Since the three anime films form one continuous story, we may as well
cover them all with one synopsis.
After more than 20 years of travel, a space ark called the Aratrum has
arrived at the planet Tau-e (possibly a planet designated “e” in the Tau
Ceti system) but finds it inhospitable. A landing craft, crewed by the
Aratrum’s oldest inhabitants, is sent down to the surface to assess
whether the world can be settled at all. Haruo Sakaki, a human captain, is
convinced that this is a ploy by the Aratrum’s central committee to get
rid of the elderly in order to ease resource shortages aboard the ship,
and attempts to force them to cancel the mission. One of those on board,
Daichi Tani, radios through to confirm that he and the others volunteered
for the expedition – they’ve had all they can take of being cooped up in a
spaceship and are willing to take their chances. (The names, along with
everything else, are shown on computer displays in English. Rather than
second guess which is the forename and which the surname for the Japanese
characters, I’m just going to run with the first/last order as presented
here.) Haruo is arrested and thrown into the brig. Sure enough, the
landing ship suddenly explodes in the planet’s atmosphere.
Infodump flashback time. Godzilla appeared without explanation, along with
several other kaiju, in the last summer of the 20th century, causing
widespread death and destruction. (Kaiju shown or named on-screen include
a mantis-like Kamacuras (as first seen
in 1967); the jellyfish-like alien Dogora (1964); the pollution monster
Hedorah
(1971); something that might be
Rodan
but looks a bit more like a dragon; a bulky creature that looks like it
might be Orga, the alien creature from
Godzilla 2000: Millennium
(1999); and finally Godzilla, looking his usual self.) Two groups of
aliens arrived on Earth shortly after: the Exif and the Bilusaludo. The
Exif have blond hair and pointy ears, making them look somewhat like elves
from the Lord of the Rings film trilogy (2001-03). Their motivation
seems to be that of religious missionaries – they came to tell humanity
that Earth was doomed and to join their faith. The Bilusaludo have
slightly darker skin and are stockier. They came to Earth looking for a
new home after their planet was destroyed by a black hole, and they tried
to help humanity defend itself against the kaiju by creating a device
called Mechagodzilla, although its facility was seemingly destroyed before
it could be brought online. (So the Bilusaludo are analogous to the
ape-faced alien antagonists of
Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla
(1974) and
Terror of Mechagodzilla
(1975). Viewers who haven’t immediately guessed which classic alien
villains the Exif are meant to be will find out in the third film.) By the
middle of the century, the United Earth coalition formed by the three
species had agreed to send out spaceships to find and colonise other
worlds and abandon Earth. Haruo, then a child, was among those evacuated
from the planet. His parents were killed when Godzilla appeared at the
spaceport and began to attack the shuttles; Haruo was subsequently raised
by Tani, whom he regarded as a surrogate grandfather.
Driven by the loss of his parents and now Tani as well, Haruo wants the
Aratrum to turn around so that humanity and its allies can take Earth back
from Godzilla. He’s visited in the brig by Metphies, an Exif cleric, who
is secretly providing him with access to restricted data on Godzilla.
Having studied this data, Haruo believes that Godzilla’s body contains an
organ that generates a powerful electromagnetic field, the secret of his
invulnerability to all the weapons that were used against him. If some way
can be found to disable this organ, Godzilla might become vulnerable to
attack. Haruo completes his report on his findings and Metphies ensures
that it is uploaded anonymously to the Aratrum’s media network, where it
generates plenty of interest. Meanwhile, the Exif’s supercomputer, the
Gematron, has predicted close to zero probability of the ship finding
another potentially habitable planet within the next 20 years. The central
committee decides to use the Aratrum’s hyperdrive to return to Earth with
all speed.
Although they’ve subjectively been away from Earth for 22 years, because
of relativistic effects, more than 10,000 years have passed on Earth. A
wave of reconnaissance drones finds a dense, particulate fog covering the
planet’s surface to a height of 500 metres before being destroyed by
something that makes the unmistakeable sound of Godzilla’s roar. Godzilla
is clearly still present, although it’s anyone’s guess whether this is the
same creature or whether the original has somehow reproduced, neither of
which seems very likely. On the strength of his report, Haruo is released
from the brig and sent down to the surface with several landing ships full
of soldiers to tackle Godzilla, as well as to make a proper assessment of
the planet – the fog makes a remote scan of the surface impossible.
Colonel Elliot Leland is charge of the troops, while Haruo is still in
effect a prisoner. Assigned to keep an eye on him is Sergeant Yuko Tani,
Daichi Tani’s biological granddaughter, who was raised alongside him.
