New Godzilla Design Unveiled In Malaysia Grips G-Fandom
Godzilla’s design has changed a lot over the years, sometimes drastically from one film to the next. Godzilla vs. Biollante, for example, immediately followed Godzilla 1985, but the suits couldn’t look more different. The same can be said of the complete overhauls that occurred during the Millennium era in Giant Monsters All-Out Attack and Final Wars, when the Gojis in each surrounding film remain consistent.
Then you have Legendary’s evolving Godzilla and his Shin and Minus One counterparts across the Pacific; the comparison is night and day. Each one unmistakably Godzilla in its own way, though, and there were only a few times where a design failed to capture the essence of the ancient Titan. Ultimately, they went the way of the initial Final Wars sketch on those occasions and weren’t used.
Other occasions have arisen where a Godzilla was conceived and used, if only once. The latest occurrence of that happened halfway around the world in Malaysia, and it caused a stir, sending out shockwaves of curiosity and discussion online. At a store Toho opened in the small Southeast Asian nation, fans spotted an image of an alleged suit design they couldn’t identify.
Updated reports confirm that this Goji design is not a previously undiscovered one that sat deep in the Toho vault. It’s a new design unique to Southeast Asia that already appeared in a promo video a year ago, and is consistently popping up in ad space in that part of the world. With Toho branching out and establishing footprints in markets outside Japan where Godzilla’s following is growing, that’s no real shock.
Based on the image circulating on social media, which is real and not an AI-generated hoax as far as anyone is aware, the Goji indeed looks like a suit. Or, at least, it is some sort of mockup that borrows from various eras in the kaiju’s historic reign at the top of the heap as far as cinema and pop culture go. It’s reminiscent of Showa appearances yet looks as if it would fit right into the Heisei period like a glove.
However, you only need to look closer at the cranium to detect that clear inspiration was taken from Minus One Goji, with modifications in the eyes, mouth, and tongue to play up dragon and reptile qualities Gojira always possessed. Perhaps, these were made to render him somewhat more kid-friendly or less mean. Or maybe Toho is trying to be respectful of local legends and cultural expectations Malaysians might have when it comes to dinosaurs – even radioactive, scarred, fire-breathing ones.
The next year will be the biggest in Godzilla’s history as the anticipation for both Minus Zero and GxK: Supernova ramps up. The former, which the world knows precious little about (amazingly, in the age of the Internet), will release simultaneously in the US and Japan this November.
