Godzilla anime begins a trilogy, features largest Godzilla ever

Last Updated on July 21, 2021

On November 17th, the first ever animated Godzilla feature, GODZILLA: PLANET OF THE MONSTERS (or GODZILLA: MONSTER PLANET), was released in Japan. Netflix will be bringing the film to 190 other countries through their streaming service, and while we wait to hear when the movie will be available for viewing Toho Animation and Polygon Pictures are already moving forward on making two sequels.

The first of those sequels is set to reach the big screen in Japan in just a few months. Scheduled for a May release is GODZILLA: KESSEN KIDO ZOSHOKU TOSHI. That one doesn’t have an official English title yet, but that title translates to GODZILLA: BATTLE MOBILE BREEDING CITY… The sequel will be bringing popular Godzilla adversary Mechagodzilla into the anime world.

Viewers in Japan probably noticed that GODZILLA: PLANET OF THE MONSTERS features the largest Godzilla ever – and it’s not even a close competition. The animated Godzilla is said to be 300 meters tall, just under 1000 feet. By comparison, the Godzilla of the original 1954 film was 50 meters tall, and the previous record holders were GODZILLA 2014‘s iteration of the creature at 108 meters and SHIN GODZILLA’s at 118.5 meters.

Flickr user Noger Chen put together an infographic to show the different sizes of Godzilla as they stand together. That image can be seen below, and in full size on Flickr.

Directed by Kobun Shizuno and Hiroyuki Seshita from a screenplay by Gen Urobuchi, GODZILLA: PLANET OF THE MONSTERS / GODZILLA: MONSTER PLANET has the following synopsis:

The last summer of the 20th Century. That day, the human beings learn that they are not the only ruler of the planet Earth.

The appearance of the giant living creatures “Kaiju’s” and the ultimate existence that destroys all monsters: Godzilla. Through the battle against kaiju’s that lasted for half a century, human beings have experienced continuous defeat, and finally plan to escape from the Earth. And in 2048, only those who were selected by the A.I. managed under the central government boarded the inter-sidereal emigrant spaceship “Aratrum” to head for “Tau Cetus e”, the planet beyond the distance of 11.9 light-year. However, the environmental condition differences between that of the Earth and Tau e, which they finally arrived after 20 years were far beyond the predicted numbers, and was not an environment considered to be habitable by human beings.

The young man on the emigrant ship: Haruo, who saw his parents killed by Godzilla in front of his eyes when he was 4 years old, had only one thing in his mind for 20 years: to return to the Earth and defeat Godzilla. Shut out from the possibility of emigration, as the living environment in the ship deteriorates, the group of “Earth Returnists” led by Haruo became the majority, and determines to head back to Earth through a dangerous long-distance hyperspace navigation. However, the Earth they have returned has already passed the time of 20,000 years, and has become an unknown world with the ecosystem reigned by Godzilla.

At the end, will human beings win back the Earth? And what will Haruo see beyond his fate?

We’ll let you know when Netflix is ready to release the first animated film around the world, and will keep you updated on its sequels.