Godzilla Island
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| Godzilla Island | |
|---|---|
 Title card | |
| Genre | Tokusatsu Kaiju Superhero Science fiction |
| Developed by | Toho |
| Written by | Takahiko Masuda |
| Directed by | Shun Mizutani |
| Narrated by | Yutaka Aoyama |
| Country of origin | Japan |
| No. of episodes | 256 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 3 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | TV Tokyo |
| Release | October 6, 1997 – September 30, 1998 |
Godzilla Island (ゴジラアイランド, Gojira Airando) is a television show spinoff of the Godzilla franchise. It premiered on October 6, 1997,[1][2] and ran for a total of 256 three-minute episodes, finishing on September 30, 1998.[1][2]
Premise
Set in 2097, most of Earth's kaiju (monsters) live on an island out in the Pacific Ocean called Godzilla Island, which is monitored by G-Guard. The creatures living on the island include Godzilla, Godzilla Junior, Mothra, Mothra Leo, Rodan, Fire Rodan, King Ghidorah, Mecha-King Ghidorah, Mechagodzilla (the Heisei version), Anguirus, Gigan, Hedorah, Destoroyah, Baragon, King Caesar, Moguera, Megalon, Battra, SpaceGodzilla, Gorosaurus, Kamacuras and Jet Jaguar. Torema and Zagreth's kaiju (or monsters) include a black-coloured Mechagodzilla (the Showa version), a fully mechanical King Ghidorah (called Hyper-Mecha King Ghidorah), a new version of Hedorah (called Neo Hedorah), Kumasogami (named Dororin in the series), Jigora (a species of kaiju from Torema's home planet that looks like pallette swaps of Godzilla Junior), a powered-up version of SpaceGodzilla, a different version of Fake Godzilla, Proto Moguera (Which resembles the original Moguera from The Mysterians) and Gororin (a sentient ball-shaped cactus). One kaiju that did not appear in a Godzilla movie, a miniature version of Dogora, also appears for a few episodes, working with Zagreth. For unknown reasons, Kumonga, Ebirah, Varan, Manda, the Showa Mechagodzilla, Titanosaurus, Gabara (Though a location is named after him), Minilla, Biollante, Oodako, Ookondoru, and Shockiras were not included, (Though Ebirah, Manda and Varan are mentioned in the theme) while King Kong was excluded for legal reasons. None of the Showa- or Heisei-era kaiju from Toho's other non-Godzilla movies appear in this series either. And because it predates the Millennium Era, MonsterVerse, Godzilla (1998) and Reiwa era, no monsters from those appear.
Cast
- Jiro Dan as G-Guard Commander
- Maimi Okuwa as Torema
- Kaori Aso as Misato
- Nagisa Sawamura as Nao
- Naoko Aizawa as Zagreth
- Kaoru Ukawa as Randeth
Voices
- Kenichiro Shimamura as Lucas
- Yutaka Aoyama as Narrator
Episodes
Marketing
An unusually large number of tie-in toys were produced for this series by Bandai, because this series was, in fact, created through the use of action figures.
A CD of theme music, mostly composed by Akira Ifukube, was released in 1997 by Polygram entitled 'Welcome To Godzilla Island'.
Release
In 2007, a 4-disc DVD set including every episode of the show was released in Japan at a price of 16,000 yen (approx. $160).[3]
In 2018, Toho began streaming the series in Japan on the official Godzilla YouTube channel, with each episode made available for four weeks after its release.[3]
In 2023, Toho began releasing episodes with English subtitles though the official Godzilla by Toho YouTube channel, the first time the series was made available outside of Japan.[4]
References
- ^ a b 東宝特撮全怪獣図鑑. Shogakukan. 2014. pp. 180–181. ISBN 978-4-09-682090-2.
- ^ a b 宇宙船YEAR BOOK 1999. Spaceship Separate volume. Asahi Sonorama. 1999. pp. 36–37.
- ^ a b "ゴジラのYouTube公式チャンネルで特撮テレビ番組『ゴジラアイランド』全256話を期間限定配信". Cinema Life (in Japanese). January 3, 2018. Archived from the original on March 1, 2019. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
- ^ "Godzilla Island Live-Action Series of Shorts Streams on YouTube". Anime News Network. March 12, 2023. Archived from the original on March 12, 2023. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
