The American occupation had ended before 1954, so they no longer had any say with Japanese media depicting or referencing WWII. At the time though, it was just considered taboo since the occupation had conditioned the Japanese not to talk about it in media.

It's a different world 70 years later. Japan has no issue criticizing American influence. Godzilla vs. Biollante, Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, Godzilla vs. Destoroyah, Godzilla x MechaGodzilla and Shin Godzilla all do it. To an extent so did Mothra (1961), King Kong vs. Godzilla and Mothra vs. Godzilla. Present day artists have no issue hammering home the tougher issue and Yamazaki, who has been very critical of American influence on Japan over the last several decades in a lot of his films, is probably one of the last filmmakers afraid of offending anyone.

For the sake of continuity I created this thread awhile ago:

Godzilla Franchise Continuities

As much as I really liked Gigan Rex, I liked Gigan's Attack a bit more.

I think I'll just watch the whole series now, why not?

Yeah I think thats what they were talking about

i think what times was trying to say it was scared of American censorship in the 50s. 

But ww2 is not like a taboo subject in Japanese art. I think there’s a ghibli film that touches on it.

Should I make a Gamera movie watch list?

1998 is mentioned in GmK

Oh yeah, I forgot about War of the Gargantua, Now that you mention it I'll make a separate list for series

Xenotaris

Don't forget War of the Gargantuas, the Hanna-Barbera Godzilla cartoon and Godzilla: The Series.

 Sorry I also included Monsterverse

Showa

Gojira/Godzilla (1954)

Godzilla Raids Again (1955)

Rodan (1956)

Varan! (1958)
Mothra (1961)

Godzilla vs King Kong (1963)

Atragon (1963)

Godzilla vs Mothra (1964)

Three Headed Monster: Ghidorah (1964)

The Astro Monster (1965)

Ebirah, Terror of the Deep (1966)

Frankenstein vs Baragon (1966)

King Kong Escapes (1967)

Son of Godzilla (1967)
Destroy All Monsters (1968)
All Monsters Attack (1969)

Godzilla vs Hedorah (1971)

Godzilla vs Gigan (1972)

Godzilla vs Megalon (1973)

Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla (1974)

Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975)

Heisei

Godzilla Returns (1984)

Godzilla vs Biollante (1989)

Godzilla vs King Ghidorah (1991)

Mothra vs Godzilla (1992)

Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla II (1993)

Godzilla vs Space Godzilla (1994)

Godzilla vs Destoroyah (1995)

Rebirth of Mothra (1996)

Rebirth of Mothra (1997)

Rebirth of Mothra (1998)

TriStar

Godzilla (1998)

Millennium

Godzilla 2000 (1999)

Godzilla vs Megaguruis (2000)

Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah (2001)

Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla (2002)
Godzilla Tokyo SOS (2003)

Godzilla Final Wars (2004)

Reiwa

Shin Godzilla (2016)

Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters (2017)

Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle (2018)

Godzilla: The Planet Eater (2019)

Monsterverse

Godzilla (2014)

Kong: Skull Island (2017)

Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019)

Godzilla vs Kong (2021)

Okay I'll try to list down both the godzilla movies and some of the auxillary movies you may need to watch in context. Auxillary movies are optional

Yeah, could I have the list of every title as well?

Of the movies to watch in each era.

well TriStar Godzilla is mentioned in one of the millennium movies not sure which since I have yet to watch them but I do know Godzilla98 makes a cameo appearance in Final Wars

Imma skip TriStar for now, but maybe I'll put it on the watchlist of universally hated movies.

I was joking

Thanks!

Oh I don't know, I need to watch all the auxiliary Godzilla/toho movies

Time Magazine probably got that wrong. There have been references to WWII in other Toho kaiju movies (not just the 1954 Godzilla). In Frankenstein vs. Baragon/Frankenstein Conquers the World they actually depict the bombing of Hiroshima during WWII (which ends up becoming a major plot point in that movie), and that was made in 1965, so they probably wouldn't have any issue with referencing WWII in 2023. Why else would they set scenes in this new movie during the 1940s in post-war Japan?

I could be wrong but bear with me for a second, typically the Japanese don't like talking about world war II stuff from my observation, I know they have World War 2 movies. According to this times magazine (I think, it's in my house somewhere too lazy to look for it) that was dedicated to Godzilla and they said that the original Godzilla was almost never made because they feared any movie using nuclear themes would anger the Americans. But Time magazine has been wrong in the past since they got some things about Jurassic Park wrong.

Xenotaris,
What?

I just have to watch godzilla the series, godzilla vs biollante, king kong vs. godzilla and godzilla 1984.

I have a godzilla vs. biollante dvd coming in the mail but I have no idea how Im going to be able to afford a godzilla 1984 dvd or blu-ray.

I post updates on my twitter, I talk about new godzilla stuff coming out... you could like, follow it.... I post every day, but if you dont follow I wont really care. but if you do you would be pretty cool in my book!

Yeah I would like to go back through the Godzilla movies once I get them on DVD or blu-ray since I have the original three Godzilla eras on VHS

also I need to finish Rise of the Kaiju at some point

I don't think the japanese would do that since they feel it would offend foreigners 

I haven't seen either one so... I'm on the fence here

I would start with Showa, then go to Heisei, then Millennium then Reiwa.

Optional: TriStar's Godzilla 1998

sonictiger

Showa is free to watch on YT (LEGALLY) minus King King vs Godzilla

Bruh

sonictiger

I really appreciate your prfo

Prfp

I was thinking that Godzilla might be attacking post war Japan immediately, rather than focusing on the long lasting effects of Hiroshima and Nagasaki like 54’ or 84’ or 16’ did. Goji could be a metaphor for the immediate consequences

Both excel at spectacle, and the overall tone is handled much better in 2014.

I've famously had my issues with G'14, but it certainly had a better sense of direction than the most recent entry (GVK).

G. H. (Gman), I plan to watch the entire franchise before November 3rd.

I'll be sure to keep you guys posted.  Could anyone here give me a good viewing order (I'll be skipping the MonsterVerse this time around so don't post that).

Wow, I'm the only one who likes Gigan Rex.

Kinda sad..

I will watch all of the Godzilla movies at some point.  I just haven't had the time and unfortunately my views of the MonsterVerse are getting progressively worse, so I'll be glad to finally break away from the MV when I do.

Interesting idea!

I Like Gigan's Attack.