History Film / Gamera3AwakeningOfIrys

* DarkerAndEdgier: Definitely darker than any previous Gamera movie, and most Godzilla films for that matter.

** The films before this one portrayed Gamera as a heroic monster who protected humanity from evil monsters. Here, Gamera defeats the Hyper Gyaos, but causes massive amounts of damage and kills many innocent people.

** The film is also much more human driven, since it's about people in a world with giant monsters and Gamera just happens to be the best one.

* DemotedToExtra: Not so much extra, and he is VERY much a major force, but Gamera got a lot less screen time in the third film with only two scenes.
** While he's not shown much onscreen, it's mentioned often that he's fighting off the Gyaos all over the world for much of the film.
* DestructiveSavior: The destruction that Gamera causes during his battles is shown in explicit, horrifying detail.

* GiantFlyer: Gamera, Gyaos, and Irys.

Flying towards Kyoto, which is being hit by a hurricane, Irys is intercepted by two jets, but before it can eliminate them, Gamera appears, dueling with Irys in midair until the military shoots him [Gamera] down. Irys soon makes landfall in Kyoto, and the city is unprepared for the monster. Making his way towards the train station where Ayana is at, Irys leaves death and destruction in his wake, but he is soon intercepted again by Gamera. The two monsters soon turn Kyoto into a raging inferno as Irys manages to deflect Gamera's fireballs, forcing the turtle to resort to melee combat. Asagi and Nagamine try to break Ayana's bond with Irys in order to help Gamera, but it does not work. When Asakura takes Ayana's bead, she tries to take control of Irys, but this only gets her killed when Irys impales Gamera and sends him crashing into the station. Kurata is also killed after a large piece of debris falls onto him, while Nagamine is wounded.

** Also, what were its motivations? When it shows Ayana all the terrible things it did, like killing her adopted family, was it being malicious or simply showing its mother what it had done for her? Irys certainly has a mean streak, but is it because of or in spite of its connection to Ayana? Irys might have originally been benevolent and just twisted by Ayana's vengeance, or it could have always been a cruel, vicious monster, we just don't know.

* EldritchAbomination: Irys. [[spoiler: There's a disturbing implication that ''Gamera'' is an Eldritch Abomination in and of himself, just one with good intentions]].

* CallASmeerpARabbit: Ayana names Iris after her deceased pet cat, who died with her parents during Gamera's battle with the Super Gyaos in Tokyo.

The finale of the Gamera trilogy *sob*

* DeconstructorFleet

* InfantImmortality: '''Harshly''' averted.

Now, in 1999, under the sea, a graveyard of Gamera skeletons has been discovered. Coinciding with this, reports have been surfacing all over the world that tell of flying, man-eating bird-like creatures. The Gyaos have returned, and their attacks are being tracked by Professor Nagamine. By this time, Ayana, who is living in a village in the mountains, has grown into a bitter young woman, and she often thinks about revenge. Ayana learns of a local legend that says a mythical creature, corresponding to the Red Bird of the South in Chinese lore, is imprisoned in a small cave shrine near the town, and that this being is the sworn enemy of the Black Tortoise of the North. She fixates on the idea that this could be the instrument of her revenge on Gamera, and finding the shrine, moves the ancient protective stone that seals it in place. When she returns she finds an egg of sorts in the cave, along with a strange bead, reminiscent of the one that Asagi used to have. She takes the bead, and when a strange tentacled creaure hatches from the egg, she quickly becomes friends with it, naming it after her deceased cat, Irys. Ayana decides to raise Irys to kill Gamera and avenge her parents.

