Spring 2021 Anime: Godzilla Singular Point

Synopsis

Investigating a mysterious song, a grad student and an engineer find themselves at the center of a series of unimaginable events, all leading to the sudden appearance of mysterious creatures that defy explanation: the kaiju. Little do they know that this only signals the coming of a massive catastrophe. Can they hope to understand and stop what’s to come before it arrives?

Comments

Caesar E.S. (The Indonesian Anime Times)

Godzilla Singular Point is quite the strange beast. After the mixed reactions to the trilogy of anime movies that began with Godzilla: Monster Planet (2017), you wouldn’t think that there would be another Godzilla anime so soon. And yet, it was only in 2020 last year that Singular Point was surprisingly announced during Netflix’s Anime Festival. From there, you do get the impression that Toho is adamant on expanding the big G’s world to include anime and other forms of media outside of live-action movies, such as the adorable I’m Home! Chibigodzilla shorts and the Robot Chicken-style stop-motion series Godziban on the Godzilla YouTube channel. With Godzilla vs. Kong having been released and bringing with it an end to a chapter of Legendary’s “MonsterVerse”, it’s reasonable to think that they might be looking into multiple possibilities for where Godzilla’s story might continue.

Singular Point is not quite like those series, or any Godzilla series that came before, for that matter. And yet in many ways it also is. Godzilla Singular Point is set in the near future, but its set pieces evoke the retro futuristic visuals of the Shōwa era. The main protagonists are an engineer and a science major grad student, but they’re young and stylish and designed by shonen manga author Kazue Katō (Blue Exorcist). The iconic original Godzilla score is featured, but the show’s opening song is a rocking tune by the alt idol group BiSH. (which by the way, stands for “Brand-new idol SHiT”.)

All the elements are here: from the looming threat of kaiju, to scientists rushing to save the day, to familiar faces from the Godzilla mythos showing up here and there, such as fan-favorite robot Jet Jaguar. But in a departure from how Godzilla movies tend to view the kaiju, that is, as stand-ins for higher concepts, forces of nature, or even divinity, Godzilla Singular Point goes hard on the scientific approach. Here, the mystery of the kaiju is one that can be solved, analyzed, and rationalized. For one, they’re smaller creatures this time and not always the size of tall buildings. The show approaches the kaiju as if they were actual living creatures that could exist, and here is where writer Toh EnJoe’s background as a science-fiction writer really shines. Though the use of actual scientific terms and theories feels like it’s teetering into the realm of technobabble at times, for the most part the analytical tone of the show feels like a fresh approach to a franchise that’s gone and done it all. And to it’s credit, the strong direction and visual design keeps the show from becoming boring when you think it would be.

You could say that Godzilla Singular Point to Godzilla is not unlike what SSSS.Gridman is to Gridman the Hyper Agent, in that it takes a decades-old franchise and adapts it into an anime series that embraces its history, yet puts a modern spin and fresh coat of paint on so that it wouldn’t alienate the viewers of today. Simply put, it’s an entry in a franchise over 65 years old that’s both contemporary and cool. It’s certainly one that fans of SF, fans of anime, and fans of Godzilla can be excited for to see.

Godzilla Singular Point is currently streaming on Netflix Japan and will begin worldwide streaming on Netflix in June 2021

Facts and Figures

Screenshots and Trailer

The Indonesian Anime Times