster) since Godzilla: Final Wars in 2004,[11] was the first reboot attempt by Kadokawa Corporation reusing the original scripts of the 1995 film which aimed to restore the basis of the franchise,[ai] with a slogan to "return Gamera to children". It was also aimed to avoid "standards" of kaiju films akin to Showa films, partially due to a slump of kaiju genre itself and the success of Heisei Mothra trilogy and Helen the Baby Fox, which also collaborated in distribution of the 2006 Gamera film, and Rex: A Dinosaur's Story.[7][11][65]

However the 2006 film was generally not well-accepted by fans of the Heisei trilogy, but it was more welcomed by children and female audiences,[7][65] resulting in the commercial failure of the film and cancellation of its sequels and other subsequent productions such as (one or two) anime(s) by Cartoon Network and Yoshitomo Yonetani,[119][120] Gamera 3D,[63] and one or more presumed reboot attempt(s) in 2010s,[89][90][49] and the franchise was again in a period of inactivity until the 2023 Netflix series Gamera Rebirth.[aj]

### Shōwa era (1965–1980)

[edit]

#### Daiei Film

[edit]

The film series began in 1965 with Gamera, the Giant Monster, directed by Noriaki Yuasa, which is the first and only entry in the entire series to be shot in black-and-white. To date, it is the only film to be released theatrically in the United States; however, it was heavily edited, dubbed and retitled Gammera the Invincible.[123] In the United States, Gamera attained prominence during the 1970s due to the burgeoning popularity of UHF television stations featuring Saturday afternoon matinée showcases such as Creature Double Feature,[124] and later in the 1990s, when five Gamera films were featured on the television series Mystery Science Theater 3000.

A total of seven Gamera films were produced between 1965 and 1971, with one being released in Japan each year. These films, several of which were also directed by Yuasa, became popular with child audiences. During this time, five of the seven films were picked up for television distribution in the United States by American International Television. Just as Gamera, the Giant Monster becoming Gammera the Invincible, each film (except for Gamera vs. Zigra) was dubbed into English and re-titled for American viewers—Gamera vs. Barugon became War of the Monsters;[125] Gamera vs. Gyaos became Return of the Giant Monsters;[126] Gamera vs. Viras became Destroy All Planets;[127] Gamera vs. Guiron became Attack of the Monsters;[128] and Gamera vs. Jiger became Gamera vs. Monster X.[129]

Despite several sources stating that a monster called Garasharp was to appear in the eighth entry in the Gamera series slated for a 1972 release,[130][131][132] director Noriaki Yuasa stated that Garasharp was created specifically for the short film Gamera vs. Garasharp featured on the 1991 LD set, Gamera Permanent Preservation Plan,[133] and that a new two-headed monster was planned for the next film,[134] which was canceled because Daiei Film went into bankruptcy in 1971 and the Gamera films ceased production as a result.[130][135]

Niisan Takahashi later published a revised graphic novel of Gamera vs. Garasharp illustrated by Yutaka Kondo, known for his illustrations of kaiju and other fictional characters for the Kūsō Kagaku Dokuhon series,[66] and it was recorded in the 1995 CD-ROM of Gamera, the Giant Monster. This edition depicted Garasharp with a different appearance and the ability to emit electricity.[136]

#### Tokuma Shoten

[edit]

After Daiei was purchased by Tokuma Shoten in 1974, the new management wanted to produce another Gamera film, resulting in Gamera: Super Monster (also known as Space Monster Gamera), released in 1980. The filmmakers were forced to make the movie because of the contract for one more Gamera film that they owed to Daiei. Approximately one-third of Gamera: Super Monster is composed of stock footage from six of the previous seven films.[137] Yuasa had Takahashi end the film by having Gamera be presumably killed by sacrificing his life to save Earth, while the later-published manga by Hurricane Ryu depicted that Gamera was artificially resurrected.[33]

In 1985, the American distribution rights to the Gamera films were bought by producer Sandy Frank, who distributed five of the eight films with new English dubbing.[138] In 1988 and 1989, Frank's versions of Gamera, the Giant Monster (simply re-titled Gamera),[17] Gamera vs. Barugon, Gamera vs. Gyaos (re-titled Gamera vs. Gaos), Gamera vs. Guiron, and  Gamera vs. Zigra were each used in episodes of the television program Mystery Science Theater 3000, during the show's first season, which aired on KTMA-TV.[17][138][139]

### Heisei era (1995–2015)

[edit]

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (November 2022)

|

#### Tokuma Shoten

[edit]

In the 1995 series reboot by Tokuma Shoten, Gamera: Guardian of the Universe, three Gyaos are discovered on a remote island. The Japanese government discovers that they are all female and decides that since they are the last of their kind, they should be captured and studied. Meanwhile, scientists search for a moving atoll in the Pacific. When the atoll is located, small gems made of an unknown metal are discovered on it, as well as a stone that protrudes from the center of the island. The scientists take pictures and collect some of the strange gems, but the stone crumbles and the atoll moves off towards Japan at high speeds. The atoll is found to be an ancient monster of Atlantean origin called Gamera. He attacks the Gyaos; two are killed, but one escapes. The remaining Gyaos grows to Gamera-like proportions and returns to resume the battle. Gamera defeats this foe and heads out to sea.

In Gamera 2: Attack of Legion, released in 1996, Gamera defends the Earth from attacks by an alien force known as Legion.

In Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris, released in 1999, Gamera has to face hordes of Gyaos Hyper and a new foe known as Iris which is a subspecies of Gyaos. Shusuke Kaneko originally wanted to end the film with Gamera's victory against the swarms of Gyaos, however his idea was cancelled partially due to budgetary problems.[107]

#### Kadokawa Corporation

[edit]

In Gamera the Brave, the first reboot attempt by Kadokawa Corporation released in 2006, Gamera (Avant Gamera and Toto) battles a flock of Original Gyaos and Zedus, a mutant kaiju under the influence of Gyaos.[42] It was initially intended to be a crossover with Godzilla, and the company also initiated reboot attempts of Daimajin and Yokai Monsters, and the 2005 film The Great Yokai War was produced.[7][53][68][69] Afterward the 2006 film, subsequent productions such as animes were cancelled.[119][120]

In March 2014, Anime News Network reported that a new Gamera production was planned, with no release date specified.[90]

At the New York Comic Con held in October 2015, Kadokawa Daiei Studio's senior managing director Tsuyoshi Kikuchi and producer Shinichiro Inoue screened a full proof-of-concept film in honor of the franchise's 50th anniversary; the short was directed by Katsuhito Ishii and its music was composed by Kenji Kawai.[49][50] The proof-of-concept film featured a newly designed Gamera, a swarm of newly designed Gyaos and a new, as yet unnamed monster, all of which were created and rendered through the use of computer-generated imagery.[140][141][142] It has been rumored since the film's showing at New York Comic Con that it was never completed. However, the film's official website[143] and an interview with the director both state that it was only a short proof of concept film. However, Inoue was actually trying to reboot the franchise with a new film.[49]

### Reiwa era (2023)

[edit]

Main article: Gamera Rebirth

An anime series, titled Gamera Rebirth, was released globally on Netflix in 2023.[144][145] A number of references to previous films and scrapped projects were made.[3] For example, designs of Gamera and Gyaos and the scene for Gamera to shoot down a flock of smaller Gyaos with his fireball in the first episode are reused from the 2015 short film, and Katsuhito Ishii was credited as the designer of Gamera.[3] It yet again suffers insufficiency in budget; it features poorly done 3D models for humans, and lacks an opening animation which is a common feature of Japanese anime.[146][147] While crews are willing to produce additional seasons, the future of the series is uncertain.[3]

## Filmography

[edit]

### Films

[edit]

No.  | Title  | Year  | Director(s)  | Monster co-star(s)  | Licenses

|
|
|
|
|

Shōwa era (1965–1980)
1  |

Gamera, the Giant Monster

| 1965  | Noriaki Yuasa | None  | Arrow Video[148]
2  |

Gamera vs. Barugon

| 1966  | Shigeo Tanaka | Barugon
3  |

Gamera vs. Gyaos

| 1967  | Noriaki Yuasa  | Gyaos
4  |

Gamera vs. Viras

| 1968  | Viras
5  |

Gamera vs. Guiron

| 1969  | Guiron, Space Gyaos
6  |

Gamera vs. Jiger

| 1970  | Jiger, Jiger's baby
7  |

Gamera vs. Zigra

| 1971  | Zigra
8  |

Gamera: Super Monster

| 1980  | Gyaos, Zigra, Viras, Jiger, Guiron, and Barugon
Heisei era (1995–2006)
9  |

Gamera: Guardian of the Universe

| 1995  | Shusuke Kaneko | Gyaos  | Arrow Video[148]
10  |

Gamera 2: Attack of Legion

| 1996  | Legion
11  |

Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris

| 1999  | Iris, Gyaos Hyper[149]
12  |

Gamera the Brave

| 2006  | Ryuta Tasaki | Original Gyaos,[150] Zedus

### Original net animation

[edit]

Title  | Director(s)  | Year  | Eps  | Ref(s)

|
|
|
|

Gamera Rebirth | Hiroyuki Seshita  | 2023 | 6  | [151]

### Short film

[edit]

Title  | Director(s)  | Year  | Eps  | Ref(s)

|
|
|
|

GAMERA | Katsuhito Ishii | 2015 | 6  | [50]

### Documentary

[edit]

Title  | Director(s)  | Year  | Eps  | Ref(s)

|
|
|
|

GAMERA 1999 | Hideaki Anno | 1999 | 6  | [152]

## Other media

[edit]

### Home media

[edit]

In 2003, Alpha Video released the American versions of four Shōwa films on pan and scan DVDs: Gammera the Invincible,[153][154] Gamera vs. Barugon (as War of the Monsters),[155] Gamera vs. Viras (as Destroy All Planets)[156] and Gamera vs. Guiron (as Attack of the Monsters).[157]

In 2010, Shout! Factory acquired the rights from Kadokawa Pictures for all eight of the Showa Gamera films in order to release the uncut Japanese versions on DVD for the first time ever in North America. These "Special Edition" DVDs were released in sequential order, starting with Gamera, the Giant Monster on May 18, 2010, followed by Gamera vs. Barugon and two double features: Gamera vs. Gyaos with Gamera vs. Viras, and Gamera vs. Guiron with Gamera vs. Jiger. On March 15, 2011, Shout! Factory released the last two films of the Showa series in a double feature of Gamera vs. Zigra with Gamera: Super Monster. Shout! Factory later released MST3K vs. Gamera, a special 21st volume of Mystery Science Theater 3000 containing the episodes featuring all five Gamera movies from the show's third season.

