Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.

GodzillaShobijin, fairy twins from Infant Island warn that Godzilla’s bones, which are now part of Mechagodzilla, must be reburied. Mothra will protect Japan in Mechagodzilla’s place. Officials reject the offer.

The carcass of a Megalo Matamata, a giant sea turtle, is found washed up on beach. It’s believed to have been killed by Godzilla. Later, a submarine is attacked and sunk by the King of the Monsters. He is lured to Shinagawa district of Tokyo, the site of the last battle and still in ruins. He crashes through to the Minata district, where repairs to Mechagodzilla are continuing.

Mothra, in her butterfly form, arrives and confounds Godzilla by beating up wind and dust, then grasping him and tossing him aside. They continue to fight into the evening. Meanwhile, the Fairy Twins await the hatching of a new Mothra at Himago Island. The Prime Minister decides to launch Mechagodzilla, even though repairs are not quite complete.

Godzilla fires a blast at Mothra, striking one of her wings and causing her to crash to the ground. As he advances against the flying creature, Mechagodzilla arrives to press its attack. Lasers, masers, and missiles are fired at Godzilla with minimal effect. Godzilla fires a nuclear blast through a skyscraper, striking Mechagodzilla and slamming it to the ground. Before Godzilla can destroy his robot doppelganger, Mothra flies into him. Godzilla fires another blast, hitting it with a deadly blow. Back at the island, two Mothra larvae hatch from the egg.

Mechagodzilla gets to its feet and renews the battle. While there’s some initial success, the remote controls are sluggish and the monster again brings the ‘bot crashing down. The larvae arrive and confer with the dying butterfly. Godzilla uses his nuclear blast against the three, but the flying creature sacrifices itself and takes the full brunt of the blast, exploding in a massive fireball.

Yoshi Chujo volunteers to enter Mechagodzilla to make repairs. While on his way, the larvae press their attack against Godzilla. Yoshi manages to repair the remote controls, but battle damage jams his exit from inside the robot. He lies and says he has left in order for remote operators to control Mechagodzilla. The robot is again put into service and the pair wrestle near the center of Tokyo. Godzilla is thrown against the capital building. He gets up, but the robot uses a hand-mounted drill against the monster. Injured, he backs away, but Mechagodzilla’s Hypermaser is deployed against it. As Godzilla falls, the Mothra larvae spin a cocoon around it.

The Shobijin remind the humans that “no human being may touch the souls of the dead” and Godzilla should be returned to the sea, including the remains of Godzilla that are within Mechagodzilla. The Prime Minister agrees to scrap the Mechagodzilla project but orders it to destroy Godzilla. The cyborg refuses to kill Godzilla and instead carries it off to sea. Before it can sink Godzilla and itself into the Japan Trench, a White Heron is able to shoot a hatch open, allowing Yoshi to escape. The Mothra larvae return to Himago Island.

screenplay by Mashiro Yokotani & Masaaki Tezuka
directed by Masaaki Tezuka
music by Michiru Oshima

Human Cast: Noboru Kaneko (Yoshito Chujo), Miho Yoshioka (Azusa Kisaragi), Hiroshi Koizumi (Shinichi Chujo)

Monster Cast: Godzilla, Mechagodzilla, Mothra, larval Mothra, Megalo Matamata

Notes: The original Japanese language version of this is Godzilla, Mothra, Mechagodzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. This is the only movie in the Millennium Series to continue the continuity from a previous Millennium Series movie (Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla). The Megalo Matamata is also identified as Kamoebas from an obscure Toho movie Space Amoeba. However, this also appears to be an homage of sorts to Gamera, the giant flying turtle from Daiei Motion Picture Company. Gamera rivaled Godzilla in the 1960s and also experienced a resurgence in the 1990s with a trio of movies that began with the excellent Gamera: Guardian Of The Universe.

LogBook entry by Robert Parson

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