Godzilla Minus One (2023) | Nuke Test Mutates Sea Beast, It Attacks City!
In 1945, during the final days of World War II, a Zero fighter lands on Odo, the island with the repair base for kamicazi planes. After the mechanics do a thorough inspection, Tachibana tells the pilot Kuici that no issues were found. Kuichi immediately gets defensive because it turns out he lied about the malfunction to save his life. As he walks away to avoid Tachibana noticing his nerves, another mechanic tells him that he wishes there were more soldiers like him because the war is pretty much lost already. At that moment, Kohici is shocked to see several dead fish in the water. Later that night, a siren stars wailing through the base. Usually, it’s a warning for air raids, but when the search light illuminates the area, they’re shocked to see a giant monster called Godzilla coming from the sea. Godzilla immediately brings down a watchtowwer and causes a fire. So, everyone runs to find shelter in a trench. The men may be in the military, but they’re only mechanics. So, Tachibana urges Kuici to use his plane’s weapons against Godzilla. Kuichi runs to his plane, but when he sees Godzilla up close, he freezes in fear. The mechanics panic and open fire on Godzilla themselves, enraging him and causing him to brutally start destroying the trenches and killing people by throwing them away, stepping on them, hitting them with his tail, or even eating them. As the mechanics run around and Godzilla destroys the base, Kuici becomes terrified and runs out of the plane right before Godzilla picks it up, too. Then the monster throws the plane and the resulting explosion knocks Kuici out. The next morning, Kuici wakes up to find only one other survivor, Tachibana, who is putting together the bodies for proper burial. Tachibana is furious and yells at Kuici for failing to act. Sometime later, Japan finally surrenders and a ship comes by to pick up all the surviving troops and take them home. Without saying a word, Tachibana gives Kuici the photos he found with the dead men. By December, Kuichi returns to his neighborhood in Tokyo and finds it in ruins. His own home is nothing but rubble. Kuichi starts suffering survivors guilt and wonders if he could have done something. His neighbor Sumiko sees him and remembers he was supposed to be a kamicazi pilot. So she yells at him for his cowardice. She’s lost all of her children to the American bombings and tells him that his parents are dead as well. Devastated, Kuici remembers his parents’ letters in which they told him to come back alive and wonders what it’s truly the right answer to this dilemma. Some days later, Kuici has built a rudimentary shelter from the rubble. While he’s visiting the black market, a woman pursued by several men for stealing blankets runs by and leaves a baby in his arms. Kuichi considers leaving the baby in the market, but he can’t do it and decides to take her with him while searching for the woman. He soon finds her nearby. Her name is Noro, and she’s been waiting for him so she could take baby Ako back. Then, Noro follows Kuici home and asks him to share some food with her and the baby. She explains that she isn’t married and the baby isn’t even hers. She adopted her from a dying mother during the Tokyo air raids. Like Kuici, her own family is gone. Kuici wants them to leave after dinner. But while they chat, they fall asleep and they end up spending the night. The next day, Sumiko scolds Kuici for taking in Noro and Ako, saying it’s too late to play the hero. However, she changes her mind when she learns Noro is not the child’s mother. She starts helping them take care of Ako and even gives them a bag of rice so the baby can properly be fed. In March 1946, Kuici returns home and announces he’s found a well-paying job detonating unexloded mines in the waters around Japan. Noro thinks it’s too dangerous, but Kuici points out this is the only way to avoid starving to death. He also explains the boats are supposed to be specially made to evade mines. However, when he makes it to the dock, Kuichi is shocked to discover he’ll be serving on the Shinsimaru, a small wooden boat. Former Navy scientist Kenji explains that they use wood to ward off American magnetic mines. He also meets Captain Si and Shiro who is too young to have served in the war. As they head out on the water, Sagei explains their work. A cable suspended between Shinsi Maru and another boat called Kanimu allows them to clip mine wires and bring them to the surface where they can be exploded from a distance with machine gun fire. Kuici tries the machine gun and proves to be an excellent marksman thanks to his pilot experience so that becomes his job in the boat. Shirou wishes war has lasted longer so he could fight too and Kuici immediately scolds him for such a horrible thought. That night, Kuici is sleeping when suddenly he hears screaming. He comes out and sees the mechanics from the island being stepped on by Godzilla again. But at that moment, he wakes up and realizes it was a nightmare. The survivors guilt takes over again and he clings to Noro as he wonders if he’s actually dead and everything that