Shin Gamera: The Absolute Guardian of the Universe, also known in Japan as Guardian Monster: Shin Gamera (守護怪獣 シン・ガメラ Shūgokaijū Shin Gamera) is a 2019 Japanese animated kaiju film in the Gamera series co-directed by Takashi Watanabe and Sam Imbecile. Produced by Kadokawa Pictures and distributed by Toei, it is the fourth reboot and the first animated film of the series, as well as the first installment of the Mahou Kaiju Series. It was first released in Japan on December 22, 2019 and in limited theaters across North America on March 7, 2020, licensed by Funimation Entertainment.
The film follows a man named Ichiro Tachibana who awakens his powers to become the guardian kaiju Gamera to save the Earth and defeat a horde of evil monsters led by a dark lord of the past. The film was a box office success, and at the moment, becoming the second highest-grossing Gamera film in the franchise after Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris.
Originally intended to be a standalone movie, Its success would influence the creation of an anime franchise that would integrate this movie's events into it and last for eleven years through several more movies and TV shows: the Mahou Kaiju Series.
Plot[]
Six-thousand years ago, a kingdom lays in ruins and flames. Two entities remain standing on the flaming rubble: a gigantic turtle monster and a horrifying dark titan more than a hundred times larger than it. As the two monsters clash, they manage to land their finishing against each other, ending the battle in a draw with both monsters getting destroyed. Afterwards, a white owl flies off over the remains.
In the present day, a young boy Ichiro Tachibana finds a baby turtle lost on the shore and adopts it. Several weeks later, when Ichiro’s pet turtle grew, his grandmother asks that he free the turtle, reminding him that every creature, while must be protected from harm, has every right to live free. Eventually, he reluctantly releases the turtle back to the ocean and tells his grandmother that when he grows up, he will become a marine biologist and protect life in the sea.
Ten years later, Ichiro is now in high school, studying in Higashizaka Kitano High School in Kyoto. He has intense scorn for a fellow schoolmate girl, Lily Ramses Futaba, who is extremely hostile to him and treats him like a low commoner. But since she is the most popular idol in the school, this sometimes puts Ichiro in bad and awkward situations and he couldn't do anything about it. One night, he sneaks to where Yuuko Morino, his most admired teacher is at a secret location near her mansion and discovers a secret that he never expects to witness: Yuuko is a witch. However, he is caught by Lily, whom Ichiro realizes is a witch too, much to both his dismay and shock, and since Ichiro already knows the secret, Lily decides to use a magic spell to turn him into her familiar servant.
Later, he is woken up by both Lily and Yuuko, and realizes something is wrong; he is turned into a ooze-like tentacle monster! After a spiteful argument between Ichiro and Lily, the latter tells that she got the spell from a mysteriously cloaked man on the side of the street earlier in the day. Yuuko examines it and concludes it to be a counterfeit spell that seems to turn someone into a user’s familiar servant, just like Lily had intended. Instead, it turned Ichiro into a monster but the metamorphosis is still incomplete, and Yuuko said that a counter-spell to his condition could take a long time to make, much to his frustration. Yuuko and Lily try to subdue the transforming monster before it could get worse, but fail, as a mysterious aphrodisiac gas is emitted from the monstrous figure. Yuuko explains that the way to stabilize his humanity while in a transformed state, Ichiro must absorb mana directly from a witch's body. This results in Ichiro's tentacle form violating Yuuko's body and implanting his seed into her. Afterwards, Ichiro reverts back to his human form and both pass out, at first unaware of the true nature of their actions.
The next morning, Ichiro is back in his house and thinks that everything that happened last night was a dream. Soon after, strange things start to happen around him:
- Stage and magical tools are delivered to his house that he did not actually order.
- A man revealed to be Socrato appears everywhere he goes.
- The white owl from the beginning of the movie also appears randomly.
- Ichiro grows a horn that is a side-effect of becoming the tentacle monster. The Department of Health investigates this as a symptom of a new strange disease. He grows another one after turning into the tentacle monster the second time.
