See how the acclaimed Godzilla Minus One hits the 15 Save the Cat! story beats.
Written and Directed by: Takashi Yamazaki
Genre: Rites of Passage
Opening Image: During World War II, a Japanese plane lands on a remote island, a bomb attached to its underside. The Opening Image immediately clues us in to what this story is about: war and its impact.
Set-Up: Koichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki), a Kamikaze pilot, lands on the island, telling the mechanics that his plane is in need of repair.
Theme Stated: As Shikishima waits for the repairs to be completed, he sits in solace. One mechanic approaches him, saying, “I’m on your side. We need more people like you. I just don’t see what the point is. We know how this war is gonna end, so why ‘die honorably’ now?” This is the thematic premise Shikishima will struggle with: would his death as a kamikaze have meant something? Is he running away from his true destiny? What makes death honorable and worth it?
Set-Up (continued): Shikishima notices dead fish bubbling up on the shore, and later that night, something large emerges from the sea. As the men scramble in fear, a mechanic says that the locals call it Godzilla, and that when deep-sea fish float like they did that day, it’s a sign that he will appear.
During the attack, Shikishima races to his plane to man the guns, but he freezes, unable to shoot at the massive kaiju, and the men are killed in the ensuing carnage. One survivor, a mechanic named Tachibana (Munetaka Aoki), blames Shikishima for the men’s deaths. On the boat ride back to Japan, Tachibana hands him something wrapped in paper, which Shikishima quickly hides upon viewing.
Back home, Shikishima learns that his parents were killed in the war. There are even more things that need fixing in his life besides his physical home. In his thesis world, Shikishima is alone and did not serve his purpose in the war, to die as a kamikaze. His neighbor, Sumiko (Sakura Ando), confronts him and blames him for her children’s deaths by not carrying out his duty, dishonoring everyone as a coward. The thematic premise is front and center as he sits in the rubble of his village, reading the letter from his father, imploring Shikishima to “return to us alive.” Questioning his choices and stuck in a position of stasis = death, Shikishima asks, “Isn’t this what you wanted?”
Catalyst: While at the market, Shikishima hears people chasing after a woman, calling her a thief. The woman races up to Shikishima and locks eyes with him before thrusting a bundle into his arms, telling him to hold it. As she runs off, he looks down to see a baby swaddled in the blanket.
Debate: Shikishima waits for her to return and is about to abandon the baby at the market but has second thoughts, taking it with him. Soon, he is surprised to find the woman, who introduces herself as Noriko (Minami Hamabe). Noriko reveals that the baby, Akiko, is not hers, but Akiko’s dying mother asked Noriko to care for her. When Noriko stays the night despite Shikishima’s reservations, Sumiko tells him, “It’s too late to play the hero; I see right through you. Don’t bother asking me for help.” However, she soon softens and offers to nurse Akiko.
Time passes and Noriko continues living with Shikishima, though they are not a couple. Shikishima takes a job disarming mines from the war at sea. Despite the risk and the danger, he knows it will provide a better life for them, saying, “This isn’t like the war. It’s not hopeless.” Arriving at a wooden boat, Shikishima meets his crew, which includes Captain Akitsu (Kuranosuke Sasaki) and Kenji Noda (Hidetaka Yoshioka), a former navy technical officer.
Shikishima still struggles with the trauma from the war, and he wakes in the middle of the night to a nightmare of Godzilla attacking his home. Noriko consoles him as he questions whether or not he is actually in a dream, living a life with Noriko and Akiko. In his distress, he knocks the contents of what Tachibana gave him onto the floor: pictures of the families of the men he let die. Will he ever overcome his guilt and be able to live a happy life?
Break into Two: Two months later, at the Bikini Atoll, a nuclear bomb is detonated during Operation Crossroads. Godzilla, under the ocean, is awakened and affected by the radiation.
B Story: What Shikishima wants is to escape his past, but what he needs is to discover that he does have a purpose beyond dying as a kamikaze. Noriko will help him learn what is worth living—and worth dying—for.
Fun and Games: Shikishima’s upside-down antithesis world is one in which he begins to live a fulfilling life with Noriko and Akiko in postwar Japan, building a new home with the money he earns. Noriko even takes a job of her own despite Shikishima’s protests. The promise of the premise surfaces as there are reports of a large creature attacking ships. Shikishima and his crew investigate the attacked U.S. destroyer as they carry out their orders to stall the approaching monster using recovered mines until the battleship Takao arrives.
As deep-sea fish bubble to the surface, Shikishima wants to retreat, running away from his duty. Godzilla soon appears, more massive than before due to the nuclear test radiation. The mines fail to kill him, as he now is able to heal due to the radiation’s effects. The battleship Takao arrives, blasting the creature, but Godzilla attacks the ship. As Godzilla sinks, they believe they have killed him, until a bright blue blast shoots skyward from the water, tearing the Takao apart.
