Gamera the Brave
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| Gamera the Brave | |
|---|---|
| Distributed by | Kadokawa Pictures |
| Release date(s) | 2006 |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
Gamera the Brave (小さき勇者たち～ガメラ～ Chīsaki Yūsha Tachi?, Gamera: Little Brave Ones) is a tokusatsu kaiju film released in 2006. This is the 12th Gamera film and the first produced by Kadokawa Pictures after they purchased the Daiei Motion Picture Company, the original company responsible for the Gamera films. This is the first of the third series of Gamera movies, with more coming in the foreseeable future.
[edit] Plot
Years ago Gamera saved an entire village from an attack from a flock of Gyaos. Thirty years later the boy has grown up and owns a small restaurant in the Japanese coastal town of Iseshima. He has a son named Toru, whom is the focus of the story.
Toru's mother has recently died in a car crash, and this is his first summer without her. When playing on the beach with his friends, he sees a strange red glow emanating from a nearby rock formation. He decides to go over and investigate it. He is in for a surprise. What Toru finds is an egg lying on top of a strange red rock with patterns carved into it. When he picks up the egg in his hands, out hatches a little baby turtle (in reality an African Spurred Tortoise ). He names it "Toto," which is what his mother used to call him when she was alive.
Toru takes the tiny Gamera home, but keeps it a secret from his father as he doesn't allow pets in the house. The only people he tells are his friends and his next door neighbor, a girl named Mai who is slightly older than Toru and looks after him. Toto soon reveals himself to be no ordinary turtle, as he learns to fly and shoot small fireballs from his mouth. Mai begins to suspect that Toto is actually the son of the Gamera that had defeated the Gyaos swarm all those years ago, and she tries to convince Toru that keeping him is not a good idea. Toru tries not to believe her. Toto isn't Gamera, otherwise he would be 200 feet tall, right?
Toru can't bear the thought that Toto was a giant, fireball spitting beast that would self destruct like the first one. But soon Toto starts to grow and becomes the size of an adult turtle. Too big to hide, Toru and his friends move Toto to an abandoned shack on the beach to keep him. Unfortunately one day Toru comes up to check on Toto and realizes he has run (or perhaps flown?) away, and is devastated.
Meanwhile, off the coast of Iseshima, many bizarre shipping disasters have been occurring. No one knows what is happening, or what is causing the shipping disasters. As Toru is sulking over the loss with his friends, tornado sirens begin blaring. Heavy footfalls begin to sound, and soon the kaiju Zedus (a cross between a frilled lizard and a T-Rex, making it resemble Jirass) bellows its presence to the world.
Zedus chomps down on the people trying to run away, luckily a friend of Toru's is spared from the carnage. Then up in the sky is Toto, who has grown larger and sporting tusks, but still not a fully grown Gamera yet. Toto gets pummeled in their first battle, victim to Zedus's long, piercing purple tongue (reminiscent of Barugon) and the government shortly arrives to capture and research him. In order to combat this new menace, they hook Toto up to a machine which feeds him a liquid version of the strange red stone that Toru had found the egg in, which scientists theorize give the Gameras their power.
Zedus attacks again, and a newly revitalized Toto rockets out to battle him. Zedus uses his agility and long kicking legs to its advantage and Toto begins to lose. Toto needs to eat the stone his egg rested on if he is to truly be powerful enough to combat Zedus. Unfortunately Toru had given the stone to Mai earlier for good luck in her hospital operation. From a news report Mai also knows of the stone's power, and begins a sort of courier service where one child will deliver the stone to another, all the time repeating the words "For Toto!"
The stone eventually gets to Toru, who runs into the evacuated city to give Toto the stone. But his worried father catches up to him and tries to stop Toru for fear that he will get killed if Toto self-destructs again like Gamera did in 1973. Toru's father eventually decides they might as well continue as they are already in the situation.
They go to the top of the building where Zedus had lodged Toto earlier, and after a syrupy but short monologue Toru throws the stone into Toto's waiting maw. Toto breaks out of the building, now Gamera. Gamera destroys Zedus's long tongue, and blasts him with his fire breath, vanquishing him. The government surrounds Gamera to study him, but Toru stalls them long enough for Gamera to escape. The film ends as Gamera spins around and around and jets off into the sky.
[edit] External links
| Daiei's Gamera Series | |
|---|---|
| Shōwa Series: | Gamera · Gamera vs. Barugon · Gamera vs. Gyaos · Gamera vs. Viras · Gamera vs. Guiron · Gamera vs. Jiger · Gamera vs. Zigra · Gamera: Super Monster |
| Gamera Trilogy: | Gamera: Guardian of the Universe · Gamera 2: Attack of Legion · Gamera 3: Awakening of Irys |
| Millennium Series: | Gamera the Brave |
| Kaiju: | Gamera • Barugon • Gyaos • Viras • Guiron • Jiger • Zigra • Legion • Irys • Zedus |