- Ichiro faints while everybody in the school is singing the Japanese National Anthem during a flag ceremony. Resource Committee Chairman Jin Yuugami fears it as a sign that a "disaster will befall upon Japan".
The old man later repeatedly appears in various guises before finally revealing himself to Ichiro as Socrato, an immortal 6,000-year-old sorcerer, and cordially insisting that he should start practicing magic and becoming a master sorcerer. Socrato explains to Ichiro that a time of great disaster is coming upon Earth, and that the only opportunity Ichiro will have to change the world is by saving it. Socrato also tells Ichiro to inform others about the end of the world should they ask him later.
The noon after the morning when Yuuko and Lily confirmed to him that everything that happened the previous night was real, Lily drags Ichiro into an empty and insists that he do the same thing to her that he did with Yuuko. Ichiro was hesitant, but Lily retorted that she had no choice since she inhaled some of the gas from last night. After some arguing, the two agree to do it and Ichiro proceeds to take her virginity with his tentacle monster form.
The next morning, Ichiro finds himself in the bedroom in Yuuko's mansion and wonders why the teacher would even go this far for him. She explains that Ichiro's grandmother was the Witch of the Grand Ocean before taking her place after her death. Yuuko made a promise to her that she would protect her grandson from getting assassinated by witches and take good care of him. Ichiro realizes that reason he is alive today was because of his grandmother. For the rest of the weekend, Socrato trains Ichiro how to channel his Mana, a source of power and potential that exists within all living things, to use magical abilities. Socrato also shows Ichiro what Kyoto looked like six-thousand years ago: a lush paradise where he also happened to once lived and created with his magic. This was one of Socrato's gifts to his love, Mera the first Witch of the Great Oceans, where they would've lived together after they get married. Another gift was a flower-shaped brooch that he crafted for Mera, which was actually the very same brooch that Ichiro's grandmother gave to him. Ichiro would argue that it was just coincidence but Socrato assumes that it is fate. Ichiro asks what happened between Socrato and Mera, but the elderly mage does not answer.
In Monday, after Ichiro gets humiliated in class by Lily, he sneaks out of school, turns into the tentacle monster out of frustration and even grows in giant size, letting out anger by rampaging in an empty forest area before getting spotted and bombarded by JSDF fighter jets. Out of annoyance, he retreats and turns back into Ichiro, sneaking out of the air force's sight.
Meanwhile, a corpse of a mysterious bat-like creature is found in a ravaged village and brought to a secret research facility. Government officials try to figure out what it is, but could only tell that it is an entirely new species that is not friendly to humans. Back at Ichiro's home, Socrato appears and scolds Ichiro for unwisely transforming into his kaiju self and strengthening the curse in him further. Socrato and Ichiro teleport to the research facility where the strange bat's body is stored. Socrato explains that the bird-like monster is a "Gyaos", a species of beasts created by the Dark Lord in an "age long forgotten by man".
In the middle of Ichiro's training, he, Socrato and Lily go to Yuuko's home to discover that she is pregnant. They are shocked at this revelation. Immediately after, another witch by the name of Kaya Blanche, a representative from the Far-East Witches Union, explains that Yuuko is not really pregnant and it is just part of an ancient dark curse to revive the dead that is discovered to be the work of none other than Eisen Faust, the Dark Lord's right-hand man. Upon hearing that name, Socrato realizes that his greatest fears are coming true: the Dark Lord Aldrych is about to return. Eisen Faust, who is levitating above the house, creates a dark aura around it and summons a large vessel of flesh where Yuuko is hauled into by tentacles coming out of it. Kaya, Lily and Socrato try to save Yuuko but they are unable to get through the magic barrier surrounding the vessel.
