The Return of Godzilla (novelization)

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The Return of Godzilla
The Return of Godzilla (novelization)
Author(s) Fumihiko Ino, Kohei Nomura
Publisher Kodansha
Publish date December 14, 1984
Genre Novelization, science-fiction
ISBN ISBN-10: 4061900196
ISBN-13: 978-4061900196

The Return of Godzilla (東宝映画作品 新作 ゴジラ,   Tōhō Eiga Sakuhin Shinsaku Gojira) is a 1984 novelization of the film of the same name, written by Fumihiko Ino and Kohei Nomura. It was published as part of Kodansha's Kodansha X Bunko paperback series on December 14, 1984.

Plot

The fishing boat the Fifth Yahata Maru approaches Daikoku Island during a storm. Suddenly, the island bursts apart as a massive figure emerges from the rubble, shaking the ship. Contact with the Yahata Maru is lost, and the Coast Guard reports it missing.

While sailing on his boat the next morning, reporter Goro Maki overhears the news report about the Yahata Maru and then sees the ship itself adrift. Maki climbs aboard and searches for survivors, only to discover dessicated corpses. He finally finds an unconscious survivor stuffed inside a locker, and tries to wake him up. However, Maki is attacked by Shockirus, a huge sea louse, and nearly killed before the survivor regains consciousness and kills Shockirus with a cleaver. Aboard Maki's boat, the man reveals his name as Hiroshi Okumura. He explains that the ship was attacked by a huge monster. Maki asks if he meant the giant louse, but Okumura responds that this was something much different. The Coast Guard soon arrives to rescue Okumura.

Okumura is quarantined at a hospital in Tokyo, where Professor Makoto Hayashida questions him about what he saw. Hayashida shows Maki a series of photographs of Godzilla's 1954 rampage. Okumura confirms without hesitation that the creature he saw was Godzilla. Maki is enraged when he receives a call from his publisher saying that his story on Okumura is being blocked. When he asks why, he is informed that it is because the monster Okumura saw was Godzilla and that the government didn't want to start a panic. He is referred to Dr. Hayashida, who is an expert on Godzilla. Hayashida explains that Godzilla is like a force of nature, one created by man's reckless use of nuclear weaponry and destined to walk the Earth forever. Maki next locates Okumura's sister Naoko and tells her where her brother is being held, only to snap a photograph of their reunion at the hospital.

Meanwhile, a Soviet nuclear submarine is attacked at sea and destroyed, with the Soviets blaming the attack on the Americans, who deny it. Tensions escalate to the point that World War III seems inevitable before the Japanese government steps in and reveals the attack was the work of Godzilla. Both superpowers want to use nuclear weapons against the creature, despite opposition from Japan's Prime Minister. After meeting with both the Soviet Premier and American President, the Prime Miinister convinces both nations not to use nuclear weapons. Godzilla soon attacks the Mihama Nuclear Power Plant and feeds on the reactor before being led away by a flock of birds. Hayashida, Maki, Naoko, and Okumura work together to understand why Godzilla left, eventually concluding that he followed the same homing instinct as the birds. By using a magnetic wave transmitter, Hayashida hypothesizes, he can be lured away.

Godzilla soon comes ashore in Tokyo, blasting his way through the defense line on the shore and making his way into the heart of the city. Hayashida activates his transmitter when Godzilla is outside the window and successfully gets the beast to stop moving. However, Godzilla is attacked by N1-00 tanks and becomes enraged, causing him to damage the building. Godzilla is engaged by the Japanese government's secret weapon, the Super X, in Shinjuku, which manages to subdue the creature by forcing him to swallow shells filled with cadmium. Hayashida, knowing full well that Godzilla is not dead, tells Naoko and Maki that they need to get the transmitter to Izu Oshima so they can lure Godzilla there. Okumura arrives in a chopper and recovers the device along with Hayashida, but the wind trubulence makes it impossible for Maki and Naoko to escape with them. The chopper leaves and the two find their own escape route out of the building.

The Japanese government learns that when Godzilla submerged earlier in Tokyo Bay, he caused the Soviet's secret nuclear missile launch apparatus hidden inside a freighter to arm, launching a nuclear missile directly at Tokyo. The Americans launch their own missile to intercept it in the atmosphere, triggering a radiation storm that revives Godzilla. Godzilla reengages the Super X, damaging it with his atomic breath before toppling a skyscraper directly onto it. Naoko and Maki try to run from Godzilla, but witness as he suddenly stops and turns back to the Bay. Hayashida has successfully activated his device.

Godzilla comes ashore on Oshima and begins climbing to the summit of Mount Mihara. When he reaches the outside of the crater, charges are detonated inside the volcano to trigger a controlled eruption, causing Godzilla to plummet into the magma-filled crater below.

Differences from the film

  • Scenes that existed only in earlier screenplays and drafts from the film are featured in the novelization, such as an attack on a fishing village by a swarm of Shockirus.

Appearances

Monsters

Weapons, vehicles, and races


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