After recovering at the hospital, Shikishima confides in Noriko that he was a kamikaze, and that he faked needing repairs when he went to the island. The next day, Godzilla is seen heading toward Tokyo. Efforts to stop him at sea fail. As Shikishima plays with Akiko at home, he hears the air raid siren, with a radio alert immediately telling the country that Godzilla is headed toward Ginza.
Noriko, working in the district, is aboard a train that Godzilla attacks, and she survives only by dropping to the bay below her. As she and citizens flee in the streets, Shikishima appears in time to lead her to safety. The military retaliates, but as they fire on Godzilla, the spikes on his spine glow blue.
Midpoint: Godzilla releases his atomic breath, causing a powerful blast to surge through Ginza. As the blast wave approaches, Noriko uses her last moment to push Shikishima to safety in between two buildings. As A and B Stories cross, it’s a false defeat for Shikishima. Noriko has died needlessly to save him, a coward. Now, the stakes are raised, as he must care for Akiko alone while fighting his vengeance-fueled desire to destroy Godzilla.
Bad Guys Close In: Soon, the citizens form a special disaster countermeasure hearing. Led by Hotta (Miou Tanaka), former captain of the Yukikaze, the group has secured four destroyers from the war that were slated to be handed over to the UN. They will be of little help in fighting the external threat of Godzilla, though, as the ships have been disarmed. Yet, there is hope. Noda shows up with a plan: they can use freon to cause Godzilla to sink to the bottom of the sea, killing him with the sudden increase of pressure in the ocean’s trench. There is no certain victory, though, causing some citizens to leave, choosing instead to care for their families.
At dinner that night, Shikishima asks Noda if he can get a fighter plane for him. If Godzilla comes ashore, he can lure it to the bay. His internal bad guys dredge up his guilt, prompting Akitsu to suggest that Shikishima is just wanting to die to avenge Noriko. Akitsu further compounds the guilt by accusing Shikishima of waiting too long to marry her.
Pushing those thoughts aside, Shikishima is determined to get revenge on Godzilla, but when Noda later shows him the fighter plane, he discovers it’s rusted and in bad condition. Only a top mechanic will be able to help them get it ready, prompting Shikishima to begin to confront his shard of glass, seeking out Tachibana, asking him to fit the plane with a bomb so that he can fly it into Godzilla’s mouth.
All Is Lost: The night before the countermeasure, Noda goes over the plan, reminding them that the battle is a fight to live for their future, not to die. Tachibana prepares the plane, pensively looking at the pilot’s seat. Shikishima picks Akiko up from Sumiko and looks at the drawing Akiko made of the two of them with Noriko.
Although Shikishima will be able to carry out his vengeance on Godzilla and die an honorable death, he hides his feelings. “I’ll always be here for you,” he tells Akiko, leaving an envelope of money with her as she sleeps. There’s a whiff of death as Shikishima leaves, not only of his own destiny, but of the life and the dream he is sacrificing it all for in this false victory.
Dark Night of the Soul: As Tachibana explains the plane’s controls, Shikishima says he finally has a chance to make things right. He knows it is a suicide mission, saying, “The funny thing is… I guess there’s a part of me that wants to live.” After a moment, he says, “I know what I have to do,” and pulls out the photos of the mechanics’ families, along with the drawing from Akiko. The thematic premise is revisited as he is willing to die for what he loves, not because it was simply his duty.
Break into Three: In the morning, Akiko wakes up and goes to find Sumiko, giving her the envelope of money. Sumiko realizes that Shikishima has made his decision to do whatever it takes to make sure there is a future for Akiko.
Finale: As the citizens gather the team, Godzilla is seen in Sagami Bay. They execute the plan, the ships setting up to surround Godzilla and release the freon gas, plunging him to the bottom of the ocean. Shikishima flies out, ready to carry out his own plan that the others are unaware of. Meanwhile, in a high tower surprise, a telegram arrives for Shikishima back home that Sumiko takes, a look of surprise crossing her face. The battle against the beast faces its own high tower surprise, as the pressure fails to kill Godzilla.
Just as it seems that all hope is lost, Shikishima digs deep down and executes his plan, flying the plane straight into Godzilla’s mouth, the bomb detonating. Onlookers stare, stunned and shocked at Shikishima’s sacrifice, until they see him parachuting to safety. A flashback reveals that Tachibana added an ejection seat, admonishing Shikishima, “Live.” As Shikishima arrives back on land, Sumiko races up to him with the telegram; he reads it in astonishment and takes Akiko.
Final Image: Shikishima and Akiko race into a hospital room to find Noriko, bandaged yet alive. As the three embrace, their family is whole. No longer concerned with having something to die for, Shikishima has discovered something he is willing to live for.
At the bottom of the sea, however, Godzilla seemingly regenerates…