Leland’s detachment of the expedition is attacked by flying dragon-like
creatures which the soldiers are barely able to repel. Major Martin
Lazzari, the team’s leading scientist, determines that the creatures and
the flora in the surrounding forest have a very similar genetic structure,
as well as some apparently metallic properties, and that both generate the
same kind of electromagnetic field as Godzilla. The impenetrable fog is
connected to them, probably a kind of pollen produced by the forest. It
seems that, over the course of tens of thousands of years, Earth’s entire
biosphere has reshaped itself around Godzilla. Leland declares Earth to be
a lost cause and plans to retreat back to the Aratrum. However, his
company’s landing ships were damaged by the flying creatures, so they’re
obliged to journey past the forest to join up with the other companies
before they can leave the surface. The troops are prevented from leaving
by the enormous Godzilla. To get the data they need on Godzilla’s organic
electromagnetic shield, Leland sacrifices himself by assaulting Godzilla
with a mobile weapons platform and drawing his atomic fire. (Instead of
his dorsal fins lighting up, electricity crackles across this Godzilla’s
back when he prepares to fire his atomic breath.)
Metphies, who also holds the rank of Colonel, is next in the expedition’s
chain of command, but he declares Haruo to now be in charge of the
mission. Colonel Galu-gu, a Bilusaludo technician, confirms that the
electromagnetic organ is under one of Godzilla’s dorsal fins, in the small
of his back. Haruo devises a plan to lead Godzilla into a trap, target his
dorsal fin while the shield is weakened and embed EMP probes into his body
to disrupt the crucial organ. Although several more lives and ships are
lost, the plan eventually succeeds and Godzilla explodes. But Haruo’s
moment of triumph is ruined when a larger Godzilla erupts from beneath a
nearby mountain, more than 300 metres tall. The creature the soldiers have
defeated was just another by-product of Godzilla’s takeover of Earth’s
biosphere – this is the original, still alive after thousands of years and
grown to an unprecedented size. Haruo watches as all his compatriots are
apparently wiped out; he passes out and later wakes up in a wooden hut,
watched over by an unfamiliar woman.
The second film opens with the central committee of the Aratrum reviewing
the last transmission they received from the landing party. The data
suggests the 300-metre-tall Godzilla could knock the Aratrum out of orbit
with his atomic breath ray – the committee is keen to withdraw to the
Moon’s orbit. Before they do so, they dispatch more reconnaissance drones
to look for any survivors.
Haruo finds himself covered in a powdery substance and able to breath
Earth’s transformed atmosphere without his spacesuit helmet. He leaves the
hut in search of others and finds that he’s in a large volcanic crater,
below the level of the fog. He sees the woman who was watching him earlier
and tries to follow her, but is unable to keep pace with her. Following a
radio signal, he’s reunited with Yuko and a few other survivors; they’re
all captured by the mysterious woman’s people and taken back to the
village in the crater. Several other survivors have been brought here,
including Major Lazzari and Colonel Galu-gu. Some of them have been
treated for their wounds with the same scale-like powder the woman
apparently used on Haruo.
In a temple in their village, the inhabitants introduce themselves
telepathically to the recent arrivals. Their name for themselves is the
Houtua. (The telepathic “speakers” are twins, one of whom was the woman in
the hut Haruo woke up in – they later name themselves Miana and Maina. The
Houtua are all relatively short, with ornately patterned light and dark
skin and feathery antennae protruding from the fringes of their hair.)
They’re the descendants of the humans who were left behind all those
thousands of years ago; they’ve survived by allying themselves with a God
who is unnamed but who is clearly Mothra. Godzilla is their enemy but they
consider him unopposable, so instead they live peaceably in their village
and guard the last egg of their God. In much the same way that Godzilla
has biologically influenced the rest of the planet, Mothra’s biology has
influenced the Houtua, which has enabled them to survive. (Hence the
antennae, and also the magical powder the Houtua seemingly produce, which
is reminiscent of Mothra’s wing scales.)
Following a signal that suggests one of the landing ships is still
operational, the soldiers head into the forest, escorted by Miana and
Maina. When they’re attacked by Godzilla-derived creatures, the Houtua are
able to drive them back using only bows and arrows, but they’re saved from
a flock of the larger flying creatures by Metphies in a mobile weapons
platform. Metphies takes them to the landing ship, where they’re brought
up to date on the central committee’s plan to abandon Earth. Galu-gu,
however, has noticed that the Houtua’s surprisingly effective weapons are
tipped with a degraded form of nanometal, suggesting that Mechagodzilla’s
facility is still accessible and could potentially give them the means to
kill Godzilla. Three soldiers take the landing ship back to the Aratrum;
the rest agree to stay with Haruo and pursue this new line of attack
against Godzilla.