Soon, after several excruciating minutes of torture, Yuuko manages to endure after being forced to conceived a cursed egg. Kaya tries to destroy it, but the egg disappears and an evil sorcerer appears before the group, introducing himself as Eisen Faust who is revealed to be same person who gave the hex to Lily before. Faust retreats, leaving the group worried for Yuuko. Lily wants to get rid of Faust for tricking her, but Socrato assures that trying to defeat him now is exactly what Faust wants. Thinking of it as the only way to end Faust's plans, Kaya tries to kill Ichiro which leads to a short confrontation between Lily and Kaya, with the former being slightly wounded. An exhausted Yuuko stops the two from fighting and after collapsing, assures Kaya that she wants to protect Ichiro no matter what happens. After Kaya leaves, Yuuko explains that she and Kaya's mother were friends before the latter died and entrusting the care of her daughter to her. Ichiro asks why Kaya tries to kill, to which Yuuko said that Kaya is a very emotional girl who was angered since she fell into Eisen's trap and lost all of her mana in the process. Before passing out, Yuuko begs Ichiro, Lily and Socrato to find it their hearts to give Kaya solace. Ichiro brings back an unconscious Yuuko to her and Lily is eager to get at Eisen Faust for what he did, to Ichiro and Socrato's objection, the latter assuring that they cannot be ready yet until Ichiro has learned to control his magic.
Socrato and Ichiro tell Lily to stay in Yuuko's room while two walk outside. Socrato explains to Ichiro and the witches a history from six-thousands years ago. Egypt lived in a time of great harmony and tranquility until the Pharaoh’s court magician An’dain began drawing negative mana and created dark magic, becoming a more ruthless, cold-hearted and aggressive person as a result. Soon, he created a bat-like monster that would be called a Gyaos, sacrificing life essences of lesser creatures in the process. Because artificially creating life especially at the expense of others' was against Egyptian law, when this was discovered, An’dain was banished from Egypt, fearing that such a creature would cause great chaos. Now holding a grudge against the people that casted him away, An’dain in exile perfected the use of dark magic arts and returned with a vengeance and a massive horde of Gyaos he created. Almost swiftly, An'dain, now known as Aldrych the Dark One, assimilated the entire kingdom. When the Egyptian gods led by Ra intervened to stop Aldrych, they only met their end at the hands of the Dark One. Soon, Socrato and Mera fled to a labyrinth in another land to awaken an incomplete gigantic living weapon to hopefully end the menace of the Dark One. As Socrato initiated a ritual to complete the weapon using the brooch's magical powers, Eisen Faust discovered the two and tried to kill Socrato, but Mera stood in his way and fought him. However, Faust was more powerful and was able to kill Mera, who distracted him long enough for Socrato to complete the ritual and awaken Gamera. The awakened giant monster then fought the Gyaos scouring across the land and confronted Aldrych. As the two fought, Gamera was able to destroy Aldrych, but the former is slain as well. The battle completely destroyed much of Egypt and what remained will take a long time to recover but never restored to its former glory. Eisen Faust survived in the conflict and is on the 6,000-year quest to bring back his master to life. Socrato also tells them of the ancient prophecy that in the future, which is the present time, the Dark One will return to plunge the world into eternal damnation, but a "Child of Light and Shadow" bearing the blood of a Witch of the Great Oceans shall reawaken as the new Gamera to protect humanity and "vanquish the darkness forever". Socrato would've assumed that since Yuuko is the Witch of the Great Oceans, her becoming pregnant would've been an opportunity for the arrival of the Chosen One, but it's now out of the question. Socrato guesses that Ichiro, as the grandson of a former Witch of Great Oceans, might be the Chosen One destined to defend the Earth as Gamera, which would explain the unusual speed and pace of his training, but Ichiro is not sure whether he can be able to control such a power, let alone the one that he has now.
Later on in the day, Yuugami and his colleagues reveal everything that actually happened, details of what they might up against and what is about to come, to the Japanese Parliament in the Tokyo Diet Building. A debate on whether or not the truth should be told in public leads to a courtroom brawl.
