Godzilla Mystery Minis - Anguirus review

Funko Friday

The second-ever Godzilla film, Godzilla Raids Again, was the first time Godzilla fought another kaiju, something that's become such a staple of the genre today that movies where there's only one monster versus humanity are incredibly rare, and the only line anyone remembers from any of the "Monsterverse" projects (five films and two TV series) is Ken Watanabe's "let them fight." The lucky boy who started that tradition was Anguirus. You can tell they didn't quite have the convention locked down yet, because his fight against Godzilla happens near the middle of the movie, rather than at the climax, and then the rest is just Godzilla stomping around attacking humans. He was killed, but another Anguirus lived on Monster Island and became Godzilla's friend by the time of Destroy All Monsters, and that's the role he's mostly had to this day.

From the beginning, Anguirus has been a quadrupedal kaiju, with the suit being worn by a guy obviously on his hands and knees; no effort was ever made to make it look like anything else. This Mystery Mini, however, shows him standing on two legs, something he only ever did in the Millennium Era Godzilla Final Wars. Come on, Funko, a more animalistic one would have been fun! Maybe too hard to fit in the box, though. He's sculpted with 59 spikes on his shell and 26 more on his tail, though they're not painted: whatever color they're molded in is whatever color they stay. The horns on his head and nose, as well as his claws, get white paint apps, helping them stand out against the warm grey body. His body is wrinkly and has sculpted scales scattered about.

Considering the Japanese Gojira was anglicized "Godzilla," it's not hard to see why some American publications tried to turn Angirasu into "Anzilla," but thankfully it didn't stick. Neither did "Angilas." Anguirus may be a cute figure, but he's an odd choice to make one of the 1:6 figures. Why are there two of him in every case, especially when there are only one of stars like Rodan or Ghidorah?

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