happened since the island has been a dream. Scared, Noro pushes him off and Kooo has a breakdown as he stares at the pictures of the dead mechanics and their families. In July 1946, an American nuclear test at Bikini Atal causes a huge explosion in the sea as part of Operation Crossroads. Godzilla is underwater when it happens and causes him to mutate. Meanwhile, things are improving for Kuici. He continues to work with the mind sweeping team while Norico raises Ako at home. Kuici is soon able to afford a motorcycle and major renovations to their house, and all the neighbors are rebuilding as well, slowly making a proper neighborhood out of the area again. One night when Kuici’s crew mates visit for dinner, Kenji takes some nice pictures of everyone. The men assume Noro is Kuici’s wife and are surprised to learn of their living arrangement. When Akoko calls Kuici her father, he tells her not to do that, which worries the others even more. They encourage him to accept that he’s found a family, but Kuichi sticks to his denial. In March 1947, Noro takes a desk job in Ginsa, a prospering district in Tokyo. She explains to Kuici that she wants to be able to support herself and to be out of his way so he can find a wife. She also shares that Sumiko has already gladly offered to take care of Akoko while they’re both at work. Meanwhile, the US government is hiding the fact that several of their military vessels have been destroyed by an unknown enemy. There are pictures of a strange object in the water, confirming it was Godzilla. Whenever a ship is destroyed, radioactive signals are picked up. Radar start tracking Godzilla’s route and confirm he’ll be reaching Japan in a few weeks. However, the US refuses to intervene because it could damage relations with the Soviet Union. By May 1947, the Shinsi Maru and Kishan Maru are sent on a special mission to the Ogawara Islands and find a massive American ship that has been absolutely destroyed. As the crew discusses what could have caused such damage, Kuici sees dead fish in the water and tells the others about Godzilla. Shirou is horrified that the Japanese government expects them to fight Godzilla in their tiny boats, but Kenji explains that their job is simply to delay his advance until a cruiser arrives. Their orders say they must use the mines they recover as weapons and keep the mission secret. After they collect two mines, Kuici notices there are way more dead fish than last time and rings the alarm. He asks Si to send the boats back because they can’t fight like this, but Si is determined not to let Tokyo be destroyed again. At that moment, Godzilla surges out of the water and brings down Kshi Maru in an instant. So, a terrified Si changes his mind. The Shinsimaru sails away as fast as possible, and Godzilla chases after them. So, the crew drop mine in the water. However, the explosion don’t even scratch such a monster. Next, Kuici opens fire with a machine gun, but bullets don’t do anything either. Since it seems the monster skin is hard, Kenji gets the idea to attack the mouth instead. They release the second mine, but the detonator doesn’t work. So, Kuici returns to the machine gun and makes the mine explode when it’s near Godzilla’s face. The blast damages Godzilla’s left eye and a large part of his cheek, but it also sends a wave that rocks the boat, hurting Kuici and Shiou. Unfortunately, Godzilla’s wounds quickly regenerate, and he furiously rises out of the water as he roars, ready for revenge. Suddenly, the battle cruiser arrives and shoots at Godzilla, who turns his rage at it, viciously tearing it apart with his claws. The cruiser continues to shoot at the monster, causing him to fall backward into the sea. However, Godzilla starts glowing as he swims underneath the cruiser and destroys it in an instant with an explosive heat ray. Then, Godzilla roars and continues to make his way to Tokyo. Sometime later, Kohici wakes up in a hospital and is greeted by his crew. He wants to alert the locals, but Kenji tells him the government is still covering up the story. When he goes home, Noro is hurt because Kuici won’t answer her questions. So, he finally gives in and tells her everything, showing her the pictures. Because of his guilt, he thinks he shouldn’t have survived. So, Noro assures him that everyone who survived the war was meant to live, which were her parents’ final words to her. The next day, the Tokyo Bay defense sees Godzilla incoming and get permission to detonate their mind blockade. However, the explosions have no effect on Godzilla. Soon, an evacuation is announced and Ginsa and Kuici worries about Noro when he hears the news on the radio. Soon, the monster reaches the town and starts destroying the area, throwing a train car that makes Norico’s train stop on its tracks. Everyone is panicking and running through the streets as Godzilla advances and bites down on the train, causing it to break. Lots of people fall to their deaths, and at first, Naro holds on, but as soon as she sees water, she jumps to escape. Godzilla continues his vicious rampage, destroying the beloved Nippon Theater and killing several reporters broadcasting from a