On April 29, 2014, Mill Creek Entertainment released the eight Showa Gamera films (1965–1980) on Blu-ray in two volumes, Gamera: The Ultimate Collection Volume 1 and Gamera: The Ultimate Collection Volume 2, featuring the original widescreen video and original Japanese audio only with English subtitles, and also the first 11 films (1965–1999) on DVD again as The Gamera Legacy Collection: 1965 - 1999, also featuring the original widescreen video and original Japanese audio only with English subtitles.[158] The Heisei trilogy was re-released on Blu-ray earlier from Mill Creek Entertainment on September 27, 2011, once again featuring the original widescreen video and original Japanese audio only with English subtitles.

On August 17, 2020, Arrow Video released a Blu-ray box set titled Gamera: The Complete Collection. The set features the original Japanese cuts for all 12 films, with English audio options; the Blu-ray debut of Gammera the Invincible and War of the Monsters; digital HD transfers and 4K restorations of the Heisei trilogy; case artwork by Matt Frank; audio commentaries by August Ragone, David Kalat, Steve Ryfle, Ed Godziszewski, Sean Rhoads, and Brooke McCorkle; a full color hardcover reprint of Dark Horse Comics' four-issue comic book miniseries Gamera the Guardian of the Universe; the English-language printing debut of the comic book story Gamera: The Last Hope by Matt Frank and Joshua Bugosh; and an 80-page book featuring a retrospective on the series by Patrick Macias with illustrations by Jolyon Yates.[148]

### Comics

[edit]

The first issue of the comic book miniseries Gamera the Guardian of the Universe by Dark Horse Comics

Dark Horse Comics published a four-issue miniseries based on Gamera called Gamera the Guardian of the Universe in 1996.[159] The miniseries features Gamera, Gyaos, Zigra, and Viras.[160][161][162][163] The manga series Dr. Slump, written and illustrated by Akira Toriyama, depicts Gamera as appearing in the land of Penguin Village.[164] Gajira "Gatchan" Norimaki's name is also a reference to Gamera.[80] In the manga series Dragon Ball, also by Toriyama, a flying turtle which resembles a smaller version of Gamera is summoned by Master Roshi to carry him to Fire Mountain.[76] There are references to Gamera in chapters of the manga series Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Kōen-mae Hashutsujo, written and illustrated by Osamu Akimoto, and Kinnikuman, created by Yudetamago. These chapters appear in Gamera: Super Monster, the eighth film in the franchise.[165]

### Television

[edit]

The first, local TV season of Mystery Science Theater 3000 includes five episodes which each feature a film from the Gamera franchise's Shōwa period: Gamera, the Giant Monster, Gamera vs. Barugon, Gamera vs. Gyaos, Gamera vs. Guiron, and Gamera vs. Zigra. The same five films were re-used in the show's third national season.[166][167] The thirteenth season of the show also contains an episode that features Gamera vs. Jiger. In a similar manner to events depicted in the manga series upon which it was based, the anime television series Dragon Ball features a creature known as Baby Gamera, a flying turtle resembling a miniature version of Gamera which transports Master Roshi to Fire Mountain.[168][169] Gamera was parodied in the South Park episode "Mecha-Streisand",[170] and was featured in the Simpsons episode "Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo".[171]

An anime series, titled Gamera Rebirth, was released on Netflix in 2023.[144][145]

Gamera made several appearances in the tokusatsu program series Sailor Fight in 1995 and 1996. Noriaki Yuasa directed a related 1996 video Cosplay Warrior Cutie Knight, and Hurricane Ryu who was also working for the 1994 manga Giant Monster Gamera played Gamera for it.[98]

### Video games

[edit]

Gamera appeared in several video games released in 1995, including Gamera: Daikaiju Kuchu Kessen for the Game Boy,[172] Gamera: Gyaosu Gekimetsu Sakusen for the Super Famicom,[173] and Gamera: The Time Adventure for the Bandai Playdia.[174] In 1997, Gamera 2000 was released exclusively in Japan for the PlayStation.[175] In 2017, Gamera appeared in the video game City Shrouded in Shadow, released for the PlayStation 4, alongside such characters as Legion, Godzilla, Ultraman, and Evangelion Unit-01.[176][177]

Additional collaborations have been made with The Tower II,[178] Symphogear XD Unlimited,[179] Godzilla Battle Line,[73] and so on.

## Reception

[edit]

### Box office performance and critical response

[edit]

Many of the Gamera films were commercially successful in Japan, rivaling the Godzilla franchise at the box office during the 1960s.[22] However, they were commonly regarded as being inferior to the Godzilla films, with criticism being aimed at the derivative and absurd nature of the series.[180] Despite this, the 1995 reboot Gamera: Guardian of the Universe was both a critical and financial success, remaining in the top 10 films in Japan for its first six weeks of release and grossing more than Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla, which was also playing in Japanese theaters at that time.[180]

### Legacy

[edit]

Todd McCarthy, in his review of Gamera: Guardian of the Universe for Variety, wrote that "Despite its horrific countenance and plated shell, Gamera remains one of the most likable of all movie monsters".[181] Brian Solomon of the website Bloody Disgusting ranked Gamera eighth on his list of "Most Kick-Ass Giant Monsters in Movie History".[182] Gamera was also ranked eighth on Rick Mele of Sharp's list of "Greatest Giant Monsters in Movie History".[183] Chris Coffel of Film School Rejects wrote that "I would argue that the Gamera franchise is better than the Godzilla franchise", complimenting Gamera's turtle-like design and his affinity for children.[184] Ken Watanabe noted that he prefers Gamera to Godzilla despite playing a major role in MonsterVerse films.[185] Guillermo del Toro noted that Gamera, the Giant Monster is one of favorite kaiju films.[186] Several authors such as Hiro Arikawa[187] and Jeremy Robinson and Kōhei Horikoshi noted that Gamera is one of their favorite kaiju and had influences on their works such as Nemesis Saga and My Hero Academia.[188][189] Atsuji Yamamoto noted that Gamera was one of inspiration sources for his images of protagonists of his works.[190] Hideaki Anno and Hajime Isayama also drew inspirations from Gyaos for their images of angels and titans in Neon Genesis Evangelion and Attack on Titan respectively where Anno directed the above-mentioned 1999 documentary GAMERA 1999, and Shinji Higuchi directed the live-action film adaptation of Attack on Titan.[191][192] Several authors such as Kō Machida and Yoshiki Shibata have also published original stories of Gyaos.[78][193]

Showa Gamera staffs were involved in the production of the 1967 South Korean-Japanese film Yongary, Monster from the Deep, and the titular monster Yonggary bears several resembrances to Gamera such as to breathe traditional non-atomic fire and favors a song and dance with it.[194]

The Heisei Gamera Trilogy is widely applauded both by film makers and audiences in Japan, and Keiichi Hasegawa remarked that it had a great impact on tokusatsu works afterwards especially the Ultraman and the Kamen Rider franchises, and several important tokusatsu techniques were created by the trilogy while expertise and connections from previous Ultraman works including a scrapped Ultra Q project by Kaneko and Kazunori Itō and Shinji Higuchi,[11] Ultraman 80, and Ultraman Powered in return influenced the Heisei Gamera Trilogy where Showa staffs such as Noriaki Yuasa participated in the production of Ultraman 80.[53] Digimon Tamers and Ultraman Tiga were re-developed from the original scripts of Gamera: Guardian of the Universe by Chiaki J. Konaka and Kazuya Konaka and Yoshikazu Okada[110] which also became the basis for Gamera the Brave.[7] As above mentioned, several Godzilla films have been pointed out to be influenced by Heisei Gamera Trilogy, and GMK and Shin Godzilla were directed by Shusuke Kaneko and Shinji Higuchi.[58][59][57] Kaneko acknowledges the similarities between Heisei Gamera Trilogy and MonsterVerse series,[58] and the scrapped Gamera project "Gamera 3D" which was the successor of "Godzilla 3D" by Yoshimitsu Banno served as one of predecessors of MonsterVerse.[63][195][64] Higuchi also adapted his experiences and miniature models from the Heisei Gamera Trilogy for his 2012 short film Giant God Warrior Appears in Tokyo where Daiei franchises and Studio Ghibli were owned by Tokuma Shoten at that time.[7] A popular television series How Do You Like Wednesday? is also strongly influenced by the trilogy.[196][197]

As above mentioned, numerous media globally have references to the franchise. Such examples are; Godzilla franchise,[95][96][97] Ultraman,[83][198] Ultra Q,[199] Love & Peace,[200] Pokémon,[201] Bowser from the Mario series,[202][203] Super Smash Bros.,[204] Digimon,[205] The Legend of Zelda,[206] Castlevania and its parody Kid Dracula[207] Mega Man,[208] World of Warcraft,[209] Final Fantasy XIV,[210] Dragon Quest,[211] Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game,[212] Xenoblade Chronicles X,[213] King of Tokyo,[214] Naruto: Ultimate Ninja,[215] Palworld,[216] and many other video games,[204] Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,[217] Dragon Ball and Dr. Slump franchizes,[76][80] The Simpsons,[77] South Park,[218] Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,[219] Justice League Unlimited,[220] Green Lantern,[221][222] Frankenweenie,[223] Gintama,[224] My Hero Academia,[189] Franklin,[225] The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy,[226] Yakitate!! Japan,[227] Sgt. Frog,[228] Gunbuster,[229] Devilman,[230] Lucky Star,[231] Megas XLR,[232] Detective Conan,[81] Jumbo Monster GOMERA,[82] Megatokyo,[233] Usagi Yojimbo,[234] Welcome to My Life,[235] Voltes V: Legacy,[236][237] Pacific Rim Uprising,[238] Mountain Dew Code Red,[239] and many others. Other cases include companies[240][241] and songs such as Gamera by Tortoise and Paragraph President by Blackalicious[242] feature Gamera in their names or lyrics.

