| Gamera | |
| Series: | Gamera film series |
| First: | Gamera, the Giant Monster (1965) |
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.
Despite its popularity and extensive social influences such as productions of Daimajin and Yokai Monsters, 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.
The name derives from the Japanese kame ("turtle"), and the suffix -ra, a suffix shared by such other kaiju characters as Godzilla (Gojira) and Mothra. 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.[1] [2] The naming of the character was by Masaichi Nagata, who pushed ahead the name to contend Godzilla, while other executives were against it for its resemblance to Godzilla, however others eventually didn't come up with any sufficient names for the turtle kaiju.
The original idea for Gamera was developed by Yonejiro Saito (jp), Masaichi Nagata, Hidemasa Nagata, Niisan Takahashi, 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.[3] [4] [5] Prior to the idea of the flying turtle monster, there existed preceding concepts of an octopus kaiju called and the rat monsters.
There had been contradicting testimonies regarding the original conceptor and models of Gamera. Noriaki Yuasa believed it was Niisan Takahashi's idea, while Takahashi noted that he heard Masaichi Nagata came up with the idea of a "giant, flying turtle". There had also been rumors of "lewd turtles" as the model(s) of Gamera, either true stories or jokes, among Daiei staffs including Yonejiro Saito (jp) . On the other hand, Tomio Sagisu (jp) who was a student of Eiji Tsuburaya and had repeatedly associated with Daiei Film and crews of the Gamera and other Daiei tokusatsu productions, claimed that the concept of Gamera originates in his demo reel, while Yonesaburo Tsukiji, another student of Tsuburaya, declared it was Hidemasa Nagata's idea.[6]
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.[7] The Black Tortoise is known as Genbu in Japanese, and is usually depicted as a turtle entwined together with a snake. 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.[8] 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] , the 11th film in the franchise, contains a scene featuring a book describing the Four Symbols, including Genbu. Before the character was officially referenced to the Black Tortoise in the 1999 film, designs and background stories of Gamera and Gyaos (jp) were also inspired by ancient Chinese aspects during the production of while the original script of the film focused more on ancient India.
Gamera's characteristics to be a hero who protects humanity and animals, his non-faunal food sources, his emerging from the north, 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. While Godzilla may represent a terror of wars, Gamera was aimed to be a contrasting character, whom children can always believe in, as an antithesis to adults trying to manipulate children with nationalism and propagandas, based on Noriaki Yuasa's own traumatic experiences of pre and post-war situations.[10] Hidemasa Nagata's intention to make the franchise child-friendly was also due to his desire to arise favorable influences on children to shape their personalities.
Daiei Film distributed the re-released edition of King Kong in 1952, as the first post-war release of monster films in Japan, and The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms in 1954. These distributions might have influenced productions of Godzilla (1954) and Daiei Film productions including Gamera, the Giant Monster (1965).
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.[11]
He can fly by means of "jets" which can be ignited out of his limb holes when he retracts his legs into his shell. The jets allow Gamera to rise into the air and spin, propelling him forward. 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 damaged by Guiron, Legion (jp), Iris, and Zedus), 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.
Gamera never feeds on any faunal or plant organisms, and exclusively relies on thermal energy, electricity, radiation, and other energy sources. Using conventional weapons even including nuclear weapons against Gamera may also empower him instead.
All incarnations of the character have an affinity for humans (especially children) and nature, and protect them at all costs even by sacrificing themselves. They may also save animals, wildlife, and innocent kaiju even if they are offspring of antagonists.
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.
During the franchise's Shōwa period, Gamera is depicted as feeding on flammable substances, such as oil and fire. 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.[12] [13] 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. Gamera is also presumably capable of performing additional feats including supernatural ones such as emitting electricity and electromagnetic waves, telepathy and remote sensing. Additionally, he has a high intelligence to outsmart antagonists, to tactically utilize artificial objects, cautiously behave to secure humans, and to repair an alien spaceship. Gamera's intention behind bizarre displays including acrobatic and musical acts in later films was presumably to calm and entertain onlooking children.
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), 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".
His exact origin was not verified aside from his association with the ancient civilization of the Atlantis.[14] Inuit's fear of Gamera and his confinement in the Arctic, 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, along with the loss of records by Atlanteans after the demise of the ancient civilization.
His incongruous ferocity in Gamera, the Giant Monster and the beginning of Gamera vs. Barugon 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; he learned modern technologies of humanity through the atomic bomb explosion, and his attacks on cities was also to lure military operations so that he could feed more on thermal energy of weapons. The protagonist boy (Toshio) in the 1965 film kept claiming that Gamera is not villainous but has been misunderstood by humanity, and Gamera's uncontrollable appetite was gradually satisfied, and he regained his natural calmness as the films progressed, and began to save humanity voluntary.[15]
The incarnation of the character appeared in the 1980 film 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; 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, to save and monitor humanity.[16]
In the franchise's Heisei period, which began with the 1995 reboot film , 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 (ギャオス), a bat-like creature which breathes a destructive supersonic beam when on the attack. Human researchers find Gamera floating in the Pacific Ocean, encased in rock, and mistake him for an atoll.[17] 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, and is shown to be able to shoot plasma fireballs from his mouth.[18] [19] Gamera has also been portrayed as being able to absorb mana from the Earth, 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. In the 2003 comic, he was depicted to be (supernaturally) capable of triggering eruptions among nearby lands and volcanoes.[20] 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".[21]
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 such as instant growth, telepathy, comprehending human speeches, sensing and foreseeing emergences of evil monsters from afar, and so on. 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. Gamera and Gyaos were designed to be much smaller yet heavier than previous incarnations, corresponding with the original scripts of which became the basis for the 2006 film.
