Godzilla CD

February 20, 2016

Hi, I'm John Ericson and I've just recently graduated from another year at college with a major in film. To set up where this planned trip is based on, I want to set up a diary with notes on what I find out overseas. You might have guessed that I'm an enthusiast in film and one of my favorite franchises would be the Godzilla franchise. it came from long ago when my uncle took me to see Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah at his local Blockbuster when it came out in America and the rest has pretty much been history ever since.

Every now and again I get bored and search the internet until I inevitably came across the internet favorite sensation known as creepypastas. If you were guessing again, yes the Godzilla NES creepypasta was a very interesting read for me and personally my favorite. Some of the story telling at the end might have been a turnoff for many but for me the description and the ideas of the game that Zachary played were so detailed and loaded with a range of references not just from Godzilla but other Toho properties as well to make any fan giddy. I hope someone makes a recreation of that game one day in rom form so I can try it myself.

I thought about maybe buying the game from Zach but if he's right then maybe the whole mental connection thing the cartridge might have would result in me getting an entirely different game. That ship has definitely sailed though and someone else bought the game years ago.

One thing I've been very curious about in this creepypasta was the forced meme that some have come to point out. The parts where Solomon beats a level and says, "Still the best.  1973." Many readers of this story brush it off as such and apparently Zach had no idea either. Me? I wish I knew something everyone else didn't know because I'm not sure what kind of significance 1973 has to the Solomon creature. For Godzilla though, the most significance I immediately know off hand is that it was the year in Japan where Godzilla vs. Megalon was released. Even if anyone else did make this connection I'm willing to guess that this was considered too insignificant and just moved on from there.

Now why mention this you might wonder? Basically I'm planning to write a dissertation on international film making and I think I can use this to meet with the directors of Godzilla Resurgence which is scheduled to be coming out in July of this year. I'll curb my enthusiasm for the film just this time and try to make a professional interview with Hideaki Anno or Shinji Higuchi depending on who comes first. After that I think I'll just ask them about some of their Godzilla knowledge and finally ease in some questions about 1973 and the franchise. This diary is something I wanted to use for that category of the interview so I can keep the two things separate. Well my flight is the first thing in the morning. Next time I open this diary it will be for talking about what the Godzilla Resurgence directors have to tell me.

February 22, 2016

I have no idea what I did, but somehow I managed to severely offend Mr. Hideaki Anno. I was lucky to get an interview as you might be able to tell and thankfully I got my dissertation questions answered, but things when south has soon as I asked about Solomon. Just to give an idea I asked Mr. Anno if anything significant happened in 1973 Godzilla related that he could think of. he seemed somewhat happy at first when he told me he won a contest of some kind to get to see the premiere of Godzilla vs. Megalon which sounded like an innocent enough scenario.

But when I asked him if the folks at Toho ever considered building a kaiju called Solomon, his face went completely blank of emotion. I was in his house having tea with him but when I asked that question he picked up the cups and tableware and acted like I was on my way out. I walked behind him when I asked if I did something offensive but he only replied, "Please leave." every time I said something. He didn't sound offended or angry, he just kept insisting for me to leave every time I said something. I tried maybe a dozen times before finally leaving and he didn't even tell me goodbye.

I can't even guess at this point what I did, I know there are people who would expect Hideaki Anno, the creator of Evangelion himself, to be somewhat of a different person from others. From what I researched prior I he did have some level of depression when making Evangelion 3.0 but I don't know if it would be right now of all times. I'll try calling his house tomorrow and see if I can give an apology for what I said. Hopefully all he needs is some time to himself so he can cool off maybe.

February 23, 2016

It's not good. Mr. Anno picked up the phone early in the morning but as soon as he heard me he hung up the phone. I tried calling him again after an hour but he probably left to head out to work. Here I was with one of the most renowned creators in Japanese history and I seem to have pissed him off beyond an apology I could give.

I'm really starting to regret asking him about Solomon. Here I was just thinking I would find myself searching for a red herring as some would call it. Now here I am at what might be an impenetrable fog being kept from entering. Even with this being the case I can't help but feel the draw behind this sort of mystery.

Why was Mr. Anno so distant when he heard of the kaiju Solomon? How did he even know? This is something I just have to figure out. Maybe if I give a visit to Toho Studious headquarters I can try and snoop around to find out what was the cause of Mr. Anno's attitude.

February 24, 2016

I think I might be getting somewhere. I checked one of the financial reports in the Toho records for what happened in 1973 and some of the adjacent years. '73 was showing the various things happening around Godzilla vs. Megalon as I expected but when I turned back to one year ago I  found something. There was a project simply titled "UPC Joint Project".

UPC was a distributor of Godzilla films in America back in the United States but I can't recall any joint production between the two. It was listed about a month after the release of Godzilla vs. Gigan and had a pretty sizable $4 million attached to it. Just to add to it, the film was apparently supposed to release in the same year as Godzilla vs. Megalon was. Just for some context, that movie only had a budget of $760,000.

Some of that $4 million was relocated so that filming of the Godzilla movie coming out in '73 but the rest of it appeared to have been relocated into various other assets Toho had by around June of that year. The report simply listed it as a deal that simply didn't follow through. There wasn't any sign of Hideaki Anno being mentioned, but I guess there was no reason to expect one. I'll probably have to put off on this for tonight and maybe I'll be able to find something out when I research a little more.

February 25, 2016

The realization hit me like a brick when I woke up this morning. The number 4 million was a big part of it when I remembered reading Ed Godziszewski's "Japanese Giants #5" about the report of "Godzilla vs. The Devil". This couldn't have been the case though. First off being that this supposed lost project was supposed to be released in 1978, not 1973. Second, this movie was supposed to be reported as not even being considered by both Japanese Giants and Toho president at the time Tomoyuki Tanaka.

There must be something to this though. Even if it's completely different from what Japanese Giants reported or only remotely related to Solomon, I might have just made another step towards solving this mystery. Now I have to find out who I can talk to so I can find out more about this oddity.

Unfortunately Tomoyuki died in 1997 and most of the people who worked on the Showa Godzilla films are probably the same. There's probably one way I can hope for a real answer. Supposedly his sons are still alive. There has to be at least one I can talk to who would know something about this. Here goes nothing then. I'll try finding his three sons and write something the next time I have an update. Or a brick wall to write.

February 29, 2016

It took a while but here I am again writing in this diary. The first problem with finding Tomoyuki's children has been the lack of information on even their names online. After some asking around at Toho headquarters though I was able to find out where one of Tomoyuki's sons lived. Unfortunately for confidentiality and prevention of rumor spreading, he asked me to keep his name confidential. The good news is that he told me something I had been wanting to hear. Something about his father in 1972.

He said that Tomoyuki had arrived home from work one day but was very displeased with something he had just seen. He said he came home seeing a "repulsive film". Even calling it an affront to one of his great creations. He said he also overheard his father talking to his wife telling her, "Shou Takumi will never work with us again.  He will never even be seen as part of Toho."

This had just given me somewhere to go off of. I had a concrete name to look for. Whoever this Shou Takumi was I could now start a search for what he did to evoke Tomoyuki's anger that year. I asked Tomoyuki's son if he knew where I could meet with Mr. Takumi, unfortunately there was no such luck in that question so it looks like it's back to the search at Toho before I finally figure out who he is. Even if he's supposed to not be part of Toho history as Tomoyuki might have said, it's the only lead I can think of right now.

March 1, 2016

The good news is I figured out who Shou Takumi was. I had to do some serious searching through Toho's records but I managed to find out that there was a Shou Takumi who visited Toho back in '72. At least that's all the attendance records would say. The records don't really say anything about who he was or what he did though.

I had to take a trip to one of Japans post offices for a search on who might have had information on that name. After some searching to the 70s, I found someone named Shou Takumi out in a nearby countryside. This has built up to something and I'm just a little ways away right now.

March 2, 2016

I found the residence of Shou Takumi, but it looks like I won't be able to talk to him. I met with the owner of the residence, a Mr. Shichirou Makoto, who told me that the man I was looking for died in 1995. How he knew about this? He said that there was a shrine dedicated to him that he kept in the back yard.

It was fortunate he took me to see it and I got to see a picture of Shou Takumi with an inscription beneath his picture. "My life is with me.  Look to the Lord to find it within you to give." I asked what it meant and Mr. Makoto said that Mr. Takumi was a Christian and that it was the most he could tell about the description. I asked why he would have a shrine dedicated to him if that was the case and it seemed that he had some deep respect for his Japanese roots.

Mr. Makoto even mentioned that Mr. Takumi had a crypt where he was kept buried. He showed me the way tot he crypt but he told me with specific instruction not to enter. It was apparently Shou's dying wish that no one visit where he was buried to offer prayers. I got to see it and I can tell you that it is what you might expected a Japanese structure to look like. It had the scenery of Eihi-ji but the crypt itself was very small. It might have been small enough just to enclose the coffin of Shou Takumi inside but that was all Mr. Makoto would show me. I asked him once if  I could look inside but he simply shook his head in solemn reverence to the grounds.

That's where my luck ran out. I can't help but think that the part of "My life is with me" must have something to do with something Shou knew or possibly might still have with him. I asked Mr. Makoto if he knew anything and he said that Shou had a safe deposit box that he said only "someone to succeed him" should find. Unfortunately he never left instructions on who it should be or who would be allowed to open it. This was all he  could give me and now here I am left trying to puzzle out this obstacle course. I asked him what he thought of Shou's inscription under his photo and told me that he searched Shou's home from top to bottom only to find few things worth any value. Worst of all, no safe deposit key. The whole "My life is with me" part still has me wondering though. Is there any chance at all that Shou is talking about how he literally has something kept close to him? Does it m have anything to do with that crypt? All this and more stuff I'll be writing tomorrow night. Right now I have a crypt to trespass into.

Yeah, sounds like a crazy enough idea that it could get me kicked out of the country or worse, and writing about it is pretty much me giving nothing short of a giant confession. I'm doing this as a reminder to myself though. If I break in and out of that crypt, come out alive and back here without a hitch I'm dropping this goose chase. Breaking the law is bad enough when all of these questions keep gnawing at me. If I come up empty handed then I'll just have return to the diary whenever  I feel my sense of regret in not solving this mystery. I'll just have to accept that Hideaki will never let me speak to him again and this whole thing will remain a mystery. I should probably stop stalling now, at this point I feel like I might be searching for excuses not to go to the crypt. At least now I get to see if vengeful spirits do exist.

