The lizard king of Hollywood has already won over audiences around the world in his diminutive super-kawaii form, now the lovable kaiju is back on screens in Chibi Godzilla Raids Again. The new anime based on the popular kids’ book character premiered in Japan on April 1 and made its North American streaming debut today.
The 13 x 2’40” series centers on the quirky and hilarious exchanges between pint-sized monsters from the Godzilla universe. Fans will find Chibi Godzilla (voiced by Tokyo Anime Award-winning Code Geass star Jun Fukuyama) living on Monster Island, when suddenly, the appearance of Chibi Mechagodzilla (Yoshitsugu Matsuoka) shakes things up for all monsters. As shown in the series teaser, Chibi Godzilla will be joined by a large cast of new and familiar chibi characters.
In the debut episode, “Chibi Godzilla of Monster Island,” A little robotic monster washes up upon the shore and is given an extra warm greeting by a very special local. Who, or what, awaits him in this strange new land…?
The Japanese voice cast also features Takuya Eguchi as Chibi Ghidorah, Rie Takahashi as Chibi Mothra, Hiro Shimono as Chibi Rodan, Fumihiko Tachiki as Chibi Hedorah, Miyuki Sawashiro as Chibi Biollante, and Reina Ueda & Akari Kito as the Shobijin. Sumi Shimamoto, voice of Nausicaä in Hayao Miyazaki’s Nausicaä and the Valley of the Wind, narrates.
Chibi Godzilla Raids Again! is produced by TOHO with animation by Pie in the Sky studio. The series is written and directed by Taketo Shinkai (Aware! Meisaku-kun) with character design by Chibi Godzilla creator Chiharu Sakazaki; animation producers are Junichi Endo and Yuji Nikaido.
Cheerful little Chibi Godzilla was first introduced in Sakazaki’s 2018 children’s book Do Your Best, Chibi Godzilla! Since its debut, Chibi Godzilla has been featured in two additional picture books and a music video. There was also a short-form 3D-animated web series, I’m Home! Chibi Godzilla, which ran for two seasons from 2020 to 2021.
Watch the first episode of Chibi Godzilla Raids Again on TOHO’s official Godzilla YouTube channel. New episodes debut weekly on Mondays.
