Despite the, er, dubious quality of the rest of the movie, Gamera vs. Zigra has a really awesome rendition of the theme song.
Chuji Kinoshita's score for Gamera vs. Barugon.
Tadashi Yamauchi's return to the franchise in Gamera vs. Gyaos is a wonderfully brassy Ostinato score, with an awesome retooled version of the main theme from the first film serving as Gamera's motif.
Heisei Era:
Mostly in Gamera 3.
Juliana Schano's "Tell Me Once Again" deserves special mention.
Fly & Dive by Wanima, the animes' credits for the first five episodes.
An acoustic rendition of Gamera March in the final episodes credits.
Complete Monster: Gamera has been defending the universe from ravenous and malicious monsters for 59 years. Unfortunately, some of the enemies he has faced have proven to be absolutely ruthless and detestable:
Showa
Gamera Vs. Barugon: The greedyOnodera is easily the worst human in the films. As part of a team attempting to retrieve an egg (which they believe to be an opal) for World War II veteran Kano Hirata, Onodera and his two teammates Keisuke and Kawajiri (the latter of whom is the veteran's brother) go to an island and find the egg in a cave. Onodera decides to kill his two partners and keep the egg for himself, despite the fact that his teammates had earlier saved him from being swallowed by quicksand. Onodera lets Kawajiri get fatally stung by a scorpion, and seals Keisuke in the cave to die. When the egg later hatches into the titular Barugon, which goes on to kill thousands of people, Onodera can only think of how he can retrieve the egg (which he still thinks is an opal and believes to have sunk to the bottom of the ocean). When Kano discovers that Onodera killed his brother, Onodera beats the frail old man in a crutch, steals his wallet, and sets the place on fire to kill him and his wife. When Keisuke is revealed to have survived the cave-in and returned with Karen, a girl from the island, Onodera tries to kill him (and likely Karen since she'd be a witness) with a knife. Finally, when he learns that the military is trying to use a diamond to lure Barugon into the water and drown her, Onodera decides to steal the diamond for himself. He shows up with a gun, threatening to shoot anyone who tries to stop him, not caring that the diamond is their best chance at stopping Barugon, or that if he isn't stopped, he will go on to cause even more destruction.
GAMERA -Rebirth-: Nora Melchiorri is a member of the board of the Eustace Foundation, and primary leader of their conspiracy. The daughter of a prominent family descending from the Hemueden civilization, Nora previously secured her position by having her sister killed. Seeking to reinstate Hemueden's plans for the world, Nora and the Board engineer the awakening of several kaiju, with thousands of innocent people being slaughtered and devoured; the endgame being the extermination of the human race, save for those they deem "worthy" to inherit. To control the kaiju, the board seeks out a child with a specific genetic "code" to sacrifice. When Nora's treacherous niece, Emiko, attempts and fails to usurp her, Nora reveals a new trump card: having previously experimented on an infant Gyaos, Nora further mutates it before setting it loose to finish things off. Failing that, Nora attempts to brainwash Gamera with a virus to carry out their plans. No tears are shed when she and her associates meet their end at the hands of Gamera.
Friendly Fandoms: With the Godzilla films. Or really, it's more accurate to say the Gamera fanbase exists mostly, if not entirely, as an extension of the Godzilla fanbase. Crossover fanworks are extremely common and it is very rare to find s fan of one which isn't a fan of the other.
Growing the Beard: Unique among kaiju properties, almost all fans agree the Gamera franchise is not a case of First Intallment Wins. The original Gamera film is a serviceable but forgettable Godzilla clone in terms of plot and the title monster. After an immediate follow-up with the big turtle as the lesser or two evils, later movies hashing out the big turtle's personality as a largely benevolent protector of mankind gave him a new identity that set him apart.
Gamera Vs. Gyaos: Gyaos nearly slices off Gamera right arm. Thirty two years later, Gamera would lose his right arm, albeit self inflicted, during his fight with Irys, and he would lose that arm again, only this time to Guiron 24 years later.
Gamera 2: Attack Of Legion: The Legion Flower blossoming by turning into a Fantastic Nuke (And temporarily killing Gamera) is pretty drastic in itself. What makes it even worse? The city it blows up is Sendai. Umm......
