YMMV / Monster Island Buddies

• Angst? What Angst?:
  • Minilla has absolutely no resentment or any hard feelings whatsoever toward his father, despite the fact that he spent a huge chunk of his childhood being abused, ridiculed and overall treated as The Unfavorite by Godzilla. If anything, the boy has sheer, undiluted Undying Loyalty toward his dad, to the point he is willing to fight other bigger monsters by himself should Godzilla find himself in any trouble. It is this Incorruptible Pure Pureness that makes Godzilla realize his son is more worthy of carrying the title of King of the Monsters than him when he finally retires.
  • Gojirin doesn't seem too troubled considering she's been forcibly taken from her home dimension against her will by a malfunctioning interdimensional portal device and is now stuck in Earth Prime without any means of return after the aforementioned machine exploded. This is even addressed In-Universe, as Godzilla apologizes to her about how the whole Massacre incident has left her stranded on another dimension. Gojirin, however, takes things remarkably well and happily says she's eager to explore and discover everything in the main universe.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • King Caesar, big time. He was already this in his debut movie, but this version of the character is also loved for being a Nice Guy as well as a charismatic Romeo who can cook up some decent rapping numbers and mantains a pretty decent friendship with his fellow monsters. Him being retired for good after his voice actor's demise was a tragic blow for the fans.
  • Battra. He's got an awesome Evil Sounds Raspy voice, is The Comically Serious and his "Fear Battra!" catchphrase is pretty fitting.
  • Orga proved popular enough to get his own Spin-Off review show.
  • Massacre, the Big Bad of the "Destroy all Godzillas" four-parter, has been very well-received by the fandom. Fans praise him as a genuinely cool, terrifying and deadly antagonist and he's gotten himself quite a lot of fanart. His popularity may be a key reason for his survival and teased return.
  • Gigan is pretty popular for his friendly and upbeat personality.
  • Gorosaurus, thanks to his dimwitted nature, status as the resident Butt-Monkey, and his Catchphrase.
  • Ultraman's inclusion in the recent seasons was a result of his rampant popularity. He's a Jerkass but he's so funny people wanted more of him!
• Growing the Beard: The show doesn't start to find its footing until midway though Season 1, where continuity becomes tighter, the Early-Installment Weirdness fades, and the show gets a Story Arc and actual stakes. The beard grows even further in Season 2, where the show develops the intricate and creative plots it would become known for, getting higher stakes and actual drama, introduced fan favorite Minilla, and getting even funnier, with the comedy becoming more rapid-paced and the dialogue getting wittier.
• Heartwarming Moments: The entire montage of Anguirus and Minilla in "Anguirus" really shows how loyal and helpful Anguirus has been to Minilla.
  Anguirus: (writing in his journal) Minilla returns tomorrow. I must say, I'm excited. He's pure of heart, and... I just miss my friend.
• Jerkass Woobie: Godzilla and Rodan may be a lazy alcoholic and a hot tempered womanizer respectively, but they do have their moments in which you actually can feel sorry for them.
• Launcher of a Thousand Ships: Mothra. She gets paired up with King Ghidorah, Rodan, Godzilla and Battra.
• Moral Event Horizon: Believed to be crossed by King Kong, when he shows a video of Godzilla and Mothra having sex to Fire Rodan, making him literally fly into a rage and causing him to attack Godzilla, who is forced to defend himself. During the fight, Godzilla absorbs some of Rodan's fire power, causing him to become Burning Godzilla, which as we know, is a fatal stage in Godzilla's life.
  • General Gigan crosses it by murdering Jet Jaguar in an alternate future.
  • The Cloverfield Monster killing Baragon in "Gamera Returns". Subverted in which Baragon is actually alive, he just feigned his death to avoid the violent Monster Island lifestyle and pursue his career as an actor in Hollywood.
  • Jet Jaguar's creator, Dr. Ibuki, crosses it when he stuns Jet and is ready to remove his heart to get his old job in the US government back even though he knows full well Jet is not only sentient but also looks up to him as a father.
  • Massacre crosses it when he starts his genocide campaign of all other Godzillas.
• Tear Jerker: For a cheaply-made comedy series, this show can have some truly emotional moments:
  • Rodan's Heroic Sacrifice in season 2 finale. Before performing it, he ultimately blurts out his feelings to Mothra and then flies toward Mecha-King Ghidorah, destroying them both in the impact. Doesn't help the whole scene is a Shout-Out to The Iron Giant climax. Godzilla's grief afterwards and his guilt are pretty saddening too, specially considering that his drug addiction caused him to behave like an asshole toward most of his friends.
  • Godzilla's speech to his fellow Monster Island Buddies and his eventual Heroic Sacrifice in the Season 4 Finale.
  • Episode 78 "Minilla". The divorce Godzilla has between Jirass and Minilla's goodbye to his only friend (at the time), Anguirus.
    • This episode also confirmed that Minilla, even as a child, was well aware of what others feel about him.
  Minilla: I'm sorry but, nobody here loves me! It's because I'm stupid!
  • MIB recently posted that King Caesar and Kumonga's voice actor has died, and King Caesar has been officially retired.
  • While it's Played for Laughs, Future Godzilla hugging Rodan in "Back to the Past" is pretty sad, since Rodan is long dead in the Bad Future.