Godzilla Minus One's Happy Ending Almost Didn't Happen

Last year's "Godzilla Minus One" was a great many things. Primarily, it was a pleasant surprise that came out of nowhere to become one of the greatest entries in the history of the long-running "Godzilla" franchise. That's a credit to writer/director Takashi Yamazaki, who delivered the goods with this one. He even served up a somewhat divisive ending, which reveals that Noriko (Minami Hamabe) actually lived through Godzilla's devastating attack. It's a happy ending, for better or worse. But it wasn't always going to be that way.

Yamazaki recently appeared at New York Comic Con to take part in a panel celebrating the 70th anniversary of the original 1954 classic "Godzilla" later this month. During the panel, the filmmaker addressed Noriko's fate and explained (via Kaiju United) that the original draft of the script killed her off. Realizing that Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki) had already been through so much, though, he changed his mind:

"Truth be told, the very first draft, Noriko dies. So I read it over and over again, and I thought, 'Can we really do that to Shikishima?' After all those journeys, all the hills and mountains he had to climb, defeating Godzilla, he'd come home, and there was no one? That would just be too tragic."

For those who may need a recap, during Godzilla's major attack on Japan, Noriko pushes Shikishima into an alleyway to save him from the monster's devastating atomic blast. The way the scene plays out, it seems as though she surely died. It's not until the closing moments of "Minus One" that he reunites with Noriko, who is alive but has a strange black mark on her neck. That mark is a weird reveal and opens up a host of other questions but the scene itself is, for all intents and purposes, a happy ending otherwise.

For as much as the general consensus remains "This movie rules," the ending to "Godzilla Minus One" was certainly the film's most contentious moment. It seems wildly unlikely that Noriko would have survived that attack. Then again, this is a movie about a nuclear lizard attacking Japan, so is it really worth questioning how realistic her survival is? Certainly, Yamazaki has a point that Shikishima had been through the ringer, from living with his shame as a disgraced kamikaze pilot to the guilt he faced over his dead comrades during Godzilla's first attack. Allowing him to reunite with Noriko is a justifiable, thematic win even if, in the moment, it has that "Come on!" feeling for certain viewers.

Inarguably, the results speak for themselves. With very little marketing, "Godzilla Minus One" became the first film in the history of the franchise to win an Oscar after a stellar, logic-defying run at the box office. The film is even being re-released next month to help celebrate the 70th anniversary of the "Godzilla" movies, indicating that audience demand is still there.

The big question now is whether or not "Godzilla Minus One" is getting a sequel. Yamazaki certainly teed one up with a little tease that Godzilla may not be fully dead, in addition to that strange mark on Noriko's neck. For the time being, however, Toho has yet to officially confirm anything, so we'll have to see. Given how successful the first film was, though, it would seem unwise not to do some sort of follow-up.

"Godzilla Minus One" is now streaming on Netflix. Or, for those who want a physical copy, the 4K, Blu-ray, and DVD are available for pre-order on Amazon.