Tadayuki Saito
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I'm on your side. We need more people like you. Why obey an order to "die honorably" when the outcome is already clear?
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— Saito empathizing with Koichi Shikishima's decision to live (Godzilla Minus One) |
Tadayuki Saito (齋藤 忠征 Saitō Tadayuki) is a minor character and an IJNAS mechanic in the 2023 Toho Godzilla film Godzilla Minus One.
History
- Godzilla Minus One (2023)
Reiwa era
Godzilla Minus One
During the final days of World War II, in 1945, a Zero fighter piloted by Koichi Shikishima landed on Odo Island, the site of a repair base for kamikaze planes. After Tadayuki Saito and the other mechanics there inspected it, Sosaku Tachibana reported to Shikishima that no issues were found, raising suspicion. Shikishima was defensive, having lied about a malfunction to abort his kamikaze mission, before he walked away to the shoreline. Saito briefly conversed with Shikishima and empathized with his decision to live, acknowledging the futility of dying near the end of the war, before walking away.
That night, while Shikishima walked back to the base, the air raid sirens sounded. Tachibana ordered the mechanics to grab their guns and tried to figure out what the enemy was, thinking it was a new American weapon. A roar echoed through the air. Tachibana yelled for Taki, one of the mechanics, to turn on the searchlight. The light illuminated the forest, when suddenly a dinosaur-like creature emerged and demolished the guard tower. One of the mechanics explained that the creature was called "Godzilla" by the local islanders. After Godzilla stepped on gasoline barrels causing an explosion, Tachibana and the others took shelter in a trench. Tachibana urged Shikishima to use his plane’s 20mm gun against Godzilla, insisting that the gun could kill anything. Shikishima made it to the cockpit but froze as the monster stood in front of him. Tachibana whispered to shoot to no avail. As Godzilla continued walking toward the trench, the panicked repairmen opened fire on Godzilla themselves. Tachibana yelled at them to stop but it was too late. The enraged monster stomped on the trench, injuring Tachibana's leg as he ran out. One mechanic tried dragging Tachibana away but was grabbed by Godzilla and thrown through the air. Godzilla brutally dispatched the rest of the mechanics as Tachibana and Shikishima watched on in horror. Saito yelled that he'd draw the monster's attention so Shikishima could shoot it before being bit and thrown by Godzilla. Shikishima ran out of his Zero screaming before the monster threw the plane upward, the explosion knocking Shikishima unconscious. He awakened to find only one other survivor: Tachibana, who had recovered the others' bodies. Tachibana noticed Shikishima and yelled at the pilot, blaming him for failing to act. On the troopship taking them home following Japan's surrender to the Allied Powers, Tachibana gave Shikishima the photos he found with the slain men.
Books
- Godzilla Minus One (2023)
Godzilla Minus One
In the film's novelization, Shikishima's nightmare after starting his minesweeper job is extended. Prior to Godzilla's appearance, the mechanics line up in the ruins of the command post; from their complexion, he realizes that they are ghosts. Sosaku Tachibana demands to know why he's still alive, and Tadayuki Saito answers that he's a coward.[1]
Gallery
Screenshots
Godzilla Minus One
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Saito (far right) and the mechanics inspecting Shikishima's Zero -
Saito talking to Shikishima on the Odo Island shoreline -
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Saito and the other mechanics inside the trench
References
This is a list of references for Tadayuki Saito. 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]
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Bibliography
- Yamazaki, Takashi (8 November 2023). Novel Version: Godzilla Minus One. Shueisha. ISBN 978-4-08-680525-4.
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