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Godzilla Minus One Ending Explained: Does The Godzilla Survive At The End? Find Out
Godzilla Minus One's ending leaves room for a sequel, with the regenerating flesh sinking into the sea hinting at the possibility of a new Godzilla evolving.
Godzilla Minus One follows Kōichi Shikishima, a former kamikaze pilot who sacrifices his duty at the end of World War II. He returns to Tokyo, where he finds a new life with a young woman, Noriko, and an orphaned baby, Akiko. The movie's climactic conclusion has garnered universal acclaim, as it focuses on Godzilla's destructive nature against mainland Japan.
In Tokyo, Shikishima and the city are making progress in rebuilding after the Bikini Atoll nuclear tests. Godzilla attacks, gaining size and power from the tests. Shikishima's partner Noriko is killed by Godzilla's new powers, causing destruction mimicking an atomic bomb detonation. Devastated and consumed by rage, Shikishima devises a citizen-driven plan to deal with Godzilla, driven by a fellow citizen.
Was Godzilla defeated in Godzilla Minus One?
In Godzilla Minus One, former minesweeper Kenji Noda plans to lure Godzilla into a bay near Tokyo, surround him with Freon tanks, and rupture them. This aerates the water, causing Godzilla to sink to a trench 1500 meters below sea level. If this fails, balloons inflated underneath Godzilla will cause him to ascend back to the surface and die due to explosive decompression.
Shikishima successfully lures and distracts Godzilla with a specialized plane, allowing destroyers to wrap him with Freon tanks. However, Godzilla tears through the balloons, causing a scramble to continue his ascension using destroyers and tugboats. Upon his return, Godzilla is injured but not dead, charging up his heat ray. Shikishima uses this opportunity to fly his plane loaded with extra explosives into Godzilla's mouth, completing the plan.
Godzilla's head is destroyed and his body disintegrates into the sea. Shikishima, who successfully ejected before the plane hit, reunites with Akiko and finds an injured but alive Noriko in a hospital. Noriko's neck scan reveals she may be suffering from radiation sickness due to being caught in Godzilla's heat ray blast.
However, in the movie's final frames show a chunk of Godzilla's disintegrated flesh sinking into the sea, but as it does, it begins to bubble. Throughout the movie, Godzilla showcases extraordinary regenerative abilities, and the implication is that a new Godzilla may evolve from the piece of flesh.
The version of Godzilla that attacks Tokyo in Godzilla Minus One is technically dead given that its entire body broke down, but the film leaves Godzilla's future intentionally ambiguous.
The mysterious ending of Godzilla Minus One raises questions about Godzilla's full form and the possibility of his regenerating flesh. The film concludes on a satisfying yet tragic note, indicating that Godzilla survived and that the battle against him is not over.
How did Noriko survive Godzilla's attack?
The movie's second half assumes Noriko was killed in an atomic bomb-like blast by Godzilla, but the movie's conclusion shows she survived with major injuries. The blast is largely kinetic, throwing people and debris back and forth but not burning it. The chances of survival are similar to surviving a building's collapse, which is unlikely but possible.
Unfortunately, Noriko may not survive for very long. The final zoom-in on her skin reveals black marks that indicate she is suffering from some level of radiation sickness. This further proves just how directly Godzilla's heat ray in Godzilla Minus One is intended to mimic an actual atomic explosion. Noriko bears marks of radiation sickness, just like so many victims of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the conclusion of World War II.
Godzilla Minus One sets up a sequel
The sinking of Godzilla Minus One's flesh suggests a potential sequel. Writer-director Takashi Yamazaki has expressed interest in a sequel, but the timing remains uncertain due to Toho's agreement with Legendary Pictures to work around the Monsterverse movie schedule.
The movie's Rotten Tomatoes score has already broken records for the Godzilla franchise, making a sequel likely. Time will pass as Godzilla grows from the small piece of flesh.
As for Shikishima and his family, their ending is fairly straightforward. Shikishima realizes that he does want to live, having found some reconciliation with his past trauma and guilt by killing Godzilla. Multiple characters tell Shikishima that he should make Noriko his wife, and give form to the love he has for both her and their adoptive daughter Akiko, even if he won't admit its existence to himself
. Their happy reunion at the movie's conclusion provides a legitimate conclusion to his story, although should a sequel occur, it would be difficult to imagine Shikishima not being involved with fighting Godzilla again.
Godzilla Minus One can be streamed on Netflix.
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