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.[22] 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.[23] A baby turtle hatches from the egg, and begins to grow in size at an alarming rate. The turtle, dubbed "Toto" by Toru after his own nickname by his deceased mother, quickly forms a bond with the boy and develops the ability to breathe fire and fly. 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.[24]
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. 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.[25]
While previous incarnations of the character possessed affinities to elements most notably fire, electricity, plasma energy, electromagnetic pulse, and jamming, Gamera in Gamera Rebirth further expanded combat attributes to include 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.[26]
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.[27]
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,[28] 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 . 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.
The incarnation of the character, the "Black Tortoise", appeared in, which is the spin-off novelization of the 2021 film , 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, 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).
The presence of the "Black Tortoise" was also confirmed in the 2015 novelization, which was written by Shinichiro Inoue (jp) who was trying to reboot the franchise in early 2010s (and has also participated in Daimajin Kanon), 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 time manipulation, tries to restore the world after the battle of Barugon and Jiger during the Mongol invasions of Japan.[29]
Gamera made several appearances in the tokusatsu program series Sailor Fight (jp) in 1995 and 1996 as a "Capsule Monster", presumably based on characters of the same title from Ultra Seven which later inspired Pokémon.[30] [31] Noriaki Yuasa directed a related 1996 video Cosplay Warrior Cutie Knight and appeared in it as a character "Dr. Yuasa", and Hurricane Ryu, who was also working for the 1994 manga Giant Monster Gamera, played Gamera for it.[32]
In the 2015 short film for the 50th anniversary of the franchise, 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.
Within the USO Makoto Yōkai Hyaku Monogatari series by Natsuhiko Kyogoku, in which multiple Kadokawa stakeholders appeared as actual characters, and Daiei (Kadokawa)-related characters and characters from GeGeGe no Kitarō made cameo appearances as unsubstantial entities along with various other characters from multiple different franchises.
Both Gamera and Godzilla franchises have played significant roles in expanding modern cultures in Japan, and influenced various other productions, and the two franchises have also influenced each other on various occasions. Both along with other tokusatsu productions most notably Daimajin and Ultra Q and Ultraman franchises, formed the "First Kaiju Boom" (jp), which became the basis for the "Second Kaiju Boom" (jp) and the "Yōkai Boom".[33] [34]
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.[35]
While Gamera has been described as being a rip-off of Godzilla by some authors,[36] [37] Godzilla films including later Showa films, Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (1994), Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995),[38] Godzilla 2000 (1999),[39] Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000),[40] (GMK) (2001), Shin Godzilla (2016), Godzilla Minus One (2023),[41] 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.[42] [43] [44] Gamera was represented within a concept art of Godzilla: King of the Monsters,[45] and Kaneko himself acknowledges similarities between his films and MonsterVerse films where the scrapped 2011 project Gamera 3D by Yoshimitsu Banno served as one of predecessors of the 2014 film Godzilla.[46] According to Jared Krichevsky, "Shimo" appeared in was partially inspired by Barugon.[47] 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).
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. Later Showa Godzilla films featured more child-friendly aspects, introducing theme songs, depicting kaiju as characters than monsters with increased scenes to zoom in on kaiju, increasing the number of scenes involving kaiju, and adding more fancifully designed kaiju. Yoshimitsu Banno, who later planned to direct Gamera 3D, made Godzilla to fly in his Godzilla vs. Hedorah.[48] These later Showa Godzilla films were presumably influenced by Gamera.[49] The creation of Minilla, a child-friendly son of Godzilla, was also possibly influenced by the Gamera franchise[50] while Toto in the 2006 film Gamera the Brave in return bears physical and conceptual similarities to Minilla, Godzilla Junior in the 1994 film Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla, and Daigoro vs. Goliath by Toho and Tsuburaya Productions. While Gamera the Brave re-used the original script of , which also affected productions of Digimon Tamers (Toei Animation) and Ultraman Tiga (Tsuburaya Productions), the plot of the 2006 film was also influenced by the Heisei Mothra trilogy where crews such as Nippon Eizo Creative (jp) had participated in both productions.[51]
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, and Honda suggested Takahashi to work together in the future. There was a failed attempt to produce a Daimajin film involving Honda in 1980s,[52] [53] and 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.[54]
During the production of in 1995, Yasuyoshi Tokuma (jp), the founder of Tokuma Shoten, expressed his interest in producing Godzilla vs. Gamera and proposed a crossover to Toho, however this attempt failed to materialize, and Yasuyoshi's death in 2000 and financial situation of Tokuma Shoten eventually resulted in the disposal of Daiei Film properties, along with the cancellation of "Gamera 4" due to the plot of and the planned plot of the scrapped sequel.[55] [56]
In 2002, Kadokawa acquired the copyrights of Daiei Film properties from Tokuma Shoten, and Kazuo Kuroi (jp) announced a crossover plan between Gamera and Godzilla, along with a plan to reboot Daimajin.[57] The company approached Toho to achieve it, however the latter turned down the offer and Kadokawa therefore produced Gamera the Brave instead as Toho temporary ceased Godzilla productions after . Zedus, the main antagonist of the 2006 film was intentionally designed to resemble Toho monsters such as Varan[58] and Gorosaurus, and it notably resembles both Godzilla and Jirahs, the Godzilla-based kaiju from Ultraman. Shogo Tomiyama was aware of the demand for the crossover, however clarified it lacking merits for filmmakers.[59] Additionally, Shusuke Kaneko has also expressed his interest in producing a crossover.[60]
In 2023, the Netflix series Gamera Rebirth was directed by Hiroyuki Seshita (jp) 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,[61] 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 (jp) and Guiron appeared in the game as playable characters, followed by Showa incarnations of Gamera and Gyaos.[62] [63] [64]
Additionally, Masaaki Tezuka (jp) once suggested using Gamera instead of Kamoebas (jp) for the 2003 film ,[65] and Gamera was at one point considered to appear in the 2007 video game . The 1999 video game Gamera Dream Battle was able to connect to Mothra Dream Battle in which Mothra and King Ghidorah appeared as playable characters.
