Mecha as Fig Leaves, Not as Genres
This post is a response to Daniel’s post on mecha as genre.
I think going down his line of abstraction is a little too much. I mean, yeah, once you boil it down a Gundam is just a projection of one’s earthly desires into heroism. Why does Superman fly? Why is Nono topless? The difference is perhaps one of idolatry versus escapist, self-insertion, and the boat floats either way you row your pickle.
But just because they both float, it doesn’t mean they are the same thing.
And I think it’s times like this we can really appreciate anime like Evangelion because it puts a face on a notion that the world has struggled with and responded (or rather, reacted to?) with great interest. It’s so very apt that Evangelion copied from Judeo-Christian and gnostic myths, because this is all very religious. And often times classic mecha anime have a sense of institution and formality to it that is not unlike some earthen religion or Hinduism.
Still, I think Daniel’s post paves the way to model the core components of a hero story. There are three core elements: the hero, the heorics, and the the audience. What makes a show tick is how the viewer relate and perceive the relationship between the hero and the heroics. What is unique about mecha from any other hero story–that separates BGC from Nanoha, let’s say–is the identity of this projection as we perceive it. What makes mecha anime different than others like it is that this projection has god-like attributes. And I don’t just mean in terms of physical powers, but also socially and in the psyche of our heroes (ie. they serve the same role as gods in the real world).
In other words, the hero is the heroics–you can’t have a mecha anime like that.
Would you pray to it? Many mecha heroes did. Some with tears, many with passionate screams, some speak the language and can reprogram really fast.
Some easy example of this are Evangelion and Neo Ranga. The mecha themselves serve not only as an extension of a will and desire for our heroes, but they are a pathway, a means, to achieve something beyond what powers might bring. In Neo Ranga’s case, it played the role from god to oracle to judge to house pet. In Eva’s case it’s not only man’s last defense, but also a road to total destruction of man…and a comfortable hole for an emo-head to hide in. It’s gooey, warm, and feels a lot like mom. Or in Xenoglossia’s case, the boyfriend you wish you had.
Everything before Eva can be seen as a road leading up to it. Is not Astroboy an embodiment of godhood in human society? Read much Shirow lately?
Gundam 00 played this up a notch with Setsuna’s complex, right? Silly teenage extremist. By the way I thought that was the most brilliant part of Gundam 00.
(Actually several Gundam series deal with this in a pretty amusing way. Such as when a mecha pilot put too much trust in the latest tech, only to be let down by the false god.)
What is god in the Nanoha universe? Sweat, blood, tears, lesbian undertonesnever-ending power of heart, and incremental upgrades of a deadly mix between tech and magic. Ancient prophecies, modern inventions and everything in between play a role. But none of it materializes as god. If anything, Nanoha is like Hercules; if there’s a claim to godhood, it would the worship of her (and not Raising Heart… If Daniel said Mai-Hime, however, he’d be right on). I always thought what was worshipped in the Nanoha series is a sense of ethics, of right and wrong.
Anyways, can we say the same thing about the Gurren-Lagann? Is that why the second half of the series was as hollow as it was?
And I think it gets into the divide between super robots and real robots?
And that is the difference between an age of darkness and an age of enlightenment. (Yes, yes, Mobile Suit Gundam brought upon the anime world an age of enlightenment; we all can agree on that I hope.) If we think of science and technology as the god of this age, it all makes sense? And what better symbol of modern technological advancement are there than made-in-Japan humanoid weapons? Well, maybe mutated giant tentacle monsters as an alternative (and they exist in mecha anime, even). The fiction of science went well with the fiction of god-idol-heroes; they’re peas in a pod.
What made the Evangelion so profound-seeming (to clarify my earlier point) is how it handled a duality of modern gods. Mankind has always understood deities to be both kind and cruel; but it wasn’t until the past few hundred years that we questioned their identity in an organized manner; are gods really gods? And with gods we can understand (eg. science & technology, even if it’s alien), we can make stories out of them that deal with this issue. Evangelion simply took that to a step beyond gods, to the ultimate creator of such gods–man himself. Evagelion did more than just took an axe to a tree, it took a lance and pierced the veil that separated imagination from our unconscious guilt.
Once we have understood construction of gods (as defined by real robots), we worship that faceless, personless understanding and no longer the personality which we now understand. The super robot magic is lost when this happens. In Gurren Lagann’s case, we have ourselves a real robot anime with the trapping of a super robot show (at about half way through the second arc), although by then we have a lot of pretty stuff on the screen to distract us. And will Nia be saved?
