Gamera the Brave

Gamera the Brave (Japanese: 小さき勇者たち〜ガメラ〜, romanized: Chiisaki Yūsha-tachi ~Gamera~, meaning "Little Heroes: Gamera") is a 2006 Japanese kaiju film directed by Ryuta Tasaki, with a screenplay by Yukari Tatsui, and produced by Kadokawa Daiei Studio. This is the eleventh film in the Gamera series and the most recent one to date. It acts as a standalone reboot of the franchise, separate from the Heisei-era Gamera trilogy (which concluded with 1999's Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris). Additionally, it is the first Gamera movie made by Kadokawa Daiei Studio after the company acquired a portion of the remaining assets from Daiei Film, the original studio behind the Gamera movies.

The cast includes Ryo Tomioka, Kanji Tsuda, Kaho, and Susumu Terajima, with Toshinori Sasaki portraying Toto, the newly hatched Gamera. The film premiered in Japanese theaters on April 29, 2006, and was distributed by Shochiku.

In 1973, Kosuke Aizawa evacuates his home in Shima during an attack by a swarm of man-eating bird-like creatures called the Original Gyaos. A benevolent fire-breathing turtle-like creature, Avant Gamera, intervenes to buy time for the evacuation. Unable to destroy all the Gyaos, Gamera sacrifices himself using a self-destruct ability to end the threat permanently, as Kosuke watches from the shore.

Thirty-three years later, Kosuke is an adult with a son named Toru, who fears being left alone due to memories of his late mother Miyuki and his father's long work hours. Toru's anxiety grows when his neighbor Mai faces dangerous heart surgery. While exploring with friends Katsuya and Ishimaru to cheer him up, Toru discovers an unusual egg on a red stone at the same spot where the original Gamera self-destructed. The egg hatches into a juvenile Gamera, which Toru names Toto—a nickname Miyuki used for Toru. Toto shows high intelligence, levitation, and small bursts of fire, growing rapidly.

Toto soon outgrows the house, so Toru and his friends move him to a secret location. Toru gives Mai the red stone from the egg as a good luck charm for her surgery. After a storm, Toto disappears. Meanwhile, shipping disasters occur, caused by Zedus, a monstrous, man-eating mutated reptile. Zedus rampages through the city and corners Toru, Kosuke, and Toru's friends. Toto, now much larger, intervenes but is wounded and captured by government officials.