How I Came To Love Godzilla vs Megaguirus

By Joe Gibson

 

“Japan creates an artificial black hole device to trap Godzilla forever, but a test of the device creates new foes for Godzilla, car-sized dragonflies called meganula and their queen, Megaguirus.” - IMDB storyline description for Godzilla vs Megaguirus (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0255198/). 

 

My Story With Godzilla vs Megaguirus

 

Today, December 16, is the 24th anniversary of the theatrical release of Godzilla vs Megaguirus.

 

This is not a strict traditional review where I will argue a reasoned assessment of this film’s flaws and merits, though that could occur at a later date. This is a celebration of Godzilla vs Megaguirus because I honestly passionately enjoy this film, which is a surprise to me given my history with it that I will also detail here. While I am attempting to explain enough to make this accessible to someone with no or at least very little knowledge about Godzilla vs Megaguirus, I am hoping you have your own evaluations of the film’s stupidities and strengths in mind as you see my evolving thought process on how I came to love it.

 

I initially viewed the Millennium series (that's the 6 movies made between 1999 and 2004 as a response to the Tristar 1998 abomination) as wholly unnecessary additions that only served to undermine Godzilla's legacy. Naturally there were some exceptions to that. I have always respected Shusuke Kaneko's (of the Heisei Gamera trilogy) 2001 film Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah Giant Monsters All Out Attack, and Godzilla 2000 (1999) is an all around fun monster mash (read Doug Gibson's review here: https://planninecrunch.blogspot.com/2021/12/godzilla-2000-review.html).

 

But largely, I saw it as an experimental era and a failed experiment, and Godzilla vs Megaguirus was the most obvious failed experimental step because of the later adaptations to its formula. It is no secret that Masaaki Tezuka got three directorial attempts in this six installment series (debatably two more chances than he should have gotten), and many people have articulated better than I can just the sheer amount of observable ways that Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla 2002 is a far more polished version of Godzilla vs Megaguirus 2000 in terms of basic plot and characters. But you must recall I hated the larger Tezuka driven Millennium series until recently (the only exceptions being Shusuke Kaneko of GMK and Takao Okawara, who directed G2K as well as Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla II 1993 that we have also discussed on this blog here: https://planninecrunch.blogspot.com/2024/11/part-three-godzilla-vs-mechagodzilla-ii.html).

 

Gaining appreciation for Tezuka’s 2002 masterpiece proved tantamount to admitting my issues with his half of the series were overblown. And truly they were. While Tokyo SOS 2003 suffers from a split focus between being a sequel to Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla and being one to the original Mothra, the premise of Kiryu (a Mechagodzilla made from the original Godzilla’s bones) is executed for excellent pathos in both. More interestingly, Vs Megaguirus and Against Mechagodzilla each contributed a strong lead trying to overcome a past mistake in a fight with Godzilla that cost them their teammates, a plot point so very similar to Shikishima’s arc in Takashi Yamazaki’s Godzilla Minus One that it warrants resumed study. But Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla was the elegant film and Megaguirus merely the crude draft, so I would revisit Yumiko Shaku's Akane Yashiro in Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla time and time again instead of Misato Tanaka’s Kiriko Tsujimori.

 

But a funny thing happens when you want more of that archetype in a pre Godzilla Minus One world. Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla is a very light and breezy movie clocking in at only an hour and a half. With more ambitious ideas than Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla II, I think it probably should have exceeded that film’s runtime of 1 hour 47 minutes, especially because there is something very understated about the film’s use of Akane, where the film as it technically ends leaves you off on a cliffhanger in regards to her growth and only resolves her journey and relationship with the other leads in the post credits scene. I should clarify that Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla, in my estimation, is still one of the very best films in this entire series, but what holds it back from absolute perfection is a lack of time to truly explore its own brilliance. What further hurts this is that Akane is only in Tokyo SOS long enough to be written out, so, for better or worse, we only get that first film with her. To truly illustrate my point for a moment, let me use Godzilla Minus One as an example. Think about how well the film explores the facets of Shikishima’s trauma in its 2 hours. I cannot think of a single scene of him that movie would be better off without, much less an entire half hour, and I think Against Mechagodzilla needed as much time and space with Akane as Shikishima had in Minus One. 

 

But what’s this? Godzilla vs Megaguirus is 1 hour and 45 minutes? Kiriko Tsujimori, the verifiable template for Akane Yashiro, has some beats of her adventure that Akane never adapted such as climbing on Godzilla’s back? I’ll just watch that scene then. Now, make no mistake, when I learned that the milestone for the first human character to touch Godzilla was wasted on Godzilla vs Megaguirus, I was majorly pissed off, but I couldn’t look away.

