AnimeJapan2017] "GODZILLA" Special Stage! Lead actor Mamoru Miyano and other cast members including Kana Hanazawa took the stage.

GODZILLA - Planet of the Monsters," the first animated film about Godzilla, Japan's world-famous monster, took place on the RED Stage on March 26, the last day of Anime Japan 2017. The special stage was held at the RED Stage on March 26, the last day of Anime Japan 2017.
⇒AnimeJapan2017 Special Feature

The film is produced by Polygon Pictures, which received high acclaim for "Knights of Sidonia. The film is directed by the double team of Kobun Shizuno, director of "Knights of Sidonia," and Hiroyuki Seshimo, director of "Ajin". The original plan and screenplay were written by Gen Urobuchi of "Puella Magi Madoka Magica" fame, bringing together some of the hottest talents in the industry today. The audience was packed with people, even though it was the first show of the morning, to hear the news of the upcoming film.

Before the opening, a video of interviews with the main staff members, who spoke of their enthusiasm for Godzilla, was shown, and then DJ Mori Iccho, who acted as the facilitator, and the six main cast members took the stage one after another. First of all, the cast members were announced. The cast included Mamoru Miyano as Haruo Sakaki, Takahiro Sakurai as Metfies, Kana Hanazawa as Yuko Tani, Tomokazu Sugita as Martin Lazzari, Hiroki Kaji as Adam Bindewald, and Junichi Suwabe as Muruel Garg. The cast members are all well-known and popular monsters.

All the cast members seemed happy and nervous to be involved in the first animated film of Godzilla, a popular monster known to everyone. Sugita also joked, "I have experience fighting giant monsters," which made those who know about certain monster movies chuckle.

The content of the story and the characters were then introduced. After losing the battle against Godzilla, mankind escaped into space. After 20,000 years, the Earth has returned to an unknown ecosystem, and Godzilla reigns at the top of it. ...... is the general synopsis of the story. The film has a much stronger science fiction flavor than conventional live-action films, and is sure to be an unparalleled Godzilla movie. The main character, Haruo, is a young man who deeply hates Godzilla, the creature that killed his parents. The main characters are his friends who fight Godzilla together with Haruo, some of whom are aliens, and it will be interesting to see what kind of drama will be presented by the various characters with different personalities and backgrounds.

The recording was done without pictures, using what is called "prescreening" (a method of creating images to match the previously recorded audio). So, at the right time, a special showing of the footage of the film in progress was made.

The audience applauded as the breathtaking battle scene with Godzilla unfolded on a transformed Earth. Although the short film was only 30 seconds long, the high quality of the work and the enthusiasm of the staff were clearly evident. It was also announced that a trilogy would be released at the same time. Mr. Kaji said, "I can't wait to see the whole story," and Mr. Sakurai was impressed, saying, "The scale of this movie is really big. Mr. Miyano also commented, "We've never seen a Godzilla fight in a power suit before," reminding us that a Godzilla unlike any we have seen before is being born.

Finally, on behalf of the cast, Mr. Miyano thanked the audience for coming and said, "The recording has already finished, but the cast and staff will work together to make this Godzilla movie more exciting, so please look forward to the movie's release. The stage ended in a friendly atmosphere with jokes and comments from start to finish.

The film is scheduled to be released in November 2017. How will the long battle between mankind and Godzilla come to an end? We will have to wait and see.

(Reporting and writing by Tomoko Endo at TRAP)