We are doomed to want the things that lie beyond our reach. The image of the baby, Felix Mittermeyer trying to grasp at the stars ends the epic Legend of the Galactic Heroes. It is an interesting theme, speaking to us of how we can never be content, and how our actions are in complete opposition to our stated desires. I had just completed all 110 episodes, easily some of the better spent 46 hours of my life.

“There are few wars between good and evil; most are between one good and another good.” -Yang Wenli

Yang Wenli is a good guy. He has a conscience. Often we hear him philosophizing or reflecting on the human cost (lives lost) of his wartime leadership. He carries the burden of the decisions he’s made, though remarkably devoid of grief and angst.In comparison, many of the admirals of the Empire, notably Oskar von Reuental and to an extent Wolfgang Mittermeyer actually enjoy warfare. I liken their behavior to the feeling of cognitive dissonance. Wikipedia gives us:

A powerful cause of dissonance is when an idea conflicts with a fundamental element of the self-concept, such as “I am a good person” or “I made the right decision.” The anxiety that comes with the possibility of having made a bad decision can lead to rationalization, the tendency to create additional reasons or justifications to support one’s choices. A person who just spent too much money on a new car might decide that the new vehicle is much less likely to break down than his or her old car. This belief may or may not be true, but it would likely reduce dissonance and make the person feel better. Dissonance can also lead to confirmation bias, the denial of disconfirming evidence, and other ego defense mechanisms.

Reuental, despite his many admirable qualities, lives for his ambitions. It’s not like he doesn’t care for people – it’d be difficult to inspire loyalty from comrades and subordinates if he didn’t. It’s that his reason for being is to fight. His pride and dignity as a warrior is paramount, and he never reflected on the human cost of his pursuit the same way Yang Wenli, or even Reinhard von Lohengramm did.

Reinhard is referred to as “a sword [that] has no reason but to exist as a sword.” His singular purpose was to “seize space”. To seize, to rip it from the hands of those who’d defend it or withhold it from him. He goes beyond Reuental because not only does he actively seek conflict, he is also not the same administrator that Reuental is (Reuental is quite talented in this sphere). Reinhard has no reason but to exist as a sword.

Which brings us to the “Westerland Incident,” where Reinhard upon advisement of (and interference of) Paul von Oberstein allowed Prince Braunschweig to hit the Planet Westerland with a nuclear warhead. Oberstein reasons out that Prince Braunschweig will lose all popular support if he is allowed to launch his weapon, exposing him as an iredeemable villain. The positive consequence of which is his quicker defeat and the prevention of even more wartime casualties. Bateszi writes:

This is the kind of political versus moral quandary that has no right answer. If Reinhard had stopped the strike, he could be dragged into a war of attrition which could claim millions of soldiers over a period of months (and even years, perhaps), but by allowing it, his rise to power is swift, albeit, forever tainted with the blood of Westerland. Neither is an easy choice to make, and for exactly that reason, we have a thrilling tête à tête between leaders, who, very literally, can forsake or save the lives of millions with one word.

An ethical dilemma, as Kinon reminds us, is a conflict between two rights. I’d frame this as a long-term vs. short-term problem, where as the war takes longer, the more casualties will be incurred.

The actual casualty statistics are beyond me at present, but the illustrations should present the conflict well enough. A prolonged war would have resulted in much higher casualties. However, Reinhard and Oberstein perhaps could’ve considered the nature of the casualties incurred. A prolonged war would perhaps have higher casualties overall, but the Westerland incident resulted in primarily civilian casualties. Is this distinction important? Soldiers signed on for combat risks. Civilians didn’t.

The Universal Continuity of the Gundam metaverse, if not the whole of Gundam itself attempts to portray conflict without portraying obvious moral favorites. Legend of the Galactic Heroes does in 110 episodes what Gundam tries to do in over 230 episodes (excluding Turn A Gundam). This isn’t a knock on Gundam. I’m just attempting to illustrate that as epics go, Legend of the Galactic Heroes is efficient, and economical.

Another argument for this is that the theme I explore here is only one, ONE of the many interesting and compelling things that can be discovered in this show. You’ll discover finely delivered arguments (both told and shown) for autocratic and democratic forms of governance, massive space fleet battles (always in the thousands of capital ships involved), interesting dogfights, a planet-sized fortress vs. planet-sized fortress slug fest (yes you read that right) gratuitous hack-and-slash violence, drama and plot twists, comic and tragic romance, and truly interesting characters (both central and peripheral).

I purposely don’t review anime (Iknight is tempted not to relate to it as anime, and I don’t blame him), but I have no qualms about calling Legend of the Galactic Heroes a masterpiece. I’m willing to bet, out of foppery and whim, that even coburn will give this show one his 10s, no grudges, no reservations, no arguments. Nearly every moment is satisfying; I almost never feel cheated – and even when I did, I can easily appease my feelings (I’m looking at you, Jesus Minci). I almost feel like I’m being too greedy for wanting more out of this anime. It does feel like a privilege to watch.

Going back to the theme I started exploring, both Reinhard and Wenli reached for ideals: Reinhard wanted to have it all – to seize the universe and keep those dear to him close, and Wenli wanted a democracy that works – that he can retire early from and enjoy a generous pension. Their ideals are both grand and quaint, and are both played out in the galaxy of stars.

Like Felix Reuental, I reach for the lights in the sky. I want to have these feelings again from watching a show. Macross can gratify me with its songs and the love they inspire. Gundam can excite me with its robots and the conflicts they attempt to resolve. Aria can fill me with wonder with its quiet miracles. Nana can rip my heart out and make me fall in love with sadness. But I want to feel this way again about anime, the satisfaction of witnessing near perfection sustained and amplified for over so many episodes. I can relate to lelangir who said this show killed anime. But it didn’t really. It killed me. I’ll find it very difficult from this point on to keep this show from being a standard, it’s trained me to make great expectations out of the shows I’ll be watching.

Yes, she's a robot, and she's flashing us her bits

Reading how fanservice can create a blinder effect and cause a viewer to dismiss a show got me thinking about fanservice in general and my tastes in particular. As far as the article is concerned, yes I am indifferent to most harem-type fanservice shows. I never bothered to continue watching Love Hina, I’m oblivious to Key game adaptations, and am totally surprised at myself for lasting 2 episodes watching Akikan. I am actually blind to whatever value the shows may have, or the interesting viewing I may have with them.

I can live with that. It’s not like I think these shows are bad (save maybe for Akikan), only that I’ve come to know myself a little more, and the kind of fanservice that I really get into. Yes, it isn’t just about tits and ass.

How many fan fetishes are being served in this image? I see what you did there Gao Gai Gar!

I hesitate to say I’m a connoisseur of it, but I do have a taste for certain particular kinds:

1. Nostalgia (and Continuity) Porn
2. Battle Porn (huge bonus points if scene/anime includes mecha)

The two above are actually quite broad categories. I believe that I got OVER 9000% more value out of Macross Frontier than anyone (or at least anyone in the sphere who’s written about it) due to my particular context of being a fan of the franchise since it first came out in the distant ’80s. For most viewers (even for fans who saw the whole franchise, but only due to a marathon over a few weeks/months) it was just ‘what’s next,’ and they’d immediately rank it against the other installments. Impossible for me: it was a long-awaited gift, as if (intentional fallacy be momentarily damned) Kawamori himself was doing the series as a personal favor to me.

It's difficult to find a single image that communicates the fanservice levels Macross Frontier delivers for me.

For a good summary of what kind of nostalgia service Macross Frontier gave me, check out otou-san’s post on what makes the Macross Franchise so lovable.

Being an older fan and having seen shows and traditions (tropes) as old allows for a particularly intense appreciation when such a trope is used, or a tradition is paid homage to. Try to imagine the kind of obnoxious shouting and pointing at the screen that transpired when I watched Gurren Lagann for the first time. It recalled the most distant of memories – as I watched super robot shows before I could properly speak.

How many instant fanboys did TTGL make? They aren't even getting half of what makes this show so awesome.

Regarding Battle Porn, it’s not really difficult to explain. I like on-screen violence of all kinds: intensity and graphic value (Sword of the Stranger!), choreography of the actual fighting (Macross Plus!), complexity of strategy and tactics (Code Geass!), among a lot of other things. So hello there Legend of the Galactic Heroes! LOGH delivers the goods very well, and allows for fanboy pursuits that I don’t get to do in other series or franchises.

Trying to remember the names of all these characters can win me buckets of fanboy points, or so I think.

There seems to be people actually think anime should be fanservice free, or at least think that shows that have explicit fanservice isn’t as good? Well, there are fandoms who demand little else but! And, they do it in the spirit of demanding excellence and quality!

I think the best example of this is the Gundam franchise and its fandom. The Japanese fandom behave as if innovation from the core elements and tropes of the franchise is a bad thing. So they are like me, only that they demand the continuity and nostalgia service. The ‘commentary’ you find around the web re Gundam 00 is quite painful to read. It’s not that the show isn’t bad – there’s a lot of things about it that I find atrocious, and yet I love it and stick with it (and let me be clear that it’s not related to THAT meme that supposedly FORCES people to be unable to stop watching).

A source of RAEG, though I suspect that not all of the RAEG against the fujoshification of Gundam is authentic.

Point is, demanding that a show behave in expected ways and whining when it doesn’t is spoiled fan behavior. Perhaps this is the unintended consequence of being pandered to so much and for so long – combined with youth, immaturity, and THIS. Not surprisingly, the same fandom will complain about the presence of fanservice in the show when it’s not pandering to their particular tastes. The manner of complaining can be interesting itself, though it must be a source of consternation for some (explored by Kaioshin Sama here).

Nothing, NOTHING is sacred.

So as fans, we can be spoiled. There may be levels of pandering that prevent the majority of viewers to get into an anime. I happen to like Kogarashi a lot but not think much of the Kamen no Maid Guy anime itself. Perhaps this is why we can’t have nice things. We’re schizophrenic when it comes to fanservice, sometimes it may just be that we as viewers aren’t able to distinguish how our sensibilities are being served. This is not surprising, because there’s just so many ways these days.

Some questions:

1. Aside from the obvious, what particular tastes of yours do you enjoy being served?

2. What anime/manga does this for you?

Here in this post is a list and a gallery of female anime characters I hold in very high esteem. I’ve profiled them without using spoilers when I can, and I’ve provided warnings when I cannot avoid spoiling. Recently otou-san asked if there’s a place for ‘real’ women in anime, and I had found it an interesting question. First of all, what could he possibly mean by ‘real’? Surely this cannot be a distinction of ‘real woman’ vs ‘super woman’ the way I’ve been talking about real robot and super robot anime.

Rather I suspect that part of what makes otaku a bit shameful is a (not that big of a) secret that female characters in anime exist primarily to titillate them as sex objects. A hasty generalization, I think; but it is undeniable that a vast number of female anime characters do serve this purpose. That said, it is not difficult to find examples of characters who, despite Rule 34 being in full effect, exist as excellent and exemplary fictional characters above any other consideration. After all, Miyazaki Hayao has made a habit of using heroines to lead his highly acclaimed films, from Nausicaa to Mononokie, from Kiki to Chihiro; Miyazaki makes women and girls who are inspiring to watch. Kon Satoshi does so as well with the likes of Fujiwara Chiyoko and Chiba Atsuko of the subdued maturity of adult characters; and even a notable downer like Anno Hideaki gave us Noriko and Nono, hot-blooded embodiments of hard work and guts.

But awesome as they are, none of these characters are mai waifu, but the any of the following could be:

Dianna Soriel and Kihel Heim, Turn A Gundam

Loran help me, I can’t pick between them. The dark and wretched history that makes up the Universal Century of the Gundam metaverse seems justified even only for giving us two of the strongest and most charming female characters in Gundam, Tomino or no Tomino. I’ve almost completed watching Turn A Gundam, which marks one of the biggest turnarounds in terms of my attitude over the show. In the case of Eureka SeveN I dropped it after 7 episodes out of indifference; I had dropped Turn A Gundam after 9 episodes out of disgust and frustration. Now it’s making its presence felt in my table of favorites and I don’t know what to do because I’m utterly captivated by it, recency bias be damned.

And yes, a big part of this happiest of problems (ranking awesome anime in a list of favorites) is the presence and dynamic of Dianna Soriel and Kihel Heim: two blondes who look dangerously alike and devastatingly beautiful. The survival and future of the human race is both delicately held and courageously championed by these two ladies, who, even if they may not have all the information to make the wisest of decisions, nor the smarts to best all their enemies, they have the compassion and humility to walk miles and miles in another person’s shoes. And how this plays out is nothing short of amazing.

Balsa, Seirei no Moribito

I wrote about her recently:

a rarity in anime: a 30 year-old woman that while is fit, strong, and handsomely rendered, is not fetishized nor portrayed sexually for fanservice. She possesses grit, resolve, courage, wisdom, and yet remains vulnerable which makes her hard not to love. I find this quite the achievement given that she’s quite quiet and untalkative – and yet the narrative establishes her character very well without resorting to shortcuts such as having other characters talk way too much about her.

Age-appropriateness for the freaking win (I may be forever 29 like Roy Focker in my mind, but yeah I’m actually 32)! She plays the single mother for most of the series, but without the ‘Erin Brokovich’ kind of pluckiness and histrionics. She had to be both mother and father to her charge, the delightfully written Chagum, while never having had a mother figure herself.

Endo Kanna, 20th-Century Boys

Yeah I know it isn’t an anime, but my she beat out Nausicaa, and Nina Fortner (Monster) as my favorite manga heroine. It’s so difficult to write about her without spoiling my favorite manga ever, but I’ll say that she is tough and resillient, has an excellent way with people despite not being gentle or refined. She gambles like no other pro, and takes on two mobs and the church. Also I find wonderful is her dedication to her family, notably her uncle Kenji (pictured with her) whose lone recording she listened to constantly on her beat-up Walkman cassette player every day as long as she possibly could.

Gin-Rei, Giant Robo: the Day the Earth Stood Still

Very little of what makes Gin-rei really awesome can be shared without spoilers. But what I can share without spoiling isn’t bad at all: a hard-hitting Expert of Justice who fights the good fight against The Magnificent Ten of the evil Big Fire organization. She becomes a good friend and guardian of Daisuke, who gathers and determines for himself what it means to fight for justice thinking of her and her own selfless acts.

One of the wonders of Giant Robo: the Day the Earth Stood Still is a core made of a specific kind of love: the kind that is for and about family, the kind that redeems and calls for heroism — and brings light in a world plunged into darkness. This isn’t some kind of moral that the show forced down on me. Part of why I enjoy it so much is because this very idea came to me while looking for something to say about a fetching woman in a dragon-print cheongsam.

Please trust me, I’ve kept the very best for you to discover in this gem of an OVA.

