Shin Gojira (a.k.a. Godzilla Resurgence)

[Gendo'sPapa]

Somebody argued Shin Godzilla is war propaganda?!!!
If the movie was war propaganda it would've ended with the military eradicating him.

Instead he's temporarily incapacitated through an infrastructure plan! One that will need to be maintained and watched over to keep things under control!

.... Oof

[kuribo-04]

Shin Godzilla is apparently war propaganda that keeps showing how the military fails to stop the menace lol.
It's just silly takes by Western people offended at the film for some reason.

[FreakyFilmFan4ever]

This was the video essay that claimed Shin Godzilla was Japanese military propaganda.

It’s overall a very weak argument, and not at all reflective of the movie itself.

But, like, I’ve also seen worse takes than that, somehow…

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— twitter-user (@username) date

[Gendo'sPapa]

I mean I'm always glad to hear opinions on TV shows, books, stories & movies that are drastically different from my own but sheesh, sometimes a take is just wrong.

[kuribo-04]

The film just doesn't deserve that lol.
But I guess some people just wanna be heard, that's the only way I can explain these shit takes. To grab attention.

[FreakyFilmFan4ever]

Self-publishing a whole book is quite the cry for attention, but it’s not outside of the realm of plausibility.

[kuribo-04]

Anno planned for a Shinzilla sequel.
From Wikipedia, source is Shin Ultraman Design Works:

SPOILER: Show

In 2022, Hideaki Anno revealed that he had planned to create a sequel to the film, stating that "I wrote a proposal during the filming of Shin Godzilla on February 3, 2016, labeled Sequel Shin Godzilla Memo. The primary working title for the project was Shin Godzilla's Counterattack (シン・ゴジラの反撃, Shin Gojira no Hangeki) and with the assumption that Mr. Higuchi would direct, it was meant to be something like a Toho Champion Festival kaiju showdown. Since it was concocted to be released in 2018, the shortest time possible for a domestic-made Godzilla film to be released, it was a rough draft for people who wouldn't like Shin Godzilla, an idea that wouldn't cost too much or take too long to create. I believed that it would be a bad idea to let it go to waste so I gave the proposal, draft, and visuals, as a gift to Mr. Higuchi and Toho, but since it was premature or whatever, among other reasons, after the film's release the discussion ended. While I did feel it was a waste, it's not something I could help since Toho decides what gets made."[

[Gendo'sPapa]

Anno planned for a Shinzilla sequel.

Interesting. So Anno threw together an idea for a more give-the-fans-what-they-want adventure.

Hope some more details about the sequel get revealed over the years but I gotta admit while it likely wasn't the original plan before Toho set on rebuilding the Godzilla brand again, I like that Shin Godzilla is now a lovely little island film. I can recommend Shin to friends and they can get the entire experience in one fantastic movie and not have to schedule seeing a series of films in a long running saga.

[kuribo-04]

∆ Completely agree. In fact I showed it to a friend today.

[AsuQa_PsyOp_Langley]

I think the war propaganda angle is really weak but it's not too hard to see where it might come from, especially when it comes to Anno (though it's really common across a lot of cultural products). I don't think "war propaganda" is a threshold he ever crossed, but both in Godzilla and Ultraman there's a couple of clear political statements (about lamenting Japan is a client state to the USA for instance)

All that being said... Godzilla as a series is as far as you can get from exalting military might, the army are like... Never the solution, and it's generally a special less destructive specific science weapon than can do the trock... Or just accepting the forces of Nature battling it out and not disturbing them or their habitat at the best way to prevent destruction. Shin Godzilla is faithful to that. There's definitely some Japan Exceptionalism running through (even if mostly benign).

[AsukaisLiterallyMe]

Really enjoyed Shin Godzilla.

To me it was about bureaucracy in the face of natural disasters and maybe Japan's current political status with the States still there since post WW2 (a theme that's rather commonplace in Japanese fiction, feels like to me).

The destruction scenes are all very reminiscent of footage from tsunamis and storms, very different "language" than the type seen in other places (see the destruction scenes in American films post-911).

I think most people can connect with the first theme as most people have gone through a natural disaster and have experienced their local, state, and federal government (or comparable) being frustratingly slow as people suffer.

[El Squibbonator]

Japan's current political status with the States still there since post WW2 (a theme that's rather commonplace in Japanese fiction, feels like to me).

How so?

[kuribo-04]

The film just doesn't deserve that lol.
But I guess some people just wanna be heard, that's the only way I can explain these shit takes. To grab attention.

It's understandable to feel frustrated when seeing negative reviews or opinions about a film you enjoy.

I'd mind mess if those opinions made any sense, but the film just doesn't support them