Godzilla: Minus "MONSTER" Zero?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kw0YhiqOPFg

Let me just start off by saying that this trailer was amazing. I got everything that I needed to get out of it. We get more of an idea on what is happening here, although we still don't know all the intricacies of the plot. We know that they know that Godzilla is still alive. We know that they at least have a new plan, perhaps several in how to deal with him. It is implied that Noroko Oishi is dying because she says she doesn't have much time left, and she is concerned about the welfare of the child she adopted, Akiko, if something were to happen to the main protagonist, Koichi Shikashima as well. Godzilla is clearly much larger than he was in the previous film. We do not know why. It can be assumed that it is due to his regenerative abilities that were introduced in the last film. Any time he suffers catastrophic damage, he regenerates into a larger, and more powerful form. The biggest question, or the most interesting one was whether or not there would be another kaiju in the film, and if so, who might that be. For me, I had a feeling who it would be, but I needed confirmation to be sure. The movie is called, Godzilla: Minus ZERO. There is only one kaiju in the Toho Universe and the Legendary Monsterverse that has that name. We see shots of massive gravity effects on the city with buildings and vehicles floating in the air. We see shots of yellow, "lightning-like" beams striking aircraft and the ground with people running away. There is a scene where Kenju Nota exclaims, "Commence Operation Narukami!" What does that mean? Naru - To sound, ring, echo, or rumble—specifically used for the rolling sound of thunder. Kami -  God, deity, or spirit. Together "Narukami" literally translates into "Thundering god," or " Lightning god." Lastly, we hear the legendary and familiar "at-at-at-at" cackle just before Godzilla falls from the sky just like he did in ANOTHER movie facing a certain about to be named kaiju, or "titan." If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it's a duck. It's King Ghidorah. If you have watched ANY Toho kaiju film involving King Ghidorah, or even the Monsterverse films, I don't see how there would be any question that it's him. However, NUMEROUS people online that claim to be huge fans of kaiju films are all carrying on as if they don't know if it is King Ghidorah. Some people have even considered if it's a misdirect and that the big bad is something else. Now, I wouldn't excuse the idea that there could be more than just two kaiju in this film, but Godzilla and King Ghidorah are definitely 100% confirmed to be two of them. How dilapidated do you have to be not to understand King Ghidorah is in this film? Are people really this dumb, or are people intentionally feigning stupidity to create engagement on their platforms? They clearly know who it is, but they are purposefully acting like they DON'T know so that people will run to the comment sections and tell them what a big dope they are for not seeing the obvious, and that creates clicks, and clicks create cash. Anyway, my question is, just exactly who is the "villain" in this movie? The way that this trailer is postured, any point of view is fair game. Genetically-created Ghidorah theory Ghidorah could be an experiment by the human scientists created to fight Godzilla, but something goes wrong and he becomes an even WORSE threat than Godzilla himself?

