Gamera, a giant turtle monster originally featuring in the film “Gamera, The Giant Monster,” on Nov. 27, 1965, was a blatant knockoff of Godzilla, however with time and future installments, it eventually grew into its own as a Japanese movie icon, popular enough to rival Godzilla. Even in what’s known as the Heisei era, it reached a point where it was commonly agreed that the franchise’s films were of better quality than that of Godzilla’s at the time. However, since then, the franchise has been on a downward spiral, with Netflix’s animated show “Gamera Rebirth,” being the franchise’s dying breath.
Looking back on the show, it was imperative that it performed well, as there hasn’t been any installments for the franchise since “Gamera the Brave,” in 2006. “Gamera Rebirth” proved to be unsuccessful, with the show flopping at worst and being an underwhelming success at best. It’s clear that they missed their mark, but why is that?
Where the show shines best is its action. The fight sequences between Gamera and his classic foes such as Gyaos and Viras proved to be a spectacle of action. However, that action made up for about 15% of the show, with the rest being dialogue between the human characters. Normally this would be a problem, as every piece of media needs human characters and a story to hold it together. Look at how successful “Godzilla Minus One,” was for example. However, when it’s done poorly as is in the show, it becomes its very own Achilles heel.
The cast is extremely dull, with the human drama doing little to move the plot along in an entertaining fashion and when the monsters show up, it doesn’t last long. Combine that with the animation style not working with the human characters well and the soundtrack sounding very uninspired, it created the perfect concoction for a flop. Kadokawa seems to have announced that they are working on a new project for the giant turtle for the franchise’s 60th anniversary and it very well may be the final opportunity for the franchise to be revitalized.
