Anigoji becomes more enjoyable! Lecture on the movie "Godzilla" - Part 2: "Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah: The Greatest Monster All-Out Attack" (2001) - Godzilla's greatest rival.

Godzilla, the world's great monster star of Japanese cinema, was reborn as a science fiction animated film in a new guise in 2017. GODZILLA: PLANET OF THE MONSTERS" is the first chapter of the animated Godzilla (also known as "Anigoji") trilogy, which depicts mankind's epic battle against the giant monster Godzilla, which reigns on Earth 20,000 years later.

In "GODZILLA: Planet of the Monsters," "Godzilla Earth," which is 300 meters long and weighs more than 100,000 tons, makes its debut. The largest Godzilla ever seen in a live-action film series was 100 meters in "Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah" (1991), 108 meters in "Godzilla" (2014), and 118.5 meters in "Shin Godzilla" (2016), so it is not surprising that Anigozi's Godzilla Earth is so huge. You can see how out-of-this-world huge it is.

In the second chapter of "Godzilla: Crusade on Mobile Cities," which will be released on May 18, 2018, there are rumors that not only Godzilla, but also other popular characters from the past will be "resurrected" with different settings and attributes. All of this will become clear the moment the movie is released, but in this column, we have selected a number of films from the past Godzilla movie series that seem to be closely related to "Anigoji" as a "preview" before the new movie is released. I would like to introduce some of the most notable points and famous scenes from the past Godzilla film series that may be closely related to "Anigoji.

In "GODZILLA: CASE MULTIPLE CITY," it is revealed that Miana, the mysterious girl who saved the main character Haruo at the end of the previous film, has a twin sister, Maina. The twins are priestesses of a fourth race, the Futua, which is different from the three races (humans, Exifs, and Bilsalds) that appear in the world of the work, and they are said to be in charge of protecting the "divine egg. The keywords "twin girls" and "egg" remind us of "Mothra," a popular star monster in Toho special effects films along with Godzilla. Mothra, the only monster to defeat the invincible Godzilla in "Mothra vs. Godzilla" (1964), will it appear in the world of "Anigoji" in the future? There are great expectations for its future development.

In the live-action "Godzilla" series, there were many "rival monsters" that fought fierce battles with Godzilla, the largest and most powerful monster in the past, and we will introduce some of the best "monster showdowns," one of the most exciting aspects of special effects monster movies.

Godzilla first appeared before mankind in "Godzilla" (1954), and after laying waste to the city of Tokyo, it submerged itself at the bottom of the ocean. However, as predicted by paleontologist Dr. Yamane, "I don't think that Godzilla was the last of the Godzillas," another Godzilla was seen again the following year. In "Godzilla Strikes Back" (1955), in addition to Godzilla, Anguirus, a ferocious dragon, also appeared, and the two great monsters fought fiercely, this time scorching the city of Osaka to the ground. The battle was so fierce and gruesome that it could be described as a war between wild beasts. Anguilla was bitten on the neck by Godzilla's fangs, and bled to death. To top it all off, Anguilla was set ablaze by Godzilla's heat rays.

Seven years later, Godzilla had an unexpected big chance. It was a world title match against the American "King Kong," the senior fighter in the monster world who made his debut in 1933. In "King Kong vs. Godzilla" (1962), King Kong moves north from the southern island of Faro, while Godzilla, resurrected from an iceberg in the north, moves south with a homing instinct. The plot is filled with a sense of scale as the two sides fight each other thoroughly in Japan, making full use of each other's skills and strength. For Godzilla, an up-and-coming fighter at the time, King Kong, a veteran from the U.S., is a perfect opponent. This battle was well-received in the U.S. and other countries, further boosting Godzilla's global recognition. The battle between King Kong and Godzilla is different from the wild, fanged killing match in "Godzilla Strikes Back," in that Godzilla head-butts and tail-chops, while King Kong throws rocks and does martial arts moves, and the two fighters utilize their respective strengths to create a dynamic, sports-like battle that gives the monster showdown a comical and poignant impression. The monster showdown has a comical and poignant impression.

