16 Years Since "Gamera The Brave"

Above, the Yurakucho Mullion Building. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

When the news came out overnight that the daikaiju Gamera is returning in Gamera; Rebirth, courtesy of Kadokawa Pictures and Netflix, it reminded me that it has been 16 years since the last Gamera movie was produced.

I planned a trip to Japan in April 2006 and it just so happened that the premiere of Gamera The Brave (a.k.a. Gamera: The Little Braves) would have its premiere at the same time. The premiere was held at the Marunouchi Piccadilly theaters in Tokyo in the Yurakucho Mullion Building. (The Yurakucho Mullion Building was trashed by Godzilla in Return of Godzilla (1984), by the way.)

Above, yours truly at the souvenir table at the Gamera The
 Brave premiere in Tokyo from a Kadokawa DVD video.

That was the Japan trip in which I visited Sendai and Matsushima to see where my dad was briefly stationed before being sent to Korea. 

At the premiere, the stars and director appeared onstage and addressed the audience that included yours truly, following my excursion to Sendai and Matsushima.

Above, Gamera The Brave tickets.

Even though I don't speak Japanese and Gamera The Brave wasn't subtitled, I still enjoyed it. At the time, it was hoped that Gamera The Brave would usher in a new series of Gamera movies, but that didn't happen. 

The following summer, Gamera The Brave was premiered at the Pickwick Theater in Park Ridge, Illinois as part of G-FEST XIII.