Godzilla Singular Point

[mikeszekely]

I'm kind of surprised no one else has already made a post for this.

It's a 13-episode anime from bones (My Hero Acadamia) and Orange (Beastars), set to debut in April 2021.  While the trailer is posted on Netflix Asia's Youtube account, I'm reading that Netflix is licensed as the worldwide distributor so hopefully it'll hit most of their markets.  I'm a big Godzilla fan, so I'm pretty hyped for this.

[no3Ljm]

@TangledThorns actually shared it earlier in the Pacific Rim The Black thread.

 

 

[mikeszekely]

Well, as cool as we all agree Yeagers pounding on kaiju is I think the king getting a new series deserves it's own thread, don't you? 

[no3Ljm]

1 hour ago, mikeszekely said:

Well, as cool as we all agree Yeagers pounding on kaiju is I think the king getting a new series deserves it's own thread, don't you? 

But ofkors! Hail to the King! 

 

[no3Ljm]

 

 

[no3Ljm]

 

[tekering]

I don't say this about much any more, but...

I'd pay money to see this. 

[mikeszekely]

Interesting.  There's no description, just a button that says "remind me when this becomes available," but I found it on US Netflix.

[Tking22]

27 minutes ago, mikeszekely said:

Interesting.  There's no description, just a button that says "remind me when this becomes available," but I found it on US Netflix.

Yeah I'm in the US and this has been on "worth the wait" on US Netflix for a month now, Netflix also did the other animated Godzilla trilogy, they seem to be grabbing up a lot of the Toho animated stuff.

Looks good to me, there's some interesting redesigns of some classic kaiju, Anguirus in particular looks cool, very Ankylosaurus. Also, Jet Jaguar is always appreciated, I've always had a soft spot for Jack Nicholson-bot.

[Dynaman]

Jet Jaguar!  Nuf said.  I'm watching.

[no3Ljm]

 

[Bolt]

Awesome 

[electric indigo]

NICE!

[tekering]

The show's not bad so far.  It's a manic comedy, for the most part, with flashes of speculative sci-fi and a dash of forgotten lore to provide a mysterious backstory for the protagonists to investigate.  The plot concerns the appearance of pterodactyls the locals call "radon" (or as it's subtitled, "rodan"), animated through CGI along the same lines as the Vajra.  

I really like the artwork and the character designs, although the characters themselves (and the voice actors portraying them) ought to tone it down a notch...  Like a great deal of anime these days, it's a little too high-strung for its own good. 

[mikeszekely]

4 hours ago, tekering said:

The plot concerns the appearance of pterodactyls the locals call "radon" (or as it's subtitled, "rodan"

So it has English subs, then? It's still not available to watch in the States, but I've been meaning to pick up a VPN.

[tekering]

1 hour ago, mikeszekely said:

So it has English subs, then?

Moyai is doing a fantastic fansub, particularly considering what an obscenely difficult job they must've had translating the dialogue:

It's at times both extremely idiomatic and ridiculously technical, probably the most challenging script I've ever come across in anime. 

 

Edited April 13, 2021 by tekering

[TangledThorns]

Looks better than the last anime. Seriously, how can you screw up Godzilla anime?? Even the animated series based on Godzilla 1998 was way better than that.

[Hikuro]

Okay I finished it a bit ago.....I realllllly don't like those monster designs at all.....and felt this really took some liberties from Shin Godzilla. Would I say this was better than the trilogy series Netflix did? No.....not really.

[mikeszekely]

44 minutes ago, Hikuro said:

Would I say this was better than the trilogy series Netflix did? No.....not really.

That's not good.  Planet of the Monsters was pretty boring.  City on the Edge of Battle started to show some promise, but it was all squandered on the just plain bad The Planet Eater.  I'd expect almost anything to be better than that trilogy.

Wasn't aware that Singular Point was available to watch on American Netflix yet, but now that I know it is I guess I'll check it out.

[Hikuro]

1 hour ago, mikeszekely said:

That's not good.  Planet of the Monsters was pretty boring.  City on the Edge of Battle started to show some promise, but it was all squandered on the just plain bad The Planet Eater.  I'd expect almost anything to be better than that trilogy.

Wasn't aware that Singular Point was available to watch on American Netflix yet, but now that I know it is I guess I'll check it out.

It and the final Kenshin movie apparently are available so I binged Godzilla and just started watching Kenshin...and honestly I'm enjoying Kenshin more than Godzilla. I dunno maybe I'm just not that big of a Godzilla fan...sure I've seen a lot of the movies on TV when Scifi channel was worth a damn, but this series just didn't do it for me. I think it's the monster designs, when you're basing all your monsters on an ancient kind of japanese art style using CGI cel-shading techniques, it just doesn't look good but tacky and doesn't fit the rest of the animation style. There's also the science in this series that I had so much trouble trying to understand....it was just to much for me. 

[mikeszekely]

Well, I just finished Singular Point, and I'd say that I had a very different experience than Hikuro.  It certainly wasn't without it's flaws- the humans are kind of bland, being either utterly generic or drawn as exaggerated villains (despite the fact that the motivations of a lot of the characters are unclear rather than being definite villains).  And, despite being in the title, Godzilla is barely in the show (and yes, as Hikuro pointed out, the Shin Godzilla vibes are very strong with him spending most of his few appearances evolving into bigger forms).  And I get the feeling that if I really sit down and consider the plot that, in the end, it doesn't quite make total sense.

