The Narrative Structure of Tezuka's Films - Why?

[Rodan]

Let's talk about Masaaki Tezuka, a man who obviously wanted to make anime instead of Godzilla films, but who, to everyone's detriment, made some anyway.

But this isn't about that. This is about a question that I've been turning over in my mind since I first saw them. I understand that Toho was trying to get these out at rate of one per year, which almost, almost justifies some of the uninspired directing or completely inexcusable-in-a-2001-to-2003-post-Gamera III-world special effects.

My question is this: How, in modern films intended for national theatrical release, did any of these scripts get green-lit? How were this many people okay with dropped plot threads, how could these so consistently fail to follow through on their most basic A-to-B popcorn-movie setups?

I'm completely serious. Just what the hell happened here?

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Megaguirus

Disclaimer: I actually enjoy this one on a total popcorn level. It's a lot of fun. But its writing is also unbelievably stupid and frustrating and, again, I can't believe Toho green-lit this for national theatrical distribution in 2001.

The film gives us its stock characters right away, and they're fine. They even have room to develop, are likable, and have discernible motivation, which is horrible to realize is something that actually needs to be praised among the last twenty-five or so years of Godzilla films. It also gives us the Dimension Tide.

Here's where we hit our fist problem: I'm still baffled by the idea that you can introduce a science-fiction super weapon as horrifying as a black-hole gun in a Godzilla movie without immediately drawing parallels to the way the Oxygen Destroyer plot mirrored the bleak necessity of nuclear escalation in the original film. In fact, the first time I saw this, that's where I thought it was going. "Oh, they're going to one-up Godzilla with this horrifying weapon. Obviously it's going to result in a catastrophe for them and they'll realize the error of going down this path." That catastrophe, obviously, since this is a giant monster B-movie, was going to be Megaguirus.

It's the most obvious set up in the world, but it also would have tied together the monster drama with the human plot in a satisfying, thematic way. It would streamline the narrative and allow for a bit of the standard sci-fi moralizing.

Holy shit did that ever not happen.

Megaguirus is about as inessential to the plot the kid who finds it. If I remember correctly, the fact that it escaped into the world as the result of the black-hole gun receives about one mention, and is never dwelled upon by any of the characters. Again, like Anguirus in Raids Again, her climactic fight against Godzilla is shoved into the end of the second act, leaving the third to see our heroes use the Dimension Tide against Godzilla basically free of consequences.

How this movie should have worked: The characters create the Dimension Tide, ignoring its possible consequences. It releases Megaguirus, resulting in general mayhem until Godzilla, who the audience can now reluctantly cheer for as the lesser of two evils and a thematic element putting the characters in their place, saves the day. Along the way, the characters still have their arcs, but also realize how misguided their main goal was.

How it actually worked: It didn't. We don't know who to cheer for. We spend a significant amount of time with Megaguirus and a child who finds her egg, neither of which have any discernible impact on the film, the kid especially. The heroes are happy-go-lucky at the end, even though they failed to kill Godzilla, which is a ... good? bad? thing. We're not sure. There's no real tone, and, on a level of sheer believably, we're left to wonder how the rest of the world was ever okay with a country that isn't even allowed to maintain a real military building something that shoots black holes from space.

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Against Mechagodzilla

As I'm sure has been much discussed since its debut, this is the same film as Megaguirus. It's astounding. That means that not only are the characters nearly 1:1, so are its narrative flaws.

To the film's credit, Tezuka actually includes national reaction to Japan constructing an anti-Godzilla super weapon. We're also lead to be believe there's some consequence for this action, and the movie wears its tone of a hollow victory a little better, or at least makes it seem more intentional.

But, like before, we still don't really know who to root for (a problem shared by the Heisei Mechagodzilla film, while we're at it). And, like before, the movie's central drama and obvious solution to that problem is cast away after the second act. We also trade some improvement in the monster plot for a more meandering human one, if that's even possible.

How this movie should have worked: The movie reveals halfway through that, as a result of tampering with forces better left alone, the new Mechagodzilla at times draws on the logic of the original Godzilla and becomes a rampaging monster. This causes significant concern among military forces, until they have no choice but to let it out again against Godzilla in the final act. Midway through the fight, it goes berserk again, allowing the audience to reluctantly cheer for Godzilla. The human plot that peters out in the actual film could be driven home as the scientist, the main character, and the rest of the cast work together to extricate her from the situation. She accepts their help and, along with the rest of the cast, learns to let go of vengeance and accept Godzilla as a force of nature, as it saves them from Kiryu. The human plot is thus resolved through the problem set up in the second act and through the monster plot.

