Shin Gojira (a.k.a. Godzilla Resurgence)

[Reichu]

Recording of classical music proper (Bach, Handel, Beethoven etc.) used in NGE is probably 100% Anno's decision.

Even if it was, he'd likely have been limited to whatever was already in the King Record library.

[pwhodges]

The Beethoven recording in NGE was not from King, for sure.

[Blue Monday]

There are some leaked photos of Godzilla's design floating around the web. Can't say I like it, but it actually does look kind of scary.

[FreakyFilmFan4ever]

^ Dude, these leaked images make Godzilla look like an actual victim of radiation burns. I'm actually really starting to like where this is going.

[BlueBasilisk]

He looks like the corpse of Burning Godzilla! And that freaky long neck he has. This thing is quite frightening.

The tiny boggly eye looks much better in these shots than it did on the poster.

[Blue Monday]

Dude, these leaked images make Godzilla look like an actual victim of radiation burns.

He looks like the corpse of Burning Godzilla! And that freaky long neck he has. This thing is quite frightening.

I concur. Genuinely unsettling. I wonder if this is an indication that the horror element of the original is going to be played up some. Like I said, I don't quite like it, but if I saw that coming my way I'd running for the hills, every man for themselves.

[Bagheera]

That's . . . huh. Guess I'll have to see it in motion to be sure, but as of now I'm not a fan. Guess we'll just have to see what Anno does with it.

[FreakyFilmFan4ever]

I'm a fan. I was a bit worried about that poster, but these images have it all make sense to me. When looking at this, I was reminded of of the Godzilla vs Destroyah suit design, where he glows red in certain areas. Aside from that random bit of nostalgia, let me break down why I love this suit.

This shows Godzilla as a victim of radiation burns; very, very graphically shows Godzilla as a burn victim. His eyes look sympathetic enough, as though he's genuinely in pain. He's a burn victim desperately trying to get the salty ocean water out of his wounds, unable to control the effects of his seismic radiated body from leveling the cities around him. He's uncontrollable, not because he's angry, but because he's desperate.

I guess people's milage might vary on this concept, though. Godzilla has always been a manifestation of the effect of nuclear bombs. Should the manifestation of such destructive power also be a victim of such destructive power?

Well, yes and no. In the original 1954 Godzilla film, Godzilla was awakened by the H-bomb, but he became a victim himself of another bomb; the Oxygen Destroyer. The character of Godzilla (and yes, Godzilla is a character in that film. A very simple, destructive character) represented a lot of things in that movie. His ability to survive the bombings suggested something about his cells that could possible cure those negatively affected by the radiation. The destruction of Godzilla by a bigger, badder bomb shows how quickly humanity is as destroying their salvation in favor of ridding the world of its yet-untamed destructive forces. (Coincidentally, nuclear energy became a great help to Japan in the future, mirroring the change of perspective the Japanese had towards Godzilla in the late 60's and not the 70's.) Because Godzilla can survive a nuclear blast, is a manifestation of nuclear destruction, and becomes a symbol for the destruction of man's hope, Godzilla can't himself look like a burn victim without detracting from those themes.

In that sense, I can see why there's some caution from people towards this new, victimized suit design. But things have changed since 1954. Heck, things have changed since the last Japanese Godzilla film in 2004. The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster is wake of the tsunamis that destroyed parts of Japan in 2011 occurred. With this, it reminded people how small they were in the face of natural disasters, highlighted communication delays in the current system in Japan in wake of such disasters, and brought new fears of nuclear radiation among the people in Japan. This changed the Japanese people's relationship to nuclear properties and the world around them. This, as a result, changed their relationship to Godzilla.

Godzilla no longer needs to be a manifestation of a nuclear bomb: a destructive force threatening the lives of civilians. He's already been established in a myriad of ways since then. He's a defender of the people in much of the 60's and 70's, symbolizing (even if unintentionally) nuclear elements as properly used energy to aid society's modernization. Older monsters seen as gods summoned by tribal practices (such as Megalon or Ebirah) are vanquished by this newer, more modern Godzilla. (With the aid of a future tech Jet Jaguar.) Sure, there also tends to be a good amount of future tech aiding a few of Godzilla's enemies (Gigan or Mechagodzilla, for example), while older tribal monsters assist Godzilla in the destruction of the future tech (King Cesar), but when all of this is placed back in the context of the Showa period as a whole, it speaks of approaching all aspects of life, the old and the new, with moderation and wisdom. Having too much faith in technology could result in Mechagodzilla, while having too much faith in the ways of old could lead to Megalon, each of which needed to be defeated by the appropriation of the opposing ideology.

This backdrop of the different aspects of Godzilla in the Showa period lead up to the opening the discussion again with Godzilla in the Heisei period. Their fears of the power of nuclear energy were hinted at in the destruction of Godzilla in 1984, and again in 1995 when Godzilla went into full nuclear meltdown. What would happen if Japan's moderate approach to Godzilla wavers too far in either direction?

The Millennium series was fun sometimes, but there's really nothing to discuss there other than "Cool! Godzilla with pointier spines AND he doesn't look like a giant, Empire State-humping iguana!"