 

 

Megaguirus herself is the next relevant factor. If you are unaware, she is the queen of the Meganula, a dragonfly horde that originated in the original Rodan 1956, now mutated to have a reptilian-esque face because part of her origin in the 2000 film involves the use of Godzilla’s DNA and energy. Compared to the dark “battle Mothra” Battra in Godzilla vs Mothra The Battle For Earth 1992 (also directed by Takao Okawara) who had copious amounts of energy beams and earth shattering strength, Megaguirus is quite weak, depending on her great speed and a tail stinger to siphon Godzilla’s energy so that the title fight is even a slight challenge. It was quite easy to use this to support my anti Tezuka bias initially, but, the more I think about these characters, the more inherently interesting this makes Megaguirus.

 

So, there is a lot of utility to making the villains resemble the hero in more than just cosmetic similarity; if they represent two different sides of an idea or concept, similarity strengthens the overt contrast present (such as how I argued Skar King and Kong represent different fatherhood styles in my review of Godzilla x Kong The New Empire here: https://planninecrunch.blogspot.com/2024/06/part-two-nuanced-deconstruction-of.html). 

 

Contrast of some kind is always necessary. It can also be interesting to see similarity in fighting style too, but, make no mistake, that shifts the conflict from testing character’s ideals to just how good at their fighting style they are compared to essentially a clone. And the problem that emerges in a lot of modern storytelling is that many stories conflate those contrasts. Think about most superhero movies especially consumed back to back. 

 

“Oh, Iron Man is special because he has a robot suit…but Iron Monger also has a robot suit, so they fight normally. The Hulk is special because he has super strength…but so does Abomination so they have a normal fight. Captain America is a super soldier, and so is Red Skull, so outside of their clashing moral outlooks of self sacrifice vs world domination which thankfully are there, it is just a normal fight. Rinse and repeat for the shrinking of Ant-Man and Yellowjacket and reflexes and super durable suits of Black Panther and Killmonger.” 

 

Battra comes dangerously close to this Mirror Match fight for Mothra, only set apart by having copious beams…oh wait, this was the Heisei series, so Mothra also had beams (we can blame special effects director Koichi Kawakita for that). That film mitigates the pitfalls by having Mothra and Battra end up teaming up against Godzilla, but, in a similar way to how a really good purposeful and self aware mirror matchup is exciting, it is equally exciting for Godzilla to have a villain nothing like him, because he cannot just fight with punches and beams if Megaguirus is faster than both of those and actively siphoning his energy. Add to that the automatic characterization the film milks from her maneuvers and reactions in the fight scenes, and Megaguirus won me over a lot sooner than her film did. That said, GMK Mothra also uses a lot of these building blocks just as effectively.

 

The depiction of Godzilla in the Millennium series compared to Showa (1955 to 1975) or Heisei (1984 to 1995) was always a bit of a sore spot for me, since I very much appreciated seeing Godzilla grow and evolve in the Showa and Heisei continuities. Still, the unresolved fierceness of Godzilla in the Millennium series was something interesting to glance at with the spiky edgy design and lack of the linear redemption arc between enjoying continuity. Upon realizing I preferred the Heisei Godzilla’s anti hero persona to even Showa Godzilla, I had to acknowledge that Godzilla 2000 and Godzilla vs Megaguirus both showed the clearest picture of anti hero Godzilla that you get outside of Godzilla vs King Ghidorah 1991: Godzilla will destroy the attacking monster but then turn around and destroy Japan himself. Godzilla vs Megaguirus also shows a dangerous morally ambiguous Godzilla (he attacks as much as he wants to, but it seems to correspond to the use of banned energy) and shows off design improvements. MireGoji (the name for the suit in G2K) and GiraGoji (the vs Megaguirus suit) are very similar, both having the rougher edges and green skin texture, but GiraGoji, whether from filming in more daytime scenes or not, seems to have a more vibrant green that I now very much enjoy. 

 

It took the MireGoji similarities in Godzilla’s Evolved form in Godzilla x Kong for me to reevaluate these suits, but, after that, it was only a short time for me to realize I really enjoy both suits, and GiraGoji may be my favorite Godzilla design of all time (though any Heisei Godzilla suit and Minus One Godzilla also have claim to that title). At this point, I still thought it a tragedy all these enjoyable aspects were relegated to this film in particular. I attempted to revisit the film, but that was the dub. (Some dubs are worse than others. Because the English speakers in the Japanese cuts of the Heisei series are even worse than the dub actors, those films, for instance, are far better in dub than subtitled, and most Showa dubs are not so terrible. Godzilla vs Megaguirus has an abysmal dub that is the kind of thing I can really only appreciate if I have the original recording in my mind.)

