Sandbox:Aizu and Ako

Aizu and Ako Length 175 meters Displace- ment 5,300 metric tons Targets Godzilla First appearance Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack

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This page includes the Aizu from GMK. For the Aizu from Godzilla: Tokyo SOS, see Aizu.

DDH-147 Aizu (あいづ,   Aizu) and DDH-148 Ako (あこう,   Akō) are a pair of fictional helicopter-carrying cruisers which are operated by the Japan Maritime Defense Force in the 2001 Toho Godzilla film Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack.

Identification

The Aizu and Ako are inconsistently described as cruisers, battlecruisers, or destroyers. Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (GMK) includes onscreen text for the Aizu which reads, "Japan Maritime Defense Force: Cruiser Aizu" (防衛海軍 巡洋艦「あいづ」,   Bōei Kaigun: Jun'yōkan "Aizu"), but this is changed to "Battle Cruiser Aizu" in the international export version. The Ako, meanwhile, is never identified onscreen, though it appears identical to the Aizu. The ships' hull numbers are officially DDH-147 and DDH-148; while no ships by these numbers have ever existed in real life, "DDH" is the prefix used by the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force for helicopter destroyers, seeming to indicate that they are in fact destroyers. However, as the Japan Maritime Defense Force (not "Self-Defense") is a fictional organization, it is possible that DDH simply applies to helicopter cruisers in the film's universe.

Asahi Sonorama's GMK book (2001) and the books GMK Super Complete Works (2002), GMK Super Encyclopedia (2002), GMK Great Encyclopedia (2002), Godzilla Dictionary [New Edition] (2014), GMK Completion (2022), and Godzilla and Toho Tokusatsu Official Mook vol. 07 (2023) concur with the Aizu being a cruiser. However, concept art by Yoshiyuki Kasuga, the film's theater program (2001), Tokuma Shoten's GMK book (2001), and volume 8 of Godzilla Magazine (2002) describe it as a destroyer instead. Most of the aforementioned sources do not explicitly identify the Ako, though some describe it as "of the same class" as, or the "sister ship" of, the Aizu. Peculiarly, the sources which do identify it call it a destroyer, even when describing the Aizu as a cruiser. This page gives the film itself precedence, and therefore considers the Aizu to be a cruiser and the identical Ako to be a cruiser of the same type.

Development

The name Aizu, which comes from the Aizu Clan, was chosen by director Shusuke Kaneko. Combined with Satsuma, which comes from the Satsuma Clan, it is a play on the idea of "those who are at odds joining forces." The sculptures were built in 1/35 and 1/57 scales. The former was about 5 meters in length. The miniatures were produced by Seed. For the scene where the Aizu first appears, a miniature was shot on an open set against a blue screen and then composited into a CG sea surface. The wires on the ship were too fine to be processed by compositing, so the mast was recreated with CGI. Kaneko insisted on having the Aizu computer-generated, but the quality of the water was not good enough at the time, and in a later interview he said he wanted to redo it.

A CIC set was built for the film. Shimizu stated that it was the first time that a CIC for an Aegis ship had been built for a Japanese film, and that this was what he most wanted to do for the film. The console system was shared with the set for the Defense Forces Command Room.

Design

The Aizu and Ako were designed by art director Tsuyoshi Shimizu. Unlike real-life Aegis ships, the bridge was raised, but in order to create a more powerful appearance on screen, the bridges were modeled after those of the Nagato-class battleship and the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise.

The Aizu and Ako resemble modern warships equipped with the Aegis Combat System, such as the Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser and Kongō-class destroyer but with a few differences. The ships have two bridges, with one raised above the other, as well as a hangar for storing Satsuma submarines and a crane at the stern to deploy them.

History

• Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001)

Millennium era

Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack

The JSDF reported that the US nuclear submarine sunk off of Guam and the destruction of Magonote Island were likely caused by Godzilla, and the government issued a security bulletin around all Japanese coastal cities. The Battle Cruiser Aizu was deployed near the Bonin Islands to search for the monster, but even after 3 days they weren't able to find him. They were too late, as Godzilla suddenly appeared and made landfall in Yaizu.