Gamera's voice effect was used in Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah,[66] and Gamera was represented within a concept art of Godzilla: King of the Monsters,[67] and several Godzilla productions have presumed references to Gamera.[68] [69] [70] [71]
Gamera and Godzilla and other monsters from respective franchises co-appeared in several exoteric productions and events such as stage shows,[72] [73] a television show (jp), Dr. Slump and Dragon Ball, The Simpsons, Urusei Yatsura, Daicon III and IV Opening Animations, MegaTokyo, City Shrouded in Shadow, The Slammie Brothers vs. Godzilla and Gamera, and USO Makoto Yōkai Hyaku Monogatari. Several franchises such as Dr. Slump,[74] Detective Conan, Sailor Moon SuperS,[75] and Jumbo Monster GOMERA (jp) 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. Ayako Fujitani also made an appearance as a guest in the episode.[76] [77] 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 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] [79]
See also: Five-Company Agreement and Keizō Murase.
Daiei Film produced and distributed films that played major roles in forming tokusatsu and kaiju genre. The company produced the first post-war science fiction tokusatsu films in Japan; Rainbow Man (jp) and The Invisible Man Appears in 1949 under Masaichi Nagata, one of creators of Gamera. Eiji Tsuburaya, who had repeatedly associated with Masaichi Nagata since early 1930s, and Sadamasa Arikawa (jp) and Shuzaburo Araki (jp) participated in these and other Daiei productions before the signing of the Six-Company Agreement in 1953, and they intended to join Daiei Film with the 1949 films after Tsuburaya's exile from Toho because of the 1948 purge due to his involvements in war propagandas, and Arikawa and Araki's voluntary resignations after Toho strikes. However, Tsuburaya was rather dissatisfied with the tokusatsu production (or effects) in The Invisible Man Appears (or their attempts to join the company didn't materialize), and eventually didn't join Daiei Film. Tsuburaya and Arikawa and Araki later participated in Godzilla and various other Toho tokusatsu productions. The 2020 biopic Nezura 1964 ambiguously portrayed Tsuburaya's association with Daiei Film before Gamera.[80]
Daiei Film, along with its own productions of various tokusatsu films, also 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 tokusatsu productions including the Gamera franchise.
The Six-Company Agreement led by the aforementioned Masaichi Nagata, who later produced 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 Dagora and Nezura to fail by using live animals (octopuses and rats) to avoid the Toho-style, and Daiei Film changed the direction for Gamera, the Giant Monster.
Due to the Six-Company Agreement, other companies, including Daiei Film itself, could not "openly" use tokusatsu techniques and staffs and actors of Toho. However, according to Keizō Murase, Eiji Tsuburaya's teams were secretly appointed for by Nikkatsu and The X from Outer Space by Shochiku,, and other subsequent productions, and Toho's techniques were secretly used in these films. For Gamera, the Giant Monster, some crews who had previously participated in Godzilla and other Toho kaiju films joined its production despite the agreement, and Eiji Tsuburaya gave a tacit approval to their actions. However, while there had been suggestions to seek Tsuburaya's help, even by an executive who is a friend of the father of Yonejiro Saito (jp) and Tsuburaya, filmmakers intentionally avoided receiving any technological assistances from Tsuburaya for the Gamera franchise to differentiate their productions from Toho, and produced Gamera and other tokusatsu films without Toho-based techniques, choices of materials, direction, and so on.
Successes of Gamera, the Giant Monster and Gamera vs. Barugon resulted in sudden increases of non-Toho kaiju productions, such as afroementioned and The X from Outer Space. Film makers were suspicious of Tsuburaya's involvements to these non-Daiei productions despite the Six-Company Agreement because of sudden increases in non-Toho kaiju productions after Gamera films, 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.
Involvements of foreign cast members and enhanced childish direction began in Gamera vs. Viras due to requests from global buyers, because of governmental attempt to support struggling Japanese film industries of that time, partially due to the recession of Japanese economy and the prosperity of television including Tsuburaya's Ultraman, by increasing film exports to global market. was established, and Gamera vs. Gyaos obtained a loan from the association. The establishment of the association was largely influenced by Daiei Film's Masaichi Nagata who had connections with political circles, and the subsequent kaiju and tokusatsu films, not only Gamera vs. Gyaos and Wrath of Daimajin and other Daiei Film productions, but also others such as aforementioned and The X from Outer Space by Eiji Tsuburaya's team, obtained tax-based loans from the association.[81] [82]
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 along with his foes, his personality as both a friendly creature and a hero rather than Godzilla's theme to represent a "god of destruction", 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, destructions of urban areas, and so on. Instead, subsequent films since Gamera vs. Viras featured simple, childish, and eccentric plots for young audiences. In the films, children play significant roles with the eccentric ideas presented, and children, unlike adults, always believe in Gamera, partially due to Noriaki Yuasa's antithesis against war and political propagandas and nationalism. This direction was initially decided because a number of children watching Gamera vs. Barugon got bored with the plot and left their seats, 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), with limitations of further elements such as designs and abilities of monsters, amounts of special effects, destructions of urban areas, limited locations,[83] and so on. Yuasa and others didn't intend to make Gamera films to be "good in quality", but being "good in performances", by appealing to young audiences for additional revenues.
