Does anyone else find the Japanese petulance to be annoying?

There's always gonna be purists out there.

This is a good example of it.

True, but it would be nice if they accept this movie wholeheartedly.

OP, why concerned yourself with what some internet users from Japan said? We don't even know whether that represents the majority view of Japanese fans (as you said). Instead of complaining about Japanese fans, its better to see it in the proper light. They are just a bunch of posters in Japan and may not reflect what the majority of Japanese fans think. 

Anyhow, I think you should just ignore this, not really relevant in my opinion.

Yeah I think the Japanese hate on this movie is getting WAY blown out of proportion. 

If you actually visit the threads and forums where these comments are made, there are several positive reaction comments to offset the negative ones.

There are plenty of negative American comments on the trailer videos and various websites in addition to the negative. We wouldn't cherry pick those comments and frame it as the 'American' opinion, yet we seem hellbent on doing the same thing to the Japanese reaction. 

And even if the Japanese reaction was all negative (which they aren't) so what? They are allowed to have their opinion. We can't forcefeed people something they don't want to swallow. And to be fair, we already did botch a well marketed Godzilla movie before, so they have a right to be nervous. 

I dunno, long story short, yeah, their criticisms seem a little silly. Yeah, I wish this Godzilla was a little less bulky, but I don't think he's any more 'fat' than their precious 'Heisei' Godzilla. At the same time, silly or not, they are allowed to not like it. If you're excited for it like I am, I'd just focus on being excited for it. I wouldn't let their negativity bring you down. It's just not worth it. 

Yeah, it is getting really annoying...

Some Japanese fans have to much pride about this. I mean, when they started saying that Godzilla was too fat and that it didn't stick to its roots, I thought their complaints were silly and nonsensical, but what was more annoying is that everytime I searched for Godzilla, it was the first thing that popped up, over and over again.

Then this came out, and it was just plain riddiculous! When they said Godzilla should be more "Kawaii", I was became so angry. As I said, it was just riddiculous!

The only thing these Japanese "fans" want is a guy in a big, rubber suit directed by a Japanese director thrown into Hollywood to make them happy. The people who wrote the article are so close-minded. I can practically see their faces cringe because they don't have their precious rubber Godzilla on the screen.

Although its true that it isn't the opinion of all the Japanese fans and that everyone has their opinion, that just baffled me.

I don't think the Japanese comments that are being reported are as indicative as the media is making them out to be.

That said, lets not forget that Godzilla is inherently Japanese and they are well within their rights to criticize what Godzilla should and should not be like. Godzilla comes from a visual universe that isn't about realism, but an unnatural style. Because Hollywood exists to achieve an entirely different style from most Japanese special effects films the ideals can clash.

I'm not saying they're right or wrong, but there are 28 Godzilla movies made a certain way that led the Japanese film industry to love and accept tokusatsu. To criticize the Japanese for turning their nose up at a western style, which is largely a regurgitation of most Hollywood special effects films, can be seen as equally petty.

I must be special 'cause I can't get the image embedding to work (second failure today), so I'll just post a link.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m4na6DcD5o0/T3PKZ3cj5UI/AAAAAAAABy4/TkJ65gK9WWo/s640/Godzilla_haters_gonna_hate.gif

I think this is just a case of the media feeding the trolls - a bunch of elitist, feculent troglodites that, while seemingly "loud", are simply a small group of blabbermouth trouble makers who probably spend more time "interacting" with their love dolls than real people. The press enjoy this crap because it gives them something to sensationalize and Headline Whore to the public and gain more internet traffic.

One could retort that from 1985 to 1995, Godzilla was simply a sumo wrestler with bad skin, bad breath, and a tail. But did anyone complain then? No. For many, if not most, Goji-fans, this was THE most memorable of all Godzilla designs.  These trolls won't acknowledge Godzilla's obesity (if such a term is even valid) in previous iterations, yet seem fixated on it when it comes from an American film studio. It's a double standard that's been taken to a level of silliness that is really unnecessary, and maybe shows that their ultimate hostility is toward America more than anything.

Ignore it, ignore them, and we can enjoy this next era of Godzilla all the more.  ;)

Maybe what I used is a little extreme, but, I dunno, the comments made by them weren't exactly playground sing-along material either. :)

I think my biggest gripe has more to do with how the press is handling it. Some jerks say something that's ultimately inconsequential and it gets blown up as some kind of "thing" where they're actually asking the actors and director about it on the red carpet of the film's big premiere. It was all 100% Purina Troll Chow.

Your right, but still, it just seems inhuman to insult something Gareth and his team have worked so hard on. These people are complaining on the basis of... well an iilogical fallacy or simply pure hatred. There is a difference between having a preference of opinion and just captious trolling. Is too much to ask for some logical justification? Heck even if you say you don't like Godzilla and you will never like Godzilla I wouldn't mind, but if your're going to bash it around, you better have good reason.

Just playing devil's advocate here because I feel the Japanese side of this issue has been both overblown and oversimplified: I don't actually have this opinion myself...but I can see where it's coming from:

Some of the Japanese critics may have a point here. Not the "hahaha he's so fat, ate too many donuts..." critics. Those guys seem more like an inflammatory minority like has already been mentioned in this thread and others.

But one of the other "Japanese Criticism" threads have talked about how they are concerned we are going to make our Godzilla 'hollow spectacle'. Godzilla is steeped in metaphor for the Japanese. For them the Metaphor makes the Monster. An animal that has spiked plates, stands on two legs, and breaths nuclear fire is NOT Godzilla to them. Godzilla needs to be more for it to command their respect. 

And even some of the American reviews have already started to hint that we didn't really execute any real Metaphor. Outside of some forced exposition, Godzilla isn't our punishment, or nature's wrath, or anything else. And that's what the Japanese are afraid of. It's a valid concern for them. 

I'm not saying I agree. Perhaps they are being overly purist. Perhaps they are wrong, and Godzilla will have some strong metaphors. But it's their right to be purists, and they can't know they're wrong until they see the movie. Until then, they are valid concerns and they have the right to express them. 

In the meantime, yeah man, don't let some interwebz trolls spoil the wait. Just enjoy the wind up to the film, and I'm sure when it finally hits, we'll see that Edwards and co. knocked it out of the park.