 

Still with a hunger for this movie but unwilling to admit it after failing to sit through the dub, I listened to the soundtrack, which is honestly amazing. I have defended Tom Holkenborg’s Godzilla vs Kong and Godzilla x Kong scores for their semi memorable leitmotifs, but this film honestly blows it away, and that’s not an unpopular opinion. Of the Godzilla film composers obviously Akira Ifukabe is the biggest name with his contributions lasting through the end of the Heisei series, but, for the Tezuka films, Michiru Oshima composed, and her incredibly memorable Godzilla motif in Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla originated in Godzilla vs Megaguirus as it turns out. Moreover, this soundtrack represents Megaguirus through the use of very shrill and ugly string instruments that build suspense but also weave in and out of tracks with the other motifs very well (this makes almost every scene set in Shibuya or about the Meganula nearly perfect). Regardless of your opinions on Masaaki Tezuka, this film did have one certifiable genius working on it, and since the music is another way to enjoy a film, if I am enjoying pretty much every aspect of this film already, there is no reason not to rewatch it, so let’s just run through what’s left to speak of about the plot (with a couple tangents on my thoughts on the quality of some plot points because I can’t help myself).

 

The Film’s Plot

 

The film begins with a news broadcast exposition to ground us in this new continuity, where there was no Oxygen Destroyer in 1954 so Godzilla kept attacking at his own pace (again two months after the 54 film, then the first nuclear plant in 1966, and for plasma energy in 1996), and his design was canonically always the green with purple spikes body and red beam in this continuity. When Godzilla attacks, soldiers including Kiriko Tsujimori fight against him with bazookas, and her Commanding Officer dies saving her from rubble after they accomplish very little.

 

The next time we see Tsujimori is in 2001 as part of the G Graspers (the military side of the operation) where she is recruiting whimsical inventor Kudo into the latest project to destroy Godzilla: a black hole gun spearheaded by Professor Yoshizawa, who serves a mentor role to Kudo. Mr. Sugiura is the other major character of this plotline, someone who is responsible for the current situation in more ways than one. Tsujimori and Kudo have a flirtatious banter (though she is more focused on defeating Godzilla), Tsujimori and Yoshizawa are both haunted by the deaths of comrades, and Tsujimori is compassionate to her team of G Graspers (getting them to safety to risk only her own life on two occasions) with Yoshizawa as a maternal influence on the cast to mediate the disagreements and arguments that do occur (especially between Tsujimori and Kudo)..

 

A subplot that weaves in and quickly out of this story is about young boy that just so happens to live near the facility of the first Dimension Tide test and have an interest in insects, so when DT causes a dimensional space anomaly that lets through a Meganula that lays an egg, he takes that back to Shibuya but then dumps it in the sewer, allowing that side of the plot to continue. The film establishes his loneliness and also guilt over the whole situation to where I buy his actions even if they do rest on some contrived set up (personally, if I were writing it, I would have combined him with the Doctor that exposits on the Meganulon/Meganula species later on and possibly both of those with Yoshizawa just for peak editorial efficiency). The boy’s other contribution is his conversations with Tsujimori that humanize her and somewhat clarify her drive to defeat Godzilla: that her CO told her that when you are scared, you should fight and not run.

 

Some Meganulon hatch from the egg and begin to prey on citizens of Shibuya as they gradually flood the town to help them mature into Meganula (winged versions) and grow their queen Megaguirus that they feed with Godzilla’s nuclear energy absorbed through their stingers. This subplot occurs over a variety of scenes that all effectively use the soundtrack to enhance the often wordless scenes of the Meganula, and the first of these scenes, a very tense horror scene of a Meganulon slaughtering people is so brilliant and suspenseful in the original Japanese audio. A comparison in Western media that seems apt is the scene in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2 where it briefly becomes an Evil Dead film about Doctor Octopus’ tentacles wreaking havoc on doctors and nurses: abrupt but memorably shows off directorial talent for horror.

 

The G Graspers track Godzilla over the course of the film, and the Meganula seeking out Godzilla intersects these plotlines, leading to an ocean confrontation between Tsujimori, her team and Godzilla while taking samples of a Meganula carcass. This is the scene where Tsujimori climbs on Godzilla’s back, and it is a testament to her tenacity and leadership as she sends her teammate back to the ship and survives the struggle, even placing a tracker in Godzilla’s skin. From there, it builds up to its final action set pieces with a skirmish between Godzilla and the horde of Meganula interrupting the first Dimension Tide attempt on Godzilla on an abandoned island, and Tsujimori and Sugiura becoming more desperate to use Dimension Tide on Godzilla as soon as possible compared to the more cautious Kudo and Yoshizawa.