Gamera and his foes' roars were used in various other media such as Godzilla,[94] Fireman,[243][244] GeGeGe no Kitarō,[245] Pokémon,[246] Yu-Gi-Oh!,[247] Aura Battler Dunbine,[248] Chargeman Ken!,[249] and so on.

November 27 is publicly referred to as "Gamera Day" (Japanese: ガメラの日, Hepburn: Gamera no Hi) in Japan as the first film was released on the day in 1965.[89][250][251] Akira Ohashi, who played Gamera and Iris in the Heisei Trilogy and also worked for related works including GMK and Nezura 1964, noted the coincidence that the day is also the birthday of Bruce Lee where Ohashi was inspired by Bruce Lee for his acting of Gamera in the Heisei Trilogy.[252]

Chōfu features Gamera and Daimajin along with characters from Shigeru Mizuki's GeGeGe no Kitarō and Akuma-kun as symbols where there have been several minor-crossovers between these franchises,[4][79][253][254][118] and an official mascot character named Gachora (Japanese: ガチョラ, Hepburn: Gachora) was designed after Gamera.[20]

The extinct Cretaceous sinemyidid turtle with long spines on its carapace, Sinemys gamera, classified in 1993, was named after Gamera.[255] The extinct Cretaceous baenid turtle Gamerabaena sonsalla, classified in 2010, was named after Gamera.[256] A specimen of Nodosauridae was also nicknamed after the kaiju.[257]

The University of Maryland Gamera I human-powered helicopter, along with its successor, was named after Gamera.[258] Developed by University of Maryland engineering students in 2011 and 2012, respectively, the name was also chosen in reference to the university's mascot, the diamondback terrapin, as well as to flights undertaken by Japanese human-powered helicopters years prior.[258]

In July 2011, Washington State University veterinarians successfully fixed a prosthetic caster onto an African spurred tortoise named Gamera (after the giant turtle), who was a single amputee[259][260][261] where Avant Gamera and Toto in Gamera the Brave were designed after African spurred tortoise.[262]

J/FPS-5, an early-warning radar of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force is often referred as "Gamera Radar" (Japanese: ガメラレーダー, Hepburn: Gamera Rēdā) due to its shape somewhat resembling a turtle shell.[263]

Naoyuki "Gyaos" Naitō, a TV personality who was formerly a baseball player and a manager, took his stage name from Gyaos, the most recurring foe of Gamera of the series.[264] The comedy troupe "Gyaos" which was later renamed to "Denshamichi", presumably took its name from Naitō as the comedians focused on baseball topics.[265] Similarly, Kazuhiro "Daimajin" Sasaki was nicknamed after the Daimajin, the character redeveloped from the Gamera franchise,[105][266] where Chikara Hashimoto, who portrayed the Daimajin and Daimon the vampiric demon in Yokai Monsters and related productions,[267] was also a baseball player and also co-acted with above-mentioned Bruce Lee in the 1972 film Fist of Fury.[268][269] Hashimoto was also appointed for other monsters and yokai films most notably Gamera vs. Viras and The Whale God (Killer Whale) where the latter presumably influenced the Dai-kaiju, the right whale-based kaiju with an alias of the "Whale God", from GeGeGe no Kitarō franchise.[270]

## See also

[edit]