Remember, in the (1991) Godzilla vs King Ghidorah movie, that version was created by intentionally exposing little Pok'e'mon-like creatures called "Dorats" to hydrogen bomb tests and that transformed them into King Ghidorah. We also see a character played by Japanese actor, Min Tanaka exclaim, "Fight fire with fire." So, there is that possibility. Godzilla: Earth Defender theory It is possible that Godzilla was never the threat and that the real threat all along was King Ghidorah and Godzilla was responding to that impending threat to his territory. I don't like this theory all that much because it was already used in the Legendary Monsterverse with the (2019) Godzilla: King Of The Monsters film. I think Toho wants to stay away from that, BUT.......as I stated earlier, we saw a shot of Godzilla falling from the sky and that is something that literally happened in (2019) Godzilla: King Of The Monsters. Still, this feels kinda lazy and uninspired which does NOT fit the previous film's writing at all. Both monsters are the threat It could be that neither monster is there to protect Japan. Both kaiju could have their own agenda and both can simultaneously be a threat to Japan, and the world (hence with the previous trailer of Godzilla walking past the Statute Of Liberty in New Yorkr City, and the US military present at the final events of Godzilla: Minus One as evidenced with the B-29 plane in the shot,) and they are just battling to see who gets dips on destroying it? That would be a unique perspective. Obviously, the technology of this time is still very limited. The most powerful weapons that they have (nuclear weapons) are pretty much useless. King Ghidorah historically is mostly immune to heat and radiation which is why you don't see Godzilla using his atomic breath on King Ghidorah anymore after the (1966) Invasion Of Astro Monster film.) It's not until the (1991) Godzilla vs King Ghidorah film where Godzilla is far more powerful, and LARGER so his atomic breath could actually do damage. There is a scene in this trailer where Godzilla's hide looks charred and smoldering like it did in Godzilla: Minus One after he unleashed his atomic blast breath. It is possible that he tries to use this attack on King Ghidorah here and it has no effect. To add to that, atomic weapons only make Godzilla bigger and more powerful. So, Japan could be in a situation where no matter who wins, THEY lose. The only hope that they have would be if the monsters destroy each other. Based on the temperature and tone of the writing in the first movie, this seems the most plausible to me. The whole theme of Godzilla: Minus One was that it ain't sweet for Japan. You had two atomic bombs dropped on you. You have massive conventional bomb raids dropped everywhere else. The country is in complete ruins. The government has all but turned it's back on he civilians and let them fend for themselves in a the aftermath of a war that they never asked for. Then you have a giant, nuclear-powered, dinosaur-thing running around that literally shoots atomic bombs out of it's mouth. This is the final movie of this arc, so I don't know if they want to end on a downer like that. There may be some way that perhaps Noroko has some type of link with Godzilla allowing her to communicate with him and somehow she convinces it to leave Japan alone. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Cream City Convergence

Well, Cream City Convergence or C3 as they like to call it is in the books. It was an interesting experience. The staff was very friendly and accommodating. It was relatively easy to get to where I needed to be in the building, and to my place on the show floor. I met a few new artists and reconnected with a few that I have met from other shows. Everyone seemed genuinely friendly. The attendance of the show was relatively low compared to what I am accustomed to, but fighting-game tournaments are a relatively niche' form of entertainment and attract more enthusiasts than the general public. The flow of traffic was very slow at the beginning. Things picked up a good deal once the actual tournaments started. From what I could tell, there were several stations positioned around the floor with numerous PlayStation 5 consoles hooked up to monitors. Patrons would bring in their own fight-sticks or controllers to play against each other. There were four big screens in designated areas where an audience could sit down and watch elite players battle out in such games as Tekken 8, Guilty Gear Strive, Street Fighter VI, Super Smash Bros. Melee and Ultimate, and a few other games. I was in Artist's Alley. My placement on the floor was okay, however there was a HUGE open space in front of me and that made it kind of hard to attract patrons to my table. Also, the food area was to my immediate right. When you are hungry you tend to get tunnel-vision when thinking about food. No complaints though. Also, my place on the floor changed from where I thought it was gonna be which was near the Street Fighter VI and Tekken 8 areas. There was consistently more traffic over there, but my friend and fellow artist that was in that area stated that sales were slow for him even with all the traffic over there. The thing that concerned me going into this was that this isn't like a comic-con or anime-con where walking around all the tables and booths are the main attraction of the event. The main attraction here was playing the games, so once people got to where they wanted to go, they stayed there until that tournament had a break, or was done. I did okay considering this was my first time at this show. I had a couple of mishaps and happy accidents that took some profit away. On Friday, I had to go get up real early to go to DigiCopy to get prints made of my latest work done for the show before I went to work. I would have gone the day before while I was off, but I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning finish a piece. Unfortunately, the printer at DigiCopy was not working properly and all but that one piece that I stayed up working on had streaks and marks all over them from the roller. So, because they felt bad about the situation they gave me the prints that did turn out right for free. That was cool of them. The next thing was that I charge $20.00 for 11x17 prints. A gentleman came up to buy one and I mistaken rung him up for $10.00 instead of $20.00. I didn't realize my goof until he was gone. Lastly, a young man came up to my table to buy my last print of Optimus Prime. When I went to pull the print out of the sleeve, I noticed that it had a crease on the corner for some random reason. I don't sell people janky artwork. So, I let him have it for free. I also said that under the circumstances of what has transpired recently, I think that Pete (Peter Cullen) would want me to give it to you as well. So, I don't mind missing out on that sale if it means giving a special memory for someone. Overall, the show was okay. The show organizer, Rae Barnickel was as I stated earlier very nice, gracious, and accommodating. She thanked me for being a part of the show, and said that she will reach out to me next year to return. I'll probably do the show again. Now that I know about it and know what it is like, I can plan accordingly to refine my strategy. I had a good time. It was definitely cathartic for me to be in my element. Next up, Milwaukee Comic Con, October 10th!