Godzilla's fight with King Kong ended in a "draw" when both fell into the sea in a tangle, but Godzilla's fight was highly praised as he fought equally or even better than the great American monster star, establishing his status as Japan's number one monster. Godzilla's next challenge was Mothra, which became a blockbuster hit when it starred alone in "Mothra" (1961). While the battle with King Kong was called the Japan-U.S. Monsterweight Title Match, the battle with Mothra was more important as a domestic defense of his title in Toho films. In "Mothra vs. Godzilla" (1964), the little beauties (twin fairies measuring 30 cm in height) that had won a reputation in "Mothra" made a second appearance. They appear in the human world to protect the "eggs" laid by Mothra (the adult insect), which have grown up in the soil over the years.

The battle between the two monsters, the ferocious Godzilla and the peace ambassador Mothra, is called the most famous battle in the history of monster confrontations, with both sides clearly divided into good and evil. Mothra, which was even larger than Godzilla, used its large wings and scale attacks to catch up with Godzilla, but was defeated just as it was about to run out of life. However, twin Mothra larvae were born from the egg by the prayer of a little beauty, and they confronted Godzilla to avenge the death of the parent Mothra. As a result, Godzilla, whose movement was blocked by the threads of Mothra (larva), fell to the bottom of the sea and was never seen again.

Godzilla had been engaged in a series of famous battles with the big monster stars King Kong and Mothra, but a major turning point in the battle came in 1964 with "The Greatest Battle on Earth: The Three Monsters" (1964). In this film, a beautiful woman who claims to be a Venusian suddenly appears in Japan and predicts monster disasters that will break out in various regions. This monster extravaganza was depicted on an overly grand scale, with the "three great monsters" Godzilla, Radon, and Mothra, the great monster stars created by Toho, facing off against King Ghidorah, a powerful foe from outer space. Godzilla and Radon are fierce rivals, but this is no time for Earth monsters to be fighting each other. King Ghidorah, which is said to have wiped out an advanced civilization on Venus in the past, has begun its rampage on Earth.

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King Ghidorah, with its golden scales, huge wings, forked tail, three dragon-like heads, and Inazuma-like gravitational rays from its mouth, had a strong impact as a villain with a gorgeous appearance in every way. Godzilla and Radon, who both go by the name of "rampaging monsters," are persuaded by Mothra (a larva) to make up their minds to fight King Ghidorah in order to protect the earth. King Ghidorah's strength and coolness are superb, and King Ghidorah has won the hearts of many monster fans through this single film.

King Ghidorah, which gained great popularity with "The Greatest Battle on Earth," made another appearance in the following "The Great Monster War" (1965). This time, as a monster controlled by X aliens (they call it Monster Zero), King Ghidorah went around destroying various parts of Japan along with Godzilla and Radon. In "Kaiju Soukyo Shoukou" (1968), a film that aimed to bring the monster movies to a close, Godzilla flew to Earth at the request of the Kiraak aliens to intercept the Earth Monster Alliance, led by Godzilla. In this case, because it was a handicap battle against 10 Earth monsters, Godzilla was downed on the ground without having time to escape back to space. Furthermore, in "Godzilla vs. Gigan: Order to Attack Earth" (1972), he was manipulated by the M Space Hunter Nebulans, who were aiming for Earth, and attacked Earth for the fourth time as a "bad companion" of the new monster Gigan.

The popular monster King Ghidorah, which has appeared four times in Godzilla films, has made its way not only into the world of movies but also into the world of television. In the tokusatsu hero film "Meteor Man Zone" (1973), in which Godzilla made a guest appearance, King Ghidorah appeared as a space monster controlled by Garoga, who is planning to invade Earth from the planet Garogabalan. In episodes 5, "Mukae Ghidorah wo Mukae Hashiru!" and Episode 6, "King Ghidorah Strikes Back! and the sixth episode, "King Ghidorah Strikes Back! The giant hero of the film, the Zone Fighter, intercepts King Ghidorah, and the final battle takes place on the land of Venus, which has a close relationship with King Ghidorah.