On the other hand, a number of new tokusatsu expertise were obtained through productions of Showa Gamera films to compensate for lack of resources and avoiding Toho-based techniques and materials.
As below mentioned, declined public recognition of the franchise due to repeated hiatuses in productions, along with misconceptions among new audience segments, such as Gamera being an inferior imitation of Godzilla and Gamera belonging to the Toho franchise, might have negatively affected box office results of the post-Daiei productions by Tokuma Shoten and Kadokawa Corporation.
Shusuke Kaneko, and Shinji Higuchi, who have previously participated in 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, 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.
One of factors restricting revenues from Daiei Film productions was the company's weak distribution system including limited theater chains; releases of Daiei Film productions relied on movie theatres by Toho, Shochiku, and Toei Company. Daiei Film later launched the to gain directly-managing movie theaters, however the attempt failed as feasible properties were already acquired by other companies, further accelerating financial difficulties of Daiei Film.
Ever since Gamera vs. Zigra, the last film by Daiei Film, was distributed by Dainichi Eihai for financial reasons, Daiei Film productions by Tokuma Shoten and Kadokawa Corporation have always relied on other companies to distribute, restricting revenues. 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.[84] 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.[85] Filming of Gamera: Guardian of the Universe was also affected by the 1994 film Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla as both films were filmed in Fukuoka.
Global distributions of videos of the franchise was also affected by the Godzilla franchise. Daiei 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. On the other hand, its increasingly childish direction along with involving foreign cast members were also prompted by the Japanese Film Export Promotion Association under the Japanese government where Daiei Film's Masaichi Nagata contributed in its establishment.
After the bankruptcy of Daiei Film, the franchise increased its efforts avoid direct competition against the Godzilla franchise, including the Heisei trilogy, and 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. After the commercial failure of the 2006 film, which was originally launched as a proposal for a crossover with Godzilla in 2002, Kadokawa cancelled various projects, including reboot attempt(s) in 2010s,[86] and instead released a short film for the 50th anniversary of the franchise in 2015; 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 participated in Gamera productions. Gamera Rebirth was released on Netflix in 2023 after Godzilla Singular Point in 2021.
While Eiji Tsuburaya and Sadamasa Arikawa (jp) and Shuzaburo Araki (jp) eventually didn't join Daiei Film, a number of Tsuburaya's coworkers and students, who had previously participated in Godzilla and various other Toho productions, participated in Gamera and Daimajin and other Daiei productions, and a number of staffs involved in Gamera productions later participated in various Godzilla and Ultraman productions, including Gamera the Brave and Ultraman Tiga (and Digimon Tamers) reusing the same early script for .
A number of crews and filmmakers, actors, voice actors, extras, and suit actors have participated in both and related franchises (including other Tsuburaya works). Keizō Murase and Masao Yagi (jp) and Toru Suzuki (jp) and Michio Mikami (jp), who have previously participated in Godzilla and other Toho kaiju films and worked with Eiji Tsuburaya, and Akira Takahashi (jp) and Nori Maezawa (jp) founded the tokusatsu modelling company the Ex Productions (jp) after Gamera, the Giant Monster. Murase also founded another tokusatsu related company called 20Twenty (jp) afterward. These companies contributed in various tokusatsu productions including Gamera and Daimajin, and non-Daiei franchises by Tsuburaya such as Godzilla and its related Zone Fighter, Ultraman, Kamen Rider which has several crossovers with Ultraman,(jp)(jp) and so on.[87]
As aforementioned, there have been contradicting theories regards the original conceptor of Gamera where even Noriaki Yuasa and Niisan Takahashi and Yonejiro Saito (jp) weren't truly aware of. Tomio Sagisu (jp), a student of Eiji Tsuburaya and the founder of P Productions, had repeatedly participated in Daiei Film productions most notably The Whale God and Buddha (jp). Sagisu claimed that his 1962 demo reel for the project STOP Series, could be the original idea of Daiei's Gamera. Sagisu initially showed the demo reel to Eiji Tsuburaya, and Toho paid attention to it, and the company later brought the project to Fuji Television, however STOP Series was eventually cancelled. Later, Sagisu instead brought the reel to Daiei Film to launch a project, and believed that this eventually became the prototype of Gamera. Sagisu once inquired Yonesaburo Tsukiji, another student of Tsuburaya and participated in both Nezura and Gamera, however Tsukiji didn't agree with Sagisu's claim and instead noted Hidemasa Nagata as the inventor.
There is also a testimony about the development of Gamera by the designer Akira Inoue (jp), which might not entirely correspond with Sagisu's claim; Inoue designed over 50 different designs of Gamera for the 1965 film, including drastically different ones from the final version, such as a limb-less monster to crawl on the ground like a centipede.