March 3, 2016

Dear God I can't believe I just went through all of that. Yeah you have the right idea since I'm writing this, I got in and out of that place without any spirits following me or getting myself arrested for trespassing. It sure doesn't make me feel any easier about what I ended up doing though.

I got inside and all I had to do was avoid tripping over some strings that warned visitors not to enter. When I got inside all I found was a stone coffin and nothing else surrounding the room. That was it. I was worried it was going to be like this and now here I am about to pry open a coffin. At least I had prepared for this but it sure didn't make it easy. After prying it open I saw what I expected.

There was a corpse inside alright, but not the kind I expected. If you've ever seen a Buddhist mummy without the decoration, that's what the body of Shou Takumi resembled. Even covering my mouth I barely was able to handle the smell and the sight of the muddy gray body and didn't make me feel any easier. I felt like if I kept that coffin open for a second longer I'd see that body spring to life to finish something that would be straight out of a ghost story.

I would have closed the coffin right away but there was something that stopped me a s soon as it caught my eye. In the folded hands on his chest he was holding onto a key with the number zero on it and a small piece of paper around it. It took every bit of will power I had but I managed to grab and slip it out of the hands without damaging the body. After that I resealed the coffin and got the hell out of there.

I went back to my apartment and took a long warm shower while using every ounce of shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and soap that was available. I don't care now that I smell like a walking rose garden at this point, as long as the smell of a dead body is nowhere near me I'll be happy.

I ended up sleeping in but I did wake up later in the morning to read the small paper with the key. It simply read, "Hama-Kawasaki". It didn't take long for me to realize that the paper was pointing me to head to Hama-Kawasaki station. I guess if there's one thing I should be thankful for it's being able to head to an unoccupied station so that I wouldn't attract too much attention.

It took me a few hours but after some searching I found this locker hidden behind a nailed down bench behind a layer of drywall. I was able to open it after just looking like someone who lost a coin for a few minutes.

What I found was both a relief and an astonishing discovery. What I have beside me right now is a letter and a compact disc. How is the disc a discovery? Because of what it says on the front. The kanji for "Gojira" and the letters CD after it. I have found what I was looking for after all this time. I found the Godzilla project that Shou Takumi was hiding. The more humbling part of it is that the letter confirms this and gives several details.

It reads this, "Reader.  You have found my life's work and it is now with you.  It is now up to you to take it and spread its message as I was unable to in life.  This message of the Lord must be one given when humanity is ready to accept it.  I have preserved this message in the best way that I can, in the form of a Mega CD game.  If my message must be given in a different way than I believed then may the Lord accept what I have chosen to do.  All that must matter is that my message is heard.  I wish fortune to you reader.  Please accomplish this in the name of God.  I hope to meet you in heaven when your righteous deed is accomplished."

This letter gave me a lot of context. I suspected that the CD letters after the kanji might have meant that it was in fact a Sega CD game disc. And preserving the best way he could? It made sense if all of this happened: Tomoyuki was as disgusted with the film as his son told me, ordered the film to be discarded but only for the right timeframe that allowed Ed Godziszewski to somehow hear about the movie. Even then Shou must have been so dedicated to seeing this movie be seen to the public that he would find any way possible to show it.

It probably came down to him trying to get past the obstacle that Tomoyuki was, or finding another way. Printing it as a video game in Sega CD form. If you've seen games like Night Trap or Wing Commander 3, you might be familiar with how games heavy in FMV cutscenes worked. Maybe Shou tried to get his film published as a video game but couldn't find a publisher with Tomoyuki staying in the way. Hence why "Godzilla CD" never became available to the mass market.

Finally there are the hopes at the end that Shou wrote. He wants someone to be a messenger? In the name of the Lord? What does Godzilla CD have that is supposed to be heard anyway? I came this far and I can't stop now, that's the only answer I have. Tomorrow I'm going to get ready and see what this game is for myself. I'm going to turn this game on and find out what the message really is.

March 4, 2016

I got everything set and my apartment room isn't being inspected. I spent most of today searching through Tokyo for a console that played Sega CD games and a TV that was compatible with it. I managed to pick up a Sony KV-13VM40 13" CRT television and then a retro game store where I got a Sega CDX.  Just for appearances I picked up a copy of The Ninja Warriors and Devastator on the Sega CD and Pulseman and Eliminate Down for the Genesis to make it look like I was just picking one up to play legitimate games on.  I can say that I'm definitely a little jittery at the idea of turning this on.  I've played my fair share of Godzilla games in the past, but now I was going to be able to say that I've played one that probably I and few other people have ever played.  I kind of wished I was able to get a screen capture system ready or have it recorded somehow, but those are not exactly things I really know how to work or a major priority for me.  I'll describe everything as best as a can though.  I don't want to forget what this and maybe I'll share it with the world at some point. Here goes nothing. Time to see what almost two weeks of searching has brought me to.

March 5, 2016

Well I'm alive aren't I? I'm asking that because that's something I just need to point out since that experience I had last night.

That game, that thing  was just plain... I'm trying to find words to describe it. I wasn't harmed and I didn't see any spirits come out at me, but the whole experience feels like something I might not do any justice in trying to describe. I should just get this opening thing out of the way and get to the game. The sooner I do, the sooner it's out of my mind.

So the game started up like a Sega CD game should, and then I was introduced to a roaring orchestra along with Godzilla's familiar roar from the 70s. The opening scene was of Godzilla walking at the bottom of the ocean floor while probably just searching for food. I don't know if Akira Ifukube did the soundtrack for this, but if he didn't then Shou found someone who sure came close.

I recognized the Godzilla suit being used though. it was the same one from Godzilla vs. Gigan with all of the battle scars and still in working condition. Then the screen cut to an underground volcano with air bubbles rising to the surface. There was a low-pitched laugh before the volcano burst in an explosion and the kanji for "Godzilla vs. The Devil" came up.

Saying I almost shat my pants when I saw those words is a bit of an overstatement, but I was truly in awe at the idea that I had just discovered that there is a lost film in the Godzilla franchise. Not only that, it was the one that had to be referenced by Ed Godziszewski and here it was in video game form in my apartment with me as its audience. The screen paused there as it gave the choice for NEW GAME, LOAD, and OPTIONS. I was relieved to see that the options menu had English subtitles for gameplay, otherwise there was just a master volume slider I left untouched. I knew there wouldn't be anything in the LOAD options so I went for the NEW GAME option and got ready to see what I was getting into.

The game opened with the shining Toho logo from the 70s films and then faded to transition to what was probably stock footage of an active volcano with the Ifukube-esque soundtrack made to prepare the viewer for this film. About ten seconds of various camera angles of flowing lava passed until a narrator began talking. My Japanese is decent but the subtitles seemed to be properly timed and gave an accurate narration based on what I know of the language. The narrator began his introduction by saying, "Though science has continued to dominate the 20th century, there must come a time the most certain forces will change everything at the most base level."

There were a few changes to eruptions of lava before the narrator continued, "When mankind comes face to face with the most ancient fear.  One greater than that of from any world.  The Adversary.  The Devil." There was a cutaway to a focus on what the narrator was talking about. The Godzilla depiction of the Devil, Satan himself. If you've ever seen the film Legend by Ridley Scott, this depiction had a resemblance to the Lord of Darkness from that film, just more of a paper mache rendition with an elongated mouth to fit the kaiju mold.

The scene then cut to an area where a man spun around to say, "That is why you must keep the Lord in your hearts.  The day that the Devil walks the Earth will be the final test for us all."

The camera moved away from the mans face when someone asked, "Yuu!  You are in there?" The scene showed the man named Yuu in a white lab coat while four children were looking up at him. I could swear that two of them were the main children from Gamera vs. Zigra.

An older man in the same coat stepped in when he asked Yuu what he was doing. Yuu explained that he was giving a lesson on what to prepare for in their twilight years. The older man stepped between him and the kids when he told Yuu that he had to maintain his mind as a scientist and not a priest. Yuu identified him as Professor Kouki when he agreed that there was still a place for God in the realm of Science. The professor held up a copy of "On the Origin of Species" by Charles Darwin and told Yuu that superstition had no place in the world of science and rationality. He even commented that it was impossible for the Christian god to exist since Godzilla already existed and was a force that destroyed so much of the lives of many. An allusion to the question of God allowing bad things to happen if there was one.

The professor then told the four children to go out into town and prepare for the experimentation while Yuu, or Doctor Rin as the professor called him, would lead them outside. The scene changed to a setting out in a city background as the four kids walked away while Professor Kouki asked if the children would know where to gather "Anti-Uniformity Patterns". Yuu corrected that it was "Satanic Patterns" before assuring that the children had been appropriately taught.

The screen paused for a second before loading to a boy walking down a city block who turned his head both ways. The scene was noticeably of lower picture quality and stayed this way when the camera changed to pan across to what looked like a simple married couple while across the street there were two men holding hands and smiling at each other. The camera turned to pause in between the two before the scree paused to display two yellow arrows pointing in both directions. I wasn't sure what I was expecting and I know a lot of FMV games are known for mostly being button prompt games in the vain of Dragons Lair, but here I was instead being given a choice. I was being asked to choose between the two men and the married couple to gather these "Satanic Patterns" I was being told to gather. The good news was that there was also a save option in blue letters in a gray box which would allow me to keep my progress. I used it and started to make my choice.

I wasn't sure what the right answer was, but if the game was in the direction I was worried it would be headed, I felt like I knew the answer. Just to test it I picked the married couple before the game cut to another scene change. A boy was walking across a less convincing city background for a second before the actor who portrayed Yuu covered the mouth of the child from behind and poked the child in the chest with a cattle prod. Before showing anything else the scene changed to a black screen with the kanji symbol simply saying "Learn". Below it there was a continue option.

It was right then I learned what this was. Shou Takumi was a Christian of the less desired kind. He looked down on those who dared to live against the Christian doctrine and this was just from the opening of the game. Worse still, I saw a poor child get electrocuted onscreen. Something I never expected to see even in the least tasteful FMV game anyone could think of. Even though this game is using footage form over forty years ago, I still can't help but feel shock and regret for not being able to do anything. Going from there I avoided making the same type of choices a second time. The continued option thankfully brought me back to the choices I had before and this time I picked the two men. The movie return to its original quality and it showed the boy walking up to the two men and used another prop from Godzilla vs. Gigan, the guns the cockroach aliens had. Instead of blasting anything though it made the sound of a small vacuum cleaner leaving the two men confused.

