The design of Shin Gojira revealed

GMAN2887 - One of Godzilla's arms will be smaller than the other? That is incredibly fascinating - and unsettling! This rendition of Godzilla is certainly going to possess the physical characteristics of a malformed victim of radiation - a true and undeniably glaring warning against the abuses of nuclear power! :)

GMAN2887 - I wonder: do you suppose Godzilla will favor his more prominent arm while going about? Or do you think he will not be bothered by such a deformity? :)

Not sure. Part of me wonders if this is some sort of wink at the fact Nakajima couldn't move his right arm in the suit in 1954. He mainly just used one arm and whenever the right arm was used Godzilla would turn his entire body to make it work.

That may be looking too deep into things, but it's the first thing that came to mind.

Another thing that came to mind, which isn't looking to far into it, is how Godzilla was described as a victim in the 1954 movie. Yes this new design looks terrifying and ugly, but the fans who are calling it demonic aren't really seeing the scars for what they are. This Godzilla looks like a victim, not a destroyer. This isn't like GMK. This strikes me as something that's been wounded so badly and gone so crazy that it will inadvertantly show the world what its seen.

Like the 1954 version, it's horrific, but there's also sympathy for it.

GMAN2887 - Indeed. The more I look the images over, the more I see a badly maimed creature that seems to have gained a shadow of sentience from the mutations inflicted upon it by the atomic age - just enough to drive it mad from pain and its inability to comprehend it's own consciousness. It strikes me as a creature lashing out on fury because that is the only recourse with which we have left it.

@Gman2887 That pic... is this going to be Godzilla meeting Resident Evil?

Anyway, I would preferred the take that Matt Frank gave... less gross.

At least I found someone in Youtube being agree that this thing´s face looks like Marvel Godzilla.

As I said, Simply Marvelous.

well this is looking to be an emotional roller coaster. i dont know what im going to feel worse for. godzilla or the people hes killng. pack your bags i think were going on a feel trip

G-Man, I do feel now that I was being hypocritical, when I usually am more open to new designs. I do apologize for that. And Something Real you're most likely right that seeing the design in motion will, indeed, make the judgement. This closeup picture isn't enough to decide if it's bad or not.

However, I don't feel like we're going to feel sympathy for this Godzilla. Unless they go the 1954 route and make him REALLY a victim. Besides that this is Japan vs Godzilla, he is truly a monster now.

I'm curious how much smaller the one arm is. Maybe it has less skin and muscle covering it due to being the main exposure site to the blast, and due to the lack of muscle and pain it experiences it keeping it closer to its body making it appear smaller than it is. I can't really see a physiological meaning to why one would be shorter outside of deformities, but that would need to come from birth, moreso than a bomb.

That's the only answer I could think of, Durp.

I feel sympathy for him already, quite frankly. Yes he looks monstrous, but what is it that clearly made him look like that? We all know the answer. It's the same point that was hammered home in 1954.

Well, opinions vary. But I see in this design a look that is evocative of the 1954 Original. I would say that the horror aspect is being emphasized, presumedly to fit the overall feel and atmosphere of the story. So, we can say that 'it looks like Godzilla.' Just as much as, or rather moreso, than some designs from the late 60's and early 70's.I suppose, it depends on what Godzilla is to you, and what you feel he can be. In this, the Shin-Goji, I see the direct and tragic result of nuclear bomb testing and the exposure to a form of energy that can destroy all life. I also see a creature that has been transformed into something it should not have been.

This much of the design points to a film that will should be stark, filled with dread, but, at the same time, is visually stunning and moving in its narrative. If, it's indicative of the film as a whole. It's a big 'if,' but the potential is there given the artists entrusted with making this film and their skills and love for the genre and the character.

Once again Jamaal you just have to present the most thought out words of this character. 

I'm seeing a creature who must have had all the nuclear bombs in the 50's hit him at point blank and obviously, deformed him. He's just as much as a horror show as he is a victim. Something that was living his life peacefully until the arrogance of mankind took his life away and made him a monster, a killer, a remorseless, vengeful Grimm reaper.

