Gamera Rebirth – Season 1 Episode 1 Review & Recap

Over Tokyo

Episode 1 of Gamera Rebirth begins with Boco recording a voice message for Joe, expressing how much he misses him as he recalls their promise.

The scene changes to the Eustace Foundation, a mining base in New Guinea, as a group of investigators descend cautiously into the mine full of eggs to examine. The hatchlings emerge from the eggs and attack the investigators, rendering them dead.

The scene changes to Boco and his friends at the market, staring at a communication device they intend to purchase. The group heads back to their tree house and scrambles over their group money collection for the communication device. Finally, Joe pitches in and completes the collection.

The group heads outside and sees a turtle stuck across the bond in the roots of a tree. Joe and Junichi stop Boco from crossing the pond to save it, fearing they will drown. Boco decides to ignore the warning and jumps right in. Eventually, he begins to drown, but Joe jumps in and rescues him and the turtle.

Later that night, Boco watches the news reporting an incident in a village. His mother enters and yells at him after seeing his mud-stained clothes and tells him to stay away from the other kids. The news describes the incidents as attacks from multiple flying creatures who left several brutally killed.

Elsewhere, a couple of police officers come across these flying creatures in a shady alley. The creatures immediately attack them with laser beams, chopping off their arms before killing them.

The next day, the group heads over to the market and buys the communication device. On their way in, they run into a group of four American bullies who make fun of and look down on Japanese culture. The bullies take them to a park and try to extort them for money. A fistfight breaks out, but the older kids manage to beat them and snatch the money.

Walking away from there, Boco feels incredibly frustrated and demands to go back and get the money. He persuades them, and they agree to come up with a plan to take revenge. The group crafts weapons like stink bombs and a flamethrower with deodorant spray to attack the bullies. 

The scene switches to the USAF Fussa Base, where the military prepares for a land attack. Boco, Joe, and Junichi set out to face the bullies and get revenge. They hear announcements of an evacuation, suggesting civilians head to the nearest emergency center. They decide to ignore the warnings and head into the arcade to face the bullies.

Right before the fight, they hear a shockwave and flee outside to see what is happening. They notice fully loaded fighter jets and explosions in the distance. They speculate that a war has started and rush to the terrace to catch a glimpse of what is going on. 

They observe the fighter jets trying to fight off huge kaiju-like creatures as they devour civilians. Initially, the fighters manage to harm the Gyaos but end up getting terminated by the Gyaos’ lasers. Junichi suspects the flying creatures are thunderbirds.

Back at the Fussa base, the commander learns about the damage done by the kaijus as more fighters are deployed. The scientists discuss the necessary measures and proceed to study more about the creatures. The military prepares to fight the 30 identified creatures with plenty of safety and security measures in place. A squadron of fighter jets takes flight with authorization to use missiles.

The squadron manages to take out multiple Gyaos; however, they face retaliation from a much larger Gyaos, which takes out multiple fighters. Looking at the chaos, the boys suggest they leave immediately, but Douglass insists the Air Force is the best in the world and will have things handled. The group is caught off guard by a Gyaos standing behind them. Boco and his friends follow the bullies as they flee. 

The Gyaos sticks its long tongue out to catch Boco, but misses and gets stuck into one of the power supply units, electrocuting it.

The Commander learns about the fall of the entire Eagles squadron against the entity, decides to call in the Pacific Rim headquarters for backup, and orders every last fleet to send every last aircraft available. They also learn about another entity heading directly towards them.

Boco and his friends flee from the building but come across another Gyaos. The group decides to hide in the arcade but is followed by the kaijus. The kids are trapped with one entity in the arcade with them and another waiting outside. Just as they accept their destiny and huddle up, a huge blast takes out both kaijus.

Realizing the kaijus are dead, the group heads out and sees a giant turtle who just saved them. The turtle proceeds to attack and kill an approaching fleet of Gyaos. With the turtle engaged in combat against the fleet, the Gyaos chasing Boco now turn towards the bullies. Boco uses the stink bombs to attack them, allowing the bullies to escape. The large turtle-like creature protects the kids by stomping on the Gyaos and chasing them. 

The turtle draws the large Gyaos’ attention, and it uses its lasers to attack it. A brawl breaks out between the turtle kaiju and the flying kaiju. The turtle manages to bring the flying kaiju to the ground by spitting fireballs, killing the large Gyaos.

Just as the turtle claims victory, American reinforcement jets arrive and launch missiles against the turtle. The turtle takes flight and leaves at supersonic speed. A rescue team finds the group of kids and takes them to question them and learn more about the kaijus.

The Episode Review

The first episode of Gamera Rebirth encapsulates the quintessence of kaiju-based anime, delivering a spectacle of colossal creatures wreaking havoc upon towering cityscapes. This chapter features the flying kaiju called Gyaos as well as Gamera, the turtle-like behemoth. The episode showcases Gamera’s versatile capabilities to deal with a large flying kaiju as well as a fleet of flying kaijus.

With regards to the human characters, it also builds on Boco and Joe’s brotherly bond while bringing out a nerdy facet of Junichi that promises intriguing character development down the line. The action sequences are amazingly done, with precise biomechanics of the kaijus, making it a spectacle to watch.