rooftop. Noro reaches the street and gets pushed by people, but Kuici arrives just in time to take her away. As everyone runs and more buildings are destroyed, the tanks finally arrive and open fire, but again, bullets do nothing. Suddenly, Godzilla’s fins begin to glow and grow before Godzilla opens his mouth and fires an atomic heat ray that strikes the tanks, causing a nuclear explosion that destroys most of the area. Seeing the shock wave coming, Norico pushes Kuici out of the way and gets killed instead. Kuichi falls to his knees in emotional pain and yells as a black rain starts falling and Godzilla calmly returns to the sea. Afterward, newscasts announced that 30,000 civilians were killed or injured and 20,000 buildings were destroyed. The area of Godzilla’s rampage is cordoned off due to the high radiation levels. Kuici’s crew helps him hold a memorial service for Norico, but Kuici is too depressed to do anything. Akoko soon begins crying as she asks for her mother, and Kuici looks at the mechanic’s pictures, thinking he’s being punished for his cowardice. Kenji informs him that a group of private citizens is making a plan to destroy Godzilla and invites him to the meeting. Sometime later, Kuici attends the meeting with Shiro, Si, and many former Navy soldiers. A captain explains that Japan has negotiated the return of four destroyers, but sadly they’ll be stripped of their weapons. Kenji then explains his idea. They should lower Godzilla above the deepest part of Sagami Bay and tie canisters of Freon gas to him. This would lower the waters buoyancy and forcibly sink Godzilla to a depth of 1,500 m, crushing him with a sudden pressure change. Kuici asks if this will kill Godzilla for sure, but Kenji can’t guarantee it. So Kuici tries to leave. However, Kenji reveals he has a backup plan. Giant balloons would be inflated under Godzilla to rapidly bring him to the surface and destroy him via explosive decompression. After a demonstration in the garden, some people are still not convinced and just leave. However, most of the group stays and agrees to work together to save their country. The Shiny Maru’s crew goes out for drinks and Kenji mentions that Godzilla probably considers Tokyo part of his territory. to lure the monster to the trap point. He plans to use acoustic mind sweepers to play recordings of his roar. He admits that his plan could fail in many ways, so Kuici offers to help with the luring operation if they can get him a fighter plane. Si wonders if Kuici has a death wish and scolds him for not marrying Norico, pointing out she would have been home as a housewife instead of Ginsa where she died. Kuichi explains that he wanted to, but his war isn’t over. The next day, Kenji invites Kuici to a hanger where he’s acquired an anti-bomber fighter. Years in storage have left the plane inoperable and will require a top mechanic to repair it. Kuici wants Tachibana to be that mechanic. But when he checks the records, there’s no current address. Desperate to make up for his mistakes, Kuici refuses to accept another mechanic and starts sending letters with a plan in mind. One night, someone attacks Kuici by surprise and knocks him out. Minutes later, Kohici wakes up and discovers his attacker was Tachibana, who is furious about the letters. It turns out Kuici sent wrote to the comrades from Tachibana’s postings blaming him for what happened on Odo Island because he knew Tachibana wouldn’t respond to begging and would only come if he was angry. At first, Tachibana refuses to help. But Kuichi changes his mind by revealing his idea since the mind did damage Godzilla’s face. He wants to fly the plane loaded with explosives right into the monster’s mouth. For the next few days, everyone works hard to get everything ready for their attack. One night, radiation detecting buoys indicate that Godzilla will arrive in less than a day. Kenji shares their route on a map and orders the volunteers to spend the night with their families. After the meeting, Kenji and Sji tell Shirou, who is still injured, that he’ll be staying home tomorrow. When he protests, Si tells him that having never seen combat should be a badge of pride. Meanwhile, Tachibana takes a closer look at the cockpit and gets an idea. At home, Ako gives Kuichi a drawing she made of them and Noro and begins to cry. When the day comes, Kuichi leaves a letter next to Ako while she sleeps before sneaking out. Later, Ako takes the letter to Sumiko, who finds a bunch of money and a note asking her to take care of Ako. At that moment, she also receives a telegram with shocking news. At the hanger, Tachibana explains that he replaced some of the plane’s non-essential components with two bombs. Sitting in the cockpit, Kuichi realizes that part of him wants to live, and Tachibana reminds him that the mechanics on Odo Island wanted to live, too. Kuichi takes out the mechanic’s pictures as a reminder of what he must protect. Tachibana then shows him the bomb safety pin and one extra thing. Soon the buoys detect Godzilla is getting close and the sirens go off in Sagami Bay. Suddenly, a ship on fire crashes on the port, indicating that Godzilla reached the