Before sunset, based on traces of dark magic left on Yuuko’s body and determining the directions through her magical compass, Ichiro, Lily and Socrato discover the location of Eisen Faust in an abandoned mansion in the middle of the woods. Eisen's owl familiar fly inside the ruins and into a dark passageway below the mansion, prompting the three to follow it and encounter Eisen in his lair. Eisen reveals that he has captured Kaya and proceeds to mock her and her mother who had fallen into his clutches and taunt that she'll suffer the same fate. Ichiro and Lily realize that Eisen and his actions against her mother is the reason why Kaya has such a venomous hatred against sorcerers. Lily tries to attack Eisen. However, because Eisen's curse had now enveloped much of Ichiro's body, he is able to easily take control of him and made him stop Lily from going further. As a result, Socrato is the next to try to attack Eisen, but the evil sorcerer quickly acts and fires a dark blast of magic at him, temporarily turning him into an immobile stone statue, before turning to Lily and entrapping her in vines.
Now, believing there will be no hindrances to his plan, Ichiro turns once again into his tentacle form to rape Kaya and implanting his dark magic-infected seed into her, becoming the third to do so. Eisen Faust commences the ceremony to resurrect the Dark Lord, has Ichiro’s body paralyzed to make him witness it all and places Lily and Kaya on flesh vessels to have them tortured and forced to birth two blob-like creatures that then merge with the cursed egg that Yuuko birthed earlier, which transforms into a concentrated orb of evil energy. Even worse, to welcome the Dark Lord's rearrival on the world, Faust has a legion of Gyaos and other monsters to attack the Earth and has them ready for onslaught in Tokyo.
Enraged, Socrato yells that Eisen Faust will never be forgiven for this and challenges him to duel. The two powerful sorcerers are evenly matched against each other until Faust seemingly kills Socrato. To finish the job, Faust injects the evil energy into Ichiro who transforms into a resemblance of Aldrych's armored form with Ichiro's consciousness still inside. To complete the task, Faust would transplant his master's disembodied heart into Ichiro so that Aldrych's resurrection would be complete. Since Ichiro couldn't move because of being inside Aldrych's body, he couldn't do anything. Faust proceeds to finish off Ichiro but Lily stands in the way to protect the man and gets stabbed before knocking the evil sorcerer back with her magic. Because of that, Ichiro can now move and apologizes to the now-unconscious Lily for failing to protect her, but vows to never run away again, leave her behind and that he will fight this time. Ichiro takes control of the Dark Lord's body and gains the upper hand against Eisen Faust. But Ichiro is once again petrified by Faust and could not again move. Faust then proceeds to kill Lily, but as he is about to do so, Ichiro's true powers awaken with the brooch at his hands, declaring he will protect the ones he love. Aldrych's form disappears and Ichiro is returned to normal. Faust is puzzled by what just happened and Ichiro replied that his grandmother's love, same as Socrato's love for Mera, awakened his true powers through the magic relic that he holds. Faust is horrified to realize that Ichiro is actually the one from the prophecy, the Child of Light and Shadow and the savior who would become the new Gamera of this age. After Faust is quickly subdued by Ichiro's newly-awakened powers, he retreats.
Knowing that becoming Gamera would be at the expense of his life, Ichiro has some doubts but he doesn't hesitate. He promises the unconscious Lily, Yuuko and Kaya that he will come back and vows to defeat Eisen Faust, avenge Socrato, fulfill his destiny in life, vanquish the darkness and “destroy all monsters”. He then uses his newly-awakened powers to transform into the mighty guardian kaiju… Gamera.
Meanwhile in Tokyo, the Far-East Witches Union warned the population of the upcoming catastrophe and convinces them to evacuate underground with the witches ensuing their safety. Just in time, Eisen Faust raises a gigantic fortress from the ground as it levitates in the sky. After which, he unleashes his monsters to spread devastation across Tokyo.
