Gamera

69/100 I guess this is the true ending to my Gamera marathon, which makes the farewell I wrote at the end of the Brave review rather pointless. However, disregarding that, this short film is a fun little time in itself. The Gamera and Gyaos designs are pretty solid here, and apparently the creators agree, as you can see the influence they had on the later Rebirth. Viras' design, however, was different than it is here, and for good reason. It strays too far from the original design and loses the charm. This may or may not be unintentional, but I did find the protagonist's dad yelling at him to promise him ramen, dumplings and unlimited game time if he survives hilarious, especially the part where he says "No dinner if you get caught!" Dude, he's going to be dinner if he's caught. Much like Gamera vs. Garasharp, I feel this could be a very good feature length movie, and I feel this has a stronger premise and tells its story better. However, it's constrained by its runtime, and as such, just misses being good and slides squarely into averageness instead.