* Daimajin
* Yokai Monsters
* Nezura
* The Whale God
* Yonggary

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Zedus appeared in the 2006 film Gamera the Brave was originally designed to be a cephalopod monster where its title "Sea Demon Beast" (Japanese: 海魔獣, Hepburn: Kaimajū) closely resembles Dakora's title "Giant Sea Demon" (Japanese: 大海魔, Hepburn: Daikaima).[11]
2. ^ In the official collaborated short anime between Gamera Rebirth and Odekake Kozame, Gamera, Kozame-chan, the titular character of the manga series, and a pigeon enjoyed rice balls.[24]
3. ^ Gamera vs. Barugon, which was the only Showa film being not directed by Noriaki Yuasa and did not involve children at all, depicted Gamera as an antihero in general, however it was originally planned to insert a scene for Gamera to save people from Barugon's freezing breath.
4. ^ Humanity feared and mistook Gamera as a threat for several factors; his tremendous size and intimidating appearance and fighting capabilities, supernatural biology, his approach to humanity because of his affinity for children and his intention to save humans in dangers, and his appetite for thermal and electric energies which are also vital for humanity. At one point, Gamera visited the Arctic to save children in danger, and he tried to feed on energy sources of the Arctic section of the Atlantis because of his disfavor of coldness and lack of volcanoes nearby, however the civilization took him as a threat for their energy sources, but failed to drive him away because of his abilities and his fondness of thermal energy of weapons. Therefore the civilization instead made him to forcefully hibernate by luring him to an ice field and entrapped him underneath an ice sheet, and imminent cooling of the planet also functioned to confine him. Demonization of Gamera by the Inuit was escalated due to the loss of his information by Atlanteans after the demise of the Atlantis. This incident may have resulted in Gamera's ferocity in early films because of uncontrollable starvation and confusion although his intention was not to attack humanity but to feed on their energies, and the protagonist boy in the 1965 film kept claiming that Gamera is not villainous but has been misunderstood by humanity. Gamera's uncontrollable appetite was gradually satisfied, and he regained his natural calmness as the films progressed.[25]
5. ^ Both Gamera and Gyaos in the 2006 film are 30 to 35 meters in body heights.[11] The original scripts for the 1995 film depicted that Gamera and Gyaos, who were respective guardians of ancient civilizations in hostility, hatched from artifact-like eggs discovered from ancient underwater ruins and instantly grow to 1 meters to 8 to 10 meters, and eventually become over 20 to 25 meters, akin to the size growth of Toto in the 2006 film.[7][11]
6. ^ Zedus also bears remembrances to Godzilla in the 1998 American film; both are mutated reptiles from Pacific islands, and are agile enough to leap up and climb modern buildings.[42][11] Both Gamera the Brave and the cancelled sequel of Godzilla by TriStar Pictures feature civilians protecting the titular monsters from military forces at the end of each respective film.[70] According to Tomoo Haraguchi, many of early designs of Zedus coincidentally resembled MUTO in MonsterVerse series by Legendary Pictures which made its debut in 2014.[71]
7. ^ Later mentioned Hideaki Anno was involved in Daicon III, and Daicon Films (Gainax) produced the 1985 fan film Yamata no Orochi no Gyakushū, the first kaiju career of Shinji Higuchi.
8. ^ Kaneko received permission from both Kadokawa and Shōgo Tomiyama for this scene; however, due to copyright issues, the scene was removed from the DVD release.
9. ^ Gamera, the Giant Monster depicted the titular monster to being awoken with a nuclear explosion in the Arctic who later destroys a lighthouse, akin to The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms. There also exist minor references to King Kong, such as relationships between titular monsters and humans and pets.[25]
10. ^ According to Keizō Murase, Toho's techniques were secretly used in Gappa: The Triphibian Monster and The X from Outer Space and other productions (except for Gamera and other Daiei franchises). Film makers were suspicious of Tsuburaya's involvements to these non-Daiei productions because of sudden increases of non-Toho kaiju productions after Gamera, the Giant Monster, despite the only non-Toho tokusatsu film of that time before the 1965 Gamera film to feature gigantic creature was Daiei Film's The Whale God (Killer Whale) in 1962.[53]
11. ^ The Whale God was written by Kōichirō Uno, and Kōichirō Uno's Wet and Swinging was the first career of Shusuke Kaneko as a film director.[65] Fuminori Ohashi and Ryosaku Takayama co-participated in The Whale God, and Ohashi lessoned Takayama for Tsuburaya Productions's Ultra Q after The Whale God.[87]
12. ^ Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris had presumably tried to insert a reference to the 1962 film for Gamera to briefly interact with a cow-calf pair of North Pacific right whales.[7] Additionally, the 1995 book, in which Noriaki Yuasa and Niisan Takahashi and Masao Yagi participated, features a scenario based on a scrapped film due to the bankruptcy of Daiei Film for Gamera and Whale God along with Pairan and Nezura and some resurrected kaiju to protect the Earth.[25]
13. ^ During the production of the 1965 film, Noriaki Yuasa and others "became fond of" Gamera, therefore they decided not to kill him and developed a friendly side of him. A number of filmmakers and audiences initially did not favor the idea of Gamera becoming a hero, as kaiju were generally regarded to be fearsome beings at that time.[11]
14. ^ Gamera's characteristics to be a hero who protects humanity and animals, his non-faunal food sources, and his liking of light and nuclear explosions were also designed to differ from Godzilla having a hatred for humanity, man-made lights, and nuclear explosions.[25]
15. ^ Filmmakers focused on how not to bore child audiences, and scenes depicting Gamera performing bizarre behaviors such as acrobatic and musical acts, and daily life of people, such as having meals, were also inserted to attract attentions of children.[53]
16. ^ The Heisei Godzilla continuity was originally scheduled to end with Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II in 1993,[88] corresponding with the timing of launch of Gamera: Guardian of the Universe.[7]
17. ^ His father Kanju and uncle Yasuei participated in various Godzilla and Mothra films.[99][100][101][102] Masao's sons Tsutomu and Hiroshi have also participated in the Ex Productions and Gamera and Godzilla productions.[103]
18. ^ Keizō Murase's sons Fumitsugu and Naoto have also participated in the 20Twenty, and Fumitsugu later founded another tokusatsu company named Frees.[104]
19. ^ Tokuma Shoten's debt reached ¥130 billion in 2001 due to the bursting of the Japanese asset price bubble, and the death of the founder Yasuyoshi Tokuma in 2000 resulted in disposals of business rights of various properties afterward including Daiei Film and Studio Ghibli.[106] Tokuma Shoten couldn't afford entire budgets for the trilogy since the beginning, where Tokuma Shoten originally presented ¥5 million for the 1995 film, however Shusuke Kaneko strongly demanded to rise it to at least ¥6 million, therefore Nippon TV and Hakuhodo co-funded the production and revenues for Tokuma Shoten was further restricted due to this treaty.[107]
20. ^ In comparison to Godzilla and other Toho monsters, Gamera's motif itself (turtle) was often viewed "corny" by a number of new audience segments including children, and this tendency didn't help the recovery of the franchise.[39]
21. ^ Gamera, the Giant Monster was black-and-white due to budgetary problems unlike Toho productions such as Mothra vs. Godzilla and Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster in 1964, and Invasion of Astro-Monster in 1965.
22. ^ Kaiju were designed to reduce staffs for practical effect unlike some of Toho kaiju such as King Ghidorah. Offensive abilities of kaiju, such as acidic mucus of Viras were scrapped, however Gamera's non-spinning flight style was instead invented to reduce filming costs.[53]
23. ^ Akio Jissoji later directed the 1990 Ultra Q movie (jp) based on the scrapped project by Shusuke Kaneko and Kazunori Ito and Shinji Higuchi; it was one of predecessors of the Heisei Gamera trilogy that Kaneko and Ito reused some of their ideas of the Ultra Q project for the Heisei Gamera trilogy.[7][11]
24. ^ According to Takashi Miike, Daimajin is more difficult to revive due to his size; unlike gigantic kaiju, Daimajin is designed to directly interact with humans, therefore requiring expensive, large-scaled, life-sized models and props.[111]
25. ^ The script was written by Yasutaka Tsutsui and Katsuhiro Otomo, and was later published as a novelization.[112]
26. ^ Budgets of Gamera: Guardian of the Universe in 1995 was $4.5 million, followed by Gamera 2: Attack of Legion ($5 million) in 1996 and Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris ($7 million) in 1999.[115] Budgets of Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla in 1994 and Godzilla vs. Destoroyah in 1995 were $10 million.
27. ^ Gamera: Guardian of the Universe and Gamera 2: Attack of Legion were first kaiju films to win the Seiun Award, and the latter was the first film to win the Nihon SF Taisho Award.[7]
28. ^ Staffs from Toho took Kaneko to some of damaged areas by the earthquake before the release of Gamera: Guardian of the Universe.
29. ^ Kazunori Itō described their original concept of Gamera including the design for the 1995 film was even more indifferent than in Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris that Gamera doesn't care damaging humanity like "how humans see ants", and they originally intended Gamera to emit mechanical sounds and bioluminescence, and to perform machine-like abilities such as shapeshifting and energy shield.[7][110]
30. ^ All of Kaneko and Ito and Highuchi didn't feel attached to Gamera and saw the franchise as childish and absurd and not rich in "property values". However, they were indeed startled by the popularity of Showa Gamera among their own film crews (and their oppositions against disrespecting Showa Gamera), who applied for the productions of the trilogy for their affinities to Showa Gamera. Kaneko and Ito and Higuchi were repeatedly troubled with this, and secretly called those film crews "Secret Gamera" (隠れガメラ Kakure Gamera).[107] Kaneko and Ito thought that human characters calling Gamera a "turtle" may disrupt seriousness, partially because Gamera's name is directly delivered from Japanese word "kame" to represent turtles, and turtle as a motif has also negatively affected for the popularity of the character,[39] therefore decided to set up an interpretation of the trilogy that either turtles and tortoises don't exist at all or went extinct along with dinosaurs.[7][110][107]
