A teaser trailer presents the first images of the new anime version of Gamera, and the carnage the fire-breathing monster turtle and its fellow kaiju leave behind in Netflix’s Gamera: Rebirth.
Shared via Twitter, the 15-second clip shows close-ups of Gamera’s body as the monster stomps through what will be revealed as a burning cityscape, dispensing with crackling overhead power lines on the way. There is no image of Gamera in its entirety. The teaser ends with a look into one the creature’s piercing green eyes and a characteristic shriek.
Gamera: Rebirth Features 5 Additional Monsters
The project was first announced in November last year without information beyond the title and the year of release. While the teaser trailer is still coy about specifics, it adds two more details: Gamera: Rebirth will not be a movie as previously assumed but a six-part anime series, and it will feature five additional kaiju. Netflix has also launched a website for the series that will reveal those fellow or rival monsters one at a time. Gyaos, the winged arch-enemy of Gamera, was the first to be announced. They first battled in 1967’s Gamera vs. Gyaos. While Gyaos was a creature of undefined origin living in a cave in that film, later hints indicate that the monster might have come from outer space when Gamera battled several Space Gyaos in Gamera vs. Guiron (1969).
With five extra kaiju wreaking havoc in Gamera: Rebirth, it is safe to say that Gamera is not solely responsible for the destruction seen in the trailer. Portrayed as an aggressive antagonist in its first outing, Gamera, the Giant Monster (1965), it became more of a protector of humankind in subsequent films, dubbed “the friend of all children” and “the guardian of the universe.”
Gamera: Rebirth will not mark the first time Gamera is reborn. After the franchise came to a halt in 1971, Gamera reappeared nine years later in Gamera: Super Monster. Production made the film on the cheap, with all key scenes composed of stock footage from other films, even some from outside the franchise. A complete reboot from 1995 was more successful, kicking off Gamera’s acclaimed Heisei period. In recent years, several attempts to bring Gamera back have stalled, although the kaiju genre has seen an international resurgence. Currently, a Godzilla-linked series for Apple+ is in the works, as well as a sequel to 2021’s Godzilla vs. Kong.
Gamera: Rebirth will stream globally on Netflix later in 2023.
Source: Twitter