Godzilla Island – Story Arc 11

1997

Directed by Shun Mizutani

Hey, has this ever happened to you? Watching TV to discover your favorite show is only three minutes long? And the show is aired every day broken up into story arcs? Well, just do what millions are doing, and watch Godzilla Island on DVD! Yes, thanks to Toho Studios getting off their lazy butts, Godzilla Island is now on R2 DVD with no subtitles! In this convenient digital form, it is easy to follow the story arcs of all 256 episodes without waiting a whole 24 hours between three-minute moments of joy. And TarsTarkas.NET is committed to give you the skinny of every episode and every story arc! March of Godzilla Island began with Story Arc 1 and continues now with Story Arc 11. And we aren’t even halfway done yet! Get to reading, because when we’re done we will have really accomplished something here. Unless you don’t like Godzilla Island, then it doesn’t matter. So read on!

G-Guard Commander (Jiro Dan) – G-Guard Commander runs the Godzilla Guard unit on Godzilla Island. He’s all alone except for sassy robot Lucas, so of course he’s bored out of his skull normally. He seems to have been stationed there because it’s a low-priority assignment they could dump someone who can’t work under pressure, because that’s exactly what he is. Luckily Torema shows up to save his pants. I do not know if he has a name but it may be Oji. Torema (Maimi Okuwa) – A mysterious young girl who shows up one day on Godzilla Island right when the dastardly Xiliens begin to attack. She repels the attack, joins the G-Guard, and begins her fight against Zaguresu the Xilien because Xiliens destroyed her home planet (I think that’s what happened – she may have been from future Earth.) Has psychic powers and her own spaceship called the Panatolute. Zaguresu (Naoko Aizawa) – Evil Xilien woman who invades Earth using giant monsters and her giant Independence Day/V rip-off spaceship. Enjoys laughing evilly while contemplating the latest diabolical schemes. Follows the Xilien leader Giant Emperor’s orders, because that’s what they do on Planet X. Sheep! Her spaceship is named the Vabaruda. Lucas (Kenichiro Shimamura) – Annoying robot, Godzilla Island-style! Makes sarcastic remarks, and seems to be even mean at times. An annoying Kenny kid in floating metal sphere form. He must be destroyed! Translates from monster language to Japanese. Narrator – (Yutaka Aoyama) – He’s not a character but the guy who recaps the previous episode in the beginning of the episode. That means thirty seconds of each three minute episode is Narrator recounting events, padding running time beyond levels I want to think about. He’s a typical Japanese male announcer, amazingly excited and epic about even the most mundane things. Giant Dark Emperor (???) – Giant flaming head who commands the Xiliens and Planet X. Do not look behind the curtain. The great and powerful Giant Emperor commands you, and can hear your sarcastic backtalk! Still, being a flaming head in space has got to be pretty boring.

Different monster feature in each episode, so we’ll keep track of them in each story arc. The complete Godzilla Island Daikaiju List is located here. We’ll also list any new monster match-ups that weren’t in any film but now exist thanks to this series, such as King Caesar fighting Manda or something. The R2 Japanese DVD release is unsubtitled, so most of what is going on will be educated guesses thanks to our limited Japanese speaking ability. But here at TarsTarkas.NET we don’t need no stinking subtitles!

Featuring the monsters –

Anguirus – Godzilla’s first foe and now a close friend. His only power is a spiky back but he’s brave on the battlefield. One of the usual residents on Godzilla Island who shows up to watch the action as stories progress. Baragon – Big ears, big horn on the nose, likes to dig underground. One of the usual residents on Godzilla Island who shows up to watch the action. Black Mechagodzilla – Old School 1974 Mechagodzilla reappears with a black paint job (to help people tell them apart and sell new toys, I bet!) first as Zaguresu’s weapon, then Torema fixes it to use. Its age is shown by making it beat up and barely operating. Godzilla – The King of Monsters. Godzilla is pure awesome in giant fire-breathing lizard form. Everyone who comes to Godzilla Island wants a piece of Godzilla. And they all get kicked to the curb. Gorosaurus – Old foe of King Kong who spends most of his days watching whatever happens on Godzilla Island. His special move was to do kangaroo kicks. Mechagodzilla – This is the second Mechagodzilla, which was created by humans to fight Godzilla. Now stationed on Godzilla Island as one of its defenders. Usually automated, but can be piloted at times (and has been by G-Guard Commander.) Usually paired with Moguera. Mothra Leo – a boy Mothra who has extra powers, from the Rebirth of Mothra series. Can zap things with antenna and wing blasts. No one has a good explanation on how male Mothra Leo is supposed to continue the Mothra line. But don’t worry, as an egg magically appears anyway. Proto-Moguera – This new, tiny, cuter Moguera was being used for construction work until Zaguresu captures it and goes on a rampage. She then steals it to her ship for use in future plots. Eye blasts are powerful enough to down even Godzilla, and some monsters don’t even want to fight it. Rodan – A prehistoric monster awakened in modern day, Rodan is a former foe of Godzilla who has learned to work with him to fight off the evil monsters. Has some hot springs named after him on Godzilla Island. Will eventually become Fire Rodan, because he did so in the Heisei movie series that was still recent, in addition to giving Bandai another toy.

Episode 94 – Zaguresu’s Dismissal
This is the second story arc in a row that features as the first scene on Godzilla Island Torema being awoken in her room, this time to the sound of Moguera planting a bunch of seeds or something. It’s not the real Moguera, this is Proto-Moguera, who is some sort of prototype or something. She talks to G-Guard Commander to find out what’s what, while Zaguresu sets plans to blow up the Proto-Moguera because she’s evil. But nothing happens as she gets a call from Giant Emperor, who is angry enough to get us to Tsuzuku.

