GODZILLA: TOKYO S.O.S.
(Original Title: "Gojira x Mosura x Mekagojira: Tokyo Esu O Esu"
- Godzilla, Mothra, Mechagodzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.)
December 13, 2003
Godzilla (Tsutomu Kitagawa) retains his previous look but with a gnarly chest scar from the previous battle. Kiryu (Motokuni Nakagawa) looks mostly the same as well with a few new tricks up its sleeve.
For her second role in a Millennium era film, Mothra gets a fantastic update to her Showa look. To me, her design looks more aged than usual which would fit given her role in the story as a descendant of the 1961 Mothra.
Another classic monster makes a cameo in Tokyo S.O.S., Kamoebas. Kamoebas is basically a giant turtle monster (based on the Mata mata turtle) who made his first appearance in Toho's 1970 Kaiju film 'Space Ameoba' and gets to play one of Godzilla's unfortunate victims washed ashore after an off screen battle in this movie.
At first, a Liopleurodon was supposed to be used for this scene, instead Toho wanted to use a familiar monster. The first candidate was going to be Anguirus and director Tezuka even suggested using Gamera, however Anguirus was axed in favor of saving him for a future appearance and Gamera's exclusion should be obvious. So Kamoebas got the role, this also adds the events of Space Amoeba to the canon of the Kiryu Saga.
Continuity, it's what's for dinner!
Tokyo S.O.S excels at monster action, but unlike the previous film it's human characters mostly fall short.
The main cast isn't bad by any means, however they aren't quite as compelling.
Our lead this time is Yoshito Chujo (Noboru Kaneko), a very passionate mechanic working to repair Kiryu.
Now if the name Chujo sounds familiar, it should as it's the same name as a character in 1961's Mothra who makes an appearance here played by his original actor, Hiroshi Koizumi. And to keep up with the trend of Millennium era Godzilla movies having decent child actors, we have his Grandson, Shun (Tatsuki Omori)
New to the Kiryu Squad are pilots Azusa and Akiba.
Akiba (Mitsuki Koga) is the new hot shot Kiryu pilot. The best way I can describe him is basically imagine a Japanese Chuck Hansen, he's an a-hole, but he's not 100% a dick.
Azusa (Miho Yshioka) is probably the least compelling character in the film. The only things I could really tell you about her is that she's always wanted to be a pilot and obviously has the hots for Chujo.
No story with Mothra would be complete without her twin fairies, the Shobijin now played by Masami Nagasawa and Chihiro Otsuka. The Shobijin have come to plead with the people of Japan to return Godzilla's bones to Japan, a sentiment that is not easily met given that Kiryu is the only protection Japan has against Godzilla. They say that if they don't then Mothra will declare war against humanity for their crimes of playing God but she is more than willing to fight Godzilla in Kiryu's place. It's a good plot point that echoes the theme of Godzilla in the first place about mankind meddling with forces beyond comprehension.
Akane (Yumiko Shaku) does have a brief cameo where she says goodbye to Kiryu before heading off to the US to train pilots. Koh Takasugi also reprises his role as good guy, Lt. Togashi.
Around the 33 minute mark, the action starts to pick up making the 2nd and 3rd act of the film one large battle and it is undeniably spectacular.
Unfortunately, Godzilla has to Godzilla so the Godzilla's bones debate gets pushed to the back burner during the final battle in which I can only assume the Shobijin reluctantly allow Kiryu to fight.
Recently whenever Mothra is brought up in Godzilla media, its always expected that she sacrifices herself during a battle with Godzilla and that trope has mostly the Millennium series to thank for that. But Mothra isn't out of the game for long as twin Larva appear to continue the fight just like in 1964.
Even though the human element isn't as strong, I still love Tokyo S.O.S. The Kiryu Saga overall is just a solid part of the series as a whole and will always rank among my favorite films of it. I just wish it did better when it first came out.
Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla had a noticeable drop in ticket sales and attendance when compared to GMK and Tokyo S.O.S.'s numbers were worse. Even when paired with the Hamtaro films popular with children, the Godzilla films of the Millennium series simply couldn't match the success of any of the earlier Heisei films and so with the writing on the wall, Toho was once again ready to put an end to Godzilla.