With the reluctant help of her neighbor Tatsunari Moribe, whose family is the hereditary guardian of the cave shrine, Ayana raises Irys in secret until it decides to "bond" with her. After Moribe rescues Ayana, Irys goes on a killing spree, sucking the fluids out of almost everyone in the village, save Tatsunari, who managed to hide from the creature. After investigating the village, Nagamine and Osako find Tatsunari and attempt to rescue Ayana, who has been kidnapped from the hospital by Asakura and Kurata. Osako stays with Tatsunari, trying to convince him to rescue Ayana as well. Tatsunari eventually agrees and the pair head off to find Ayana. Meanwhile, Irys has grown since its village massacre, and is now almost as tall as Gamera, if not taller. The JSDF is sent in to deal with the monster, but it quickly defeats them and soon goes off in search of Ayana, who is now in Kyoto. Moribe's grandmother tells him of his duties as shrine guardian (which he uncomfortably realizes he has bungled badly) and tells him to always carry with him an ancient artifact, a dagger of flaked stone.

Now, in 1999, under the sea, a graveyard of Gamera skeletons has been discovered. Coinciding with this, reports have been surfacing all over the world that tell of flying, man-eating bird-like creatures. The Gyaos have returned, and their attacks are being tracked by Professor Nagamine. By this time, Ayana, who is living in a village in the mountains, has grown into a bitter young woman, and she often thinks about revenge. Ayana learns of a local legend that says a mythical creature, corresponding to the Red Bird of the South in Chinese lore, is imprisoned in a small cave shrine near the town, and that this creature is the sworn enemy of the Black Tortoise of the North. She fixates on the idea that this creature could be the instrument of her revenge on Gamera, and finding the shrine, moves the ancient protective stone that seals it in place. When she returns she finds an egg of sorts in the cave, along with a strange bead, reminiscent of the one that Asagi used to have. She takes the bead, and when a strange creature hatches from the egg, she quickly becomes friends with it, naming it after her deceased cat, Irys. Ayana decides to raise Irys to kill Gamera and avenge her parents.

Now, in 1999, under the sea, a graveyard of Gamera skeletons has been discovered. Coinciding with this, reports have been surfacing all over the world that tell of flying, man-eating bird-like creatures. The Gyaos have returned, and their attacks are being tracked by Professor Nagamine. By this time, Ayana, who is living in a village in the mountains, has grown into a bitter young woman, and she often thinks about revenge. Ayana learns of a local legend that says a mythical creature, corresponding to the Red Bird of the South in Chinese lore, is imprisoned in a small cave shrine near the town, and that this creature is the sworn enemy of the Black Tortoise of the North. She fixates on the idea that this creature could be the instrument of her revenge on Gamera, and finding the shrine, moves the ancient protective stone that seals it in place. When she returns she finds an egg of sorts in the cave, along with a strange bead, reminiscent of the one that Asagi used to have. She takes the bead, and when the creature within hatches, she quickly becomes friends with it, naming it after her deceased cat, Irys. Ayana decides to raise Irys to get revenge against Gamera for killing her parents.

In 1995, the battle between Gamera and Gyaos left much of Tokyo destroyed, but buildings were not the only casualties in the city. A young girl named Ayana Hirasaka, who had recently had her appendix taken out, could only watch in horror from her family's van as her house, and her parents within, were crushed by Gamera.

Now, in 1999, under the sea, a graveyard of Gamera skeletons has been discovered. Coinciding with this, reports have been surfacing all over the world that tell of flying, man-eating bird-like creatures. The Gyaos have returned, and their attacks are being tracked by Professor Nagamine. By this time, Ayana, who is living in a village in the mountains, has grown into a bitter young woman, and she often thinks about revenge. Ayana soon finds an egg of sorts in a cave, along with a strange bead, reminiscent of the one that Asagi used to have, and when the creature within hatches, she quickly becomes friends with it, and names it after her deceased cat, Irys. Ayana decides to raise Irys to get revenge against Gamera, for killing her parents.

With the reluctant help of her neighbor Tatsunari Moribe, Ayana raises Irys in secret until it decides to "bond" with her. After Moribe rescues Ayana, Irys goes on a killing spree, sucking the fluids outof almost everyone in the village, save Tatsunari, who managed to hide from the creature. After investigating the village, Nagamine and Osako find Tatsunari and attempt to rescue Ayana, who has been kidnapped from the hospital by Asakura and Kurata. Osako stays with Tatsunari, trying to convince him to rescue Ayana as well. Tatsunari eventually agrees and the pair head off to find Ayana. Meanwhile, Irys has grown since its village massacre, and is now almost as tall as Gamera, if not taller. The JSDF is sent in to deal with the monster, but it quickly defeats them and soon goes off in search of Ayana, who is now in Kyoto.