Gamera alone, now embedded with the soul of Ichiro, marches to the besieged city of Tokyo to end the tyranny once and for all. Making his way to Tokyo badly devastated by the monster attacks, he encounters Guiron, but easily defeats and wipes him out of his way, as he continuing his march towards the city. Eisen Faust, watching everything from his fortress and infuriated much more to know Gamera has awakened, sends Viras to fight Gamera, but is swiftly annihilated by him. Finally, he sees Eisen Faust’s fortress floating on top of the ruins of Tokyo and swarms of thousands of Gyaos that nearly covered the skies. Even when Gamera is just new and unfamiliar with his newfound powers and abilities, he makes great use of them, as the turtle kaiju proceeds to single-handedly take them all on and already kills a large number of the Gyaos, with them offering little resistance to the Chosen One.
Faust gets even more irritated that Gamera is gaining the upper hand against the Gyaos. Wanting to give Gamera some challenge, he sends three giant monsters under his control, Jiger and Barugon, into the battlefield to kill Gamera. The combined might of the two monsters, together with the waves of Gyaos interfering and constantly attacking, prove to be too much for even Gamera, who also was taunted by Faust for daring to face everything all by himself. Gamera sees that the villain’s statement is true, that he is alone. But before the enemy could attack again, someone intervenes and saves Gamera, by destroying several Gyaos and crippling the enemy kaiju. Gamera is surprised and looks to know who did it. Much to the relief of Gamera and dismay of Faust, it is Socrato who is revealed to have survived earlier! Socrato tells Gamera that Lily, Yuuko and Kaya are alright and taken to their homes to be healed of their injuries and that they cannot be able help Gamera in battle, but he reminds him that Gamera is not alone in the fighting and that people all over the world are praying and believing that he will win and set it all right. It then makes sense for Gamera, realizing that the love of Ichiro’s grandmother for the Earth and her grandson is what brought him here now, as Gamera.
Gamera stands up and prepares to fight again. With the help of Socrato's magical powers, Many more Gyaos are defeated and the three enemy kaiju are severely weakened. Soon, Gamera manages to destroy Barugon.
Jiger and Zigra remain, but before they could get into battle again, they are stabbed by an extremely powerful Gyaos under Faust’s control: a Super Gyaos, larger, more powerful and more frightening than any other. Faust tells Jiger and Zigra that despite losing to Gamera, they however proved one thing to him that they are very useless and incompetent, like the rest. That is why Faust sent the Super Gyaos to execute the two. After the two kaiju are brutally tortured to a horrifying extent, Jiger and Zigra are devoured whole at the same time. Angered at this, Gamera calls Faust a coward for sacrificing his own comrades for his own goals. Faust replies that these kaiju were never really his comrades and even calls them lower than pawns. He also says that he only cares about himself and the Dark Lord Aldrych. Gamera ragingly yells that he will never forgive Faust for all that he has done. Faust declares that playtime is over and proceeds to bring Super Gyaos to the fighting to face Gamera. The larger enemy kaiju has enough power to overpower Gamera combat, even almost splitting in half and swallowing Gamera whole before the turtle kaiju manages to escape by unleashing a breath of fire at its mouth, causing it to release Gamera in pain.
Even then, Gamera is facing overwhelming odds and asks Socrato for help. The elderly wizard responds that he hasn't been magically active for a long time and that it might take him a while to rejuvenate his magical powers. After several minutes of Gamera barely holding on to the losing end against the Super Gyaos, the old magician decides not to just stand and watch and that he is ready to help, and transforms into his large kaiju form as well; a gigantic green dragon which he christened as "Socragon".
Socragon intercepts, rescues Gamera, vows that he will always stay by his side and fight for justice and joins in the fight against the darkness. The two kaiju team up against the Super Gyaos and easily take it down. Eisen Faust grows horribly mad, now that Socrato has joined with Gamera, that they now have an advantage over the enemy, and is left with no other choice. He flies out of his fortress and holding the Dark Lord's heart, he declares that if he can't bring back the old body of his master, then he will create a new one for him. After shouting out “Master, with your hands, I commit to you my life!”, he implants Aldrych's heart on his own chest and immediately dies after. Afterwards, the soul of Aldrych takes possession of Faust's body, as he destroys his own fortress and uses the pieces and rubble of that fortress to create a new gigantic horrifying kaiju in the form of a black and gold three-headed winged reptile. Gamera and Socragon are shocked to see that the Dark Lord Aldrych has finally been revived. The now-resurrected Aldrych shows an example of his supreme darkness by battling Gamera and Socragon and easily gaining the upper hand, though the two is able to strike back a few times. Afterwards, Aldrych revives the Super Gyaos with his dark powers.