Cornelia Li Britannia, Code Geass

I totally stole her from mechafetish lol. If Kururugi Suzaku is the main rival of main protagonist Lelouch Lamperouge, Cornelia for a season was his biggest antagonist. She had valor, fighting ability, strategic and tactical competence, and political and administrative ability. To me she represents what was good about the Britannian Empire, her initial bigotry aside. There isn’t much discussion about family much, particularly familial love, as a theme in Code Geass; instead there is a lot of discussion about incest, partly due to the arguably blatant subtext in the show.

But there is a lot of notable familial devotion: from Suzaku’s guilt and subsequent mania about his father; Lelouch’s devotion and obsession with her mother Marianne and his sister Nunally; and Cornelia herself with Marianne (less notably for her brothers Lelouch, Clovis, and Schneizel) and most especially her sister Euphemia. It’s right there and it is quite powerful if you know what to look for.

[Minor Spoilers]

I particularly admired her when she spoke to Villeta Nu near the end of R2 and she said, “There are more important things than peerage,” speaking of her knowledge of what motivates Villeta and has driven her to multiple betrayals and overall compromise of her own character. Cornelia would never be compromised. She can be wrong, and can be beaten, but I do think she always acts from her own values and principles.

And yes, she upgraded her own Knightmare Frame by herself, in a cave, with a bunch of scraps.

[End of spoilers]

Hildegard von Mariendorf, Legend of the Galactic Heroes

Sure Frederica Greenhill is awesome too for many many reasons, but I was never attracted to her the same way I was with Fraulein Mariendorf. One of the things I noted about her is how her bold choices saved her own family from ruin, from her choosing to side with the Lohengramm faction at the onset of civil war in the empire. I remember her  penetrating insight into the empire’s strategical and political situation, which also convinced her father to devote their family’s allegiance to support the newer camp lead by Reinhard von Lohengramm.

Also, this bit: As she left for the imperial capital, Hilde thanked her father for having given her life at those turbulent yet captivating times, allowing her to witness the great tides of history. Wow, who does that! Despite her own brilliant talent, her appreciation is that of a witness, and he tells her father just as much. This humility is part of what I think allowed her to affect history herself, in no small way.

—

The organizing principle of this list is that many of the attributes of these characters, I find in my own 3D flesh and blood wife: a high appreciation for family and a devotion to its welfare; and work in public service (whether in the military, the administration, or enforcement). I find these things a happy coincidence, as I didn’t go through life looking for someone with a specific set of qualities in mind (except maybe for a few very important ones), but rather these are things I discover in people and characters the more I spend time with them, the more I observe them. I’m still getting to know my wife, and this is a good thing as I have the rest of my life to find out all about her.

Who’s NOT on the List:

I have made a pair of deliberate omissions. Here they are and why:

Lafiel Abriel, Crest of the Stars

Ultimate waifu material, with the very best qualities: the best of behavior, honor, breeding, and genetics. Problem is, the Abh don’t marry.

There were couples — people who loved each otehr and lived together — in Abh society. And sometimes, these relationships lasted long enough to resemble marriages, but a ” ’til death do you part” arrangement was extremely rare.

The Abh were more likely to burn with passion, hot and quick enough to drive themselves crrazy. Like incinerators, the fires of Abh love left little behind.

Because they tended not to remain coupled for long, the Abj had no real concept of what it meant to have a pair of parents [...]

–Morioka Hiroyuki, Crest of the Stars Vol. 1: Princess of the Empire

If they don’t marry, Lafiel can’t be mai waifu. That said, I would otherwise want her. I think she is one of the best characters in all anime.

Lynn Minmay, Super Dimension Fortress Macross

Yeah yeah, she’s a bit of a dimwit. She’s a fluff-headed idol singer obsessed with her own fame. Obvious reasons to not like her right? No, I actually find Minmay a lot more loveable than how many Macross fans see her.

[MAJOR SPOILERS]

Many Macross fans hate Minmay (most Robotech fans hate her with a passion). Not me. I wanted her to achieve everything she dreamed of. Kawamori himself said that “Misa is the Heroine, while Minmay is the Star [of Macross].” Yeah, well, not good enough for me. While Minmay achieved fame and stardom, the world shrunk instead of expanded due to the devastation of the Great Space War. Misa got her man and a starship to boot.

Minmay learned too late how weak and impaired she is as a human, in terms of her personal maturity. Whatever growth she has, will have to happen in the future because up until the end she was selfish and perhaps petty. She wanted Hikaru to give up flying, probably the most important part of his life — because she was at the time burnt out as an idol singer herself. Consider that she was the one who pushed Hikaru to join U. N. Spacy, when Hikaru was very much a pacifist. She argued then that it was the only way he could fly — which was true, but she was completely oblivious of the moral and psychological costs of flying into combat. Hikaru worked out his issues, but not because of her. She wasn’t much of a contribution to his life, though a good part of the highlights of his life were spent dedicated to her, spent proving himself to her. While this happened, she was mostly unavailable to him.

—

The organizing principle of this list of characters who I won’t marry (LOL) is that I feel very strongly about the ‘ships’ they have with their respective male partners (or male characters I want them to end up with).

Ichijyo Hikaru x Lynn Minmay

I’ve said above that Minmay was mostly unavailable to Hikaru. Mostly…

BUT NOT ALWAYS. She doesn’t get enough credit. Here’s a series of critical moments: Hikaru was shot down by friendly fire — coincidentally, it was Misa who pulled the trigger and Hikaru’s VF was shot down by an Itano Circus (best way to go down IMO). Hikaru was pretty much confined at the hospital for some time, and his aniki Roy Focker pulled a favor from Minmay to have her visit him. Guess what? It Minmay treated it as a favor to her. Hikaru’s bedside was the place she’d rather be. Consider that this was in the middle of her filming ‘Little White Dragon,’ leading to the peak of her idol career. So she went and visited Hikaru, who was of course so very happy to see her.

And then Roy got killed. I can’t forget how Hikaru found out while still on that hospital bed. He was playing with his yellow Fokker tri-plane kit, and when the news broke, he dropped it and it fell to pieces. Who was there with him? Minmay. This was probably the worst moment of his life, and Minmay was the one by his side.

Is this enough to counteract all of her petulance and insensitivity towards him? No. Even though she acted the part of the ‘famous too soon teenager’ and could get some slack on account for her age, it doesn’t justify Hikaru choosing her in the end given that Misa is really a wonderful person and is outright devoted to him. The tragedy is that I can’t hate Misa, and I can’t blame Hikaru ;_;

[END OF SPOILERS]

Lin Jinto x Abriel Lafiel

This is easily my favorite anime couple. From a series of seemingly coincidental events (no, it was JUST AS PLANNED by well-meaning individuals) a near instantaneous intimacy develops between very different beings, which is revealed to us slowly, deliberately, and very beautifully over three linear shows and an OVA. Lafiel is my favorite female character in anime, but I like the idea of her being with Jinto for the rest of his days even more. I think fans of the show have been remiss for not writing much about Jinto who is a very good character on his own and is totally a good man for Lafiel. I’ll see what I can do to address this.

If you haven’t seen Crest of the Stars yet, by all means do so. It’s a show set in a world that has exceptional breadth and depth, told in excellent dialogue and narration, and yet remains charmingly accessible to viewers not particularly inclined to science fiction or space opera.

Further Reading

This post was inspired mostly by my rewatching of Crest, and Banner of the Stars. But the method of it is very much influenced by the following:

1. A search for a place for real women in anime (Otou-san 2009/06/20)
2. A poll for the most outstanding anime babe of all time (Don 2009/05/07)

Love for Lafiel is not new to WRL [->]

A few things about Seirei no Moribito [->]

My childhood has been very much informed by Hikaru x Minmay, and I actually sometimes enjoy other works from them as a frame of reference [->]

—

Haven’t seen any Gundam at all? Don’t know where to start? Find your Gateway Gundam!

This is less about the nature of the shows but rather my own inability to comment on them in such a way that adds value to those who have seen the show, and/or those who would want to.

I noticed that I found myself writing about new shows more often, and finding much to say. This isn’t simply a case of recency bias, because I rewatch shows regularly. Some shows I find very easy to write about, others extremely difficult. Why is this so?

Set aside the fact that I don’t review shows. What I really do is endorse them, champion them, and not act as a filter to serve the interests of those who are on the fence about watching them. To serve this interest requires me, I believe, to be the least subjective of commentators and I am simply much too indulgent for that. So I don’t review shows.

I would find myself fixating on an element of a show or manga and explore it with the intent of generating discussion. Given this, I find myself at a loss in writing about certain works. It confounds me because it would seem that these works are very rich subjects and it’d be easy to find angles to write about them. Here are some examples:

Manga

• Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
• 20th Century Boys
• Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou

Anime

• Legend of the Galactic Heroes
• Giant Robo: The Day the Earth Stood Still
• Spirited Away/Kiki’s Delivery Service/My Neighbor Totoro/Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea

I find myself having nothing to say except that I’m blown away by the experience.

Recently I’ve re-read Nausicaa after finally getting my own copies and rediscover the awesomeness that is Princess Kushana of Torumekia, who I think I’m GAR for as any male character. I’m moved to tears by her rallying her men in a desperate stand against the Dorok Empire’s armies in a battle they were ill-suited to fight. Outside of this statement, however, I’ve nothing much to say. Go read the manga if you haven’t yet.

How about you? What shows do you have trouble talking about? In the case of the works I mentioned, what do you think would be interesting to explore? (I just might take them on)

Further Reading

I did manage to write about Legend of the Galactic Heroes once [->]

I do think that this is far more interesting however (jpmeyer 2009/07/21)

I consumed more media this year than in any other year of my life, and most of the media is related to my anime and manga hobby. Given how the anime and manga I do consume are recommendations from friends and acquaintances who I either trust, or know me well enough to bet that I’ll enjoy the recommended work, I did enjoy most of what I watched and read. It’s been an awesome year in fact. I made this list to distinguish moments for shows and books that actually air and publish in 2009. That list will follow this one, and I will dedicate each post to a particular moment. I do feel that I would be remiss if I don’t make this particular list, given the volume and awesomeness that I plowed through. Here’s a sample (I only list shows that I completed):

Manga

• Bokurano
• Narutaru
• Solanin
• Pluto
• Beck: MCS

Anime

• Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (TV)
• Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team
• Turn A Gundam
• Martian Successor Nadesico (TV and movie)
• Legend of the Galactic Heroes
• Eureka SeveN
• FLAG
• Grave of the Fireflies
• Kaiji
• Moyashimon
• Seirei no Moribito
• The Sky Crawlers
• Sword of the Stranger
• Aria the Natural
• Aria the Origination
• The King of Braves Gao Gai Gar Final
• Macross 7

Wow that’s a lot of anime (at least 5 shows are 50 episodes long and LotGH is twice that)! These are manga and anime that impressed me a great deal, and if I were to list down the big moments that really made an impact on me this year these shows and books would dominate the list. That would be a shame, I think; because this year had it’s moments too. I will remember love for those moments in succeeding posts. For now, here are some big ones. BEWARE OF SPOILERS, FOR THERE ARE MANY!

Turn A Gundam, Epilogue

This song, so powerful. While never completely running out of dramatic tension, I found Turn A Gundam quite difficult to engage as a dramatic work bringing with me an appropriate seriousness. This is not to say I didn’t find it enjoyable, quite the opposite. However, it was a lighthearted kind of fun that contrasted with the seriousness of the events in the narrative. However, this ending, this epilogue gave the whole show a measure of gravitas that I fully appreciate. Only here the epilogue voices out and resolves the romantic tensions. Poor Sochie ;_; [SPOILERS IN THE VIDEO]

I am very fond of this particular device when resolutions of plot points require conversation (logically speaking) and yet as a viewer we are denied the ability to eavesdrop. The only voice we hear is Sochie’s, screaming. This stays with me, I like this pain.

Legend of the Galactic Heroes, (Bucock’s) The Last Lecture

The last stand of the Admiral against an overwhelming fleet led by Kaiser Reinhard von Lohengram himself. Reinhard asked him to surrender. He didn’t. Instead, he lectured the young Kaiser and it was gentlemanly, honorable, and GAR. The Kaiser ordering a salute to the Admiral from his whole fleet was almost as equally awesome.

Bateszi said it best:

At the Battle of Marr-Adetta, Old Admiral Bucock meets his maker. Battle-weary, yet too old to do anything but fight, he evacuates his remaining soldiers before rejecting Reinhard’s offer of mercy, instead choosing to go down with his ship. His final speech to Reinhard blazes with the kind-of respect and pride one can only feel for a man who has seen it all. He closes with a toast to democracy, composed as he tastes the last wine of his life, completely and utterly unshakable in his belief. It is a brave man’s end.

A salute for the heroic fallen! I realize that however I admire the likes of Wenli and Reinhard, it’s these words by Bucock that resonate with me most.

Eureka SeveN, ANEMONE!

This show already has a pantheon Love is in the air moment™, I gushed all over it here [->] But this one is just as good, near the end. What I love about it is how Anemone opens up as a character to become improbably sympathetic; cruelly juxtaposed with her resigned yet relentless assault against Eureka and Renton.

[In my next life...] I’ll get myself a mirror so I can practice smiling.

This line just kills me. It kills me dead. When Dominic arrives and their love story is finally, and for the first time fully voiced out. It’s amazing. This is a confession scene, after all; only done in a near-climactic mecha duel and it outright steals the show.

I cried harder than I did for Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. That is all.

Alice takes the gloves off, Aria the Origination

The last will be first. The genius pair becomes a Prima undine. It’s historic, it’s unprecedented and to me, a big narrative problem:

Alice is an undine for Orange Planet. She first appears (in volume 3 of Aria/episode 3 of Aria the Animation) as a standoffish, detached girl of 14.^[32]Aika later describes her as anti-social and complains about her tendency put on a grim face and speak in a quiet voice. Alice speaks in a deadpanmanner, though she frequently uses dekkai (でっかい^?, literally, “huge”) as an intensifier. Although initially only a Pair, her rowing already surpasses both Aika and Akari’s—for which skill she was scouted by Orange Planet despite her young age.^[33] Despite working for rival companies, Alice, Akari, and Aika often practice together, and Alice sincerely enjoys the others’ company, though this does not stop her from telling them to be quiet when they argue. Because of her age and lower status, Aika often addresses her as “kōhai-chan” (後輩ちゃん^?, “junior” said in a friendly manner). Through her friendship with Akari and Aika, Alice lightens up as the series progresses, though she still struggling with her detachment.^[34]

For a long time, Alice is not confident in singing skills, until Athena advises her simply enjoy what she sings and not worry about her performance. In volume 11 of Aria, Alice graduates from middle school. She is later promoted to Prima straight from Pair, the first undine to do so, and is given the title “Orange Princess” (黄昏の姫君 Tasogare no Himegimi^?, lit. “Twilight Princess”). Her name comes from Lewis Carroll, author of Alice in Wonderland.

Wikipedia

Before anything else, I loved this scene. So much was going on: the refrain that is the test by the waterway by the great windmills overlooking Neo Venezia, Aika’s feelings of inferiority and envy clashing with her genuine love and respect and delight for her friend, and Akari looking on towards the prize of her journey — so tangible now, but not quite there yet. This was the turning point of the narrative wherein the end was clear, resolution is happening, and it is happening fast! The story suddenly (suddenly? really?) becomes that of young people making it in their world, living their dreams; and perhaps that of a planet continuing its order of things through a new generation.