How it actually worked: Kiryu's potential to rampage is summarily dropped two-thirds into the film. We don't know who to cheer for. There are no real consequences for creating Mechagodzilla. The human plot is dropped after the scene between the main character and the scientists' daughter; we're led to believe she may have changed, but she's still as cold as ever, and we never really see that her opinions, either on Godzilla or humanity, have changed. Keep in mind that this was envisioned as a single film before Tokyo S.O.S. was green-lit.

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Tokyo S.O.S.

I have slightly less to say about this one, mostly because it's one long fight and actually delivers on most of its A-to-B plot threads. The human plot still feels like it kind of peters out, but it connects better to the monster and delivers on most of the points Against Mechagodzilla doesn't. By Tezuka's standards, the writing here is extremely competent. By any other standards, even those of popcorn monster movies, it's still a confusing mess centered around a setting up a fight sequence, and I'm still amazed it got the go-ahead less than fifteen years ago.

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So, honest question: What exactly happened? Was it the time frame, less than a year from start to finish? Was there just truly a sense at Toho that, as long as the monsters got to fight, no one would care? (This, by the way, would be much more palatable were the directing or special effects up to par for their time.) Is there a difference in cinematic culture that I'm missing?

For the record, I'm all for movies that buck the expected narrative structure or lack clear moral universes (kaiju films are not my bread and butter). However, that subversion has to be well-done and intentional. I have absolutely no doubt that in the case of Tezuka's three entries, which never strive to be anything more than respectable popcorn flicks, it's just a failure of competency.

What was Toho thinking that got these passed after the initial treatment?

[LaserDuel]

These are all very good points. However, I've always seen these movies as too much like what came before, as opposed to some form of narrative mess: Godzilla appears, new monster appears, monsters fight, one monster is victorious and nothing unexpected happens. If I had to guess why these scripts were approved, I'd say that it was a combination of a desire to avoid risks and tight deadlines. I also get the feeling that someone at Toho saw the success of GMK and didn't bother to see why it did well and just hired a guy who had worked on Godzilla before.

Also, just one correction. I think it's pretty clear that Kiryu is the hero and Godzilla the villain in Against Mechagodzilla. Godzilla kills the protagonist's comrades and why bother giving Mechagodzilla a new name unless they wanted the audience to like it? Other then that, a very good explanation of the bad parts of the Millenium series.

[Rodan]

These are all very good points. However, I've always seen these movies as too much like what came before, as opposed to some form of narrative mess: Godzilla appears, new monster appears, monsters fight, one monster is victorious and nothing unexpected happens.

The difference is that most (the decent ones, anyway) of the previous movies accompany that with an A-to-B human plot, tying changes in the human cast to developments in the monster scenario either plot-wise or thematically. They also, before engaging in a fight between Godzilla and humans or Godzilla and another monster, let us know who we should be rooting for, which is a fairly important thing in a light, action-focused popcorn movie.

Humans trying to kill Godzilla (or another monster), becoming too arrogant and creating a crisis, and then being saved by Godzilla (or another monster) while learning a lesson about both the monster's place in their world and their own flaws is one of the most basic plots in the Godzilla series, to say nothing of giant monster movies as a whole.

In Megaguirus and Against Mechagodzilla, Tezuka sets us up for that cliched, but enjoyable, scenario, only to completely drop the setup in both the human and monster plots by the end of the middle act. And there's nothing intentional about it. I've never seen two movies implode so spectacularly.

If I had to guess why these scripts were approved, I'd say that it was a combination of a desire to avoid risks and tight deadlines. I also get the feeling that someone at Toho saw the success of GMK and didn't bother to see why it did well and just hired a guy who had worked on Godzilla before.

I'm glad you mentioned GMK, actually, because I think it's one of the biggest factors leaning me toward the idea that there just wasn't time for anyone to request a redraft the incompetent scripts. It's remarkable how awkward GMK is in terms of dialogue, plotting, narrative pace and special effects compared to Kaneko's stellar work on the Gamera trilogy, leading me to believe something was amiss at Toho, likely the one-year deadline putting major constraints on everything.

Also, just one correction. I think it's pretty clear that Kiryu is the hero and Godzilla the villain in Against Mechagodzilla. Godzilla kills the protagonist's comrades and why bother giving Mechagodzilla a new name unless they wanted the audience to like it? Other then that, a very good explanation of the bad parts of the Millenium series.

