Gamera the Giant Monster 7: Gamera vs. Zigra

Shonen Captain Comics Gamera the Giant Monster manga
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Gamera the Giant Monster 7: Gamera vs. Zigra Author(s) Tadashi Makimura Story by Nisan Takahashi Publisher Tokuma Shoten Publish date April 25, 1995 Pages 106 Genre Manga ISBN ISBN-10: 4198300690 ISBN-13: 978-4198300692

Gamera the Giant Monster 7: Gamera vs. Zigra (大怪獣ガメラ7 大怪獣深海戦ガメラ対ジグラの巻,   Daikaijū Gamera 7: Daikaijū Shinkai-sen Gamera tai Jigura no Maki, lit. "Giant Monster Gamera 7 - Giant Monster Deep Sea Battle: Gamera vs. Zigra") is a 1995 manga adaptation of the 1971 film Gamera vs. Zigra created by Tadashi Makimura. The seventh installment in a series of adaptations based on the Showa Gamera films, it was published by Tokuma Shoten as part of their Shonen Captain Comics line.

Plot

While searching for a new planet, the alien fish-monster Zigra eventually finds Earth. After attacking a base on the Moon and abducting an astronaut, Zigra's spaceship heads to Earth. Drs. Ishikawa and Wallace, alongside children Kenichi and Helen, observe Zigra's arrival and attempt to investigate, only to abducted by the spacecraft. There, a mysterious woman introduces herself on behalf of Zigra, who looms overhead. The woman explains that the seas of Zigra's planet had become polluted beyond salvation, and Zigra intends on claiming Earth for himself. The woman triggers a massive earthquake on Earth in a display of Zigra's technological prowess and broadcasts a message to humanity, demanding their surrender. The two scientists aboard the ship attempt to resist, leading the woman to hypnotize them. The children then accidentally find a way to paralyze the woman with the ship's controls before discovering how to escape the ship with their fathers. Zigra frees the woman from her trance and demands that she rectify her failure by killing the children, concerned that they know too much of the ship's secrets. The woman suggests that they should simply kill all of the humans instead, but Zigra orders her to keep them alive, as he intends on using humans as food.

Gamera later appears and attacks Zigra's spacecraft underwater, resulting in its destruction, though Zigra escapes the ship in the process. The difference in Earth's water pressure compared to his own planet's causes Zigra to grow substantially larger, and he engages Gamera in battle. Using his paralyzing rays, Zigra immobilizes Gamera underwater. Meanwhile, the alien woman captures the children, but is freed from Zigra's control by radio waves, where she reveals that she is actually human astronaut Chikako Sugawara who Zigra abducted on the Moon. The two scientists and their children enter a bathysphere in the hopes of reviving Gamera, only to come under attack by Zigra. During this time, the group learns that Zigra is weak to light, as confirmed by Sugawara. Later, a lightning strike revives Gamera, who saves the bathysphere before engaging Zigra again. The two kaiju battle, with Zigra wounding Gamera, though the heroic turtle brings him to the surface. While Gamera is able to stave off Zigra's beam attacks with a boulder, Zigra refuses to back down and continues to attack. At last, Kenichi and Helen manage to distract Zigra long enough for Gamera to throw a boulder at Zigra's head, wedging it on his nose to stop his beam attacks. With that, Gamera unleashes his fire breath upon the helpless Zigra, incinerating him and saving the world once again.

Differences from the film

• While calling for humanity to surrender to Zigra, Sugawara physically appears in a televised broadcast. In the film, only her voice can be heard, with only static visible on screen.
• While fighting, Zigra actively taunts and threatens Gamera. In the film, Zigra does not speak to Gamera directly and is only shown addressing humans.
• In the film, Zigra only uses his destructive Earthquake-Inducing Beam from within his ship; following the ship's destruction, he only uses his Cell Activity Suspension Beam to paralyze Gamera and a group of humans. During the climax of the manga, Zigra uses a beam to begin destroying a boulder in Gamera's hands - presumably the Earthquake-Inducing Beam - which is also fired from his third "eye" above his beak.
• The climax of the story has been reworked in the manga to give the children Kenichi and Helen an integral role in helping Gamera defeat Zigra. In the film, immediately after bringing Zigra to the surface, Gamera simply throws a boulder at Zigra’s head, which gets wedged on his snout and pins him to the ground. Meanwhile, following their rescue from the bathysphere, the children merely cheer Gamera on as he defeats Zigra. In the manga, upon making landfall, Zigra unleashes a continuous stream of his destructive beam upon Gamera, forcing the turtle monster to use a boulder as a shield. Realizing that Gamera needs help, Helen hands Kenichi a compact mirror before calling out to Zigra and offering herself as food for him; in response, Zigra ceases his beam attack on Gamera and begins drooling at the sight of her. Kenichi then uses the mirror to reflect sunlight directly into Zigra's eyes, momentarily blinding him long enough for Gamera to throw a boulder at Zigra's head to block his beam attack. Without the ability to fire his beams, Zigra is helpless as Gamera sets his body ablaze.

Appearances

Monsters

• Gamera
• Zigra

Weapons, vehicles and races

• Zigra UFO

External links

• Twitter thread with numerous photos of the manga

See also

• Gamera vs. Zigra (manga)

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