(I figured that this is the only way I can sneak in Moyashimon in this post)

However, this scene posed a conundrum that I along with a few other fans of the show was not able to solve: Alice graduated from middle school after three years, represented by the three installments: the Animation, the Natural, the Origination. Three Martian years, twice as long as Earth years… and you can tell by the number of times they changed into their winter uniforms that this is indeed the case. IF SO, ALICE THE GENIUS JUST SPENT 6 EARTH YEARS IN MIDDLE SCHOOL. MAKING HER 20 YEARS OLD UPON GRADUATION.

Her boyfriend is a pilot, who is also a cook part-time, Miss Martian Successor Nadesico (episode 19)

Things like this make Nergal Industries a fun corporation to work for. Sure it’s some kind of underhanded plan to wrest power (oh the irony)

Yes I actually like Yurika. Self-delusion completely in the service of a cheerful outlook… or is it the other way around? She’s fun to watch, make fun of, and cheer for either way. It is in 2009 where I noted three shows that, along with Gurren Lagann, are the best examples of what I appreciate in terms of my ‘remembering love’ aesthetic ideology; that is they are excellent tributes to older shows in their tradition (mecha anime). These shows that I watched in 2009 are Eureka SeveN, Turn A Gundam, and Martian Successor Nadesico. This scene remembers love for Super Dimension Fortress Macross, by paying homage to the Miss Macross contest, all the way to using live electronic votes tallying. The episode went as far as meme-ify the Macross franchise, something I can appreciate: “Nadesico: We Remonstrate Love.”

(banner made by otou-san)

Genesic Gao Gai Gar, Final Fusion!

I find it hilarious how Mamoru was giving a traditional shonen anime play-by-play while the ultimate form of The King of Braves finally fused. Who is he talking to? Is he telepathically communicating with all of the Gutsy Galaxy Guard? Is it completely a soliloquy? Is he breaking the 4th wall: the SHEER AWESOMENESS before him tore the 4th wall down like it was cardboard? Maybe it’s not so much the breaking of the 4th wall, Mamoru, Guy, and the Gao Machines FINALLY FUSING created a new dimension and WE WERE BROUGHT INTO IT. It’s like the DIVIDING DRIVER, only it involves the viewers. Is this dangerous? WELL YES! Palpareppa and the 11 Soul Masters are still at large, and Pisa Sol keeps bringing them back. BUT IN GUY I TRUST, IN GENESIC GAO GAI GAR I TRUST.

All will be well.

Gigil’s Power to the Dream, Macross 7

Fire Bomber’s Basara makes bad girls go good. Basara also makes bad guys go good (and arguably bad traps too). How does he do this? BY THE POWER OF ROCK. When and how does the transformation happen? Don’t look for subtlety here, because this is Macross 7 after all. YOU CAN TELL THAT THE TRANSFORMATION IS HAPPENING WHEN THE BAD GUYS START SINGING ALONG. But oh yes, it’s wonderful. I cried and cried. If there is a common thing between these moments, I cried my eyes out (except for Gao Gai Gar when I laughed out loud). Macross 7 is terrible, and yet it has this awesome power to just take hold of my heart. So for Gigil, and all the Macross fans, let’s listen to Basara’s song: POWER TO THE DREAM

—

There were many other moments, given that I’ve watched so many shows — and am in the middle of so many (Mobile Fighter G Gundam, Monster, Overman King Gainer, Mobile Suit Victory Gundam), but these are the ones that stand out in my mind right now, recency bias be damned (I had just rewatched Gao Gai Gar Final). What about you? Any moments that stick out in your mind? Give spoiler warnings in the comments please, and try to keep it about shows that did not air in 2009 (same with manga). For youtube clips, [open bracket]youtube=[openquote]“[url]“[close quote][close bracket].

Further Reading

Contrast Genesic Gao Gai Gar’s Final Fusion with Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann’s final GATTAI sequece:

GAINAX brings a different, frenetic aesthetic compared to the ritualistic procedure found in traditional super robot series of which Gao Gai Gar also pays loving homage to.

Great moments in Legend of the Galactic Heroes, or at least blood-colored ones (Bateszi 2009/01/01)

How I ended up watching all this anime in such a short time? [->]

What I mean when I say recency bias [->]

Although it’s too early for the parameters, this post fully supports CCY-senpai’s “Twelve Moments in Anime” Project 2009.

This post has spoilers, but you will be able to avoid them easily. I divided the sections via anime title so you can easily skip those you haven’t seen yet. I’ve put all images in separate slideshows (if you’re reading this post from a feed, you’ll need to visit the site to see the slides).

Happy Valentine’s Day! Today I bare my heart out to you, and present all the fail I can remember from this dubious sub-hobby of shipping characters in their respective anime and manga. My track record is impressively awful, most notable in that in my own favorite show and franchise, my OTP lies dead in the water (or in space).

My qualification of a failed ship is simple: they did not end up together (never mind if it’s due to some kind of harem end). If there are still upcoming installments in the continuity, or if the manga is long-running and ongoing I’ll still mention my failed pairings based on the latest completed chapters as of today. IF YOU LIKE TO CARRY A TORCH, FEEL FREE TO DO SO. BUT I KNOW FULL WELL THE CORRUPTING DARKNESS THAT AWAITS YOU AT THE BOTTOM OF THE WATERY GRAVEYARD OF RABU-RABU.

Let’s get this out of the way: Super Dimension Fortress Macross

Toradora!

Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam

Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion

Turn A Gundam

Bakuman

Honey and Clover

Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket

Legend of the Galactic Heroes

Mechafetish:

Mobile Suit ZZ Gundam

Mechafetish:

The Vision of Escaflowne

Mechafetish:

Cowboy Bebop

Both of us:

Further Reading

Waifus, more related to this post than you think [->]

THAT Anime Valentine’s Post [->]

Half-trolling (wtf) the previous post [->]

A thoughtful post on being an anime and manga fan on Vday (2DT 2010/02/14)

The best/worst Valentine’s Day Post EVAR [->]

Giren Zabi idolized Adolf Hitler, and patterned his Spacenoid (though he used the term Newtype) superiority ideology after Hitler’s own doctrine of Aryan racial superiority. The Principality of Zeon is depicted in romanticized WW2 German likenesses, most notably through their uniforms and dress. As the Gundam franchise continues to flesh out and add works to the narrative of the ‘One Year War,’ the portrayal of the Principality of Zeon becomes progressively more the Germany of Hitler’s Reich.

One of the more recent of these installments is the manga Mobile Suit Gundam: the Gihren Assassination Plot, serialized in Gundam Ace magazine from 2007-2010. In this manga, the Gundam narrative draws further from the Hitler history and mythology, particularly “Operation Valkyrie:” an actual plan developed within Hitler’s military to assassinate him. Interestingly, a feature film based on this was released starring Tom Cruise in 2008.

From Wikipedia:

Operation Valkyrie (German: Unternehmen Walküre) was an emergency continuity of government operations plan developed in Nazi Germany for the Territorial Reserve Army of Germany to execute and implement in case of a general breakdown in civil order of the nation. Failure of the government to maintain control of civil affairs could be caused by the Allied bombing of German cities, or a rising of millions of foreign forced laborers working in German factories.

German Army (Wehrmacht Heer) officers General Friedrich Olbricht, Major General Henning von Tresckow, and Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, modified the plan with the intention of using it to take control of German cities, disarm the SS, and arrest the Nazi leadership once Hitler had been assassinated in the July 20 Plot. Hitler’s death (as opposed to his arrest) was required to free German soldiers from their oath of loyalty to him (Reichswehreid). After lengthy preparation, the plot was carried out in 1944, but failed.

Back to Gundam: After the One Year War, the Earth Federation Forces unearthed voluminous documents of the Principality/Side 3 in order to investigate how exactly the OYW wrapped up…

…and from these documents, the plan to assassinate Gihren Zabi was revealed.

Without going into the details of the narrative, let us look at what this premise – and its historical basis give us. Speaking for myself, it tells me that the Germans aren’t evil as a race, a nationality, or as a social group; and Zeon is the same. This narrows down the evil associated with the Second World War in our own history and the fictional OYW to a single source, or perhaps a few others.

This is personally significant to me because the romanticizing of Hitler’s Reich, the Wermacht and the SS, is actually quite attractive to me, and this extends to Zeon. This is to me, an authentic guilty pleasure. I feel guilty identifying with the bad guys; not that I actually relate to them, but I want to have their look, and their badass effect. This desire almost feels like an endorsement of their evil. This is where the guilt comes from.

I feel the same way with my affinity for Reinhard von Lohengramm and the Galactic Empire from Legend of the Galactic Heroes, that is also wholly evocative of Imperial Germany. The names themselves sound so awesome to me. It’s like it’s almost automatically GAR if your name is German. Gundam does a lot of the same for its Principality of Zeon:

As seen from the above image, the whole plan is wholly based on the historical “Operation Valkyrie.” The code names listed in the display are actual names of mythological Valkyries in Norse mythology (though perhaps Germanized). Why is this so attractive again? The ‘bad guys’ are often portrayed as machine-like though not really, often with amazing use of symbols and perhaps heraldry, disciplined and threatening. The ‘good guys’ in contrast are presented loose, collegial, scruffy, and sympathetic. It is the same with Legend of the Galactic Heroes as with Gundam.

See the Reich’s officers’ stately mien, compared to the Free Planets’ bunch of merry men. It’s not that the Free Planets’ characters are never cool, they’re just allowed to be goofy, making them sympathetic and relatable compared to the ‘Boring Germans in Space.’ However, I’m sure I’m not alone in this: I find the Reich to be wicked cool, and I watched the whole show rooting for them.

As seen from the image, you have your gritty and grimy Earth Federation soldier having a smoke with his rations – and interestingly the EFF characters at the foreground are most often front line personnel; contrasting with the aristocratic Zeon officer inspecting a wine cellar with at least one fawning sympathizer/collaborator, as characters with speaking lines among the Zeon are often officers (unless they are mooks about to get killed).

The image evokes slices of life from the OYW, as inspired by the European theater (of war) during WW2. The allies were scruffy and seemed rag-tag while fighting through Northern Europe (as depicted by films like Saving Private Ryan, or television mini-series such as Band of Brothers), and the Germans had their way with the treasures of the countries they occupied and lived like aristocrats (as depicted by films like Schindler’s List).

I suppose it shouldn’t be surprising at all that the OYW should draw so much from WW2, as evil is so easily identifiable while the fashion of the ‘enemies’ are so impressive. I don’t think it’s in the creators’ (to permit myself some Doylian speculation) best interests to model evil after the Japanese part of WW2’s Axis of Evil. So yes, Germany for Zeon; Gihren Zabi for Adolf Hitler; Operation Valkyrie for the Gihren Assassination Plan. As I read more into the manga, I’ll find out if the use of Operation Valkyrie is a matter of direct inspiration by the plotters, and not simply a thematic consistency on the part of the narrative.

Bonus Images:

Bad guys look cool and I find myself rooting for them sometimes (or often). How do I rid myself of this guilt? I don’t really; I don’t do a good job of rationalizing away the fact that I don’t necessarily endorse the views, behavior, and acts of the bad guys. Unfortunately for me this is such a big part of my viewing and reading experience, and part of my hobby in general. Sometimes, even if it doesn’t really work, I look at images like this one and try to be at peace:

D’awww

But no, it doesn’t really work. What can you do?

Further Reading

Nazi Chic in other anime: Strike Witches (2DT 06/26/2010)

War is Hell, but it may be just all a matter of historical correction [->]

Char Aznable is another guilty plearsure [->]

Perhaps an extreme source of guilt for liking Gundam villains (Kaioshin 09/12/2009)

The Guilty Pleasures series of posts here on We Remember Love [->]

It’s been a difficult year for me and my family, for many reasons I won’t say here. But there is much to be thankful for, especially the health of our precious daughter. Today my wife and I have been married for four years. We’re past our long honeymoon and are now at the time when living well means hard work. There are things about us that probably won’t change – but are revealed to each other as if they were surprises, traps even. Our love is stronger than ever though waves of melancholy wash over me, and I’ll explain why.

We don’t get to watch anime together as much, by far. We never really do now. We used to be able to follow shows as they air, but these things aren’t as important or interesting to her. There’s nothing wrong about this at all. I just miss her company. I dearly wish we watched K-ON!! together. If I could undergo the procedure in The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind for all of K-ON! to be new again, I just might – so my wife and I can watch together.

Here I share with you my favorite shows we watched together. Most of them are marathons, which is cool in that I love it when she’s the one telling me to play the next episode, and the episode after that: a spark of validation and mutual interest in shared culture.

Yack, Deculture! Here are the shows:

The Vision of Escaflowne

“Wow, you like anime too?” It sounds silly, but I truly truly felt I hit the jackpot with this lovely lady. I mean, come on, I knew she was a rarest of rare finds. I knew I wasn’t going to find a lovelier, smarter, more successful, ojou-sama (complete with laugh) who also liked anime. I knew from our common friends that she played RPGs (Mechwarrior LOL) back in uni, but I didn’t expect anime.

And now she’s the one actually introducing me to stuff. Aaaand, I was duly impressed to learn after the important (to me) names involved in the production: Kawamori Shoji, Sakamoto Maaya, Kanno Yoko. Flying Dragon eventually made it to our wedding reception.

Kare Kano

We also watched this when we were dating. In early 2005 I worked the night shift and I’d sneak into this house we live now at dawn during weekends (with her help) carefully avoiding waking up her folks. I’d catch a snooze in the unoccupied servants’ quarters and wake up when her folks have left for their various projects.

After breakfast we’d watch anime before leaving in the afternoon to wherever we wanted. She introduced me to Kare Kano which we played on bootlegged VCDs in her living room. I was floored, and I didn’t know anime love stories set in high school can be so freaking intelligent. Too bad it ended the way it infamously did. Nonetheless, it was the show we watched when we were falling in love. Yukino I (concerto) also made it to our wedding reception.

The Prince of Tennis

This was the time we were watching all sorts of silliness (School Rumble, Yakitate! Japan), and in the spirit of that silliness, less than half a year into our marriage we marathoned ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY EIGHT (178) episodes of this show. I haven’t learned to play tennis yet, and I took this show SERIOUSLY. I mean I took the sports action as serious as fuck, despite the absurd shonen power levels going ridiculously out of hand.

But you don’t need me to tell you that you don’t get to burn through ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY EIGHT EPISODES (and a movie, and a bunch of OVAs) without seriously enjoying yourselves. We certainly did, though it’s all so incredibly stupid now. She however, continued reading all of the manga and follow The New Prince of Tennis. I love my wife. I didn’t say she’s absolutely perfect.