I think Tezuka wanted that to be the case, but it isn't nearly as clear as it could be, given that Kiryu

1) New name or not, draws upon the legacy of a villainous character
2) Destroys a city in a scene that should have led to the A-plot of the film but was summarily ignored
3) Is the source of much hemming and hawing over the morality of using the original Godzilla's bones and creating this kind of superweapon
and 4) Just doesn't elicit the visceral reaction a purely heroic entity should from me, as a viewer. Nor Godzilla that of a villain.

Which, again, could be interesting if it were intentional. Instead, it's even more awkward, because the movie tries really hard to pump you up for the heroic Kiryu with his syrupy trumpet theme, etc., but is constantly at war with itself.

And again, this is a problem shared by the 1993 Mechagodzilla, though that at least gives Mechagodzilla a clearly villainous aura and goes out of its way to put Godzilla and Rodan in the right by introducing the egg subplot. The human development is better handled as well. It remains awkward having the humans aligned with Mechagodzilla for so long, though (to the extent that you're cheering for Godzilla to destroy it but fearing for the characters inside) and the switch to a sympathetic Godzilla feels forced coming halfway through the series.

[Kaiser]

I've never liked Megaguirus, but I've never really understood the enmity for Tezuka's Mechagodzilla saga. Maybe it's because I like anime and as such I've never been bothered by the anime-like influences in either movie. Neither movie really achieves what it could be because Tezuka is afraid to take risks bolder directors would take, but that doesn't automatically make them bad movies because of it.

[Terasawa]

Great points on MEGAGUIRUS. I argue that's (maybe) the worst Godzilla movie since the main menace (Megaguirus) is totally unimportant to the plot. I maintain that the whole movie would have been better if it had been a solo Godzilla film. You could cover the same concepts but use the time wasted on the kid, the Meganula, the flooded city*, and Megaguirus to explore your cliched characters and develop the movie's theme.

*This is really frustrating, IMO. What could have been the stage for a memorable set piece or even the climax has zero importance to any major plot thread. It's completely dropped after Megaguirus appears.

[Rodan]

Neither movie really achieves what it could be because Tezuka is afraid to take risks bolder directors would take, but that doesn't automatically make them bad movies because of it.

That's not the issue I have with his films. I'm actually arguing that it would be a huge improvement for his movies to align to the basic narrative competency of less bold directors. My problem is that they don't even achieve that level.

Megaguirus and Against Mechagodzilla both set you up for the most standardly enjoyable, A-to-B Godzilla movie ever, only to completely drop every logical conclusion or ounce of build up by the final act. Tokyo S.O.S. is just uninspired monster porn, which is sadly more acceptable in comparison. Though it's still a mess and I could hardly trace a complete character arc in it if I tried.

[Kaiser]

Alright, I get what you're saying. They're definitely not the movies I would show someone if I was trying to get them into Godzilla, but I enjoy them despite their flaws. The one thing the latter two movies have going for them at least is great production values and sfx.

[Rodan]

Alright, I get what you're saying. They're definitely not the movies I would show someone if I was trying to get them into Godzilla, but I enjoy them despite their flaws. The one thing the latter two movies have going for them at least is great production values and sfx.

This isn't what the thread is about, but I don't know, man. After Gamera III came out in 1999 and showed us what was possible with practical, rubber-suit special effects?

Kiryu's feet wiggle when he stomps. Godzilla's skin is as dry as a plastic figurine. These are movies where monsters jump, shoulder-ram or get thrown side ways as still clip-art because the suits aren't mobile enough and for some reason they chose not to use CGI assists. The miniatures are under-detailed (I think Toho peaked with miniatures in Godzilla 2000). The CGI beams look like home studio effects. Direction wise, we have a lot of flat angles that don't really sell the scale.

I can still have fun with the monster action in these things, but the special effects were already dated by the time these came out, even within their genre and country.

Rodan, I would like to shake your hand through the Internet if that was possible. Kudos on some of the most intelligent and clear thinking forum posts I've read in many years.

[Black Lion]

I've always thought GXM would have been so much better if they played a switch halfway through the movie and had Kiryu become the villain, never being recovered by the JDF, and the main character's only hope of saving the city and herself is now the monster she hates. It would be a nice theme of mankind creating their own worst enemy all over again, with an added bonus of having to accept and live with our mistakes (Godzilla) instead of trying to bury them away and forget about them. Of course, a solid plot like that would just have been wasted on the mundane special effects and cringe-worthy acting. The scene where Kiryu shoulder-rushes Godzilla at the very beginning of their fight is embarrassing to even THINK about.

