The mechanic who quietly agrees with Shikishima deserting. Everyone in the military knows Japan will lose no matter what they do, yet the higher ups order their soldiers to "die honorably" rather than surrender. It comes up multiple times that they just threw lives away for nothing.
The aftermath of Godzilla's attack on Odo Island where Shikishima wakes up and sees Tachibana lining up the corpses of the dead mechanics killed by Godzilla. Tachibana then proceeds to blame Shikishima for his hesitation of shooting Godzilla that resulted in the deaths of his garrison, and during the boat ride home, forcibly gives him pictures of all the dead mechanics' families to remind the latter of his failure.
Shikishima returning home to Tokyo and finding nothing but wreckage. His parents, who are implied to be the reason he deserted, are dead, his house is gone, and the only person left that he knows despises him for deserting.
Shikishima has had trouble finding honest employment in order to support Noriko and Akiko. Noriko mentions one previous example of unfruitful work, when Shikishima had had a delivery of rice stolen from him, resulting in him not getting paid; in fact, apparently that "job" had been a scam. The job that Shikishima gets later, the minesweeping job, is likely one of the only available and verifiable options he could find. Noriko is upset that he's taking such a dangerous job after having just survived the war, but Shikishima insists that if he's picky about his work and pay, Akiko will likely die of starvation. He has to assure Noriko that the danger of the job doesn't necessarily guarantee his death, like it would for the kamikaze pilots.
During a happy dinner that Shikishima has invited his coworkers to, Dr. Noda takes a picture of Noriko. As he does, we see her from the camera's lense before the shot freezes for a moment on the black and white photograph of her. Given how photographs have been used up to this point in the film, this gives us a glimpse into the loss yet to come, and a good indication that the peace they've found won't last long.
Shikishima's PTSD is portrayed in a depressingly realistic manner, even though he's traumatized by Godzilla instead of warfare. At one point he has a dream where Godzilla has returned and Tokyo is burning. Upon waking up he freaks out at Noriko, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her, begging her to tell him she's real. He ends up terrifying her, his actions making her think he's about to sexually assault her and forcing her to throw him off. Coming to and horrified by his actions, he collapses into a ball and begins sobbing uncontrollably. Throughout the movie, he's clearly struggling with intense Survivor's Guilt and suicidal ideation, and frequently questions whether everything since Odo Island is just a Dying Dream.
After Shikishima comes home injured but alive after his second encounter with Godzilla, Noriko begs to let her share his burden, leading to Shikishima finally admitting that he was a kamikaze pilot who abandoned his duty.
The Ginza attack depicts the usual fare of Godzilla tearing through town and people running for their lives in droves. What makes this instance worse, however, is that the audience can see several people among the crowds trying to help up anybody who tripped and fell, even if it means they might die as well. It makes the audience feel for these faceless masses, and it makes their impending doom hurt just as much Noriko's apparent fate does.
One brief but particularly harsh moment during this sequence is a woman snatching up a lost little girl and fleeing without so much as an introduction. With the chaos unfolding in Ginza there simply isn't time to ease this child into coming with this strange woman who for all she knows just kidnapped her.
Just before Godzilla unleashes his Atomic Breath, the people of Ginza see the tanks failed to seriously harm him. Though a few attempt to flee, most simply stand, hugging each other and crying as they await their deaths. There's a brief Hope Spot that it might leave them be to attack the tanks directly...and then we see his atomic breath and its horrible effects. Adding salt to the wound is that any survivors of the attack, including Noriko and Shikishima, will likely end up suffering and possibly dying from radiation sickness or other complications from excessive radiation exposure.
The Ginza attack becomes one for Shikishima when Godzilla unleashes his Atomic Breath, and Noriko—whom Shikishima had just run out to save—pushes him into a nearby alley just before the shockwave carries her away. Once the dust settles, Shikishima stumbles out, calling for Noriko...only to stop mid-call as he sees the devastation around him. Then he turns to see Godzilla, and the colossal mushroom cloud from the monster's heat ray. His hopes dashed, Shikishima can only scream in agony and fury at the massive monstrosity who has just destroyed so much, all while radioactive black rain falls upon the city and upon him.
Following the Ginza attack, the Shikishima residence holds a service for Noriko, who is missing and presumed dead. The Shinsei Maru crew, who all visited their colleague's house and enjoyed Noriko's hospitality, are all visibly saddened that such a bright presence has been lost. The worst part is that poor Akiko, when told about how "Mommy went to work for a while", starts wailing, either knowing that her adoptive mother is gone or simply missing her.
Despite Mizushima desperately begging to be brought along for the final attack on Godzilla, Kenji and Yoji refuse to let him come along. Yoji cuts through his insistence that he "Wants to defend his homeland too" with one sentence.
The morning of the final battle, Sumiko goes outside and finds Akiko standing outside her home. The little girl is holding an envelope from her adoptive father containing his savings, and a letter asking Sumiko to take care of her implying that he is not coming back. The scene with Sumiko before she gets a letter of Noriko's survival, she looked catatonic.
Though Noriko survived Godzilla's attack on Ginza, she is seen with a black mark on her neck that appears to be growing. According to a Japanese theater pamphlet, the mark on her neck is from an infection by Godzilla's cells, suggesting she is being mutated by them. Whether this mutation will lead to something worse or not is ultimately unknown.
The ending might seem happy, but it leaves a great deal unresolved. Sure, Japan stopped Godzilla, but now Tokyo is in radioactive ruins for the time being, and the fallout will be felt for a while if not years, both in Japan and everywhere else. Tachibana lost his entire crew to Godzilla, and Akiko may or may not lose Noriko to the G-Cells and could lose Shikishima to the radiation, which would leave her once again orphaned and alone. The casualties, both direct and long-term, are in the tens of thousands, and will eventually be in the hundreds. Whoever isn't contaminated with G-Cells or radiation is either too young and uneducated, or too crippled without the time or resources, to rebuild Japan, and the Americans are too cooped up in tensions with the Soviets to even consider supporting Japan with military or recovery aid. So while there's some levity, it's still a Minus One situation with rather bleak undertones to its ending.