Now, it's Gamera and Socragon together against the reconstructed Aldrych and the Super Gyaos commanding a few amount of smaller Gyaos left in the fray. The four engage in an all-out brutal monster with no mercy for either side. After minutes of heavily destructive clashing at the heart of Tokyo, Socragon attacks Super Gyaos, telling Gamera to fight Aldrych while he holds Iris down. While Daimajin and Gamera are busy battling Aldrych, Socragon and Super Gyaos are fighting relentlessly to their last breath across the ruins of Tokyo. The two, while powerful, are equal in power, yet they do not stop fighting no matter what. But after minutes of bloody combat, Super Gyaos apparently subdues and kills Socragon with an incredible colossal blast of fire that consumes him. When it seems Super Gyaos is victorious and lets its guard down, Socragon, who actually survives the attack and covered in flames, charges towards the largest Gyaos at Mach speed for one final blow. As Super Gyaos impacts upon the Super Gyaos, a massive explosion engulfs the two. When the explosion clears away, Super Gyaos is now destroyed in pieces and Socragon lies on the ground, presumably dead. Gamera goes over to Socragon and tries to wake him up to no avail. Realizing this, Gamera screams and roars in anguish over the loss of his dear friend.
The battle is still going nevertheless, with all of the Gyaos now completely wiped out. Now, only Gamera and Aldrych remain. After Aldrych hisses at Gamera for destroying all of his creations and mocks him that the human inside (Ichiro) is trained on a farm as opposed to himself who mastered dark magic and sorcery his entire life, the three-headed abomination continued pursuing, attacking and torturing him to no end, while cruelly taunting Gamera that he is a pathetic mortal who doesn't know his full potential and that he should not strike against a God. As Aldrych continues dominating the battle and sadistically assaulting him, Gamera is just powerless against the colossal abomination in front of him and could not be able to fight back at all, and Socrato cannot fight and help him anymore. Once again, Gamera is alone in the fighting. Soon, Aldrych pulls Gamera towards him, chokes him and begins draining his lifeforce to kill both Gamera and Ichiro from the inside. The weakening turtle kaiju is helpless and could not move nor escape from the beast’s grasp.
When it seems that Gamera is about to lose, he becomes even more determined to save the Earth and is not willing to go down without a fight. With a blast of fire, Gamera frees himself from Aldrych's grasp. He is now able to fight back and so, Gamera and Aldrych, both evenly matched and their stakes raised, fight ruthlessly and restlessly against each other, taking the battle beyond the Earth and into the far reaches of space, first onto the Moon, then to Mars, then across the Solar System and finally to the edge of the galaxy. The incredible interstellar kaiju battle only lasts briefly before the two plummet with all their power all the way back to Earth. Just before they could crash back into Tokyo, Aldrych is able to bring Gamera to the bottom, making the latter plummet into the ground and cause a huge explosion, totaling the city even more and severely crippling Gamera. As Aldrych proceeds to finish off Gamera once and for all, he fires one last dark beam at the paralyzed turtle kaiju. Gamera could not move anymore and could only watch in horror as the beam approaches towards him to claim his life.
