Gamera vs. Morphos

Gamera vs. Morphos Author(s) Nenpei Moo. Publisher Animage Publish date January 1999 Genre Manga

Gamera vs. Morphos (怪 (かい)獣 (じゅう)大 (だい)熱 (ねっ)戦 (せん) ガメラ対モルフォス,   Kaijū Dainessen Gamera tai Morufosu, lit. Fierce Monster Battle: Gamera vs. Morphos) is a one-shot manga written and illustrated by Nenpei Moo. which was published in the January 1999 special issue of Animage magazine. Released two months before Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris, the manga was created as a promotional tie-in for the film. While it has never been reprinted or released outside of Japan, an English fan translation was distributed by the tokusatsu blog Maser Patrol in 2020.

Plot

Young Shinya bears witness to Gamera attacking a city, much to the confusion of the onlookers, who believe Gamera is supposed to be friendly. Suddenly, another Gamera arrives, revealing the first monster as an imposter who copied Gamera’s appearance and is capable of emitting laser beams. Despite Gamera’s best efforts, he is defeated by his mysterious doppelganger, who Shinya realizes may in fact be “Morphos”.

One week prior, Shinya’s scientist father had publicly unveiled a living metal lifeform he created dubbed Morphos, demonstrating both its resistance to laser beams and its remarkable mimicry abilities, able to duplicate both the appearance and abilities of anything it encounters – including Shinya himself. The scientist believes Morphos will be able to protect the world so they no longer need Gamera, but Shinya disagrees and sees Gamera as their hero. One night, Morphos escapes its containment by copying the laser beams that were used on it to test its durability. It attacks Shinya, who is able to hold it off before it escapes out of a window.

Back in the present, Morphos continues to grow after defeating Gamera. Shinya’s father theorizes that Morphos can be defeated by burning it to death, but fears no source on Earth can provide enough heat. Meanwhile, an underwater volcano erupts in Sagami Bay; Gamera absorbs the heat and heads to Tokyo to confront Morphos once again. During the battle, Shinya realizes that Gamera may be able to defeat Morphos with a single, concentrated attack, and helps Gamera capture the shape-shifting monster. After flying Morphos into the air, Gamera fires a massive plasma fireball that incinerates the beast for good. Gamera then turns his attention to Morphos’s creator, but Shinya convinces Gamera to spare his father. As they watch Gamera fly away, Shinya persuades his remorseful father to continue striving for peace.

Appearances

Monsters

• Gamera
• Morphos
• Gyaos (cameo; television screen)

Gallery

• 

  Cover of the January 1999 Animage special issue

External links

• English fan translation by Maser Patrol

Comments

Showing 5 comments. When commenting, please remain respectful of other users, stay on topic, and avoid role-playing and excessive punctuation. Comments which violate these guidelines may be removed by administrators.

Loading comments...