Godzilla Island (TV 1997-1998)
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Godzilla Island (ゴジラアイランド Gojira Airando) is a Japanese Godzilla television series directed by Shun Mizutani and written by Takahiko Masuda and Kensei Nangi. Funded by Toho and produced by Tsuburaya Eizo, it ran for two seasons on TV Tokyo from October 6, 1997 to September 30, 1998, totaling 256 three-minute episodes. The series was not officially translated into English until March 7, 2023, when the GODZILLA OFFICIAL by TOHO YouTube channel began uploading subtitled episodes twice a week.[1]
The series is best recognized for its near-exclusive use of Bandai action figures to portray the monster cast and its handful of original kaiju variants.
Plot
In 2097, most of the world's monsters have been rounded up and are living on an island in the South Pacific dubbed Godzilla Island. The kaiju are kept content on their island home, and are monitored from the G-Guard base in the center of the island. There, Commander Beisuke Jinguji watches and monitors the monsters day after day, with only the spherical robot Lucas by his side. However, the monotony of the job and of the monster's lives comes to an abrupt end when a gigantic UFO arrives on Earth. Inside is the Xilien Zagreth, who, under the command of her leader, the Giant Dark Emperor, is obsessed with taking over the planet, starting with Godzilla Island. However, as her ship begins to attack the island, a smaller ship arrives and defends the island, the monsters, and the base. As the Commander and Lucas scratch their heads, perplexed by this new turn of events, a young woman suddenly appears in the base. She introduces herself as Torema, and says she has come to help defend the island from Zagreth's onslaught. However, the three heroes have a long road ahead of them, as the evil Xiliens have an entire army of monsters at their disposal, and more than a few surprises to boot. It will be up to the Commander, his daughter Misato, Torema, Lucas, and the horde of monsters living on Godzilla Island to defend their home, and the world, from the incoming invasion.
Story arcs
| Arc no. | Episodes | Title | Written by | Start date | End date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | Season | |||||
| Season 1 | ||||||
| 1 | 1 | 1-5 | Introducing Torema | Takahiko Masuda | 10/06/1997 | 10/10/1997 |
| 2 | 2 | 6-15 | King Ghidorah | 10/13/1997 | 10/24/1997 | |
| 3 | 3 | 16-20 | The Trial of Godzilla | 10/27/1997 | 10/31/1997 | |
| 4 | 4 | 21-30 | Junior Kidnapped | 11/03/1997 | 11/14/1997 | |
| 5 | 5 | 31-40 | Gigan | 11/17/1997 | 11/28/1997 | |
| 6 | 6 | 41-50 | Mothra | 12/01/1997 | 12/12/1997 | |
| 7 | 7 | 51-63 | Mecha-King Ghidorah | 12/15/1997 | 12/31/1997 | |
| 8 | 8 | 64-68 | Mysteries of Godzilla Island | 01/05/1998 | 01/09/1998 | |
| 9 | 9 | 69-83 | SpaceGodzilla's Spirit | 01/12/1998 | 01/30/1998 | |
| 10 | 10 | 84-93 | The Artificial Sun | 02/02/1998 | 02/13/1998 | |
| 11 | 11 | 94-103 | Mechagodzilla | 02/16/1998 | 02/27/1998 | |
| 12 | 12 | 104-125 | Goodbye, Torema | 03/02/1998 | 03/31/1998 | |
| 13 | 13 | 126-128 | Bonus | 04/01/1998 | 04/03/1998 | |
| Season 2 | ||||||
| 14 | 1 | 129-148 | Introducing Misato | Takahiko Masuda | 04/06/1998 | 05/01/1998 |
| 15 | 2 | 149-168 | Second Generation Mothra | 05/04/1998 | 05/29/1998 | |
| 16 | 3 | 169-178 | Dororin | Kensei Nangi | 06/01/1998 | 06/12/1998 |
| 17 | 4 | 179-188 | Anguirus | 06/15/1998 | 06/26/1998 | |
| 18 | 5 | 189-198 | SpaceGodzilla's Spirit Again | Takahiko Masuda | 06/29/1998 | 07/10/1998 |
| 19 | 6 | 199-208 | Fire Rodan | 07/13/1998 | 07/24/1998 | |
| 20 | 7 | 209-218 | Lucas | Kensei Nangi | 07/27/1998 | 08/07/1998 |
| 21 | 8 | 219-233 | The Secret of G Island | Takahiko Masuda | 08/10/1998 | 08/28/1998 |
| 22 | 9 | 234-256 | Conclusion | 08/31/1998 | 09/30/1998 | |
Staff
Staff role on the left, staff member's name on the right.
- Directed by Shun Mizutani
- Written by Takahiko Masuda, Kensei Nangi
- Produced by Tomoyuki Imai (uncredited)
- Theme song "The Theme of GODZILLA"
- Written and performed by THE EDGE
- Composed by Akira Ifukube
- Arranged by Yoshinobu Hiraiwa
Cast
Actor's name on the left, character played on the right.
- Jiro Dan as Beisuke Jinguji
- Maimi Okuwa as Torema
- Kaori Aso as Misato Jinguji
- Nagisa Sawamura as Nao Koda
- Kaori Aizawa as Zagreth
- Kaoru Ukawa as Randeth
- Shun Mizutani as Lucas (voice, as Kenichiro Shimamura)
- Chafurin as M Space Hunter Alien (voice)
- Kappei Yamaguchi as Dogora (voice)
- Yutaka Aoyama as narrator (voice) / Giant Dark Emperor (voice) / Cameron (voice)
Appearances
Monsters
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Weapons, vehicles, races, and organizations
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Gallery
Soundtrack
- Main article: Godzilla Island (series)/Soundtrack.
Video releases
- Region: 2
- Discs: 4
- Audio: Japanese
- Subtitles: None
- Special features: Interviews with director Shun Mizutani, writer Takahiko Masuda, and producer Tomoyuki Imai
Videos
- Main article: Godzilla Island (series)/Videos.
Trivia
- Bandai released a tie-in toy line for this series called the Godzilla Island Monster Series.
- The names of numerous Toho kaiju which do not appear in the series are mentioned in its theme song. They include Ebirah, Manda, Gabara, Varan, Maguma, Sanda, Gaira, Gezora, Ganimes, Shockirus, Mechani-Kong, Griffon, and Kumonga.
External links
References
This is a list of references for Godzilla Island (series). 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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