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Summary
- Godzilla Island offers surprisingly strong storylines in short, action-packed episodes with iconic kaiju characters.
- The show’s use of Bandai action figures as the monster cast adds a unique charm to its overly complicated but entertaining arcs.
- Despite the show’s cheap special effects, Godzilla Island still offers a humbling journey for Toho followers and kaiju fans.
After seventy years of entertainment, the Godzilla franchise finally achieved its first Academy Award with 2023’s Godzilla: Minus One. Die-hard fans know that this iconic kaiju series has come a long way to achieving this feat, though. No longer is Godzilla remembered for comically dropkicking Megalon or having a tree branch shoved down his mouth by King Kong. Instead, the audience is now knee-deep in the psychological and physical impact that this monster’s rampage has had on the lives of ordinary people.
Anxiously anticipating Godzilla’s return and the massive threat against an already traumatized Earth, their regrets, sorrows, and emotional blame games all boil over into an emotionally driven film. But what if, in some alternate reality, this giant kaiju (and many more of his classic allies and enemies) were all sent to their own private island instead? On top of that, opposing alien factions ended up invading this small habitat and started recruiting the various kaijus for their war efforts.
While this all sounds like absurd fan fiction, this cinematic and long-winded story (made up of two hundred and fifty-six episodes to be exact) was actually greenlit over 20 years ago and officially funded by Toho in 1997. Originally airing on TV Tokyo in Japan and following in the footsteps of other children’s series, Godzilla Island was made with the intention of selling toys.
But in an interesting turn of events, Bandai-branded action figures themselves were also used to portray the monster cast. While people were also cast — most notably Jiro Dan as Beisuke Jinguji (a G-Guard officer who looks after all the towering monsters and mechs), Maimi Okuwa as Torema (a female alien from the planet Torendeiru), and Kaori Aizawa’s Zagreth (an evil Xilien who is sent to destroy Earth) — much more is to be said about this show’s overly complicated but yet massively entertaining arcs. As you will see, Godzilla Island instantly becomes an exciting fever dream for fans of the long-standing kaiju universe.
Godzilla Island Has Surprisingly Strong Story Arcs
Even though the episodes are just three minutes long, Toho saved no expense when it came to the iconic characters that were spotlighted and the stories that were told. In just the first five entries, for example (which were collectively called “Enter Torema”), iconic names like Mechagodzilla, Moguera, Jet Jaguar, and SpaceGodzilla all make appearances (the first three of those names surprisingly fighting side by side to repel the Xiliens). The second arc (episodes six through fifteen and simply titled “King Ghidorah”) starts with a battle royale that consists of six other kaiju until Godzilla, Mothra, and Rodan (another odd trio) take to the skies to fight off against the three-headed dragon monster.
There are twenty more stories that come after this which all highlight more exciting adventures on Godzilla Island. Later on in the series (that is, once Toho realized they had an audience), viewers were also treated with all new character variants, like Medical Jet Jaguar, Black Mechagodzilla, and the all-powerful Hyper Mecha-King Ghidorah.
But, there is no going around the fact that Godzilla Island has to be viewed with the utmost suspension of disbelief. While some nifty camera work is used in order to try and trick the viewer more times than not, Okuwa’s Torema aiming her rocket launcher at a blown-up image of a kaiju action figure is such a tongue-in-cheek moment that it should be enjoyed without any serious thought.
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From Toys to a Monstrous Terror
Seeing a monster’s limbs not moving while it walks, because the toy might not have many points of dexterity, can surely take you out of the illusion if you don’t keep the making of this show in the back of your mind at all times. But behind all the cheap special effects and the thinly veiled mysticism that covers all of Godzilla Island, there is certainly a story here that will humble Toho followers, kaiju fans, and filmmakers alike. Talk about a journey of humble beginnings. At this point, there were already twenty-two theatrical Godzilla movies released as well as five other television series revolving around some embodiment of the reptilian giant.
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There are a few more roars yet to be heard.
With these various properties all doing their part to hype up audience interest, there was no need to create something so elementary in nature — even if it was made with the intention of grabbing children’s attention. Besides the article that you are reading at this very moment that hopes to liven up the allure of Godzilla Island, Minus One has obviously done a lot more for the franchise in terms of financial gains and positive sentiment. That is alright. Even for a trillion-dollar company like Toho that’s been handling Godzilla since the very beginning, it’s not the finish line that counts, it’s the journey getting there that matters the most.
The entire Godzilla Island series is available to watch on YouTube by Toho Studios for free.
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