The End of 1999

The True God of Destruction of the New Millennium Strikes Back!

Ushering in the second chapter of the 21st-century New Heisei series, without directly continuing the worldview of the previous work, Godzilla 2000: Millennium (Godzilla 2000), the New Millennium Godzilla, whose design is similar to the Millennium Godzilla, encounters a prehistoric dragonfly that traveled to the present day through a spacetime distortion caused by a miniature artificial black hole, a result of a Japanese government experiment gone wrong. After absorbing G-cells, the two giant monsters ultimately engaged in a desperate decisive battle in Tokyo's Minato Ward, hoping to bring a glimmer of hope to the series.

Unfortunately, despite the inclusion of thrilling scenes like monsters devouring humans, and the battles being largely presented in well-lit daytime scenes, which were clearer than the previous film's dark night scenes, its box office performance ranked last among the entire New Millennium series.

My personal impression was that the characters and plot were overly simplistic (don't pick up eggs from unknown sources, and definitely don't throw them into the sewer!). Especially Godzilla's various mysterious actions: like standing up in mid-air after falling, as if on wires; cute head shakes; or even running with his chubby legs (that's right! Legendary Godzilla from the New Empire isn't the first Godzilla to run!); Ultraman-style tail spins; aerial pounces and body slams, etc. (My head hurts...). In short, the sequel failed to ignite a spark that would amaze audiences, and its spotlight was quickly taken by "White-Eyed Godzilla" (Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack) the following year, making the New Millennium's prospects seem bleak.

▼ Following the Millennium Godzilla released in 2013, designed and supervised by Master Sakai, the New Millennium Godzilla has finally reappeared after more than a decade, and as the coolest Godzilla design from my childhood, it truly fills me with emotion.

▼ The side of the box features a front-facing photo of Godzilla, how can it be this cool!

▼ This figure closely matches the in-film design, and can recreate classic poses from the movie, such as swimming in the deep sea or battling in a sea of fire.

▼ Quickly unboxing and taking out the main figure, the in-film Godzilla's height is set at 55 meters, while the actual measured height of the toy when standing straight is about 17 cm, and the total length with the tail extended reaches 39 cm, making it one of the larger figures in the S.H.MonsterArts series.

▼ Starting with the head, the "ugly-cute" expression from the front, resembling a long-eared toad, is perfectly recreated.

▼ But turn it to the side, and its coolness factor instantly skyrockets!

▼ The translucency of the eyeballs and mouth is well-represented, but the precision of the paint application cannot be overly demanded. After all, for mass-produced quality, it's still acceptable. However, the tongue on my particular figure often leans to one side; I wonder if this is an individual variation?

▼ When looking up, a relatively large gap will be exposed at the neck. This is due to a zigzag-shaped extendable joint inside. You can slightly press down at an appropriate angle to close the joint, and the gap will disappear.

▼ The four-toed hands, and the arm's range of bend are quite good.

▼ The leg articulation is also usable, while the feet are a single-piece design, with no articulation between the toes.

▼ The tail is different; apart from the last six segments being connected, the rest are separate parts with ball joints, allowing for various poses.

▼ Almost all of the tail fins on top of each tail segment also have paint application.

▼ Speaking of fins, let's look at the soft dorsal fins on the back. The pink-to-purple gradient, combined with the sharp and imposing visual impact, makes it my personal favorite and the coolest dorsal fin design in the Godzilla series.

▼ Under sunlight, it refracts colors similar to sparkling crystals, creating the effect of impending heat energy release.

▼ Paired with Bandai's 1/144 scale damaged city diorama, although the building scale is more than twice as large, it still adds a bit of tokusatsu immersion!

▼ I should have bought a few more sets; there aren't enough buildings~

▼ However, in the beautiful outdoors, it still couldn't fully capture the shocking impact from my childhood memory of the Millennium God of Destruction unleashing its atomic breath and incinerating an entire city. So, I'll obediently go back indoors for reshoots.

▼ Found a backdrop paper and simply added some lighting, and the feeling of being surrounded by a sea of fire immediately came to life~

▼ I unconsciously started imagining Godzilla's roar echoing through the sky.

▼ Adding some elevated bridges and power line props, immersing myself in the perspective of a passerby about to be attacked by Godzilla.

▼ Suddenly, I wanted to quote Hiroshi Abe's classic line from Godzilla 2000: Millennium:

ゴジラ啊啊啊啊啊啊～

▼ Indeed, only when engulfed in endless inferno, can the ultimate destructive power of the God of Destruction be truly showcased!

Finally, I wish everyone a happy long holiday, and while enjoying your BBQ celebrations, don't forget to be careful with fire and stay safe~