This week on Make Me a Nerd, Mandy welcomes fellow TruStory podcaster and kaiju enthusiast Riki Hayashi for a dive into one of the most critically acclaimed monster movies in decades: Godzilla Minus One. If you’ve ever thought Godzilla was just a big lizard with anger issues, think again.
Riki brings his lifelong passion for Japanese nerd culture to the table, from his days as a Magic: The Gathering judge to his Twitch battles in Pokémon Go. But it’s his love for Godzilla that takes center stage here. Together, he and Mandy break down how Godzilla Minus One is not only a triumph of visual storytelling and emotional depth, but also a sharp departure from the campy traditions of kaiju past. Mandy, entering the Godzilla-verse for the first time, is floored—not just by the monster’s expressive eyes or bejeweled back spikes—but by the profound humanity at the movie’s core.
The conversation covers everything from the history of the Godzilla franchise and its shifting eras, to the film’s subtle criticism of wartime nationalism and kamikaze legacy. Mandy and Riki explore how Minus One balances terrifying spectacle with unexpected tenderness, including a found-family storyline and a main character who’s more haunted than heroic. They celebrate the film’s quieter moments—the Spielbergian tension on the open sea, the war-torn melancholy of post–1945 Tokyo, the critique of institutional cruelty—and gasp together at that final chilling neck bruise (yes, they talk theories).
It’s a rich discussion full of history, heartbreak, and atomic breath, peppered with rom-com ethics and a pitch-perfect Rock impression. And if Riki has his way, Mandy’s next nerdy adventure might involve tear-jerking anime and body-swapping teenagers.
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