 

Because I find it a little weird that this subplot was resolved after the title fight and not before, I’ll wrap it up here. Sugiura acts strange throughout the movie, and, with the emphasis the film places on Godzilla’s 1966 and 1996 attacks being energy related (nuclear then plasma), there is an implication something could be stirring Godzilla now. It turns out that Sugiura has known that the Science and technology Bureau has still been using plasma energy to some degree and that attracts Godzilla. (In any eventual full review of this film, the areas I foresee the most weakness in the script are here and the little boy from earlier. These clearly do not detract from my enjoyment of the film but are necessary considerations when speaking on quality.)

 

And finally, to bring this back around to my earlier point about the intrigue of Megaguirus as a villain, Godzilla has to use his wits to turn the tides of the fight: crouching at just the right moment to use his dorsal fins to slice her, pretending not to see where she is so he can wrap his tail around her, and getting into a tussle so he can bury her stinger in the ground and belly flop on her (yeah, if you were unaware, that level of creative Showa era buffoonery happens in this fight, and it’s justified on a storytelling level). Ultimately, he bites her tail off, and the first atomic breath he lands on her sets her on fire because their fight was testing different aspects of him than how strong his fists and beam are.

 

Conclusion 

 

 

Like I said, this is not a traditional review of mine where I focus on using the film evidence to come to a conclusion about its quality, but here is why today's approach is also important sometimes. Because we are not objective creatures, our subjective sense of liking or not liking a film proves important in our motivation surrounding how thoroughly we investigate a film’s plot points and with what degree of enthusiasm. We all do this subconsciously, but here is a conscious example pertaining to this film. 

 

One of the most common criticisms I have seen for Godzilla vs Megaguirus is that, at the beginning of the movie, Tsujimori and her squad are going after Godzilla using bazookas and not tanks or maser tanks or anything more than big guns. I suspect that the people that do not appreciate any aspect of this film or otherwise do not have any respect for it will stop there; the film does comment on that somewhat. The opening fight takes place in 1996, and while the presentation makes it a little hard to tell, it seems like Tsujimori is not yet in the G Graspers. In any case, 1996 is the year that the Science and Technology Bureau opened their Institute and the year that made major progress in the fight against Godzilla. The following five years' worth of development leads to a G Graspers unit well equipped with SGSs (Search Godzilla System), as well as branded rafts, The Griffon Jet and advanced equipped suits. There is clearly supposed to be a contrast between the 1996 and 2001 efforts against Godzilla, and criticizing the film for that is missing the point of what it’s trying to say. That said, the ultimate plan against Godzilla is the Black Hole Gun: Dimension Tide, which is a patently awful idea especially when considering they plan to put in space and fire down at the Earth unobstructed at any moment (how did the UN allow this?), so…either the film just is irredeemably stupid or it is trying another more subtle juxtaposition at the heart of its story rather than just in act one (admittedly, both could also be true). 

 

Because I like this movie, I have more patience around the proposition that maybe there is something deeper there. Tsujimori herself demonstrates an interesting mix of traits that make her both the best person to fight against Godzilla (general badassery and the compassion for others) and the worst (an unanswered recklessness where she advocates stronger for Dimension Tide than the actual scientists working on it to the point of siding with the twist villain briefly). Indeed, her great hero moment at the end of this film is looking at her CO’s dog-tags reminded on how he said to fight not run but saved her by making them run away from Godzilla. Not only that, but she is wearing the G Grasper uniform using the G Grasper tech that only exists because of villain Sugiura (who has been luring Godzilla) to save people from Godzilla by firing Dimension Tide at Godzilla IN A CITY. (Indeed, only the first attempt of Dimensio Tide on Godzilla took place on the uninhabited Ogasawara islands.) The similar contradictions in Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla II indicated some deeper themes, according to my analysis, so perhaps the same will be true here. If I find nothing, I find nothing (and any review will reflect that), but it is because I like this movie that I’ll look more into what themes it could have before doing a dedicated review of it here.

 

Today, it is the film’s anniversary, and, over my part in its first two dozen years, I have held a variety of viewpoints on it. I will take this time to remember it fondly and invite you all to do the same, but if you have any thoughts positive or negative on this film, you can share them as a comment below. Here at Plan9Crunch, Godzilla is not our main focus, but you can check out a good assortment of content from us about the franchise if you care to do so.

