6/10
Gamera goes back to its roots of befriending little kids on this 40th anniversary movie
9 July 2011
This movie is made as the 40 th anniversary movie of the Gamera series. The movie is made by Kadokawa Herald movies instead of the now defunct Daiei movie studio that made all previous Gamera series movies.

In 1973 Kyosuke (Kanji Tsuda) witnessed Gamera defeating a herd of Gyaos by exploding itself. People at the time thought Gamera sacrificed its own life to save the people. 33 years later, Kyosuke is a recent widower with young son Tooru (Ryo Fujioka) who is in fifth grade. One day Tooru sees a red glow on the neighboring island. When he gets there, he finds a sea turtle egg. The egg hatches and he finds a small turtle inside. He names it Toto and raises it secretly in his bedroom. One day little Toto is found flying above his father's head. The suspicion arises that Toto is actually another Gamera. Soon Toto disappears from Tooru's home. In the mean time, there are mysterious shipwrecks in the ocean. The culprit turns out to be a monster called Jidas. Jidas comes ashore and threatens Tooru's home town. Toto reappears, now grown into a monster sized turtle, battles Jidas to protect Tooru's family.

The movie was conceived to appeal to preteen audience, and the team work between Tooru and his friends and Toto becomes the central theme of this movie. Tooru backs Gamera saying "Toto is still a baby. So I need to give hims support.".

In this 40th anniversary movie, Gamera goes back its roots as friend of little children. Watch the teamwork between the children and Gamera to fight their nemesis Jidas. There're more emotion in this movie compared to the "Heisei Gamera Series (1995-1999)" and the battle between Gamera and Jidas is not the central theme, but communication between Tooru, his friends, and Toto becomes the focus of this story.

This movie is more story driven than any of the previous Gamera series movie, and is recommended for viewing.
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