"Above Tokyo"
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"Above Tokyo" (東京上空 Tōkyō Jōkū) is the first episode of GAMERA -Rebirth-. It was given an advance screening at Grand Cinema Sunshine Ikebukuro on September 2, 2023,[1] before being released to Netflix with the rest of the series that September 7.
Plot
As Hiroki "Boco" Wada sits outside a military encampment watching the ocean, he asks Satoru "Joe" Matsuda over his radio if he remembers their promise to remain friends even if they are separated. He thinks back on their last summer together, then promises to do his best to protect an unspecified friend.
Some time earlier at a Eustace Foundation mining base in New Guinea, a group of researchers descend into a gas-filled chamber to determine how to extract the eggs within it. They are quickly killed by newly hatched Gyaos, who begin to fly towards the surface. In the Japanese city of Fussa, home to a U.S. Air Force base, Boco, Joe, and Jun "Junichi" Ichihara look at a long-distance radio they intend to purchase. As they leave for their hideout, they talk about the Moon-based Apollo Program and pick on each other over Junichi's conspiracy theories about the program and Boco's inability to ride a bike. After arriving at the hideout, the three look over the yen they had saved up; at first, they believe themselves to be ¥8,400 short, until Joe reveals he has earned ¥10,000. The three celebrate until Junichi leaves to pee, only to return after discovering a turtle trapped in some tree roots. The three briefly consider saving it, but Joe and Junichi decide the pond is too dangerous to wade through. Boco goes ahead anyway despite their warnings, tripping into a deeper spot in the pond, which forces Joe to rescue him. The two save the turtle; although Junichi believes that it might be a new species, they decide to release it back into the pond. As Joe gives Boco a ride home, they discuss how he'll be leaving for summer school soon and how they can hang out when Boco returns. Recognizing Boco is upset, Joe tries to comfort him by promising to come and defend Boco from bullies if there are any at his new school.
At home, Boco watches a news report about a destroyed village in the Philippines, with most of its residents missing. His mother returns home shortly after, and he pretends to have not seen her new commercial just air. She scolds him for playing with his friends instead of studying, adding that friendships don't last forever. At Joe's apartment, he attempts to cook cook dinner for him and his father as the news reports on two attacks by unknown creatures in Vietnam. Junichi is highly interested in the same broadcast at her apartment, as the reports mention sightings of flying creatures. In West Shinjuku, two police officers investigate noises coming from a back alley, only to be killed and eaten by a flock of baby Gyaos. The next morning at Fussa, Joe, Boco, and Junichi run into a group of boys led by Douglas Ken "Brody" Osborn while heading to purchase the radio, who demand their money and make racist comments towards them. When they refuse, Brody quickly switches tactics, leading the group off the sidewalk and threatening to beat them to death. He throttles Joe and Boco, though they each get a solid hit in, and takes the cash box. While walking home, Boco becomes determined to recover the funds so they can buy the transmitter and keep in touch. They concoct a plan in their hideout and prepare various weapons, like stink bombs and a makeshift flamethrower. At the Fussa USAF base, General Raymond Osborn, Brody's father, prepares for the Gyaos to make landfall in Japan as the First Interceptor Squadron fails to stop them.
That night, Joe, Junichi, Boco head out towards an arcade in Tachikawa that Brody and his posse are reputed to frequent, undeterred by the emergency alerts playing in the distance. Brody is happy to fight them again, the two groups squaring off across a foosball table, but before they can come to blows, the building suddenly shakes and the kids run outside to figure out what is happening. Two fighter jets fly overhead towards a fire in Shinjuku. Junichi identifies them as F-15 Eagles, while Brody recognizes their low flight positions, open afterburners, and loaded missiles as signs of an imminent battle. He worries that a war has broken out, and runs in the opposite direction of the blaze. Both groups climb a nearby building, where they witness the jets battling a flock of Gyaos feasting on civilians. After knocking two Gyaos off a skyscraper with machine gun fire, the jets were quickly destroyed, one by a sonic ray and the other by a head-on assault. The kids are horrified at the spectacle, while Junichi speculates the creatures are thunderbirds from Native American legend, sightings of which have been frequently reported in her magazines recently. As she bickers with Joe, Juinichi hears a sharp ringing and zones out. The Gyaos suddenly stop attacking and fly away. At Fussa, General Osborn orders all available planes into action. A report comes in of a giant Gyaos that has caused major damage to an aircraft carrier and three destroyers off the coast of Yokosuka.