Is Social Media worth it for artists?

Speaking as a creator myself, I have come to the conclusion that it really all has come full circle to us having to do things the old-fashioned way. We have gotten so used to using social media for instant-promotion and instant-gratification for our work that we have forgotten about how difficult it was and how long it took for artists to be appreciated beforehand.  

Think about famous artists from centuries ago? While they were alive, they were not appreciated for the most part. Today, they are greatly appreciated and called geniuses. In their times, some were even called crazy.

Someone who is determined can find a way to make anything work for themselves, so, I would never say you should "abandon" social media. However, I DO think people need to understand what social media truly IS, as a means of control. It's not there for YOUR benefit. It's there for someone else's benefit, and they are using YOU for that benefit.  

There are a lot of people out there that got fat eating off the social-media smorgasbord when it was doing what they "claim" it does now. Some of those people unfortunately look down upon others that don't have the large following that they have. If you gained hundreds of thousands of subs to your Instagram, YouTube, Twitch, Twitter, Facebook, or any other major social media platform 10 years ago or so when IMO social media was at its peak of usefulness, of course you are going to have a different perspective because you already have a huge following, and it was pretty easy to get one, at that time.   

Even with the algorithm garbage of today, the pool is deep enough that if you have a huge following already to where you have enough people that will keep coming back regardless of the frequency of your content, organic growth is not as much of an issue. HOWEVER..... .....if you are someone that has a small following, or are someone that is just starting out, and the social media platform is only allowing less than 5% of people who follow you to see your content, and probably less than 1% organically, you cannot grow a brand that way. AT ALL. It's not about the "quality" of your work. It's not about the "quantity" of your work. It's all about whether or not you are willing to sell out to that particular platform to push whatever agendas they want to be pushed.  

PERIOD, POINT BLANK.   

It's that simple. 

If you are posting content that is divisive and inflammatory, content that is decadent with self-absorption (e.g. people pushing materialistic lives to the max showing themselves shopping all the time buying expensive clothes, eating high-priced food, traveling to expensive vacation resorts, etc., posting absolute foolishness and goofiness with people sticking forks in light sockets, or trying to parachute off the top of their house with a bath towel, or anything that at its core is 100% useless,) then you get a surprisingly consistent amount of traffic because the platforms want you to think this is what life is all about.  

If you are posting content that is inclusive to EVERYBODY, that is welcoming, content, that is helping others by teaching or giving tips to improve various aspects of life with content that is designed to just have fun with cool stuff whether it be art, music, movies, TV shows, toys, hobbies, video games, comics, manga, anime, etc., that EVERYONE can relate to and enjoy, and just enjoy posting positive content that in general is useful and uplifting to people, unsurprisingly it is extremely difficult to get a consistent amount of traffic or even get people that follow you anyway to see your content.  

What a coincidence. 

So, we are going to have to go back to doing things the old school way. Pounding that pavement to push our brands. Going out to meet people at as many events as we can go to. Funnel people to our own personal websites, chat rooms, Discord servers, etc. where WE can control engagement and use social media to our advantage as just a tool in our toolbox in our cars rather than THE car we drive every day.