But I think this is really a problem with Japan's modern writing in general. Even in anime and television, video games and manga, recent entries are much weaker and blander than anything made two decades ago with plot threads frayed all over the place and nothing gets resolved under the guise of it being "mysterious" and "too deep for you to understand". It's exactly the same way a bad (and amateur) artist will totally screw up a person's proportions, then shoot down all criticism with "it's just my style".

I mean, obviously a plot should not hold your hand and walk you through every detail of its narrative, but the audience should not have to make up their own damn plot to fill in what the movie left out.

The Millennium series is a paint-by-numbers monsters series that can't even stay inside the lines. It's a combination of Toho not having a clear creative direction they want the franchise to go, and not giving it any weight to throw around because they're ultra-conservative and would rather have a steady stream of mediocre revenue than take a risk on something that could be massively successful or a flop.

I would not pin the blame on Tezuka alone, because as we see with GFW and even GINO, Toho just has no ability take the reins and tell someone when they've gone too far off course. They want Godzilla movies just to add on to the list and they don't care who makes it or what they do to it. No quality control. As fans, we really just have to hope we get lucky and Toho somehow stumbles onto a competent writer, a director with a real vision, and somebody with a LOT of money to waste.

[Rodan]

[snip]

Some great analogies there, with the drawing proportions and paint-by-numbers bit.

And I do think you're right about the onus not being completely on Tezuka here. I'd never call him any kind of arteur, but as I said earlier, from the problems that plague GMK as well, I think it's obvious Toho's schedule and mandates were making it very difficult to get a good film out the door. And this was the same group of Toho decision-makers who honestly thought they could get Final Wars a widespread international theatrical release, which is an idea so hilarious in hindsight I don't know whether to laugh or cringe.

[eabaker]

But, like before, we still don't really know who to root for (a problem shared by the Heisei Mechagodzilla film, while we're at it).

I don't think it's as bad there. Baby's sort of the main victim but it pays off with him swimming away with Godzilla. With the Tezuka films they temporarily beat Godzilla and nothing else.

In the case opf the 90s film, I think that the ambiguities about where our sympathies should lie are intentional, and serve a thematic purpose in the movie (and through the Heisei era flicks as a whole). Both Godzilla and Mechagodzilla are products of militarism in their own ways, and both represent the dangers of escalating power struggles.

The Tezuka films may cart out some ethical questions, but they never tie them into the narrative in any meaningful ways.

Not that I'm calling MG '93 one of the most thematically sophisticated or effective kaiju flicks - far from it. But I do think it stands head-and-shoulders about the Kiryu stories.

[Beef Bigshot]

I love you........

Actually just the fact that you've posted some really awesome things as of late. I really like your idea about Godzilla X mechagodzilla. I would have loved if mechagodzilla went crazy again. It would have been nice to see another bad robot goin around.

Sadly that did not happen. All three of these films have a weird scale of how good they are. Godzilla be megaguirus is obviously sub par compared to x mechaG and SOS. While those movies as well are arguable wether or not they are good, or fails. It's actually kinda weird....

[imposterzilla]

Wataru Mimura was the writer of all of the Tezuka films, but Tezuka himself. Another thing is traditionally Japanese films are usually made within a short period of time. It's a cultural difference. Another point is Godzilla vs Biollante is one of the quickest made Goji films(6 months) and it looked pretty darn good.

[Rody]

While time is probably one of the problems with the recent Toho G films, I think the crews themselves are clearly a major issue as well. The Tsuburaya/Honda team was pumping out Tokusatsu films on a yearly basis in the 60's (in 1964 alone, audiences got Mothra vs. Godzilla, Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster, AND Space Monster Dogora). Granted, those men were at the top of their game, but nevertheless one doubts how experienced/talented the writers, directors, technicians, etc. of Toho are today.

In fact, Hideaki Anno recently made a statement of concern regarding Tokusatsu films.

[Rodan]

Wataru Mimura was the writer of all of the Tezuka films, but Tezuka himself. Another thing is traditionally Japanese films are usually made within a short period of time. It's a cultural difference. Another point is Godzilla vs Biollante is one of the quickest made Goji films(6 months) and it looked pretty darn good.

Well, egg on my face. I guess I pegged the wrong guy.

For some reason I had it in my mind that Tezuka was pulling a writer/director role on these films, but I really should've double-checked.

[ZillaMaster91]

I'd still think that despite Wataru Mimura in the writer's chair, Tezuka still had some deal of influence over the story itself as well. After all, he's the director, and does have a say in what is put on screen too.