Irys once again attempts to bond with Ayana, but Moribe steps in the way. After throwing a ancient dagger (which does jack shit) at Irys, the beast deflects it, and it makes a small cut on Ayana's cheek, knocking her out of her stupor. Realizing her situation, Ayana is helpless as Irys knocks Tatsunari out of the way and then absorbs her into his chest. Irys then forces Ayana to relive her memories of when her parents were killed, making her realize that their deaths were an accident when Gamera was fighting the Gyaos. Irys then forces Ayana to watch ''his'' memories of killing the villagers, including most of her family and Moribe's family, in a horrific act of cruelty. Just as Ayana begins to lose all hope, she is pulled out of Irys by none other than Gamera. Irys does not take kindly to this, and impales Gamera's right hand with one of his tentacles, which then begins to drain Gamera's fluids, which allows Irys to steal his powers and create fireballs of his own. Gamera, in a bold attempt to stop Irys, destroys his own arm and hand, before Irys releases the fireballs. Gamera absorbs the fire and creates an ''arm of flame'' that he uses to impale Irys, killing the monster and blowing it up.

** While he's not shown much onscreen, it mentioned often he's fighting off the Gyaos all over the world for much of the film.

In 1996, Gamera fought the Legion, but in order to defeat the Legion, he had to take drastic measures, which broke his connection to Humanity.

** The fairly typical "young person who controls/is friends with a giant monster/robot" story is deconstructed in two ways. Anaya has lost her connection to Gamera which has resulted in him becoming far more vicious and callous in his fighting. Irys shows what happens when the young person in that relationship has loads of mental issues; a lot of people end up dead and the young person in question uses their monster for selfish, vengeful reasons.

!!This film contains examples of the folllowing:

* BolivianArmyEnding: The movie ends with Gamera, who lost an arm in his battle against Irys, heading out to face every Gyaos in the world, with said Gyaos all heading for Japan.

* CliffHanger: This film, and subsequently the Heisei series, ends this way, with Gamera's ultimate fate left ambigous.

Irys once again attempts to bond with Ayana, but Moribe steps in the way. After throwing a ancient dagger (which does jack shit) at Irys, the beast deflects it, and it makes a small cut on Ayana's cheek, knocking her out of her stupor. Realizing her situation, Ayana is helples as Irys knocks Tatsunari out of the way and then absorbs her into his chest. Irys then forces Ayana to relive her memories of when her parents were killed, making her realize that their deaths were an accident when Gamera was fighting the Gyaos. Irys then forces Ayana to watch ''his'' memories of killing the villagers, including most of her family and Moribe's family, in a horrific act of cruelty. Just as Ayana begins to lose all hope, she is pulled out of Irys by none other than Gamera. Irys does not take kindly to this, and impales Gamera's right hand with one of his tentacles, which then begins to drain Gamera's fluids, which allows Irys to steal his powers and create fireballs of his own. Gamera, in a bold attempt to stop Irys, destroys his own arm and hand, before Irys releases the fireballs. Gamera absorbs the fire and creates an ''arm of flame'' that he uses to impale Irys, killing the monster and blowing it up.

Flying towards Kyoto, which is being hit by a hurricane, Irys is intercepted by two jets, but before it can eliminate them, Gamera appears, dueling with Irys in midair until the military shoots him [Gamera] down. Irys soon makes landfall in Kyoto, and the city is unrpepared for the monster. Making his way towards the train station where Ayana is at, Irys leaves death and destruction in his wake, but he is soon intercepted again by Gamera. The two monsters soon turn Kyoto into a raging inferno as Irys manages to deflect Gamera's fireballs, forcing the turtle to resort to melee combat. Asagi and Nagamine try to break Ayana's bond with Irys in order to help Gamera, but it does not work. When Asakura takes Ayana's bead, she tries to take control of Irys, but this only gets her killed when Irys impales Gamera and sends him crashing into the station. Kurata is also killed after a large piece of debris falls onto him, while Nagamine is wounded.