The scene cut back to Yuu explaining to the professor that since homosexuals couldn't reproduce they were an affront to common decency and the will of the Lord. This was another scene that made me feel uneasy. I should probably warn that these scenes aren't very sensitive.

This scene was also of lower picture quality than most of the recent ones. If you haven't heard of workprints there are some filmed scenes that don't even get included as deleted scenes in home video releases. Scenes from a workprint are basically that and I have a feeling that these were removed scenes originally but added into the game to expand that experience. For obvious reasons I think you can tell why I don't think this is the only reason this game never found a publisher.

Moving on there were three more scenes where the first I had to chose between a kid eating two ice creams that were almost as big as his head and a man walking his dog. From this point on I tried to maintain Shou Takumi's mindset so I could avoid seeing the child being tased again. The kid with the ice creams turned out to be the right choice and Yuu talked about gluttony being a way of taking the Lord's gifts of nourishment for granted. The second being a man in his business suit with a pouch of found yen bills and a boy chasing a girl his age. The businessman was the right choice and Yuu recited the phrase from Maththew 19:24 about the subject of wealth. The final choice was between a Buddhist priest and a reporter with someone searching through a nearby window. The Buddhist priest was the right choice and Yuu explained how false prophets would try to stray good men from the path to heaven.

The picture paused as the game loaded to restore to the better picture quality to show Professor Kouki insisting that Yuu return inside to wait for the children to return with their findings. The two men walked inside before they saw the children enter. They handed their guns when one of them reported that they found their selection of "Anti-Uniformity Patterns".

Professor Kouki thanked the boys as he collected the guns before taking them to this machine that had a gray upside down cone as a base with four circle slots surrounding it while holding a clear globe with lights prepared to be turned on and probably spun like a merry-go-round. Yeah there are some Godzilla movies notable for some "out there" scientific concepts or inventions and this looked like one of them. What this one did was turn on as soon as the four gun barrels were inserted when the lights began to spin. Professor Kouki stepped back to watch the device work. It continued to spin but then a piece of the globe burst and a bright sphere of light flew out of the room. Professor Kouki looked up from behind his desk when he watched in astonishment at what happened. Yuu seemed more concerned when he asked where the light had gone. Professor Kouki seemed to still be in awe when he said that the extra pattern might have caused it to burst out of the containment field.

They ran outside to watch what was happening and saw three lights spin out of control then soar across the sky. Professor Kouki pointed to how they all planned to reach out to differing directions.

The camera then changed to varying locations. A light flew into the sea, another to the peak of Monster Island, and another above the remains of Letchi Island. For the last one it flew into one of the giant condors as seen in Ebirah, Horror of the Deep. I didn't get to see the others but the final light that remained in the air flew across the skies to a far off land.

It cut away to Yuu who showed a concerned look and voiced his concern about what the lights were going to do. It cut back to the condor as it lifted up into the air and flew away from its location, probably something it wasn't supposed to do out of natural habits.

The scene then changed to Monster Island with interestingly enough stock footage from Destroy All Monsters. It actually showed Kumonga of all kaiju looking up to the top of the mountain. The screen faded slightly to offer a chance to use the SAVE function and I used it.

After that the screen blanked before loading to a gameplay section I didn't expect. It was a platforming section and I was playing as Kumonga. The screen panned as the spider kaiju left the island beachside as he traveled into the forests. The controls were similar to Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero but with a jump function. The up arrow allowed for a jump while the A button served as a physical attack and the B button shot a ball of web. I have a feeling that this section of the game might have been an after thought, as if the lack of use for a C button wasn't the first clue.

Meanwhile the level itself mostly just had a few pits that were easy enough to jump over while there weren't collectibles or smart action sequences and there wasn't any enemies showing up for well over a minute. At least that was the case until I came across Godzilla Junior. This little guy only fired his smoke rings that were easy to jump over before I just used the web shot as it rendered him immobile and for me to jump on. There was no score and Junior didn't do any death animation. Instead Kumonga flew across the screen as he went over a sizable pit.

The same thing happened as Kumonga did another platforming section until I came across a matured Mothra. It was about here things started to get a little harder. I had to aim properly and time my attacks properly but she went down after a few hits. There were finally some moving platforms every now and again to vary the levels a bit and it continued until I reached Gorosaurus as an opponent. Even against his attacks I was able to handle myself easily before jumping on him across the next pit.

You might have noticed I didn't mention taking damage or anything. It's because I did everything I could to avoid it. The further I got the more unsure I was if this was one of those 1-hit kill deals where losing makes me do the whole section over again. Added to the fact that really the enemies were actually pretty easy, all I had to do was avoid collision from their slow movements or their occasional breath attacks.

The formula repeated when I got to Varan and finally Rodan. Once I jumped on Rodan it seemed like the level was complete as Kumonga leapt high into the air and what seemed to be nothing. This part of the game was kind of fun in a cheap I-phone game kind of way, but I knew how Takumi was a filmmaker first and many things after before being a game designer. Assuming he even worked on the gameplay anyway.

The game paused before it loaded the film footage to show Kumonga crawling up to the glowing light with a very reminiscent feel of the "Godzilla's Rampage" music piece in the background. As he made his way up I realized something throughout the whole platforming section, I never encountered Anguirus. It was pretty quick that I found out why. The guy walked up the mountain on his fours before roaring something to Kumonga.

Before the monsters could fight over the light it shot its way to Kumonga and seemed to envelope its whole body in light for a second before something changed about Kumonga's puppet. The eyes had all been replaced with a solid red color and there were no pupils. It was then that Kumonga shot his webbing on Anguirus to have him completely enveloped in webbing. Anguirus struggled as much as he could, but Kumonga was slowly approaching his prey with his poison stinger at the ready. Before the situation could get any worse for Anguirus, he seemed to fall backwards or trip on something as he went rolling down the mountain. The camera focused on Kumonga's distorted eyes as a water splash sounded off-screen. That was probably going to be my cue that Anguirus wouldn't have a major role in this story.

The game paused to load again before it switched to the city again. This time Yuu was walking up to what looked like an orphanage where a young woman was waving goodbye to a gathering of children. She was holding a crucifix across her chest along with a bible. When she turned to the next corner Yuu appeared and greeted her as Hotaru. Here there was a bit more interaction between the humans where Yuu started to give his rundown of his work day and how he didn't appreciate Professor Kouki (who he identified as Hiraku) trampling over his faith like it was a children's fairy tale. Hotaru gave a promise that the true believers in Christ would one day show that they were right. Even going so far to call the equivalent of Roman times when their faith was constantly put to the test. That was when Yuu warned her that he recently collected the energy waves of four mighty sinners. Apparently him and Professor Kouki were trying to go all Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by attempting to remove the sinful side of humanity from existence. He then expressed his worry of what the supposed pure form of sin could do to nature. True to what character she was given, Hotaru promised that his faith would remain an unshaken rock and that it alone would be enough to stand mightiest opponents of Gods creation. I can say that this was the part of the film that establish the two having a relationship.

The film then cut to the ocean as it showed the light falling into the sea. That was when the film showed the footage of Godzilla from the opening. It then showed an entirely new kaiju that I hadn't seen in any Godzilla film but I have seen before. In the short lived Godzilla: The Animated Series from 1998, there was a creature called Deep-Dweller. This thing had a striking resemblance to that creature never seen until more than 25 years later. Just like Kumonga its eyes were a solid red without any pupils.

It started to swim forward and it went past the volcano from the intro before it was headed towards Godzilla. It rammed head first into Godzilla before it knocked him down and then backed away to prepare for another attack. It was about to aim for Godzilla's head this time before he was able to make that bite, Godzilla brought his arms up to widen Dee-Dweller's jaws more than they were probably supposed to. At least this seemed to be the intention before Deep Dweller pulled away.

The screen went blank to offer the SAVE option and then loaded another gameplay section. Godzilla and Deep Dweller were facing each other fighting game style complete with health bars on the upper corners and four stacked bars between them. The section started and I immediately had a feel for what kind of controls I was dealing with.

If you were unfortunate to play Ultraman for the SNES the controls were set up much like that in sluggishness and as it would turn out mechanics. Playing as Godzilla I used the directional pad to move with the up button to jump. The A button was a claw attack while B was a tail attack and the C button actually did something this time. The bars up top progressed slowly but when the second bar was almost full and I pressed the button, Godzilla just gave a roar that would send Deep Dweller all the way to his side of the screen. After getting past the second bar Godzilla used his atomic breath that took away about an eighth of Deep Dweller's health.

I managed to get through the section or at least get Deep Dwellers health down to something. That was when I realized how much this section was like Ultraman because even at no health Deep Dweller kept fighting. Unfortunately at that point I only had less than a bar of energy left. At the time I didn't have a lot of health left and simply took a few hits before the game changed to another cinematic. This time it showed Deep Dweller lodging one of its teeth up into the neck of Godzilla to puncture through him before the screen went to a tinted red and paused with the sight of him being in pain.

The white kanji symbol game up for "struggle" as it gave me the option to continue. Thankfully I was able to start over with an idea of what to do this time. In the Ultraman Super Nintendo game getting an enemy down to zero health was the first step, the second was for the power bars to fully charge before finishing the battle by using the final energy attack.

So I went with this strategy so I could win and cause the film footage to progress. Deep Dweller still punctured Godzilla's neck like before but this time he pushed him off and unleashed his atomic breath. This brought Deep Dweller to the ground before Godzilla swiped across his face and took a chomp at one of Deep Dweller's eyes. Before any more of the violence was shown the blood from Deep Dweller rose to the top and a light rose up from the defeat. Instead of the gold one from before though it was now crimson red. It hung there in the air like it was a new sun. The camera changed to Yuu and Hotaru watching the light with a sense of fear as they wondered what the light heralded.

The film then changed to night where the red light still shined. Then it revealed a cleared forest where two men in white robes stood watching. One of them asked a question to the leading man who wore an upside down crucifix against a pentagram on his robes. He asked what the red moon was supposed to signify. The man answered that this was the first signal of the arrival of their lord Satan.

I was a bit thrown off when I saw this the first time. It seemed like the film was announcing the presence of a Satanic cult in Japan. Christianity is a minority already in Japan, but the idea of Satanists being there might as well say that say that all of the nations followers would be right here in that spot. Even worse it already felt like this movie was supposed to be a promotion for Christianity, what was a Satanic cult supposed to do to move the story? I started to get a little worried considering how much more graphic this Godzilla film was than most. The man with the crucifix then ordered his subject to get a sacrifice ready. This was where things started to get me really uneasy. The game faded a little to offer a chance to save before it loaded to another screen.

