Due to Godzilla vs Kong releasing in the United States, reviews for episodes 1 and 2 of Godzilla: Singular Point will be compiled into this post. I hope you enjoy my reviews.
You can watch the first episode of Godzilla: Singular Point by clicking here or you can go to animenetwork.com.
For many years, Godzilla fans have been itching for an anime series involving Godzilla and other monsters. The Polygon trilogy was the first attempt in bringing Godzilla over into the realm of anime, but was not well received by anybody. Toho Co. tries again with Godzilla: Singular Point, this time cross-hiring studio Bones (known for RahXephon, Eureka Seven, Mob Psycho 100, Space Dandy, and My Hero Academia) and studio Orange (known for Beastars). Former Studio Ghibli animator, Eiji Yamamori, designed the monsters and Blue Exorcist manga creator, Kazue Kato, designed the characters.
The first episode of Godzilla: Singular Point has a slow build up to the reveal to show's first monster: Rodan. The build up didn't bother me since it is taking the time to introduce the main characters of this show. There is not much to say about the story yet, but the show has me invested so far. It certainly has me wanting to know more about what happens to these characters. There is a little bit of the paranormal aspect put into this story that we may see build up more in future episodes.
In this episode, we're introduced to these characters:
Yun Arikawa
Haberu Katō
Mei Kamino
Tsunetomo Yamamoto
Shunya Satō
Gorō Ōtaki (aka Pops)
Yun is an engineer that works for the Ōtaki Factory that works alongside Haberu and Gorō. Haberu is only a handyman, but he assists Yun when they are tasked by Gorō to investigate recent paranormal occurrences.
Mei is a researcher that was tasked with consultation over a strange signal discovered at the Misakioku Radio Observatory. Once she arrived, she is greeted by Yamamoto and Satō, the ones that look after the facility.
For the most part, the first episode is really to introduce the characters, which were only okay so far, and to begin building this world. I am liking how the story is tying in some paranormal and mythology into this show, but I need to watch more episodes to really figure out if this show is going to be good. Based on the ending of the episode, however, we're really about to begin to see this show taken up a couple notches, especially with Rodan having appeared and the reveal of Godzilla's skeleton. I even like how there is a little bit of conspiracy thrown in at the end where Yamamoto shows Satō the Godzilla skeleton that he kept hidden from the world. There is some speculation that this could be the bones of the 1954 Godzilla and it could be a possibility since Toho Co. likes to link most of their movies to the original movie. However, I think there is another story behind this Godzilla skeleton. You know that something intense is building up and we're going to see it build up more in the next episode where I think we get to see Rodan and Jet Jaguar fight for the first time.
You can watch the second episode of Godzilla: Singular Point by clicking here or you can go to animenetwork.com.
When I mentioned that the second episode will start turning to the dial up a couple of notches, I was quite on point because I really enjoyed this episode.
Episode 2 starts off where the first episode ended with Rodan attacking the Summer festival. On the way back to town, Haberu and Mei have a discussion about theoretical physics and how dreams and other dimensions have their own rules. However, Haberu poses the question about what if there is a rule of there being no rules at all. In this case, Mei replies that it could be possibility.
At the summer festival, Yun is frozen in place staring into Rodan's eyes while holding a small boy in his arms to protect him. Rodan makes a curious inspection over the main character and suddenly, Goro springs Jet Jaguar to life and makes his presence known giving Yun enough time to carry the boy to safety.
Goro was really entertaining to watch while fighting Rodan cause he is shouting and screaming at Rodan. It was like Goro was giving Jet Jaguar personality even though it was him doing all of the banting. What I also love is that even though Jet Jaguar is still in a development stage, the robot proved to be somewhat durable during the fight. I say somewhat since its arm and the chamber door to the cockpit were torn off, but Goro and Yun were still able to get the robot back on its feet again no matter how many times Rodan pummeled it down. Rodan was even getting annoyed. Everytime J.J. got back up, it would glare at the robot like, "How are you still moving?"
We learn a bit more about Rodan and the species in the episode too. Yes, I say species because there are more of them discovered. After the first one died from asphyxiation, more carcasses started to be found startling the local residences. We figure out that Rodan was the one causing the radio waves in the first episode due to being able to generate electromagnetic radiation similar to electric eels. The species are also discovered to have high radiation levels of the element "Radon" after the institution that was studying the specimens were exposed to the gas. From this discovery and the absence of a homeobox (a gene that is found in every animal), they decided that these are not a normal pterodactyl species they're dealing with. So the term "kaiju" (meaning "suspicious animal") is being thrown around and the monster was aptly named "Radon: the Radio Wave Kaiju".
On Mei's side of the story, she began typing up a journal documenting her personal research on Rodan after the incident at the summer festival. Pero 2 suggests presenting her journal to the public, but complains that her research is too disorganized. So the A.I. takes the liberty in polishing them up and the result turns more into a scientific essay than what Mei had hoped for. However, she received some responses including an email from Dr. Li Guiying that wants to speak to Mei about her paper.
In the meantime, Yun and Haberu are trying to fix up Jet Jaguar while Goro was recovering in the hospital. The two contemplate over the damage J.J. has sustained during the battle and think they should just go with the three industrial robots that were sent to them. This is where we are introduced to our next new character, Satomi Kanahara. She objects to them using the industrial robots and believes that Jet Jaguar should be their main focus to get ready for the next battle. This is where we learn more about the mural we saw in the first episode. The mural is of a local legend about the "end times" depicting a fighting swarms of Rodan and a giant whale called "Gojira: the Beast of End Times". According to the legend, Gojira will emerge once the sea has turned red.
The identity of the mystery man from trailer was also revealed in this episode. Identified to be Michiyuki Ashihara, the founder of the Misakioku Radio Observatory. Not much else is discovered past this, but Satō makes a call to his supervisor Yukie Kanoko, a bureaucrat from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He reports about the alarm and the Godzilla skeleton that was hidden in the basement of the facility and she asks him to send her a full report on it.
Overall, episode two of Godzilla: Singular Point was really fun to watch and things are about to get more crazy in episode three. Rodan species has evolved into what we expect Rodan to look like now and they're appearing from the sea that has been coated in red. The first episode started slow, but the story is beginning to pick up a little faster and I am really enjoying the story of this anime.
What are your thoughts on the first and second episodes? Did you enjoy it, dislike it, or indifferent? Leave a comment in the comments section of your thoughts on this episode of Godzilla: Singular Point. Make sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Minds, MeWe, Gab, and Parler to stay up to date for more news, reviews, and discussions.
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