At the Eustace Foundation Research Center located on the base, two employees talk about how one of the Foundation's agents and his support scientist left to watch the creatures in a helicopter, but were unable to get close, and of rumors that the Gyaos had been the creatures that hatched in New Guinea. This rumor troubles one of the employees, who asks if the shields at the base are capable of holding young kaiju if they were to hatch from eggs secured there. His partner reassures him that everything will be fine. At a JSDF military base, Major Mio Enatsu informs Commander Muneatsu Sasaki of the ongoing situation in Tokyo and an emergency cabinet meeting to discuss whether the JSDF can be called into battle. In Shinjuku, fighter jets engage the Gyaos flock as the large Gyaos approaches the city. After a successful missile salvo against the flock, the large Gyaos destroys three of the jets before the others could even engage. As the battle rages on, Joe, Boco, Junichi, and Brody's gang watch helplessly from Tachikawa. Brody refuses to leave - until witnessing the large Gyaos effortlessly shoot down the rest of the squadron. Junichi questions whether F-15s were the best option against the Gyaos, nearly sparking another fight, but it's cut short by the arrival of a juvenile Gyaos on the rooftop. Brody's gang quickly escapes through the roof's indoor entrance as the Gyaos chases Joe, Boco, and Juinichi. It attempts to impale them with its tongue, but misses and hits an electrical box, shocking itself and knocking out power to the arcade as the trio heads down the fire escape. At the Fussa Military Base, General Osborn orders that every nearby military base and aircraft carrier send as many aircraft as possible, while the Japanese government continues to deliberate. As the orders go out, another flying creature appears on the base's radar, heading towards Tokyo from Sagami Bay. As Boco and his friends reach it to the bottom of the fire escape, a second juvenile Gyaos spots them. The trio hide within the arcade as the creature forces its way through the unpowered automatic doors. The kids sneak away from the Gyaos and towards the doors until one of the machines near them powers back on and catches its attention. They rush for the doors, but the first Gyaos reappears and corners them against a pillar.
As the Gyaos approach them, a blue light fills the room before a powerful gust of wind knocks everything away from the entrance, burying the Gyaos under arcade machines, while the kids are protected by the pillar. They walk outside of the arcade and witness a giant bipedal turtle battling the Gyaos flock. The turtle kills most of the flock with a single massive fireball, and starts swatting down the rest as they attempt to injure him with their supersonic scalpels. One of the Gyaos from the arcade awoken and begins making its way out, forcing the kids to flee. Boco stops once he sees Brody's gang cowering in an alley, but began to flee when one of the Gyaos noticed them. Due to its damaged eye, the Gyaos initially passes by the boys in the alley, but they scream when the turtle knocks a severed Gyaos head near them and gain its attention. The Gyaos prepares to fire its supersonic scalpel, but Boco, Joe, and Junichi knock it over by throwing stink bombs at it. As the gang fled, Brody trips and injures himself; with his friends oblivious, Boco and his friends help him escape. The Gyaos closes in, only to be crushed by the turtle, saving the kids but knocking out Brody. As the turtle killed the last juvenile Gyaos, the giant Gyaos arrived and hit him with its supersonic scalpel. At Fussa, General Osborn watches a live feed footage of the battle. Exasperated, Osborn compares the monsters to the kaiju of Japanese films. He is then told that their reinforcements will arrive in ten minutes. At the JSDF base, Major Enatsu updates Commander Sasaki as he folds paper cranes. The JSDF remains on standby.
In Tachikawa, the turtle hits the large Gyaos with two fireballs that cost it part of its wing and a leg. The Gyaos grabs him and and hits him with another supersonic scalpel. The turtle retaliates by grabbing it and attempting to rip the monster apart, but it struggles free. The turtle eventually throws it a considerable distance away and kills it with another fireball. Just then, the American reinforcements arrive and fire on the kaiju, who flies off as they give chase. Joe comments that the monster couldn't just be a turtle before Boco announces its name: Gamera. Brody wakes up in a panic, and appears to be in shock. Just then a Foundation helicopter touches down in front of them, and two people step out asking about the monsters.
Cast
This article is a Actor's name on the left, character played on the right.
- Hisako Kanemoto as Hiroki "Boco" Wada
- Yoshitsugu Matsuoka as Satoru "Joe" Matsuda
- Aki Toyosaki as Jun "Junichi" Ishihara
- Subaru Kimura as Douglas Ken "Brody" Osborn
- Mamoru Miyano as James Tazaki
- Saori Hayami as Emiko Melchiorri
- Kazuya Sakai as General Raymond Osborn
- Nanako Mori as Aiko Wada, Boco's mother
- Takahiro Sakurai as Commander Muneatsu Sasaki
- Yu Shimamura as Major Mio Enatsu
- Gen Sato as Mark Addison
- Ryota Suzuki as Julian Bompiani
- Tomohito Takatsuka as Angus Gaylor
Appearances
MonstersCharacters
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Weapons, vehicles, and organizations
Locations
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Trivia
- Despite its title card reading "Above Tokyo" in English, this episode is listed as "Over Tokyo" on Netflix.
- Upon first seeing the Gyaos attack, Junichi speculates they are Aura Battlers from the 1981 mecha anime series Aura Battler Dunbine.
- Two games in the arcade were developed by Sega, the parent company of GAMERA Rebirth Production Committee member Sammy: Out Run and Space Harrier. The other visible games - 1989 The Battle, 1987 Sky Cats, Sky Cats 2, and Snake-Man - are all fictitious, with Snake-Man clearly modeled on Pac-Man.
References
This is a list of references for Above Tokyo. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]
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