The Uniqueness, and Importance, of “Godzilla Raids Again”

I’ve always believed Godzilla Raids Again was an overlooked, and underrated, entry in the Godzilla saga. Fans will barely give this film any sort of mention when discussing the franchise. If they do mention it, it’s usually with a level of negativity as most fans reference the U.S. edit with George Takei voicing Tsukioka and doing additional exposition work throughout the movie as well as the rush-job quality of the movie.

That’s interesting, because, when fans do discuss the franchise, one film will always come up: Ghidorah: The Three-Headed Monster. This film, most will say, is important as it introduces Godzilla’s arch-nemesis and is the turning point for Godzilla going from heel to hero for the remainder of the Showa era. Funny thing, though, is that most fail to mention the rush-job quality of much of that film. Yet, they forget that Godzilla Raids Again was instrumental in helping to develop the typical multi-kaiju movie.

Godzilla Raids Again deserves quite a bit of respect. It’s within the first batch of films within the Godzilla saga that would eventually define what Godzilla movies are, and will, become in the years that follow. It is also the second kaiju movie to be produced. It is also the first kaiju movie to feature a second monster. This last point is, possibly, the most important aspect of the movie as a majority of Godzilla and kaiju movies will go on to feature more than one kaiju.

Fans need to remember that the Japanese title of Godzilla Raids Again is Gojira No Gyakushu, which translates to: Godzilla’s Counterattack. This is important, because, unlike many of the titles to come (which will go something along the lines of Godzilla vs. *insert kaiju* or *insert kaiju* vs. Godzilla), this title suggests that the film is more centered around Godzilla and not Godzilla and his battle with Anguirus. Fans seem to think this is a Godzilla vs. Anguirus film, but it’s not and that was not the overall point of the movie.

The battle with Anguirus is added to, not only to make the film more entertaining, but to also display Godzilla’s power and might. The battle also starts about a half hour into the movie, something that has never been repeated since. Toho would realize that putting the big kaiju battle at the end of the movie would be more satisfying to fans than placing it earlier in the film. But with Godzilla Raids Again, the kaiju vs. kaiju battle was a new concept and one in which the typical formula was in the process of development. Having been exposed to numerous kaiju movies where the battles are at the conclusion of the movie makes it incredibly easy for us to forget that Toho was charting new territory with this second kaiju movie. As a result, fans need to go easy on this movie.

What also makes Godzilla Raids Again so unique are its heroes.

When you watch the entire Godzilla franchise, the usual human heroes are scientists, members of the Self-Defense Force, journalists, or individuals involved in more, what would be considered, white collar professions. But in Godzilla Raids Again, our heroes, and central characters, are blue collar individuals working for a fishing company scouting schools of fish in the ocean. The only other movie in which we’ll see blue collar workers play any major role in the outcome of a Godzilla movie will be King Kong vs. Godzilla in which Fujita invents a special type of wire that helps to transport Kong to Mount Fuji to battle Godzilla. These characters make the film more relatable to a majority of the film’s audience.

Sure, the Self-Defense Force plays a major role at the end of the movie entombing Godzilla in ice, but Tsukioka and Kobayashi are our main characters and they are the ones who first spot Godzilla and Anguirus and find Godzilla on the small, icy island at the end of the film.

In conclusion, Godzilla Raids Again helps to usher in the era of the kaiju vs. kaiju films. It’s battle, while placed in the first half of the movie, was a process in learning what worked, and what didn’t, when it came to structuring these types of movies. Being the first, and just about only, Godzilla/kaiju film in which blue collar heroes are the focal characters makes the movie that much more unique. It’s not touched upon much at all in subsequent movies.

It is my hope that fans will look at this movie with a bit more respect. The movie isn’t perfect, but it was instrumental in how so many of these movies were structured going forward. Many film franchises have a moment where they encounter a learning curve, and that learning curve is, for the most part, near the beginning of the franchise. The Godzilla franchise is no different when it comes to Godzilla Raids Again.