Inside, Ichiro reminisces of his life and everything that happened up to this point, wondering what would’ve been like if he continued living his normal life, lamenting that he is not able to defeat Aldrych and save the world like everyone hoped for, and admits to himself to he truly loves Lily. Just as Ichiro is about to give up, the soul of his grandmother approaches him and convinces not to give up no matter how hopeless the situation seems. Ichiro remembers what she said to him: that all creatures have the right to live and to be protected from harm. There, he reaches an epiphany and becomes even more determined than ever. He will not allow Aldrych to manipulate the world as he pleases. As Aldrych’s beam reaches Gamera, the latter is able to withstand the beam and stand up on his feet. Afterwards, an explosion blazes on Gamera’s place, making the Dark Lord laugh maniacally. However, he sees something that he does not expect at all to realize: Gamera lives.
Gamera approaches towards Aldrych and fights back against him, with Gamera finally turning the tide of the final battle and now seemingly stronger than Aldrych. After several blasts of fire from Gamera, Aldrych attempts to fly away and escape, only to be shot back down by Gamera. The horrified beast is baffled why Gamera is still able to stand up after everything he's put through and not surrender. Ichiro reply that while the the Dark Lord’s power derives from darkness and hate, Gamera’s comes from his love for Earth and mankind, just as Ichiro’s grandmother’s love for him awakened his true powers, Socrato's father-like bond with Ichiro that he becomes strong and Yuuko, Kaya and Lily’s love for him that he is able to survive. Indeed, love is Gamera’s true power and love will always triumph and shine even in the blackest of darkness. Since Aldrych has no love whatsoever, he can never win no matter how powerful he becomes. Lastly, he adds that he will not stop until Aldrych is defeated for good. Gamera charges at Aldrych and fatally injures him even with much resistance. Soon, even after Aldrych mortally wounds Gamera, he manages to cut off the evil beast’s heads one by one before plunging him into the sky, lending chi from the Earth and launching one final blast of chi energy from his chest at Aldrych, ultimately destroying the Dark Lord forever and completing the prophecy. Gamera lets out a loud triumphant roar in victory over evil.
After the long battle has won and is finally over, Gamera is so exhausted and massively wounded from the horrendous but victorious fighting that he collapses of extreme fatigue. He knows the consequence of becoming Gamera and the fate of the Chosen One. Ichiro finds his life slowly fading away inside a dying and lonely Gamera. Ichiro looks up at the sky and thanks everyone because he made it this far and had it not been for them, he would not have reached his destiny and saved the Earth. Ichiro gives his final farewell and says "I love you" to Kaya, Yuuko, his grandmother, Socrato and Lily. After uttering his last word "Lily…", Gamera sheds a single tear, closes his eyes and goes limp, lying next to the motionless Socragon on the ground, never to wake up again.
The sun rises and morning comes, signaling another dawn for humanity. People return to the destroyed Tokyo and gather around the body of Gamera, the one of who saved them all, beneath the ruins of the Japanese capital. But, the brooch that Gamera was holding the entire time from the moment Ichiro became Gamera glows and swirls rejuvenating energy around him. Gamera’s figure disappears and from the rubble, Ichiro, revived and back in his original human form, emerges, much to the joy of Lily. The two share a tearful reuniting hug. They also see Socragon, still in kaiju form and actually alive, walking away to the shore of Tokyo Bay. Ichiro and Lily share a kiss, Socragon lets out a final roar and the people applaud and cheer. Socragon looks at Ichiro, Lily, Yuuko, Kaya and the people of Japan one last time before flying off into the sky, knowing well that his role in this world is accomplished and he will now take a well-deserved rest.
The next morning, after sleeping with Yuuko, Kaya and Lily in the former's mansion last night, Ichiro takes a stroll in the backyard to see Socrato. Ichiro feels relieved to see his mentor again. Socrato tells the boy that he visits him to say goodbye one last time. He is present in his ethereal semi-transparent form as of the moment, revealing that the injuries in his fight against Super Gyaos were too much. Ichiro feels heartbroken to hear this and does not want Socrato to go. He even admits that he is like a father he never had, which he agrees with and states that Ichiro is also like a son to him. Ichiro makes a request to join the three girls in a trip like one big happy family, but Socrato declines, saying that he is simply talking to him as a spirit. Instead, he gives the boy his staff and hat. Socrato names Ichiro his successor; the new Wizard of Wizards who will be elevated above all other witches and sorcerers in the world and guide witchdom, humanity and kaijukind alike to justice and harmony. Socrato bids Ichiro farewell and good luck while calling him "Master Ichiro". Ichiro tearfully reciprocates as Socrato too tears up at this and departs one final time. As Ichiro turns his head one more time to see him, all he sees is the gray owl he saw before first meeting Socrato, which flies away.
