Godzilla Minus Zero and Black Clover

My wife and I watched Godzilla Minus Zero, and it was a really good movie. Godzilla Minus One was already one of the best movies that I’ve seen for 2023, so the sequel had a lot to live up to, and it knocked it out of the park. I’ve read that the production budget was between 13 to 19 million, with most saying that it’s closer to the 13 million range, and it has already made more than double that, making it already a profitable movie. Hollywood has got to take note because they spend in the high tens of millions, or in the hundred millions for their big blockbusters, and it appears that many of them do not end up making a profit. To put it into perspective, a single episode of She-Hulk on Disney Plus costs roughly $25 million, so Hollywood is just putting so much into their entertainment media, and while it looks nice, it isn’t grabbing audiences and loses money.

The story of Godzilla Minus Zero is set two years after the events of Godzilla Minus One. Japan is still recovering from wartime devastation and Godzilla’s earlier rampage. Former kamikaze pilot Kōichi Shikishima now lives with his wife Noriko—who survived the Ginza attack—and their adopted daughter Akiko. Their fragile peace is shattered when a new menace appears: King Ghidorah, whose destructive power overwhelms Japan’s defenses. King Ghidorah is truly a devastating and frightening monster, and they did a great job with perspective and scale of the monster. Everything about King Ghidorah is big, destructive, menacing and powerful. Nonetheless, these Gozilla Minus movies are about the human characters, dealing with the aftermath of World War II and the destruction from Godzilla. Every character has fears, regrets, doubts and the strength to movie forward despite everything happening around them. Themes of loss, abandonment, and the human spirit are prevalent throughout the movie. The eventually face-off between Godzilla and King Ghidorah was awesome, with huge primal growls that felt like something of a combat sports prize fight. I actually wish that they had more of the two battling, but they needed to have the human involvement in the fight as well. If there is a sequel to this, it would be more than welcome with me, and with how it ended, it does open up a few possibilities.

My wife and I have also just started watching the anime, Black Clover. The fifth season began recently, and we have a lot of ground to cover. We’ve already gotten over thirty episodes, and when we don’t have any of our regular shows to watch, we put on Black Clover. It is definitely flawed as some of the animation and fight scenes are really clunky, but it’s a lot of fun. The main character, Asta, is a typical shonen protagonist who is a perpetual underdog but never gives up. In this case, in a world where everyone can use magic, Asta has no magic power. Despite this, he strives to become the Wizard King, who is the highest individual in the land. The world is filled with quirky characters and powerful antagonists for our heroes. Asta is equipped with a huge sword, but he also has a tendency to spout big proclamations. All the supporting characters are fun, but some are particularly one-note. Besides the heavy action, there is a good amount of comedy along with a tiny bit of romance here and there. Overall, it’s been a fun watch so far.