Itazura na Kiss

We raged. We d’awwed. We laughed. WE RAGED AGAIN. We chuckled. WE RAGED SOME MORE. And before we knew it we’ve fallen for these characters – often despicable for either being retarded or for being complete assholes. But just as Naoki found himself eroded into a heart open enough to love an idiot like Kotoko, we found ourselves in-love with both of them and their family, and this incredibly irritating and heart-warming show.

Code Geass

I’m not sure about this one, given the proliferation of gay-looking Lelouch figurines in our room as a result of her watching this show with me. Well, I suppose I have pretty nice Kallen ones thanks to her. But man, marathoning the first season, then watching R2 every week with her was probably the most fun we had following a show as it aired. That and Toradora!

EVERYTHING IS BRIGHT

But sorry honey, XXXXXX is DEAD. Deal with it.

Macross 7

The only Macross show she actually really enjoyed. My wife is a total Minmay hater, but for whatever damn reason she actually liked Sivil . Yeah, her (but she adored Mylene and especially Millya Fallnya Jenius). In any case, part of my indestructible love for Macross 7 is due to how much fun we had watching, even when she’d make fun of me when I fall apart in tears when Gigil sings Power to the Dream.

For all the reasons (that seem strange to Macross fans) I love Macross 7, how we watched it together she and I shines brightly among them.

Legend of the Galactic Heroes

This is pretty damn special. This is the show we marathoned that I had to play catch-up. Sometimes I’d be so tired from work that I’d pass out while watching and my wife would watch the next 10 episodes while I was out cold. Well, there was a lot of episodes (110) so I could catch up (had to do so many times LOL).

Seriously though, this was an incredible experience for me… because she ate it all up. I loved how we’d discuss the principles of politics and governance that occur in the show, because her perspective is amazing, being a public servant all her career (I am for stretches), and a member of the military as well.

Also, it’s absolutely brilliant to have someone to hold me after the Battle of Mar-Ardetta.

Aria, all of it

My wife’s nickname starts with an “A,” our daughter’s name starts with an “A,” not entirely devoid of coincidence with this show we’ve come to love so much. We leisurely watched Aria the Animation, finding Neo Venezia quite interesting and rather wonderful. Aria the Natural didn’t make us any more fascinated with Aqua though it explored so much of it. Rather, we really fell in love with the girls.

It’s like we wanted to be their friends too, but kind of wanting to just watch because we like their chemistry the way it is. In a perfect fantasy, we’d have tours with each of them in their own gondolas in another honeymoon.

Aria the Origination rushed at us with unexpected power. Gone was the quiet reflection afforded by an illusory perpetuity in Natural. I mean, it’s still quiet, but there were inevitable changes, big changes, and what was at stake the whole time is now in play. Then it ends.

But not really, we’ve gone on to collect the manga when we can, and find our things, our desktops, colored by the blues and whites of what used to be but a harsh red planet in our imaginations.

—

Other Notables: Macross Frontier, Gundam 00, Lucky Star, Xam’d: Lost Memories, Moyashimon, Skip Beat

—

Thank you, dear reader, for remembering love with me and my wife here. May you find someone you can enjoy these and other shows in a way that’s special to both of you. I you have that person in your life, fill your time with wonderful shows to watch, and find these shows made more wonderful by each other’s company.

ghostlightning x sybilant forever

Further Reading

Another love story filled with anime here on We Remember Love (Donkangoljones 03/16/2010)

Diary of an Anime Lived at Fuzakenna! (Archive)

I’m not confident in my genre-theory so I present this post with a galaxy’s worth of disclaimers and caveats. I just thought it’d be a fun exercise to do a Cartesian quadrant kind of chart to “locate” or analyze the anime space operas I’ve completed (or at least have seen more than a few episodes of — only Armored Trooper VOTOMS, Tytania and Toward the Terra are unfinished viewings).

I figured out I’d do this while watching Banner of the Stars for the umpteenth time, and making favorable comparisons with Legend of the Galactic Heroes. I thought I could try to explain some of the differences among the awesome things it did relative to the outer space setting.

So, onto the chart!

There are no numeral indicators in this informal set of axes so there isn’t much nuance I am able to communicate clearly in the chart. I tried anyway.

The four points are:

• Galactic Conflict and Space Journey (along the x axis)
• Fleet Combat and Mecha Combat (along the y axis)

If I were any smarter, or more thorough. I would be able to explain well why LotGH is farther to the left compared to Banner of the Stars. I felt that the combat in BotS is closer to how Space Battleship Yamato‘s tradition of ship-to-ship combat, but BotS depicts far larger fleet battles than Yamato did (at least in the first season).

The shows near the center of the axes are set closer to Earth. SDF Macross and Martian Successor Nadesico mostly fought within the solar system. Mobile Suit Gundam (the whole franchise is represented here by Z Gundam) is set almost entirely in the inner solar system and mostly around Earth.

While large fleet engagements do occur in the aforementioned, they are secondary to the mecha vs. mecha combat relative to LotGH and BotS, who do not use any piloted or autonomous humanoid robot weapons.

Macross Frontier is interesting in this chart in that it a space journey — an expeditionary fleet/space colony and a mecha-centric show. Macross 7 is the earlier example, but Frontier I believe represents the idea better.

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann barely qualifies here. It’s qualification is founded on its homage to the rest, and particularly Gunbuster! (and Diebuster!). Most of TTGL occurs Earth-side. In any case, I thought it should be there.

What do I want to do with this going forward? Tell me how to refine it. What’s missing or problematic with the axes as I’ve set them up. Obviously there are shows I haven’t seen yet, so make a case for those and I’ll add them to some future version of this chart. Finally, if you think you can build a better chart, by all means do so! I’ve made this myself because I can’t find one to read. I’d love to see a better and more thorough chart.

A big part of my esteem for Legend of the Galactic Heroes is its portrayal of the conduct of warfare (and and related policy) by its characters. I highly appreciate both the successes and failures made by the various admirals and public servants in its cast.

Here I will concern myself mostly with the successes. The level of complexity of battles and warfare in general by far exceed most other works of animation, and the skill of the admirals provides much of the entertainment in the show, and make for the legendary status of its heroes.

Without going to specific analysis of tactics and decisions, I wanted to look into what makes the characters, especially the likes of Yang and Lohengram special in terms of warfare. Why is it tempting to call them geniuses? For this I turn to Col. Edward M. Collins’s work on Carl von Clausewitz’ Vom Kriege, specifically “On the Genius of War.”

Clausewitz begins,

Every special calling in life, if it is to be pursued with a certain measure of perfection, demands special qualities of intellect and temperament. When these are of a high order, and manifest themselves by extraordinary achievements, the mind to which the belong is accorded the term “genius.” […]

[…] We are not concerned here with the kind of genius represented by a very superior talent, or genius properly so called, for that is a conception that has no defined limits. We are, instead, considering all the combined tendencies of the mind and soul toward military activity […] We say “combined,” for military genius consists not of a single capacity for war, but rather of a harmonious combination of powers, in which one may predominate but none may be in opposition.

I will attempt to distill these powers and tendencies here as best I can, and look into the galactic heroes accordingly.

Dealing With Chance and Randomness

Clausewitz notes two things necessary to deal with the nature of chance in war:

Coup d’oleil – the rapid recognition of a truth which to the ordinary mind is not discernible at all or becomes so only after long examination and reflection. Yang Wenli is undoubtedly the prime example of this. During the course of his career, he has never been in a situation wherein he is fooled by any opposing admiral’s tactic. He sees through every feint. This trait is wholly of the intellect.

Informal Rankings:

1. Yang Wenli
2. Reinhard von Lohengram
3. Oskar von Reuenthal
4. Wilhebald Joachim von Merkatz
5. Alexander Bucock

The best example of an admiral seemingly devoid of coup d’oleil is Fritz von Bittenfeld. His successes do not come from the possession of this attribute.

Courage d’esprit – the resolution to face responsibility, and therefore to a degree in facing moral danger. While Yang Wenli does not lack this, albeit his perpetual anguish over decisions he already made, it is Reinhard von Lohengram who is unwavering. While he often takes counsel (from Kircheis, Reuenthal, Oberstein, and Mariendorf) he is always resolute. His actions regarding Westerland is the primary example.

Informal Rankings:

1. Reinhard von Lohengram
2. Oskar von Reuenthal
3. Yang Wenli
4. Wilhebald Joachim von Merkatz
5. Wolfgang von Mittermeyer

There isn’t an admiral who has experienced any success in LotGH by failing to be resolute. I also want to distinguish the ill-fated resoluteness of the likes of Prince Braunschweig (who gave it up as well as dignity), as well as Andrew Fork – both do not show show resolution informed by moral consideration.

The Four Components of the Atmosphere of War

Clausewitz lists them as danger, physical effort, uncertainty, and chance. He takes note that the historians and military chroniclers list four elements required to deal with these components: energy, firmness, staunchness, and strength of mind and character.

Energy

This “expresses the strength of the motive by which the action is called forth.” Reinhard von Lohengram’s promise to Sigfried Kircheism to “seize all space” is the best example of this. In two years of campaigning, Lohengram’s achievements are spectacular.

Informal Rankings:

1. Reinhard von Lohengram
2. Sigfried Kircheis
3. Paul von Oberstein
4. Walter von Shenckopp
5. Dusty Attenborough

I find it difficult to rank Alliance characters because they’re either on the defensive or on the run most of the time, but truly this is more my own deficiency than the source material’s or Clausewitz’ thought.

Firmness and Staunchness

[…] Firmness “denotes the the resistance of the will to the force of a single blow.” Staunchness pertains the ability to maintain resistance after multiple blows. I find difficulty taking the measure of LotGH characters in view of the fact that those who lose battles don’t get second chances.

In this light I think Merkatz is the best example. His initial defeat against Lohengram did faze him, but after the crisis of his would be suicide he has shown incredible Firmness and Staunchness. He never wavered in the fact that he is a servant of the Goldenbaum dynasty and that even meant serving with the Alliance against the now very powerful Lohengram faction.

Yang Wenli is also a good example in the context of his resilience in the face of his republic self-destructing, declaring him an enemy, and all sorts of political debacles. He doesn’t have many military setbacks because he prevails in every engagement, even Vermillion – which is a loss that doesn’t impact his combat genius the same way it does his morale regarding his republic. There’s more to this than I discuss here.

Strength of Character

Clausewitz means this as tenacity of conviction, “whether that conviction is base upon our own or another’s judgments and whether it is based upon principles, opinions, momentary inspirations, or any product of the intelligence.”

I want to look at three examples.

1. Lohengram listens to Mintz’s proposal.

At the end of things, Lohengram honors Yang through Mintz by hearing out the proposal, but only after letting Mintz earn his way through valor.

Lohengram had always been receptive to counsel. More than any other ‘genius’ I’ve seen in anime, he has considered the advice of many. A number of his victories can be directly attributed to the trust he’s placed on his advisers, from Kircheis to Oberstein to Mariendorf.

His listening to Mintz’s proposal is wholly within his character. Lohengram’s conviction here is that no matter who he listens to, his judgment is all his own. But even a stronger manifestation of his conviction is that his usurpation of the Goldenbaum dynasty is actually an usurpation of blood hegemony in itself.

Even if the proposal for a constitution and a parliament is never put into place, Lohengram’s vision is wholly of a meritocracy even within an autocratic regime. This played out in his policy regarding the children of the enemies he destroyed, and against Reuenthal himself. His conversations with Minci only further cement the perception for his conviction.

2. Bucock’s rejection.

This encompasses Yang Wenli’s rejection of Reinhard’s invitation. The difference is Yang knows he will fight again. Bucock knows he is doomed. Bucock in his final moments saw it fit to lecture the Kaiser, and did so with dignity and respect at the culmination of the Battle of Mar-Adetta. This “last lecture” encapsulates the very essence of the democratic ideal that he and Yang fight for and how Lohengram’s desire to have them serve him can never be fulfilled as long as he is Kaiser.

3. Obertstein’s entire career.

Wholly a servant of the Empire under Lohengram, no other is more willing to subject himself to dislike, disrespect, and distrust than Paul von Oberstein. This is the conviction that allowed his acute thinking to prevail over many crises.

It’s actually rather difficult to be conclusive with Oberstein, who is such a fascinatingly complex character. I maintain that his conviction is completely without question.

So what of these “Geniuses?”

I submit my analysis is as fallible as they come. I am no scholar of military science and Legend of the Galactic Heroes is such a large and rich work that I feel inadequate to discuss comprehensively. So instead of pretending to a conclusion, I invite you to consider the six attributes of ‘The Genius for War’ as Clausewitz professes then rank the admirals (3-5 examples) according to your own judgment:

• Coup d’oleil
• Courage d’esprit
• Energy
• Firmness
• Staunchness
• Strength of Character

As a bonus, you may consider characters outside of LotGH (e.g. Lelouche vi Britannia, Dusanyu Abriel, Aguille Delaz, etc.). It will be excellent if you substantiate your ranking choices.

Further Reading

Lower Mid-Table’s Blogging Legend of the Galactic Heroes

On Paul von Oberstein the consequentialist (Iknight 03/24/2009)

Executive Otaku’s excellent use of Realist thought as a lens to view Legend of the Galactic Heroes (Executive Otaku 08/18/2010)

Reflections at the end of LotGH [->]

Von Clausewitz, Karl, (Summers, Harry G. trans., ed). War, Politics, & Power: Selections from On War, and I Believe and Profess. Regenery Publishing. Washington, DC. 1965.

[Ranks 30-21] [Ranks 20-11]

It takes a view of the whole list to characterize myself as a fan of anime. An observant reader pointed out that ranks 27-17 is an uninterrupted streak of robot anime. The relative absence of which up higher in the list shouldn’t be indicative that I am less of a robot anime fan, only that I have a lot more in common with other fans who love good anime in general.

In the end I really think that the more anime we watch, the more diverse and varied our taste becomes and we will tend to favor the shows that while incredible for their subgenre, are transcendent of them so much so that we enjoy them despite our lack of affinity with such subgenres. How else would I explain how high Revolutionary Girl Utena is on this list, or K-On!! for that matter?

It’s for the same reasons I know people who adore Turn A Gundam without liking the Gundam franchise as a whole, or mecha anime for that matter. I know you Neon Genesis Evangelion fans can be like this as well. Ditto for Eureka SeveN, or even Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. All of these shows I love precisely because they are mecha anime, but other people love them too, albeit they do so despite the mecha element no matter how significant it’s featured.

Does this make the exercise of anime appreciation any less arbitrary or subjective? No, not really. It only goes to show that there are ways of appreciation that apply for different kinds of shows for different kinds of people, with different kinds of purposes all under the larger circle of hobby in this universal Venn diagram of entertainment.

10. Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd Gig

While the plotting is less intricate than the previous installment, it is no less perfect in my eyes. It delivers everything I could ask for in a show that invites me to take it seriously: superb production values, contemplative and introspective moments taking on very interesting themes; expertly planned, choreographed, and directed action scenes (with robots too!), crowning moments of both awesome and heartwarming (at times the same moment!); and ultimately a very human story.

