Following the success of Rebirth of Mothra, Toho created its sequel. Featuring a underwater civilization and the themes of greed and ocean pollution, Rebirth of Mothra 2 is often considered the weakest of the trilogy.
In Okinawa, Shiori Uchiura comes across Ghogo, a strange creature hunted by the evil Belvera. With the help of her classmates, Kohei Toguchi and Yoji Miyagi, they are able to escape her. Meeting with the Elias, they learn of Ghogo's origins in the ancient civilization of Nilai Kinai and are warned of the return of Dagahra. A monster originally created to clean up pollution, he instead poisoned the ocean with his acidic starfish, Barem. Now the Barem have come back along with Dagahra, and its up to the kids to find the treasure that would stop him. With the help of Ghogo, the Nilai Kinai temple rises from the ocean. While the trio search for the treasure, Dagahra is attracted to the temple and the Elias summon Mothra Leo to fend him off. But Dagahra is too strong and a Barem-covered Leo retreats into the protections of the temple. Meanwhile, Belvera has recruited two greedy fishermen in search of the treasure and they are willing to hurt the trio if it would give them riches. After being lost in the temple's endless corridors and clashing with each other, the two groups find the chamber of Princess Yuna. Her hologram will reveal the secrets of the treasure and how Leo could be saved so he could destroy Daghara...
Followed by Rebirth of Mothra 3.
This film contins examples of:
- Atlantis: Lemuria plays a part with their small colony of Nilai Kinai.
- Benevolent Architecture: A more direct example than usual. The temple of Nilai Kinai comes equipped with powerful energy weapons that target Dagahra whenever he comes near. After he's gravely wounded by Dagahra's Barem, Leo is able to use the temple's top as a temporary refuge while the energy weapons keep Dagahra away.
- Blow You Away: Dagahra has water spout powers. To make matters worse, he releases his Barem into the water spout, allowing them to latch on and attack anything caught inside, like poor Leo.
- Fat and Skinny: Nagase and Kotani; Yoji and Kohei are much more benign.
- Flying Seafood Special: Dagahra spends a decent amount of time chasing Mothra Leo through the air.
- Gone Horribly Wrong: Dagahra was created to deal with Nilai Kinai's pollution problem. He did, but created its Barem and went berserk, destroying his creators.
- Heel–Face Turn: The two greedy men Belvera recruit, Kotani and Nagase, help the children in the end. Belvera herself saves the cast in the escape of the temple before leaving.
- Hologram: The Queen of Nilai Kinai is a sentient hologram with magic powers.
- Humans Are Bastards: Belevera's motive for wanting to see humans killed.
- Living MacGuffin: Turns out Ghogo was the powerful treasure all along.
- Magitek: Nilai Kinai has elevators, holograms, and a defense system with force fields and energy weapons.
- Marshmallow Hell: A teacher at the film's beginning gets a caterpillar stuck in her breasts.
- Mid-Season Upgrade: Thanks to Ghogo, Mothra Leo gets a permanent upgrade to "Rainbow Mothra", with greater power, new energy attacks and the ability to change into (and back from) Aqua Mothra, letting him battle underwater.
- Mook Maker: Dagahra creates the toxic starfish Barem, which really helps him against Mothra and leaves the other monster weakened until his upgrade.
- No OSHA Compliance: You'd think an civilization like Nilai Kinai, which have elevators and holograms, would have handrails and bridges that aren't invisible.
- Outrun the Fireball: Our heroes try to do this, but they end up trapped. Fortunately, an unlikely person saves them.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: Ghogo. He's essentially a walking ball of fluff with eyes and a single antennae on top.
- Sea Monster: Dagahra, a vaguely draconish creature which literally comes from the sea
- Superpower Lottery: Dagahra can operate on land and in the air and water, and can generate water spouts and poisonous starfish monsters, giving Leo a hard time. Fortunately, the Mothra can match him.