Gamera the Brave: As Mai watches a full-grown Toto fly off at the end, she hopes that they'll meet again someday. Unfortunately, that did not happen because the film flopped at the box office, preventing any chance of a sequel and killing the entire Gamera franchise stone dead for some seventeen years.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Marugarappa, who only appeared in Manga Boys Special Edition: Gamera, seems like a heroic character. Whereas all the other monsters Gamera faces are all evil or extremely hostile towards him. Unfortunately, not only is his sole appearance in a comic, but also he is killed off quickly. He doesn't even interact with Gamera either. However, given his human size, it's unlikely he could've been any help towards the heroic turtle.
The Showa series contains examples of:
Angst? What Angst?: Even though the use of Stock Footage clearly shows every film in the franchise happened, the human characters in each subsequent movie always seem to forget that giant monsters and real and repeatedly destroyed Tokyo and other cities in Japan. In particular, everyone seems to forget that Gamera was an almost mindlessly aggressive monster who killed thousands of people in the first two movies.
Gamera doing gymnastics in Gamera vs. Gurion, Gamera playing his theme using Zigra as a xylophone...They were almost common enough to be expected towards the end of the Showa Series.
Designated Hero: In the original film, despite causing the deaths of thousands of people, little Toshio repeatedly insists that Gamera is a "good turtle." The screenplay seems to be sympathetic to this view.
"Kenny/Kendra/Kennys" for all the child characters whose actual names the audience don't bother to remember. In two cases they literally were named "Kenny" though.
"Jiblet" for the baby Jiger.
Homegrown Hero: The Showa-era films have token American children shoehorned into stories set in Japan. Daiei did this specifically because their film distributor assured them the movies would be better-received in the US if there were Americans in the cast.
It Was His Sled: Gamera can fly. The original film actually had this power come as a surprise with him not displaying it till he's flipped on his back, but now it's as well known as his power to breath fire.
It's the Same, Now It Sucks!: A common criticism with the Showa films is that every film after Gamera vs. Gyaos follows the same plot beat for beat with very little variation to distinguish one film from another.
Memetic Psychopath: Gamera's comically violent ways of dealing with enemy Kaiju have earned him this reputation.
Older Than They Think: Most of the "Sandy Frank" dubs are actually Hong Kong Dubs produced around the 60s as means of pitching an English version overseas. Sandy Frank bought them and slapped his name on them when he marketed the films on VHS. The only ones he did dub were Gamera and Zigra.
The Scrappy: The children in the films are hated by many, especially Toshiro from the original due to his unintentionally disturbing obsession with Gamera, cheering whenever Gamera escapes the military's traps and convinced that Gamera is good despite him killing millions.
Ironically, most of the kids in later films aren't that obsessed with Gamera, except for Helen in Gamera vs. Zigra, who has a crush on Gamera.
Sequelitis: While the first few films were entertaining, the sequels gradually fell victim to repetitive plots and lower production values, resulting in lower and lower returns. Gamera vs. Zigra is considered a low point which ended up being a Franchise Killer, only to be surpassed, nine years later, by an even lower point with Gamera: Super Monster, which immediately killed the franchise again (for fifteen years).
The international dubbing in the Sandy Frank version of Guiron is so abysmal compared to the other films he syndicated that it winds up being this to many.
Special Effect Failure: Frequently. In a genre frequently ridiculed for "bad special effects", the Showa Gamera movies are considered by even fans to have low production values.
Stock Footage Failure: The sequels often reused entire sequences from previous films as blatant padding, sometimes justified as flashback scenes, but other times they didn't even give an excuse. In the most extreme, Gamera vs. Zigra reused the footage of Gamera's rampage in Tokyo from the first film (which was in black and white) for a "new" rampage, and they don't even bother explaining why it's not in colour, as well as Gamera Super Monster splicing Gamera (who is live-action) into footage from Space Battleship Yamato and Galaxy Express 999, which are animated.
They Copied It, So It Sucks!: Gamera has been hit with criticism of being a rip-off of Godzilla, especially from the Godzilla fanbase. This is mostly warranted with the first two films, which do rather blatantly steal scenes from Godzilla's first two movies, but later films avoided this.
In Gamera vs. Barugon, Gamera stabs Barugon in the face with his claws, causing gallons of purple blood to gush out and get all over the place.
Gyaos gushing blood out of his ears in the climax of Gamera vs. Gyaos.
The "Boss Viras" decapitating his humanoid henchmen and later repeatedly impaling Gamera in Gamera vs. Viras.
Space Gyaos gets sliced 'n' diced by Guiron in Gamera vs. Guiron. Also, Gamera removing Guiron's shurikens underwater, the process giving him untold agony!
In Gamera vs. Jiger, Gamera gets impaled through his arms and legs by long spears. He is able to pull the spears out of his legs, but not without grimacing and roars of pain.