It’s that parallel between The Major’s anxiety that with her full prosthesis she is losing whatever there is left that makes her human, and the growing complexity of the AI of the Tachikoma that provide me the most meat to chew on in this show. It’s particularly great how this all plays out in a spectacular battle in the end. I love anime.

09. Legend of the Galactic Heroes

This show is one of those things, and perhaps the best example of what I consider better than perfect. There’s so much in it that I’d fault a lesser series for: from the off-model character designs, the annoying close-range rifle battles where battleaxes beat rifles every time, Reuenthal doing back flips, and the general lack of female characters whose roles aren’t auxiliary to the males. These things don’t really matter because this show is so incredible. It is epic in the old-school sense of the world.

What I feel is different from enjoying the show despite these faults, or even forgiving the show for having or lacking these things. I just think that the awesomeness it does provide over such an expansive amount of material for such a long time goes beyond these things that would otherwise be complaints. I actually feel petty for writing them as if they matter so much. So here is where you get galactic scale, a phenomenal set of characters great and minor, scored by chamber and symphonic music by masters (Mahler, Beethoven, Mozart, and a whole lot more), and a superb level of strategy (political and military), tactics, and scale of space battles portrayed by moving illustrations.

08. Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann

One thing I remember about the first time I watched this show is how it became part of a wave of incredibly enjoyable experiences that got me so excited about anime I had to go to the internet to look for people talking about it. This led to Mechafetish and me starting our own anime blog which thanks to luck, hard work, and guts, still exists to this day as the site you’re browsing now. This show is Epic in the internet sense of the word.

It has a level of frenetic energy that existed in shows long, long gone but was never presented at this level of consistent volume and playfulness. It was also the love song to robot anime as a whole, as the major arcs of the show corresponded to styles and movements within the robot anime tradition beginning somewhere between Mazinger Z and Getter Robo, passing through the darker days of mass-produced mecha in shows like Mobile Suit Gundam, and culminating somewhere between The End of Evangelion and Diebuster (and Getter Robo again).

It committed to a theme of ‘going beyond the impossible,’ and went for it with the force of galaxies spiraling through time and space… and drills, very big drills. It is EPIC.

07. K-On!!

This shouldn’t be here. I didn’t want it to be here. Let me tell you though, when the show finished (and yes I am talking about the second season) I wanted to put this show as high as number two on this list. That’s how much it got to me. There is something about the mundane that can capture the imagination – so much of creative writing class time is spent working with the mundane memories of childhood, of family, of school into something akin to literature. The remarkable thing in this show is that in its treatment of the most mundane of things it created for itself a fantasy world where there’s nothing to get hung about.

John Lennon wrote about such Strawberry Fields where nothing seems real. This is that same world, almost completely devoid of anything that reminds you of your physical self. There are only these girls who spend their time preoccupied with cake and tea and somewhere in between create moments of absurd emotional power. It’s because perhaps, of the bubble surrounding this fantasy world that I can be free to feel all those things I felt during the show’s run. That’s the real joke perhaps, how I could feel so much for characters whose best quality is their exceeding excellence at being with each other.

06: Mobile Suit Z Gundam

I believe in the sign of Z and let it into my heart. This show isn’t like Unicorn in that it represents everything awesome I would like to see in Gundam. In fact I actually see in here something of a betrayal of what made Mobile Suit Gundam the apotheosis of real robot anime. I started seeing the rise of the individual pilot making more of a difference in the theater of war. I started seeing the variable and arbitrary damage of beam weapons hitting plot armor. I started seeing the rise of the annoying young side character fated to fuck things up for the main cast. I saw really, really, really ugly mobile suits (some of which even transform!). I saw a legit trainwreck of a plot line that would’ve derailed the whole thing so close to the end if not for the end itself that was just oh-wow-did-this-show-just-do-that-oh-damn-me-to-hell-it-sure-did kind of awesome.

Then again, we get the most entertaining angry emo kid ever in Kamille Bidan. Future copies of this template will fail miserably (Judau, Shinn) but Kamille’s perpetual intense rage (often powered by Karate) is nothing short of amazing. The Titans as enemies are less impressive as menacing threats but rather as incredible assholes — truly remarkable jerks. Quattro Bajeena and Haman Karn deserve their own shows (and both got them seperately, to varying degrees of disappointment), but while they were in Z Gundam, they were perfection. And I will never ever forget Jerid Messa, for being the ultimate in unrelenting, never-give-up, obsessive rivalry and for his indestructible space hair. I will shed the Tears of Time.

05. Eureka SeveN

“When you think of music or movies, instead of remembering what they are about you’re more likely to be reminded of the memories you have of that time and the people you knew then.” Stoner

I almost perfectly agree, until I force myself to remember so much more because I want to write posts like this one and generally am in the hobby of remembering love. Thus I remember so many things about this show that dares not only be thrilling with its aerial exploits and intense fights, but also charming not only with its adolescent love stories but with the general free-spirited feeling that rises above the world-ending threats and the cruelty of war and the people who foment it.

The love I felt for this show was not immediate. I dropped it the first time I tried watching it. But eventually I got it, and got into it. It rewarded my willingness to take all it had to offer because I took it on its own terms: I didn’t ask for it; I went and won it on my own. That’s why I succeeded, and why I remember so much love for this show and its incredible cast.

04. Cowboy Bebop

I am currently ticking off an item on my bucket list by blogging this show the way I’m doing it. The very idea that doing something anime related exists on my personal bucket list should indicate my love and regard for this show.  I watch this show over and over because I want to feel the blues. I want to carry that weight. Life is hard enough, so why look for such misery or melancholy in entertainment? I don’t know for sure, but I’m a very happy guy; I have the emotional hit points to take in Cowboy Bebop. Besides, it’s not like it’s heavy all throughout. For the most part it is quite lighthearted and humorous (then it hits you).

And it’s also important to remember that it’s all executed exceedingly well. Each episode is filled with so many tricks from visual presentation to storytelling that’s derived from such diverse sources of film and television. It’s subject matter is filled with secular joys  that re-present so many elements or even traditions of popular culture that it’s a treasure trove for viewers who are willing to observe closely. Also, it will be very, very rewarding to listen.

03. Neon Genesis Evangelion

When I first discovered Japanese cartoons as a child, it had always meant giant robots. In high school this had changed since the Philippines did not show any anime from the 1980s during the 1980s and 1990s. Thus I discovered shounen battle anime, shounen sports anime, shounen cooking anime, Ranma 1/2, etc. When anime started showing up on cable, and started getting called anime in the early 2000s, I hadn’t seen a single robot show since Robotech and Macross Plus. Vandread came and was kind of fun, but it wasn’t until I finally got to watch Neon Genesis Evangelion in 2003 (after watching the first few episodes on VHS in the 1990s) that all was right in the world.

I want you to imagine how mind-blowing this was for me. I started out knowing little else but robot shows, then the supply of these shows ran out; Then I kind of faffed about watching all these shounen shows that while being entertaining enough, didn’t quite ignite my burning passion. I started watching Eva (dubbed LOL) and suddenly I was this kid again, only that the robots looked weird and slick and moved like humans; then the monsters weren’t quite robots and were all weird. But it was all good because it was how robot anime was for me as a kid, only different.

Then it started getting very, very weird… until its stunning end. At this point I had not seen anything like this. Sure I had seen “intelligent” anime like Akira, and Ghost in the Shell, but again nothing on the TV anime level — which is my preferred format. Needless to say, I was profoundly impressed by what this show tried to pull off, and many rewatches later including the one I did a year ago, I think it is a glorious venture overall. This is the show that got me interested in anime beyond being just a viewer who wants to watch more. I needed to know about things now. I started going to the internet to read about anime around 2004 and it was really because I finally got to watch Evangelion.

02. Revolutionary Girl Utena

I loved it the first time I watched it. Out of a whim I rewatched all of it over the course of a week and it is pretty much the reason why I am doing this ranking exercise. It was the very reason (along with K-On!!) why I listed a top 30 last year, becoming my fifth most favorite show instantly. It has an abstraction to it that feels appropriate for anime, that it uses to turn a fairy tale on its head and tell a story with startling misery and wretchedness for its characters that it makes fun of almost as much as it sympathizes with.

The simplicity and lucidity of its abstractions is an achievement in itself. I’ve seen what could arguably be a more mature and complex anime in Tatami Galaxy but its abstractions in both illustrations, storytelling, and content do not impress me the same way as Utena’s. It takes something like Evangelion to take on themes of identity, relating with other people, and keeping integrity and give it the same gravity and breadth as Utena. This Utena does without leaving what would be a confining setting. I’ve seen shows likeBakemonogatari confine its story in its very local environments and the effect is quite different. Somehow, Utena made me believe that the most important thing in the world was transpiring within a junior high school.

It’s a world I’d never want to belong to. I have no wish to be any of the characters nor would I find them good company.  However I could look at them all day and would see their stories play out over and over again. It’s not that hard, because the Be Papas alumni keep remembering love for it in the shows they made after and are still making.

01. Super Dimension Fortress Macross

I am very glad to have rewatched this show recent enough to make me feel confident that Revolutionary Girl Utena is not my favorite show. The recent rewatch also gave me an opportunity to blog this show in a way I never thought I’d ever get done. So that’s another one off the bucket list. The fact that the exercise isn’t on the same level of effort and intensity as my current Cowboy Bebop project is indicative of how I feel about the show. The experience of making those posts however, is tied with the core purpose of this blog, as I got to rewatch the show with fans both old and new — and I fancy myself contributing to their appreciation of my favorite show all my life and for all time.

So what have I learned from this rewatch with all these new eyes I shared it with? The show is as awesome as I remembered it. Furthermore, it is a whole lot more grim than I gave it credit for. Sure it’s rightfully remembered as a sillier, takes-itself-less-seriously show that remembers love for Space Battleship Yamato and Mobile Suit Gundam. But for those willing to look closely, it’s hella grim, though not as dark as the robot anime shows that took hold of the 1980s. To explain further is to spoil, so I’ll leave it at that, and reinforce that any grimness or darkness is either secondary or entwined with how the show is a love story set against the backdrop of great battles, warping my silly 8-year old mind with a taste for fictional love triangles for life.

I never will. Good things come in threes, and end with a table. So here it is:

*Shows that are still ongoing as of this writing, but I’ve convinced myself they could tank the rest of the way and I’ll still love them (at least until I watch more anime).

Endnotes (I had to shoot bullets because I want to keep the line spacing under control).

• Introduction: Michael, Low on Hitpoints suggests that understanding fans leads to better understanding of how or why shows are appreciated. I suggest the same.
• GitS: Sac 2nd Gig: I explore the idea of sapience and the Tachikoma here.
• Legend of the Galactic Heroes: A blog-readers’ companion to watching the episodes.
• Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann: It’s the Hero’s Journey. No, it’s not.
• K-On!!: The Plot.
• K-On!!: A Plot!?!! It’s that Michael again. There’s too many of them blogging about anime.
• K-On!!: Moments that are made available because the plot arranged them so.
• Mobile Suit Z Gundam: Spoilers, because this show is a celebration of death.
• Cowboy Bebop: Bucket list posts start here. We Remember Love starts here.
• Neon Genesis Evangelion: The rebuild of my viewing experience.
• Revolutionary Girl Utena: I want to believe that this show got the very best out of me.
• SDF Macross: I changed my mind. I used to think when I wrote about the show that it was dark but not grim. I was wrong. It was not dark, but quite grim. After all, —— lost!

[News of Death]

My remembrance may or may not last longer than these Youtube videos staying up, in the midst of all the copyright/internet legislation governments all over the world are attempting. It won’t matter that my purposes here are, nor do I expect authorities or “owners” to even attempt to find out the context. But for now, I am here and offer these to the director of at least three anime that changed my life in terms of appreciation of media and narrative in general.

Noburo Ishiguro passed away yesterday. I never knew anything biographical about him, only knowing that he directed the anime that he did. The list includes Space Battleship Yamato, Super Dimension Fortress Macross, and Legend of the Galactic Heroes. These are shows that I’ve seen in three distinct stages of my life as a fan of anime: infancy (I also happened to have seen Yamato, er, Starblazers before kindergarten age), childhood (I saw Macross while in elementary), and maturity (I saw LotGH at age 32, while I was already blogging anime). Just thinking about it leaves me profoundly impressed, for him to have such an impact on my taste and appreciation.

I can never really and will never really relate to Ishiguro as a person. An anime work has so many contributions for me to distinguish something so concrete to attribute to an individual even with as big a role as chief director. I can only acknowledge the value of the works that exist due to his contributions, with fondness and at times reverence.

What can I say now that I haven’t already said about Macross? Let me try. There are a number of directorial flourishes, especially in Do You Rememberl Love? that truly captured my imagination. This one scene in the beginning of the film when the Zentraedi Regulds penetrate the SDF-1 and take the battle into the city. The way things stood still for just a moment, before gravity disappeared and this whole spread of outdoor restaurant tables and chairs went up in the air, then the cars, and then Minmay…

Hikaru catches Minmay using his Gerwalk’s hand.

This was the kind of stuff that stays with me throughout my life. I’ve seen DYRL at least 12 times in full. I’ve never watched an animated film as many times in my life as this one.

I’ll end with this third and last video, from the third season of LotGH. It’s special to us (the founders of WRL) in that we find ourselves singing along solemnly, saluting the monitor as the OP plays as if some kind of national anthem. It’s very silly of us, no doubt. However what I want to point out is the effect this show has on us. It has the power to inspire reverence.

And some of that reverence I give to Ishiguro Noboru. I never knew you, but I know your work and it made a difference to me. Paalam.

I think I know why. But first, some disclaimers. Not every extended conversation in Legend of the Galactic Heroes is exemplary; some will be guilty of what those in Fate/Zero do. Conversely, there are conversations in Fate/Zero that are remarkable in the ways those in LotGH are. I will note some of them later in the post, but this piece is not about those exceptions.

I like Fate/Zero and welcome its continuation in the Spring season of 2012. I’ve shared the show to quite a number of friends, and one thing is quite obvious: the first episode is a tremendous hurdle because of the scarcity of action and the sheer volume of exposition dumping via extended conversation. I think the show only started picking up when the summoning rituals started (those were awesome, scored well musically too). A number of my friends who I introduced it to simply passed out during the double feature first episode. I had to fight my way through sleepiness myself every time I watched it, and I don’t think I want to subject myself to it anytime soon.

I remember distinctly how Toshaka and his conversant ended up walking in circles just so there’s something, anything can be animated to give some energy to the scene. The effort however, was comical instead of cool.

The narrative itself is a big, wordy thing, where plotting and verbal engagement forms most of the content as opposed to the actual fighting between Magi and Servants. Conversations between Saber and Irisviel… paint dries more entertainingly – unless you’re focusing on their character designs (quasi-fapping). Same thing between Kotomine and Gilgamesh… a horror of boredom (unless you are burning with homolust). But the worst are those with anything to do with Toshaka, just… incredible.