Miana and Maina lead the soldiers to the facility, where they discover
that the nanometal that was used to construct Mechagodzilla has spread out
to encompass the entire complex. The Bilusaludo dub this phenomenon
“Mechagodzilla City”. It seems to use the local fauna as a source of raw
materials, but Galu-gu insists the landing party are in no danger as
Mechagodzilla City is simply attacking Godzilla as instructed. Miana and
Maina refuse to enter and leave with a group of Houtua foragers. Inside
the complex, the soldiers find that Mechagodzilla’s controlling AI is
still active. Haruo develops a plan to lure Godzilla into the forecourt of
Mechagodzilla City where he can be trapped in a pit of nanometal, subdued
and destroyed. He will be herded by a trio of light aircraft, dubbed
Vultures, that the Bilusaludo Major Belu-be has adapted from the mecha
suits the soldiers brought with them.
Lazzari remarks to Haruo that some of the soldiers who were healed with
the Houtua’s powder have been feeling unwell since they entered the city.
Metphies confides in Haruo that he’s concerned about the Bilusaludo’s
plans. He reveals that the Exif believe kaiju are a form of divine
punishment for civilisations that consider themselves the masters of their
worlds, and that their own homeworld was destroyed by a monster more
terrible than Godzilla. He whispers its forbidden name into Haruo’s ear.
Mechagodzilla City starts to absorb the Bilusaludo soldiers, apparently
with their consent. Galu-gu confirms that this is intended and that the
Bilusaludo consider it an evolutionary step forward to merge physically
with Mechagodzilla’s nanometal and consciously with its AI. He mocks the
humans for their queasiness and their attachment to their emotions; Yuko
insists to the sceptics that only volunteers have been assimilated. As
Godzilla nears the city, Yuko, Haruo and Belu-be take off in the Vultures.
As planned, Godzilla is driven into a pit trap which is flooded with
nanometal, and as it hardens and holds him in place, Mechagodzilla City
bombards him with railgun fire until his shield collapses and then
launches EMP harpoons into his back. But Godzilla doesn’t overload and
explode like his smaller offshoot did – instead he steadily releases the
excess electromagnetic energy as heat.
Belu-be suggests that Godzilla could be forced to overload by discharging
his atomic breath, but there seems to be no way of getting close enough to
provoke him as the area around him continues to heat up. The only option
is to fly the Vultures up and divebomb them into Godzilla. To ensure the
success of the plan, Galu-gu – who has now merged with Mechagodzilla City
himself – remotely triggers the nanometal in the modified Vultures to
assimilate their pilots. Belu-be fuses with his craft and enacts his plan,
while Yuko and Haruo resist the transformation. Metphies radios Haruo and
warns him that Mechagodzilla City won’t stop once Godzilla’s defeated but
will spread and assimilate the entire Earth. Somehow able to reject the
nanometal altogether, Haruo rescues the incapacitated Yuko’s Vulture and
flies down to the city instead, firing his weapons on Mechagodzilla’s
control centre. This severs Mechagodzilla’s control of the nanometal and
renders it inactive. Belu-be, who has turned around to try to stop Haruo,
instead crashes into the city. No longer trapped by the inert nanometal,
Godzilla obliterates Mechagodzilla City entirely. Haruo escapes with Yuko,
but too late to save her from being overwhelmed by the nanometal.
Spoiler alert: the secret name that Metphies whispered to Haruo earlier
was “Ghidorah”.
After a short scene of characters discussing the now dormant Godzilla, the
third film switches again to the crew of the Aratrum reviewing the
previous film's climactic events. The human and Bilusaludo representatives
on the central committee argue over whether Haruo has committed treason by
preventing Godzilla's destruction or defeated a treasonous plot by Galu-gu
to let Mechagodzilla's nanometal assimilate the other soldiers and,
eventually, the entire planet. The Bilusaludo representative demands that
Haruo be punished for his actions.
On Earth, Metphies is gathering religious followers who believe that Haruo
and several other soldiers were protected from the nanometal by God's own
intervention. Haruo is distraught that Yuko, whose body is being kept
apparently alive by the nanometal, is comatose and probably brain dead,
and enraged by the suggestions of Metphies' followers that her death was
the price for not turning against the Bilusaludo like he did. Lazzari, on
the other hand, notes that all those who were spared had been given
medical treatment by the Houtua, and theorises to Haruo that the Houtua's
powdery scales give them some form of natural defence against the
nanometal. Haruo privately raises this with Metphies, only for Metphies to
confirm that he already knows this. He has spread the idea that it was a
divine miracle and used Haruo as a focus for others' belief in order to
grow his own following. But his motives aren't egotistical: ritual and the
supernatural form a part of the Exif's highly advanced science, and
Metphies needs a devout flock in order to summon his god so that it can
kill Godzilla. Haruo furiously storms out.
