Human Wave Tactics: Japan's Repudiation

 

This is one of the more memorable scenes in Godzilla: Minus One, a meeting of the Japanese civilians who volunteered to fight Godzilla. The large conflict between the Japanese civilian forces and Godzilla was about to begin tomorrow, but instead of insisting on additional preparations, the head of the project, Dr. Noda (central figure in the above picture), says that all soldiers should return to their families for the night. He says "I'd take pride in a citizen led effort that sacrifices no lives at all! This next battle is not one ventured to death, but a battle to live for the future." This portrays a complete reversal of the way Japan handled life in World War 2, with actions such as Kamikaze pilots and poorly planned supply lines giving very little regard to human life. 

Now, to completely flip subjects, Super Sentai is one of the most underrated television series for many reasons, but there are a lot of aspects repeated across many series. The villains are always these grotesquely mutated and quite obviously evil monsters, who are still cool and simple enough to be sold as figurines. The main overarching villain, usually some sort of slick and conniving magical being, orders a few more domestic villains around, alongside some more temporary, villain of the week, type characters. The best example of this is in my personal favorite Sentai, Mirai Sentai Timeranger, where pretty much every episode involves the main set of villains literally taking the episode's villain (who represent bad actions from drinking to drunk driving) from cryogenic freezing, turning them loose, pumping them up to kill the rangers, and then watching as all of them are unceremoniously sent to their demise. Looking at the below image, the villains are literally treated like drinks out of a fridge. 

It is interesting to see the crossover between these two pieces of media. In Godzilla: Minus One, the Japanese civilian forces decide to choose the sanctity of life, and in Super Sentai, waves of mutated goons are sent to die by an uncaring, authoritarian leader. Both of these series could be seen as a repudiation of Japan's actions during World War 2, caring far more for life than the Japanese military during that era. For any thinking that the connection between Super Sentai and World War 2 is quite the stretch, another Tokusatsu show, Kamen Rider, made by the same company, featured a villain named Starfish Hitler. 

Quite literally fighting against the past mistakes of World War Two. The case is closed!