Newly Announced Godzilla Anime Meets With Skepticism: Does Anyone Really Want It?
Toho Animation announced a new anime series inspired by Godzilla this past week. All we know is it’s being made in tandem with Studio Orange, like Singular Point, and the Thai firm Igloo. Additionally, concept art was presented online and at Anime Festival Asia Singapore 2025, indicating the series will center on a kid who can harness Godzilla’s mighty heat ray in a way that may rival Goku’s powers.
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Toho’s Chief Godzilla Officer Keiji Ota called the new project a “challenge,” which, for the first time, “allows us to delve deeper into both the terror and the hope present in the current era.” His remarks and the announcement met with excitement when the news broke, which was encouraging. However, it didn’t take long for the tide to turn on the growing anticipation.
Some kaiju fans aren’t sold, and Godzilla-centric YouTube channel Up From the Depths leads that charge. In his latest upload, the film reviewer expressed his doubts about the new anime and raised a salient question, aside from whether it will be any good: Is anyone seriously asking for this project?
To the YouTuber, there’s more exasperation and bewilderment than intrigue with Toho’s pitch for the rather simple and understandable reason that Toho seems to value experimentation over fan service when they dabble with anime.
You can acknowledge that manga has done that as well over the years, but there’s a delicate balance of experimenting and expanding on lore that Toho never seems to strike in the minds of fans. Case in point, the recent series, Singular Point, and the anime trilogy before it were polarizing for several reasons.
Among them is being too convolutedly cosmic and dystopian. SP had some fan service moments between the various monster designs and the inclusion of a reimagined Jet Jaguar. Still, it was arguably too high-mindedly out-there for its younger target audience. Likewise, its resolution was convenient and trite, even by the usual standards of deus ex machina.
The anime trilogy of features, starting with Planet of Monsters, is heavy on dramatic set pieces to the point of overwrought bleakness. It boasts excellent kaiju designs, and the single biggest Gojira in Godzilla Earth, which stands at an intimidating and mountainous 300 feet. However, the pacing and amount of exposition left many bored and disappointed.
The trilogy also failed to deliver where it counts, as it doesn’t show satisfying depictions of favorite kaiju, including Mothra, Hedorah, and above all, Mechagodzilla. The anime now in production already appears to be making the same mistake by focusing on a new, unknown character instead of the rich lore that Toho already has at its disposal.
Up From the Depths, and others, would rather see something delving further into the deep cuts of the Showa Period, like Seatopia and Megalon. They are just two examples that, although they might sound lame or bemusing at a cursory pass, are ripe for exploration.
Moreover, if the last few years of animated shorts produced for every anniversary of Godzilla’s debut prove anything, there is an unrequited hankering for more of Megalon. As laughable a black sheep as he was decades ago (thanks somewhat to John Belushi), the big bug became a much-deserved cult fave among Toho’s stable of characters.
In the opinion of Up From The Depths, an anime series is the best way to flesh out the Seatopians as a people and their motivations as a vindictive lost civilization. The same goes for Megalon, who may have tangible, tenable reasons for serving and protecting Seatopia as their deity.
Up From the Depths also argues that the format is perfect for doing the same for any of the alien species introduced in Godzilla movies throughout the years, even the cockroach beings in Godzilla vs. Gigan, who creepily wear the skin of innocent people to blend in. There is definitely a story to be told about that.
The point is, while experimenting is great fun and can yield unexpected results, a lesson can be learned from a seemingly minor thing, such as the 1998 Godzilla animated series that spun off from the Roland Emmerich film. Expanding on lore, even that of a bad movie, can also pay dividends.
NEXT: Godzilla’s MonsterVerse Lair Has a Surprising Callback to the Showa Period