** The fairly typical "young person who controls/is friends with a giant monster/robot" story is deconstructed in two ways. Anaya has lost his connection to Gamera which has resulted in him becoming far more vicious and callous in his fighting. Irys shows what happens when the young person in that relationship has loads of mental issues.

** WordOfGod says Gamera wins. The film apparently reveals that Gamera is god. Maybe not ''the'' god, but certainly ''a'' god. Director (and co-writer of Gamera 3) Shusuke Kaneko has said that when he was making the Gamera trilogy, he looked around Japanese society and saw that the younger Japanese by and large didn't really believe in anything, spiritually or otherwise. He wished to address this in his Gamera pictures. Gamera resurrects from the flames like the mythical phoenix in the first film. In 2, the sign of the cross forms the "me" character in Gamera's name on the title card and Gamera is "dead" for 3 days before resurrecting. To drive this point home, the English card at the end of the film says "GAMERA 1999: THE ABSOLUTE GUARDIAN OF THE UNIVERSE." Absolute. As in a deity. So in ending the movie this way as a message to the Japanese he was addressing, Kaneko basically says "Yeah, Gamera's gonna win. But we're not gonna show it to you. You have to BELIEVE he's going to win."

* RealityEnsues: The first battle between Gamera and another monster ends in a city being completely devastated, thousands of people dead, and the public calling for Gamera's head on a spike. Indeed, the film takes plenty of time to show the horrific amounts of collateral damage that would be caused by kaiju/sentai battles.

* {{Deconstruction}}: Gamera 3 being the biggest example in the trilogy. It reveals that due to Gamera using the Mana Cannon in part 2, more Gyaos are appearing and attacking humanity (in addition, using simple fire balls also cost mana).
** The battle in Shibuya is basically a deconstruction of the entire Gamera franchise. The films before this one portrayed Gamera as a heroic monster who protected humanity from evil monsters. Here, Gamera defeats the Hyper Gyaos, but causes massive amounts of damage and kills many innocent people.

** According to WordOfGod, Gamera wins the impending final battle against the massive swarm of Gyaos approaching Japan.

* GoodIsNotNice: Gamera, while still the good guy, ends up killing hundreds, maybe even thousands, of innocent people in his attempts to stop the Gyaos.
* HotScientist: Nagamine was hot in the first film, and she's stil hot here. Yes, yes she is...

* CallBack: Perhaps, to the Showa films, when Gamera protects a small child from one of the Gyaos during his battle in Shibuya.

** Maybe, maybe not. "Gamera 3" apparently reveals that Gamera is god. Maybe not the god, but certainly a god. WordOfGod says Gamera wins. Director (and co-writer of Gamera 3) Shusuke Kaneko has said that when he was making the Gamera trilogy, he looked around Japanese society and saw that the younger Japanese by and large didn't really believe in anything, spiritually or otherwise. He wished to address this in his Gamera pictures. Gamera resurrects from the flames like the mythical phoenix in the first film. In 2, the sign of the cross forms the "me" character in Gamera's name on the title card and Gamera is "dead" for 3 days before resurrecting. To drive this point home, the English card at the end of the film says "GAMERA 1999: THE ABSOLUTE GUARDIAN OF THE UNIVERSE." Absolute. As in a deity. So in ending the movie this way as a message to the Japanese he was addressing, Kaneko basically says "Yeah, Gamera's gonna win. But we're not gonna show it to you. You have to BELIEVE he's going to win."

* {{Deconstruction}}: Gamera 3 being the biggest what with it explaining that because Gamera used the Mana Cannon in part 2 more Gyaos are appearing, as well as using simple fire balls cost mana. It also demonstrates that for good or not, a monster out to kill worse monsters will cause major damage in a city. Gamera 3 is also more human driven where it's about people in a world with monsters and Gamera is the best one.