"Once there was a fierce battle. And a quarter of a century has passed since you disappeared."
Narrator
The battle of two kings.
Godzilla vs. Gigan Rex is a short fan film made by Takuya Uenishi and produced by Shirogumi (the studio behind the effects for Shin Godzilla), serving as a sequel to the 2019 G vs. G fan-film. Officially endorsed by Toho, the short was uploaded on their official YouTube channel for the franchise's 68th birthday, in addition to celebrating Gigan's 50th Anniversary.
A quarter of a century has passed since the last appearance of Godzilla, and Japan was able to have some peace. However, a horde of Gigan has invaded the Earth and wreaks havoc in their path. The JSDF are powerless against them, only the might of the King of the Monsters is able to defeat them. Godzilla finally returns to Japan to battle this threat. However, he faces the apex monster, Gigan Rex, and the two apex kings battle for the fate of the world. Will Godzilla prevail?
In 2023 a sequel, Godzilla vs. Megalon, was released to celebrate the 50th anniversary
of the original Godzilla vs. Megalon, pitting Godzilla against a revamp of the insectoid kaiju.
The short film provides the examples of:
- Ambiguous Situation: It is very heavily implied Godzilla is a grown-up Godzilla Jr. The opening shot being a shot for shot recreation of Junior's resurrection accompanied by his lullaby from Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II, the timeline of him being gone for a quarter of a century lines up with Godzilla vs. Destoroyah, the short's narrator is Miki Saegusa's actress, Megumi Odaka, and he also possesses a Nuclear Pulse, one of the Heisei Godzilla's signature abilities, and a Super Mode resembles a white version of Burning Godzilla's form. However, no official word has confirmed this.
- Armies Are Useless: The Gigan Miles' forehead lasers, arm-blades, and belly-saws make short work of the JSDF's tanks and planes.
- Bare-Handed Blade Block:
- One of the Gigan Miles' attempts to attack Godzilla with a flying slash. Godzilla catches it with one hand, bringing him to a dead stop. He then repeats it with the Gigan's tail blade.
- Godzilla catches' Gigan Rex's Whip Swords and then uses them to pull the kaiju into melee range.
- Beam-O-War: Godzilla and Gigan Rex engage in a supercharged beam-clash that devastates the city. Godzilla wins.
- Big Bad: It's never revealed if the Gigan army are invading of their own accord or sent by another force, but as their leader, Gigan Rex is the main antagonist by default.
- Big Damn Heroes: Godzilla arrives just in time to wreck the Gigan army when the JSDF have failed.
- Big Entrance: Godzilla makes his presence known by tearing a Gigan Miles' throat out and hurling it across the city, landing at the feet of another one, before roaring his challenge. All set to the Godzilla March.
- Body Horror: Gigan Rex forces the Gigan Miles to open their stomachs to extend their sawblades to attack Godzilla. Then he outright removes them to empower his own Chest Blaster to counter Godzilla's Atomic Breath.
- Curbstomp Battle:
- The JSDF don't stand a chance against the Gigan Miles.
- Godzilla dishes out a literal one within moments of arriving, easily overpowering the first Gigan Miles and ending it be crushing its head with a stomp. The other two present don't fair much better.
- Devour the Dragon: Gigan Rex rips the cores out of his Gigan Miles army to power his final attack.
- Destructive Savior: Par course for any heroic and anti-heroic versions of Godzilla. His fight with the Gigan Miles and Gigan Rex levels an entire prefecture to the ground.
- Eyes Do Not Belong There: Gigan Rex has an eye in its chest that can fire energy beams.
- Kid Hero All Grown-Up: The opening narration by Megumi Odaka, which recreates the ending of Godzilla vs. Destoroyah, implies that the film's Godzilla is the adult Godzilla Jr.
- Law of Chromatic Superiority: Gigan Rex is much larger than the lesser Gigan Miles, and is red in coloration.
- The Law of Diminishing Defensive Effort: Subverted: Godzilla's durability is no less impressive than any other Godzilla, but he still blocks, parries, catches, or dodges attacks thrown his way rather than just relying on his durability. He tends to use this to create openings to attack back.
- Meaningful Name:
- Miles means soldier in Latin, and the Gigan Miles are Mooks for Gigan Rex.
- Rex means king in Latin, and Gigan Rex is the leader of the Gigan Miles.
- Mooks: The Gigan Miles serve as foot soldiers for Gigan Rex. They're individually much weaker than either of the title kaiju and only pose a threat to Godzilla in large numbers.
- Mythology Gag:
- The film's opening and ending shots mirror the ending of Godzilla vs. Destoroyah, with narration from Megumi Odaka and Baby Godzilla's lullaby from Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II, implying that the film is set in the Heisei continuity and stars the adult Godzilla Jr.
- The Gigan Miles are almost identical to the Showa iteration of Gigan.
- No-Sell: When one of the Gigan Miles attempts to slash his throat and then impale him with its tail-blade, Godzilla catches the Gigan Miles' arm-blade without a scratch, then catches the tail-blade and slams the Gigan to the ground.
- Strong and Skilled: Godzilla is extremely powerful, enough to send the Gigans flying with the sheer force of his attacks and obliterate a Gigan Miles with one shot of his atomic breath, but he's also skilled enough to dodge, parry, or catch their attacks and counterattack.
- Super Mode:
- The Gigan Miles summoned by Gigan Rex open up their bellies to reveal massive glowing red saws.
- When the Gigan Miles swarm and attempt to saw him to pieces, Godzilla supercharges himself in a form resembling Burning Godzilla — his dorsal plates and chest glowing white — and shoots them down with an augmented Atomic Breath, which he then uses on Gigan Rex.
- The Voice: Megumi Odaka provides the narration of the short. She is simply credited as "Voice".
- Sweeping Laser Explosion: Godzilla's supercharged white Atomic Breath creates building-dwarfing explosions when it sweeps across the ground.
- We Have Become Complacent: Lampshaded by the opening narration. After a quarter of a century since the last kaiju attack, humanity entered a time of peace and, in turn, became lax. Humanity's idleness would backfire years later when the Gigans attack the city, and they obviously aren't a match for the rampaging kaiju.
- Whip Sword: Gigan Rex can extend its arm-blades into segmented whips with chainsaw-like interiors.
- Zerg Rush: The Gigan Miles individually are much weaker than Godzilla or Gigan Rex, and only pose a threat to Godzilla when nine of them all dogpile him at once.