 

Links to other Plan9Crunch Godzilla articles and videos:

 

https://planninecrunch.blogspot.com/2023/06/review-godzilla-versus-kong-2021-remake.html

 

https://planninecrunch.blogspot.com/2014/03/godzilla-is-on-this-authors-mind.html

 

https://planninecrunch.blogspot.com/2021/12/godzilla-2000-review.html

 

https://planninecrunch.blogspot.com/2010/02/godzilla-versus-monster-zero.html

 

https://planninecrunch.blogspot.com/2024/06/a-nuanced-deconstruction-of-godzilla-x.html

 

https://planninecrunch.blogspot.com/2024/06/part-two-nuanced-deconstruction-of.html

 

https://planninecrunch.blogspot.com/2024/07/part-three-nuanced-deconstruction-of.html

https://youtu.be/yV6i2xX0pf4?si=Nu9RWsP5k6CbT68H

 

https://youtu.be/1HMV1hMPgzs?si=1Iip-2qfPxDe6G_B

 

https://youtu.be/pSosxtg51oM?si=CoDIwTko6C5N5DCY

https://youtu.be/AI_FMxtTlIk?si=EA51lODIQp2LUVr1

Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla II: Strengths and Stupidities Part One

 

By Joe Gibson

 

Hi, and welcome back to Plan9Crunch where we’re all about cult films and hope you are too. I’m Joe Gibson, and today to coincide with Godzilla Day 2024, I would like to talk to you all about our Lizord and Savior Godzilla. This is mostly about 1993’s Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla II, but it’ll take a little bit to get there. This review got pretty long (9 thousand words, so you can expect a similar format to my Godzilla x Kong Review of multiple parts and then a video, links at the bottom of this article).

Chapter One - Shin Godzilla Raided Again the first time in 1984

The larger genre of kaiju eiga, best exemplified by Godzilla, fits within several era categories. Kaiju films made before 1989 fit into the Showa era (these era names are titled mostly after the Emperor’s reigns, so Heisei is the era of 1989 onwards, and Reiwa is the most recent), and Godzilla’s Showa series lasted between 1954 and 1975, Godzilla 1984 being the start of the Heisei series that ended in 1995, with the Millennium series lasting from 1999 to 2004, and the concurrent Legendary and Toho Reiwa revivals occurring in the last decade. While the Millenium series was focused on rabid reinterpretation (which you can see with Godzilla finally being green and having a red beam rather than blue, King Ghidorah being a good guy, Mechagodzilla being the revived original Godzilla), much of the Reiwa era has been focused on returning to the roots of the character for a truer incarnation. 

 

Shin Godzilla (2016) is perhaps the most important monster film of the past few decades, for reinterpreting Godzilla as a nuclear tragedy the way he was originally, in ways that have been mimicked with Shin Ultraman and Shin Kamen Rider that return to the aesthetic and tone of their respective original series. (Gamera is unfortunately the odd man out with no dedicated Shin installment, but I think 2023’s Gamera Rebirth is a very good example of the general trend in how it remains focused on Gamera’s bond with children from the Showa era with Showa monsters while still acknowledging the aspects of Heisei Gamera that are now inextricable from the IP.) And then of course Godzilla Minus One might be the best example in this entire series of hearkening back to the original and encapsulating something Godzilla Can Be that feels right.

 

However, this history is somewhat revisionist. The Millennium series, as an example, was not meant to be unlike Godzilla but condemn the 1998 American film; noticeably Godzilla 2000 (1999) designs its villain monster Orga after the 1998 creature, with the added implication that Orga is trying to assimilate Godzilla but will always fail.  Even this new green, spiky Godzilla that breathes red flame is more of a Godzilla than the Tristar abomination was. The New Millennium must have a New Godzilla, and Toho could not allow the 1998 Zilla or (G.I.N.O. Godzilla In Name Only) to lead the series into this milestone. We have to remember that every Godzilla series was made film to film, not experiment to experiment.

 

More to the point of why we are here today, the Heisei series was not designed to be one out of three additional series to experiment each in a separate direction; it was the relaunch of Godzilla to return to his roots. Regardless of your opinion of Godzilla’s sillier Showa outings, one can chart the general trend from serious to satire to superhero in Godzilla’s Showa filmography. While the beast in Godzilla 1954 was equal parts allegory, monster and victim, there was nothing in that original film to suggest that Godzilla would wind up sliding on his tail fighting alien invaders to save little boys in tight pants. But the series reached that point anyway. Rebooting Godzilla was an opportunity in and of itself, and there are a lot of scrapped concepts you can find online to see where Toho thought Godzilla should go upon his return. What we got was The Return of Godzilla also known as Godzilla 1984 also known as Godzilla 1985, a film set amidst and about Cold War tensions, where Godzilla represents the real threat of nuclear annihilation, but he also has a character outside of that. This new Godzilla was going to hearken back to the original in that way. Superhero was a bit too far, but sympathetic…that could work. At the end of Godzilla 1954, following damage control from Godzilla invading the humans’ homes and destroying them, the humans enter Godzilla's home to destroy him. Not only that, but in that film about victims of nuclear technology, he is the first victim of it. 