"Not sure. Part of me wonders if this is some sort of wink at the fact Nakajima couldn't move his right arm in the suit in 1954. He mainly just used one arm and whenever the right arm was used Godzilla would turn his entire body to make it work."

You know: I wouldn't be surprised if this was a nod to the 1954 Suit and the difficulties encountered by Nakajima-san while protraying Godzilla. Especially given the love and respect that Anno and Higuchi have for the genre and character. It would be just like them. This film looks more and more like a valentine to tokusatsu as well as to the Series. Hence, this design for Godzilla, reminding us that he's a monster, transformed into one by The Bomb. So he should be monstrous, not only in what he does, but also in how he looks and how his appearance affects the one who sees him. That was my impression on the day of the Reveal. And, with repeated viewings (which have been many, by the way), I have come to feel sorry for him. This is tremendous in terms of becoming emotionally invested in the story: sorrow and pity toward a monster who's evoking horror through what he does and how he looks. It's this juxtaposing of two very different emotions toward a character like this that makes viewing him so intriguing. You won't be able to look away, while barely being able to look at him at the same time.

"I'm seeing a creature who must have had all the nuclear bombs in the 50's hit him at point blank and obviously, deformed him. He's just as much as a horror show as he is a victim. Something that was living his life peacefully until the arrogance of mankind took his life away and made him a monster, a killer, a remorseless, vengeful Grimm reaper."

Well stated by Huge-Ben, as usual. This statement mentions what happend and the reasons behind the now monstrous creature's motivation. I hope we see something of this nature unfold in the story against the backdrop of what will surely be astounding visuals. I'm expecting a well-written and ambitious story, well-directed and convincingly portrayed.

wolfguy said:

"This Godzilla is the first that looks truly mutilated and haunted by the blast. I honestly can't stop looking at the photo. As if, taking it a bit to the extreme here, this was once a beautiful creature, perhaps even covered in plummage as it's being discovered of dinosaurs today. But then hit by an atomic blast, flesh and sinew burnt away, ashen and scarred and forever in pain."

After the Blast, Exposure and Transformation, a possibly once beautiful creature found itself horribly transformed and made monstrous. But with the blast came a sentience not previously possessed. The Bomb made Godzilla intelligent and purposeful. And with this came an awareness of what has happened. Then rage and the urge to destroy and inflict harm and destruction. I hope the Operation Blast of 1954 is referenced and connected to the overall narrative that attempts to explain what happened to this creature,and why he's the threat to Japan he is now.

If this, is indeed close to the actual design, then our worst nightmare (in a good sense), kaiju eiga-wise, is at hand.

And if the actions and movements correspond to the appearance, this could be the most scary and fear-inducing Godzilla in the Series. 

I find it disgusting, and none good sense of any kind. Do you really want Godzilla should become a Freddy Krugger? Pretty much of the context you are aiming and rooting for, about the hate, revenge and the deformed look, is pretty similar to that, by the exception of course the motives and the film's genre. Even if it's aimed to create some conscience about the threat of what we neglect in order to progress and the pain we cause for doing so, it looks everything is going so morbid. 

A 'nightmarish' Godzilla, one that instills fear and dread, doen't have to add up to a morbid film experience. And it certaily doesn't mean a kaiju version of Freddy Kruger.

There can be hope-even for the transformed creature, made into a monster. But I have a feeling-and it's just a feeling-that Shin Gojira is going to be very cathartic: we're going to have to experience what we fear before we 'come out on the other side.' And it will be as a result of the advent of a monster who invokes fear and sympathy at the same time.

I do not see the Freddy Kruger analogy as being valid. In fact, it cheapens what the filmmakers may be attempting to protray. I say "may," because we haven't see the film yet. All that I cando is go by what they've said about the film, Godzilla and what they want to accomplish.   