Despite this, P Productions and Daiei Film retained a tie and shared various crews where Eiji Tsuburaya's co-woker and student from Daiei Film, Ryosaku Takayama (jp) and Yoshio Watanabe (jp), were two of founders of P Productions. Additionally, Shinsuke Kojima (jp) and Tamotsu Taga and others abandoned Daiei Film and joined P Production after the failure and aftermaths of Nezura. Crews of Gamera and other Daiei productions including Noriaki Yuasa later participated in projects by P Productions since before the 1968 incidents on P Productions, and increased their involvements afterward where P Productions was no longer able to produce tokusatsu productions by itself and was forced to make its staffs as contract employees, and crews from P Productions projects later joined Gamera films.[88]
Aforementioned crews, who once abandoned Daiei Film for P Productions due to multiple troubles and confusions of Nezura,[89] such as a labor dispute and near-fatal dust mite allergy on Michio Mikami (jp) and others which were caused by using live rats, later participated in Gamera and other Daiei productions. For instance, Tamotsu Taga, along with Noriaki Yuasa and other Gamera crews, co-participated in projects such as ones by Daiei TV-Film (jp), and after the bankruptcy of Daiei Film.[90]
Shirō Sagisu, the son of Tomio and the current owner of the company, has also participated in several Daiei TV-Film dramas after the bankruptcy of Daiel Film, and Shirō, Hideaki Anno, and Shinji Higuchi co-participated in Toho and Tsuburaya Production projects, which have been influecned by the Gamera franchise; Shin Godzilla, Shin Ultraman, Attack on Titan, the Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise, and the Gridman franchise. Shirō also introduced Higuchi to the pianist Junko Miyagi (jp) during the production of because Miyagi is also a fan of the Heisei Gamera trilogy.[91]
See also: Daimajin, Yokai Monsters, Killer Whale (film) and Warning from Space. 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, Tokuma Shoten, and Kadokawa Corporation respectively, resulting in repeated copyright transfers of Daiei properties and limited productions and distributions overall, including cancellations of various projects and failed global expansions despite frequently featuring foreign casts in Shōwa films. Because of further declining public recognition of the character due to years of inactivity of the franchise and limited advertising expenses, Gamera's heroic concept and irrelevance from Godzilla franchise were "forgotten" and new audience segments often viewed him as a mere, "corny" (as a turtle) and "childish" imitation of Godzilla. This, along with other factors such as the loss of Daiei theater chains, 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.
There have been several major hiatus in productions: one between Gamera vs. Zigra in 1971 and in 1980, followed by in 1995, 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.[92] 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, resulted in minor crossovers between Gamera and Daimajin and Shigeru Mizuki's GeGeGe no Kitarō series and Hiroshi Aramata's Yasunori Katō from Teito Monogatari.[93] [94] [95] [96]
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 "a mere rehash of Godzilla", "cheap", "being forced on Noriaki Yuasa as no one wanted", and "destined to flop", and launched the Daimajin and the Yokai Monsters, and these tokusatsu franchises gained popularity despite limited and continuously decreasing budgets and the decline of the "First Kaiju Boom".[97] However, Daiei Film's financial difficulties were further accelerated by producing three Daimajin films within the same year (1966), and resulted in the cancellation of subsequent Daimajin productions.
All villainous monsters since Gamera vs. Viras (Viras, Guiron, Jiger, Zigra) received their names from public submissions, and this was to draw public attention to compensate for limited advertising expenses. Concepts for monsters' designs and abilities were also restricted due to budgets, decreased destructions of urban areas, and film crews focused more on brutal melee fights to compensate for limited amounts of special effects, although the franchise occasionally received global compliments for its brutalness, such as Guiron beheading a Space Gyaos in Gamera vs. Guiron. Gamera vs. Zigra, the last film of the Showa continuity, was co-distributed with Nikkatsu due to the financial problems.
The Gamera franchise solely supported Daiei Film until its bankruptcy, and a number of kaiju suits and models including Gamera were lost as Noriaki Yuasa destroyed them due to his frustration and distress when he heard about the bankruptcy of the company, resulting in the production of and limited amounts of exhibitions. The bankruptcy of the company also triggered confusions and losses of negative prints and other materials, resulting in changes in the running time of Gamera vs. Viras for video and DVD releases.
, 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, along with the aforementioned loss of suits and models by Yuasa, and the success of the 1979 Ultraman video by Akio Jissoji (jp), which contributed in the revival of the Tsuburaya Productions franchise. 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.
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, while Tokuma Shoten and Kadokawa Corporation also aimed to revive the Daimajin along with the Gamera franchise respectively; 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,[98] and another by Takashi Miike in late 2000s along with Gamera the Brave[99] which was eventually redeveloped into Daimajin Kanon, and Miike made the Daimajin to appear in the 2018 film where Gamera also made a cameo appearance within its spin-off novelization.
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.
Financial vulnerability resulted in repeated avoidances from direct competitions against the Godzilla franchise, although there had been failed attempts to make a crossover in 1990s and 2002, leading to the production of Gamera the Brave in 2006 due to Toho's temporal pause of Godzilla film productions since while both films shared some of crews.
Revenues of Daiei Film productions were repeatedly restricted due to lack of exclusive movie theaters, and ever since Gamera vs. Zigra which was co-distributed with Nikkatsu due to the financial problems, 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 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.