The thing about these conversations are that they all are slow-moving tugboats that are trying to maneuver this supertanker of a plot (laden with so much dependencies on the fantasy elements content) in a tiny harbor. The story itself isn’t big or complex, there’s just so much content that it depends on to move forward. “The magic thingy will activate the fabled doodads that invoke the centuries long history of magical family whose current generation is weakened due to fantasy element X which is exacerbated by the nature of the Noble Phantasm of the servant which was supposed to belong to a different magus anyway.”

“But wait, the daughter of magical family Z isn’t actually human but some kind of golem which allows it to be a magical decoy against the multiple magical creatures of this magical battle for this quasi-religious magical thing which grants wishes of both the human magi who is more than human as well as the magical servant who isn’t human but was once human but some of them may wish they were human again” etc, etc.

Am I exaggerating? Yes. This is intentional, but what it really is a condensed way to create the effect of 17 out of 20 minutes worth of anime episode (multiplied by 13) has.

So what’s so different about those in LotGH?

Well, instead of the dialogue informing us about the plot, the plot informs the direction of the dialogue but the content itself informs us about other things. The sterling examples of dialogue in LotGH are about things. In the 11th episode we find Vice-Admiral Yang Wen-li discoursing with Admiral Greenhill about the turn of events propelling the Free Planets Alliance. Yang juxtaposed the Galactic Empire’s character with that of his own government:

Sometimes I have my doubts. The Empire, with a few nobles ruling the masses, is bad government. The Alliance, with a government chosen by the people, is badly governed. Which one do you think is wrong?

Forgive me. That’s not proper talk for a soldier.

Look at the wealth of goodness this short statement has! It is about things, big things – things that very few people actually talk about, unless they’re pompous undergrads in PoliSci class. This forms the very core theme of the narrative. What government is right for now, and for all time? In addition, Wen-li frames the constraints of the soldier: the willingness to serve the government one is sworn to follow and protect, while expressing one’s opinion despite being at odds with the governments directives.

Entire episodes can be like this, where there is no action and instead you have conversation after conversation that builds on, exemplifies, or elaborates on this theme. You have nobles choosing to die with or at the hands of the people to stay and face the Alliance invasion force while you have the elected officials ratify war against all good sense because it is an election year. These are actions, results – but arriving to these results is through a lot of telling, not showing. The telling works because I feel I’m in the middle of a riveting conversation across 110 episodes about something big and important.

As I’ve said at the beginning of the post, there are exceptions in Fate/Zero (just as there are equivalent coma-inducing boring dialogue in LotGH). This post is not about these exceptions, but I will mention some from Fate/Zero. The first set consists of those between Rider and Waver. They are always about something; verily, about existence, meaning, results, vitality, and being-in-time. Now that’s actually a lot of things, they’re all related in the context of Waver’s education into an adult – Rider’s invitation for him to come of age. Rider doesn’t use big words too, he IS big, his presence is huge; these lends gravitas and meaning to his simple but grandiose – if comedic, statements to Waver.

The big exception in Fate/Zero is delivered by Rider, yet again. It is his sermon to Saber in the “Banquet of Kings.” The lecture was about the being of a king, the character of a king, about conquering vs. martyrdom and who is worth following. Consistently, Gilgamesh has nothing to offer in this conversation (because he is an insufferable bore). It’s Rider who is the energy of the show and the source of so much of its entertainment value (Kotomine’s and Kiritsugu’s contrast is creepy and boring, and manifests in just a lot of adult angst scenes). He shows, tells, and tells some more; and somehow, overcomes what would seem to be insurmountable barriers all the others fail at breaking through to provide entertaining, if not gripping dialogue for us viewers.

The last time I tried to rewatch LotGH was 2 years ago when I just ended up cherry-picking arcs and episodes. I’m doing a full rewatch in earnest this time and I intend to bring forth more posts like this. In other news, Fate/Zero is returning in a few weeks and I’m excited to see Rider and Waver again, but it’d be awesome if the rest of the cast could be interesting and exciting as well.

I’m rewatching the show, and after 24 episodes I’ve stopped making excuses. The villains in Legend of the Galactic Heroes are shamefully incompetent. Andrew Fork and the Alliance Admirals who adopted his invasion plan; Yang Wenli’s contemporaries; Prince Braunschweig and the Imperial Nobles; the most respectable opposition outside of Merkatz were the provided by the Salvation Rebels, but Yang sure trounced them like idiots.

It’s actually quite jarring to contemplate how inferior the opponents are for our genius Galactic heroes. I was actually ready to devalue the whole show due to this disappointment when I figured things out. [SPOILERS, BE WARNED]

The first order of perspective is to remember that the narrative sets up the main rivalry between Reinhard and Wenli. They and theirs are the ones who will and should provide the satisfying war. This set up is accomplished by culling the unworthy in the early going while demonstrating the contrast of their competence against everyone else who are comically inept, and arrogantly so. Eventually, they will face off.

The second order of perspective is that LotGH is a tragic narrative. Part of this tragedy, and it is a sublimely delicious part, is how the actual head-to-head fight between the two is so rare, and so brief, and in many ways settled by external factors. It was intentionally unsatisfying; tragically unfulfilling, until you think about it and how it is precisely part of the tragedy how the best military minds in the galaxy never had a proper face-off. Yeah, Vermillion happened, and Wenli pretty much had Reinhard but shit hit the fan and he had to forfeit all that battle’s hard won advantages when Hilde Marriendorf had the admirals capture Heinessen in a “higher order checkmate.”

This is huge, because Reinhard won the war without beating Yang Wenli in battle. Then not too long after, Yang Wenli dies. This is the tragic empty cup that awaited Reinhard at the podium. This is also the kick in the nuts we get as viewers – to be denied a definitive rematch to satisfy all that anticipation as a result of 50 episodes or so of buildup.

The third order of perspective is that despite the extreme juxtapositions of quality among those aligned with Reinhard/Wenli, and those who fight against them, the storytelling is actually restrained and careful. This is also what manufactures meaningfulness. The tragedy discussed above illustrates a finite universe and a transient history. The few years Reinhard and Wenli fought their enemies and each other became the high point of military history. There will be no more great battles to fight, and great warriors to beat. This informed the tragedy of Oskar von Reuenthal, who was good enough to rival both Reinhard and Wenli, but instead had to be dispatched by his best friend Wolfgang von Mittermeyer with overwhelming odds.

Wolfgang would have to survive, Reinhard said, to pass along the learning of tactics during Reinhard’s campaigns – as the last great admiral who fought and witnessed how Wenli, Reinhard, and Oskar fought (along with the other notable warriors such as Merkatz, Bucock, etc.).

It is with these perspectives that I can accept the grating and annoying incompetence of the villains in the first season of LotGH, along with a new appreciation of the tragedy at how one of the greatest warriors didn’t get to fight against Wenli when it mattered; wasted against the likes of petty Imperial Nobles, and stupid Alliance Admirals. I mean, how would Vermillion turn out, if only Sigfried Kircheis were still alive?

The last thing I want to suggest is that there is some kind of “required viewing” in order to appreciate particular anime, perhaps the notable classics. No, I don’t believe such exist as necessary requirements.

I do believe however, that my appreciation of some shows is tremendously impacted by my experience of certain other media. Rather than present a theory, I intend to share some examples of how this plays out.

Nodame Cantabile and Legend of the Galactic Heroes

While I always had a healthy appreciation for classical music and own soundtracks of the likes of The Vision of Escaflowne; and I know pieces by Yoko Kanno and Joe Hisaishi, except for a very few examples I do not know classical music pieces. I cannot tell what is a symphony from a concerto. Nodame Cantabile (particularly the live action) changed all this. I started taking my wife to the orchestra. I can distinguish particular movements in the different pieces. I can distinguish musical styles across history to a small degree.

This deepened my appreciation for Legend of the Galactic Heroes, who relies on classical music by the masters to score its 110 episodes. I delighted in hearing the opening bars of Rachmaninov’s 3rd Piano Concerto when Julian comforted Karin after the battle of Iserlohn Corridor. I felt every bit of borrowed pathos when Beethoven’s ‘Pathetique’ played as someone important passed away.

Instead of just the context of the narrative, I brought with me the whole history and context of the musical piece. It is an unnecessary thing, but it fits for such a show that is the very spirit of foppery and whim. I was only able to do this when I watched LotGH for the second time. I already considered it a masterpiece after my initial viewing, but this new appreciation of the score is a new world of feeling.

Gundam

Perhaps there’s no better example of anime building upon itself to yield a wealth of ‘new’ experience than the Gundam franchise. Outsiders looking in are often misled into thinking that Gundam is this monolith of a franchise filled with exemplary shows that form a pillar of anime itself. No. As someone who watched almost every show in the franchise; many times over in some cases, I can truthfully say that most of it isn’t very good. Great chunks of it are rather awful. And yet the more I watch, each new show becomes a better, fulfilling overall experience. I grow to love Gundam more and more, and by the time Mobile Suit Gundam AGE came along I watch it with the wealth of 30 year worth of context. I can only imagine this existing in a franchise like Star Trek. Not being a trekkie myself I cannot validate this. But yes, when I watch an episode of a Gundam show, any Gundam show, I bring with it that ocean of meaning that makes the experience powerful, even if the episode itself is rubbish.

Heavy Metal & Zetman

I bring us to a contemporary show, which on the surface seems filled with puerile exploitation and false depth via pathos and death. I won’t say that the depth is real, but rather the surface is rich in itself. I do so by relating it to the comics of Heavy Metal magazine (there are two animated movies), that I remember casually reading as a postadolescent. These are dark, puppy science fiction stories that are quite violent and exploitation indeed. There are almost never any happy endings except those that are darkly sneering and cynical.

Zetman reminds me of these works, which doesn’t make it automatically exceptional, but knowing the tradition exists, my experience of the show is enriched. The show isn’t stopped by the red flags of moral taste. If I can bring myself up to a mood for grand pulpy shlock, I think Zetman may just hit that spot.

Giren Zabi idolized Adolf Hitler, and patterned his Spacenoid (though he used the term Newtype) superiority ideology after Hitler’s own doctrine of Aryan racial superiority. The Principality of Zeon is depicted in romanticized WW2 German likenesses, most notably through their uniforms and dress. As the Gundam franchise continues to flesh out and add works to the narrative of the ‘One Year War,’ the portrayal of the Principality of Zeon becomes progressively more the Germany of Hitler’s Reich.

One of the more recent of these installments is the manga Mobile Suit Gundam: the Gihren Assassination Plot, serialized in Gundam Ace magazine from 2007-2010. In this manga, the Gundam narrative draws further from the Hitler history and mythology, particularly “Operation Valkyrie:” an actual plan developed within Hitler’s military to assassinate him. Interestingly, a feature film based on this was released starring Tom Cruise in 2008.

From Wikipedia:

Operation Valkyrie (German: Unternehmen Walküre) was an emergency continuity of government operations plan developed in Nazi Germany for the Territorial Reserve Army of Germany to execute and implement in case of a general breakdown in civil order of the nation. Failure of the government to maintain control of civil affairs could be caused by the Allied bombing of German cities, or a rising of millions of foreign forced laborers working in German factories.

German Army (Wehrmacht Heer) officers General Friedrich Olbricht, Major General Henning von Tresckow, and Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, modified the plan with the intention of using it to take control of German cities, disarm the SS, and arrest the Nazi leadership once Hitler had been assassinated in the July 20 Plot. Hitler’s death (as opposed to his arrest) was required to free German soldiers from their oath of loyalty to him (Reichswehreid). After lengthy preparation, the plot was carried out in 1944, but failed.

Back to Gundam: After the One Year War, the Earth Federation Forces unearthed voluminous documents of the Principality/Side 3 in order to investigate how exactly the OYW wrapped up…

…and from these documents, the plan to assassinate Gihren Zabi was revealed.

Without going into the details of the narrative, let us look at what this premise – and its historical basis give us. Speaking for myself, it tells me that the Germans aren’t evil as a race, a nationality, or as a social group; and Zeon is the same. This narrows down the evil associated with the Second World War in our own history and the fictional OYW to a single source, or perhaps a few others.

This is personally significant to me because the romanticizing of Hitler’s Reich, the Wermacht and the SS, is actually quite attractive to me, and this extends to Zeon. This is to me, an authentic guilty pleasure. I feel guilty identifying with the bad guys; not that I actually relate to them, but I want to have their look, and their badass effect. This desire almost feels like an endorsement of their evil. This is where the guilt comes from.

I feel the same way with my affinity for Reinhard von Lohengramm and the Galactic Empire from Legend of the Galactic Heroes, that is also wholly evocative of Imperial Germany. The names themselves sound so awesome to me. It’s like it’s almost automatically GAR if your name is German. Gundam does a lot of the same for its Principality of Zeon:

As seen from the above image, the whole plan is wholly based on the historical “Operation Valkyrie.” The code names listed in the display are actual names of mythological Valkyries in Norse mythology (though perhaps Germanized). Why is this so attractive again? The ‘bad guys’ are often portrayed as machine-like though not really, often with amazing use of symbols and perhaps heraldry, disciplined and threatening. The ‘good guys’ in contrast are presented loose, collegial, scruffy, and sympathetic. It is the same with Legend of the Galactic Heroes as with Gundam.

See the Reich’s officers’ stately mien, compared to the Free Planets’ bunch of merry men. It’s not that the Free Planets’ characters are never cool, they’re just allowed to be goofy, making them sympathetic and relatable compared to the ‘Boring Germans in Space.’ However, I’m sure I’m not alone in this: I find the Reich to be wicked cool, and I watched the whole show rooting for them.

As seen from the image, you have your gritty and grimy Earth Federation soldier having a smoke with his rations – and interestingly the EFF characters at the foreground are most often front line personnel; contrasting with the aristocratic Zeon officer inspecting a wine cellar with at least one fawning sympathizer/collaborator, as characters with speaking lines among the Zeon are often officers (unless they are mooks about to get killed).

The image evokes slices of life from the OYW, as inspired by the European theater (of war) during WW2. The allies were scruffy and seemed rag-tag while fighting through Northern Europe (as depicted by films like Saving Private Ryan, or television mini-series such as Band of Brothers), and the Germans had their way with the treasures of the countries they occupied and lived like aristocrats (as depicted by films like Schindler’s List).

I suppose it shouldn’t be surprising at all that the OYW should draw so much from WW2, as evil is so easily identifiable while the fashion of the ‘enemies’ are so impressive. I don’t think it’s in the creators’ (to permit myself some Doylian speculation) best interests to model evil after the Japanese part of WW2’s Axis of Evil. So yes, Germany for Zeon; Gihren Zabi for Adolf Hitler; Operation Valkyrie for the Gihren Assassination Plan. As I read more into the manga, I’ll find out if the use of Operation Valkyrie is a matter of direct inspiration by the plotters, and not simply a thematic consistency on the part of the narrative.

