"There is so much writing in English on Japanese cinema that can't be accepted at face value — not because the writers are careless, but because the differences in culture and language are just too intricate. When I see August Ragone's name on a piece of writing, it gives me permission to place my faith in it completely. Among Japanese fantasy film historians, he's the best working in English." —Tim Lucas, Video Watchdog

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

HERE'S YOUR BIG G IN "GODZILLA RESURGENCE"
Image Reveals the "Greatest, Worst Nightmare"!

ニッポン対ゴジラ !


Public unveiling of the new Big G with tagline "Japan vs. Godzilla".

On December 9th (Japan Time), the first image of the titular monster for the highly anticipated collaboration from directors Hideaki Anno (Evangelion) and Shinji Higuchi (Attack On Titan) to be featured in GODZILLA RESURGENCE (Shin Gojira) with the Japanese release date of July 29, 2016.

While this image has not appeared on any of Toho's official sites, this "nightmare" version of the Big G was revealed to celebrated American Godzilla artists, Bob Eggleton (Famous Monsters) and Matt Frank (IDW's Godzilla), as well as myself, just recently.

Additionally, journalist Norman England, who worked on a number of the films as a set photographer, also confirmed it's authenticity: "It's the real deal, all right. I  was able to handle the suit when I was working on a project over at Toho a little over a month ago."

In my mind, it does look like the work of noted designers, Mahiro Maeda and Takayuki Takeya, whom I profiled as the rumored artist and sculptor, back on August 1st — imparted to me from sources close to the production (see link, below).

What do I think of this design? First off, it looks like one of the early maquettes sculpted by Teizo Toshimitsu for the 1954 film. Ultimately, I will reserve any final judgements until there's more to work with. Although, I have to say that a departure from the norm — but still retaining the basic Godzilla elements — is welcome.

Now, with visual effects rendering and compositing underway, it's only a matter of time before more images are forthcoming from the new film. Stay tuned to this blog for more details as they develop!

Here are my previous reports on GODZILLA RESURGENCE:
November 12, 2015: "Shin Godzilla" Promo Reel Screens at AFM!"
September 22, 2015: Toho Announces Three Principal Cast Members!
September 6, 2015: Shooting Begins on Toho's "Godzilla 2016"!
August 1, 2015: Did These Men Design Toho's New Big G?
April 1, 2015: The Directors of "Godzilla 2016" Speak!
March 31, 2015: "Evangelion" Creator Helms New "Godzilla"!
December 7, 2014: The "Japanese Godzilla" Will Rise Again!

2 comments:

J. Wulff said...

I absolutely LOVE it so far. VERY menacing, and it definitely harkens back to Godzilla's roots as an ancient creature awoken and mutated by the Atomic Bomb.

My only nitpick is his eyes are really small. This was something that I did not like about Legendary's Godzilla, and the same is felt for this one too. I love everything about the eyes but the size. If they were to be made a bit bigger, like the original Godzilla's, I'd be 1000% happy.

as it stands, I'm still excited like a little kid again, even more so than I was for Godzilla 2014.

Unknown said...

Fix the fucking eyes