This thing was both amazing and baffling at the same time. I could easily see this show splitting the fans. Not in a The Last Jedi never ending bitchfest way, but in more in the same way that Beast Machines split Transformers fans. Some loved it for being different, and others that loved Beast Wars and wanted a follow up to it, were disappointed by the direction they took.
The biggest problem with the whole series is the CONSTANT instances of technobabble and exposition. I'm not expert in physics or mathematics, but supposedly, the jargon spouted throughout the series is grounded in some level of scientific accuracy. That's all well and good, but when it dominates the discussions from the characters, it makes me feel like I'm watching a lecture I wasn't invited to or something. While I could follow it, it is way too much for most audiences ot keep track of. Between explaining the Red Dust, the Archetypes, the Super Computer, the Singular Point, the Orthognal Diagonalizer, the Catastrophe, how the lullaby fits into all of thise, and all sorts of other things, it just felt like the story got way too bogged down in its pseudo-science. I expect technobabble in Godzilla, and hey, if it has some basis in reality, even better, but it shouldn't dominate a majority of the show.
Sidebar, but I actually found it easier to understand in Japanese instead of English. Something about reading it made it easier to digest than hearing it, haha.
The science jargon got in the way of character development and of showcasing the monsters. Godzilla himself largely feels like he's used for the introduction before the theme song and end of episode cliffhanger of most episodes and not much else. And then there is a lot of exposition being thrown at us inbetween, and it doesn't help that the cast of characters is pretty large too. We essentially have two main characters that we follow throughout the show and a slew of side characters that they interact with. There are even two characters that exist as AI/Apps to serve similar functions of their respective characters. Its alot of information being thrown at us.
Honestly, if they had trimmed the fat (shed a few characters, a chunk of the exposition, etc.) and shorten the series to maybe 8 episodes, it would have been amazing. But with so much unnecessary filler, exposition, and characters, it feels overly long and bloated, and will definitely lose people.
There are also things that feel like senseless teases. Episode 1 ends with an AWESOME reveal of a Godzilla Skeleton, making me wonder how it was going to fit into the story, and it ultimately amounts to a Season 2 teaser in the final scene of Episode 13. Its an awesome teaser, sure, but I wish it had more of an impact on the story of season 1 instead of being yet another sidebar. There is also a reference & teaser to Mothra that goes largely unfulfilled.
Now onto the positives:
The animation style is great! It mixes traditional 2D with the monsters themselves being rendered with 3D CGI, which makes for an amazing mix that emphasizes the out-of-this-world nature of the monsters, and it creates a lot of fantastic moments of monster fighting and carnage. This is where Singular Point succeeds over the Anime Trilogy. The style of those three films was something I never really got used to and on top of that, it never really delivered the goods when it came to the monsters. This show looks awesome and gives us great moments for the monsters. It only makes me wish they had really trimmed the fat and the show wasn't bogged down with filler becuase the monster stuff is quite good.
As for the characters I liked the most, I liked Otaki Goro, the cooky creator of Jet Jaguar. He was just a fun, angry, and adventurous guy, and before Jet Jaguar became its own character, it was cool to see him jump in the seat and pilot JJ himself. Mei Kamino was fine as the smart person trying to figure everything out, but they didn't give her much of a character beyond her obsession with figuring all this stuff out. The app/robot Pelops II was there to be cutesy, but felt completely unnecesary since the other app, Yung, was used to give life to Jet Jaguar. Yun Arikawa looked like he was more bored by everything going on than anything else, which is a weird way to present one of the leads. BB was fun and weird, but not much else. Everyone else is just sort of...there. Taking up space, and again, there are too many characters to keep track of anyway. As it turns out, my favorite character was actually someone unexpected...more on him in a bit.
Going into the monsters, Godzilla in this show seems to have taken a page from Shin Godzilla's playbook with a constantly evolving form that starts off as an auquatic beast resembling Titannosaurus, a terrestrial animal that resembles Varan, a dinosaurian form that resembles Gorosaurus & Gabara, and his final form Godzilla Ultima which looks awesome and traditional to the King. If you're expecting Godzilla to be all over this thing, you will be let down. He doesn't even show up until episode 3 and he isn't fully evolved until the end of Episode 10. So...its going to test people's patience, but the classic Godzilla theme helps punctuate the big moments, and when Godzilla does stuff, its awesome and feels apocalyptic, again, feeling like Shin Godzilla in the process. Also, extending Godzilla's level of destruction to potential universal destruction is good ridiculous fun.
Now the real star of the series is actually Jet Jaguar. Honestly, they could have just called it a Jet Jaguar series and that would feel more appropriate. It really feels like the robot's journey from creation, to gaining of sentience, making its own weapon out of Anguirus' spike, to gaining the power to fight Godzilla, to ultimately, self sacrifice to save the world. It took one of the goofiest characters from the pantheon of Godzilla co-stars and made him the star of the show, and honestly, he ended up being my favorite character in the whole thing, so we can call that a success. His heavy focus ultimately makes Godzilla feel like a final boss rather than the star, but if you like Jet Jaguar, his role here is going to work for you.
Rodan gets to used as kind of the army of the monsters. To see flocks of Rodan flying by as they spread the Red Dust creates some hellish imagery, and the action scenes utilizing them are some of the show's best moments. Them falling out of the sky and dying, revealing that the Red Dust is how they stay alive, is one of the creepiest scenes in the show, and effective in its exposition too (Show don't tell, come on!). But, this also has a slight negative of reducing Rodan to fodder for Jet Jaguar and Godzilla to swipe through. They kind of serve the same function here that the Servum did in the anime trilogy. They are a regular presence, good to see, and they look great, but it makes Rodan feel like less of a god this time around.
Speaking of fodder, Manda basically got the same treatment that Kamaebas got in Tokyo SOS. Its just there to be fodder for Godzilla...but hey the Mandas look cool in the process.
Kumonga gets to comeback in an awesome sequence as the spider monsters provide a unique challenge for Jet Jaguar and the characters too, providing a fun piece of survival horror. That was one of the better sequences in the show.
And then there is my boy Anguirus...that four legged lug always makes me happy, and this was no exception. His role here was similar to Baragon in GMK. He's not the star. He feels like he's there just to give long term fans happy while the story moves along, and to that end, it succeeds. Anguirus' chase sequence is again, one of the standout sequences in the show and it was cool to have the guy back, even if he was killed by Jet Jaguar, lol.
Finally there is Salunga, the new guy. I'm always in favor of creating new monsters, so its cool to have a new guy. He was the monster we all mistook for Gabara in the trailer, and clearly draws inspiration from that design, with a little Baragon through in there too, and he has his moments to shine. Again, I'm just happy to see a new monster. This design seems to maximize the potential of the Gabara design that failed in the low rent Godzilla's Revenge.
Other odds and ends: The music throughout the show is really good. The classic Godzilla theme always helps to elevate things, but the rest of the music is pretty good and punctuates the big moments very well. Also, there are some neat little nods to Godzilla's past too. The Orthogonal Diagonalizer is almost identical to the classic Oxygen Destroyer, and we even get a nod to NIGEL of the 1998 Tristar animated series! That was a pleasant surprise.