Gamera is a giant monster, or kaiju, that debuted in the eponymous 1965 Japanese film. The character and the first film were intended to compete with the success of Toho's Godzilla film series. Since then, the franchise has become a Japanese icon in its own right and one of representatives of Japanese cinema, appearing in a total of 12 films produced by Daiei Film and later by Tokuma Shoten and Kadokawa Daiei Studio respectively, and various other media such as novels, manga, magazines, video games and other merchandises, and so on.