I keep forgetting to talk about the "Gamera: Rebirth" series. Not because it wasn't good, but because I watched it around the time a new kitten fell into my lap and turned everything upside-down for a bit.
Anyway, while not perfect story or animation-wise, I really enjoyed it. It combined every era of Gamera. Zigra, Jiger, Guiron, and Viras appeared for the first time since the Showa era with fantastically updated designs. The tone was very Heisei era. And, the handling of the child characters was in the vein of "Gamera, the Brave", keeping them well-written as characters and part of the story for logical plot reasons. There were a lot of smaller nods to past movies to enjoy as well. Some very spoilery, so I won't get into that. The kaiju fights were fantastic with some clever powers and counters to them. Also, it had the absolute best use of tanks in a kaiju movie I've seen. Of course, it should have after the tank division's constant random cameos every episode. Anyway, for once, they didn't stand still to get picked off but took evasive maneuvers and were surprisingly effective against the Hyper Gyaos. Plus, the commander being properly awesome after all his build-up.
And, I absolutely love Gamera's
new theme. Very reminiscent of "Pacific Rim". I approve ;) ...Though the
acoustic guitar arrangement of the old Gamera march in the final credits was oddly enjoyable too. Even if it did put the original ear-worm in my head again.
So, yeah. Good series. I'd happily watch more if they make it, and I'm definitely ready for a new movie.
Now, to get myself to a showing of "Godzilla Minus One"....