Shin Godzilla alternate timeline

[Jetty_Jags]

Shin Godzilla made history as the first Toho made Godzilla movie to distinctively not reference the events of the 54 film (fw is debatable). Obviously this has a lot of implications on the story and how it unfolds, but there’s another aspect of this film that really makes it an alternate history that I don’t see discussed too often. Not only does the events of the 54 film never occur, but the movie was never made either. The film does something interesting and presents a modern day japan without Godzilla as a cultural icon. Whether this extends to other kaiju movies is unknown, but the film doesn’t mention them. The closest thing that we get implying kaiju films exists at all is the Asuka profile pick, as nge was probably influenced by the kaiju genre. But what do you guys think? How would the cultural identity of Japan be different without its kaiju films? There’s the argument that the first few acted as a catharsis to their history, did something else replace it (like how in watchmen pirate comics replace superhero comics) or did japan have to find a different way to recover?

[JAGzilla]

This is an interesting thread idea. I'm going to sidestep the actual question, though, and point out that (to my knowledge/recollection) Shin is not unique in this respect. Most if not all kaiju films take place in universes where kaiju films don't exist. That in no way invalidates your question, however, so carry on.

[Jetty_Jags]

That may be true, but they exist in a universe with kaiju. Up until shin enters there are no kaiju in japan what so ever. Regardless it’s an interesting topic.

[LSD Jellyfish]

A lot of this is speculative but:

-No Godzilla/Early Toho Sci-Fi most likely means No Ultraman (Ultra-Q was inspired by The Twilight Zone though).
-No Ultra-man and Godzilla means no Pokemon, or at least how we know it (a lot of early pokemon stuff, and the concept itself were directly inspired by kaiju and UltraSeven).
-No Godzilla means Toho's clout and significance in Japan is greatly diminished, and it becomes increasingly likely that some of the other Non-Kaiju films would have never been made.
-No Ultraman and Godzilla means no NGE, and it can't be understated how impact NGE is on the Anime Industry in general.

[G2000]

A lot of this is speculative but:
-No Godzilla/Early Toho Sci-Fi most likely means No Ultraman (Ultra-Q was inspired by The Twilight Zone though).
-No Ultra-man and Godzilla means no Pokemon, or at least how we know it (a lot of early pokemon stuff, and the concept itself were directly inspired by kaiju and UltraSeven).
-No Godzilla means Toho's clout and significance in Japan is greatly diminished, and it becomes increasingly likely that some of the other Non-Kaiju films would have never been made.
-No Ultraman and Godzilla means no NGE, and it can't be understated how impact NGE is on the Anime Industry in general.

OP notes that an Asuka profile pic does appear in-film; while that's probably more an in-joke, it does imply NGE got made in some form, or that Anno uses the characters in another concept.

Perhaps there was a more limited series of kaiju films in the 1950s-60s in response to similar American monster films of the time that ultimately failed to achieve the same sort of popularity Godzilla did OTL and died out?

Maybe the mecha genre survives as well; While Tetsujin 28-go came out after the original Godzilla I can't find anything saying the creator took inspiration from it. And as you said above, Ultra-Q drew inspiration from shows like The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits; maybe it or an analogue develops more along the lines of those shows?

I don't mean to drag the Monsterverse into this, but it sort of presents and then sidesteps a similar issue: in that universe not only is Godzilla never made, but also King Kong - the film that ultimately inspired Eiji Tsuburaya to go into SFX. At the same time, posters in Ford Brody's childhood bedroom indicate that tokusatsu and the kaiju genre did develop in some form (though again, that's more an in-joke than anything, as the title of the film is evidently "Let Them Fight").

Maybe in the Monsterverse world Willis O'Brien successfully completes Creation in Kong's stead, and the butterflies from that (and perhaps rumors of the world's real kaiju as well, coupled with censorship/coverups by MONARCH) causes the US and Japanese monster films to develop in different directions?

[Destorogoji]

Since there are no other giant monsters roaming free, I'm assuming every non-Godzilla related/inspired fictitious kaiju was created in some form in this world.
Having that into account, Luminous Fairies and Mothra was written, published, and it got a film adaptation. The movie was spectacular and had a deep religious and sociopolitical meaning, eventually inspiring the Hideaki Anno of that world to create NGE.

[Chrispy_G]

This is a fun topic of discussion that I, as a viewer, never really think about. I always assume MOST movies are in a sort of 'parallel' reality to ours, no matter how similar the world on screen is to ours....it is a 'movie' reality, where rules of physics, logic, language, culture and etc all play out a little differently.

I remember how fun it was to find out that apparently the Heisei Gamera films occur in a world where turtles are not actual animals that exist.

It would be interesting if any kind of sequel or direct followup to Shin Godzilla were ever made. It would be fun to see a series of films that explores the culture/pop culture impact of a giant monster event. Initially, yes, it would all be gloom and doom....but you have to think in a world where Godzilla kills a worse/more evil monster....then there would be aspects of the pop culture that would idolize the creature.

[miguelnuva]

I've never once thought that in the fictional universe of Godzilla that other events didn't happen with pop culture for the simple reason I don't feel real life characters exits. There is no Ishiro Honda or Eiji Tsuburaya in the Godzillaverse unless stated otherwise and in that case then somehow rose to promise the same just minus Godzilla.

What I do know is at some point in all the Godzilla verse movies would get made regardless and they are simply based on true events instead of being fiction.

The showa and Heisei timelines are the base fits for example, between 1975 and 1999 Godzilla was a super hero living on Monster Land so movies were made for kids and for history just like any major event. Godzilla Jr likely becomes the Godzilla that never attacks Japan again and protects it as said by Emi so movies would be made based on him and possibly even his father.