I believe the opposite perspective coincidentally, is held by Gunbuster–a proper, modern day miracle where science + heart overcomes obstacles size of stars. Of course, part of the ordeal within Gurren Lagann is one that does not have a textbook happy ending, it’s thoroughly post-Evangelion. Congratulations, Simon.
And that is why things like Turn-A Gundam are so interesting.
Maybe that is why well-adjusted teenage boys and girls watch shows like Naruto and Bleach where the focus is on interpersonal relationships, and not on why my giant robot is better than your giant robot?
[Either way, when you get old enough, you will learn to appreciate Blade Runner, and by extension, Bubble Gum Crisis. That gets to the next point: I admit, I’m pretty weak from the sentai side of things, and it helps to have a healthy understanding of that genre to talk mecha. They are close relatives after all.]
Lessee. To stick to things I easily comprehend: Nanoha. Fans presumably do something different, but when I watch the franchise I appreciate Nanoha and Raising Heart together as a mecha. Maybe it’s the colour scheme of her dress, or something - whatever, I can’t take off my distorting glasses, and - as I mentioned in the comments on my own post - I wrote while examining myself.
Anyway, I’m not sure I grasp the worship aspect. For some reason I’ve never been particularly good with the religious aspect of humanity, my own views notwithstanding. Though wasn’t Nia the incarnated messenger of ominpotence, and wasn’t she crucified? Glasses, glasses.
[Sentai’s murky to me too. Forging through Kamen Rider Kabuto is more like hearing rumours of sentai, given how KR is a bizarre franchise-unto-itself.]
I use the term “worship” loosely–I mean, what do people value as good and worthy of praise? Being a Good Girl is what Nanoha was about, for me. And the show goes through the various aspects of a Good Girl; it’s not just someone who acts as if she is good, but necessarily one that is genuinely good. Even if said Good Girl is acting like a villain. Sure, the audience like Nanoha and Raising Heart and all, but what is the theme of Nanoha? What are the concepts the series repeatedly tell?
“Those Magnificent Men In Their Fighting Machines” is worth the praise of some, in a nutshell. It is the Kaminas and Gai Daigojis of our time that embody, in application, of the spirits of the giant robots they pilot. They are our prophets, and every verb, noun or adjective we adorn these people and the belief they stand in is worship.
[…] not sure I understand it, but here’s an alternative view of mecha anime as genre (Omo 2008/06/23). Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)I’ve Just Realized Something […]
My first problem would be my ignorance of Nanoha which you use as an important example.
I think you’re reading anime, within the parameters of the hero concept, as tales of great beings doing great stuff.
In the case of mecha anime, there is a problem(?) when the being (the one being worshiped as hero) is also a tool/object. [What of the pilot?]
Gundam comes along and further ‘tool-ifies’ the mecha anime subgroup. The robot isn’t the hero at all, it’s entirely a vehicle. Gundam 00 enters this conversation by making Soran worship the 0 Gundam — which I agree with you is quite clever in relation to your discussion.
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But more than ‘tool-ification’ comes a nihilism to the mecha anime story. As reflected by Eva, and the 2nd half of TTGL. The Gods are flawed or are capable of being flawed, this is more a thematic change that you observed in post-Gundam shows.
Am I reading it right?
Well there wasn’t a real focus to my post, I was just trying to jog down a bunch of different but related thoughts.
I think the different degrees of tool-ification is a key point that forms the basis of my thoughts. The treatment of the mecha in relation to the hero differs from show to show, each time to hopefully say something about the story it tells. Gundam doesn’t always treat its giant robots purely as a vehicle, it depends on which particular one you’re talking about.
I’m not saying when the Gundam is being worshipped, it’s a problem; and I’m not saying when the hero is worshipped it is not a problem. Not saying anything along those lines at all :)
I use Nanoha as an example mainly for its lack of giant robots, yet it features a similar test of physical might in a contest of will. Most giant robot shows boil down to this as a matter of genre norm. The humanism that lies beneath most shounen anime is something that goes towards the original idea that Daniel talked about. However in the mecha genre I think there’s more to it than that.
The hero, in a lot of mecha anime, is tied with the hero’s robot in a bigger context of the hero’s identity. This is actually probably what I got out of Nadesico first and foremost.
Thanks for clearing up my mis-reading.
This is all very interesting, and feeds the conversation of ‘mecha anime typology’ that we at WRL, perhaps Daniel, and Vendredi over at FungaFuFu are trying to arrive at.
There is a dynamic between the hero’s identity and the robot’s building/completing each other — what I get from your take-away from Nadesico. Given that it is already an essay on mecha anime, it should work as a core example for that thesis if a post or post series could be written about it.