The Ending Of Godzilla Minus One Explained

Contains spoilers for "Godzilla Minus One"

It seems only fitting that in the same year we got "Oppenheimer," we also got "Godzilla Minus One." And depending on who you ask, they might tell you that Toho's latest kaiju movie is actually head and shoulders above Christopher Nolan's nuclear epic. "Minus One" shows the carnage wrought on Japan not just by America's two nuclear attacks, but by the totality of World War II. It explores both the grief for all those who died in the violence and the emotional devastation felt by those who managed to survive. And it does it all while delivering one of the best Godzilla movies ever made.

Live-action Toho movies starring the King of the Monsters are a rare commodity these days. The modern Reiwa era of Godzilla films only has two, including "Minus One." But after 2016's "Shin Godzilla" got rave reviews, and now with the success of the latest installment, it looks like the franchise's Japanese arm could be entering a new golden age. Like its predecessor, "Minus One" swaps out the B-movie stylings of previous Godzilla eras for a more artistic cinematic approach. The shots are gorgeous. The score from Naoki Satō is beautiful. And alongside all that beauty, writer-director Takashi Yamazaki still manages to imbue the film with a powerful sense of dread.

In the end, though, the film finishes on an optimistic note — albeit one that leaves things open for a sequel. So let's dive deeper into the ending of "Godzilla Minus One" and what it all means.

Because the Japanese military was disarmed following World War II, there's very little to stop Godzilla's rampage. In the absence of armed force, Dr. Kenji Noda (Hidetaka Yoshioka) devises a complex plan to defeat the beast. He intends to lure Godzilla out into a deep area of water, wrap him up in cables laced with Freon tanks, and use them to drop the monster 1,500 meters down. If the rapid change in pressure doesn't kill him, floatation devices will be deployed to bring Godzilla back up to the surface, wreaking havoc on his body.

As Noda helps organize a civilian navy (mostly consisting of former soldiers) to man the necessary ships, Koichi enlists Tachibana to modify his Shinden fighter plane. If all else fails, he plans to fly into Godzilla's jaws, hopefully destroying his brain and killing him with a mouthful of explosives. Koichi says that he intends to die if necessary to make things right, blaming himself for Godzilla's carnage, while Tachibana still seems to hold Koichi responsible for the Odo massacre.

The plan plays out smoothly, with Koichi in his plane leading Godzilla out to the target location. The Freon canisters fail to do the job, though, and the kaiju chews through the floatation devices at 800 meters when they pull him back up. All seems lost, but in the hour of despair, a whole fleet of tugboats arrives to help yank the monster to the surface.

In a happy twist, Koichi returns home to a telegram revealing that Noriko is actually still alive. The chaos in the Ginza attack left many victims injured and lost with no way to identify them. It seems that this fate also befell Noriko, who sustained wounds from Godzilla's heat ray blast but survived after being taken to a hospital. Koichi rushes to her bedside with Akiko in his arms, and the family is reunited. Noriko asks if Koichi's war is finally over, and he breaks down crying, clutching her to his body and declaring that yes, it finally is.

Of course, it isn't all sunshine and rainbows. As the happy reunion fades out, the camera shifts suspiciously to Noriko's neck, where the faintest sign of something dark can be seen undulating beneath the skin. This could simply be some kind of ordinary radiation poisoning — a scar from Godzilla's heat ray that may haunt her and her family in the future. But with Godzilla still being an unknown quantity in this incarnation, it could also be a sign of something more sinister. Perhaps Noriko was exposed to some kind of Godzilla DNA (or G-Cells, as they've often been called in previous movies). Such an infection might have even helped her survive her injuries. For now, though, there's too little evidence to say for certain what's happening to her.

Hopefully, the little family has weathered enough tragedies, and whatever's happening to Noriko can be remedied with further medical care. But when it comes to Godzilla, of course, the threat is never really gone.

The dominant message of "Godzilla Minus One" is clear: Living is the real victory. Any supposed accomplishment that necessitates death — any great sacrifice in the name of fame, honor, or fortune — pales in comparison to the simple victory of living to build anew. For most of the movie, Koichi is wracked by guilt, calling himself "someone who wasn't supposed to live." He goes to great lengths to bring in Tachibana to fix the Shinden because he wants absolution. He wants to look the man who called him a coward in the eyes and declare that he is willing to die this time.

But when that moment comes, Tachibana tells him to live, the anger seeping out of him. After Koichi flies the Shinden into Godzilla, we see Tachibana listening at the radio with bated breath. Only when he hears that Koichi is still alive does he exhale, tears brimming in his eyes. His own war seems to have been ended by the act of forgiveness and the choice to live.

In fact, not a single human dies during the final attack against Godzilla. A decoy destroyer is blown up, but every other craft remains intact. "This time they'll make a difference," Yōji says as he watches the ex-soldiers prepare for the fight. "This time we're making it right." Unlike the war, he says, it's not a battle to the death. It's a battle for life, and for the future.

One of the recurring themes throughout "Godzilla Minus One" is disillusionment with the Japanese government in the wake of World War II. Yōji Akitsu acts as the main mouthpiece for these criticisms, frequently condemning the government's censoring of information and overall corruption. It's clear that he blames Japan's leadership for getting the country into a bloody war it was never going to win. For Yōji, the grief felt by all of his friends is all the fault of a failed administration.

Of course, "Minus One" also comments on the fragile state Japan was thrown into by the United States after the war. "Minus One" shows just how powerless the nation is to defend itself because of its military disarmament. Even the battleship that faces Godzilla halfway through the movie is about to be scuttled. Had Godzilla not begun his reign of terror by attacking American ships, it's doubtful that Japan would be given any resources with which to fight him.

In the end, it's the combined strength and determination of the Japanese people that defeats the monster at their door. Yamazaki makes a point of showing that no one is coerced or conscripted into joining the fight this time. The group rises up of its own accord out of a desire to defend their home, not through a command from on high to die in the name of conquest. This sense of unity is what ultimately brings victory, both against Godzilla and in the effort to rebuild.

Takashi Yamazaki has spoken extensively about his goals for "Godzilla Minus One" and the films that inspired it. "Sometimes the story is told where you switch to Godzilla and then you switch to the human story, and they end up kind of existing independently," the writer-director told Moviefone regarding past Godzilla films. "But I really wanted to make sure that they were intertwined in a balanced way so that the human drama and whatever's going on with Godzilla had the right balance."

Asked about the lasting impact of Godzilla, Yamazaki explained his perspective on what the creature represents culturally. "It's the concept of an animal or object absorbing so much evil energy, or the negativity of the world, that it takes shape," Yamazaki told Moviefone. "This needs a cycle every couple of decades. I think maybe it's just the timing that we need to be reminded and go through the exercise of visualizing your worries, evils and whatever's going on in the world ... and going through this process of calming those negative energies in the form of Godzilla."

In the same interview, star Ryunosuke Kamiki discussed where his character, Koichi, winds up by the end of the film. "I feel that before Shikishima meets Noriko and Akiko, that he's questioning himself, 'Should I live, do I even deserve to live?'" the actor said. "Noriko and Akiko create a place for Shikishima to be and to exist."