Gamera ramming the idol into Jiger's skull.
The Heisei trilogy contains examples of:
Alternative Character Interpretation: Some members of the fandom tend to believe that Iris was supposed to be a guardian along side of Gamera but Ayana's rage and hate drove him to kill those she didn't like and ultimately go after Gamera. Others believe he was evil all along and was only using Ayana to get more powerful. Still others believe she was a 'failsafe' made to take out Gamera should he turn on mankind like the Gyaos did and Gamera's disregard for mankind awakened her. Given how little of it’s origin is actually revealed, any of the three could be right.
Or all three, for that matter.
Also, was his showing Ayana the stuff he did taunting her out of evil intent? Or was he just showing his "mother" what he'd done for her, in an ‘are you proud of me now’ way?
Fanon: Some fans believe that the Dragon and Tiger guardian, brought up in Gamera 3, that the former could be Barugon and Jiger, albeit some resigns would be needed, especially since both are reptiles and tigers are mammals.
In a What Could Have Been moment, a Gamera manga in Japan features the titular monster fighting against an updated, Heisei version of Barugon called "Balgon." (likely translation error) And what is this beast's origin? The young child of the former Dragon Guardian of the east, driven mad by lack of guidance from his mother or a bonded human. Also, Barugon was briefly considered to be the antagonistic monster in the first Heisei film.
Growing the Beard: The Showa series is noted for little more than providing Mystery Science Theater 3000 with good comedic material. On the other hand, thanks to such talents as director Shusuke Kaneko, special effects director Shinji Higuchi, writer Kazunori Ito, and composer Kow Otani, the Heisei trilogy is considered by fans and critics alike to be representative of the height of the kaiju genre, and even superior to many Godzilla films.
Hilarious in Hindsight: Gamera's Mana beam is one when you realize it's basically a Kamehame Hadouken. In Dragon Ball not only was Master Roshi a trainer of Turtle-Style Martial arts, but also rode a baby Gamera, and the Kamehameha can be translated as "Turtle Destruction Wave". Even better, it's a combined energy attack using the power of the planet akin to Goku's Spirit Bomb.
Ho Yay: Asagi had vibes of Les Yay with Nagamine near the end of Gamera 3.
Memetic Mutation: this GIF of an exploding Gyaos prop (taken from behind-the-scenes footage) sees some use as a reaction image in the kaiju fandoms.
Not-So-Cheap Imitation: The Showa Era of Gamera movies are often derided as being low quality, Strictly Formula cash-ins on the success of the Godzilla movies at the time, and gradually sank to abysmal levels in both story and effects. The Heisei trilogy revival, on the other hand, is frequently considered better than the Godzilla films of the same era and some of the greatest movies of the kaiju genre, proving that the giant turtle could be a respectable and iconic monster in his own right.
Sacred Cow: The trilogy as a whole is widely regarded by kaiju fans as three of the greatest kaiju films ever made. Even those who highly prefer Godzilla to Gamera will traditionally acknowledge their consistent and high quality. It's generally not the best idea to badmouth them in a discussion on kaiju works. This is especially true of the third and final film, which many compare to the original Godzilla (1954) as possibly the best kaiju movie of all time.
Surprisingly Improved New Series: Almost unanimously regarded as superior to the the Showa series, and made Gamera his own distinct character with more to separate him from Godzilla. On a specific note, Guardian of the Universe, the film that started the trilogy, was the first Gamera film after the despised Gamera: Super Monster which is almost universally regarded as the worst Gamera movie and possibly even the worst kaiju movie ever made.
It should be noted that the What Could Have Been American Godzilla incarnation had a similar origin to the Heisei Gamera. With the success of this Gamera, and the hype in Japan for the Godzilla 1994, this would have probably been a Contrived Coincidence.
Speaking of What Could Have Been, there was a Godzilla vs. Gamera theatre play in the 70's using the suits of the respective series. In 2002 there was a planned Godzilla/Gamera movie crossover. Imagine if they were basically the Kaiju Avengers.
Ugly Cute: Iris' younger form is sometimes seen as this.
Harsher in Hindsight: From the MST3K showing, when Joel was riffing in an annoying voice just before the commercial break:
Joel: Mmmmm, welcome back to our teatime movie! Ted Bessell and Georgie Jessell in Lance the Wonder Dog! Crow: (annoyed) Ahem! Stop, please. You can be replaced by Leno, you know.
, also from the first film.