KaijuX

Hey! So I'm alive for one. Been super-duper busy on the KWC front (oh shoot, I need to update on banners, don't I...?), hence why I haven't been on here as often as I should. And in general, dA hasn't been as appealing to be on as it used to be. But the existential dread of a dead website aside, I just wanted to throw this out there.

To start off, we know that the movies of the Shin Japan Heroes Universe are all disconnected anthology films that are really only connected by being a modernized reinvention of classic properties and being helmed by a generally consistent team of people (most notable in this case is Hideaki Anno, though I feel Shinji Higuchi deserves equal recognition). Maybe super cheeky references here and there, but let's speculate with the what-ifs--what if the SJHU films were a singular continuity? How would they work? What I'm going to present is very much oversimplified--but since it's not going to come down to the details, since that would require a much greater comprehensive look than what I am about to provide. However, I just wanted to lay the groundwork--and then just let the imagination take over with the specifics (so whether or not you like the idea of "same actor, same character" logic, or character replacements, or what have you, that's up to you).

Obviously, spoilers abound--so if you want to go into any of these movies blind, best to back out now.

So for this universe, they're all going to still maintain a lot of their original plots to keep it easy. Even in the event this was a truly shared universe, the stories are detached enough from one another to still weave one into the other without much disparity.

To set the foundation of how this universe can be connected, we have to ask a fundamental question; which comes first? And the answer is super easy.

Neon Genesis Evangelion. And I don't mean just the movies--we're starting with the show.

As revealed in Evangelion 3.0+1.0: Thrice Upon a Time (hereafter shortened to Shin Evangelion), it's revealed in a strange meta moment that all of Evangelion is pretty much canon to itself. For simplicity's sake, this includes the original TV series, the Death & Rebirth compilation film, End of Evangelion, and a hard reset on the timeline with the Rebuild of Evangelion films (though other elements such as the manga are suggested). This is important because a big component to this universe linkage is the fact that the Evangelions, under the right conditions (and to super oversimplify), are able to rewrite reality.

The end of Shin Evangelion very much gives a final farewell to the Evangelions, to rewrite reality to where the Evas and Angels don't exist, and where the characters can live their lives being humans. At the very end, we see Shinji and Mari explore the world--what the film suggests to be our world. But in this context, as I'm sure you're already making the connection, it's an echo of the previous universe. True, there are no longer any Evas or Angels--but instead the echoes of monsters, aliens, and shady undercover organizations abound.

With Shin Evangelion, we pass the torch onto Shin Godzilla.

To explain why, even though Shin Eva was released in 2021 (well after ShinG in 2016), release dates aren't everything. Pre-production for Shin Eva began well before Shin Godzilla--including the "Shin" moniker, which was always attributed to Evangelion, therefore was always rooted in Evangelion. So the idea of Eva stealing from Godzilla is a naïve stance to look at it from. Factually, it was always Eva that influenced the future Shin movies; so it makes perfect sense to place all of Eva's events as the first events chronologically.

Shin Godzilla is the first event to kick off the post-Impact reality change with humanity's discovery of monsters. The important part is that humans find a way to fight monsters and that Japan ultimately has to fend for itself. And without the scrapped Shin Godzilla Raids Again to substantiate Godzilla's adventures in this universe--hot take incoming--Godzilla's a one-and-done deal as it currently stands. While the 5th Form is a beautifully haunting dark reflection of our connection to Godzilla--or even as an adaptation to fight humanity--for the sake of this theory, it has to be assumed that the 5th Form was just stopped in the nick of time with the coagulate plan.

From Shin Godzilla, the torch now gets passed along to Shin Ultraman.

After the events of Godzilla's rampage, more monsters appear. Each monster being tactfully dealt with to the best of the JSDF's ability--and eventually leads to the formation of a new suppression unit known as the SSSP, to which they handily deal with Kaigel and Pagos. It's not until the appearance of Neronga that Ultraman appears and fights the subsequent monsters and aliens that appear in his wake. But the most important factor from Shin Ultraman comes when Ultraman gives humanity the schematics for the Beta System, which allow them to enact a plan to defeat the near-indestructible Zetton. The film very much states that, for humanity to survive, they had to be given the basic principles of the Beta System. And it's with this that he says, "Here are the basic principles of the Beta System, and theorems on higher-dimensional domains converted into your written language. Rather than being given a completed Beta System device, I would like humans to use their knowledge to create it for themselves."

