Having seen the original Japanese version....

....I have to say it's not that bad. It made a hell of a lot more sense than the English dub (like that's surprising), and has a more serious tone and the lack of goofy dub voices makes it easier to take certain aspects of the story seriously, as does the violence - Rokuro's rather rough kidnapping when he's out on his toy motorcycle, Hiroshi knocking the Seatopian agent out by thunking his head against the floor, and that same agent later getting accidentally crushed by Megalon (who unknowingly sends a boulder hurtling at him).

Okay, so Rokuro is still annoying as all hell and Jet Jaguar's inexplicable ability to grow to Godzilla size still doesn't make any sense any way you figure it, and yes, the Seatopians are still a bit on the fruity side, but give 'em a break. They're (mostly) pacifist types who worship a giant Christmas tree beetle with Chrysler Building drill hands. How else did you expect people like that to dress and act? At least they drove that sleek sexy black Mercedes, right?

In either version, I have to confess that I quite like Megalon himself. He's been criticized a lot, but why? I think the costume looks good and the design of him is overall pretty cool. Granted it doesn't make a lot of sense for undersea people to have a beetle as a god, but I just accept it as part of the film's insane storyline, and Megalon himself is certainly one of the more inventive-looking Toho monsters of the era, alongside Gigan. He's certainly better than that giant shrimp Ebirah, or the might-not-even-really-exist Gabera.