Gamera is a huge turtle descended from Japanese movies, a kind of response to the popularity of Godzilla.
The most important are definitely the films, twelve of them have been officially released:
Eight of them were released s part of the Showa series (the last of which consists mostly of materials from its predecessors). We give the English title, and in brackets, the (original) Japanese title:
1965 – Gamera the Giant Monster (Daikaijū Gamera)
1966 – Gamera vs. Barugon (Daikaijū kettō: Gamera tai Barugon)
1967 – Gamera vs. Gyaos (Daikaijū kūchūsen: Gamera tai Gyaosu)
1968 – Gamera vs. Viras (Gamera tai Uchū Kaijū Bairasu)
1969 – Gamera vs. Guiron (Gamera tai Daiakujū Giron)
1970 – Gamera vs. Jiger (Gamera tai Daimajū Jaigā)
1971 – Gamera vs. Zigra (Gamera tai Shinkai Kaijū Jigura)
1980 – Gamera, Super Monster (Uchū Kaijū Gamera)
Heisei
1995 – Gamera the Guardian of the Universe (Gamera: Daikaijū Kūchū Kessen)
1996 – Gamera 2: Attack of Legion (Gamera Tsū: Region Shūrai) (known also as Gamera 2: Advent of Legion or Gamera 2: Assault of Legion)
1999 – Gamera 3: The Revenge of Iris (Gamera Surī Jyashin Irisu Kakusei)
Millennium
2006 Gamera the Brave (Chiisaki Yūsha-tachi ~Gamera~)
Anime was also released, in 2023 – Gamera: Rebirth.
An interesting Easter-Egg is the reference to Gamera that appears in the tv-series about Franklin. He is also a turtle, one of the episodes is devoted to his fear of the darkness/the tightness of his shell – when he imagines the ghosts-monsters coming out of it, you can clearly recognize this monsters as Gamera’s enemies from movies!
There have also been comics and manga releases about Gamera, which we summarize in this article. Also among comic strips we have described in our database, in four of them we found references to Gamera. They are Cow and Boy, Monty, Thetababy and Gzoom. In the comics Tokyo Storm Warning #3 and Green Lantern Vol 3 #134, a very Gamera-like huge turtle appears.
The manga Easter Egg also appears in the Dragon Ball series, where Master Roshi, the turtle master, at one point summons Baby-Gamera as a means of transport – this theme also appears in the anime adaptation of the same Manga.
The film references to Gamera can be divided into two types. The first is the one where the reference is unambiguous. These are, at the moment:
– The Death of Superman Lives: What Happened?
– Pacific Rim: Uprising
– Into the sun
– The Darkness
– (Dedication
The second type are “loose references” that can be associated with Gamera. These are:
– Frankenweenie
– Kong: Skull Island
– Godzilla: Final Wars
In addition, in Varia section we have two curiosities about Gamera, one about the Sinemys gamera species, the other about University of Maryland students, who named vehicles created by them Gamera I and II.
In the World of Warcraft game, a turtle named Ghamoo-Ra appears, some people count this is a reference to Gamera!
Our turtle music database includes 15 tracks that refer to Gamera in one way or another, all of them are listed below:
Hip-hop:
– Aceyalone – Human Language
– Blackalicious – Paragraph President
– Black Sheep – Without a Doubt
– DJ Honda – Dat’s My Word
– Namadzu – Gamera
– Redman – A Million And 1 Buddah Spots
Rock & Metal:
– Bullet Machine – Gamera
– Goblin Cock – Ichiro’s Dilemma
– Nanowar of Steel – 400 calci
– The Beta Band – Liquid Bird
– Tortoise – Gamera
– Varga – Gamera
Pop & Others:
– Adem – Gamera
– Jim Guthrie – Gamera
– Phetsta – Gamera
Staying on the musical topic, we found a reference to Gamera in one music video:
Ministry – NWO