31. ^ Gamera to sacrifice his arm for Ayana was intended as an atonement for killing her parents and Iris the cat.[7] The idea of Gamera to lose his arm was originally inspired by the 1972 film One-Armed Boxer.[71]
32. ^ As above mentioned, Gamera, due to declined public recognition, has often been viewed as a "corny" (for being a turtle) and "childish" imitation of Godzilla even among children, and the kaiju genre itself was considered childish among many children at that time,[39] and there had been multiple other factors to restrict box office results of the Heisei trilogy.[107] Ironically, this direction for the 1999 film instead shunned children who originally loved Gamera.[11]
33. ^ For the popularity of horror films, Ring and Ghosts at School series directly influenced the production of "G3";[39] Kaneko directed the 1997 film Ghosts at School 2, and the Ring franchise is a Kadokawa property where Yukie Nakama who appeared in the 1999 Gamera film (as a victim of Iris to turn into a mummy) has also played Sadako Yamamura in Ring 0: Birthday in 2000, Gamera and Daimajin and Kitarō (GeGeGe no Kitarō) and Sadako and Kayako Saeki and Toshio Saeki co-appeared in USO MAKOTO Yōkai Hyaku Monogatari where Iris was also directly mentioned,[79] and the 2022 film Sadako DX by Hisashi Kimura was instead influenced by "G2" where Kimura has participated in both films, and a DVD of "G2" was briefly represented in the Sadako film.[117] There has also been occasions for sculptures of Gamera and Daimajin and Kitarō and Sadako to be exhibited together in Chōfu, and some film makers such as Kenji Kawai have participated in both franchises.[49][118]
34. ^ A number of executives and Showa staffs were strongly against the idea of kaiju as bioengineered weapons or "living robots" because they felt it would decline mystic aspects of kaiju, characters as creatures, and superiority as uncontrollable and powerful beings beyond humanity. However, Kaneko and Ito were dissatisfied with Gamera's illogical biology especially his flight capabilities. A number of disagreements including this resulted in Kaneko's near dismissal during the 1995 film production. On the contrary, Kaneko and Higuchi actually hesitated to use the non-biological "Ultimate Plasma" technique for "G2", however they prioritized the necessity to introduce new special attacks therefore "Ultimate Plasma" and "Vanishing Fist" were introduced respectively in "G2" and "G3".[7][110]
35. ^ Gamera to be the friend and guardian of children, and children play significant roles to help Gamera, and Toto was clearly designed to contrast to the design of Gamera in "G3".[11][39] Executives and filmmakers were aware both of financial vulnerability (risks to fail) and the popularity of the Heisei trilogy, and some recommended to make either sequels of the trilogy or trilogy-esque plots, however necessity to extricate from the trilogy was more prioritized, and executives didn't approve neither sequels of the trilogy nor trilogy-esque scenarios for the 2006 film.[7] The original intimidating design of Gamera for the trilogy was changed to appeal to children in the 1995 film, however Shusuke Kaneko was also disappointed with children's subtle reactions with Gamera's 1995 design unlike Toho's Godzilla Junior.[107]
36. ^ As above mentioned, the franchise after the bankruptcy of Daiel Film may have always tried to avoid direct competitions against Godzilla franchise,[8][11][53] while Kadokawa's offer for a crossover was turned down in 2002.[68][69] Godzilla productions have been continuously released since 2014 where Yoshimitsu Banno's Gamera 3D was one of predecessors of MonsterVerse series by Legendary Pictures.[63][64] Kaneko brought a new idea of Gamera productions to Kadokawa at one point, however Gamera Rebirth was already in production.[121] One of Kaneko's new ideas is Gamera's attack on the Pearl Harbor.[122]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Ragone 2020, 05:11.
2. ^ Galbraith IV 2008, p. 395.
3. ^ a b c d e f g h GAMERA -Rebirth- Production committee, January 29th, 2024, GAMERA -Rebirth- Official Artbook, pp.9-12, pp.17-25, KADOKAWA, ISBN：9784041138410
4. ^ a b c d e f Hirokazu Minemori, Yusuke Watanabe, 2021, The Great Yokai War: Guardians: Side Story: Heian Hyakkitan, pp.265-271, Media Works Bunko, Kadokawa
5. ^ a b c Shinichiro Inoue, 2015, 聖獣戦記 白い影, p.294-305, 怪獣文藝の逆襲, Kadokawa
6. ^ a b Kalat 2010, p. 178.
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ASCII MEDIA WORKS, 2014, Heisei Gamera Perfection, p.14-16, p.75, p.80, p.87, p.131, p.145, p.159, pp.196-205, p.213, p.237, p.254, p.264, p.270, p.282, Kadokawa Shoten
8. ^ a b c d e f g Fuminobi Hata, December 12, 2022, 俺はお前を待っていた！Netflixで復活の大怪獣ガメラ、その歩みと新作への期待, IGN Japan
9. ^ a b c d e f Kotz, Sean (19 March 2006). "Why the Heck is Gamera a Turtle?". SciFi Japan. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
10. ^ Galbraith IV 1996, p. 177.
11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ASCII MEDIA WORKS, 2006, Gamera the Brave Official Guide Book, p.13, p.19, p.25, p.32, pp.36-38, pp.42-44, pp.50-57, pp.62-66
12. ^ Clarke, Frederick S. (1996). "Cinefantastique". Cinefantastique. Vol. 28\. p. 3. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
13. ^ "Here's Why We Probably Won't See Gamera in GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS". Dread Central. 22 December 2018. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
14. ^ Raymond, Nicholas (21 June 2019). "Godzilla: King Of The Monsters' Atlantis Sets Up Multiple New Titans". ScreenRant. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
15. ^ Di Giorgio, Gigante & Gordiano 2012, p. 64.
16. ^ "Gammera The Invincible (1966)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
17. ^ a b c Galbraith IV, Stuart (18 May 2010). "Gamera - The Giant Monster". DVD Talk. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
18. ^ "Tomb murals of guardian spirits tapped for Japan treasure status". The Asahi Shimbun. 19 March 2019. Archived from the original on 8 July 2019. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
19. ^ "A Brief History of Gamera: Celebrating 50 Years of Spinning Turtles". Scified.com. 29 November 2015. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
20. ^ a b 「映画のまち調布」応援キャラクター
21. ^ a b c Edmundson-Cornell, Harry (6 February 2015). "Elbow Spikes and Atlantis: Gamera: Guardian of the Universe". Sequart.org. Sequart Organization. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
22. ^ a b c Deusner, Stephen M. (17 May 2010). "Turtle Soup: 'Gamera, the Giant Monster'". The Washington Post. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
23. ^ Goldweber 2015, p. 729.
24. ^ William Moo, September 20th, 2023, Odekake Kozame Releases New Collaboration Visual & Animated Short with Gamera: Rebirth, Anime Trending
25. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q OMEGA Flying Squadron, Yasuyoshi Tokuma (issuer), 1995, Gamera is Strong!, pp.18-25, pp.32-35, pp.36-39, pp.82-87, pp.108-109, pp.132-133, pp.166-167, pp.186-187, pp.194-197, Tokuma Shoten
26. ^ Bogue 2017, p. 192.
27. ^ Rhoads & McCorkle 2018, p. 98.
28. ^ Phipps, Keith (2 June 2010). "Gamera: The Giant Monster". The A. V. Club. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
29. ^ Newitz, Annalee (27 October 2008). "Internal Organs that Allow Giant Monsters to Breathe Fire". io9. Gawker Media. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
30. ^ Chung & Diffrient 2015, p. 83.
31. ^ a b Rhoads & McCorkle 2018, p. 91.
32. ^ Stephen Miller, June 15, 2023, Gamerathon: Gamera: The Giant Monster,
33. ^ a b c Kenichiro Terasawa, Hurricane Ryu, 1994, Giant Monster Gamera, Gekkan Manga Boys, November 1994 - February 1995, Tokuma Shoten.
34. ^ Rhoads & McCorkle 2018, p. 175.
35. ^ Ebert, Roger (29 August 1997). "Gamera: Guardian Of The Universe Movie Review (1997)". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
36. ^ Clarke, Frederick S. (1995). "Cinefantastique". Cinefantastique. Vol. 27\. p. 39. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
37. ^ Kikuchi, Daisuke (2 November 2016). "Mysterious green fireball observed in skies above Japan on Halloween likely a meteor". The Japan Times. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
38. ^ McKee 2007, p. 14.
39. ^ a b c d e f Shinji Higuchi, May 1, 1999, Gamera 3: Vanishing Book, pp.22-25, pp.46-50, p.54, Tokuma Shoten
40. ^ Kazuhisa Kondo, December 25, 2003, Gamera vs. Barugon: Comic Version, p.238, KADOKAWA
41. ^ Moo. Nenpei, Kazunori Ito (story), 1999, Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris, Vol. April 1999, p.301, Shogakukan
42. ^ a b c d Akihiko Kikawa, Junichi Nakamura, 2006, "これはびっくり!! 大怪獣ガメラ完全解剖図" and "やっぱりびっくり!! 海魔獣ジーダス完全解剖図", Official film pamphlet of Gamera the Brave, Kadokawa
43. ^ a b Mes, Tom (29 September 2006). "Midnight Eye review: Gamera the Brave (Chiisaki Yusha-tachi Gamera, 2005, Ryuta Tasaki)". Midnight Eye. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
44. ^ a b c Aiken, Keith (1 March 2006). "Gamera the Brave". SciFi Japan. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
45. ^ Barr 2016, p. 173.
46. ^ a b Hiroyuki Seshita, Jin, May 25, 2024, Gamera Rebirth Official Novelization Part 2, pp.27-28, p.311, p.318, Kadokawa
47. ^ Hiroyuki Seshita, Jin, 2023, GAMERA -Rebirth- Official Novelization Part 1, p.82, pp.99-102, p.107, p.141, p.182, pp.196-197, pp.251-252, pp.268, KADOKAWA
48. ^ a b c 1956-2006 『大映特撮の世界』篇
49. ^ a b c d e "『GAMERA』石井克人監督 インタビュー（続報）最新のVFX技法を取り入れ、" 新世代の特撮"を実現させる". CGWORLD (in Japanese). Retrieved 9 April 2022.
50. ^ a b c d "ガメラ50周年映像を手がけた石井監督を直撃(前編)". WebNewtype (in Japanese). Retrieved 9 April 2022.
51. ^ a b Gigan Yamazaki, February 25, 2021, 妖怪に息づく怪獣王ゴジラの遺伝子 - 後編 怪獣化する妖怪、妖怪化する怪獣, Media Arts Current Contents, Agency for Cultural Affairs
52. ^ Orr, Christopher (22 May 2014). "Why You Should Watch the (Actual) Original Godzilla". The Atlantic. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
53. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Shunichi Karasawa, April 14, 2006,  Gamera Genesis: Movie Director Noriaki Yuasa, p.20, pp.64-67, p.79, p.83, pp.92-96, pp.111-113, p.124, p.135, p.143, p.219, pp.266-268, pp.273-274, pp.281-286, pp.291-292, pp.295-303, Enterbrain
54. ^ a b Ryfle, S. (1998). Japan's Favorite Mon-Star: The Unauthorized Biography of the Big G. Toronto: ECW Press. pp. 139–43. ISBN 1550223488.
55. ^ a b c G. H. (Gman), March 15, 2014, Remember When Godzilla "Ripped Off" Gamera?, Scified
56. ^ Toho, 2000, SPECIAL EDITION ゴジラ×メガギラス―G消滅作戦, 東宝SF特撮映画シリーズ, pp.10-12, "Main Staff Interview on Shōgo Tomiyama"
57. ^ a b Mibu, Tomohiro (15 September 2023). "樋口真嗣、山崎貴監督と熱いゴジラトーク『ゴジラ-1.0』に期待と嫉妬「ゴジラ映画やれていいな」". Cinema Today (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 17 September 2023. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
