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Godzilla Day 2023


Yesterday was November 3rd, known as Godzilla Day to all fans. The 3rd of November was when Godzilla first premiered in 1954, and decades later, the franchise hasn’t stopped. Fans were celebrating all over social media, posting photos, news updates, etc. 2023 is Godzilla’s 69th anniversary, though promotional artwork for the 70th logo have been revealed. Also showed were some new photos from Godzilla Minus One, as well as the IMAX poster (it’s now playing in Japan, will open here in the states on December 1st).





Here’s some photos I took to celebrate the day.











In addition to it being the 69th anniversary of the King of the Monsters, this year also marks the 50th anniversary of Godzilla vs. Megalon, and to commemorate that, Toho released two shorts: one pitting Goji against Jet Jaguar, and the other having him fight Megalon. Both were uploaded to YouTube.






The storyline for the Jet Jaguar film is simple. Godzilla is going on a rampage, so, in order to combat him, the military sends in their new cyborg weapon Jet Jaguar to fight. The King of the Monsters and the robot have a duel in the middle of the city. Jet Jaguar turns out to be a pretty good fighter, able to evade several of Godzilla's atomic breath attacks, and even does a cool jump kick. The short is fun and Jet Jaguar looks great as ever! He still has that goofy smile and lovable personality. For Godzilla, they re-used the Final Wars suit that was also used for the Hedorah and Gigan anniversary shorts.








The surprise in this episode comes towards the end of the episode. Just when Godzilla is about to blast Jet Jaguar, he's hit by a beam. JJ looks up in the sky, and King Ghidorah from GMK appears. He lands and starts laying waste to the city, blasting it with beams. Jet Jaguar then helps Godzilla up, and the two decide to join forces to combat the new threat. Ultimately, it's an enjoyable short with lots of fun monster action.



The Godzilla vs. Megalon short was also very good, with a CGI-rendered, updated Megalon who is quite impressive.











A Seatopian woman summons Megalon to rise up. While the military is busy fighting Godzilla (they used the suit from Godzilla the Ride), Megalon suddenly appears and gets into a battle with the King. His new, sleek design is very menacing, and his napalm attack is updated. This time he shoots these bullets from his mouth that blow up anything they touch. The fight they have is pretty action packed and sure to satisfy fans of Megalon, especially given his updated look.

















Ultimately, this short is also great and really shows how well Toho have advanced with their CGI. The battle is quite entertaining, with several modern touches (you see someone posting a live stream video on social media of the action). Toho has another winner with this short, and I'm glad that we got two, to showcase both Megalon and Jet Jaguar.















Finally, Tamashii Nations have given us a sneak peek at their new, upcoming Jet Jaguar figure. I think it looks great, and I can't wait to see the official release photos.



Here's a comedic take on that Jet Jaguar announcement I did.



 

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