That said, on the whole I found the whole thing to be entertaining.  There's a mystery that plays out over the course of the 13 episodes, and it involves some interesting ideas about extra dimensions and spacetime (as as someone who reads books by guys like Carlo Rovelli, Sean Carroll, and Lee Smolin for fun I was totally into that).  These ideas, in turn, provided a sort of origin and explanation for the kaiju's appearance that, while it could have been fleshed out a bit better, is at least not the same old nuclear radiation origin that's been the go-to for the last 67 years.  What's more, as a multi-episode show instead of a 90-minute movie it allowed the kaiju phenomenon to start off small and build up to a global disaster, giving the mystery time to build and gradually raising the stakes.

Also, Jet Jaguar.

So, yeah.  I'm not sure that Singular Point totally succeeds as a Godzilla story.  But as a sci-fi anime that happens to have Godzilla in the last quarter I found that I really enjoyed it.

[renegadeleader1]

15 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

These ideas, in turn, provided a sort of origin and explanation for the kaiju's appearance that, while it could have been fleshed out a bit better, is at least not the same old nuclear radiation origin that's been the go-to for the last 67 years.

And this is the biggest issue with things like this and why I feel the Godzilla franchise is now 0 for 2 on big budget anime projects. Screw with the original formula too much and people just won't care. You might as well make your own generic giant monster series at this point.

 

People who want to watch a Godzilla anime series aren't tuning in to watch a pseudo science lecture on quantum physics or surrealist dystopian futures where plant based Godzilla fights a forbidden mathematical equation. No, they are there to see a giant radioactive dinosaur stop on cities and throw down with other familiar giant monsters while humanity tries to survive and find ways to destroy the monsters. Establish that first and then you can do all the experimental "what if's" with the franchise all you want.

 

So yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. Dragon Ball Z the **** out of it! Go full on over the top big dumb spectacle fight with it, not Evangelion or Serial Experiments Lain with it. It may be dumb and flashy, but it at least wouldn't have you confused or questioning what the hell is going on.

[Dangard Ace]

On 7/3/2021 at 11:23 PM, mikeszekely said:

Also, Jet Jaguar.

So, yeah.  I'm not sure that Singular Point totally succeeds as a Godzilla story.  But as a sci-fi anime that happens to have Godzilla in the last quarter I found that I really enjoyed it.

Singular Point isn’t a Godzilla story.  It’s a Jet Jaguar story (finally) and as goofy as he looks JJ kicks some serious tail.   I want some JJ toys   Got enough Gs   

I also enjoyed the after credit reveal.  

[Duymon]

I actually enjoyed watching it but I am not a hardcore Godzilla fan.

[TangledThorns]

Just finished it tonight. It was OK I guess but could have been a lot better and with more GODZILLA too so lets see if the second season is any better.

That being said, why can't JAPAN make a outstanding GODZILLA anime or movie anymore??

[tekering]

8 hours ago, TangledThorns said:

That being said, why can't JAPAN make a outstanding GODZILLA anime or movie anymore??

I don't think Japan ever managed to make an outstanding Godzilla movie...  I mean, Shin Godzilla was terrific, head-and-shoulders above anything Toho made back in the day, but that's hardly a high bar to clear.

I just don't think the kaiju concept attracts the kind of filmmakers capable of making outstanding films.  🤔

[electric indigo]

1 hour ago, tekering said:

I just don't think the kaiju concept attracts the kind of filmmakers capable of making outstanding films.  🤔

Does Cloverfield count?

[tekering]

1 hour ago, electric indigo said:

Does Cloverfield count?

As an outstanding film?  Not necessarily...

As a kaiju concept?  Certainly. 

As the work of a filmmaker capable of making outstanding films?  Absolutely.  Both Dawn of and War for the Planet of the Apes are proof of that.

 

[TangledThorns]

3 hours ago, electric indigo said:

Does Cloverfield count?

CLOVERFIELD is the next best kaiju film after Godzilla 2014. Sucks they won't make a proper sequel to it.

[mikeszekely]

5 hours ago, tekering said:

I don't think Japan ever managed to make an outstanding Godzilla movie...  I mean, Shin Godzilla was terrific, head-and-shoulders above anything Toho made back in the day, but that's hardly a high bar to clear.

I just don't think the kaiju concept attracts the kind of filmmakers capable of making outstanding films.  🤔

I'm willing to concede to the idea that Godzilla movies, and Kaiju movie in general, are never outstanding. But I love the old Shows-era movies until around Ebirah, Horror of the Deep, I like all the Millennium films, and I'm a huge fan of the Heisei bunch, with Godzilla vs King Ghidorah being my favorite Godzilla film to to this day.

[Tking22]

I watched the whole series over fourth of July and I enjoyed it for the most part, it's certainly better then the current Netflix-Zilla trilogy with the stupid Mecha-Godzilla-City and energy-being Ghidorah nonsense. I actually really liked the new monster designs overall, they worked for me, I also really enjoyed that they kept the original roar sounds as close as possible, that was a neat touch.

What didn't I like? The techno-babble, it was far, far too much for me. In Godzilla, especially modern Godzilla, you are to expect some techno-babble, it comes with the territory, but I can fully admit I got completely lost on what the hell the mcguffin, or mcguffins were, by the fifth episode, it was really hard to follow. Then to make matters worse,

Spoiler

all the time travel nonsense pops up and I got completely lost. Godzilla IS a singular point? Angilas can see ahead in time? Or something? Blah, blah, blah time something, something, something kid's super AI was a competent Jet Jaguar-Bot from the future the whole time? Or frakking something? 

Like I said I enjoyed it, but god damn, give us a more straight story next time, this and the CG anime trilogy both had really out there stories and setups for what is on the surface, quite simple setups, giant monsters and/or robots fighting, with some humans around to talk and be in awe at. We don't need time travel, future versions of Earth, singular points, red misty crap, just give us a more straight forward Godzilla story next time please.