The Reiwa era (令和?) is a term used to identify the series of Japanese films in the Godzilla franchise released from 2016 onwards, concurrently with Legendary Pictures' MonsterVerse series of films.
Like the Millennium series, it follows an anthology format, beginning with the standalone 2016 film, Shin Godzilla, and branching off into the canonically unrelated Godzilla anime trilogy, which began releasing in 2017, and ended in 2018.
In October 2020, it was announced that Netflix had ordered another Godzilla anime series, titled Godzilla Singular Point, slated for release in 2021. The series was unrelated to the AniGoji trilogy.[1]
Toho also created a Godzilla Fest film series in 2021, beginning with the short film Godzilla vs. Hedorah and received two sequel short films, with a third sequel in development. The continuity returns to utilising suitmation and each short film celebrates the 50th anniversary of certain Showa era movies (with Godzilla Fest 4: Operation Jet Jaguar also celebrating the Franchise’s 70th anniversary). The suits used either are previous suits from previous movies from the Millennium series or new suits resembling the Showa era suits.
In 2022, Toho released a short film sequel to Godzilla Fest 3: Gigan Attacks, titled Godzilla vs. Gigan Rex. However, the sequel is unrelated to the Godzilla Fest Short Film timeline. A sequel, Godzilla vs. Megalon, was released in 2023, and like Operation Jet Jaguar, celebrates 50 years of the original Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973 film) and 70 years of the franchise. The two short films create the GEMSTONE Continuity. However, there is a possibility that this timeline is a continuation of the Heisei era, although this is unconfirmed.
Toho also has plans for a tentatively dubbed "World of Godzilla", set to begin production following 2021. It's unknown if these films will fall under the Reiwa era moniker, or if Singular Point will be related to it.
Films[]
- Shin Godzilla (July 29, 2016)
- Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters (November 17, 2017)
- Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle (May 18, 2018)
- Godzilla: The Planet Eater (November 9, 2018)
- Godzilla Minus One (November 3, 2023)[2]
Short films[]
- Godzilla vs. Hedorah (2021)
- Godzilla vs. Gigan Rex (2022)
- Godzilla Fest 3: Gigan Attacks (2022) (GEMSTONE)
- Godzilla Fest 4: Operation Jet Jaguar (2023)
- Godzilla vs. Megalon (2023) (GEMSTONE)
- Godzilla Fest 5: All Monsters Showdown (in development, will be released November 2024)
TV series[]
- Godzilla Singular Point (April 4, 2021)
- Godziban (August 9, 2019)
- Gamera: Rebirth (September 7, 2023)
Novels[]
Attractions[]
Monsters introduced[]
Shin Godzilla[]
Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters[]
Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle[]
Godzilla: The Planet Eater[]
Godzilla: Monster Apocalypse[]
- Zilla
- Biollante
- Orga
- Anguirus
- Rodan
- Megaguirus
- Kamacuras
- Kumonga
- Dagahra
- Dogora
- Baragon
- Varan
- Manda
- Gabara
- Ebirah
- Hedorah
- Megalon
- Kamoebas
- Gezora
- Ganime
- Gorosaurus
- Griffon
- Giant Octopus
- Mothra
Godzilla vs. Evangelion: The Real 4-D[]
Godziban[]
- Godzilla-kun
- Minilla
- Little
- Hdoji and Hedochi
- Kamachi
- Moshu Moshu
- Anguirus
- Baragon
- Jet Jaguar
- Megalon
- Battra
- ShoGoji
- Dorats / King Ghidorah
- Radon
- Gigan
- Gorosaurus
- Manda
- Varan
- Kumonga
- Rodan
- Gezora
- Young Caesar
- Miyarabi
- Ebirah
- Gabara
- Shin Oji
- Desghidorah
- Erika
- Kamacuras
- Matangos
- Destoroyah
Godzilla Singular Point[]
- Godzilla
- Anguirus
- Jet Jaguar
- Rodan
- Salunga
- Manda
- Kumonga
- Mothra
- Unidentified insect creature
- Robogodzilla
Godzilla the Ride: Giant Monsters Ultimate Battle[]
Godzilla vs. Hedorah[]
Godzilla Fest 3: Gigan Attacks[]
Godzilla Minus One[]
Gamera: Rebirth[]
Trivia[]
- So far, there are only 2 Reiwa Era installments to have proper sequels: the AniGoji continuity and the Godzilla Fest short films. The GEMSTONE continuity may not fall into this category since it contains a potential link to the Heisei era, although this has not been confirmed.
- Shin Godzilla's release marks the first time since the the 1954 film that Godzilla's truly been the lone kaiju featured within the film's plot at the start of their respective series. 1984's The Return of Godzilla featured the Shockirus, 1999's Godzilla 2000: Millennium featured Orga, and the MonsterVerse’s 2014 Godzilla Movie had Godzilla fighting the MUTOs.
- So far, this is the shortest of all four Japanese Godzilla series, with only five films to its name (excluding the short films).
- However, this is the first Japanese Godzilla era to have a TV series (Godzilla Singular Point), and the second era in the franchise to have one, the first being Tristar’s Godzilla: The Series in 1999 and the third being the MonsterVerse's Monarch: Legacy of Monsters.
- This is the only era of Godzilla films where Godzilla never faced a completely original opponent not introduced in prior films. It is also the only series to not have "vs." in any of the titles.
- The shorts films in the Godzilla Fest Continuity are currently the only installments in the Reiwa era to utilise Suitmation (like the Showa Era), using suits from the Final Wars movie or creating new suits via crowdfunding to resemble characters from the Showa era films.
- The second live action Reiwa film, Godzilla Minus One (2023), became the first ever Godzilla movie to win an Oscar, winning the award for Best Picture.
- This is the first series of Godzilla films not to feature Akira Takarada as Akira had died in 2022.
References[]
- ↑ Otterson, Joe (October 6, 2020). Godzilla Anime Series Set at Netflix Variety. Retrieved October 6, 2020
- ↑ Godzilla (November 3, 2022). Godzilla film announcement (Tweet). Twitter. Retrieved on November 3, 2022.
| Godzilla eras and series | |
|---|---|
| Continuity | |
| Japanese series | Showa era • Heisei era • Millennium series • Reiwa era • World of Godzilla |
| North American series | TriStar series • MonsterVerse |