Bonus Images:

Bad guys look cool and I find myself rooting for them sometimes (or often). How do I rid myself of this guilt? I don’t really; I don’t do a good job of rationalizing away the fact that I don’t necessarily endorse the views, behavior, and acts of the bad guys. Unfortunately for me this is such a big part of my viewing and reading experience, and part of my hobby in general. Sometimes, even if it doesn’t really work, I look at images like this one and try to be at peace:

D’awww

But no, it doesn’t really work. What can you do?

Further Reading

Nazi Chic in other anime: Strike Witches (2DT 06/26/2010)

War is Hell, but it may be just all a matter of historical correction [->]

Char Aznable is another guilty plearsure [->]

Perhaps an extreme source of guilt for liking Gundam villains (Kaioshin 09/12/2009)

The Guilty Pleasures series of posts here on We Remember Love [->]

It’s been a difficult year for me and my family, for many reasons I won’t say here. But there is much to be thankful for, especially the health of our precious daughter. Today my wife and I have been married for four years. We’re past our long honeymoon and are now at the time when living well means hard work. There are things about us that probably won’t change – but are revealed to each other as if they were surprises, traps even. Our love is stronger than ever though waves of melancholy wash over me, and I’ll explain why.

We don’t get to watch anime together as much, by far. We never really do now. We used to be able to follow shows as they air, but these things aren’t as important or interesting to her. There’s nothing wrong about this at all. I just miss her company. I dearly wish we watched K-ON!! together. If I could undergo the procedure in The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind for all of K-ON! to be new again, I just might – so my wife and I can watch together.

Here I share with you my favorite shows we watched together. Most of them are marathons, which is cool in that I love it when she’s the one telling me to play the next episode, and the episode after that: a spark of validation and mutual interest in shared culture.

Yack, Deculture! Here are the shows:

The Vision of Escaflowne

“Wow, you like anime too?” It sounds silly, but I truly truly felt I hit the jackpot with this lovely lady. I mean, come on, I knew she was a rarest of rare finds. I knew I wasn’t going to find a lovelier, smarter, more successful, ojou-sama (complete with laugh) who also liked anime. I knew from our common friends that she played RPGs (Mechwarrior LOL) back in uni, but I didn’t expect anime.

And now she’s the one actually introducing me to stuff. Aaaand, I was duly impressed to learn after the important (to me) names involved in the production: Kawamori Shoji, Sakamoto Maaya, Kanno Yoko. Flying Dragon eventually made it to our wedding reception.

Kare Kano

We also watched this when we were dating. In early 2005 I worked the night shift and I’d sneak into this house we live now at dawn during weekends (with her help) carefully avoiding waking up her folks. I’d catch a snooze in the unoccupied servants’ quarters and wake up when her folks have left for their various projects.

After breakfast we’d watch anime before leaving in the afternoon to wherever we wanted. She introduced me to Kare Kano which we played on bootlegged VCDs in her living room. I was floored, and I didn’t know anime love stories set in high school can be so freaking intelligent. Too bad it ended the way it infamously did. Nonetheless, it was the show we watched when we were falling in love. Yukino I (concerto) also made it to our wedding reception.

The Prince of Tennis

This was the time we were watching all sorts of silliness (School Rumble, Yakitate! Japan), and in the spirit of that silliness, less than half a year into our marriage we marathoned ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY EIGHT (178) episodes of this show. I haven’t learned to play tennis yet, and I took this show SERIOUSLY. I mean I took the sports action as serious as fuck, despite the absurd shonen power levels going ridiculously out of hand.

But you don’t need me to tell you that you don’t get to burn through ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY EIGHT EPISODES (and a movie, and a bunch of OVAs) without seriously enjoying yourselves. We certainly did, though it’s all so incredibly stupid now. She however, continued reading all of the manga and follow The New Prince of Tennis. I love my wife. I didn’t say she’s absolutely perfect.

Itazura na Kiss

We raged. We d’awwed. We laughed. WE RAGED AGAIN. We chuckled. WE RAGED SOME MORE. And before we knew it we’ve fallen for these characters – often despicable for either being retarded or for being complete assholes. But just as Naoki found himself eroded into a heart open enough to love an idiot like Kotoko, we found ourselves in-love with both of them and their family, and this incredibly irritating and heart-warming show.

Code Geass

I’m not sure about this one, given the proliferation of gay-looking Lelouch figurines in our room as a result of her watching this show with me. Well, I suppose I have pretty nice Kallen ones thanks to her. But man, marathoning the first season, then watching R2 every week with her was probably the most fun we had following a show as it aired. That and Toradora!

EVERYTHING IS BRIGHT

But sorry honey, XXXXXX is DEAD. Deal with it.

Macross 7

The only Macross show she actually really enjoyed. My wife is a total Minmay hater, but for whatever damn reason she actually liked Sivil . Yeah, her (but she adored Mylene and especially Millya Fallnya Jenius). In any case, part of my indestructible love for Macross 7 is due to how much fun we had watching, even when she’d make fun of me when I fall apart in tears when Gigil sings Power to the Dream.

For all the reasons (that seem strange to Macross fans) I love Macross 7, how we watched it together she and I shines brightly among them.

Legend of the Galactic Heroes

This is pretty damn special. This is the show we marathoned that I had to play catch-up. Sometimes I’d be so tired from work that I’d pass out while watching and my wife would watch the next 10 episodes while I was out cold. Well, there was a lot of episodes (110) so I could catch up (had to do so many times LOL).

Seriously though, this was an incredible experience for me… because she ate it all up. I loved how we’d discuss the principles of politics and governance that occur in the show, because her perspective is amazing, being a public servant all her career (I am for stretches), and a member of the military as well.

Also, it’s absolutely brilliant to have someone to hold me after the Battle of Mar-Ardetta.

Aria, all of it

My wife’s nickname starts with an “A,” our daughter’s name starts with an “A,” not entirely devoid of coincidence with this show we’ve come to love so much. We leisurely watched Aria the Animation, finding Neo Venezia quite interesting and rather wonderful. Aria the Natural didn’t make us any more fascinated with Aqua though it explored so much of it. Rather, we really fell in love with the girls.

It’s like we wanted to be their friends too, but kind of wanting to just watch because we like their chemistry the way it is. In a perfect fantasy, we’d have tours with each of them in their own gondolas in another honeymoon.

Aria the Origination rushed at us with unexpected power. Gone was the quiet reflection afforded by an illusory perpetuity in Natural. I mean, it’s still quiet, but there were inevitable changes, big changes, and what was at stake the whole time is now in play. Then it ends.

But not really, we’ve gone on to collect the manga when we can, and find our things, our desktops, colored by the blues and whites of what used to be but a harsh red planet in our imaginations.

—

Other Notables: Macross Frontier, Gundam 00, Lucky Star, Xam’d: Lost Memories, Moyashimon, Skip Beat

—

Thank you, dear reader, for remembering love with me and my wife here. May you find someone you can enjoy these and other shows in a way that’s special to both of you. I you have that person in your life, fill your time with wonderful shows to watch, and find these shows made more wonderful by each other’s company.

ghostlightning x sybilant forever

Further Reading

Another love story filled with anime here on We Remember Love (Donkangoljones 03/16/2010)

Diary of an Anime Lived at Fuzakenna! (Archive)

A big part of my esteem for Legend of the Galactic Heroes is its portrayal of the conduct of warfare (and and related policy) by its characters. I highly appreciate both the successes and failures made by the various admirals and public servants in its cast.

Here I will concern myself mostly with the successes. The level of complexity of battles and warfare in general by far exceed most other works of animation, and the skill of the admirals provides much of the entertainment in the show, and make for the legendary status of its heroes.

Without going to specific analysis of tactics and decisions, I wanted to look into what makes the characters, especially the likes of Yang and Lohengram special in terms of warfare. Why is it tempting to call them geniuses? For this I turn to Col. Edward M. Collins’s work on Carl von Clausewitz’ Vom Kriege, specifically “On the Genius of War.”

Clausewitz begins,

Every special calling in life, if it is to be pursued with a certain measure of perfection, demands special qualities of intellect and temperament. When these are of a high order, and manifest themselves by extraordinary achievements, the mind to which the belong is accorded the term “genius.” […]

[…] We are not concerned here with the kind of genius represented by a very superior talent, or genius properly so called, for that is a conception that has no defined limits. We are, instead, considering all the combined tendencies of the mind and soul toward military activity […] We say “combined,” for military genius consists not of a single capacity for war, but rather of a harmonious combination of powers, in which one may predominate but none may be in opposition.

I will attempt to distill these powers and tendencies here as best I can, and look into the galactic heroes accordingly.

Dealing With Chance and Randomness

Clausewitz notes two things necessary to deal with the nature of chance in war:

Coup d’oleil – the rapid recognition of a truth which to the ordinary mind is not discernible at all or becomes so only after long examination and reflection. Yang Wenli is undoubtedly the prime example of this. During the course of his career, he has never been in a situation wherein he is fooled by any opposing admiral’s tactic. He sees through every feint. This trait is wholly of the intellect.

Informal Rankings:

1. Yang Wenli
2. Reinhard von Lohengram
3. Oskar von Reuenthal
4. Wilhebald Joachim von Merkatz
5. Alexander Bucock

The best example of an admiral seemingly devoid of coup d’oleil is Fritz von Bittenfeld. His successes do not come from the possession of this attribute.

Courage d’esprit – the resolution to face responsibility, and therefore to a degree in facing moral danger. While Yang Wenli does not lack this, albeit his perpetual anguish over decisions he already made, it is Reinhard von Lohengram who is unwavering. While he often takes counsel (from Kircheis, Reuenthal, Oberstein, and Mariendorf) he is always resolute. His actions regarding Westerland is the primary example.

Informal Rankings:

1. Reinhard von Lohengram
2. Oskar von Reuenthal
3. Yang Wenli
4. Wilhebald Joachim von Merkatz
5. Wolfgang von Mittermeyer

There isn’t an admiral who has experienced any success in LotGH by failing to be resolute. I also want to distinguish the ill-fated resoluteness of the likes of Prince Braunschweig (who gave it up as well as dignity), as well as Andrew Fork – both do not show show resolution informed by moral consideration.

The Four Components of the Atmosphere of War

Clausewitz lists them as danger, physical effort, uncertainty, and chance. He takes note that the historians and military chroniclers list four elements required to deal with these components: energy, firmness, staunchness, and strength of mind and character.

Energy

This “expresses the strength of the motive by which the action is called forth.” Reinhard von Lohengram’s promise to Sigfried Kircheism to “seize all space” is the best example of this. In two years of campaigning, Lohengram’s achievements are spectacular.

Informal Rankings:

1. Reinhard von Lohengram
2. Sigfried Kircheis
3. Paul von Oberstein
4. Walter von Shenckopp
5. Dusty Attenborough

I find it difficult to rank Alliance characters because they’re either on the defensive or on the run most of the time, but truly this is more my own deficiency than the source material’s or Clausewitz’ thought.

Firmness and Staunchness

[…] Firmness “denotes the the resistance of the will to the force of a single blow.” Staunchness pertains the ability to maintain resistance after multiple blows. I find difficulty taking the measure of LotGH characters in view of the fact that those who lose battles don’t get second chances.

In this light I think Merkatz is the best example. His initial defeat against Lohengram did faze him, but after the crisis of his would be suicide he has shown incredible Firmness and Staunchness. He never wavered in the fact that he is a servant of the Goldenbaum dynasty and that even meant serving with the Alliance against the now very powerful Lohengram faction.

Yang Wenli is also a good example in the context of his resilience in the face of his republic self-destructing, declaring him an enemy, and all sorts of political debacles. He doesn’t have many military setbacks because he prevails in every engagement, even Vermillion – which is a loss that doesn’t impact his combat genius the same way it does his morale regarding his republic. There’s more to this than I discuss here.

Strength of Character

Clausewitz means this as tenacity of conviction, “whether that conviction is base upon our own or another’s judgments and whether it is based upon principles, opinions, momentary inspirations, or any product of the intelligence.”

I want to look at three examples.

1. Lohengram listens to Mintz’s proposal.

At the end of things, Lohengram honors Yang through Mintz by hearing out the proposal, but only after letting Mintz earn his way through valor.

Lohengram had always been receptive to counsel. More than any other ‘genius’ I’ve seen in anime, he has considered the advice of many. A number of his victories can be directly attributed to the trust he’s placed on his advisers, from Kircheis to Oberstein to Mariendorf.

His listening to Mintz’s proposal is wholly within his character. Lohengram’s conviction here is that no matter who he listens to, his judgment is all his own. But even a stronger manifestation of his conviction is that his usurpation of the Goldenbaum dynasty is actually an usurpation of blood hegemony in itself.

Even if the proposal for a constitution and a parliament is never put into place, Lohengram’s vision is wholly of a meritocracy even within an autocratic regime. This played out in his policy regarding the children of the enemies he destroyed, and against Reuenthal himself. His conversations with Minci only further cement the perception for his conviction.

2. Bucock’s rejection.

This encompasses Yang Wenli’s rejection of Reinhard’s invitation. The difference is Yang knows he will fight again. Bucock knows he is doomed. Bucock in his final moments saw it fit to lecture the Kaiser, and did so with dignity and respect at the culmination of the Battle of Mar-Adetta. This “last lecture” encapsulates the very essence of the democratic ideal that he and Yang fight for and how Lohengram’s desire to have them serve him can never be fulfilled as long as he is Kaiser.

3. Obertstein’s entire career.

Wholly a servant of the Empire under Lohengram, no other is more willing to subject himself to dislike, disrespect, and distrust than Paul von Oberstein. This is the conviction that allowed his acute thinking to prevail over many crises.

It’s actually rather difficult to be conclusive with Oberstein, who is such a fascinatingly complex character. I maintain that his conviction is completely without question.

So what of these “Geniuses?”

I submit my analysis is as fallible as they come. I am no scholar of military science and Legend of the Galactic Heroes is such a large and rich work that I feel inadequate to discuss comprehensively. So instead of pretending to a conclusion, I invite you to consider the six attributes of ‘The Genius for War’ as Clausewitz professes then rank the admirals (3-5 examples) according to your own judgment:

• Coup d’oleil
• Courage d’esprit
• Energy
• Firmness
• Staunchness
• Strength of Character

As a bonus, you may consider characters outside of LotGH (e.g. Lelouche vi Britannia, Dusanyu Abriel, Aguille Delaz, etc.). It will be excellent if you substantiate your ranking choices.

Further Reading

Lower Mid-Table’s Blogging Legend of the Galactic Heroes

On Paul von Oberstein the consequentialist (Iknight 03/24/2009)

Executive Otaku’s excellent use of Realist thought as a lens to view Legend of the Galactic Heroes (Executive Otaku 08/18/2010)

Reflections at the end of LotGH [->]

Von Clausewitz, Karl, (Summers, Harry G. trans., ed). War, Politics, & Power: Selections from On War, and I Believe and Profess. Regenery Publishing. Washington, DC. 1965.

[Ranks 30-21] [Ranks 20-11]

It takes a view of the whole list to characterize myself as a fan of anime. An observant reader pointed out that ranks 27-17 is an uninterrupted streak of robot anime. The relative absence of which up higher in the list shouldn’t be indicative that I am less of a robot anime fan, only that I have a lot more in common with other fans who love good anime in general.

