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Whatever life holds in store for me, I will never forget these words: "With great power comes great responsibility."
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Sosaku Tachibana is a major character in the 2023 Kaiju drama film Godzilla Minus One. He's a former Imperial Japan military mechanic who was one of the sole survivors of the Godzilla attack on Odo Island, alongside Koichi Shikishima. Years later, after the creature returned to Japan, now bigger and stronger than before, he begrudgingly joins Operation Wada Tsumi to help Shikishima kill the monster for good, in hopes to see him fulfill his duty as a kamikaze pilot to avenge his fallen comrades on the island attack.
He's portrayed by Munetaka Aoki.
Personality[]
Tachibana is a callous and no-nonsense individual who has internalized a lot of the traditional japanese values of honor and sacrifice. It's for this reason that he berates Shikishima for having deserted his position as a kamikaze last minute and, later on, blames him for all the casualties of the Odo Island attack. Because of this, Tachibana is one of the primary reasons for Shikishima's survivor's guilt that followed him even after the end of the war. Despite this, Tachibana was just as aflicted and traumatized by the event as Shikishima was, as he would later become an alcoholic following the events of the war, while still holding a grudge against Koichi, only accepting to join Operation Wada Tsumi after the latter promised that he would sacrifice himself to kill Godzilla.
Although he's shown to be a jerk throughout most of the movie, Tachibana ultimately redeems himself at the end and proves that, despite his twisted moral code due to years of propaganda, he still does have good in him, as he comes to forgive Shikishima after seeing the life he had built after the war, ultimately being responsible for saving Shikishima's life in the end by installing an ejecting seat in his plane and telling him he shouldn't die.
History[]
Tachibana was an air force mechanic of the Tsukuba Naval Air Corps who worked for the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. Little is known about his past, but according to him, he and Shikishima already knew eachother prior to the movie's events. During the final days of the conflict in 1945, Tachibana was settled on a military base in Odo Island alongside his crew of mechanics, when suddenly, the kamikaze pilot Koichi Shikishima landed on the island, alleging a malfunction on his plane. Upon checking his vehicle, however, Tachibana finds no issues at all, coming to the conclusion that Shikishima had in fact deserted his duty as a kamikaze. Despite this, Tachibana allows him to stay in the base for the night.
During that same night, an air raid siren is heard on the island, warning of the arrival of a giant lizard creature known by the natives as "Godzilla", who had invaded the base. Tachibana, Shikishima and a group of mechanics find a hiding spot away from the monster and, since Shikishima was the only one there with gunning experience, Tachibana asks him to sneak into his plane and shoot Godzilla with its 20 mm. Shikishima initially refuses to do so, fearing that this could anger the creature even more, but goes there after Tachibana orders him to do so before the kaiju gets any closer. Despite this, Shikishima hesitates in pulling the trigger out of fear, resulting in Tachibana's men taking the initiative and shooting the creature using their regular weapons, alerting it of their location and causing Godzilla to rampage through the base, killing almost everyone there. In the bloody aftermath of the massacre, Tachibana survives the attack and is left to collect the corpses of his fallen comrades. After meeting Shikishima, who woke up after being knocked out by an explosion during the attack, Tachibana furiously scolds the pilot for his ineptitude, blaming him and his cowardice for all the deaths. During the army's return to Japan after the end of the war, Tachibana meets with Shikishima yet again and gives him the photos he found on the bodies of his deceased men.
Years after the war, Tachibana seemingly isolates himself from society, likely due to the immense trauma he experienced from the Odo Island attack. He removes his adress from the postal office database and is rendered nigh uncontactable. He also starts drinking to cope with his trauma. That is until, he gets notified of slanderous letters that Shikishima had sent to his friends, which blamed him for the deaths in the Odo Island massacre. Upon learning this, Tachibana goes all the way to Tokyo to get back at Shikishima and beat him up, but quickly realises it was all a ploy to meet him and invite him to join Operation Wada Tsumi. Shikishima explains that he was planning to kill the monster using a fighter plane by flying it loaded with explosives into his mouth, thus performing a kamikaze stunt. After the pilot promises to sacrifice himself, Tachibana agrees to help him repair the aircraft.
The morning before Operation Wada Tsumi takes place, Tachibana is visited by Shikishima in the hangar, to whom he shows all the changes he had made to the plane