Up to this point the notion of a “best Netflix anime” has been a very straightforward proposition for me.  It was Great Pretender and everything else, end of discussion.  Godzilla Singular Point has certainly made things a little more complicated on that score.  Especially as Great Pretender botched its ending rather badly and this series pretty much stuck the landing.  I’m inclined to say my overall ranking wouldn’t quite change, but the same day you watch a series finale is probably not the best time to consider such matters.

As I noted about last week’s episode, I really only have one quibble with Godzilla S.P. on the whole – there isn’t actually all that much Godzilla.  But of course, many of the various Godzilla movies out there – including the good ones – share that trait.  The real stars of S.P. are the time-travel subplot, the human characters, and most of all in hindsight, the A.I..  And they were plenty to carry the series with the kaiju acting as a supporting cast.  Godzilla isn’t generally known for strong characters, but this series delivered on that score (again, especially the A.I.).

Was the science a bit tough to bet a handle on sometimes?  I don’t deny it.  I’m no physicist, but most of the time I could more of less keep up with the gist of it.  I think the key line to the episode was “the present is a changed future”.  Whether you think it skirts the time travel paradox or not, the essence seems to be that this was all pre-written – the seeds were planted a long time ago, and the A.I. were the key to everything.  Especially Jet Jaguar, whose perpetual rebooting and system upgrades were designed to fulfil a very specific purpose.

Pero II’s misadventures inside the supercomputer were highly metaphorical this week, as he attempts to fix the leaky boat that represents Ashihara’s unfinished task from 50 years ago.  That task?  Of course, it’s preventing the catastrophe.  Easier said than done, as it appears to be less than 20 minutes away.  And that very proximity is preventing the calculation that needs to happen in order to find the code to transmit to Yun.  Pero’s solution?  Travel back to the past to make the calculation, and give it the buffer zone it needs.  Sounds easy.  But then, Salunga has broken down the door and seems intent on destroying Shiva before any of that can be accomplished.

Meanwhile, The Ootaki boys are trying to navigate a huge flock of radon to make their way to Tokyo Station in time, with a little help from the SDF.  Radons there are a-plenty, and kumonga too for good measure.  But Godzilla himself again doesn’t get directly involved too much.  Not until Yun comes face to face with him that is, and things look hopeless.  But Jet Jaguar PP is, in fact, the key to everything – he is the code, and the code was hidden in the lullaby.  Jung was never more human than at the very end, when he sacrificed himself to save the world.  Which is ironic, since he was literally coded to do exactly what he did and probably had no real free will in the matter.

Jet Jaguar’s final showdown with Godzilla was as much action as the big guy got in this finale, but it was a very traditional Godzilla ending.  Two kaiju going at is in a devastated Tokyo cityscape is really the essence of the mythology, in fact.  And while Singular Point was an atypical version in some ways, it was a lot more materially faithful than it’s getting credit for.  Yun was born to give Jung (and Pero too) life, I suppose – call it fate or whatever you like, but he and Mei had to be at the center of everything for all this to work.

I very much liked the pre-credits ending, which really highlighted the A.I.’s central role in making all this happen.  But it was the epilogue that really closed the deal.  First of all Yun and Mei finally do meet – and the nerd chemistry is thick enough to cut with a knife.  But the real headliner is Michael Stephen and Takahiro Kai shown working on Mechagodzilla – and who else should be there but Professor Ashihara?  Does that mean Bearach Byrne was in on it too, or does his absence indicate otherwise?

I debated over what to title this post, but in the end I have to stick by my rule – no sequel announcement means you have to call it a series review, not a season finale.  That said Netflix and Bones certainly teased a potential sequel hard both on the character (Pero III shows up) and plot fronts (Mechagodzilla is one of the most beloved kaiju in the stable).  There’a always another Godzilla somewhere, in some medium – the real question is whether we’ll see a sequel in the Singular Point universe.  I certainly hope so.

This series had to walk a fine line in so many ways.  Between honoring the traditions of the franchise while still making something distinctly anime, to present a science-fiction plot as theoretically sound, and do so without the audience feeling completely lost.  I think it succeeded pretty splendidly – this was a vastly entertaining series start to finish, though the middle episodes weren’t quite on a par with the ones on either end.  The human cast (especially BB) really grew on me, the A.I. – and their seiyuu – were works of genius.  It’s another triumph for Bones (with an Orange tint), and a hopeful sign for Netflix as an anime producer.  Now let’s talk about that second season.