Episode 95 – The Challenge of Zaguresu
Giant Emperor does more yelling, then Zaguresu gets angry. Then she calls G-Guard HQ and acts all super-hyper Japanese. It turns out this is some sort of challenge against Torema, who accepts. Tsuzuku. Does G-Guard HQ and Zaguresu have some sort of direct connection to call each other? Sort of like the red phone the Commissioner Gordon and Batman have?

Episode 96 – Take Off Black Mechagodzilla!
Zaguresu will pilot the Black Mechagodzilla, which is the 1974 Mechagodzilla that those green gorilla aliens built. It is old so hard to get started correctly. Reminds me of my first car. That was a car that caught on fire one day during a road trip. Zaguresu flies it to Godzilla Island, but you’d think she’d get a better monster. Tsuzuku.

Episode 97 – The Duel at Dawn
Torema gets in the modern Mechagodzilla to fight for the duel against Zaguresu, which now we’ve figures out is what the challenge was about (my original theory was a elderberry pie bake-off). The other monsters on the island line up to watch the fight, because the island doesn’t have cable. The two prepare to engage in one of those old-school duels where they will start backs turned, do five paces and fire. Tsuzuku as they begin. This feels like a Bugs Bunny cartoon.

Episode 98 – Zaguresu, a Coward!
They count off, but Zaguresu cheats and flips on four, blasting Torema at point blank range! We knew something would be up! This enrages the four spectators (Godzilla, Baragon, Gorosaurus, and Anguirus) and Zaguresu calls Torema stupid. But then Black Mechagodzilla breaks and won’t deliver a finishing blow, just in time for the four monsters to attack en masse and knock Zaguresu over. Tsuzuku.

Cheater!
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Episode 99 – Captive of Zaguresu
Zaguresu is in jail now, and G-Guard Commander and Torema talk to her, demanding to know what the Xiliens are up to. She says something sinister or sarcastically sinister according to the music swell. Time to crack out the water boarding and extraordinary renditions to get what you want. Black Mechagodzilla is still lying on its side in a field, beeping. Because that’s what Black Mechagodzilla does best. Lucas detects the signal but the robot is still really annoying. Tsuzuku.

Episode 100 – Death Together
Torema takes Zaguresu to the field where Black Mechagodzilla is because she said something about what the signal was for. Zaguresu is at gunpoint, but just beams away. Not far enough away to not taunt Torema one last time, then she teleports far away. Torema climbs inside Black Mechagodzilla, finds a bomb…with only 5 seconds left! Tsuzuku at 1 second! So much for going all James Bond and stopping the bomb with seven seconds left.

Episode 101 – The True Intent
The bomb just rings! Punk’d! Where’s Ashton Kutcher? Ed McMahon and Dick Clark? All we get is Zaguresu taunting Torema again. Zaguresu’s now driving Proto-Moguera! Anguirus and Baragon are nearby, and Zaguresu takes a break from smashing stuff to blast them. How much firepower is in this construction robot? First it was planting seeds, now it is raining death upon its enemies. Anyway, Godzilla sees this and gets Godzilla mad, which is like normal mad except a million times madder. But, the Proto-Moguera has mucho firepower and blasts Godzilla down with eye blasts. This is the most overpowered tractor I’ve ever seen! Godzilla gets ticked, as Torema, trapped in Black Mechagodzilla, realizes she has to make it work to help Big G. Tsuzuku.

Episode 102 – A Desperate Situation
Torema continues to work on the broken Mechagodzilla, while Godzilla continues to be blasted by Proto-Moguera being driven by Zaguresu, Anguirus and Baragon continue to retreat back, Mothra Leo continues to suddenly appear to blast Proto-Moguera, Proto-Moguera continues to blast him aside, Rodan continues to suddenly appear to attack Proto-Moguera, Proto-Moguera continues to blast him aside, Torema continues to kick Black Mechagodzilla until it starts, Proto-Moguera continues to blast Godzilla a lot, the episode continues to end on tsuzuku, and I continue to run this joke into the ground.

Episode 103 – Zaguresu Praised
Zaguresu-driven Proto-Moguera gets blasted by Black Mechagodzilla, and Godzilla joins the fun. Zaguresu is outgunned, knocked over, and calls her ship to tractor beam Proto-Moguera up to the ship with her in it. G-Guard Commander is happy Torema is okay, but disappointed with the loss of the robot kaiju. Giant Emperor is finally happy Zaguresu got something cool like Proto-Moguera and for once doesn’t call her a bunch of names. Tsuzuku.

Since this is the end of this story arc, it must be building up to something more sinister as the next arc is very long, and will feature major changes in the series. Until then, we can only speculate as to what the Proto-Moguera will be used for. Will is plant a race of evil plants that destroy mankind by making bad-tasting tomatoes? Will Proto-Moguera have to be brought down by Proto-Proto-Moguera, who by Proto-Moguera definitions would have to be so powerful it would destroy the world if it took a single step? Find out, as March of Godzilla Island continues with Story Arc 12 – Dozen Donuts of Doom! Until then, check out the massive amount of new monster matchups in this episode!

New Monster Match-ups – Mechagodzilla vs. Black Mechagodzilla, Black Mechagodzilla vs. Godzilla, Anguirus, Gorosaurus, Baragon; Proto-Moguera vs. Baragon and Anguirus; Mothra Leo vs. Proto-Moguera, Godzilla and Black Mechagodzilla vs. Proto-Moguera.

Rated 6/10 (Godzilla Toy, Tiny Houses, I broke my rod!, Bomb?!?, Time’s up!, Black Mechagodzilla takes some Z’s)

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