Pollution has once again caused the imbalance of the Earth. The creation of poisonous starfish creatures called Barem are beginning to appear in the sea. Along with the Barem is a giant creature called Dagahra who has been awakened by the increase in pollution.

Mothra’s friends, the Elisas sisters, Moll and Lora need help to return the Earth to its proper balance. In the woods Shiori Uranai is picking flowers when she finds a furry little creature, that looks a lot like a furby, called Ghogo. Her schoolmates Kyohei Toguchi and Yoji Miyagi want to take it from her. Moll and Lora’s evil sister Belvera also wants the little Ghogo.

Belvera knows that the Ghogo will lead her to a lost civilization and the treasure of Nirai Kanai. With it she can rule the world. Belvera enlists, on her side, two greedy fishermen, Mikio Kotani and Jun’ichi Nagase.

Moll and Lora enlist the aid of the three children. The kids row out to an area in the ocean where the ancient civilization lies submerged. The arrival of Ghogo to that spot causes an underwater pyramid to rise. The three children wander through the pyramid looking for the treasure. Kotani and Nagase follow the kids to the pyramid looking to get a hold of Ghogo.

Meanwhile, Dagahra releases thousands of Barem that pollute the shores. He then advances onto land to destroy whatever he comes across. Moll and Lora summon Leo Mothra to help battle Dagahra. Things aren’t looking good for Mothra as Dagahra is a formidable adversary. After a lengthy battle Mothra appears to be beaten by Dagahra.

Meanwhile the greedy fishermen steal a couple egg shaped gems from the pyramid but in doing so have unlocked a gateway and awakened the Princess of Nirai Kanai. The princess advises the Elisas and the children that Earth must be protected and saved. She also says that Ghogo is the only one who can do it as he is the treasure.

“Rebirth of Mothra II” was released in 1997 and was directed by Kunio Miyoshi. It is the second film in the Rebirth of Mothra trilogy. It is the ninth movie from TOHO that features Mothra as a Kaiju. In this film, as in all of the Mothra trilogy films, Mothra is a male and is known as Mothra Leo. This film, released in time for Christmas, is even more directed towards children than “Rebirth of Mothra” 1996 was. All of the Mothra Trilogy stories are basically geared towards kids. In this film Mothra is not hatched from an egg since he really didn’t die in the previous film. Here he is sort of assembled by all the fairy Mothras coming together.

The plot of this film reminds me of a child’s version of “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” 1989. The children are the good guys looking for the treasure, but for an altruistic reason. The fishermen are the Nazis looking for the treasure or themselves. They all end up in a temple. There is also an invisible bridge in the pyramid, a plot devise that was also used in “Indian Jones and the Last Crusade”. I wonder if Tomoyuki Tanaka was a Steven Spielberg fan.

I would look at the film as more of a fairy tale than a monster movie. The good news is, if you love monster fight scenes, this one has some long ones.

English dubbed

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