Ahh......doesn't look like it's gonna very nice graphics like G14, but I guess I shouldn't complain cuz Japan don't have a big budget like America (legendary) and (Warner bros). Does anyone know the budget of this movie? 

This is the drawing by Jeff Fornow that I meant to post:

I look forward to seeing the whole suit from various angles ala the chouzenshus published by Shogakuken. 

^ i actually really like that 

Quick note you guys. Please stop comparing Godzilla with the likes of Freddy Kruger, Jason Voorhees, and other American horror films. Hollywood films and tokusatsu films aren't the same as a whole.

As for the budget, it won't be any different with the older Godzilla films. It's tokusatsu. A unique filmmaking that is very traditional in Japan and what Godzilla is king of. 

@Jamaal,

The more I look at the design, the more I tremble. This is what you and I have wanted. Not just the classic but, the horrifying. I'm glad Toho let Shinji Higuchi and Hideaki Anno put such a twist with this design. It screams "fear me."

Godzilla this time is truly representing the horrors of the atomic bomb and what all that radiation has done to him as a whole. Grotesque in form, yet shows the resemblance of 54'. This is without a shadow of a doubt the ugliest Godzilla to date but, in a good way.

I don't see anything wrong with comparing Godzilla to this generations' horror icons. If this Godzilla is anything like a nightmare he might be very comparable to Jason Voorhees who has an insanely tragic background, but still isn't necessarily viewed sympathetically at most times. Depending how this Godzilla acts he could be very similar.

"Godzilla this time is truly representing the horrors of the atomic bomb and what all that radiation has done to him as a whole. Grotesque in form, yet shows the resemblance of 54'. This is without a shadow of a doubt the ugliest Godzilla to date but, in a good way."

@Huge-Ben:

I'm very happy with design (as much as we've seen). And it does look like Anno and Higuchi are going for a nightmare-inducing, terrifying Godzilla, one that shocks with what he does and how he looks. I hope he's directed in a way that imbues him with a real malevolent personality. At the same time, though, his obvious disfigurement from The Blast and the resulting transformation make him an object of pity. Look at what was done to him! I think we read here that Jeff Fornow's drawing was described by people in the know as 'very close.' Hopefully we'll see real soon.

These are great times.

@Jamaal,

I'm tickled to death with the design of Godzilla myself. Yeah, I said he was ugly but, it's in a good way. I really do think Toho has made the right decision with letting Shinji Higuchi and Hideaki Anno give us this style of Godzilla. Something not too pretty but can't really take your eyes off of him.

Grotesque, menacing, down right scary, and unique. There's never been a design like this. 

And as a side note, I gave Jeff zornow the descriptions. His skin is burnt. Like it's been roasting in the fires of 1,000 Atomic bombs. It's ripped, torn, thrashed and cracked. That's why his drawing is "pretty close." I talked to Jeff zornow on Twitter and let him go at it. Again, he nearly nailed it. I'm currently drawing mine and look to have it posted soon.

When a very good friend of mine let me in on the descriptions, my mouth hit the floor. I'm not mentioning him by name, he knows who he is but, to know he's trust worthy and told me what he saw pretty much told me just how disfigured Godzilla is. I made an earlier drawing which of course, I'll post it along with the new one very soon. When I got those descriptions, I knew immediately that most "fans" would despise it. This is actually something I saw coming. 

Anyway, very happy Godzilla is living in Toho again where he can rule with supremacy in tokusatsu. 

I actually like the new design. Godzilla looks like he was scarred by the blast that mutated him.

I am not at all displeased with Shin-Gojira being compared to horror icons; it has been a fitting pantheon for Godzilla since the very beginning in 1954. When he first took to the screen, Godzilla terrified audiences, so much so that moviegoers within one theatre (I have forgotten the particular establishment's name) actually fled into the streets - having believed the monsters attack was actually taking place! The superb American film, Jaws, is also a good mate to pair with Godzilla, for it evokes the same sense of fear that centers upon the unknown. In the end, I feel that a monster should be taken and accepted for what it is: a monster.