publication_date the return of godzilla
With the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the " Lucky Dragon ___MASK27___ " incident still fresh in the Japanese consciousness , Godzilla was conceived as a metaphor for nuclear weapons . As the film series expanded , some stories took on less serious undertones portraying Godzilla as an antihero while other plots still portrayed Godzilla as a destructive monster ; sometimes the lesser of two threats who plays the defender by default but is still a danger to humanity . With the end of the Cold War , several post - ___MASK91___ Godzilla films shifted the character ' s portrayal as a symbol of nuclear weapons to that of modern Japan ' s forgetfulness over its imperial past , natural disasters and the overall human condition . The earliest commercial Japanese animation dates to ___MASK33___ , and production of anime works in Japan has since continued to increase steadily . The characteristic anime art style emerged in the 1960s with the works of Osamu Tezuka and spread internationally in the late twentieth century , developing a large domestic and international audience . Anime is distributed theatrically , by television broadcasts , directly to home media , and over the Internet . It is classified into numerous genres targeting diverse broad and niche audiences . Toho ' s most famous creation is Godzilla , who features in ___MASK32___ of the company ' s films . Godzilla , Mothra , King Ghidorah , Mechagodzilla , and Rodan are described as Toho ' s Big Five because of the monsters ' numerous appearances in all three eras of the franchise , as well as spin - offs . Toho has also been involved in the production of numerous anime titles . Its subdivisions are Toho - Towa Distribution , Toho Pictures Incorporated , Toho International Company Limited , Toho E . B . Company Limited , and Toho Music Corporation & Toho Costume Company Limited . The company is the largest shareholder ( 7 . 96 %) of Fuji Media Holdings Inc . The Return of Godzilla , released in Japan as Godzilla (  Gojira ) , is a Japanese science fiction kaiju directed by Koji Hashimoto and a reboot of Toho ' s Godzilla franchise . It is the 16th film in the franchise and the first film in the Heisei series , despite the film having been produced during the Shwa period . The film serves as direct sequel to the original 1954 Godzilla film , completely ignoring the events of the Showa series , which saw the franchise return to the darker tone and themes of the 1954 film and returned Godzilla to his destructive antagonistic roots . In 1985 , New World Pictures released Godzilla 1985 , a heavily re - edited American adaptation of the film which included additional footage , which featured Raymond Burr reprising his role from Godzilla , King of the Monsters ! , which was also produced , filmed , and edited with the same techniques . Concept and creation . Mechagodzilla was conceived in ___MASK96___ as a more serious villain than its immediate two predecessors , Gigan and Megalon , whose films were considered creative disasters . According to Tomoyuki Tanaka , Mechagodzilla was inspired by both Mechani - Kong from the previous Toho film " King Kong Escapes " and the robot anime genre , which was popular at the time . Effects director Teruyoshi Nakano also felt that a mechanical monster was cheaper to construct than the mutated animals Godzilla had previously faced . As the resulting " Godzilla vs . Mechagodzilla " proved to be a greater critical success than previous 1970s Godzilla films , the character was revived in 1975 ' s " Terror of Mechagodzilla ". The film ' s screenplay was based on the winning entry of a story - writing competition won by Yukiko Takayama , who continued the darker tone of the previous film by adding the subplot of Mechagodzilla being cybernetically connected to a young woman . Mechagodzilla ' s design remained largely unchanged from its previous appearance , though it was made to look thinner and more angular , with a darker sheen and an MG2 insignia emblazoned on its upper arms . The film ' s original draft was going to have Mechagodzilla destroy Tokyo utterly , though the destruction was cut down for budgetary reasons . The Cold War was a state of political and military tension after World War II between powers in the Eastern Bloc ( the Soviet Union and its satellite states ) and powers in the Western Bloc ( the United States , its NATO allies and others ). Historians do not fully agree on the dates , but a common timeframe is the period ( the second half of the 20th century ) between ___MASK48___ , the year the Truman Doctrine ( a U . S . policy pledging to aid nations threatened by Soviet expansionism ) was announced , and 1991 , the year the Soviet Union collapsed . Mothra is one of Toho  s most popular monsters , and second only to Godzilla in its total number of film appearances . Polls taken during the early 1990s indicated that Mothra was particularly popular among women , who were at the time the largest demographic among Japan ' s movie - going audience , a fact that prompted the filming of ___MASK57___ ' s " Godzilla vs . Mothra ", which was the best - attended Toho film since " King Kong vs . Godzilla ". IGN listed Mothra as # 3 on their " Top 10 Japanese Movie Monsters " list , while " Complex " listed the character as # 7 on its " The ___MASK68___ Most Badass Kaiju Monsters of All Time " list .