Synopsis: In the aftermath of the Korean War, ships at sea begin going missing by the dozen. The only remains being shattered hulls, irradiate bodies, and freak hurricanes. The rogue forces of nature herald an impossible creature making landfall on several islands in route to a still recovering Japan. Despite efforts by both the US Navy and Japanese Self-Defense Force, "Gigantis" as the monster was dubbed, storms Tokyo. By the end of the terrifying night much of the metropolis was left in ruins, the US flagship half melted and rammed into the ground like a gravestone, and a brilliant mind sacrificed themselves to end the nightmare.
With the leviathan thought dead, the survivors try to move on. For many, the scars run deep. But at least, the mad world of the Cold War seemed to finally be returning to normality.... Until Soviet testing in Kazakhstan proved a grim prediction true. In all the vast and unknown depths of time... how could Gigantis have been the only one?
Sort of a take on the GRA formula but with a lot more of the serious sensibilities found in kaiju films like Gamera 3, GMK, and the Cold War tensions of Godzilla 1984. Working on it right now and hope to publish this by the end of the month. Very much leaning on the angle of treating the kaiju as supernatural forces and metaphors for the superpowers' aggressions and actions taken, smaller nations and people caught in the crossfire be damned.
The idea of a sequel to a prior event might seem odd, but I think it might be very intriguing untrodden ground. For example all of the direct sequels to Gojira either were very much rushed jobs without much connective tissue (GRA), or were separated from the prior events by multiple decades (1984, GMK, etc.). Having the survivors of the first incident having to go through it all over again was an idea that stuck with me.
"Gigantis" is something of a placeholder name for the first monster and Godzilla-expy. Insofar as I can see the name does not have a copyright or trademark on it. Though I might end up tweaking the spelling.
Cast:
- Hana Shimura - A former nurse traumatized by the 1954 attack, which she was not only ground zero for but also failed to save numerous persons during it and in the aftermath from radiation. Her fiance used a chemical weapon he had accidentally invented to seemingly kill the first monster, but at the cost of his life. Survivor's guilt and trauma have caused her to psychosomatically experience radiation poisoning, with her regrowing hair as a visual signal for overcoming past pains.
- Dr. Jobon Shimura - Hana's father, a medical doctor turned radiologist after 1945. After losing his wife in WW2 despite his best effort to hide her status, as she was of Korean Japannese heritage. Now he's had to focus on caring for Hana during her worst. Called in as a consultant for the second monster as one of the few to study Gigantis in any detail, leading to a horrifying realization.
- Miguel Clark - A former WW2 American navyman turned reporter who happened to get caught up in the 1954 attack. Hana's fiance was his closest friend and he shares some of her guilt. As one of the few documenting sources on the ground to survive the attack, he's reluctantly roped into the events as a consultant and reunites with Dr. Shimura after fate pulls them back together.
- Kaede Gojo - The Imperial secretary and government liaison, often juggling both cultural and governmental duties for the sake of a recovering nation. Especially given a 22 year old Emperor is on the throne early and the initial secrecy involving the second monster. An old family friend of the Shimuras, she also functions as a link between them and the other cast.
- Captain David Andrews - The former executive officer, now captain of the USS New Jersey, he was the only officer aboard to survive engaging Gigantis in Tokyo Bay back in 1954. Due to an accident, he wound up locked inside a storeroom and was mistaken for a coward who abandoned his men by many sailors; despite inquiry clearing his innocence. Past fears return as he called back to Japan due to the second monster heading their.
- Emperor Akihito - Ascending to the throne 34 years earlier than our timeline due to his father's death in the Tokyo attack, Akihito has been juggling new responsibilities and trying to find a place as a largely ceremonial leader to a scarred and recovering nation which needed a new capital and new outlook in a changed world.
- Gigantis - The first daikaiju in the setting. Initially going active in the ending days of 1953 before becoming known in 1954. Resembling a shark-like yokai called a wani, it rampaged across Tokyo before seemingly meeting its end. In its wake it left the capital and irradiated graveyard and looms over the minds of many survivors.
- Gyottos - The second daikaiju in the setting. Awakening after fusion bomb tests in Kazakhstan, the black turtle-like chimeric beast begins to carve a path of destruction across central Asia as it heads due east. Constantly generating a massive blizzard system, it threats the USSR, China, Korea, and then Japan in its unstoppable advance.
