As part of Godzilla Fest 2023 and in honor of the 69th Anniversary of the king of Monster Island, TOHO has released a new short for fans of the giant green lizard, which sees Godzilla taking on Megalon. In addition, the short honors the 50th anniversary of their first theatrical conflict.
TOHO's official Godzilla channel will have the short available for viewing on YouTube for a limited time. While there are no official English subtitles, you can utilize YouTube's auto-generated captions to get a rudimentary gist of what's happening.
Then again, you don't need to understand that when Megalon and Godzilla get together, only one kaiju is going to walk away.
Check out Godzilla vs Megalon 2023 below.
A few storylines from 1973's Godzilla vs. Megalon are revived in this short. In that film, the ancient, subterranean society known as the Seatopians unleashed their beetle-like deity Megalon on the surface world in retaliation for a series of nuclear tests that severely devastated their way of life.
The 1973 is actually Megalon's only theatrical appearance in a Godzilla film but his memorable design has made a lasting impression and has led him to become one of Gojira's most iconic adversaries.
Director Takuya Uenishi (Shin Godzilla, Monster Hunter) returns after directing last year's Godzilla Fest CG short, Godzilla vs. Gigan Rex. We've included an embed for that short as well. Fans of Godzilla are pleased to see the progression of the CG short's VFX from Gigan Rex to Megalon.
As a special treat to fans, the short also contains various, classic Godzilla roars from the various era of films- at the 05:18 mark you can hear the 1962 Showa era Godzilla roar, while at the 05:50 mark the roar form the 1989 Heisei era can be heard. You can also hear the 1984 Heisei era roar at the 08.22 mark.
Additionally, the short showcases a plethora of Godzilla's powers and abilities, some of which are less well-known than others including his atomic breath, atomic pulse, atomic punch, white-hot atomic breath.
Some fans are even wondering if the annual shorts are TOHO's way of gauging interest in whether fans would have an appetite for a full-length CG film.
Check out 2022's Godzilla vs Gigan Rex short below.
Kaiju fans are already speculating who Godzilla will face next year, if the CG shorts are continued. Last year's Gigan battle celebrated the 50th anniversary of Godzilla vs. Gigan and this year's fight likewise celebrated the 50th anniversary of Godzilla vs. Megalon. If this trend continues that means next year's short for Godzilla Fest should see Big G taking on Mechagodzilla.