When Being Attacked By Giant Monsters Becomes Everyday Life

When Being Attacked By Giant Monsters Becomes Everyday Life

If you lived in an episode of a tokusatsu show or a Godzilla movie, at some point you’d probably be as used to the sight of size-changing superheroes doing battle with towering kaiju just like the citizens in this charming little short.

Created by a group of second-year students at the Gobelins, the famed Parisian school of animation, “Tokyo Apocalypse” was one of the five signal films that played ahead of movies at the recent Annecy Film Festival, all of which have now been made available to watch online.

In keeping with the festival’s Japanese theme, each of the Gobelins shorts focused on a different aspect of Japanese culture, everything from the art of making ramen to the legacy of famed director Akira Kurosawa.

But as a love letter to the likes of Ultraman, Super Sentai, and Kamen Rider, “Tokyo Apocalypse” stands out as the most delightful, imagining the everyday lives of citizens in a Tokyo where giant hero/monster fights are less of an alarming thing to fear and more…just a thing that happens mid-commute.

It’s short, sweet, and full of charming little callouts to some of Japan’s finest superheroes and giant monsters. You can check out the other signal films over at Cartoon Brew.