“Godzilla Minus One”, or “G-1.0” as displayed on covers and posters, is Toho’s most recent Godzilla film, and has received wide praise from critics around the world.

Toho Company, Ltd. is a Japanese entertainment company founded in 1932. This company was the main distributor of “Godzilla” (1954) and owns rights to the Godzilla character.

Similar to the original “Godzilla” (1954), the film uses Godzilla himself as a tool to represent profound topics in a critical and thoughtful way, such as self-sacrifice, weapons of mass destruction, and post-war grief.

Weapons of Mass Destruction

In “Godzilla” (1954), Godzilla was an ancient beast awoken by Japanese hydrogen bomb testing. 

In the new movie however, Godzilla is injured when caught up in Operation Crossroads, an American weapons test. This gives him his atomic breath and also makes him angry towards humans. He now attacks American and Japanese ships, heading towards the Japanese Archipelago.

Godzilla’s introduction makes him a symbol of mass destruction, as he is created by a weapon testing. Later in the movie, he also demonstrates the abilities he gained from the accident, which causes destruction almost identical to that of the atomic bomb.

Self-Sacrifice

Our main character, Koichi Shikishima, is a kamikaze pilot and is introduced as he deserts, claiming that something is wrong with his plane.

A young Godzilla attacks him and a group of repairmen, and the only survivor, the head repairman, blames Shikishima for his coworkers’ demise. When the war ends and he returns to his home, Shikishima’s neighbor blames deserters like him for the tragedy of the bombs.

Consumed by guilt for his mistakes, Shikishima works a dangerous job destroying underwater mines. His crew is unexpectedly assigned to use their scavenged bombs to kill Godzilla, who America refuses to aid in killing. They manage to get a bomb in his mouth, and Shikishima is tasked with shooting it.

He aims and fires after a little hesitation, injuring Godzilla. This is a large development from the beginning of the movie, where he hesitated long enough for the young Godzilla to slaughter the repairmen.

Shikishima’s development as a character demonstrates the effects of Japan’s encouragement of self-sacrifice. Throughout most of the film, he seeks to make up for his desertion by protecting others and killing himself in the process.

Before the final battle, he prepares a plan to use a kamikaze plane to kill Godzilla, despite his friends’ claims that he doesn’t need to kill himself.

But, in a twist of events, the very same mechanic who shamed him for his desertion and failure to protect others shows his forgiveness by installing an ejection seat and encouraging him to use it.

Shikishima uses the ejection seat just before killing Godzilla, surviving while killing the Kaiju. His death was never necessary to protect the country, and everyone is overjoyed at his survival.

Post-war grief

When Shikishima returns home following the end of the war in the beginning of the film, he and the audience are faced with the utter destruction of the bombs. The people who survived are devastated; the nation is thrust into a state of zero.

Then, after Godzilla’s attack in Ginza, similar loss ensues. As stated in “Godzilla Minus One”’s press release, “After the war, Japan has been reduced to zero. Godzilla appears and plunges the country into a negative state.” The name, “Godzilla Minus One”, is an allusion to the negative state of Japan following both the war and Godzilla’s rampage.

“Godzilla Minus One” represents heavy themes in a mature and graceful way, providing commentary on them without outright mentioning them.

Though many of the topics covered aren’t as relevant to the modern world, “Godzilla Minus One” represents powerful themes and renews the Godzilla franchise, bringing it from superficial fights and figurine commercials back to graceful commentary on WWII as in “Godzilla” (1954).