Meanwhile, humanity is recovering from the monster crisis that struck Japan. Countless thousand are feared dead, but nevertheless, society is slowly rebuilding and mankind will forge a new path to the future as one. The Prime Minister of Japan, address to the U.N. Council that "mankind will soon healed of their wounds" and "like a phoenix, rise greater and stronger than before from the ashes of the old destroyed world to build a new one."
Before the credits, the text displays “SHIN GAMERA: THE ABSOLUTE GUARDIAN OF THE UNIVERSE.”
In a post-credits scene, American astronauts in a manned mission on Mars walk upon the barren landscapes of the planet and discover a colossal crustacean-like alien creature lying dormant in the middle of a crater.
Characters[]
Main Protagonists[]
- Ichiro Tachibana (橘 壱郎 Tachibana Ichiro)
- Lily Ramses Futaba (双葉・リリー・ラムセス Futaba Rirī Ramusesu)
- Socrato (ソクラト Sokurato)
- Yuuko Morino (森乃 由子 Morino Yūko)
- Kaya Blanche (カヤ・ブランシュ Kaya Buranshu)
Supporting Characters[]
- Jin Yuugami (夕神 迅 Yūgami Jin)
- Kokone Kizuki (希月 心音 Kizuki Kokone)
- Kyouya Garyuu (牙琉 響也 Garyū Kyōya)
- Akane Houzuki (宝月 茜 Hōzuki Akane)
- Gozo Ban (番 轟三 Ban Gōzō)
- Prime Minister of Japan (首相 Shushō)
- Keisuke Itonokogiri (糸鋸 圭介 Itonokogiri Keisuke)
Antagonists[]
- Dark Lord Aldrych (大魔王アルドリッチ Daimaō Arudoricchi)
- Eisen Faust (アイゼン・ファウスト Aisen Fausuto)
Past Characters[]
- Ichiro's Grandmother (壱郎のお婆さん Ichiro no Obā-san)
- Mera (メラ Mera)
Kaiju[]
- Gamera (ガメラ Gamera)
- Socrato (ソクラゴン Sokuragon)
- Kajiu Aldrych (アルドリッチの怪獣フォーム Arudoricchi no Kaijū Fōmu)
- Gyaos (ギャオス Gyaosu)
- Ultra Gyaos (スーパー・ギャオス Sūpā Gyaosu)
- Guiron (ギロン Giron)
- Viras (バイラス Bairasu)
- Jiger (ジャイガ Jaigā)
- Zigra (ジグラ Jigura)
- Barugon (バルゴン Barugon)
SoundTrack[]
Trivia[]
- With the movie's runtime at 162 minutes (2 hours and 42 minutes), it is the longest kaiju film released at the time.
- The first half of the film serves as a setup for the monster war that will take up nearly the entire second half of the movie at about 77 minutes.
- It is also the first kaiju film where a human has the ability to transform into a kaiju.
- It is the first kaiju film to have a Restricted (R) rating due to sensitive themes, nudity, sexual content, excessive blood, extreme gore and violence. Excess use of profanity is included in the English dub of the film.
- This is also the first Gamera film where Gamera has an ally with him in battle. In all other movies, Gamera fights his enemies on his own. This movie breaks that tradition and gives Gamera an ally kaiju to fight alongside with (Socragon).
- All of the monsters Gamera fought in the Showa-era movies appeared in this film.
- Not counting swarms of Gyaos, ten different monsters appear in this movie, the most amount of individual kaiju in a Gamera film so far.