But not before celebrating his 50th Birthday...
While Kiryu is under repair after it's previous battle, Mothra's twin fairies plead for Godzilla's bones used to build it to be returned to the sea so that the soul of the original Godzilla can rest in peace. As Godzilla returns to terrorize Tokyo, Mothra herself steps in to stop him but even she may not be a match for him as the city eventually erupts into a three-way monster brawl.
Masaaki Tezuka was given several drafts by Toho for the next Godzilla film but Tezuka rejected them all opting to write his own treatment, with much of the same crew from the last film returning. While Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla ends on a cliffhanger, I'm not sure whether it was the original intent to continue the story since up to that point, every entry in the Millennium series stood on it's own with only the 1954 film as a starting point. Nevertheless, the fact that these films (dubbed the 'Kiryu Saga' by the fans) also include connections to other Toho films is a unique approach for the time. I may love the Marvel Cinematic Universe with all my heart, but I'm always quick to point out that Toho was creating universes before them.
For her second role in a Millennium era film, Mothra gets a fantastic update to her Showa look. To me, her design looks more aged than usual which would fit given her role in the story as a descendant of the 1961 Mothra.
Another classic monster makes a cameo in Tokyo S.O.S., Kamoebas. Kamoebas is basically a giant turtle monster (based on the Mata mata turtle) who made his first appearance in Toho's 1970 Kaiju film 'Space Ameoba' and gets to play one of Godzilla's unfortunate victims washed ashore after an off screen battle in this movie.
At first, a Liopleurodon was supposed to be used for this scene, instead Toho wanted to use a familiar monster. The first candidate was going to be Anguirus and director Tezuka even suggested using Gamera, however Anguirus was axed in favor of saving him for a future appearance and Gamera's exclusion should be obvious. So Kamoebas got the role, this also adds the events of Space Amoeba to the canon of the Kiryu Saga.
Continuity, it's what's for dinner!
The main cast isn't bad by any means, however they aren't quite as compelling.
Our lead this time is Yoshito Chujo (Noboru Kaneko), a very passionate mechanic working to repair Kiryu.
New to the Kiryu Squad are pilots Azusa and Akiba.
Akiba (Mitsuki Koga) is the new hot shot Kiryu pilot. The best way I can describe him is basically imagine a Japanese Chuck Hansen, he's an a-hole, but he's not 100% a dick.
Azusa (Miho Yshioka) is probably the least compelling character in the film. The only things I could really tell you about her is that she's always wanted to be a pilot and obviously has the hots for Chujo.
Akane (Yumiko Shaku) does have a brief cameo where she says goodbye to Kiryu before heading off to the US to train pilots. Koh Takasugi also reprises his role as good guy, Lt. Togashi.
Around the 33 minute mark, the action starts to pick up making the 2nd and 3rd act of the film one large battle and it is undeniably spectacular.
Unfortunately, Godzilla has to Godzilla so the Godzilla's bones debate gets pushed to the back burner during the final battle in which I can only assume the Shobijin reluctantly allow Kiryu to fight.
The usual puppets used for her have never looked better, both her Imago and Larva stages are portrayed rather nicely. Some scenes of Mothra flying are CGI and they look great.
In fact, I will say that Tokyo S.O.S. just has some of the best effects in the entire Millennium series. The suits, models and subtle digital enhancements to the monsters are all amazingly on point.
If you look at the poster for Tokyo S.O.S. you'll probably notice the Japanese Diet Building and you know you can't have giant monsters fighting against a national landmark without it coming down, which it does in spectacular fashion. Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla had a noticeable drop in ticket sales and attendance when compared to GMK and Tokyo S.O.S.'s numbers were worse. Even when paired with the Hamtaro films popular with children, the Godzilla films of the Millennium series simply couldn't match the success of any of the earlier Heisei films and so with the writing on the wall, Toho was once again ready to put an end to Godzilla.
But not before celebrating his 50th Birthday...
Till next time, I have been your host Gryphon
and thank you for joining me here in my lair.
So long...
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