58. ^ a b c d Sekiguchi Y., 2014, Kinema Junpo, No. 1666, p.48, ASIN B006CDA5BI
59. ^ a b c Eiga Hihō, July 2019 Special, 2019, p. 2 and p.8, Yosensha, ASIN B07RQ3VBFM
60. ^ BANGER, 2019, ネタバレ全開！ 徹底解説『ゴジラ キング・オブ・モンスターズ』は「平成ガメラ」から「ストレンジャー・シングス」までオマージュだらけだ!!
61. ^ a b Abby Bernstein, 2019, The Art of Godzilla: King of the Monsters, p.11, Titan Books
62. ^ a b Megan Peters, June 4, 2019, Godzilla: King of the Monsters Art Book Reveals Gigan, Classic Kaiju Designs, ComicBook.com
63. ^ a b c d e Yoshimitsu Banno to turn Gamera into an environmentalist! Will shoot in 3D?
64. ^ a b c Legendary MonsterVerse Movies
65. ^ a b c d e Shuntaro Ono, December 28, 2018, Geistesgeschichte of Gamera: From Showa to Heisei, p.140, p.199-205, p.207-208, p.218, Takanashi Shobou
66. ^ a b Rikao Yanagita, November 3, 2021, 『ゴジラ』公開から67年目の今日、考えたい。ゴジラとガメラが戦ったら、勝つのはどっちだ?, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Japan Corporation
67. ^ a b Galbraith IV, Stuart, 2020, Gamera vs. Gyaos Audio Commentary, 01:25:02, Arrow Video
68. ^ a b c d e ZAKZAK, November 13, 2002, 角川大映、「ゴジラvsガメラ」製作へ - 「大魔神」のリメーク版も, FUJI Evening News
69. ^ a b c d SciFi Japan, Gamera The Brave
70. ^ Murphy, Tab (19 October 1999). "Godzilla 2 Story Treatment". SciFi Japan. Archived from the original on 13 July 2021. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
71. ^ a b c Tomoo Haraguchi, September 1, 2023, 平成ガメラ造型写真集, p.174, pp.198-202, pp.208-217, Hobby Japan
72. ^ Official Godzilla Channel, September 1, 2023, 第9回 ゴジバトサミット ～怪獣大進撃スペシャル～, at 50:40, Youtube
73. ^ a b c ScifiJapan.com, Godzilla vs Gamera in New GODZILLA BATTLE LINE/GAMERA -Rebirth- Collaboration
74. ^ Godzilla Game Portal, June 28, 2024, Part 2 of the GAMERA -Rebirth- Collab!
75. ^ Haruo Nakajima, 2010, 怪獣人生 元祖ゴジラ俳優・中島春雄, pp.173-176, Yosensha
76. ^ a b c Padula 2015, p. 224–225.
77. ^ a b Lisa on Ice, Thirty Minutes over Tokyo, Treehouse of Horror XXVI
78. ^ a b c d e Norikazu Noma, Seinosuke Ito, Jinni Tohmon, January 25, 2001, ガメラ 完全化読本, p.124, p.145, pp.160-164, Paradigm
79. ^ a b c d Natsuhiko Kyogoku, 2018, USO MAKOTO Yōkai Hyaku Monogatari, "Kyu", 373-375, p.392, Kadokawa
80. ^ a b c MyAnimeList, Gajira "Gatchan" Norimaki
81. ^ a b Alex Mateo, September 21, 2019, Quatre épisodes originaux pour Detective Conan, Anime News Network
82. ^ a b ITmedia October 17, 2013, Huluで幼児向け番組「バ怪獣 ゴメラ」を配信開始
83. ^ a b Uchusen, October 30, 2006, ウルトラマンマックス マックス!マックス!マックス!怪獣大画報, pp.52-53, Tsuburaya Productions, Asahi Sonorama's Fantastic Collection
84. ^ Uchusen, April 20, 2006, Uchusen Year Book 2006, p.58, Asahi Sonorama's Sonorama Mook
85. ^ 大怪獣東京に現わる
86. ^ a b Hisayuki Ui, January 1, 1994, From Gamera to Daimajin: all of Daiei tokusatsu films, p.63, Kindaieigasha
87. ^ Kodansha, 1988, テレビマガジン特別編集 巨大ヒーロー大全集 (TV Magazine Special Edition: Giant Heroes Compendium), p.224
88. ^ ゴジラ大百科, 1993, p. 96, "Interview on Shōgo Tomiyama - Future of Godzilla films", Gakken
89. ^ a b c Nobuhiro Suzumura, November 28, 2023, 好きですガメラ。先輩の田﨑竜太監督の小さき勇者たちも好きだし、昭和も平成3部作も好き。我が師匠が撮る予定だったガメラが中止なったのは残念だった。。。#ガメラの日, Twitter (X)
90. ^ a b c Loo, Egan (12 March 2014). "New Gamera Project Listed by Retailer". Anime News Network. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
91. ^ a b c d e Masahiko Shiraishi, Shōgo Tomiyama, January 20, 2003, Heisei Godzilla Encyclopedia, "Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla: close encounter Godzilla vs. Gamera !?", pp.256-257, Futabasha
92. ^ Hobby Japan, December 19, 2017, Godzilla vs. Destoroyah Completion, "Staff interview - Shōgo Tomiyama", p.86,
93. ^ a b Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack Super Complete Works, 2002, p.2, 世紀を越えて「金子ゴジラ」は誕生した。 by Shōgo Tomiyama, Shogakukan
94. ^ a b Wong, Kin Yuen (2005). World Weavers: Globalization, Science Fiction, and the Cybernetic Revolution. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. p. 182\. ISBN 9789622097216.
95. ^ a b Characters / Godzilla: The Series
96. ^ a b Film / Godzilla: Final Wars
97. ^ a b Renji Ōki, 2017, GODZILLA: Monster Apocalypse, pp.114–115, Kadokawa.
98. ^ a b Hurricane Ryu, June 14, 2020, 本日は昭和ガメラでおなじみ湯浅憲明監督の御命日。, Twiiter (X)
99. ^ a b Hobby Japan Mook, March 28, 2016, Uchusen Extra Volume: Kamen Rider Kaijin Daigahō 2016, "Masao Yagi and the Ex Productions", p.53, Hobby Japan
100. ^ 八木勘寿の映画作品
101. ^ 八木康栄の映画作品
102. ^ The Yagi Brothers
103. ^ Media Arts Current Contents, March 2014, 日本特撮に関する調査, Mori Building Company and Agency for Cultural Affairs
104. ^ Frees Inc., 会社概要
105. ^ a b c Takaki, Junzo, ed. (19 July 1996). "chapterIII 大魔神の章（1966）『大魔神』". ガメラ画報 大映秘蔵映画五十五年の歩み. B media books special. Takeshobo. p. 85\. ISBN 4-8124-0166-6.
106. ^ The Nikkei (mornaing paper), February 19, 2005, 徳間書店再建、金融支援400億円要請へ
107. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Shusuke Kaneko, March 26, 2024, ガメラ監督日記 完全版, pp.35-38, pp.164-167, pp.174-176, p.192, pp.233-234, p.287, Shogakukan
108. ^ a b Matsunomoto, Kazuhiro, 1996, The Gamera Chronicles, p.104-105, Takeshobo
109. ^ a b 甦れ!妖怪映画大集合!! 2005, p.97, p.116-119, Takeshobo
110. ^ a b c d e f g h i En Takenouchi, January 28, 2021, 金子修介監督、平成ガメラ三部作を語る！令和ガメラにも「やる気十分」, Movie Walker Press
111. ^ a b Hyouri Takahashi, August 12, 2021, 三池崇史監督が語る「大魔神」復活の意外な真実とは!?『妖怪大戦争 ガーディアンズ』に込めたメッセージと子供たちへの眼差し, banger.jp.
112. ^ Shinichiro Inoue, 2010, Daiei Tokusatsu Film Encyclopedia: Daikaiju Fantasy Battle Gameva vs Daimajin, "Wrath of Daimajin", p.8, Newtype, Kadokawa Shoten
113. ^ Kengo Nakamura, 1999, From Princess Mononoke to My Neighbors the Yamadas, pp.38-41, Tokuma Shoten
114. ^ Eiga Hihō, April, 2007, 実写限定!巨大ロボット映画ベスト30!-「トランスフォーマー」襲来間近!「ガンヘッド」もやってくるぞ!, Yosensha Co., Ltd.
115. ^ Toho Kingdom, Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris
116. ^ Atsushi Imai, 2016, COLUMN 「ガメラ生誕50周年祭」レポート, Tokusatsu Hihō, vol.3, pp.164-165, Eiga Hihō, Yosensha Co., Ltd.
117. ^ Sunkleio Tsubasa, November 6, 2022, 『ガメラ2 レギオン襲来』が鍵を握る？『貞子DX』はメタ構造の意欲作だ！, Movie Walker Press
118. ^ a b Shōzaburō Nakamura, May 26, 2012, ゲゲゲの鬼太郎の調布ぬくもりステーションに、ガメラ、大魔神、貞子3Dが出現, Shōzaburō Nakamura's Hot Corner
119. ^ a b ICv2, October 31, 2005, Cartoon Network Licenses 'Gamera'
120. ^ a b Yoshitomo Yonetani, August 19, 2023, 2006年の没企画「牙滅羅(ガメラ)」, Twitter (X)
121. ^ Gamera Rebirth Official Website, November 17, 2022, 「平成ガメラ三部作」監督・金子修介氏より応援コメントも到着！
122. ^ Kazuma Kubota, October 14, 2023, 山崎貴が「『ゴジラ-1.0』は『GMK』の影響下にある」と明言！金子修介は“ガメラ4”のアイデアをポロリ, Movie Walker Press
123. ^ Galbraith IV, Stuart (1994). Japanese Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. McFarland. pg. 114. ISBN 0-89950-853-7.
124. ^ Corey, Joe (31 August 2012). "DVD Review: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (Season 1, Vol. 1)". InsidePulse. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
125. ^ Craig 2019, p. 401.
126. ^ Galbraith IV 1996, p. 335.
127. ^ Craig 2019, p. 120–121.
128. ^ Craig 2019, p. 44.
129. ^ Craig 2019, p. 160.
130. ^ a b Rhoads & McCorkle 2018, p. 136.
131. ^ "Gamera vs. Garasharp: The Gamera that Never Was". ShrineofGamera.com. Archived from the original on 19 April 2010. Retrieved 15 July 2009.
132. ^ 『ガメラ対大邪獣ガラシャープ』 をちゃんと製作して欲しい。 (in Japanese). Tanomi.com. Archived from the original on 13 September 2012. Retrieved 15 July 2009.
133. ^ Ishizuka, Daisuke (2002). "Gamera's Godfather - Noriaki Yuasa". G-Fan. No. 59\. p. 53.
134. ^ Milner, David (July 1996). "Noriaki Yuasa Interview". Translated by Shibata, Yohihiko. Archived from the original on 2 March 2021. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
135. ^ Frédéric 2002, p. 137.
136. ^ Official X account of Gamera 55th anniversary project, April 1, 2021, 台本発見というのは、願望たっぷりの #エイプリルフール ネタでした。みなさま流石です・・・。とはいえ、頭の中が #ガラシャープ になっている方も多いと思いますので、「大怪獣ガメラ」CD-ROMから近藤豊さんのイラストの『ガメラ対ガラシャープ』をご紹介‼#ガメラ3 先行公開迄あと15日。 on X
137. ^ Player, Mark (7 July 2014). "Intergalactic Tokusatsu: Charting the Japanese Space Opera, Part 2". Midnight Eye. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
138. ^ a b Morgan 2015, p. 10.
139. ^ Murray, Noel (27 July 2011). "MST3K Vs. Gamera". The A. V. Club. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
140. ^ Amaya, Erik (9 October 2015). "NYCC '15: Gamera Is Still The Friend Of All Children In New Trailer". Bleeding Cool. Avatar Press. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
141. ^ Loo, Egan (9 October 2015). "New Gamera Monster CG Footage Unveiled by Katsuhito Ishii". Anime News Network. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
142. ^ Chapman, Paul (9 October 2015). "VIDEO: Teaser Trailer for New "Gamera" Film Directed by Katsuhito Ishii". Crunchyroll. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
143. ^ "レポート". ガメラ生誕50周年記念特別サイト (in Japanese). Retrieved 9 April 2022.
144. ^ a b Komatsu, Mikikazu (16 November 2022). "Legendary Kaiju Gamera Gets New Work GAMERA -Rebirth- on Netflix". Crunchyroll. Archived from the original on 18 November 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
145. ^ a b Frater, Patrick (24 March 2023). "Netflix Announces Series 'Ooku: The Inner Chambers' at Anime Japan Event". Variety. Archived from the original on 25 March 2023. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
146. ^ Sean Barry, 2023, Anime Review: Gamera Rebirth (2023) by Hiroyuki Seshita, Asian Movie Pulse
147. ^ KADOKAWA Anime, September 9, 2023, 『GAMERA -Rebirth-（ガメラリバース）』オープニング映像｜WANIMA「夏暁」, Youtube
148. ^ a b c "Gamera: The Complete Collection – Limited Edition Blu-ray Set Coming From Arrow Video". SciFi Japan. 21 February 2020. Archived from the original on 23 February 2020. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
149. ^ Kusakari & Kurajō 1999, p. 15.
150. ^ Mamiya 2006, p. 32.
151. ^ Haddick, Alicia; Pineda, Rafael Antonio (25 March 2023). "Gamera -Rebirth- Anime Unveils Trailer, More Cast, Ending Song Artist, 2023 Debut". Anime News Network. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
152. ^ Gamera 1999
153. ^ Bolton, Csicsery-Ronay Jr. & Tatsumi 2007, p. 22.
154. ^ Goldweber 2015, p. 730.
155. ^ "War of the Monsters DVD". Amazon.com. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
156. ^ "Destroy All Planets DVD". Amazon.com. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
157. ^ "Attack of the Monsters DVD". Amazon.com. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
158. ^ "New Gamera Blu-ray and DVD Sets from Mill Creek in April". SciFi Japan. 24 February 2014. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
159. ^ "GCD :: Covers :: Gamera". Grand Comics Database. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
160. ^ "Gamera #1 (of 4)". DarkHorse.com. Dark Horse Comics, Inc. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
161. ^ "Gamera #2 (of 4)". DarkHorse.com. Dark Horse Comics, Inc. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
162. ^ "Gamera #3 (of 4)". DarkHorse.com. Dark Horse Comics, Inc. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
