News New Godzilla anime "Singular Point" coming to Netflix 2021
- Thread starter Kai "the spy"
- Start date
The official Godzilla design has finally been revealed in its entirety:
https://twitter.com/GODZILLA_SP/status/1360061065325760512
It's pretty cool, although there are certain things I'm surprised to see on a Toho design. Mainly the dinosaurian three-toed feet and the more horizontal stance.
https://twitter.com/GODZILLA_SP/status/1360061065325760512
It's pretty cool, although there are certain things I'm surprised to see on a Toho design. Mainly the dinosaurian three-toed feet and the more horizontal stance.
Godzilla Jr. from "Godzilla vs. Destoroyah" also had a forward-leaning stance and more dinosaurian feet (though four-toed), although obviously not as much as that design.
They were, of course, limited by the physical conditions of suitmation.
They were, of course, limited by the physical conditions of suitmation.
Taking advantage of the freedom of animation to move beyond a humanoid shape. It's interesting. They've made the legs and tail really huge to support all that weight. It's well thought out.
Oh don't misunderstand me, I like it. I'm just surprised considering there are certain traits it has in common with the 1998 design (that I also happen to like more than a lot of other people) and Toho hated that design.
Was it the design they hated, or the movie it was in?
I quite liked Patrick Tatopolous's "Godzilla" design, though I think it looked better in the animated series than in "live-action" in the movie.
From this behind-the-scenes story, it sounds like they were initially stunned by how different the design was, then warmed up to it, and then soured on it again after they saw the movie:
In my opinion, enough time has passed that there's no reason for there to be so much hatred toward the 1998 film. Sure, it's not good, but without it, I think the future of the franchise would have gone very differently. Plus, it gave us the cartoon series. If Singular Point is as good as that was, I'll be happy.
Godzilla Jr. from "Godzilla vs. Destoroyah" also had a forward-leaning stance and more dinosaurian feet (though four-toed), although obviously not as much as that design.
They were, of course, limited by the physical conditions of suitmation.
I would like to see this crossed with the 1960’s Kong v Godzilla version. More reptilian, less thunder-thighs.
The heavy legs make sense (relatively) for carrying that huge weight. There's a reason an elephant's legs are proportionally thicker than a mouse's.
Images of the new Bandai figures for Godzilla and Jet Jaguar show off some more details:
I had not noticed in the previous art that this Godzilla appears to have tusks (though, taking another look, they are there). And Jet Jaguar is quite a redesign, his body shape appearing more like a gorilla than a human.
I had not noticed in the previous art that this Godzilla appears to have tusks (though, taking another look, they are there). And Jet Jaguar is quite a redesign, his body shape appearing more like a gorilla than a human.
New Japanese Trailer. Some new shots of Godzilla, Anguirus, Rodan, first view at Kumonga and Hedorah:
Further Bandai figures of Titanosaurus, Manda, and Anguirus:
Not from the anime, but I didn't think it waranted digging up a two-year old thread, much less create a new one.
Seibuen Amusement Park is launching a new Godzilla-themed ride, and the promo released today has some nice CGI footage of Godzilla and Ghidorah, as they might look should Toho choose to start their own film series instead of continuing Legendary's MonsterVerse:
Seibuen Amusement Park is launching a new Godzilla-themed ride, and the promo released today has some nice CGI footage of Godzilla and Ghidorah, as they might look should Toho choose to start their own film series instead of continuing Legendary's MonsterVerse:
Has anyone else watched Singular Point now that it's available internationally?
I finished it today and my overall opinion is-- to be determined. I'm not sure how to rate it as it's a really weird show. On the one hand, I like the characters, I think the reimagining of the monsters is great, a lot of the concepts explored are interesting, and the score is excellent. On the other hand, way too much time is devoted to technobabble, the story isn't really character-driven at all, and Godzilla barely does anything.
I'm trying not to go into spoilers as I think Godzilla fans should watch it and form their own conclusions. The one thing I will say is to make sure to watch to the very end of the finale.
I finished it today and my overall opinion is-- to be determined. I'm not sure how to rate it as it's a really weird show. On the one hand, I like the characters, I think the reimagining of the monsters is great, a lot of the concepts explored are interesting, and the score is excellent. On the other hand, way too much time is devoted to technobabble, the story isn't really character-driven at all, and Godzilla barely does anything.
I'm trying not to go into spoilers as I think Godzilla fans should watch it and form their own conclusions. The one thing I will say is to make sure to watch to the very end of the finale.
I'm halfway through, and I'm enjoying it so far. It's conceptually very dense, but it's not "technobabble" at all -- on the contrary, it's by far the most scientifically literate, intelligent dialogue I've ever heard in a kaiju production, well-grounded in real theory and acknowledging that physics and evolution as we know them would have to be massively violated for kaiju to exist. The plot isn't easy to follow with all the characters with mysterious hidden agendas cropping up, but I like the thoughtfulness, the energy, and the humor. The Jet Jaguar battles and the eccentric Otaki are a lot of fun.
That alone makes it a massive improvement over the ponderous, pretentious, nihilistic anime movie trilogy that preceded it. Those movies were never fun. The CGI on the kaiju is vastly better done here, and the 2D animation and character design are much better than the video-gamey cel-shaded 3D of the trilogy.
Singular Point is reminiscent of Shin Godzilla in some ways, with its mutating kaiju and its focus on media montages and the like -- although it has what Shin lacked, an emphasis on ground-level civilians and scientists dealing with the kaiju crisis rather than just government and military officials.
Maybe scientific jargon would be a better term than technobabble. But it does sometimes make me miss the simpler dialogue and concepts of other kaiju stories, even if they are dumber.
Without giving anything away, everything about Singular Point from beginning to end is better than the Godzilla Earth trilogy, in my opinion. For one thing, the lead characters aren't insufferable. Otaki, as you mentioned is fun to watch. Another aspect of the characters that's greatly improved over the trilogy is the designs. I can actually tell them apart and they suit their personalities.
I don't mind the animation style Polygon uses in their work; I got used to it in Pacific Rim: The Black, but I think the animation used here is much more appealing. And it has the best integration of 2D and 3D that I've ever seen, with the possible exception of Klaus. The monsters and some of the vehicles are 3D, and yet always feel like they belong in the world. Jet Jaguar in particular is indistinguishable from hand-drawn animation a lot of the time.
I get why it might be forbidding to many, but to a physics nerd like me, it's really cool. This is one of those anime series that get into very deep concepts and philosophy and challenge you to keep up, like Serial Experiments Lain or Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. I like it that it's not just a copy of past kaiju stories, but brings its own distinct spin.
Also nice to have kaiju that do more than stand in one place for most of the movie...
Oh, I haven't gotten around to watching PR:TB yet. I think the reviews were mixed. I'm also on the fence about whether to watch it in Japanese or English. Usually I'd default to Japanese when watching anime, but PR:TB is written by American writers and features characters who would logically be Anglophone, so maybe I should go with the English version.
It has been a bit jarring in Singular Point how all the characters in places like Dubai and Manhattan are speaking fluent Japanese. I'm surprised, since normally Japanese productions don't hesitate to have foreign characters speak English, even if the actors perform their English lines in a thick Japanese accent (like the supposedly US-native Kayoco in Shin Godzilla).
Funny -- by contrast, I saw a review saying that the CGI gave the kaiju an otherworldly feel, like they didn't quite fit in the same universe as the 2D characters, but that it worked well for the story. Me, I can tell the difference between the 2D and the 3D, but I'm used to shows that merge the two styles. And both types of animation are quite well-done.