The Heisei Trilogy by Shusuke Kaneko, despite its limited budgets and distributions overall, 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 (tokusatsu) films ever made, and it greatly influenced entire tokusatsu genre afterward, including the Godzilla franchise but most notably on Ultraman and Kamen Rider franchises. However, there are pros and cons regarding the outcomes of the trilogy.
The box office returns of , the first installation of the reboot by Tokuma Shoten in 1995, were also negatively affected by the Great Hanshin earthquake (and the Tokyo subway sarin attack) as the numbers of film theaters further declined and the scenes of destructions of buildings triggered PTSD of the earthquake victims. Continuation of the series after 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, and the struggle to produce sequels after depicting the titular heroic character 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 Niisan Takahashi and others; Yuasa noted "the 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.[100] This plot was later used for the 2003 independent film, GAMERA 4-TRUTH (jp) by Shinpei Hayashiya (jp).[101]
Kaneko noted that he was at one point almost dismissed during the production of the 1995 film (and the production was at the brink of cancellation) 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, partially because Kaneko and Ito originally wanted to make the 1992 film Godzilla vs. Mothra instead of Gamera,[102] and wanted to "take revenge on with Gamera" while they and Shinji Higuchi always preferred Toho productions since their childhoods, and disliked and regarded the concept of Gamera to be rather absurd and "childish", especially his ability to fly and affinity to children (and as a protector of humanity), child protagonists, and being a turtle.
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 . 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. 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 especially the destruction of Shibuya by Gamera caused family audiences to exit theaters because children started crying,[103] and also triggered a misconception among new audience segments; Gamera as the character doesn't specifically protect humans for the sake of the planet and nature. 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.
These aspects resulted in controversies, even among film crews of the Heisei trilogy, and a disapproval of it, especially , 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. 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 , were also controversial, but were eventually approved. The plot of 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 . As aforementioned, the 2003 independent film GAMERA 4-TRUTH (jp) re-used the plot of cancelled "G4" in which Gamera no longer protects humanity and causes tremendous collateral damages to exterminate remnants of Gyaos.
The 1999 documentary film GAMERA 1999 (jp) 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. While Tokuma Shoten was already struggling financially and the company eventually disposed the copyrights of Daiei properties after the death of Yasuyoshi Tokuma (jp) in 2000, sequels after potentially up to "G5" or more were cancelled also due to the plot of "G3" for Gamera to act hazardous, and the plot of "G4" in which Gamera becomes a further threat. The 2006 film Gamera the Brave, which was released during a "winter" of kaiju genre (akin to the situation of ) since in 2004,[104] was the first reboot attempt by Kadokawa Corporation reusing the original scripts of the 1995 film. Gamera the Brave aimed to restore the basis of the franchise, 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 (including the box office result of ) and the success of Heisei Mothra trilogy, and was also influenced by various other films including Daigoro vs. Goliath by Toho and Tsuburaya Productions, Helen the Baby Fox, which also collaborated in distribution of the 2006 Gamera film, and .
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, 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,[105] [106] Gamera 3D by Yoshimitsu Banno, and one or more presumed reboot attempt(s) in 2010s,[107] and the franchise was again in a period of inactivity until the 2023 Netflix series Gamera Rebirth. Takashi Miike's Daimajin project was presumably cancelled due to the aftermath of Gamera the Brave,[108] while it resulted in the production of Daimajin Kanon, and Daimajin appeared in Miike's (2021), along with Gamera in its spin-off novelization.
Shusuke Kaneko, who dislikes the concepts of Showa Gamera, is aware of both of criticisms against him and the intention of Gamera the Brave (to recover the ideology of the franchise from the Heisei trilogy)[109], however he in return openly disfavored the 2006 film and criticized its concept, and advocated the superiority of the Heisei trilogy.
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 Showa Gamera film to be released theatrically in the United States; however, it was heavily edited, dubbed and retitled Gammera the Invincible.[110] 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,[111] 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; Gamera vs. Gyaos became Return of the Giant Monsters; Gamera vs. Viras became Destroy All Planets; Gamera vs. Guiron became Attack of the Monsters; and Gamera vs. Jiger became Gamera vs. Monster X.
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,[112] [113] 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,[114] and that a new two-headed monster was planned for the next film,[115] which was canceled because Daiei Film went into bankruptcy in 1971 and the Gamera films ceased production as a result.
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, 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.[116]
After Daiei was purchased by Tokuma Shoten in 1974, the new management wanted to produce another Gamera film, resulting in (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.[117] 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.
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. In 1988 and 1989, Frank's versions of Gamera, the Giant Monster (simply re-titled Gamera), 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.[118]
In the 1995 series reboot by Tokuma Shoten, , 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 , released in 1996, Gamera defends the Earth from attacks by an alien force known as Legion (jp).
In , 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.
Yasuyoshi Tokuma (jp)'s proposal for a crossover with Godzilla didn't materialize, and "G4" was cancelled, and Tokuma Shoten eventually disposed Daiei Film properties due to Yasuyoshi's death in 2000 and the financial condition of the company.
The 2003 independent film, GAMERA 4-TRUTH (jp), which presumably reused the scrapped plot of "G4", was produced by Shinpei Hayashiya (jp) with featuring Yukijirō Hotaru. Tokuma Shoten gave a permission to it under the condition to not to take fees, and it has been repeatedly co-screened with canonical Gamera films on occasions.[101]
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. 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. Afterward the 2006 film, various subsequent productions including its sequels, along with a Daimajin project were cancelled.
