That rumble you just felt was countless kaiju fans across the country roaring with approval: Toho, the creators and custodians of the King of the Monsters himself, Godzilla, are officially releasing the series Godzilla Island in the United States for the first time.
Godzilla Island originally premiered on Japan's TV Tokyo in the fall of 1997 and ran for 256 episodes. Bloody Disgusting reports that Toho is now releasing those bite-sized three-minute chapters via the official Godzilla YouTube channel every Tuesday and Thursday, complete with English subtitles.
Set in 2097, Godzilla Island takes place at the titular retreat, where, according to an official synopsis, "Monsters live and frolic... under the watchful eye of G-Guard, a human peacekeeping force." Alas, the kaiju's utopian sanctuary is threatened when an enormous UFO arrives on Earth, attacks an unspecified city, and then starts making it way towards Godzilla Island.
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To call Godzilla Island "campy" would be something of an understatement. The special effects, such as they are, make the franchise's infamous use of performers in rubber suits stomping upon miniature models of Tokyo look state-of-the-art by comparison. To wit: Godzilla and his cadre of fellow kaiju (Mothra, Rodan, King Ghidorah, etc.) appear to be portrayed by mostly-immobile action figures, not dissimilar to the doll recently announced by Mezco Toys. As is the case with many of the best Godzilla stories, the low-rent goofiness of the thing is part of its inherent charm. Just don't expect any set pieces on part with Legendary Pictures' MonsterVerse movies.
Speaking of the MonsterVerse: A sequel to 2021's Godzilla vs. Kong is currently scheduled for release on March 14, 2024. Once again directed by Adam Wingard (Blair Witch), the still-untitled rematch will feature returning cast members Rebecca Hall (The Night House) and Brian Tyree Henry (Eternals) alongside franchise newcomer Dan Stevens, reuniting with Wingard after 2014's The Guest.
If that's not enough kaiju action for you, Apple TV+ also has a MonsterVerse Godzilla and the Titans series in the pipeline from creators Matt Fraction and Chris Black. Two of the series' ten episodes will be directed by Matt Shakman (WandaVision, the upcoming Fantastic Four reboot), who recently spoke with Collider's own Steve Weintraub regarding the show's placement with the MonsterVerse timeline: "You know, I can't really say because that's part of the joy of it is, actually timelines [are] a big part of the storytelling. So I just want to say that's part of it, but I can’t really say more than that."
You can watch the first episode of Godzilla Island, the appropriately entitled "Attack of the Massive UFO!," below: