Godzilla vs Kamikaze: Godzilla Minus One, Yamazaki Takashi, and the Revisionist Logic of Magical Futurity in a Multiverse World

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October 27, 2026

Godzilla vs Kamikaze: Godzilla Minus One, Yamazaki Takashi, and the Revisionist Logic of Magical Futurity in a Multiverse World
Godzilla vs Kamikaze: Godzilla Minus One, Yamazaki Takashi, and the Revisionist Logic of Magical Futurity in a Multiverse World

Volume 24

Abstract: The film Godzilla Minus One has sparked debates over whether it is an anti- or pro-war film, whether it rejects the kamikaze or rewrites history to enable Japan to win World War II. This article evaluates these arguments by relating the film to other works by director Yamazaki Takeshi, especially his kamikaze film The Eternal Zero. It argues that these films share an attempt to solve contradictions about war and memory through emotional affect and technology, using the gaze of characters to mark a magical futurity and suggest an implied multiverse where Japan can be both pro- and anti-war.

Keywords: Godzilla, Kamikaze, War Films, Yamazaki Takashi, Multiverse

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Volume 24

About the author:

Aaron Gerow is Alfred W. Griswold Professor of East Asian Languages and Literatures and Film and Media Studies at Yale University. He has published extensively on Japanese and East Asian film and media, including Visions of Japanese Modernity (2010); Research Guide to Japanese Film Studies (co-authored with Markus Nornes, 2009 [Japanese edition 2016]); A Page of Madness (2008); and Kitano Takeshi (2007). His co-edited Rediscovering Classical Japanese Film Theory—An Anthology (in Japanese) appeared in 2018. He is currently preparing a monograph on the history of Japanese film theory and editing an anthology on Obayashi Nobuhiko with Aiko Masubuchi.

Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus is a peer-reviewed publication, providing critical analysis of the forces shaping the Asia-Pacific and the world.

    About the author:

    Aaron Gerow is Alfred W. Griswold Professor of East Asian Languages and Literatures and Film and Media Studies at Yale University. He has published extensively on Japanese and East Asian film and media, including Visions of Japanese Modernity (2010); Research Guide to Japanese Film Studies (co-authored with Markus Nornes, 2009 [Japanese edition 2016]); A Page of Madness (2008); and Kitano Takeshi (2007). His co-edited Rediscovering Classical Japanese Film Theory—An Anthology (in Japanese) appeared in 2018. He is currently preparing a monograph on the history of Japanese film theory and editing an anthology on Obayashi Nobuhiko with Aiko Masubuchi.