In March 2014, Anime News Network reported that a new Gamera production was planned, with no release date specified.[119]
At the New York Comic Con held in October 2015, Kadokawa Daiei Studio's senior managing director Tsuyoshi Kikuchi and producer Shinichiro Inoue (jp) 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.[120] 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.[121] [122] [123] 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[124] 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 for five years.[125]
See main article: Gamera Rebirth. An anime series, titled Gamera Rebirth, was released globally on Netflix in 2023.[126] A number of references to previous films and scrapped projects were made, including the reuse of the Gamera March (ja), the iconic Showa song. 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. It yet again suffers insufficiency in budget; it features poorly done 3D models for humans,[127] and lacks an opening animation (jp) which is a common feature of Japanese anime.[128] The battle scenes were also cut in half from what was originally intended to be. While crews are willing to produce additional seasons with more budgets and increased fighting scenes,[129] potentially up to 5, the future of the series is uncertain.[130] Hiroyuki Seshita (jp) also pointed a possibility of the series to be adapted into live-action productions, and expressed his wish for the series to contribute to the revival of the franchise.[131]
| 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 | |
| 2 | Gamera vs. Barugon | 1966 | Shigeo Tanaka | Barugon | ||
| 3 | Gamera vs. Gyaos | 1967 | Noriaki Yuasa | Gyaos (jp) | ||
| 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 | 1980 | Gyaos, Zigra, Viras, Jiger, Guiron, and Barugon | ||||
| Heisei era (1995–2006) | ||||||
| 9 | 1995 | Shusuke Kaneko | Gyaos | Arrow Video | ||
| 10 | 1996 | Legion (jp) | ||||
| 11 | 1999 | Iris, Gyaos Hyper | ||||
| 12 | Gamera the Brave | 2006 | Ryuta Tasaki | Original Gyaos, Zedus | ||
In 2003, Alpha Video released the American versions of four Shōwa films on pan and scan DVDs: Gammera the Invincible, Gamera vs. Barugon (as War of the Monsters),[135] Gamera vs. Viras (as Destroy All Planets)[136] and Gamera vs. Guiron (as Attack of the Monsters).[137]
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 . 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.[138] 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.[139]
Dark Horse Comics published a four-issue miniseries based on Gamera called Gamera the Guardian of the Universe in 1996.[140] The miniseries features Gamera, Gyaos, Zigra, and Viras.[141] [142] [143] [144] The manga series Dr. Slump, written and illustrated by Akira Toriyama, depicts Gamera as appearing in the land of Penguin Village.[145] Gajira "Gatchan" Norimaki's name is also a reference to Gamera. 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. 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.[146]
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.[147] [148] 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.[149] [150] Gamera was parodied in the South Park episode "Mecha-Streisand",[151] and was featured in the Simpsons episode "Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo".[152]
An anime series, titled Gamera Rebirth, was released on Netflix in 2023.[126] [153]
As aforementioned, Gamera appeared in the Sailor Fight series (jp) in 1995 and 1996 most notably the 1996 video Cosplay Warrior Cutie Knight.
Gamera made several appearances in television advertisements; one by Calbee in 1989, and another by Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group in which he co-appeared with Maki Horikita and others, and it was produced by Shinichi Wakasa (jp) and his Monsters (jp) and Jun Kawanishi (jp). Akira Ohashi again played Gamera for the latter.[154]
Gamera appeared in several video games released in 1995, including Gamera: Daikaiju Kuchu Kessen for the Game Boy,[155] Gamera: Gyaosu Gekimetsu Sakusen for the Super Famicom,[156] and Gamera: The Time Adventure for the Bandai Playdia.[157] In 1997, Gamera 2000 was released exclusively in Japan for the PlayStation.[158] In 2017, Gamera appeared in the video game City Shrouded in Shadow, released for the PlayStation 4, alongside such characters as Legion (jp), Godzilla, Ultraman, and Evangelion Unit-01.[159] [160]
Additional collaborations have been made with The Tower II,[161] Monster Gear,[162] Symphogear XD Unlimited,[163] Godzilla Battle Line, and so on.
Many of the Gamera films were commercially successful in Japan, rivaling the Godzilla franchise at the box office during the 1960s. 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. 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.
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".[164] Brian Solomon of the website Bloody Disgusting ranked Gamera eighth on his list of "Most Kick-Ass Giant Monsters in Movie History".[165] Gamera was also ranked eighth on Rick Mele of Sharps list of "Greatest Giant Monsters in Movie History".[166] 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.[167] Ken Watanabe, who played a major role in MonsterVerse films, noted that he preferred Gamera to Godzilla during his youth.[168] Guillermo del Toro noted that Gamera, the Giant Monster is one of favorite kaiju films, and he as a child often created his own kaiju and robots based on classic characters including Gamera and Barugon.[169] [170]
Several authors such as Hiro Arikawa[171] 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.[172] Atsuji Yamamoto noted that Gamera was one of inspiration sources for his images of protagonists of his works.[173] 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 1999 documentary GAMERA 1999 (jp), and Shinji Higuchi directed the live-action film adaptation of Attack on Titan.[174] [175] Several authors such as Kō Machida and Yoshiki Shibata (jp) have also published original stories of Gyaos.[176] Shinichiro Inoue (jp) and Toshio Miike (jp) participated in the 2020 disaster film Fukushima 50, and Inoue clarified its style to insert a number of telops is an homage to the Heisei Gamera trilogy.[177] Higuchi utilized expertise from the Gamera trilogy for his later works such as , Sinking of Japan, Shin Godzilla, and so on.
