#godzllia meta

[murasakikagekitsune]

The Monsterverse’s Most Powerful Return to its True Purpose: Why Serizawa-hakase’s (Dr.Serizawa’s) Death Very Nearly Succeeded in Making Me Cry When I Watched Godzilla: King of the Monsters for the First Time (and Why It Always Will, No Matter How Many Times I Watch the Film.)

“Because sometimes the only way to heal demons of our past is to make peace with them.”

This single quote poetically summed up why Godzilla was even made in the first place, and why, ultimately, it was Serizawa-hakase who chose himself to be the one that would place the nuclear warhead under Godzilla.

It’s exactly what he’s doing. There is a sort of catharsis for him in practically mirroring his father’s footsteps. It’s a way to amend the legacy of his father; only this time, he is doing this to save Godzilla rather than kill him. Who knows? The death of his father may have haunted Serizawa-hakase when he was growing up as a boy and a young man, similar to the way it would/will motivate his son, Ren Serizawa, to aid in creating things that, in theory, would stop the Titans from wreaking havoc on earth. (Because, the result of his father’s legacy, in reality, was his death.) This could make any person bitter enough to do such things like Ren is going to do later on.For the father and son, their respective fathers’ legacies is a demon of their past which they have to make peace with. I’ve not seen GvK yet, so I’m only guessing here, but I think the only difference there is the fact that Ren refuses to make peace with his past.

There is a bigger demon at play here, however, and she goes by the name Enola. Serizawa-hakase isn’t just making peace with his past on a personal, individual level, but on a national and cultural level too. To die voluntarily by what is, effectively, a nuclear bomb, he’s connecting to his family and his people on a deeper level than before. Multiple times in the film, it is inferred that, because of Serizawa-hakase’s age, the nuclear bombs of World War II are in his recent memory.

Live by the katana, die by the katana.

His death was planned. He knew they were going to have to power Godzilla by nuclear warhead. He knew that if he chose to do this, he would die as a result. What do Serizawa-hakase and his female colleague, Mariko-hakase whisper to each other before he goes to save Godzilla?

All hail to the Emperor.

Serizawa-hakase’s was never a split second decision, it wasn’t a simple throwaway case of self-sacrifice that could be forgotten by whitewashed history books, nor was it a laughable suicide mission, one that the US military can point their fingers at. No, it was something much more than that; something that would instantly redeem him in the eyes of Steinz...

He chose to commit seppaku, perhaps the most significant way for someone like him to die. He feels as if he has dishonoured his father’s name, and the only way to remedy that? Pretty obvious. (Even though his father isn’t a shogun, and this isn’t feudal Japan?)

He chose to commit seppaku.

(Friendly reminder: I probably haven’t even come close to crying at a character’s death like this since I was 10, watching Sandy die in ROTG.)

(-hakase is the honorific used in Japan to address someone of particularly high academic prestige, like a doctor or a professor.)

#godzilla #gojira #godzilla king of the monsters #godzilla kotm #kotm #ishiro serizawa #seriziawa-hakase #dr. serizawa #japanese culture #ren serizawa #character analysis #quote analysis #wwii #history #character discourse #character death #meta #godzllia meta #king of the monsters meta #kotm meta #divine intervention #because kuro-sama told me to write it #need i go on? #atomic bomb #the Atomic bomb will always be unforgiveable #o captain NOT MY CAPTAIN! #i will not apologise for believing in civil rights