shore faster than anticipated. While Kuici puts Norico’s picture in the cockpit and takes off, Godzilla gets to the port, but Kenji orders everyone to still carry on with the plan and puts his hopes on Kuici. As the ships take off too, the plane reaches Godzilla and Kuici opens fire to keep him distracted as he pulls off some crazy moves to avoid getting hit. Godzilla falls for the bait and follows the plane into the sea where two unmanned ships are waiting. Godzilla shoots them with his atomic breath which hurts his own body as well and sends a wave that shakes the man ships. It’ll take a few minutes for him to regenerate so the team can carry on the plan. Two destroyers encircle Godzilla and tie a cable attached to gas canisters around him while Kuici continues to distract him. The ships scrape against each other as they complete the circle, but nobody gets hurt. As Godzilla prepares to fire again, the canisters are busted, forcibly pulling him underwater. Once he passes the target depth, Godzilla freezes in place and stops charging his atomic breath, but sadly, he’s still alive. Kenji then has the balloons inflated under Godzilla to bring him back to the surface. However, Godzilla quickly destroys them to stop them. The ships try pulling him the rest of the way themselves, but the monsters weight is too great and one of the cranes collapses. At that moment, a fleet of tugboats led by Shurou arrives to help. Everybody pulls together and soon Godzilla reappears looking heavily wounded because of the decompression yet still alive. Godzilla starts charging again and the team thinks it’s finally over. Suddenly Koji’s plane flies right into Godzilla’s mouth and detonates the explosives, finally bringing Godzilla down. After a second of silence, the team sees Kuici falling with a parachute. It turns out Tachibana asked him to live and the extra thing had been an ejector. Once the smoke clears, they see that the top of Godzilla’s head has been destroyed and the atomic causes the rest of his body to crumble. Every person on the ship salutes as the war finally ends. When they return to the shore, the locals receive them with gratitude and excitement, and Sumiko rushes to show Kuici the telegram. Moments later, Kuici and Akako rush to a hospital and find Noro is injured but still alive. She asks Kuici if his war is finally, and he embraces her in tears, not noticing a pattern resembling Godzilla’s dorsal fins on her neck. Meanwhile, in the bottom of the sea, a piece of Godzilla’s flesh begins to regenerate.
Godzilla Minus One (2023), directed by Takashi Yamazaki, is a Japanese kaiju masterpiece that reimagines Godzilla as a terrifying force of nature in post-WWII Japan. Starring Ryunosuke Kamiki as Koichi Shikishima, Minami Hamabe as Noriko Oishi, Yuki Yamada as Shiro Mizushima, and Hidetaka Yoshioka as Kenji Noda, this 125-minute film blends heart-wrenching drama with jaw-dropping monster action. With a $15 million budget and $116 million global box office, plus a 98% Rotten Tomatoes score and an Oscar for Best Visual Effects, it’s a must-watch for a YouTube recap.
Set in 1945, the story follows Koichi, a kamikaze pilot who deserts his mission, landing on Odo Island. There, Godzilla, a massive reptilian creature, attacks, killing his crew. Koichi freezes, unable to fire, and returns to a war-ravaged Tokyo haunted by guilt and labeled a coward. By 1947, he’s scraping by, caring for Noriko, a homeless woman, and Akiko, an orphaned baby she’s adopted. As Koichi builds a fragile family, Godzilla, mutated by U.S. nuclear tests, resurfaces, larger and deadlier, with glowing dorsal spines and heat-ray breath. His rampage through Ginza, crushing Noriko in the chaos, devastates Koichi, who vows revenge.
Japan, stripped of military power post-surrender, is defenseless. Koichi joins a civilian task force led by ex-Navy scientist Noda, who devises Operation Wada Tsumi: lure Godzilla to Sagami Bay, sink him to crush his organs with deep-sea pressure, or decompress him with Freon tanks to implode him. Koichi, a minesweeper pilot, teams with salty captain Tachibana (Munetaka Aoki) and brash sailor Mizushima. The plan’s desperation mirrors Japan’s post-war resilience, with no government aid—only human grit. Koichi, planning a kamikaze run to detonate explosives in Godzilla’s mouth, grapples with survivor’s guilt, but a last-minute twist offers hope for his redemption.
Yamazaki’s direction, blending practical effects and stellar CGI, makes Godzilla a symbol of nuclear trauma, his roars and city-smashing chaos evoking Hiroshima’s scars. Kamiki’s raw performance anchors the human cost, while Hamabe’s quiet strength shines. Critics praise its emotional depth over Hollywood’s Monsterverse, though some note pacing dips. Fans on X call it “Godzilla’s best,” lauding its anti-war message. Stream on Netflix, rent on Prime Video, or buy the Blu-ray for a kaiju epic that’s both spectacle and soul.
This recap will unpack Koichi’s redemption, Godzilla’s apocalyptic terror, and the film’s poignant humanism. Is it the definitive Godzilla film or a nostalgic triumph? Watch to decide!
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