 

Godzilla 1984 carries this sympathetic streak through effectively. During a couple key moments, Godzilla responds to bird calls, following them because, due to similar anatomy, he understands them and either thinks they are the same or wants them to be. That is how the ending functions; the humans lure Godzilla to a volcano with the bird calls, and there is a moment where he pauses, almost as if he knows he shouldn’t but proceeds anyway to fall to his doom.

 

I cannot speak to the intent of these scenes any better than anyone else can. Insofar as Godzilla 1984 was technically the first Shin Godzilla, but history won’t see it that way, I cannot speak to the deliberate intent of certain other key decisions film to film. The flabbergasted look on Godzilla’s face after he escapes his volcano and treks to find his clone Biollante, finally laying eyes on that abomination can communicate aggression or that same loneliness. In the third Heisei Godzilla film, time travel shenanigans reveal a connection with a particular human, and the tear in his eye as he kills Shindo elucidates that aggression and loneliness may very well be tied together in this character. As far as character moments for the Big G, Godzilla vs Mothra (1992) is pretty much a wash, so that brings us to Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla II (1993), the topic of discussion. 

 

My argument here is that Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla II, whether intentionally or incidentally, ties these possibly disparate moments together into a satisfying character arc for Godzilla, as essentially the linchpin of this era's storytelling. The basic premise of Godzilla’s role in Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla II is that he wants to find and retrieve the Baby Godzilla, with audience sympathy for him emphasized throughout the film to the degree of those earlier moments. Godzilla attacks a lot, looking for the child, the devastation taking on a more heroic quality but still remaining threatening. Structurally, Godzilla is still the most clear threat, and the Heisei series keep this as an overarching trend (except for the next film Godzilla Vs Spacegodzilla, but Spacegodzilla is still a Godzilla and even the consequence of earlier Godzilla rampages) because even in the finale Godzilla vs Destoroyah, a film about the ramifications of the oxygen Destroyer made manifest into devil incarnate, the more pressing stakes relate to Godzilla's impending nuclear explosion. It is a tricky line to navigate rooting for the only thing that makes sense to root against, so we will have to go much deeper into how the film navigates itself through this story.

Chapter Two  - Let’s Rewatch Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla II With This All In Mind 

 

The film opens on the remains of Mecha-King Ghidorah, and I probably should explain what that is. As I opened with, the Heisei series is the second main Godzilla series, and, of 7 movies, this is the fifth. It is said that the Heisei series has the strongest continuity of any Godzilla series. 

Godzilla 1984 leads into Godzilla vs Biollante with not only the increasing innovation of the Super X line of flying tanks but the consequences of trapping Godzilla in a volcano and leaving his mutagenic G cells all over Japan. Then, the method for defeating Godzilla in that movie (a form of anti nuclear energy bacteria) leads directly into his absence for the first chunk of Godzilla vs King Ghidorah (and of course the character Goro Gondo in Godzilla vs Biollante has close ties to some in Godzilla vs Spacegodzilla, almost autocorrected to Godzilla vs speakeasy, the 6th Heisei film, and there is a third Super X in Godzilla vs Destoroyah, the 7th and finale). As the most overt film to film connection, we have the remains of Mecha King Ghidorah from the end of Godzilla vs King Ghidorah being salvaged to become the basis for Mechagodzilla (Godzilla vs Mothra between these two films sort of did its own thing but ties directly into Godzilla vs Spacegodzilla).

There are impressive shots to show off the scale of the onlookers at Mecha King Ghidorah before the film takes us into a narrated info dump. I’d be remiss not to be as thorough as possible with the implications and ramifications of this plot point before we proceed, however.

 

I initially got quite puzzled about how Mecha King Ghidorah should still exist, since the English dub for Godzilla vs King Ghidorah is quite explicit that two of the same being cannot exist at the same time and one would magically disappear were that to happen. Oh yeah, sorry, this is important because due to timey-wimey shenanigans, there would be two Ghidorah corpses in 1992 coastal Japanese waters, one with the mechanical augmentations and one without. That said, the start of this movie only shows Mecha King Ghidorah’s mechanical head, so even though technology like Mechagodzilla’s shock anchors originated in that piece of future tech (the electric "Godzilla Capture Devices and Machine Hand" work incredibly similarly, whereas no other tech in previous films comes close to approximating the shock anchors), the whole frame need not still exist (because no matter which Ghidorah disappears, I doubt the relevant one would still be a functional cyborg). GvsKG is a really stupid film, so to already sidestep an issue that one creates with this connective tissue earns respect on this film’s part I think.

