GODZILLA: PLANET OF THE MONSTERS REVIEW - MECHBLADESTUDIOS

Today, I'm taking a look at Godzilla's first foray into the realm of anime in my review of Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters! Will the largest Godzilla ever made crush all expectations, or collapse under its own weight?

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PLAYLISTS:

ANIME: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDHg5f27n5HQHnNL-1V8bgLgdLoiWPK9e

VIDEO GAMES: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDHg5f27n5HSv30mJuu4JCSq4ys7IeBzC

MOVIES: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDHg5f27n5HTAg10e_pJ_DsHS59Ttrjue

MARATHON: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDHg5f27n5HTXfiRQuHgfYUsm17SCV3su

Remarks from the Future: Ah, yes, the Big G's first major foray into the anime format. All things considered, it was as good of an introduction to a trilogy as it could be, balancing Godzilla action with the backstories and motivations of the three races. Notice how I didn't say characters. Aside from the hot-blooded Haruo and the enigmatic Metphies, none of the characters here stick out, to the point where I had trouble figuring out what characters' names were (something I didn't even realize until the third entry). The most bizarre character in hindsight was Yuko Tani. Here, she's offhandedly referred to as a childhood friend of Haruo's, though supplementary materials say that after Haruo's parents' demise, her grandfather adopted him. Here, Haruo and Yuko act like acquaintances at best, but by the next film, she's completely head-over-heels for him. I'm not saying the latter should have been the case here, but they could have had the two characters be somewhat more friendly with each other now, especially since Yuko becomes the catalyst for two major decisions that Haruo makes later on in the series. While there are a couple of signs in this film that foreshadow this development, they could VERY easily be mistaken for simple friendship.

Also, you can't market the film having the largest Godzilla ever and then suddenly have him be barely the size of his 1954 incarnation without the audience noticing something's up. The true reveal scene made it worth it I suppose.

Unlike the next film, I stand by this score, in that it was a solid trilogy starter, but not without its issues.