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Fans Analyze Shin Godzilla Film's Easter Eggs, Peculiarities

Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi's 2016 Shin Godzilla film aired for the first time on television in Japan on Sunday. The broadcast earned an average household rating of 15.2% in the Kantō region, which includes Tokyo and surrounding prefectures. Such a popular airing apparently got Japanese fans in the mood to analyze all sorts of details in the film. Some of the below Easter eggs are spoilers for the live-action film.

Although it was originally posted in April, one Twitter user's observation has gained a lot of attention online. POLYSICS band member Ryo Nakamura tweeted images from the film that show Neon Genesis Evangelion character Asuka in a profile picture of a Twitter user in the film. The account's username is "bakashinji" (Idiot Shinji), an apparent reference to the protagonist of Evangelion. However, the name could also reference Shin Godzilla co-director Higuchi, who serves as the namesake for Evangelion's Shinji Ikari. Higuchi worked with Anno on the 1995 television anime series and the recent film remakes.

Anno and Higuchi's history together is not limited to Shin Godzilla and Evangelion. The pair previously collaborated on Royal Space Force - The Wings of Honnêamise and "Kyōshinhei Tokyo ni Arawaru" (Giant God Warrior Appears in Tokyo), Studio Ghibli's live-action tokusatsu short. The short may have a connection to Shin Godzilla.

A Twitter user posted an image from the Shin Godzilla Generation mook (magazine-style book) that shows the fifth form of Godzilla from the film. After the giant monster is frozen at the end of the film, these creatures appear to be emerging from its tail.

Some online commenters believe this fifth form of Godzilla is similar to the Giant God Warrior (Kyoshinhei) that appears in the "Kyōshinhei Tokyo ni Arawaru" short (figure seen below).

Could we see a crossover between Anno and Higuchi's various tokusatsu (special-effects) works?

The Shin Godzilla film might also include yet another reference to one of Higuchi's special-effects film Japan Sinks (Nihon Chinbotsu). Higuchi directed the 2006 remake of the 1973 disaster film based on Sakyo Komatsu's novel.

Fans were puzzled by an inconsistency in the Shin Godzilla film's mentions of the population of the Tokyo metropolitan area. A reporter says that the population of Tokyo is 12 million people, but the film later notes that 3.6 million citizens are seeking shelter from the attack. In the 1973 Japan Sinks film, 3.6 million people die and go missing after an earthquake disaster in Japan. Since the film and its remake have various similarities to and connections with Shin Godzilla, some fans believe the population number was a subtle way for filmmakers to reference works that inspired the 2016 film.

Other analysis of the Shin Godzilla film includes more comical observations by fans. While Godzilla attacks, a pizza delivery scooter passes behind a reporter in news footage. This unexpected appearance led some online commenters to wonder what kind of person would order pizza during such an apocalyptic event.

Another scene in the film shows televisions in an electronics store displaying coverage of the "unprecedented situation" unfolding in the film's story. Meanwhile, only one channel (TV Tokyo?) seems to be showing a red crab.

Fans also tweeted many other observations about details and Easter eggs in Shin Godzilla. What's your favorite scene? Did you notice anything else interesting about the film? Tell us in the forum!

Shin Godzilla earned 8.2 billion yen (US$75.6 million) at the box office in Japan after opening in July 2016. The film, TOHO's latest in the series after a 12-year absence since 2004's Godzilla: Final Wars, also received various awards. Funimation screened the film in theaters in North America in October 2016.

[Via Hachima Kikō]