Now I was curious what sort of gameplay I could expect this time. The game opened to a cinematic that showed a woman sleeping on a stone slab while she herself was dressed in just a white robe like the last two characters I saw. She slowly woke up fore she felt her hands tugged by a rope that was attached to where wrists. Once again the footage was at a lower camera quality but I could see the woman attempting to slip out of her restraints that were attached to the stone pillar in front of her. She looked up at the top of the pillar and then the camera changed to her point of view.

I realized that now the game was entering a point and click section much like Myst when the camera remained fixed on the statue of Baphomet atop the pillar and gave me a basic mouse cursor to move and select on things. For a game made just to package a movie it sure had its fair amount of gameplay variety  going for it. The quality wasn't entirely up to snuff though at this point as I quickly saw a nagitana blade leaning to the woman's right. I was right in my first guess to click it which caused a cutscene of the woman cutting her restrains on the blade.

She was free and stood to look around the room. The first thing I saw when she stood up was a pile of clothes consisting of what looked like a motorcycle jacket, a pair of jeans and a small red hat. Was this what the woman wore before? When I clicked on them it seemed to be the case when she rummaged for something. She didn't seem interested in removing the white robe she wore but instead wondered where her things were.

After a little maneuvering around the room I got to the door which turned out to be open but only led to what looked like a cavern. I was only able to turn left but saw a dimly lit cell at what seemed to be a distance away. I continued down until I saw something that really proved my fear. There were iron bars that looked like part of a prison cell but worst of all there were children inside. All of them looked dirtied and scratched in some way but more haunting was the face that non of them even made a sound when the cutscene came up. I had the option of looking in which caused the same cutscene to play, clicking on the nearby table or continuing to the left.

I picked the last option hoping that it would bring me to a scene where I could escape but when I got to the exit I came across the thing that is hated in many adventure games. Text that kept me from leaving that translated to "Not without my things". I remembered seeing some items on the table from a while ago but I was apparently in too much of a hurry. So I backtracked to the prison of children to find the effect was at least a little less effective this time. But seeing them beat like this had me uneasy on several levels.

I checked on the table where I managed to get a better view of the things the woman must have had. There was a wallet, a pair of sunglasses, and a box of TWIGGY Choco Flakes next to a pack of cigarettes. Picking up the wallet I had found a name for this woman. Kotone Aoi was listed as her Drivers License name and there was a picture next to it. It was a photo of her and Hotaru. That was what tied this part of the game to what happened before, I was playing as who I could guess was Hotaru's sister. With that out of the way I thought I had what I needed to escape but was blocked by another text. "Those children... Souta..."

I probably should have guess that I would have wanted to free those children but I didn't see any keys that would have led me to think it was doable. I didn't know who Souta was at this time but I would probably have to find him too. I probably missed the option to turn left when I turned back but saw it was possible.

That was when a cutscene of Kotone walked into the cavern where she came face to face with a man wearing a white robe and a bugaku mask. He asked Kotone if she believed in God to which she replied no. The man stepped aside to allow Kotonoe to pass into another room where she saw something exceptionally unpleasant. There was a man on a meat hook from behind with an upside down crucifix on his chest. The voice of the masked man announced, "The keys to the future lie inside."

The game returned to the point and click interface one more time before I was given another choice. I couldn't turn back or explore but only look at the limp body of the dead man. I only had one option to click on. The cut in his chest. When I clicked on it I heard Kotone announce Souta's name in between sobs. It confirmed the masked man's riddle for me as well since Kotone reached both of her hands into the cut while she still sobbed. After a few seconds her bloodied hands took out a ring of keys probably meant for the prison cell.

That was when the masked man announced, "She is what we seek." Then in came the men from before who had the pentagram on his robe. He brought a knife to her neck and ordered a follower behind him to chain her. Before Kotone could do anything one of the cult members brought a chain around her as she struggled to get out of the bind. The leading man grinned when he picked up the keys Kotone dropped and told her that she should be honored to be the key that would bridge the "true lord of Earth" to them.

Then the film cut to outside where the music continued and the picture quality returned to normal. Against the music was a chant of some of the only English I heard in the game. A crowd chanting, "Hail Satan". Kotone was pulled out of the cavern by the three men with the one in the bugaku mask announcing that her hands were stained with the blood of a fellow non-believer and that she carried the key to the window of hell. I could understand the first part but I wasn't sure what the second part was alluding to.

Before anything else happened another cultist lead a chained line of the imprisoned children outside. The leading cultist then told the children, "Look on children.  Today you gaze upon the face of your new lord and father." That was when Kotone was dragged down the line still chanting cultists while a burning pyre seemed to await her at the end. She wriggled as much as she could but wasn't able to shake the chains loose. The chanting continued as the cult leader took out the same knife to hold above his head when he called out to Satan to accept her as the bridge to their world. It was up to here that the film started to alternate between what were workprint scenes and regular scenes.

The first workprint scene showed the cult leader sending his knife down to Kotone's chest as she let out a scream and her blood flew onto the cult leader's robes. The camera changed to a view of the pyre as more of her screams were heard. Then another workprint scene came up that almost made me ill. the cult leader ran the knife across Kotone's chest before he shoved his left hand into her opened wound. Amazingly enough Kotone was still alive to scream at the situation but started to scream harder when she saw what the cult leader reached for. He pulled out a fetus from her stomach that barely looked like it was out of the first trimester as he held it by the cord connected to Kotone. He held it by the cord before dropping it into the pyre in front of him before he stretched his arms out.

The picture returned to normal as the cult leader asked for Satan to appear before the pyre gave a huge rise of flames. I don't know how rituals like this work but I had a feeling that this was Shou Takumi's idea of showing what he wanted people who didn't agree with his views to suffer. Two cultists showed up beside Kotone while carrying cylinder blocks. She was forced up to her feet with tears flowing down her eyes and still bled from her chest. The footage switched back to workprint quality when the two cultists threw the blocks onto her as she fell back into the pyre. She started screaming in even greater pain than before as she started to burn in the flames. The camera cut again as it showed the flames rising while the picture quality as Kotone screamed off-screen.

The flames rose a final time before the ritual was complete. The image of Satan from the opening scene appeared as he stood in front of the gathering of cultists. He let out a bellow before speaking to the cult leader. Satan identified him as Katsurou Gojo as he thanked him for the new subject of his hellish domain. He then asked Katsurou what he wanted his presence to grant. Katsurou announced that the first sacrifice of a monster bearing the energy of pure sin had been accomplished, now he wanted to ask Satan what the form of the fourth beast who would bear power as his servant unquestioned. Satan answered that he would take the body of one who was before adversely against him who wished to serve only the Lord. That it would be the desecration that would shock humanity to its very being. He announced that he would corrupt the soul of King Solomon.

He then congratulated the cultists for doing his work in announcing the arrival of the lights of sin as he promised them a land of paradise when his kingdom would come to Earth. That's when Satan turned around as he called out to the spirit of Solomon as the fourth light of sin was motioned to find the one Satan sought to control.

The camera changed to an overview of a desert terrain. I didn't see much of a building scape but the light sent down a lightning bolt to shake the ground beneath. Just after that came a rumbling from the ground. From that shaking came what I initially thought was too incredible to be real. A blue furred wing monster with a skeletal face rose from the desert as the soundtrack heralded his arrival. That's right, the Solomon that Zach encountered those years ago was actually in his own film. I know most people aren't a fan of the humans in the Godzilla films, some for understandable reasons, but I don't think I've ever agreed with the desire to get back to the Godzilla parts then I did at that point. I hated to think of how much worse it could have gotten if I had to stay with the cult for another second.

It was also at this point where I confirmed what Tomoyuki's son was talking about when he said his father described this film as being vile. Japanese films might have a stigma about them for showing a great deal of violence uncomfortable for most people, but believe it or not these people do draw the line at times. It also helped that much of the gore and violence in most of their films was fake. Not really the case with this one though, the sight of that fetus being burned still sends a chill down my spine.

If there was any time I should have turned off the game it probably should have been then. What can I say? My desire to see this film to the end seemed to come out on top of my fear. Unfortunately et didn't seem ready to transition to more monster parts yet. The morning came over Japan before it showed the interior of a house. Yuu and Hotaru were in a house at a breakfast table with an older man and woman when Yuu asked if Kotone had plans on returning home soon. The older man shook his head when he answered after drinking his tea that Kotone had planned to run off with "that Souta boy" for some time. Unfortunately I was fully aware of what had just caused a bridge between this and the previous scene.

This was when there was a rapid knocking on the door nearby. The older woman stood up while she offered to get the door. When she opened it, Professor Kouki was in the hallway when he gave a bow of greeting before asking if he could come in. He was allowed in before he rushed up to Yuu to announce that there was a serious development for them to look over.

Yuu sounded confused when he said that he wasn't late but was given a long sheet of a seismic graph when he told Yuu that a monster had just recently appeared in Israel and leveled the Temple of King Solomon. The professor sounded pretty enthusiastic about the event when he said that this could be his chance to see a creature that might inevitably face against Godzilla. Yuu asked how he would know for certain if the professor knew this to be the case being told that the message from his colleagues in China were finding that there was a creature headed to Japan while over the course of that night its rampage was being reported.

The mother of Hotaru spoke up when she asked how he could be so excited to see a sacred building such as the temple be destroyed and hoping to see a creature make its way to Japan. Professor Kouki then answered he was a scientist and not an archaeologist hence why he had to prepare to see what this monster was capable of. Hotarus father stood up when he pointed out how the professor's excitement seemed to be overlooking the fact that there was a holy ground that had been destroyed. Professor Kouki just kept persisting that he was a scientist and he could not even care less about something as trivial as a decrepit structure that served no real function to the advancement of humanity. This is when Hotaru's mother asked if Yuu seriously was able to live with himself working with someone so callous towards the face of God. Yuu had a look of shame when he answered that he didn't have the same beliefs as the professor but didn't have any intention of impeding on the professors orders.

Before the conversation could go anywhere else there was another knock on the door as Hotaru went to open the door. It was one of the children from the beginning who asked to see the professor to give an important message. He was allowed in as he gave the professor a photo saying that the image had just been taken earlier that morning. Professor Kouki looked astonished at the image while Hotaru's parents wondered about what they were seeing before Professor Kouki explained that a condor from Letchi Island was carrying Kumonga. This was an odd occurrence for two reasons, first the condors weren't supposed to ever leave the island and that monsters on Monster Island weren't on any good terms with the condors to let them be carried.