163. ^ "Gamera #4 (of 4)". DarkHorse.com. Dark Horse Comics, Inc. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
164. ^ Thompson, Jason (17 October 2013). "Jason Thompson's House of 1000 Manga - Dr. Slump". Anime News Network. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
165. ^ Dent, Mike (22 March 2010). "Gamera: The Super Monster". Otaku USA. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
166. ^ Brunson, Matt (21 April 2017). "Mystery Science Theater 3000's Best Episodes". ScreenRant. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
167. ^ Jasper, Gavin (31 May 2019). "MST3K: A Guide to the Giant Monster Movies of Mystery Science Theater 3000". Den of Geek. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
168. ^ Baird, Scott (8 March 2017). "15 Times Dragon Ball Z Crossed Over With Other Series". ScreenRant. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
169. ^ Baird, Scott (30 November 2017). "Dragon Ball: 20 Surprising Things You Didn't Know About Master Roshi". TheGamer.com. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
170. ^ Longo, Chris; Crow, David; Kurland, Daniel; Harley, Nick; Matar, Joe (15 April 2019). "The Complete Guide to South Park Movie Parodies and References". Den of Geek. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
171. ^ Plumb, Alastair (14 May 2014). "From The Simpsons To Shrek 2: A History Of Godzilla In Pop Culture". Empire Online. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
172. ^ Shaffer, Joseph (11 January 2015). "Gamera: Daikaijuu Kuuchuu Kessen (Game Boy) review". HonestGamers.com. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
173. ^ "RF Generation: Gamera: Gyaos Gekinetsu Sakusen (Nintendo Super Famicom)". RF Generation. 6 September 2012. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
174. ^ "RF Generation: Gamera: The Time Adventure". RF Generation. 3 October 2011. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
175. ^ Fielder, Joe (19 June 1997). "Gamera 2000 (Import) Review". GameSpot. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
176. ^ Romano, Sal (30 May 2017). "City Shrouded in Shadow now PS4-only, launches this fall in Japan [Update 3]". Gematsu. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
177. ^ Gelmini, David (1 June 2017). "Gamera and King Ghidorah Officially Join Godzilla in City Shrouded in Shadow". Dread Central. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
178. ^ The Tower II スペシャルガメラパック
179. ^ 4Gamer.net, November 8, 2021, 「シンフォギアXD」×「ガメラ」のコラボイベントが復刻開催
180. ^ a b Kalat 2010, p. 491.
181. ^ McCarthy, Todd (4 September 1995). "Gamera: The Guardian of the Universe". Variety. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
182. ^ Solomon, Brian (23 March 2010). "The Top 21 Most Kick-Ass Giant Monsters in Movie History!". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
183. ^ Mele, Rick (10 March 2017). "The 16 Greatest Giant Monsters in Movie History". Sharp. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
184. ^ Coffel, Chris (23 March 2018). "Attack of the 37 Big Monster Movies". Film School Rejects. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
185. ^ Izumi Hasegawa, May 15, 2014, Exclusive interview with Ken Watanabe: “Gojira vs. Godzilla”, What's Up Hollywood
186. ^ Blanco, Alvin Aqua (13 July 2013). "Pacific Rim Director Guillermo Del Toro's Top 5 Kaiju Films". Hip Hop Wired. Archived from the original on 3 March 2019. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
187. ^ Daisuke Yoshida, 2017, 有川浩作品の原点は『ガメラ』と『大脱走』?, Da Vinci, Kadokawa Corporation
188. ^ Jacob Lyngle, October 25, 2023, Interview: Jeremy Robinson, Kaiju United
189. ^ a b Gigan Yamazaki, June 19th, 2016, 堀越耕平『僕のヒーローアカデミア』インタビュー 師弟関係の描写はあの映画からの影響大!! そして今後の展開でデクたちの“アレ”が変わる……!?, Kono Manga ga Sugoi!
190. ^ Atsuji Yamamoto, 2023, November 27, 2023
191. ^ Yasuo Nagayama, 2021, 『進撃の巨人』にそっくり!? 実現しなかった『エヴァンゲリオン』幻の完全新作劇場版, Bunshun Online
192. ^ Magazine House, November 2014, BRUTUS, No.790, p.96
193. ^ Kodansha Book Club, 浄土, Kodansha
194. ^ Ryfle, Steve; Kim, Song-ho (2016). Yongary, Monster from the Deep Audio Commentary (Blu-ray/DVD). Kino Lorber.
195. ^ See these guys? At one point they were meant to appear in a Gamera movie.
196. ^ Tadahisa Fujimura, 2008, Official Staff Blog
197. ^ 「まだ誰も見たことがない大泉洋」｜最新作『騙し絵の牙』までの軌跡
198. ^ King Tortoise was depicted to be affectionate, and has an ability to fly and levitate by spinning and non-spinning, and King Tortoise is 60 meters in height, corresponding to that of Gamera.
199. ^ Gameron the giant turtle flies at Mach 3, corresponding with flight speed of Gamera. Gameron was represented in the episode Grow Up! Little Turtle which was aired on February 6th 1966, two months after the release of Gamera, the Giant Monster.
200. ^ Mynavi News, July 17, 2015, 特技監督・田口清隆が語る、特撮怪獣映画としての『ラブ＆ピース』-「特撮ファンには見逃してほしくない」
201. ^ Pokemon Official Facebook Account, 2021, Scorbunny snuggling up to Torterra... Machamp flexing... Tyrantrum throwing a tantrum... There are so many unique Pokémon moments to experience in the Lental region!
202. ^ Kazuki Motoyama, 1992, Super Mario, Vol.7, Kodansha
203. ^ Yukio Sawada, 1994, Super Mario-kun, Vol.11, Shogakukan
204. ^ a b ●映画 か
205. ^ 巨龟兽
206. ^ Zac Pricener, May 23, 2019, Tingle’s Maps: Turtle Rock (World Turtle Day), Zelda Universe
207. ^ Gamera
208. ^ Video Game / Mega Man 7
209. ^ Off Topic: There’s a new Godzilla movie coming at the end of May. I might be excited.
210. ^ ガメラ～♪ガメラ～♪
211. ^ Wyrtle in Dragon Quest X and Wyrtoise in Dragon Quest Rivals
212. ^ Gameciel, the Sea Turtle Kaiju
213. ^ The creature called "Jet Turtle".
214. ^ Friend of Children the giant turtle, Hobby Japan, 東京が沈黙する日『キング・オブ・トーキョー（King of Tokyo）』
215. ^ "Rough Sea Splash" technique by Isobu the Three Tails and Yagura, a technique introduced in Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 where Isobu the giant turtle sprays jets of water from his arms to ram into opponents.
216. ^ 【パルワールド】鉄の採掘用にガメラみたいの捕まえたけど自分で掘った方が早いな
217. ^ The alien race named Gameran in Bloodletter in 1993
218. ^ Mecha-Streisand
219. ^ The Ever-Burning Fire
220. ^ Chaos at the Earth's Core
221. ^ While Rome Burned, Part 5
222. ^ Screenshot
223. ^ DNA of the king of Kaiju (Godzilla) is alive and well across the world No. 4: All Kaiju attack
224. ^ IGN, July 19, 2016, Top 10 Anime Beach Episodes
225. ^ Technical University of Munich, Franklin In The Dark
226. ^ Connections
227. ^ Joseph Luscik, June 2005, High Carb Heaven, Animefringe
228. ^ Gamera the Brave - Connections on IMDb
229. ^ Anime News Network, Gunbuster (OAV)
230. ^ Sakama (tokusatsu writer), November 10, 2017, ビッグコミック『デビルマンサーガ』の新ジンメンが『G3』版 平成ガメラにソックリで、殆んど夢の対決, X
231. ^ Lucky Star (TV) on Anime News Network
232. ^ Breakout
233. ^ The Shame of the Gamera Family
234. ^ Stan Sakai, 2004, Usagi Yojimbo, Vol.3 #66–68: "Sumi-e, Parts 1–3", Vol. 18. Travels with Jotaro, Dark Horse Comics
235. ^ Western Animation / Welcome to My Life
236. ^ Gamera
237. ^ Shout Out / Voltes V
238. ^ Learning Something New Everyday! Apparently Pacific Rim: Uprising Has Very Small Cameos Of Kaiju From Godzilla, And Gamera Movies. Wikizilla States That The Ones Present On Screen Are: Gigan, Anguiras, MUTO, Varan, Baragon, Gamera, Clover, Gyaos, As Well As Others.
239. ^ Mtn Dew Code Red Zero Sugar - 12 CT
240. ^ Gamera Games
241. ^ Gamera Interactive
242. ^ Paragraph President (club version)
243. ^ Guiron's roars for Scoradon as Daiei Film co-produced Fireman.
244. ^ Kodansha Series MOOK, December 8, 2021, Ultra Tokusatsu PERFECT MOOK VOL.35: Fireman, "大異変と侵略 太古からの挑戦！", vol.35, pp.4–5, Kodansha
245. ^ As roars for Nozuchi in the episode Hiderigami on October 27, 1968, and Ushi-oni in the episode Gyūki on January 13, 1972
246. ^ As Eternatus' roars in Pokémon Journeys: The Series, November 6th, 2020, Sword and Shield: "From Here to Eternatus!"
247. ^ As Stardust Dragon's roars in Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's
248. ^ ダンバインの怪獣の鳴き声、ガメラと同じじゃない?
249. ^ As giant Stegosaurus's roar in Dynamite in the Brain.
250. ^ Dengeki Hobby Magazine, November 27, 2023 「11月27日ガメラの日」に予約開始！『ガメラ3 邪神〈イリス〉覚醒』ガメラがPVC製塗装済完成品フィギュアとなって登場！
251. ^ Televi-Kun, November 27, 2023, 58年前の今日27日 #大怪獣ガメラ 公開。#ガメラ シリーズの記念すべき第1作で、唯一のモノクロ作品でした 『大怪獣ガメラ』は大ヒット。その後のシリーズで #バルゴン #ギャオス #バイラス #ギロン 等のライバル怪獣を生み、平成三部作等も製作されるなど長く愛され続けています #ガメラの日, Twitter (X)
252. ^ Akira Ohashi. November 27, 2023, #特撮見たことない人が嘘だと思うけど本当の事言え
253. ^ 角川大映スタジオ（※施設見学不可）
254. ^ 11/17～11/30ゲゲゲ忌2023開催！
255. ^ Brinkman, Donald B.; Peng, Jiang-Hua (8 February 2011). "New material of Sinemys (Testudines, Sinemydidae) from the Early Cretaceous of China". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 30 (10): 2139–2152. doi:10.1139/e93-185.
256. ^ Lyson, Tyler R.; Joyce, Walter G. (March 2010). "A new baenid turtle from the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Hell Creek Formation of North Dakota and a preliminary taxonomic review of Cretaceous Baenidae" (PDF). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 30 (#2): 394–402. Bibcode:2010JVPal..30..394L. doi:10.1080/02724631003618389. S2CID 89517022. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
257. ^ Kirkland, Jim [@Paleojim] (22 March 2022). "2.5 days cropping and editing and finally got first draft plate put together for the description of "Gamera" from the Suarez site. Verts are a pain to crop!! Next the dorsals.... https://t.co/DNlX3mbK44" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 15 May 2022. Retrieved 21 December 2022 - via Twitter.
258. ^ a b Berry, Ben; Bowen-Davies, Graham; Gluesenkamp, Kyle; Kaler, Zak; Schmaus, Joseph; Staruk, William; Weiner, Elizabeth; Woods (May 2012). "Design optimization of Gamera II: a human powered helicopter". Proc. 68th Am. Helicopter Soc. Annu. Forum. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
259. ^ Skarda, Erin (25 July 2011). "Meet Gamera, the All-Terrain Tortoise With a Wheel for a Leg". Time. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
260. ^ "Gamera". WSU University Veterinary Teaching Hospital. Washington State University. 30 July 2011. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
261. ^ "Friends bid goodbye to well-traveled amputee tortoise". WSU Insider. Washington State University. 4 June 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
262. ^ Takunori Yasuda, July 30, 2017, まるでメロンパン、実は「ガメラの孫」リクガメ続々誕生, The Asahi Shimbun
263. ^ Suzusaki, Toshiharu (2012). "沖縄の「ガメラ」与座岳分屯基地開庁39周年". 軍事研究. 47 (5). Japan Military Review: 11–13.
264. ^ 第55回 ＜怪獣ブーム50周年企画 PART-6＞ 『大怪獣空中戦 ガメラ対ギャオス』
265. ^ The Shin Nihonkai Shimbun, March 27, 2023, アシストスタッフサービス 代表取締役 島津江英樹さん
266. ^ 「ホントに大きい!」『大魔神カノン』主演女優・里久鳴祐果、リアル大魔神・佐々木主浩のデカさに口あんぐり
267. ^ Takeshobo, ガメラ画報 大映秘蔵映画五十五年の歩み, 1996, P.99
268. ^ 『大魔神』4Kで観てもすごい！見事な"職人技"を堪能できる名作特撮
269. ^ Sankei Sports, October 19, 2017, 橋本力さん死去 元プロ野球選手の俳優、ブルース・リーと共演、大魔神のスーツアクターも
270. ^ Shigeru Mizuki, 1964, Dai-kaiju Part 3 from The Secret Story, p.1, Tōkōsha