 

The narration info dump explains to us the United Nations Godzilla Countermeasure Center organized a think tank for a weapon to destroy Godzilla, rushing us through the backstory and development of not only Mechagodzilla but a previous attempt in Garuda a mech that resembles the maser tanks integrated into a Super X machine. It will be significant that the Garuda is named after a Hindu bird god and not the Super X 3 for reasons I will explain later. The narrator explains that the scientists studied Mecha King Ghidorah’s technology and integrated it, but, again, only the head is focused on as an intact piece in the virtual blueprint plans shown. We next see an artistic depiction of Mechagodzilla being assembled piece to piece with text overlaid alluding to a special diamond coating that will be relevant later. I previously covered Godzilla x Kong The New Empire and its misuse of Kong’s BEAST Glove with similar early subtle mention and later significant plot relevance. We will see how this film handles the diamond coating, but there is an early advantage here with the previous existence of “Fire Mirror” technology on the Super X 2 that briefly reflected Godzilla’s atomic breath.

 

Is a narrated info dump a valid writing technique to use in this kind of story? In my opinion, it depends on the execution. Other Heisei Godzilla movies have more creative uses of exposition such as Godzilla vs Biollante and how it presents the different alert stages corresponding to different levels of Godzilla activity within Mount Mihara. But “we salvaged a time traveling cyborg into a nuclear mecha tank as one of our two weapons” is not nearly as easy to put in diegetic conversation that isn’t As You Know dialogue as one might initially think, so I give this a pass. 

 

After a title card and credits sequence, a scientist explains that Mechagodzilla uses a derivative of heavy hydrogen helium three in pellet form to fuel its reactor, and as the second advantage the synthetic diamond plating has over the BEAST Glove, the scientist thoroughly explains that too.  Yuri Katagiri, a new recruit, asks some followup questions, and this film is noticeably avoiding unrealistic As You Know dialogue (wherein characters break character to exposit solely for audience benefit), as, once the two reach Kazuma Aoki in the Garuda weapon, the exposition that Garuda is state of the art comes from an argument between the scientist and Kazuma, not just because we need to know that. It tells us a lot about Kazuma, the lead of this picture, that he is unable to let go of Garuda, as he worked on the team, and his passion for pteranodons is more important to him than his UNGCC and eventually G Force appointments. It turns out Katagiri is here to replace him, and he has been hired to G Force, a pseudo military branch of the UNGCC. 

 

The G Force commander Sasako is very disapproving of Aoki’s lifestyle and pteranodon hobby and explains he is there to help in the Mechagodzilla project along with three pilots. The conflict between Aoki’s unique personality and the rigid military structure of G Force is a major part of this film, and a montage shows him failing at karate and falling asleep in “class” of studying Godzilla’s attacks. His selective competence and constant irresponsibility are seemingly his least flattering characteristics, but not only will they drive the plot forward, this a comedic scene for us to identify with him, and G Force may not have the best of intentions comparatively. We’ll have to put a pin in that, since the movie is now showing us a research team on Adona island to introduce the inciting incident and key monster players.

 

 

The so-called Big Five of Godzilla kaiju are as follows: Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah, Mechagodzilla, and Rodan. The conceit of this classification is marquee value, but, as far as actual data goes, they are the only monsters to appear in every era of Godzilla, however fleetingly in some cases. Well, that is only mostly true. Some form of a juvenile Godzilla also always appears, so this film is knocking out three of the should-be Big Six: Mechagodzilla, Rodan and Baby Godzilla. Adona Island is setting to an irradiated pteranodon nest, where one egg has hatched into Rodan and another remains undisturbed but present for a team of researchers to steal while Godzilla and Rodan fight. (Specifically, a team was there with Russians for petroleum when they found a Pterosaur skeleton and in fact a nest.)

 

Professor Omae and Azusa Gojo analyze a mysterious fern left on the egg when Rodan perches which causes the egg to glow red. I really like Rodan’s design in this film. Especially compared to how he last looked in the Showa series with the droopy beak, there is a resumed ferocity, but I will talk more about that later. What is relevant for now is that the puppet is unfortunately somewhat stiff, and Omae is very weirdly confident that Rodan must have come from the hatched egg and become irradiated before he is informed the island is even a dumping place for nuclear waste. In a series where scientists are so important (either as methodical role models or tragic figures), having one so quick to state (incidentally true) assumptions registers weird to me, so we will have to keep an eye on his character.

 

Godzilla arrives to fight Rodan (we will learn why later on), and his head pokes up over a rock similar to the imagery of rising over the hill in the original film. Perhaps, I am overthinking this connection, but this was originally intended to be the finale to make time for the then-1994 slated American attempt (being a finale explains the impending recontextualizing of his morality, reinterpretation of the three remaining Godzilla staples and 27 minutes of Godzilla screen time starting with a fight against Rodan within the film’s first 20 minutes).