Events on board the Aratrum escalate when the Bilusaludo seize the engine
room and switch off the main power supply to try to force the issue
regarding Haruo. When news of this reaches those on Earth, Lazzari
suggests that Haruo goes into hiding for a while - his disappearance might
allow tempers to cool on the Aratrum and take some of the wind out of
Metphies' sails as well. Haruo retreats to Miana's hut, but it's Maina
rather than Miana who watches over him there. Maina seduces Haruo while
Miana privately confronts Metphies. It transpires that the Exif are also
telepathic but have hidden this from the Houtua in order to pursue their
own agenda. Metphies shocks Miana with a telepathic image of his god, a
winged creature with three long necks.
Metphies liaises telepathically with the Exif representative on the
central committee on the Aratrum, who has also gathered a fervent
following among the crew, and the two simultaneously perform the ritual to
summon their god, Ghidorah. This involves their disciples pledging their
lives to God and chanting Ghidorah's name to invoke him. The cultists on
Earth are slaughtered by a shadow manifestation of Ghidorah's three heads,
while in space a singularity forms near the Aratrum and one of Ghidorah's
necks emerges from it, coiling around the ship. Ghidorah's presence causes
powerful gravitational distortions which quickly lead to the complete
destruction of the Aratrum.
Three singularities appear in the sky above Godzilla's location,
accompanied by violent storms. One of Ghidorah's necks snakes down from
one of the holes towards Godzilla. The soldiers' technical equipment
doesn't register the creature they can see at all, just an anomalous
gravitational field. Godzilla fires his atomic breath, but it's lensed
harmlessly around Ghidorah by the gravitational distortion. Godzilla is
also unable to physically touch Ghidorah, but Ghidorah is able to sink his
teeth into Godzilla's shoulder and starts to drain his electromagnetic
energy. Ghidorah's other two heads appear, one from each of the other
singularities, and latch onto Godzilla's body.
Haruo tracks Metphies down on a nearby hillside. Metphies is watching the
struggle between Ghidorah and Godzilla and has replaced one of his eyes
with a small piece of the Exif's crystalline technology, a Garbetrium. The
Garbetrium is a conduit between the Exif and Ghidorah which allows them to
use the creature's higher-dimensional space as the basis for their
computational technology. He explains that the Exif's homeworld was
destroyed when they made contact with Ghidorah; the Exif adopted a
nihilistic belief in Ghidorah's superiority over all life and became a
missionary for him, seeking out worlds like Earth and recruiting followers
from among the population to help them summon Ghidorah. Creatures like
Godzilla are the ultimate expression of life on inhabited worlds and are
thus fit for Ghidorah to feed on. Before Haruo can lay hands on him,
Metphies traps him inside a telepathic vision.
Ghidorah continues to drain Godzilla's power, siphoning off not only the
electromagnetism that forms his natural shield but also the excess heat
that he used when fighting Mechagodzilla. Godzilla seems to lose his own
substance, becoming harder to scan with the soldiers' equipment and
floating weightlessly into the air in Ghidorah's grip. Lazzari suggests
that, as a higher-dimensional being, Ghidorah is subject to entirely
different physical laws than our own and is somehow overwriting the space
around him with the laws of his own universe. He also guesses that someone
must be acting as an anchor in this universe for the creature, and
Metphies is the most obvious suspect. He resolves to follow and warn
Haruo, but Maina instead leads him to the Houtua temple, where the two of
them ask the enshrined egg to come to Haruo's assistance.
Metphies telepathically assaults Haruo with visions of his dead comrades,
trying to break his will and convince him to submit to Ghidorah. Haruo is
brought to his senses by the mental intervention of Mothra. He realises
that Metphies was responsible for the explosion of the landing ship at
Tau-e and has manipulated events ever since. Guessing correctly that the
Garbetrium in Metphies' eye socket is Ghidorah's anchor in this reality,
Haruo breaks out of the telepathic vision, grabs Metphies by the head and
destroys the Garbetrium. Ghidorah is suddenly subject to the physical laws
of Godzilla's universe; Godzilla attacks the now tangible Ghidorah and
fires his atomic breath directly into the three singularities before they
disappear and the sky clears. Metphies tells Haruo that Ghidorah will
always be watching him, then dies.
Some time later, the remaining humans have adopted the ways of the Houtua
and started interbreeding with them. Lazzari excitedly tells Haruo that,
after studying the nanometal in Yuko's body and the Vulture craft Haruo
flew against Mechagodzilla City, he believes he can use the technology to
kick start humanity's return to its former level of civilisation. Haruo,
however, takes Yuko and the Vulture on a suicide run against Godzilla, to
prevent humanity repeating its old mistakes and summoning another nemesis
like Ghidorah. In an epilogue, we see the characters' descendants
continuing to live a pastoral life in peaceful coexistence with Godzilla.
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