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Godzilla Minus One (ゴジラ-1.0（マイナスワン）, Gojira Mainasu Wan) is a 2023 Japanese epic kaiju film written, directed, and with visual effects by Takashi Yamazaki. Produced by Toho Studios and Robot Communications and distributed by Toho, it is the 37th film in the Godzilla franchise, Toho's 33rd Godzilla film, and the fifth film in the franchise's Reiwa era. The film stars Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, Yuki Yamada, Munetaka Aoki, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Sakura Ando and Kuranosuke Sasaki. Set in postwar Japan, it follows a former kamikaze pilot suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder after encountering a giant monster known as "Godzilla". Following Shin Godzilla (2016), Toho was unable to produce another live-action Godzilla film until 2020, owing to a contract with Legendary Entertainment. Yamazaki was appointed to create the film in 2019 by Minami Ichikawa. Principal photography was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving Yamazaki three years to write the script, which draws inspiration from previous Godzilla movies and the works of Hayao Miyazaki and Steven Spielberg. In February 2022, Robot Communications publicized that Yamazaki would soon direct an untitled kaiju movie. Filming occurred primarily in Chūbu and Kantō from March to June 2022, while Shirogumi's Chōfu studio spent eight months creating the visual effects. The film was revealed to be an installment in the Godzilla series in November 2022, and its title was announced in July 2023. Godzilla Minus One premiered at the Shinjuku Toho Building on October 18, 2023, and was released in Japan on November 3, to celebrate the franchise's 70th anniversary. Toho International later released it in North America on December 1. The film grossed almost $116 million worldwide on an estimated $10–12 million budget, becoming the third-highest-grossing Japanese film of 2023 and surpassing Shin Godzilla as the most successful Japanese Godzilla film. Critics praised its visual effects, direction, screenplay, characters, musical score, and social commentary, with many hailing it as one of the best films of 2023 and among the greatest in the Godzilla franchise. It also attained numerous accolades, including a leading 12 nominations at the 47th Japan Academy Film Prize (winning eight), three nominations at the 17th Asian Film Awards (winning two), and winning Best Visual Effects at the 96th Academy Awards. Plot In 1945, near the end of World War II, kamikaze pilot Kōichi Shikishima lands his Mitsubishi A6M Zero at the Japanese base on Odo Island. Lead mechanic Sōsaku Tachibana deduces that Shikishima had fled from his duty by feigning technical issues. That night, Godzilla, a large dinosaur-like creature, attacks the garrison. Shikishima attempts to shoot the monster from his plane but freezes up and is knocked unconscious. Tachibana, the only other survivor of the attack, blames Shikishima for failing to act. Shikishima returns home to find his parents were killed in the bombing of Tokyo. Plagued by survivor's guilt, he begins supporting a woman, Noriko Ōishi, whose parents also died in the bombing, and an orphaned baby, Akiko, whom Noriko rescued, and finds employment aboard a minesweeper tasked with disposing of naval mines from World War II. Meanwhile, Godzilla is mutated and empowered by the United States' nuclear tests at Bikini Atoll; it sinks USS Redfish and destroys several other ships en route to Japan. Owing to tensions with the Soviet Union, the U.S. offers no help save for a few decommissioned Imperial Japanese Navy vessels approved by General Douglas MacArthur. The Japanese government, concerned about inducing panic, does not notify the public about the danger. In May 1947, Shikishima and his minesweeper crew travel to the Ogasawara Islands and are tasked with stalling Godzilla's approach to Japan. They release a mine into Godzilla's mouth and detonate it, causing significant damage, but it quickly regenerates. The heavy cruiser Takao then engages Godzilla, but is subsequently destroyed when the monster unleashes its heat ray. After returning to Tokyo, Shikishima opens up to Noriko about his encounters with Godzilla. Days later, Godzilla makes landfall in Japan and attacks Ginza, where Noriko works. She narrowly survives the initial attack and reunites with Shikishima. Enraged by tank fire, Godzilla obliterates much of the district with its heat ray, killing tens of thousands. Noriko pushes Shikishima to safety, but is caught in the blast and presumed dead. Devastated by the loss, Shikishima vows revenge. Frustrated by the government's inaction, one of the minesweeper's crew, former naval engineer Kenji Noda, devises a plan to destroy Godzilla by luring it out to Sagami Bay before surrounding it with Freon tanks and rupturing them, lowering the water's buoyancy and sinking it, letting the resultant water pressure crush it. Should the plan fail, balloons will be inflated under Godzilla to force it back up, killing it through explosive decompression. To enact his plan, Noda has recruited navy veterans to crew disarmed IJN destroyers. Shikishima recruits Tachibana to repair a broken-down Kyushu J7W Shinden fighter. He plans to kill Godzilla in a suicide attack by flying into its mouth and detonating the explosive charges on board. He leaves Akiko in the care of his neighbor Sumiko before Godzilla resurfaces. As Shikishima lures Godzilla to the trap set by two destroyers, Sumiko receives a telegram intended for Shikishima. Godzilla survives the initial plunge and then breaks free before being forced back up, sustaining serious injuries from the resultant decompression-induced barotrauma. With the help of a fleet of tugboats, the ships haul Godzilla to the surface. An enraged Godzilla prepares to destroy all the vessels with its heat ray, but Shikishima crashes the plane into Godzilla's mouth and destroys its head, causing the energy of the heat ray to tear its body apart. The crew celebrates as Shikishima ejects before the explosion and parachutes to safety, having remembered that Tachibana showed him an ejection seat installed in the Shinden, imploring him to let go of his guilt to continue living. Upon returning home, Sumiko gives Shikishima the telegram, which leads him to a hospital where he reunites with Noriko, who survived the destruction but has a black bruise creeping up her neck. Meanwhile, a chunk of Godzilla's flesh begins to regenerate as it sinks into the ocean. Cast The cast listing is sourced from Kinema Junpo. Production Crew Personnel are taken from Kinema Junpo and CGWORLD. Development In July 2016, Toho Co., Ltd. released a reboot of the Godzilla franchise, titled Shin Godzilla. It became critically and commercially successful, leading director Hideaki Anno to create two other tokusatsu reboot films: Shin Ultraman (2022) and Shin Kamen Rider (2023). According to Godzilla Minus One producer Kenji Yamada, Toho had planned several live-action Godzilla films in the wake of Shin Godzill.... Discover the Tomoko Takakura popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Tomoko Takakura books.