He then asked where the two were headed before this child said that they were both headed to shore and would be arriving shortly. This is when the film cut to a scene with that sort of image. It actually was a Letchi Island condor that was possessed from before who was actually carrying Kumonga. That was when several helicopters armed with missiles were prepared to engage the condor. It was probably going to be the last hope of the Japanese people to defend themselves against the inevitable destruction to rain down on their country.

The screen faded when it gave me the option to save before the game loaded into the next gameplay segment. Now I was in a rail shooter section. The surprise definitely wasn't what it could have been at this point since I was wondering what genre this game didn't cover. Condor moved around the screen much in a similar way to Space Harrier while pressing the A button shot a web projectile from Kumonga. Throughout the whole section there was only one enemy type, the helicopters who were trying to defend their home. This was another pretty easy part of the game seeing that all I really had to do was avoid missiles.

About seven and a half minutes passed before the screen paused to load another cutscene. It showed a shot of Kumonga firing on one of the helicopters before it crashed into the ocean dangled by the web shot. Then the condor flew inland towards the camera.

The screen flashed for a second before it switched to a different gameplay again. This time the game was a scrolling top down shooter over the incoming city. There didn't seem to be much of a difference in what the many choppers were trying to do but then I flew over one of the buildings as the game changed to a cutscene of a building exploding. After that the top down section started over from the beginning. At least that added a little bit of challenge.

This section of the game took another seven and a half minutes to complete before the game switched to the condor dropping Kumonga in the middle of the city. This was where the film started to enter familiar territory and previous Godzilla films. The condor dropped Kumonga in the middle of a street intersection as it stabbed one of its legs into a building nearby. The condor was in the same position as it flapped its wings to blow over some cars into a nearby building causing it to crumble.

The scene changed back to Professor Kouki and the others when he stepped outside pointing to Kumonga making his way through the city. He gestured as he told Yuu and the others that they had to reach his lab and wait to see if Godzilla would arrive to approach the destruction.

As if on cue he seemed to be right when he saw Godzilla from the ocean as the music signaled his arrival. He seemed to notice Kumonga and the condor. At work destroying the city but didn't initially care. Then he didn't have much of a choice when Kumonga let out a stream of web towards Godzilla. Godzilla had probably learned Godzilla vs. Mothra that allowing himself to be ensnared again wouldn't let the fight go for very long. I say that since the screen cut away to the flames of Godzilla's breath burning the web shot to ashes before Godzilla marched on to face his two opponents.

This is when the battle began among the city. Considering everything I learned over the last few parts of the movie I can't say I was excited to see the battle as much as I should have been. He already defeated Deep Dweller with some relative ease so I didn't expect him to be in trouble if Anguirus or even Mothra wasn't there. That was the unfortunate thing about it all. Godzilla defeating these monsters meant that the other two forces Satan needed released would soon be out. But even if Godzilla would lose then it would seem like the condor and Kumonga would be unstopped in their rampage across the world. How much worse could this upcoming battle be? At this point the battle had begun. I was almost caught off guard when I saw the first button prompt.

It was around here that the game started to enter the Dragons Lair formula that many might have expected. I was instructed to press the down and left buttons on the D pad before having me press the A button. Godzilla ducked under the attack of the condor before unleashing a punch to Kumonga's eyes.

The next prompt was to press the up button and press B. This caused Godzilla to jump into the air and sweep his tail to the condor's face. Kumonga shot a stream of web towards Godzilla while he was still in the air. It brought Godzilla down to the ground with a crash as his body landed on top of a building. Godzilla was left tangled as the condor swept down to attack him.

The game then gave me the prompt basically mash the A button. Godzilla was struggling through the webbing as he swatted away at the condor's claws. Then the game prompted me to press the C button. This caused Godzilla to unleash his atomic breath onto the condor as it forced him back to slam into one of the buildings nearby. Kumonga didn't waste any time with the opportunity though, he prepared his poison stinger with the intent to give the death blow.

I was prompted to hit the left and right buttons on the D pad as fast as I could. Godzilla struggled to get up and he forced the webs off of him but jumped back when Kumonga came up to him. I was prompted to hit the B button as Godzilla swept his tail to Kumonga's legs before I was prompted to hit the C button.

Godzilla let out his atomic breath at Kumonga's face. It seemed the condor caught this as an opportunity when he flew into Godzilla trying to scratch at his eyes. I was prompted to hit the left and right arrows again as Godzilla swatted away at the condor's attacks before I was given the prompt to hit the A button. That was when Godzilla grabbed the leg of the condor before slamming him down to the ground.

Kumonga tried again to entangle Godzilla in his web shot, but then I was given the prompt to hit up and the C button. Godzilla jumped away from the web shot before unleashing his atomic breath at Kumonga again. Kumonga was forced again into another building while this time he was forced upside down. That was when I was given the prompt to deliver the final blow of the battle.

The game had me press the down button before having me mash the A button as Godzilla gave one slam of his fists after another. The condor was trapped in the webbing meant for Godzilla while it was left to do nothing but snap his beak in an attempt to make a final attack on Godzilla. I had a feeling that the battle would turn out this way. Godzilla gave a few final strikes before I was given the command to press C. Instead of the atomic breath like I expected Godzilla knelt down to bite the condor's beak off.

The sight of the condor bleeding from its mouth was only brief but it was enough to reveal the light that had entered it leave the mouth in a red tint. It rose up in the sky as a second light to go along with the one above the sea. Only one of them now remained.

I was given the chance to save again at this point before I saw the camera change to a view to Mount Fuji. It seemed to be an odd point to stop the game but then it made sense when the scene revealed Katsurou and Satan standing next to each other. They were watching over the battle in the city nearby only waiting for the final battle to occur. Katsurou confirmed this as he told Satan that only the spider needed to be sacrificed before Satan's rise to power was complete. Satan watched as he told Katsurou that he would only then need to destroy Godzilla himself before there was nothing left on Earth to oppose him other than the weak willed who wouldn't turn to his side. Katsurou grinned when he exclaimed that it meant there was no longer anything to stand against his master and the fall of Gods creation. Satan didn't show any doubt about this but showed he wanted to make the final battle less of an unnecessary hassle for him. He raised one of his claws to the sky when he ordered for Solomon to arrive at his mountain by bringing Godzilla to him. Just like that Solomon arrived across a distant mountain as he roared waiting for the right second to take Godzilla.

The camera switched back briefly to the ground where Godzilla and Kumonga were about to stage their death match. Switching back to Professor Kouki's lab Hotaru asked what caused the condor to emit a light after his death. That was when Professor Kouki announced that there was earlier yesterday four concentrated Anti-Uniformity Patterns collected by his students but were unleashed by an accident in the experimentation.

Hotaru's father let out what anger he was keeping bottled up when he turned to Yuu asking him how he could agree to this sort of deal. This was when Yuu made a explanation of how he believed that since Professor Kouki could see the validity in his desire to remove the sin from people that he could make the world a better place. That he believed the Professor would create a world where all would be kneeling before the Lord.

Professor Kouki entered the conversation when he agreed that Yuu's study into the Anti-Uniformity Pattern he had called them himself would be worth investigating to see if he could somehow create a new energy source with what Yuu said he wanted to eliminate. Hotaru's mother turned to Yuu when she told him that Kotone once believed that she could redeem an unredeemable sinner just like hid did, but all it did was change her into the sinner that she wanted to change. She then warned Yuu that the same fall would happen to him if he stayed with Professor Kouki while warning that if he didn't leave him then, he would never see Hotaru again.

Professor Kouki gave hi argument when he said the Pattern energy would be among the first great advancements the two of them could make in the name of science as well as showing the limit of vision that "hicks" like the members of Hotaru's family were. He even offered the chance to one day use it to control Godzilla.

There was a pause when Yuu looked to the Professor and then back to Hotaru and her family. Just then the game paused and gave me a choice of two arrows just like the first gameplay section. I could either stay with the Professor or I could go away with Hotaru's family to leave that opportunity behind. Considering what type of game this was up to this point I knew what choice it wanted me to make. Still I couldn't help but wonder what would happen if I chose to stay with the Professor.

The last time it happened a child was hit with a cattle prod by the man who was portraying Yuu. How would this work? Somehow curiosity always seems to win out in the end, especially with situations like these. I went with the choice the Professor before the game loaded. Then it switched to something I didn't expect in the least. There was a workprint five second scene of the actor portraying Yuu burning in front of a hellish background. It almost looked like he was doused in gasoline beforehand but I didn't get to closely observe before the screen blacked out with the familiar kanji in white that simply said to me, "learn".

It took me a second to get past seeing that image but I was able to continue past that point before I hit the continue option. Then I was given the whole cutscene of Yuu and the two sides offering their argument. I was given a choice again if I should go with Professor Kouki or Hotaru's family. This time I made the right choice the game wanted me to make when it loaded to the film before it focused on Yuu hesitating in thought trying to pick which side to go with.

He walked over to Hotaru's family when he denounced Professor Kouki's ambition while decrying his misguided aspirations the true crime of what all of humanity should push away from. Needless to say, the professor wasn't happy when he called Yuu shortsighted and blind to what all of his years of progress were bringing. he called the faith that Yuu maintained all sorts of derogatory terms ranging from backwards to the worst form of repressions that man could ever consider. None of this seemed to deter Yuu's decision though when he walked away from the professor while discarding his lab coat to the floor.

Hotaru's family gathered around him as they led him out of the laboratory while Professor Kouki only offered a final warning that he would take every discovery Yuu had ever helped him make and claim it as his own work. he then cursed Yuu for not being able to see what great accomplishments he was passing on before he would become the envy of the world. Yuu wasn't shaken by his former superior's warnings as he walked out the door away from the accusations he was given.

Hotaru was visibly happy to see Yuu walk away from the other choice but Yuu still seemed unsure of himself when he asked if Godzilla would be enough. Hotaru's mother gave a promise when she told him that Godzilla was the spirit of the Japanese people who would be enough to save them all from destruction.

