A re-edited version of the series, cut into 12 shorter episodes, is currently being broadcast on Japanese television. It premiered on NHK General TV on April 5, 2025.[3]
The last summer. Friends. And Kaiju...
In the summer of 1989, Boko, Joe, and Junichi were in the 6th grade, and in their last summer vacation as elementary school students.
Each of them has vague fears about the future.
Then Brody, the son of the commander of the U.S. forces in Japan, confronts them.
Brody steals the cash the three of them have saved.
Angered, Bo[c]o and his friends devise a plan to get their money back.
Just as they are about to execute their plan, the town is hit by a crisis.
The monster Gyaos suddenly attacks Tokyo.
The four boys are trapped in a town reduced to ruins by Gyaos.
As Gyaos sets its sights on them, a giant monster appears.
Its name is Gamera.
This was the beginning of their "Summer of Kaiju."
The monsters appear one after another. Gamera fights back despite his wounds.
And the boys witness a legend.
GAMERA -Rebirth- was announced on November 17, 2022 (all dates hereafter in JST) through an official website and Twitter account. Few details were provided, except that it would stream globally on Netflix.[6]
In a New Year's tweet on January 1, 2023, the official @gamera_info Twitter alluded to GAMERA -Rebirth- being released in 2023.[7]
On January 30, it was announced that the project would be an animated series consisting of six episodes,[2] as well as that Gamera would battle five kaiju in the series, including Gyaos.[8]
The series' key staff and cast members and animation studio were revealed on February 13.[9][10] A synopsis of the story was released on March 23.[11]
Several announcements were made on March 25 during AnimeJapan 2023: Mamoru Miyano and Saori Hayami were announced as part of the cast, character descriptions were given for the six lead characters,[12] Japanese rock band WANIMA were announced as the opening and ending theme artist,[13] and the series' release date was confirmed to be in 2023.[14]
Marketing
GAMERA -Rebirth-'s announcement was accompanied by two teaser images—one depicting Gamera in silhouette and the other a closeup of his eye[15]—and a brief teaser trailer. The teaser was uploaded to Kadokawa's anime YouTube channel, hinting the project may be animated. Beginning November 21, the teaser images were displayed on the "Shibuya Super Board" billboard on the Tokyu Toyoko train line and the teaser trailer played on the Umeda Bigman billboard in Osaka.[16]
Also included in the announcement was a comment from HeiseiGamera trilogy director Shusuke Kaneko, who expressed his support for the project and stated that he had completed a proposal for his own unrelated ReiwaGamera project.[17] An S.H. MonsterArts figure of Gamera was teased at the Tamashii Nation 2022 exhibition in Tokyo from November 18 through 20.[16] A "Gamera Newspaper" was also distributed there,[18] teasing a silhouette of Gamera's shell and heavily magnified images of the MonsterArts figure.[19]
On January 30, 2023, another teaser trailer was released[2] along with key art of Gyaos.[8] Heisei Gamera trilogy screenwriter Kazunori Ito also gave a comment of support for the project.[20] Later that day, it was announced that GAMERA -Rebirth- would have a panel on the main stage of AnimeJapan 2023 on March 25 as well as have a presence at the event's Kadokawa booth. The panel would feature the series' four lead voice actors as guests, and a new trailer would be released.[21]
A "kaiju pro wrestling visual" featuring both Gamera and Gyaos was released on February 13. Each new monster that is announced for the series will be added to the art.[22]
A new key visual revealing Jiger was released on March 23.[23][24] Along with the trailer, a teaser visual for Jiger and updated wrestling visual were released during AnimeJapan on March 25.[25] Another Gamera Newspaper was also distributed at the event.[26]
A new key visual revealing Zigra and an updated wrestling visual were released on May 7 at Osaka Comic-Con.[27] Visuals of Guiron were released on June 26.[28][29]
Leading up to its release on Netflix, Kadokawa held a promotional collaboration for GAMERA -Rebirth- and the manga and anime comedy series Nights With A Cat, featuring art and a key visual, along with a promotional anime short.[30]
GAMERA -Rebirth- was adapted into a two-part novelization co-written by director Hiroyuki Seshita and Jin. Kadokawa Bunko published the first part on August 25, 2023, and the second part on May 25, 2024.