In the end I really think that the more anime we watch, the more diverse and varied our taste becomes and we will tend to favor the shows that while incredible for their subgenre, are transcendent of them so much so that we enjoy them despite our lack of affinity with such subgenres. How else would I explain how high Revolutionary Girl Utena is on this list, or K-On!! for that matter?

It’s for the same reasons I know people who adore Turn A Gundam without liking the Gundam franchise as a whole, or mecha anime for that matter. I know you Neon Genesis Evangelion fans can be like this as well. Ditto for Eureka SeveN, or even Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. All of these shows I love precisely because they are mecha anime, but other people love them too, albeit they do so despite the mecha element no matter how significant it’s featured.

Does this make the exercise of anime appreciation any less arbitrary or subjective? No, not really. It only goes to show that there are ways of appreciation that apply for different kinds of shows for different kinds of people, with different kinds of purposes all under the larger circle of hobby in this universal Venn diagram of entertainment.

10. Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd Gig

While the plotting is less intricate than the previous installment, it is no less perfect in my eyes. It delivers everything I could ask for in a show that invites me to take it seriously: superb production values, contemplative and introspective moments taking on very interesting themes; expertly planned, choreographed, and directed action scenes (with robots too!), crowning moments of both awesome and heartwarming (at times the same moment!); and ultimately a very human story.

It’s that parallel between The Major’s anxiety that with her full prosthesis she is losing whatever there is left that makes her human, and the growing complexity of the AI of the Tachikoma that provide me the most meat to chew on in this show. It’s particularly great how this all plays out in a spectacular battle in the end. I love anime.

09. Legend of the Galactic Heroes

This show is one of those things, and perhaps the best example of what I consider better than perfect. There’s so much in it that I’d fault a lesser series for: from the off-model character designs, the annoying close-range rifle battles where battleaxes beat rifles every time, Reuenthal doing back flips, and the general lack of female characters whose roles aren’t auxiliary to the males. These things don’t really matter because this show is so incredible. It is epic in the old-school sense of the world.

What I feel is different from enjoying the show despite these faults, or even forgiving the show for having or lacking these things. I just think that the awesomeness it does provide over such an expansive amount of material for such a long time goes beyond these things that would otherwise be complaints. I actually feel petty for writing them as if they matter so much. So here is where you get galactic scale, a phenomenal set of characters great and minor, scored by chamber and symphonic music by masters (Mahler, Beethoven, Mozart, and a whole lot more), and a superb level of strategy (political and military), tactics, and scale of space battles portrayed by moving illustrations.

08. Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann

One thing I remember about the first time I watched this show is how it became part of a wave of incredibly enjoyable experiences that got me so excited about anime I had to go to the internet to look for people talking about it. This led to Mechafetish and me starting our own anime blog which thanks to luck, hard work, and guts, still exists to this day as the site you’re browsing now. This show is Epic in the internet sense of the word.

It has a level of frenetic energy that existed in shows long, long gone but was never presented at this level of consistent volume and playfulness. It was also the love song to robot anime as a whole, as the major arcs of the show corresponded to styles and movements within the robot anime tradition beginning somewhere between Mazinger Z and Getter Robo, passing through the darker days of mass-produced mecha in shows like Mobile Suit Gundam, and culminating somewhere between The End of Evangelion and Diebuster (and Getter Robo again).

It committed to a theme of ‘going beyond the impossible,’ and went for it with the force of galaxies spiraling through time and space… and drills, very big drills. It is EPIC.

07. K-On!!

This shouldn’t be here. I didn’t want it to be here. Let me tell you though, when the show finished (and yes I am talking about the second season) I wanted to put this show as high as number two on this list. That’s how much it got to me. There is something about the mundane that can capture the imagination – so much of creative writing class time is spent working with the mundane memories of childhood, of family, of school into something akin to literature. The remarkable thing in this show is that in its treatment of the most mundane of things it created for itself a fantasy world where there’s nothing to get hung about.

John Lennon wrote about such Strawberry Fields where nothing seems real. This is that same world, almost completely devoid of anything that reminds you of your physical self. There are only these girls who spend their time preoccupied with cake and tea and somewhere in between create moments of absurd emotional power. It’s because perhaps, of the bubble surrounding this fantasy world that I can be free to feel all those things I felt during the show’s run. That’s the real joke perhaps, how I could feel so much for characters whose best quality is their exceeding excellence at being with each other.

06: Mobile Suit Z Gundam

I believe in the sign of Z and let it into my heart. This show isn’t like Unicorn in that it represents everything awesome I would like to see in Gundam. In fact I actually see in here something of a betrayal of what made Mobile Suit Gundam the apotheosis of real robot anime. I started seeing the rise of the individual pilot making more of a difference in the theater of war. I started seeing the variable and arbitrary damage of beam weapons hitting plot armor. I started seeing the rise of the annoying young side character fated to fuck things up for the main cast. I saw really, really, really ugly mobile suits (some of which even transform!). I saw a legit trainwreck of a plot line that would’ve derailed the whole thing so close to the end if not for the end itself that was just oh-wow-did-this-show-just-do-that-oh-damn-me-to-hell-it-sure-did kind of awesome.

Then again, we get the most entertaining angry emo kid ever in Kamille Bidan. Future copies of this template will fail miserably (Judau, Shinn) but Kamille’s perpetual intense rage (often powered by Karate) is nothing short of amazing. The Titans as enemies are less impressive as menacing threats but rather as incredible assholes — truly remarkable jerks. Quattro Bajeena and Haman Karn deserve their own shows (and both got them seperately, to varying degrees of disappointment), but while they were in Z Gundam, they were perfection. And I will never ever forget Jerid Messa, for being the ultimate in unrelenting, never-give-up, obsessive rivalry and for his indestructible space hair. I will shed the Tears of Time.

05. Eureka SeveN

“When you think of music or movies, instead of remembering what they are about you’re more likely to be reminded of the memories you have of that time and the people you knew then.” Stoner

I almost perfectly agree, until I force myself to remember so much more because I want to write posts like this one and generally am in the hobby of remembering love. Thus I remember so many things about this show that dares not only be thrilling with its aerial exploits and intense fights, but also charming not only with its adolescent love stories but with the general free-spirited feeling that rises above the world-ending threats and the cruelty of war and the people who foment it.

The love I felt for this show was not immediate. I dropped it the first time I tried watching it. But eventually I got it, and got into it. It rewarded my willingness to take all it had to offer because I took it on its own terms: I didn’t ask for it; I went and won it on my own. That’s why I succeeded, and why I remember so much love for this show and its incredible cast.

04. Cowboy Bebop

I am currently ticking off an item on my bucket list by blogging this show the way I’m doing it. The very idea that doing something anime related exists on my personal bucket list should indicate my love and regard for this show.  I watch this show over and over because I want to feel the blues. I want to carry that weight. Life is hard enough, so why look for such misery or melancholy in entertainment? I don’t know for sure, but I’m a very happy guy; I have the emotional hit points to take in Cowboy Bebop. Besides, it’s not like it’s heavy all throughout. For the most part it is quite lighthearted and humorous (then it hits you).

And it’s also important to remember that it’s all executed exceedingly well. Each episode is filled with so many tricks from visual presentation to storytelling that’s derived from such diverse sources of film and television. It’s subject matter is filled with secular joys  that re-present so many elements or even traditions of popular culture that it’s a treasure trove for viewers who are willing to observe closely. Also, it will be very, very rewarding to listen.

03. Neon Genesis Evangelion

When I first discovered Japanese cartoons as a child, it had always meant giant robots. In high school this had changed since the Philippines did not show any anime from the 1980s during the 1980s and 1990s. Thus I discovered shounen battle anime, shounen sports anime, shounen cooking anime, Ranma 1/2, etc. When anime started showing up on cable, and started getting called anime in the early 2000s, I hadn’t seen a single robot show since Robotech and Macross Plus. Vandread came and was kind of fun, but it wasn’t until I finally got to watch Neon Genesis Evangelion in 2003 (after watching the first few episodes on VHS in the 1990s) that all was right in the world.

I want you to imagine how mind-blowing this was for me. I started out knowing little else but robot shows, then the supply of these shows ran out; Then I kind of faffed about watching all these shounen shows that while being entertaining enough, didn’t quite ignite my burning passion. I started watching Eva (dubbed LOL) and suddenly I was this kid again, only that the robots looked weird and slick and moved like humans; then the monsters weren’t quite robots and were all weird. But it was all good because it was how robot anime was for me as a kid, only different.

Then it started getting very, very weird… until its stunning end. At this point I had not seen anything like this. Sure I had seen “intelligent” anime like Akira, and Ghost in the Shell, but again nothing on the TV anime level — which is my preferred format. Needless to say, I was profoundly impressed by what this show tried to pull off, and many rewatches later including the one I did a year ago, I think it is a glorious venture overall. This is the show that got me interested in anime beyond being just a viewer who wants to watch more. I needed to know about things now. I started going to the internet to read about anime around 2004 and it was really because I finally got to watch Evangelion.

02. Revolutionary Girl Utena

I loved it the first time I watched it. Out of a whim I rewatched all of it over the course of a week and it is pretty much the reason why I am doing this ranking exercise. It was the very reason (along with K-On!!) why I listed a top 30 last year, becoming my fifth most favorite show instantly. It has an abstraction to it that feels appropriate for anime, that it uses to turn a fairy tale on its head and tell a story with startling misery and wretchedness for its characters that it makes fun of almost as much as it sympathizes with.

The simplicity and lucidity of its abstractions is an achievement in itself. I’ve seen what could arguably be a more mature and complex anime in Tatami Galaxy but its abstractions in both illustrations, storytelling, and content do not impress me the same way as Utena’s. It takes something like Evangelion to take on themes of identity, relating with other people, and keeping integrity and give it the same gravity and breadth as Utena. This Utena does without leaving what would be a confining setting. I’ve seen shows likeBakemonogatari confine its story in its very local environments and the effect is quite different. Somehow, Utena made me believe that the most important thing in the world was transpiring within a junior high school.

It’s a world I’d never want to belong to. I have no wish to be any of the characters nor would I find them good company.  However I could look at them all day and would see their stories play out over and over again. It’s not that hard, because the Be Papas alumni keep remembering love for it in the shows they made after and are still making.

01. Super Dimension Fortress Macross

I am very glad to have rewatched this show recent enough to make me feel confident that Revolutionary Girl Utena is not my favorite show. The recent rewatch also gave me an opportunity to blog this show in a way I never thought I’d ever get done. So that’s another one off the bucket list. The fact that the exercise isn’t on the same level of effort and intensity as my current Cowboy Bebop project is indicative of how I feel about the show. The experience of making those posts however, is tied with the core purpose of this blog, as I got to rewatch the show with fans both old and new — and I fancy myself contributing to their appreciation of my favorite show all my life and for all time.

So what have I learned from this rewatch with all these new eyes I shared it with? The show is as awesome as I remembered it. Furthermore, it is a whole lot more grim than I gave it credit for. Sure it’s rightfully remembered as a sillier, takes-itself-less-seriously show that remembers love for Space Battleship Yamato and Mobile Suit Gundam. But for those willing to look closely, it’s hella grim, though not as dark as the robot anime shows that took hold of the 1980s. To explain further is to spoil, so I’ll leave it at that, and reinforce that any grimness or darkness is either secondary or entwined with how the show is a love story set against the backdrop of great battles, warping my silly 8-year old mind with a taste for fictional love triangles for life.

I never will. Good things come in threes, and end with a table. So here it is:

*Shows that are still ongoing as of this writing, but I’ve convinced myself they could tank the rest of the way and I’ll still love them (at least until I watch more anime).

Endnotes (I had to shoot bullets because I want to keep the line spacing under control).

• Introduction: Michael, Low on Hitpoints suggests that understanding fans leads to better understanding of how or why shows are appreciated. I suggest the same.
• GitS: Sac 2nd Gig: I explore the idea of sapience and the Tachikoma here.
• Legend of the Galactic Heroes: A blog-readers’ companion to watching the episodes.
• Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann: It’s the Hero’s Journey. No, it’s not.
• K-On!!: The Plot.
• K-On!!: A Plot!?!! It’s that Michael again. There’s too many of them blogging about anime.
• K-On!!: Moments that are made available because the plot arranged them so.
• Mobile Suit Z Gundam: Spoilers, because this show is a celebration of death.
• Cowboy Bebop: Bucket list posts start here. We Remember Love starts here.
• Neon Genesis Evangelion: The rebuild of my viewing experience.
• Revolutionary Girl Utena: I want to believe that this show got the very best out of me.
• SDF Macross: I changed my mind. I used to think when I wrote about the show that it was dark but not grim. I was wrong. It was not dark, but quite grim. After all, —— lost!

[News of Death]

My remembrance may or may not last longer than these Youtube videos staying up, in the midst of all the copyright/internet legislation governments all over the world are attempting. It won’t matter that my purposes here are, nor do I expect authorities or “owners” to even attempt to find out the context. But for now, I am here and offer these to the director of at least three anime that changed my life in terms of appreciation of media and narrative in general.

Noburo Ishiguro passed away yesterday. I never knew anything biographical about him, only knowing that he directed the anime that he did. The list includes Space Battleship Yamato, Super Dimension Fortress Macross, and Legend of the Galactic Heroes. These are shows that I’ve seen in three distinct stages of my life as a fan of anime: infancy (I also happened to have seen Yamato, er, Starblazers before kindergarten age), childhood (I saw Macross while in elementary), and maturity (I saw LotGH at age 32, while I was already blogging anime). Just thinking about it leaves me profoundly impressed, for him to have such an impact on my taste and appreciation.

I can never really and will never really relate to Ishiguro as a person. An anime work has so many contributions for me to distinguish something so concrete to attribute to an individual even with as big a role as chief director. I can only acknowledge the value of the works that exist due to his contributions, with fondness and at times reverence.

What can I say now that I haven’t already said about Macross? Let me try. There are a number of directorial flourishes, especially in Do You Rememberl Love? that truly captured my imagination. This one scene in the beginning of the film when the Zentraedi Regulds penetrate the SDF-1 and take the battle into the city. The way things stood still for just a moment, before gravity disappeared and this whole spread of outdoor restaurant tables and chairs went up in the air, then the cars, and then Minmay…

Hikaru catches Minmay using his Gerwalk’s hand.

This was the kind of stuff that stays with me throughout my life. I’ve seen DYRL at least 12 times in full. I’ve never watched an animated film as many times in my life as this one.

I’ll end with this third and last video, from the third season of LotGH. It’s special to us (the founders of WRL) in that we find ourselves singing along solemnly, saluting the monitor as the OP plays as if some kind of national anthem. It’s very silly of us, no doubt. However what I want to point out is the effect this show has on us. It has the power to inspire reverence.

And some of that reverence I give to Ishiguro Noboru. I never knew you, but I know your work and it made a difference to me. Paalam.