I am going to admit right now that one of the reasons the I’m endeavouring to create a space here to discuss Monarch: Legacy of Monsters (M:LOM) and the Monsterverse, is because the show on AppleTV is getting a lot of coded and outright brigading from some of the same sort of fans in the US specifically.

Legendary Pictures and Television creators have done their best to bring to American, English language Godzilla productions the kind of emotional narratives that were always present in Japanese Godzilla productions no matter the restrictions of an action-focused cinematic feature. (I confess my own fan history with the franchise is with the older Japanese production eras and continuities.)

With 10 episode seasons, M:LOM has plenty of time for complex multigenerational character narratives and is delivering, filling in the gaps in bigger cinematic events. With women in major roles in front and behind the camera, LGBTQ and other representation, it’s intentionally working to draw in a broader demographic with a new entry point. It’s also succeeding in its ranking on AppleTV to the point a spinoff will start production this June.

Yet, it’s got a steady stream of posts along the lines of “I don’t really like those characters, do you?” and “Why are those young people making stupid choices?”

M:LOM’s clear themes of “hurt people hurt people” and consequences for actions are challenging but important, much as the Psychology Today piece says.

Taking on these themes and showing flawed three dimensional characters struggling through them in the context of multigenerational trauma makes for great genre television — providing the “they’re making my franchise woke” voices don’t swamp the show.