### Sources

[edit]

* Barr, Jason (2016). The Kaiju Film: A Critical Study of Cinema's Biggest Monsters. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0786499632.
* Bogue, Mike (2017). Apocalypse Then: American and Japanese Atomic Cinema 1951-1967. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-1476668413.
* Bolton, Christopher; Csicsery-Ronay Jr., Istvan; Tatsumi, Takayuki (2007). Robot Ghosts and Wired Dreams. University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 978-0816649747.
* Chung, Hye Seung; Diffrient, David Scott (2015). Movie Migrations: Transnational Genre Flows and South Korean Cinema (New Directions in International Studies). Rutgers University Press. ISBN 978-0813569970.
* Craig, Rob (2019). American International Pictures: A Comprehensive Filmography. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-1476666310.
* Di Giorgio, Davide; Gigante, Andrea; Gordiano, Lupi (2012). Godzilla: Il re Dei Mostri - Il Sauro Radioattivo di Honda e Tsuburaya (in Italian). Associazione Culturale Il Foglio. ISBN 978-8876063510.
* Goldweber, David Elroy (2015). Claws & Saucers: Science Fiction, Horror, and Fantasy Film 1902-1982: A Complete Guide. Lulu Press, Inc. ISBN 978-1312288034.
* Galbraith IV, Stuart (1996). The Japanese Filmography: A Complete Reference to 209 Filmmakers and the Over 1250 Films Released in the United States, 1900 through 1994. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0786400324.
* Galbraith IV, Stuart (2008). The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0810860049.
* Frédéric, Louis (2002). Japan Encyclopedia (Harvard University Press Reference Library). Translated by Roth, Käthe. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0674007703.
* Kalat, David (2010). A Critical History and Filmography of Toho's Godzilla Series - Second Edition. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0786447497.
* McKee, Gabriel (2007). The Gospel According to Science Fiction: From the Twilight Zone to the Final Frontier. Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN 978-0664229016.
* Morgan, Chris (2015). The Comic Galaxy of Mystery Science Theater 3000: Twelve Classic Episodes and the Movies They Lampoon. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0786496785.
* Padula, Derek (2015). Dragon Ball Culture Volume 2: Adventure. ASIN B00S89R1YI.
* Ragone, August (2010). Gamera, the Giant Monster Audio Commentary (DVD). Shout! Factory.
* Rhoads, Sean; McCorkle, Brooke (2018). Japan's Green Monsters: Environmental Commentary in Kaiju Cinema. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-1476663906.
* Gamera Preservation Project (2010). A Retrospective Look Back at Gamera (DVD). Shout! Factory.
* Kusakari, Ken'ichi; Kurajō, Saki (20 April 1999). ガメラ3 邪神＜イリス＞覚醒超全集 [Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris Super Complete Works] (in Japanese). Shogakukan. ISBN 4-09-101468-2.
* Mamiya, Naohiko (20 May 2006). 「小さき勇者たち～ガメラ～」超全集 [Gamera the Brave Super Complete Works] (in Japanese). Shogakukan. ISBN 4-09-105108-1.
* Ragone, August; Varney, Jason (2010). Gamera vs. Barugon Audio Commentary (DVD). Shout! Factory.
* Ragone, August (2020). Introduction by August Ragone (Blu-ray). Arrow Video. ASIN B084Z13QYD.

## External links

[edit]

* Official Gamera: Rebirth website by Kadokawa
* Official 2015 50th Anniversary website
* The Shrine of Gamera

* v
* t
* e

Gamera

Films|

| Daiei Film|

| Shōwa|

* Gamera, the Giant Monster (1965)
* Gamera vs. Barugon (1966)
* Gamera vs. Gyaos (1967)
* Gamera vs. Viras (1968)
* Gamera vs. Guiron (1969)
* Gamera vs. Jiger (1970)
* Gamera vs. Zigra (1971)
* Gamera: Super Monster (1980)

|

Heisei|

* Gamera: Guardian of the Universe (1995)
* Gamera 2: Attack of Legion (1996)
* Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris (1999)

Kadokawa Daiei Studio|

| Heisei|

* Gamera the Brave (2006)

|

Television|

* Gamera Rebirth (2023)

Video games|

* Gamera 2000 (1997)
* City Shrouded in Shadow (2017)

Miscellaneous|

* Giant Horde Beast Nezura
* Daimajin
* SciFi Japan TV
* Gamerabaena
* Sinemys gamera

* Category

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template