This is the first time I'm looking at this thread, and really good points are being made! I remember years ago on the old TokyoMonsters.com forums - that are now long gone unfortunately - I remember a discussion much like this in regards to Tezuka's films. In my opinion, they are not the greatest, even Godzilla vs. Megaguirus, which I consider one of the worst Millennium films (but still fares better personally compared to Final Wars). Before I had even watched Godzilla x MechaGodzilla (first bought the Hong Kong DVD Release in August 2003) I had assumed that it'll go down the route where, as mentioned before, Kiryu does an old switcheroo and becomes the main villain instead of Godzilla. Even some of the plot descriptions I've read back then lead me to believe that would've been true! That would have been a GREAT plot twist and ironic now that Godzilla himself has to defeat Kiryu and become the hero. The movie would've played out so much better that way and wouldn't require a lackluster sequel like Tokyo SOS. Perhaps the one reason that I don't mind the Kiryu trio is the fact that I'm an avid viewer of anime, primarily anime regarding giant mecha. A lot of the story points are indeed similar - main character suffers traumatic event, uses the machine to enact their personal revenge, learns valuable lessons along the way. Also we have the love stricken male lead, the wise-ass mopey kid (que Shinji Ikari reference), and the douche-bag rival who turns comrade - the ingredients to your typical mecha anime story.

Sure it's easy to blame Tezuka on everything that went wrong with Megaguirus, MechaGodzilla, and Tokyo SOS. He's the director. He's the guy creatively in charge. But, I believe that we would have got ourselves a much better film if it weren't for Toho's ridiculous strict film schedules. I recall hearing that Shusuke Kaneko wanted GMK to be released in the spring of 2002 instead of December 2001 so he'll have more time to improve the film in post production (special effects, reshoots, etc.), but of course the execs from Toho respond, NO. Spring is for Doraemon, Summer is for Pokemon, Fall is for Hamtaro, and Winter is for Godzilla. Don't take my word for it, and correct me if I'm wrong, since I recall reading this info from a forum post at TokyoMonsters.

I think lackluster quality of much of the Millennium series is to be blamed on Toho Execs who are using the character as well as other franchises (Pokemon especially) as their cash cows. They didn't seem to care where they were taking Godzilla, but as long as they were making quick bucks left and right, then so be it!

But to get back on topic, about Tezuka's films, they had great potential to be good movies, but bad writing, short production time, and an inexperienced crew (depending if they replace stagehands each film), and hardy execs could also hold blame. But, that's just my opinion and nothing is stone hard fact.

[eabaker]

He's the guy creatively in charge.

Actually, in a studio system, the director is generally answerable to the producer(s), who can overrule creative decisions.

[Mincecraft]

Which is almost never good.

Depends on who's better really.

[three]

i'm gonna agree with the consensus here and say the one year time frame.

also: of these three movies i prefer SOS, but Megagirus gets major props for one of the coolest kaiju death scenes ever.

[g2kmaster]

I agree with the points with Megaguirus. Granted, I like the idea that mankind could create a weapon to rid of Godzilla without it being worse than Godzilla, but again, not well executed.

With the Kiryu saga, I think that you're missing the point. Kiryu's arc wasn't about vegence. It was about letting that which is dead be dead and get on with it. Akane and the scientist's daughter can't get over a death in their lives while the Japanese government keep the original Godzilla artificially alive. It was this which TOKYO SOS continued.

It gets convoluted here.

The ending of TSOS with Kiryu taking Godzilla out to sea could be read as the first time a Godzilla decided on his own terms to stop punishing humans. Up until that scene though, it would seem hard to think of what reason Godzilla appeared in 1999 for. That answer may come from the post-credit scene of Tokyo SOS. It's infered that due to the JSDF's attack on the Gargantuas before they went out at sea did infact scatter cells around the unfortunate metropolis. Kaiju DNA extraction would have started there, in all likelyhood, mainly for counter measures since the Gargantuas weren't the last kaiju threat (we got some Yog in there). The cells could be misused though to make weapons (an interesting parallel to the nuclear energy theme the franchise has). Godzilla being a metaphor for war and nuclear power abuse is now expanded upon to cover the subject of death in general.

All that barely makes it though since - particularly TSOS - wasn't handled that well. Akane, the scientist and his daughter not being main characters hurts the arc (since the human parallel isn't there). Its not done that well, but atleast a theme is there. And by the end of a back-to-back watch, don't I feel emotional when there is one last Godzilla roar after the credits stop looking at the ocean.

That's my 2 cents anyway.