After Godzilla had defeated Baragon, the JSDF evacuated Yokohama and deployed the Aizu and Escort Cruiser Ako in Tokyo Bay to prepare for the counterattack against Godzilla. Admiral Taizo Tachibana and Commander Yutaka Hirose boarded the Aizu, with Tachibana ordering to equip D-03 missiles aboard both ships. When Godzilla had incapacitated Ghidorah and Mothra, Tachibana ordered all units to commence fire. Aizu and Ako fired their D-03 missiles together with the JSDF ground troops at Godzilla, but the missiles weren't able to penetrate the monster's skin. Godzilla fired his atomic breath, destroying 90% of the ground troops and Ako as well as damaging the Aizu. Aizu's main gun became disabled, and the monster stomped toward the defenseless ship. Godzilla charged his atomic breath, but turned around and fired it at Mothra, vaporizing the guardian monster. Ghidorah absorbed Mothra's energy, reviving and transforming him into the Thousand-Year Old Dragon, King Ghidorah. King Ghidorah blasted Godzilla with a ball of energy into Yokohama Bay, and the two monsters fought underwater. While they fought, Tachibana and Hirose boarded two Satsuma submarines armed with D-03 missiles in a final effort to defeat Godzilla. Aizu launched the submersibles with a crane at the stern. Tachibana succeeded in his mission, with Godzilla exploding after attempting to fire his atomic breath, only for the beam to fire from the wound in the monster's neck. The crew aboard the Aizu were relieved to hear that Tachibana survived.

Capabilities

Armament

• The Aizu and Ako are armed with Mk. 45 5-inch guns, RUR-5 ASROC anti-submarine missile systems with Mk. 112 octagonal launchers, Harpoon SSMs, and four Mk.15 Phalanx CIWS. The ships could launch D-03 missiles from their missile launchers during the final battle in Yokohama. They are also equipped with two AN/SPY-1 radar antennas on the front of the ship.
• The Aizu and Ako have helicopter decks at the stern of the ship, as well as a hangar and crane to launch and attach to Satsuma military submarines.

Gallery

Concept art

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  Concept art of DDH-147 Aizu

Production

Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack

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  A model of the Aizu behind a Satsuma model

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  Another Aizu model to the left of Shusuke Kaneko

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Screenshots

Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack

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  DDH-147 Aizu stationed near the Bonin Islands

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  Aizu in Yokohama Bay

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  Aizu and Ako fire their D-03 missiles at Godzilla

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  "80% destroyed!"

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  "No, 90% destroyed!"

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  Godzilla fires his atomic breath at Ako

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  Ako explodes

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  Godzilla stomps toward the Aizu

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  King Ghidorah fights Godzilla in the water near Aizu and Yokohama Bay Bridge

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  Taizo Tachibana suggests firing a D-03 missile into Godzilla's wound with a Satsuma

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  Two Satsumas in Aizu's hangar preparing for launch

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  Aizu's crane

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  Satsuma SS-01 is deployed by Aizu

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Books

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  Diagram of Aizu

Trivia

• The model for the Aizu was reused and slightly modified to represent the Aizu in the 2003 Toho Godzilla film Godzilla: Tokyo SOS.

References

This is a list of references for Aizu and Ako. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: ^[1]

Bibliography

• Ogawa, Masahisa (ed.). Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack. Asahi Sonorama. ISBN 4-257-13044-X.
• Yokoo, Michio (ed.). Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack. Tokuma Shoten. ISBN 4-19-760529-3.
• Shioya, Masahiko; Fujikawa, Hideo, eds. (26 December 2014). Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack Super Complete Works (ebook ed.). Shogakukan. ISBN 978-4-09-101481-8.
• Iwahata, Toshiaki (15 January 2002). Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack Super Encyclopedia. Kodansha. ISBN 4-06-304474-2.
• Nomura, Kohei (19 February 2002). Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack Great Encyclopedia. Keibunsha. ISBN 4-7669-4007-5.
• Nomura, Kohei; Matsuda, Takehisa, eds. (19 February 2002). Godzilla Magazine. Vol. 8. Keibunsha. ISBN 4-7669-4008-3.
• Nomura, Kohei (7 August 2014). Godzilla Dictionary [New Edition]. Kasakura Publishing. ISBN 978-4-7730-8725-3.
• Kimura, Manabu, ed. (31 March 2022). Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack Completion. Hobby Japan. ISBN 978-4-7986-2779-3.
• Ono, Koichiro; Iwahata, Toshiaki (26 June 2023). Godzilla and Toho Tokusatsu Official Mook. Vol. 07. Kodansha. ISBN 978-4-06-531489-0.
• Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (Toho SF Special Effects Film Series: Special Edition. Toho. 15 December 2001. ISBN 4-924609-80-3.

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