That was when the film cut back to Godzilla while Kumonga was making an effort to recover his footing. Then I saw Godzilla step forward as though he was ready for the giant spider to give him a surprise attack. he seemed to be right when Kumonga sprang himself in front with his front legs ready to skewer Godzilla with his pointed legs. I was given a prompt to press the left button and then A as Godzilla grabbed Kumonga's legs to stare the giant spider in the face. Godzilla snapped the legs in front of him causing Kumonga to let out a scream of pain giving Godzilla the chance he needed. he let out his atomic breath into Kumonga's open mouth. Before Kumonga could let out a stream of web his insides were filled with the uncontrollable heat of Godzilla's breath before it caused Kumonga to light up from the heat before the beam of breath seared its way through Kumonga's abdomen. This was the final blow that needed to be given.

Kumonga fell forward fallen over as the final red light came out to float next to the one that came from the condor. The film cut back to Satan when he told Katsurou that the final light had been released and he would now claim their power. The two lights moved away from Godzilla overhead while the one from Deep Dweller in the distance came from behind. They then shot up to Mount Fuji where Satan breathed in the lights as he announced the time of his conquest was at hand. The film then switched to the ground of Mount Fuji where Satan used the growth technique that Jet Jaguar used in Godzilla vs. Megalon. He now had become the size of a kaiju as he sneered at the sight of Japan in front of him. Satan saw Solomon fly up to him before he ordered him to bring Godzilla before him. Solomon obediently flew to the destroyed city grounds to give a roaring challenge.

The scene switched back to Yuu with Hotaru's family when they heard an alarm being sounded through the city. Hotaru asked what was bringing the Self Defense forces into the city. Yuu sounded like he knew right away when he mentioned Professor Kouki under his breath. He told Hotaru's family to wait for him when he rushed back to the lab where he saw the professor with a phone in hand. Yuu asked what the professor was doing in calling the military saying that Godzilla would probably leave at this point. This is when Professor Kouki revealed that he had the intention of capturing Godzilla so that he could claim the power of the lights emitted for himself. Not only that but another monster had appeared that would give him an opportunity to conquer the prolific monster. Yuu tired to dissuade the idea but was shot down again by the professor when he told him that he would used science for his means of defeating Godzilla's might while showing once and for all that he alone had the means of dismantling everything superstitious men like him believed in.

This was the part of the film where the military began to roll in with the familiar song of their arrival. MASER cannons and tanks along with many of the military defense force marched on in their probably hopeless effort to push the two monsters out of the Japanese mainland. From the various camera angles it looked like they were all ready to fire on both monsters so they wouldn't risk the continued destruction from either.

The game paused when it gave me another chance to save before it made a switch to another gameplay section. This time the game switched to what looked like Super Godzilla. On the upper half of the screen was the footage of Godzilla stomping through the city while on the bottom had the familiar grid of Godzilla's dot moving through the city while a blue dot on the other side moved slowly towards him. When I checked around the screen I noticed that it was listing a number beneath Godzilla's name to indicate how much energy he had. This part of the game worked like you might be familiar with, the big difference being the footage of Godzilla's rampage of destruction. Fortunately in this game, breaking through buildings to get to Solomon wasn't draining any health.

The tradeoff though was that Godzilla moved a lot slower than he would in the SNES game. What did cost energy was every time I took a hit from the military vehicles. Every now and again they would land a successful hit when the screen changed to a tank or MASER vehicle firing as it forced Godzilla into a small defensive.

An exploit I found pretty early after the first attack though was a power up that increased my energy while the side of the screen blinked for the C button. When I pressed it Godzilla released his atomic breath to switch to some stock footage of MASER vehicles exploding and a tank melting. When I did that I managed to get an opening where the military wasn't firing on me. At least this was the case for a minute before there was a reformation that brought in new vehicles to fill the gap that Godzilla's attack made. Even worse I had just noticed that the attack drained a portion of Godzilla's energy.

Every now and again when I advanced though the map another power up would appear but I would have to sidetrack beyond another set of buildings before I could reach it. It worth it since I was able to gain more energy than I lost overall. It wasn't long though before I kept having to make that trek every few seconds where I would have to chose between conserving energy or spending it to save it in the long run.

Super Godzilla may not be well looked at by some people, but imagine if that traveling section of the game went on for fifteen minutes. That's how long it took for me to meet up with Solomon's dot. It was even worse knowing that I would have to conserve as much energy as possible so I could stand a chance in the fight against Solomon who didn't show any indication of taking damage. To top off the experience, there was only about five minutes worth of unique footage to keep me interested until some of it started to loop to give the runtime of the section a very stretched out feeling. I started out with 1000 for my energy though by the time I reached Solomon I was trying to maintain the low 800s. Still, the good news was t hat I got to the end eventually where I would come face to face with Solomon.

Then came the footage I didn't expect. Godzilla roared at Solomon while Solomon flew into the air with his wings to make a sweep down to grab Godzilla by the shoulders. Then he actually picked up Godzilla as he lifted him into the air as he turned to face Mount Fuji. I knew what was coming, this was the moment that anyone seeing this movie would have killed to see and what the it audience was waiting for. Godzilla was going to face the Devil.

I could feel myself getting shaky from anticipation. All the effort I put in was about to lead up to what wicked vision Shou Takumi had for this film of his. If you're wondering, yes I feel guilty for feeling this way in hindsight. I should have wanted to destroy this game the moment I got to the pyre scene. But at least if I got to here and toughed it out to the ending I might have a chance to comprehend if scenes such as those could be given a full context. It sure was all about to come together when it got here.

Solomon dropped Godzilla at the foot of Mount Fuji where Satan stood waiting for his opponent while Solomon flew behind Satan as if he obeyed a command his master had given. Satan then spread his arms out with a roar as he offered Godzilla a chance to face him. Godzilla seemed to understand this as he stood up with a roar to take on the new challenger.

There was no chance to save and there was no change to another gameplay section either. This was a simple demonstration of Godzilla facing what was possibly the greatest foe he would ever face. Godzilla ran forward with his fists in front as he prepared to pound Satan out of his mind like he did with many monsters before, but Satan was ready for that when he reached out his hand to grab Godzilla's attack. Godzilla tried to struggle free but Satan reached out to grab Godzilla by his mouth before pushing him back to slam him down to the ground. Godzilla brought his atomic breath to the ready when he prepared for another attack after he was pushed to the ground. Godzilla fell but was able to aim his breath towards Satan. Unfortunately it didn't seem to do anything significant to harm his opponent.

The battle continued as you might have expected it to go as Godzilla struggled all he could to defeat the Devil. It made me wonder if I saved all that energy in the previous section for nothing but every two minutes the screen briefly blanked to continue the fight. It happened four times as the battle raged on. I don't know if I did the best I could or if I could have unlocked a fifth clip but the fight scenes were about what you could expect from Godzilla taking on one of the few foes who could match his power. Every now and again Godzilla would grab Satan by his horns before getting thrown down while Satan used his claws to scratch away at what fragile parts of Godzilla's body there were.

The fight was mostly physical until Godzilla prepared for his atomic breath. The first real shocker came when Satan unleashed his own breath that actually collided with Godzilla's into a locked beam. As I'm writing this I can't remember what the first Godzilla movie was where this happened but the effect was actually being achieved here.

After what felt like several minutes of this scene Satan eventually overpowered Godzilla's breath before it blasted him back and the trees beneath him were set ablaze. Godzilla was laying face down in a smoldering piece of land while showing visible open cuts and smoked patches of skin.

The film switched to Yuu and Hotaru's family as they were running to the top of a building where they found a tower viewer to look on Mount Fuji. Yuu showed a visible sign of concern when he said Godzilla looked like he was being devastated harder than any opponent he had ever faced. Hotaru asked her father what would happen if Godzilla couldn't save them from certain destruction. Her father didn't even entertain the thought when he promised that God would never leave them defenseless even if Satan himself would walk upon the earth. Her mother agreed when she told her to have faith in God's choice to let Godzilla show that the spirit of Japan would still thrive as he conquered mans most powerful adversary. Yuu didn't sound as certain of this when he looked down through the telescope and described many of the injuries Godzilla had taken. Hotaru's father took out a crucifix from his shirt as he grasped it reminding Yuu that faith was the mightiest weapon they could wield at the moment.

The film switched back to Godzilla as he stood up injured by not taken down. He roared at Satan before firing another blast of his atomic breath that Satan dodged this time before Godzilla prepared to run forward with a mighty charge. This time Satan grabbed hold of Godzilla's charge before he threw him facedown into the ground.

This was when the film started to reveal more of its visceral side. Satan stomped on Godzilla's neck as he roared in a struggling to get up from the ground before Satan grabbed the biggest spike from Godzilla's back and tore it off. Godzilla gave a more high pitched roar than I was used to him giving while the music began to change to a more alarming tone as if I needed any other sign that Godzilla was in danger. Blood leaked out of his back as he tried to stand up but Satan grabbed his thrashing tail before he had a chance to regain his footing. Then to repeat what he did before, Satan gave a mighty pull as it removed Godzilla's tail to cause him to bleed at the second injury. Godzilla stood up frantically as he now felt himself heavily bleeding before Satan gave him a final warning to writhe like his life depended on it.

That was when the Dragons Lair gameplay kicked in and I prepared to match whatever button I was prompted to in a last effort to save Godzilla from his possible demise. I pressed the B button to cause Godzilla to turn around where he faced Satan before I went into a section asking me to mash the A button into a desperate wailing attack to gain a scratch on Satan. Satan only pushed Godzilla's attack as it forced him to the ground before he prepared an attack Godzilla wouldn't see.

Satan brought up one of his hands before the camera showed a giant red crucifix rise up from behind Godzilla with pointed spikes where the hands should have gone. There was a brief scene of Godzilla being smacked away and his hands being impaled on the crucifix from behind him. Godzilla let out another pained roar from the damage he took before I got the prompt to smash the left and right buttons. I probably did it in the wrong order though since the scene cut away to Godzilla being stabbed in the neck by one of Satan's horns and the screen turning red with the single kanji of "struggle".

Thankfully when I hit continue the game only started over from the part where Godzilla got his tail removed. Unfortunately when I started to do the prompts correctly I started to see more and more harm being done to Godzilla's as he struggled just to get off the spikes that impaled his hands. Satan gestured to Solomon behind him before Solomon emitted a burning ray that flew towards Godzilla before the camera cut to show Godzilla on fire. This wasn't Godzilla behind a flame either, this was him literally being set on fire. Godzilla let out more roars of pain as he tried to escape from his torture but Satan walked up to him as he shoved Godzilla's hands further to the base of the crucifix. I kept smashing the left and right buttons and mashing the A button whenever I was instructed to but it only seemed to further the period of suffering Godzilla was enduring. Before Godzilla had a chance to slide off the crucifix he had his mouth open in a roar as he was pushed back and Satan brought his hands to the roof and bottom of Godzilla's mouth. This was when Godzilla was making a desperate final attempt to break free but Satan continued to pry Godzilla's mouth open with his bare hands. The furious music in the background didn't do anything to make me feel hopeful about the situation. It continued this way and my mashing on the buttons gave me more of a feeling of futility. How could Godzilla win? I got my answer soon enough.