But now that the fear of nuclear meltdown hinted at in the Heisei period finally came fully realized in an actual natural catastrophe, Godzilla needs to change in order to reflect that. Art can be one of the ways people get over certain events in their history. Japan's relationship to nuclear technology has changed in 2011, and therefore Godzilla needs to change in 2016 in order to reflect that. His history in the last half of the Showa period was right there alongside the Japanese people, helping them defeat whatever was in their way. Even if that backstory isn't considered canon in this film, that cultural backdrop is certainly important to how this film will register with contemporary audiences. Seeing their beloved monster, who is now an official tourist ambassador for Tokyo (I kid you not), now mangled up in radiation burns of his own, still casted in the film as a natural disaster of his own right, puts the perspective Japan probably needs on Godzilla. Something that was once helpful to them is now a part of their destruction. Their salvation is now also their curse. (And it's done without a bunch of confusing time travel nonsense riddled with distracting plot holes.)

[Tumbling Down]

This shows Godzilla as a victim of radiation burns; very, very graphically shows Godzilla as a burn victim. His eyes look sympathetic enough, as though he's genuinely in pain. He's a burn victim desperately trying to get the salty ocean water out of his wounds, unable to control the effects of his seismic radiated body from leveling the cities around him. He's uncontrollable, not because he's angry, but because he's desperate.

That sounds flippin' AWESOME! And if they're going with that interpretation, that makes it more likely that the continuity is being reset, which is helpful for newcomers like me.

[backseatjesus]

This is the first time I've ever been genuinely been disturbed by a Godzilla design. I like it. It looks ripped from the pages of a horror manga.

[Bagheera]

I dunno; with those spindly arms and the fucked up head I'm really curious to see how people will react to it. I suspect they'll feel disturbed and a little queasy, and that's now what most people seem to want from their tokisatsu movies. But who knows? People didn't exactly want that out of their super robot animes, either, and look what happened with Eva (but then again Eva's eldritch abomination is a waifu, while Godzilla . . . isn't. So, ah, I'm still scratchin' my head on this one).

[Gendo'sPapa]

I just think it's cool that a lot of the film websites I read & film journalists I occasionally work with are posting articles & talking about a Hideaki Anno film! Sure, it's all simply because of the Godzilla name but it's nice to see people talking about an Anno project outside of anime circles.

[FreakyFilmFan4ever]

That sounds flippin' AWESOME! And if they're going with that interpretation, that makes it more likely that the continuity is being reset, which is helpful for newcomers like me.

The continuity has been reset several times before in the past. But usually, even in those big continuity resets, the very first film in 1954 is still canon. If you can, get your hands on that film. It's a powerful watch, no matter whether or not Anno's film considers it canon. I've seen it priced anywhere from a $7 DVD to the $40 Blu-ray from the Criterion Collection (on sale for about $27). Either release will be accurate enough of a translation, so if you don't want the Blu-ray then the DVD will do just fine.


EDIT:

I dunno; with those spindly arms and the fucked up head I'm really curious to see how people will react to it.

I'll admit, those arms especially seem to be a rather odd choice for this film. They don't even look moveable, as I'm pretty sure they're too thin for an actor to fit his arm through the suit. I'm still digging the design, though. And Shinji Higuchi's been known to mix several different special effect techniques for the portrayal of one creature. So maybe the arms are still moveable, but are mechanical rather than moved by a human arm. Some reports say that there will also be a mix of CGI in the presentation of Godzilla, so I'm not sure which aspects of the suit that will be used on either.

That all being said, my favorite Godzilla designs tend to be the oddest ones out of whichever Godzilla period. My favorite Millennium series Godzilla suit was the one used for Giant Monster All-Out attack, where Godzilla didn't have any visible pupils in his eyes, which made for a very unnerving tone throughout the monster fights. So I'm already excited to see how this new design will effect the overall tone of the film.

[movieartman]

I am a fan of the concept, I am not YET a fan of the execution, Don't like the arms and eye especially, this looks more like a scraped together concept sculpture rather than a actual suit.

That all being said, my favorite Godzilla designs tend to be the oddest ones out of whichever Godzilla period. My favorite Millennium series Godzilla suit was the one used for Giant Monster All-Out attack, where Godzilla didn't have any visible pupils in his eyes, which made for a very unnerving tone throughout the monster fights. So I'm already excited to see how this new design will effect the overall tone of the film.

Not really a odd choice, most people love that design besides the slight pot belly, Its easily in my top 3 favorite G suits along side 89 and the really muscular 91.

[lastcody]

Look at the eyes of the original 1954 Godzilla then look at these eyes

[Gendo'sPapa]

I'm loving the look of God Godzilla.

But one thing the world should prepare for is all the childish imposters who run around online saying "Why can't we get more practical effects? Practical effects are better! CGI is stupid". Those will be the first & loudest who attack Godzilla: Resurgence for having effects work that doesn't feel as "real" as those in the $150 million budgeted Godzilla 2014.

Super excited for the movie!

[Arcadia's legacy]

Is anyone else getting a Colossal Titan vibe from this design?

[Chuckman]

That is genuinely creepy.

[Bagheera]

^ Anno's Godzilla will start with Godzilla wandering the streets of a Tokyo that he already destroyed. In the movie, Godzilla has to come to terms with the destruction he caused, the resulting loneliness, and why Tokyo needed to be destroyed in the first place.

I know this was said in jest, but I think this would make a great short. Anno's Godzilla so far appears to be a victim of serious radiation burns, so the idea of him looking around a ruined city, gasping in agony, realizing on some level that this was his doing, and that he's all alone . . . damn. That would be a solid kick in the feels. I don't know if you could do a whole story based on that, but damn.

[Sachi]

Regarding the suit: accompanying the leaked images were tweets with some additional details. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/god ... efe0db80bc

Apparently the Godzilla suit is more of a puppet and will require three people to operate. And I love me some puppets (*gushes over Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal*).