A prequel manga series illustrated by Cambria Bakuhatsu Taro, titled GAMERA -Rebirth- code thyrsos, was serialized online through Young Ace UP from September 8, 2023, to December 27, 2024. A straight manga adaptation of the show by Renga Kizima is also ongoing, serialized through the online service Kadocomi since September 13, 2023.
Videos
Trailers
Teaser trailer
Gamera 57th anniversary video
Animation teaser
Japanese trailer
English trailer
Japanese trailer #2
English trailer #2
Story Promotional Video
2025 TV broadcast trailer
Production
Making of GAMERA -Rebirth-: Gamera
Making of GAMERA -Rebirth-: Gyaos
Making of GAMERA -Rebirth-: Jiger
Making of GAMERA -Rebirth-: Zigra
Making of GAMERA -Rebirth-: Guiron
Making of GAMERA -Rebirth-: Viras
Other promotion
Promotional videos on Shibuya Large Vision screens
GAMERA -Rebirth- x Nights With A Cat
GAMERA -Rebirth- x Odekake Kozame
Miscellaneous
Creditless opening sequence
Trivia
GAMERA -Rebirth- is the first fully-animated Gamera production, as well as the franchise's first television series.
There were two scrapped attempts at a Gamera animated television series around 2006; one by Yoshitomo Yonetani in 2006 which was intended to feature several unused characters including Garasharp, Marukobukarappa and the "Mechanic Gamera", and the other by Cartoon Network, which was planned for release by the spring of 2007.[31][32]
This television series marks the first full-scale production of the Gamera franchise since Gamera the Brave in 2006, as well as the first released during Japan's Reiwa era. This time gap of 17 years is two years longer than the previous longest gap between entries, which was 15 years, spanning from 1980 (Gamera Super Monster) to 1995 (Gamera the Guardian of the Universe).
GAMERA -Rebirth- is the first fully 3D-animated television series to be produced by ENGI, which was established in 2018 as a subsidiary of Kadokawa.
The mobile game Godzilla Battle Line would later feature two promotion events for GAMERA -Rebirth-, with marketing for both depicting the series' version of Gamera facing off with Godzilla Earth from the GODZILLA anime trilogy.
Seshita worked simultaneously on both GAMERA -Rebirth- and Makoto Shinkai's Suzume, and Sheshita and Shinkai discussed how they wanted to see Gamera fight against the supernatural monstrous earthworm which causes catastrophe in Suzume.[33]
Seshita has noted that he already has enough ideas for five seasons, and believes that if this show is sufficiently acclaimed, there may be a potential live-action adaptation. Seshita also revealed that he "accidentally" created battle scenes that were twice the length of those in the actual episodes, forcing him to edit them down.[34]
He has also said that if the series becomes successful and its budget increases, he would create 10-minute clips of Gamera continuously fighting other kaiju.[35]
Thirteen screens in Shibuya displayed special promotional footage for the series starting on September 3.[36]
An acoustic version of the "Gamera March" plays during the end credits of the sixth episode.
Commander Muneatsu Sasaki creates small paper origami figures representative of the new monster introduced in each episode.
Barugon is the only monster from the Showa eraGamera films who did not appear in GAMERA -Rebirth-. His debut film, Gamera vs. Barugon, was also the only entry from that era without at least one major child character.
However, the show's art book states that a version of Barugon existed in its continuity.[citation needed]
According to Seshita, the setting of 1989 was chosen because it represents "both the Showa and Heisei eras".[37]
According to Seshita, all of the kaiju appearing in the series were at one time planned to possess "fanged suckers" on the soles of their feet to support their movements, but this idea was kept only for Gyaos and Zigra.[38][39][40][41]
This is a list of references for GAMERA -Rebirth-. 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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