In 2018, the manga Kaiju Girl Caramelise began publication and introduced an entirely new sub-genre to the vast and ever-changing kaiju mythos. This new entry revolves around a teenage girl as she fights her strong feelings and the massive consequence of embracing them: turning into a real-life kaiju. The premise is silly, and probably not something most big Kaiju fans would be into. For transparency, I haven’t read the manga this was adapted from, but after checking out the first episode of the newly-released anime, I think that needs to change. This was incredibly relatable, cute and it was even “cool,” a combo I didn’t expect. Before we dig in, I will preface this short review with a comment for people solely into Godzilla: This probably isn’t for you, and that’s okay. The first episode never parodies Godzilla like one would expect it to, but in a lot of surprising ways, pays respect to the series that it’s clearly homaging, but it never belittles or makes fun of it.
The titular Kaiju girl, Akaishi, also doesn’t fully fall into the tropes of most girl-targeted slice- romances, either. She listens to heavy metal music to calm down, is awkward in a much more aggressive way than usual “cute” girl characters, and she turns into a monster under extreme pressure. The show expresses that Akaishi is a fish out of water because of who she is as a person, and not inherently because of her Kaiju parts. The theme feels less like an allegory for puberty (like Pixar’s “Turning Red”) and more like finding a place in society that accepts you for who you are. This is mirrored by Minami, the boy Akaishi develops a crush on, who is getting famous. He expresses his dissatisfaction with life and how he’s treated in the same way as Akaishi but on the other side of the spectrum.
Eventually, Minami and Akaishi have a day out, and Akaishi slowly loses control, her Kaiju self for the first time. The music here by Yuniko Ayana is wonderfully Showa Godzilla-coded, and the CGI used on her beast form makes her look like a guy in a rubber suit. What I love about this section is it gives us her inner monologue and I think it mirrors a lot of opinions on Godzilla. She feels unwanted and hated, especially as she’s fired upon by the military. She wants to let her rage out, she wants to destroy a city and kill the gnats buzzing around and stinging her with missiles. I also love the juxtaposition of this giant, terrifying Godzilla-esque Kaiju having a young girl’s voice as narration, and the best part is that it doesn’t feel like a mere “joke.” The story here is saying something.
There might be a few uncomfortable moments for some where Akaishi is shown fully naked, but the animators never sexualize the character in any capacity. These scenes simply highlight her Kaiju transformation, and she is pretty well covered. The only thing you’ll really notice is her silhouette with spikes, giant claws or horns on her head. I think this is something to bring up, because oftentimes anime does this in a very bad way that isn’t in any way justified; it’s just eye candy fanservice. Here however, it’s a mark of realism and actual consequences of her Kaiju transformation.
The use of color throughout the episode is absolutely stellar. There’s a lot of grayscale, showing the dull nature of Akaishi’s world through her own drawings, and the episode slowly brings her life to color. She loves sweets, she likes to feel, even if she hides it most of the time, and when she gets to be happy, the world brightens. The way her irises develop into hearts looks really silly in the trailers, but in the context of the show, these scenes feel so heavy because of the use of color in them. Akaishi’s eyes go from pretty muted purple to a bright pink heart and it’s really powerful, especially since she isn’t a super femme-presenting girly girl, but she still has the potential to be, as showcased by the world turning pink in her happiest moments.
Kaiju Girl Caramelise is much more slice-of-life than what I think a typical Godzilla fan would want, but I think there are some beautiful moments that showcase a contemplation on what a Kaiju represents at its core. This is an unconventional Kaiju story, but I think it absolutely deserves to be added to the conversation of great Kaiju media. Giant monster stories are a massive and varied genre, and if you love the introspection of what a Kaiju is, I think this is a great story. Kaiju are big, scary and they are outcasts that are always deemed too dangerous to live. This format (especially with the anime medium) allows the Kaiju to have feelings and express itself in a surprisingly serious way that other Kaiju media can’t achieve, opening a whole new way to interpret the concept of a “strange beast.”
Godzilla started as the fears of Japan and eventually became a hero, and yet has always been an outsider to humanity. Kaiju Girl remains very faithful to the genre, despite ditching the action or horror angle that most Kaiju media presents, and succeeds at not only the genre shift, but the subversion of the tropes that populate similar stories. This is a new genre exploring the themes of “Kaiju” as a concept, mostly aimed at girls this time, without ever sacrificing the intensity of a monster story. I don’t often say this about anime, but I think Kaiju Girl Caramelise is a compelling and well-done piece of art, rather than a gimmick, that utilizes its medium to its fullest potential. Overall, with what we have now before more context is given, this is a solid 8/10.
