Gamera Rebirth

Gamera Rebirth (stylized as GAMERA -Rebirth-) is a Japanese original net animation (ONA) series directed and co-written by Hiroyuki Seshita. Produced by Kadokawa Corporation and animated by ENGI, it is a reboot of the Gamera franchise following Gamera the Brave (2006), the first animated entry in the franchise and the first entry in the franchise's Reiwa era. The series was released worldwide on Netflix on September 7, 2023.

Synopsis
During summer 1989, three elementary students witness Gamera in battle as monsters converge on Tokyo.

Production
On November 16, 2022, Kadokawa announced plans for a new Gamera production, entitled Gamera Rebirth, which will be released globally on Netflix. Shusuke Kaneko, director of the Heisei Gamera trilogy, had proposed an idea for a new film. However, Kadokawa had already proceeded with their new project by the time Kaneko presented his pitch. Regardless, Kaneko had expressed his support for the project. A figure of Gamera was exhibited at Tamashii Nation 2022 between November 18 and 20, along with a newspaper featuring Gamera that was distributed at the event.

In February 2023, Kadokawa revealed the cast and staff. The series would be animated by ENGI, with Hiroyuki Seshita directing (who co-directed Polygon Pictures' Godzilla anime trilogy), Tetsu Iijima producing, Atsushi Tamura designing the characters, and Kan Takahama designing the monsters. A teaser released in January debuted footage, albeit briefly, from the series and revealed that it would consist of six episodes and feature five additional enemy monsters. In March, Kadokawa released a new key visual poster, a synopsis, and a full trailer.

A number of references to previous films and scrapped projects and unused ideas were made, and the time setting of the series (1989) is to represent both eras of Showa and Heisei. Designs of Gamera and Gyaos, and the first scene of Gamera to fight agianst a flock of small Gyaos in the first episode are reused from the 2015 short film, and Katsuhito Ishii, the director of the 2015 short film was credited as the designer of Gamera. Seshita originally prepared fighting scenes twice more than actual ones, however he had to cut them in half.

Japanese punk rock band Wanima provided both opening and ending songs, Natsuake and FLY&DIVE.

Novelization
Official novelization of the series consisting of two parts by Hiroyuki Seshita and Jin have been published on August 2023 and May 2024 respectively.

Manga
A prequel manga illustrated by Cambria Bakuhatsutarō will begin serialization on Kadokawa Shoten's Young Ace UP website on September 8, 2023.

A comicalized version of the series has been released on ComicWalker and Tatesc Comics.

Collaborations
An official collaboration with the mobile game Godzilla Battle Line was made, featuring Gamera and Gyaos and Guiron as playable characters. "Godzilla Earth", the Godzilla incarnation from Hiroyuki Seshita's anime trilogy, was chosen for the key art of the collaboration. Another collaboration with Ao Oni Online of the Ao Oni series to feature Gamera and Boco and Gyaos as playable characters and ornaments was made where the game previously collaborated with the 2021 film The Great Yokai War: Guardians to feature Daimajin, the character re-developed from the Gamera franchise. Special collaborations with Odekake Kozame and Nights with a Cat have also been conducted. Exclusive booster pack of the show on the card game Union Arena is released on May 31, 2024. A one time collaboration with the sake brand Shinkame was conducted as both represents "godly turtles".

Reception
Bloody Disgusting's Paul Lê criticized the animation but praised the characters. He called the animation "awkward and stiff" but felt that the visual aesthetic complimented the monster battles. Lê found the human subplot "compelling" and the series' child leads to be an improvement over the child leads of the Showa era Gamera films. Lê awarded the series four skulls out of five and praised it for being an "emotional, ambitious, and well-told story." Writing for the The A.V. Club, Kayleigh Dray likewise found similar flaws in the series and likened Gamera Rebirth to Stranger Things. She praised the effort that went into its character development and friendship themes that results in characters that are "pretty damn likable." However, she criticized the animation for feeling "clunky", comparing it to a low-resolution version of The Sims and likened the characters to PlayStation 2 animations. While Dray didn't consider the series to be bingeable or a must-watch, she awarded the series a C+.

Joshua Kristian McCoy from GameRant did not consider Gamera Rebirth to be an "ideal" introduction for newcomers. McCoy also criticized the animation for being "jittery" and compared it to the animation from Robot Chicken, and found the concept to be flawed; he specifically targeted the series' tone and its depressing climax, calling them improper for a Gamera story. He concluded by ridiculing the creators for taking inspiration from Godzilla Singular Point instead of Shin Godzilla, stating that the series starts "rough, gets weird, and ends almost impressively poorly." James Beckett from Anime News Network scored the series a C+, commenting that "it's a shame that the ugliness of visuals will likely turn away a good many potential fans because underneath all of that jank is a solid kaiju adventure".

Insufficiency of budget is also pointed out; 3D models of humans are poor and do not fit in with 2D backgrounds. It also lacks an opening animation which is a common feature of Japanese anime.

Fussa City and Tsushima Island were elected for one of Anime Pilgrimage Sites of 2024 by the Anime Tourism Association as Gamera battled Gyaos and Jiger in the former, and fought against Zigra at the Omega Station.

Ryan Bartley who voiced Boco in the English edition was nominated for the 2023 Voice Arts Awards.

Potential sequel
Its production committee including the director and other executives is willing to produce additional seasons with increased fighting scenes, however its future is uncertain. Seshita noted that he has enough ideas for up to five seasons, and he pointed a possibility of a future live-action adaptation if the series is successful. Seshita also hopes the series to eventually become (one of) stepping stone(s) for the revival of the franchise in the future.