Gamera (Showa) KAIJU PROFILE

The Showa series of Gamera films is comprised of eight films, beginning with 1965's Gamera and concluding with Gamera: Super Monster in 1980. The series began as an attempt by Daiei to capitalize on the success of Toho's Godzilla films, but gradually developed its own identity as a series of kaiju films aimed towards children, an appeal the Godzilla series quickly tried to emulate. Despite director Noriaki Yuasa's interest in continuing the series following the 1971 release of Gamera vs. Zigra, the studio's bankruptcy brought the series to an untimely end. Daiei was later purchased and reorganized by publisher Tokuma Shoten and a new entry in the Gamera series was released in 1980. Titled Gamera: Super Monster, the film's reduced budget forced the filmmakers to rely on stock footage from the previous seven films, and it proved a critical and financial failure. The series was once again placed on hiatus.