With that in account, I believe this is where we connect the pieces from Shin Ultraman to Shin Kamen Rider.

The mechanics of prana (in layman's terms: mana, life energy, etc.) and the Habitat Realm (a place where souls go) I believe are a byproduct of Ultraman sharing the information he did. Rather than following the footsteps of Ultraman and Mefilas with their means of utilizing the Beta System, humanity cultivates its own methods which (in one form or another) falls into the hands of SHOCKER. It's basically through the basic principles of the Beta System that humanity finds the Habitat Realm and is able to utilize prana to brainwash humans for the end goal of human happiness. Shin Kamen Rider's augments could be a result of the rapid advancements humans have made with the discovery of the Beta System, just nowhere nearly as sophisticated or as precise as what Ultraman and Mefilas offered (or, rather than being "technologically primitive", just simply took on a completely different direction compared to the aliens).

And... That's it. As far as the officially recognized Shin movies go, that's all of them to date. And there are fun questions if you were to look at this from the lens of "if I could rewrite it to be more deliberately interconnected", you can come to your own conclusions with how they come together and what the connective threads / consequences are. I just wanted to present the potential through-line if they were connected together without heavily altering the plots or characters. So whether or not Mefilas had any involvement with the rise of Godzilla or dabbled with SHOCKER, or if Godzilla is an alien bioweapon or not, is entirely to your discretion or interpretation. I'd be interested in hearing it.

If there is a new Shin movie, will I come back and update this? Probably not. Or if I just feel like it.

Before I go, I will leave with... A bonus entry. Just for being absent for far too long, lol.

Through estranged and experimental testing in order to mimic the miniaturization of the Beta Box / Beta Capsule and revive the gigantism weapon proposal from back in the heyday, the creation of a virus that utilizes elements of the Beta System is born--but from it, come monsters. New humanoid giants, dubbed 'Titans', emerge and devour humanity. In order to save the last bastion of humans, three concentric walls are built to keep the Titans out. 100 years pass, and a conflict stirs within the walls thanks the sudden arrival of the Colossal Titan. From there, a conspiracy is unraveled, and the fate of humanity is left in the balance.

"B-but, where's the "Shin" in Attack on Titan?!" It's obvious. SHINgeki no Kyojin.

"Hideaki Anno wasn't involved with the Attack on Titan movies!" Well, Shinji Higuchi wasn't involved with Shin Kamen Rider--so it checks out.

"You forgot about Shin Universe Robo!" Well, obviously--that happens in between Shin Kamen Rider and the live-action Attack on Titan movies.

Anyway, have a great day!

--"KaijuX"

LET'S GO KEIZO, LET'S GO! And help this production become the best it can be!

Wow, so it's been a hot minute! First off, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Here's hoping 2021 will be a far better year than 2020 was.

Secondly, the KWC Awards/Survey is here for those that read the KWC! So by all accounts, pitch your vote!

https://www.tohokingdom.com/blog/2020-kwc-awards-and-feedback-surveys/

'Till then, everyone! Probably won't be back until next year, lmao. I kid, I kid. XD

-KaijuX

Well, first update I've made in a while... And one using the new Eclipse format. Happy Every Holiday Ever That I Missed Out On. That's the full title.

Nevertheless, I *really* wanted to share this article posted on TK about Bagan's 1st appearance--crazy to believe he wasn't even meant to be a Godzilla monster!

https://www.tohokingdom.com/cutting_room/yamatai_kingdom.html

I'm flabbergasted at the idea, but so much of it makes sense when you think about it. Why would a magical, shapeshifting monster be Godzilla's 1st opponent for a reboot series? He was a carryover from a lost film. Why would Bagan even be considered for the unmade Yamato Takeru sequel? Because Yamatai Kingdom was meant to expand on The Three Treasures, which debuts Toho's Orochi. So much of this adds up and leaves me speechless. It's wonderful when a monster--let alone one that was planned for movies and never saw the light of day--is able to bring new surprises to the table. It's nuts.

Nevertheless, y'all have a good one! Signing off.

--KaijuX