There was a loud snap from Godzilla before he simply went limp. Blood leaked out of Godzilla's mouth while his body simply hung on the crucifix motionless. I saw what just happened, Godzilla took on the Devil and he lost.

Satan turned to the nearby city as he offered a roar to signify his victory while the camera focused on Katsurou who proclaimed the final victory Satan had over Earth's hopes. Godzilla was dead and no monster on Earth could stand against him. He continued to shout down from Mount Fuji when he encouraged his cultists to continue their chant of "Hail Satan."

The scene then cut to Yuu and Hotaru as they watched in awe what Satan had just achieved. The spirit of Japan, the mightiest creature on Earth was now si9tuated on a crucifix left to bleed out. Yuu seemed to have been holding back his defeated hope as a Japanese man before he fell to his knees and called out Godzilla's name at the top of his lungs.

Satan and Solomon seemed to hear this as they both turned to the city as they prepared for their rampage. Katsurou asked who would be the first to bear witness to Satan's cleansing of humanity's conquest of the planet. Satan answered that he would and the next shot had Katsurou replaced with a pillar of fire before the clearing at Mount Fuji was shown to be on fire as well. I can remember seeing bodies in the flames as they endured the flames. The focus went back to the city as the people were running away from the coming destruction.

A scene cut to Professor Kouki who only showed intrigue at the sight proclaiming the "devilish being" to be a remarkable specimen who he had to see up close. The scene changed as Satan blew his fiery breath towards the streets before shifting back to Professor Kouki's lab as it shifted and shook from the destruction of his building. Solomon walked ahead of Satan while haunting music that gave way to the destruction sounded its way to humanity.

There was a workprint scene that showed a man under a shadow as a blade flew across the screen and brought him to the ground as he was split in half across his stomach. A shot then cut to Solomon with his hands in the air as he showed his bloodied fingernails. Satan and Solomon walked forward as more of the city was destroyed. Then came a scene where Solomon's hand grabbed a boy and dangled him at his eye level. It took me some reflecting on this because I thought the boy looked familiar. That's how I realized that this boy was actually a twelve year old Hideaki Anno. The only picture I've seen of him at that age was in an Anime News Network article but I think that it was him face to face with Solomon.

Why is this important? A big part of it would be because of the blade or Solomon's nail that was placed dangling right between his legs. The boy was afraid and from what I saw of the workprint scene I felt like there was a real reason for him to be afraid. Even worse I could recall him from the scene with Kotone's escape as being one of the dirtied children who was forced to watch her sacrifice. I don't know how many other things he was exposed to in this film but just these two things alone had to be enough to bring any impressionable person into shock. Right now he had a very good reason to be afraid.

This was when I heard a feminine scream beneath Solomon. It was Hotaru's mother who began to beg for the boys life. She would allow him to be king of the world but she wanted the children to be spared of the suffering. Solomon seemed to hesitate before his red eyes briefly glowed a light blue as he set the boy down to the ground.

I wondered briefly how this happened but I remembered something important about the biblical king Solomon was derived from. He was originally King Solomon. The same one from the story about the Solomon who ordered for a baby to be cut in half but was stopped by the woman who valued God over the earthly reign of a king. He was still alive and recognized what sort of thing he had become.

Satan walked up to him as he asked why Solomon was hesitating to clear a path for his arrival. Solomon spoke with the only line he had in the film when he answered in a gargled demonic voice that he was not a servant of Hell. That was when he turned around to slash Satan's throat.

Satan stepped back as he recovered from the blow. There wasn't any exchange of dialogue after that when he breathed his fiery breath on Solomon. Another battle between monsters had begun as Solomon threw Satan into a nearby building.

Hotaru was leading people away from the destruction when she asked her mother what happened to cause Solomon to turn on Satan. Her mother explained that the Solomon they knew was still alive and was prepared to save the people of Earth. Hotaru's father agreed when he pointed to how Solomon was now the greatest hope they had for surviving Satan's incoming destruction.

The fight between Satan and Solomon was overall shorter than the fight with Godzilla. It helped that Solomon was actually able to rip off one of Satan's horns before shoving it down Satan's throat. The attack was very real as it caused Satan to bleed from his mouth. Solomon forced Satan to his knees before firing his fiery breath to surround Satan in a pillar of burning pain. I didn't think a Godzilla movie could end on a sudden change and short battle like this and I turned out to be right. Satan grabbed Solomon as he pulled him into the very flames he raised.

Hotaru's father and Yuu watched in surprise as they tried to understand what had just happened. Both Satan and Solomon were burning in the flames but it left them to wonder what had just come over both monsters. Their questions were answered as soon as something came out of the flames.

It was a monster accompanied by roaring music that gave an established air of destruction much like the music that played during Godzilla's crucifixion scene. It was mostly Solomon's costume but now wore Satan's other horn on its head, had fire in its eyes, and his lower body was replaced with what resembled a minotaur.

Needless to say, the people watching were in a state of fear. Satan was defeated but it seemed that Solomon was now the new evil that they had to worry about. I wasn't sure what kind of threat this new form of Solomon was but Hotaru's father seemed to answer my wonder when he said that in spite of who he might have been, Solomon now bore all the evils of Hell about his being. This was when the rampage continued.

Yuu was holding the boy Hotaru's mother saved when he looked up to the sky with a defeated look on his face while the crowd of people watched. For them I can imagine that seeing the only two hopes they had of standing against Satan fall was the most devastating thing that could happen. The boy being protected asked if God would arrive to save them now while Yuu promised that God wouldn't let his believers suffer needlessly. Even against that hope there didn't seem to be any idea of this hybrid of Solomon and Satan fall. Hotaru was standing before the crowd of people as she told them that their only hope now was to offer a united prayer to be forgiven for their indifference towards God. No one seemed to argue with this since the death of Godzilla alone was enough to humble them. They followed her example as she knelt down atop the building with her wooden crucifix in the air as she offered a prayer out loud to the heavens above.

She declared herself as Hotaru Aoi, the woman who wanted to bear the sins of Japan for not dedicating themselves to him. She then began to sing while the people beneath her began to follow. Before I knew it the film had seamlessly transitioned to a gameplay sequence. If you've ever gotten to the final bosses in Drakengard 1 or 3, you might remember the rhythm section I'm alluding to. I was lucky to pick up the controller fast enough when I realized it was time for me to start pressing the buttons. I had to hit them as soon as they matched up to a red circle in the lower left hand corner of the screen. I didn't fail this portion of the game since I felt like I was reaching the end and about to see what the ending was. Even more the somber but meditative song brought me in a very Zen state of mind, as though all of the tension I felt earlier fade away. I don't know who wrote the song or how it could muster this sort of effect, but it seemed like the composer wanted to emulate the song "A Prayer for Peace" but I couldn't give a comparison without the lyrics available.

The further into the song I got the more it began to zoom in on the crowd. Oddly enough it began to zoom focus toward young Hideaki Anno. He seemed to show a stoic gaze to the Solomon Satan hybrid that was on its way to destroy them. Then the camera began to zoom towards his face in profile while the scene began to transition.

The transition was an odd one until I realized where it was taking me later on. Hideaki was still singing the prayer but now he and the background was pure in white. When I say pure white I mean that he stood in front of a white wall while himself was painted all in white paint, even his hair and his eyes being covered with white contact. That was when the scene changed to show a choir of children all covered in the same white as they sung the prayer. From what I was able to see they were all naked from the waist up regardless of their gender.

This scene might have been haunting in one way but the accompanied music and the pure white gave me some assurance that this was meant to be seen as a sacred part of the film. This was the part Shou Takumi's rendition of the heavenly choir as they delivered their message to heaven. I know this because the gameplay section began to end as soon as the song began to fade.

When the choir of white children zoomed out to an overall view of them and then showed me one of the important figures of Christianity. The European representation of Jesus Christ stood in front of them as he watched their singing come to an end before the camera focused on him. The actor looked above to the ceiling when he called to God asking if he believed the people of Japan had suffered enough for turning their backs on his word. A bright light shined down on him before a booming voice told him that it was proven that the Japanese people had learned that his work was the one true law of all humanity and that they were now on the path to salvation.

This was what was spoken before the scene cut to Hotaru's gathering where the same bright light shined on her as it transformed her wooden crucifix into a golden one. Even she seemed to be amazed when she saw this but kept the crucifix up high as it shined its own beam of light across the sky. There was a brief cutaway to Professor Kouki as he was struggling bruised and severely injured by the debris he was crushed under but reached out to the light with both hands as they dropped his copy of The Origin of the Species. Finally the light showed its destination. It had made contact with the crucified remains of Godzilla before a bright light shined over him while the voice of God announced that Japan had earned its salvation for accepting him. This was when he dubbed the one who would defeat Satan's ultimate ambitions. Acacius the Golden Light. The voice of God said this and Godzilla's eyes flew open at the announcement.

Unable to roar Godzilla simply broke the arms off the crucifix as he accepted the golden light from above. Then Godzilla underwent a transformation. He was coated in a golden coat of paint while the crucifix arms seemed to meld with his own arms. His broken jaw was removed as it coated his head in a film that covered his face. The light shifted away as it gave a full display of Acacius standing away from the crucifix was on. This was when a blast of heavenly music signaled the arrival of Acacius before Godzilla's spikes opened up to resemble wings.

Yuu looked on in awe when he watched the transformation while Hotaru looked at her golden cross as she witnessed the resurrection of Godzilla to become something more. Hideaki asked if God heard the prayer and Yuu told him that he did because their savior had arrived. The fusion of Solomon and Satan seemed to realize this as he turned around to recognize the heavenly creature's arrival.