After "Godzilla" made its "comeback" in 1984 with "Godzilla," the Godzilla film produced a new sensation, "Godzilla vs. Biollante" (1989), and then launched a project to revive the popular monster of the past as well. This was "Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah" (1991). King Ghidorah was not the space monster of the past, but a "super dragon monster" genetically engineered by people of the 23rd century future.

Until then, Godzilla and King Ghidorah had never fought each other on their own, but this time, for the first time, a one-on-one battle was realized. While King Ghidorah's overwhelming size and volume remained unchanged, Godzilla's power increased to 100 meters in height and 60,000 tons in weight. The power of the radiated heat rays also became a tremendous spiral heat ray, showing its destructive power to pierce through King Ghidorah's wings. Furthermore, in this film, King Ghidorah, which was defeated by Godzilla, is remodeled into a cyborg by the technology of people from the future, and the amazing "Mecha King Ghidorah" is born. A great monster battle on an overwhelming scale took place in the vicinity of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, which had just been completed at the time.

King Ghidorah, whose popularity rivals that of Godzilla and Mothra, has since been active in the world of Toho monster movies, with minor changes to its appearance and attributes. The third film in the Heisei "Mothra" series, "Mothra 3: King Ghidorah Strikes" (1998), which began after the Heisei Godzilla series ended with "Godzilla vs. Destroyer" (1995), depicts the activities of Rainbow Mothra in its fight against King Ghidorah, who has come from outer space as a terrifying giant demon king. King Ghidorah 3. Overwhelmed by King Ghidorah's powerful supernatural powers, Mothra travels back in time to the Cretaceous Period and attempts to defeat King Ghidorah, who has not yet acquired supernatural powers. The young Ghidorah in the Cretaceous Period (a.k.a. "Young Ghidorah") has smaller wings and a smaller body than the adult King Ghidorah, making it more agile and active than before, creating a new image of King Ghidorah that was well received.

In "Godzilla: Mothra, King Ghidorah, and the Great Monsters Attack" (2001), directed by Shusuke Kaneko, who gained great popularity among monster movie fans with his three Heisei "Gamera" series films, the "sacred beasts" (Baragon, Mothra, and Ghidorah) of Yamato fight for their lives to protect people from the deadliest and worst Godzilla The film is a more powerful monster movie than the traditional monster movies. In this film, which has more occult elements than conventional monster movies, Godzilla is given the new attribute of being "a monster born from a collection of grudges from the war dead," and the "blank stare" that rejects any emotional involvement by the human side leaves a strong impression. Perhaps to emphasize Godzilla's overwhelming strength and terror, the three major monsters, Baragon, Mothra, and Ghidorah, are all smaller than Godzilla, which is also a feature unique to this film.

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Baragon and Mothra are destroyed in flames by Godzilla's relentless attack, but Ghidorah, having gained life energy from them, becomes King Ghidorah, the "Millennium Dragon King," and joins forces with the courageous humans (the Defense Force) for a final battle. Initially, Yamato's sacred beasts to challenge Godzilla were Baragon, Balan, and Anguirus, but for box-office reasons, Mothra and King Ghidorah were chosen to replace Balan and Anguirus, because "they wanted to bring out a well-known monster. It is unfortunate that Balan and Anguirus did not make it back to the movies, but the names Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah have enough value to make audiences have strong expectations for them.

Will Godzilla's mortal rival King Ghidorah exist in the world of "Anigoji"? And will Mothra be ......?　We cannot help but have high expectations for the second chapter "GODZILLA: Crusade on Mobile Cities," which is about to be released, and the third chapter to come.

(Text by Hideo Akita)