 

Godzilla and Rodan’s skirmish is the fight most indicative of Heisei battles in my opinion. Heisei Rodan begins the fight dominating with his gimmick (in this case aerial superiority, but other gimmicks have been piercing tentacles or prehensile necks to strangle Godzilla), and Godzilla even winds up on his back, but his durability is too great, so he turns the tide of the fight and eventually lands a fatal beam strike.

 

Aoki learns of the egg’s transport to Kyoto and takes it upon himself, pteranodon enthusiast as he is, to sneak into the lab holding it to take pictures for his own enjoyment, accidentally flashing one of Azusa when she catches him. He is really flippant about her protests that he leave but is paying close enough attention to her to notice she does not want him to go toward the fern samples, at which point he goes toward the fern samples. She sends him out, but it turns out he has pocketed one of the fern samples and hits on her.

 

Omae studies the egg’s color change and concludes it is related to the child’s emotional state (red for stress and agitation); this leads to the realization it has imprinted on Azusa. Meanwhile, Aoki is eating lunch with returning actress Megumi Odaka as Miki Saegusa, a character in each of the Heisei sequels Biollante onward. They would both be outcasts in G-Force so I have little issue with Miki being in the right place at the right time to conclude they have to take the fern sample to the psychic institute for a different kind of analysis.

 

And now is the point of any Heisei Godzilla review where I have to explain how ESP fits into the larger Godzilla series. Godzilla 1984 is a very grounded Cold War-era film exploring Godzilla as an allegory for nuclear annihilation fears, and it is important for that film’s subtext that it be the real world or as close to it as possible. (The 1954 Godzilla, 1984 Godzilla, Shockirus, a louse mutated by Godzilla, and the Super X are the only unrealistic things to add to our world for the story of Godzilla 1984 to function.) But Godzilla vs Biollante introduced a psychic component where Dr. Shirigami was able to put his daughter’s soul into a Godzilla-rosebush, Miki Saegusa of a psychic research institute can attempt to use ESP to stop Godzilla from coming ashore, and Godzilla can reveal he too has psychic energy by resisting Miki. Miki tags along for all subsequent adventures to differing degrees (in too little of Godzilla vs Mothra and too much of Godzilla vs Spacegodzilla), and the institute containing psychic children is seldom brought up again except here. (In other words, I am saying the film containing this plot point is a good thing for the longer form storytelling, and the quality of this film will depend largely on internal execution not the premise itself).

 

In any case, the psychic children conclude that the fern’s energy can be represented through a song, a revitalizing song of psychic energy, and when Aoki shows this to Omae, the egg hatches in front of Azusa. (I conclude that the song is specifically one of revitalizing because it provides the energy required to birth an otherwise mostly dormant dinosaur and also revives Rodan later in the movie.) As I have already spoiled, the egg hatches not another Rodan but a Baby Godzilla, specifically a mildly irradiated Godzillasaur (the fictional family of dinosaur Heisei Godzilla was revealed to be in Godzilla vs King Ghidorah. The Godzillasaur in that film was brown, while this child will oscillate between blue and green in the coming films, so the best faith interpretation is slightly different species or at least regional variation). 

 

Omae, Aoki and Miki all burst into the room to observe this new Godzilla, and, already, the film is at work with its thematic juxtaposition. Here is an innocent creature that is also Godzilla, overly cutesy with a tongue to lick Azusa but a creature that also makes Heisei Godzilla-esque hand movements (hand motions were a surprisingly important part of Kenpachiro Satsuma's Godzilla suit acting, God rest his soul). Omae jumps to the conclusion that this creature must be vegetarian, again letting his feelings inform what he proclaims as fact. Aoki’s presence allows him to explain that Baby Godzilla here was a parasite egg laid into the nest of a different bird without “As You Know” dialogue, and Miki senses Godzilla beginning a rampage.

I am sorry to cut things off here right before one of I think the most iconic Godzilla rampages in the Heisei series, but this is getting quite long and repeating history with my Godzilla x Kong series, links here.

https://planninecrunch.blogspot.com/2024/06/a-nuanced-deconstruction-of-godzilla-x.html

https://planninecrunch.blogspot.com/2024/06/part-two-nuanced-deconstruction-of.html

https://planninecrunch.blogspot.com/2024/07/part-three-nuanced-deconstruction-of.html

As I mentioned those three parts were combined for an hour-long recording, which you can watch through this link: https://youtu.be/AI_FMxtTlIk?si=EA51lODIQp2LUVr1 Or just search up Plan9Crunch on YouTube 

Happy Godzilla Day, We'll be back soon with more Godzilla content as well as our other favorite cult films and cult figures.