This was when the final battle began. Satan's hybrid walked towards Acacius with its claws stretched out and prepared to let out fire from its mouth. Before he had a chance Acacius fired beams of light from the slits of his mask before adding a sphere of light from his hands to his attack. There were mighty explosions from the spheres that erupted around Satan's form while the beams of light were enough to force him to the ground. Satan tried to stand up but was bombarded by another shot of the beams from Acacius. Acacius walked forward with his hands prepared to reach Satan before his opponent let out a breath of fire to stop his advance. This didn't phase Acacius when he just fired his beams of light towards Satan's position. This time Satan was the one brushed aside when his fiery breath was overpowered. Satan seemed unable to get up when he took that attack but he wasn't about to let his final fate be here. When Acacius reached out to grab him Satan met with his incoming grasp but his hands began to burn on contact as he released a wail of agony from the attempt. Then the hands of Acacius changed into a pair of  pounders as they pulled back before ramming themselves into Satan's hands. He let out another yell of pain even higher pitched than before and then Acacius withdrew from the wound to show his hands had become blades. They dripped his blood for a brief second before Acacius punctured his blades into the chest of Satan's form, one in the heart and the other in his stomach. Acacius lifted him above his head before using his arms to throw Satan high into the air right above the sea. Before Satan landed Acacius shot a sphere of light from his reformed hands as they flew forward to make contact with Satan. With that, the sphere erupted in a mighty explosion above the sea. Satan was no more. Triumphant music soared to accompany the end of Satan's attempt to subjugate mankind. Yuu watched the display of destruction high up in the air as he embraced Hideaki who said that God had indeed answered their prayer. The crowed of people stood up as they looked at Acacius standing in front of them. It wasn't Godzilla who saved the day like they were used to but instead another creature who was introduced to them. Hotaru's mother pointed to heaven with the death of Godzilla, the spirit of Japan was still alive but now converted to realize their true path to righteousness. Hotaru herself appeared holding her cross as she marveled at Acacius with the rest of the crowd.

Acacius looked down at the crowd for a brief second before turning away from them towards the sea with his arms stretched out to both ends as they took the form of the blades that finished Satan. Hideaki asked where Acacius was going before Hotaru's father told him that Acacius was about to traverse the world to spread the good news of not just Japans awakening to accept the Lord but to the world. There was no waving goodbye from the crowd or children like previous Godzilla films, rather just an observation of wonder to what Acacius was about to herald. As soon as Acacius came up to the water the music paused as the film focused on the feet of Acacius just before he was about to wade his way through the water. This was what I thought would happen anyway because then Acacius began to walk on the water like it was solid ground. The melodic music continued as Acacius made an effortless walk across the water before the camera changed to behind him to show his body as the silhouette of a cross.

The film continued this way until the credits began to scroll up while Acacius continued his walk across the sea. I had done it. I was now one of the few who ever experienced and possibly fewer to beat the game. The messaged had almost gone over my head but being able to say I finished the game was enough for me to celebrate. At least that's what I told myself as I watched the credits finished. I really only fell asleep afterwards probably because of the melodic final credit song.

March 6, 2016

Damn. Did I really write all of that in one night? I've got the pages to prove for it that's for sure. Waking up after that long day of writing at least made my writing hand feel refreshed from the long break. Now that I've had time to look over my experience I can at least tell from almost every scene why this Godzilla vs. the Devil movie was never released to the public.

Even worse there's one part of the film I can't get over, the amount of death scenes that were present. This film better have utilized the best gore effects I've ever seen in a film or else Shou Takumi should have been arrested and banned from the public for making a snuff film in a Godzilla film.

Whatever happens there's only one man I know offhand who knows anything about this film's creation process. I hope. I can be fast enough and get a chance to find out from Hideaki Anno why he didn't warn anyone about this films creation.

March 7, 2016

I did it, at least I can settle my mind on that much. I managed to call Hideaki Anno before quickly telling him that I saw everything and I saw the film he was in along with everything else that happened in the film. I begged him not to shut me off and give me some answers. I was pretty relieved when I stopped talking and heart that he didn't hang up the phone. It was a while before he said anything until telling me to meet him at his house after work.

When I met him at his house he had a stern face but wasn't completely intimidating. I managed to start asking questions after I told him how I found the game and witnessed everything that was filmed. He revealed to me that he was in fact in the film and that everyone involved in the death scenes were real people. Apparently Shou Takumi got away with this because the people who were killed were all death row inmates. He tried to call the police and other authorities about the experience but Shou was off the hook every time because he was killing people who were already about to be killed anyway.

I have no idea how Shou got the permission to do something like this but it was allowed to happen. Even if it did, Hideaki explained that the best thing that could happen to the film did in fact happen. Ultimately there was a bigger revenge picture at the end of the whole experience when Shou Takumi showed his finished film to Tomoyuki Tanaka as the film was never released to the public. Hideaki wasn't entirely interested in finding out why, he only lived with the satisfaction of seeing the man's message being brought out to the people of Japan. From everything I gathered from Tomoyuki's son I think I could tell why it was that the film was never released, especially with some of the other gritty details that were in it.

I guess I should add what I learned about how Shou Takumi was selected in the first place to be the director of Godzilla vs. the Devil though. Hideaki told me that Shou was actually a crew member of many of the Showa Godzilla films when he began his work at the age of 25 starting with King Kong vs. Godzilla even having his name listed in the credits as various positions during filmmaking for all of the apparent talents he was multi capable in.

After the disaster known as "All Monsters Attack" or as some call it "Godzilla's Revenge", the folks at Toho were hoping to find a new director who could give direction to the franchise. Shou Takumi was among those considered since at that point he worked on the films up to Godzilla vs. Gigan. After seeing Shou's film though it was enough for Tomoyuki Tanaka to order that Shou's name was to be taken out of the credit listing of every Godzilla film he was on.

Being allowed to wok on so much only to have it all lost might have been good enough for Hideaki since not being able to get the film released was Shou's true defeat. His desecration of Godzilla wouldn't be shown to the world. At least that's how it was meant to be since Shou did still try to do everything he could to get the film a major release and doing so without Toho's permission meant he wouldn't see the fruits of his labor realized ever.

He probably tried for years until he saw his best chance to preserve the film he had held onto for a long time. his attempt to sell Godzilla CD as a game was probably as close to a commercial DVD as there was back in the early 90s so trying to see it for the Sega CD was his best choice. Apparently that didn't work out either and Shou died before he could try to bring it to the 3DO or the PlayStation.

I didn't tell any of this to Hideaki but it felt relieving to finally have the answers behind this film. Before I left Hideaki's home he gave me only one request, it was to not let Shou Takumi's final wish be granted from beyond the grave. He apparently died in 1995 from stomach cancer wanting to believe that one day the people of Japan would awaken to hear his message and accept the ways of God.

It's after writing this that I don't think I'll have anything else to say about this game, its legacy, or the people still alive to talk about it. I don't know how much more I can divulge but I can tell you this, Hideaki didn't seem to care if I still had the game or not. he didn't even bring it up. Next week I'll be headed home and the game's fate will be up to me. I'll clear my head until then and I should have something final to add here afterwards.

September 14, 2016

This diary went for a month and it's been a long period since I thought about returning to this thing. At least now I can put this whole tale to a rest and give what final details I have to.

So here it is, the whole description I felt like I had to write down. You might be wondering why I decided to publish this story onto the internet which is going against Hideaki Anno's hope that I never bring this message of Shou's out into the world. There's just a certain obligation I felt to see that knowledge like this was made available to everyone.

The holes and mysteries that might have surrounded the existence of Godzilla vs. the Devil should be revealed for everyone to hear for the first time. That probably just the only way I can explain it. I felt like this was information that couldn't be kept locked away forever.

The big downside is probably having to tell what happened to the game. I'll just be honest so I don't get any questions about where it is. When I got home I knew at least a few options about what to do with the game. As you might have read it's taken me almost six months since I've been trying to decide what to do with it and I had a hard time I could try destroying it and take the final revenge for Hideaki, this way no one would ever hear of Shou Takumi's legacy and the idea of Godzilla vs. the Devil could forever remain a misunderstanding that was never even considered. This would probably be the right thing to do but something stopped me from doing it. What if this film really was the last of its kind? Could I really bring myself to destroy a film that might never be seen again?

Damn right it's selfish of me to think that I could maintain ownership of an unseen Godzilla film, but this is the first "lost film" I've ever found. If I ever found something such as a filmed execution of prisoners in a Nazi concentration camp or on a Unit 731 facility the world had never seen I wouldn't be able to see to its destruction. To me it just didn't feel right to have this thing removed from existence.

So that left me the option of getting rid of this game by some other means such as selling it. I can imagine getting a pretty big penny. I can just see the listing on EBAY. A never seen before Godzilla game for the Sega CD, one of its kind and just past the finishing parts of game development. The price would probably start from $5.00 and then rise up to some insane amount over night if I could properly advertise it. Unfortunately doing something like that would require me giving a lengthy explanation of what this game was like what I wrote earlier in this diary. I'd imagine after someone read it they would attempt doing what I couldn't, destroying the game and letting it to its fate. This would already be a worse choice than destroying the game because I would pretty much be profiting off the expense of so many.

This left me with one final option, keeping the game for myself. This way I wouldn't feel the guilt of destroying the game and it would still never be seen by anyone else. This is what I have decided to do in the end but I won't be giving any hint to where it is now. I will admit there is one disadvantage of this though, I won't be alive forever to keep this thing secret or hidden from other people wanting to find this game. That's why I'm writing this final part of the diary, to give an idea of what this game is like to everyone while I keep this game from being destroyed. My hope is that this will be enough to ease people into the idea of what kind of game I have on hand. One day maybe people will be able to understand everything and take this game with a critical observation. Until then this game will be kept away from sight. There won't be any screenshots shown or any public examples of gameplay any time when I'm alive.

I know, I'm basically like that one guy who refused to release Socks the Cat to the internet but I'm doing it for reasons I at least hope are understandable. That is what I plan to do with this game until the day I pass away. I hope the details i give are enough to douse curiosity around this discovery. I don't know who gets around to reading this, but if you ever do come across the game, be ready for scenes that I might not have even given enough detail. I could try researching further into the game and the film but I don't plan on revisiting Japan any time soon since I'm sure I already broken a law of some kind for the grave robbing.

I've put this one last for hopes of giving a final word to Hideaki Anno. If he ever comes across this diary and recognizes any of this, I promise I won't ask you to give any further details if you feel like you can't do it. Most importantly my greed. My desire to keep this lost piece of media for myself. I'm sorry. I'm sorry that in the end I was too weak to keep this thing from seeing another day of existence. Please forgive me for bringing up memories that were supposed to be long lost.