GODZILLA: Minus One

*CUT TO THE CHASE*

NOTE: This spoiler was submitted by Jeremy

1945, Japan – It is near the end of World War II. Kamikaze pilot Koichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki) arrives on Oho Island for what he claims are repairs. He speaks to the head mechanic, Sosaku Tachibana (Munetaka Aoki), who believes he may have fled. Koichi ends up staying at the camp near the water.

At night, thundering footsteps are heard. The nearby soldiers flash a light, and they find the dreaded Godzilla arriving for an attack. The great beast stomps through the men and eats a few of them. Koichi tries to make an escape and loses consciousness along the way, but he and Tachibana survive their encounter with Godzilla.

Koichi later returns to his village in Tokyo, which has seen devastation after the war. He speaks to a local that recognizes him and blames him and others in the war for the deaths of their families, including Koichi’s own parents. While out one day, Koichi finds authorities chasing a woman, Noriko Oishi (Minabi Hamabe), who places something in his arms before continuing to run. It is a baby. After a while, Koichi contemplates leaving the baby, but ultimately cannot bring himself to do so. Noriko encounters him again, and she follows him home. Noriko tells Koichi that the baby is not hers and that she picked her up after her parents were presumably killed in the bombings. Despite his initial objections, Koichi ends up taking care of the child, whom they name Akiko, and he and Noriko form a makeshift family.

Two years later, Koichi and Noriko have been living as parents to Akiko (Sae Nagatani). Koichi begins to work on a minesweeper, where he meets and befriends Kenji “Doc” Noda (Hidetaka Yoshioka), Captain Yoji Akitsu (Kuranosuke Sasaki), and Shiro “Kid” Mizushima (Yuki Yamada). They soon learn that Godzilla has reemerged and is making its way back to Japan, so Koichi is being enlisted as a gunman since the U.S. is not aiding Japan due to tensions with the Soviet Union. Noriko protests that Koichi is risking his life, but he hopes it can help them to keep providing for themselves and Akiko.

The men make their way into the waters, stalling for time while a bigger vessel comes to take care of Godzilla. The giant lizard, now mutated from U.S. nuclear tests during Operation Crossroads, emerges toward the men. Koichi fires upon Godzilla, despite his hands trembling. The crew releases a mine that goes into its mouth, and they fire to blow it up. Despite bringing Godzilla down briefly and destroying half his face, it starts to regenerate and heal its wound. The vessel Takao arrives to go after Godzilla, but the monster goes underwater as it charges up its heat blast. A flash of light appears, and the Takao is obliterated by Godzilla.

Koichi returns home, where he tells Noriko of what happened on the water. He recounts his previous encounter with Godzilla and the survivor’s guilt he felt after others he cared about perished. Noriko comforts him in her arms.

A few days later, Ginza comes under attack when Godzilla makes landfall. A train that Noriko has boarded is attacked and ripped apart by the beast, but she manages to get away. Koichi realizes Noriko is in danger and he runs into the city to try and rescue her while everyone else is running around in a panic. While he catches up to her, the army tries to fight back against Godzilla, until it once again starts to charge up its heat blast. As Ginza is decimated, an ensuing explosion rings across the city. Noriko pushes Koichi into an alleyway while she is blown away. Koichi cannot find Noriko and presumes her dead while he screams looking upon the horrifying scene left by Godzilla, who has once again retreated to the ocean.

Koichi joins a meeting with other soldiers as Doc proposes a plan to defeat Godzilla by utilizing his inventions to trap the beast underwater using Freon tanks and hoping the pressure crushes it. The Japanese government refuses to help, forcing the men to take the plan into action themselves. If the underwater trap fails, the second best hope is for Godzilla to resurface and be killed by explosive decompression using balloons.

Koichi encounters Tachibana again and gets his help in securing a jet filled with explosives that he intends to fly into Godzilla’s mouth to destroy it from inside. Koichi is aware of the risk he poses of not coming back and potentially orphaning Akiko once again, though Tachibana also tries to tell him to not simply do this to avenge Noriko. He leaves money with the neighor Sumiko (Sakura Ando) who babysits Akiko.

The men begin to put their plan into action as Godzilla emerges once again. The monster goes onto land once again, but Koichi flies toward it and fires in its face, drawing it back to the ocean. Doc’s plan takes effect, with the mechanisms pulling Godzilla underwater briefly, but it survives both that and the balloon explosion. Other ships band together to drag Godzilla underneath, but despite their efforts, they fail to kill it and only succeed in making it angrier. Godzilla prepares yet another massive heat blast, with all the soldiers bracing themselves for imminent death, until Koichi returns and flies the jet into Godzilla’s mouth, ejecting just before impact (a flashback shows Tachibana told him about the eject button). Godzilla’s head blows up, and the rest of its body soon disintegrates. The others celebrate this and Koichi surviving.

As the men return to Tokyo, Koichi finds Sumiko arriving with Akiko, along with a note. They rush to the hospital where they find Noriko allive, albeit with possible radiation poisoning. Koichi tearfully and joyously reunites with her.

The last shot we see is a piece of Godzilla’s flesh sinking…and regenerating…

Kamikaze pilot Koichi Shikishima survives an encounter with legendary monster Godzilla, but feels survivor's guilt over what happened. He returns to Tokyo where he forms a makeshift family with a stranger, Noriko, and an orphaned baby that they name Akiko.

Godzilla resurfaces years later after being mutated by U.S. nuclear tests. The beast proves to be seemingly indestructible, as any attempts to kill it only lead to it regenerating. After destroying a vessel on the water, Godzilla attacks the city of Ginza, where Noriko works. Koichi tries to save her, but Godzilla fires its heat blast, decimating the city and seemingly killing Noriko.

One of Koichi's friends, Doc, comes up with plans to trap and kill Godzilla on the water, while Koichi tries to avenge Noriko by finding an old comrade and getting a jet filled with explosives to blow up inside Godzilla. Doc's plans fail and nearly get everyone killed until Koichi flies the jet into its mouth, ejecting before the explosion. Godzilla's head blows up, and the rest of its body crumbles into the ocean.

Koichi returns home and finds that Noriko survived the attack, but now has radiation sickness. Meanwhile, a piece of Godzilla's flesh starts to regenerate underwater, suggesting the great monster isn't totally dead.