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.[178]
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 entire tokusatsu genre afterwards especially the Ultraman and the Kamen Rider franchises, including various references, 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, Ultraman 80, and Ultraman Powered (jp) in return influenced the Heisei Gamera Trilogy where Showa staffs such as Noriaki Yuasa participated in the production of Ultraman 80. Digimon Tamers by Toei Animation and Ultraman Tiga by Tsuburaya Productions were re-developed from the original scripts of by Chiaki J. Konaka and Kazuya Konaka (jp) and Yoshikazu Okada (jp) which also became the basis for Gamera the Brave.[179] As aforementioned, 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.[41] Kaneko acknowledges the similarities between Heisei Gamera Trilogy and MonsterVerse series, and the scrapped Gamera project "Gamera 3D" which was the successor of "Godzilla 3D" by Yoshimitsu Banno served as one of predecessors of MonsterVerse.[180] [181] [182] 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, and distributions of the trilogy were also affected by Studio Ghibli productions, while the production of the 2000 film Shiki-Jitsu by Ayako Fujitani and Hideaki Anno was instead influenced by the Heisei trilogy.[183] A popular television series How Do You Like Wednesday? is also strongly influenced by the trilogy.[184] [185]
Numerous media globally have references to the franchise. Such examples are; Godzilla franchise, Ultra Q and Ultraman,[186] [187] Gridman,[188] Sadako DX, Giant Monsters Appear in Tokyo, Crossfire, Love & Peace,[189] Pokémon, Bowser from the Mario series and Super Smash Bros.,[190] [191] Digimon, The Legend of Zelda,[192] Castlevania and its parody Kid Dracula[193] Mega Man,[194] Dungeons & Dragons, World of Warcraft,[195] Final Fantasy XIV,[196] Dragon Quest,[197] Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game,[198] Xenoblade Chronicles X,[199] King of Tokyo,[200] Five Nights at Freddy's,[201] ,[202] The Battle Cats,[203] [204] Palworld,[205] Dinosaur Simulator,[206] [207] and many other video games,[208] ,[209] Dragon Ball and Dr. Slump franchizes, The Simpsons,[210] South Park,[211] Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,[212] [213] Justice League Unlimited,[214] Green Lantern,[215] [216] Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Kōen-mae Hashutsujo, Kinnikuman, ,[217] Frankenweenie,[218] Captain Underpants,[219] The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, Inuyasha and Urusei Yatsura,[220] Sailor Moon SuperS, Gintama,[221] My Hero Academia,[222] Franklin,[223] , Yakitate!! Japan,[224] Sgt. Frog,[225] Gunbuster,[226] Devilman,[227] Lucky Star,[228] Megas XLR, Detective Conan,[229] Jumbo Monster GOMERA (jp),[230] Daicon III and IV Opening Animations, Megatokyo,[231] Usagi Yojimbo,[232] Uzumaki,[233] Welcome to My Life,[234] The Red Ranger Becomes an Adventurer in Another World,[235] Voltes V and ,[236] Nurse Witch Komugi,[237] Pani Poni, Pacific Rim[238] and Pacific Rim Uprising, Mountain Dew Code Red,[239] and many others.[240] Other cases include companies[241] [242] and songs feature Gamera in their names or lyrics.
Gamera and his foes' roars were used in various other media such as Godzilla, Fireman,[243] [244] GeGeGe no Kitarō,[245] Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh!,[246] Aura Battler Dunbine,[247] Reideen the Brave,[248] Voltes V,[249] Chargeman Ken!,[250] and so on.
November 27 is publicly referred as in Japan as the first film was released on the day in 1965.[251] [252] Akira Ohashi, who played Gamera and Iris in the Heisei Trilogy and also participated in 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.[253]
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, and an official mascot character was designed and named after Gamera.[254]
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.
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 (jp), an early-warning radar of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force is often referred as due to its shape somewhat resembling a turtle shell.[263] A Japanese free climber Toshiyuki Kikuchi (jp) is known with a nickname "Gamera" being named after the kaiju.[264] The Japanese esports player "Gamera" was named after the kaiju,[265] and a technique for esports is called "Gamera" in Japan after the kaiju.[266]
In 2024, Itochu acquired BIGMOTOR Co., Ltd (jp) after multiple scandals of the latter, and the code name for the acquiring project was named "Gamera" after the kaiju.[267]
Naoyuki "Gyaos" Naitō (jp), 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.[268] The comedy troupe "Gyaos" which was later renamed to "Denshamichi" (jp), presumably took its name from Naitō as the comedians focused on baseball topics.[269] Similarly, Kazuhiro "Daimajin" Sasaki was nicknamed after the Daimajin, the character redeveloped from the Gamera franchise,[270] where Chikara Hashimoto, who portrayed the Daimajin and Daimon the vampiric demon in Yokai Monsters and participated in Gamera and other related productions,[271] was also a baseball player and also co-acted with aforementioned Bruce Lee in the 1972 film Fist of Fury.[272] [273] 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.[274]
ja:山本弘 (作家)
. 2013-09-05 . 『パシフィック・リム』と『RWBY』. https://web.archive.org/web/20131110183251/http://hirorin.otaden.jp/e289532.html . 2013-11-10 . 2025-01-21.