I await the arrival of my Lady (this was so much better than a plate), so until then Code Geass is only 90% decent like Market Garden.
Recently I dug up my stuff left over from my ANT 149B class on Contemporary Japanese Society and my old notes from many moons ago. Suffice to say I have come to the conclusion that certain functions of my brain are permanently active and when Goro Taniguchi and the Sunrirse team make rather charged decisions in certain areas of Code Geass, I try to dismiss it as poor planning or lack there of. I don’t want to take it as anything more than bucket loads of fanservice and keikaku doori. If it is just as they planned and I did try and dissect the message what I find is something ugly, disconcerting, and disgusting. In short thank goodness for Cecile-nee. Though where in the world is Cornelia?
This has been a warning. NKVD Patrols are in effect.
An old aspiration of mine was to be able to conduct studies on the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Burma Campaign, Operation August Storm, and other obscure battle fronts in the Second World War. Sadly the CCP are a bunch of secretive dicks and won’t open their archives until the day they get thrown out of power, and the Japanese were pretty thorough in torching the little good documentation they had. The KMT weren’t very good either as their near defeat left them decidedly quite on the issue of documenting their epic failure to hold China despite German plans, German training, Western aid, and numerical superiority, then again soaring inflation and rampant corruption would kill any government good or bad. While the other Allied Powers were able to document their findings and record radio intercepts, they nonetheless leave a very incomplete picture of the battles being fought there. I lament the fact that the Japanese Imperial Forces were terrible at record keeping because the Germans left behind so much more. Given the lack of documentation the full or even partial history of what happened then might never be told and ever will it be a specter to haunt the history of the participants. It will haunt them for the invocation of those dark days will remain all too easy for less than good purposes.
There are times when I think this would have been preferable.
It is often said that losers have no hand in writing history, and this I think is not entirely true since enemy documents are to be treasured by militaries willing to evolve tactics and get a better picture of what they did right and what they did wrong from the enemy’s view. Even if the Germans lost, their influence on tactical thinking and doctrine still have considerable influence felt to this day. This allowed for the rehabilitation of sorts for the Germans who fought in Heer, Kriegsmarine, and Luftwaffe units in the West. Even the Soviets begrudgingly took and kept what they could because they wanted to end German dominance during the spring and summer. The Germans were superbly trained, disciplined, and tactically elegant, though strategically inept and politically naive/unscrupulous. The same is not possible for the Imperial Japanese military who left behind so few documents that the entire organization was deemed criminal as there was no way to sort out which units were not involved in war crimes. Not even the IJN was able to escape the accusations of using military brothels only a handful were to escape the cloud of criminality outside of Japan. As such Sunrise is drawing from a lot of controversial history to weave whatever tale they want to tell.
So I found that if you ignore the fanservice, the just as planned ethos, and the loliciousness of Code Geass what you might find is an advocacy of military adventurism, a rather disturbing definition of the non-Japanese other and their role. I know that supposedly there is supposed to be some liberal sentiment in the story, but if there is I certainly don’t see it, at least in the non-interventionist social democratic vein. Though keep in mind their omnipresent conservative party calls itself the Liberal Democratic Party, so perhaps they are liberal in a different sense, i.e. not advocates of social democratic government policy.
Begin subliminal message
I was disturbed when Lulu basically wanted to use China as the horse to ride to victory over Britannia. While seemingly sound it does have rather disturbing implications as it is the same rhetoric that was used to justify the Greater-East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. Moreover the aesthetic choices they opted for, in regards to the Chinese, do emphasize and reinforce backwardness among other things, some what reminiscent of the paintings of the signing of the Treaty of Shimonoseki. The use of eunuchs instead of merely corrupt ministers also emphasizes the rather effeminate nature of China. Li’s solution to the situation was a coup. However, the overtone was decidedly evocative of the turmoil that rocked Japan in the 1930s where assassination and the military running rough shod over the country was pretty much the norm.
While not necessarily a Japanese type military coup it is nonetheless romanticized to a disturbing degree. Few are the coups and putsches that are hailed as good. I much prefer that militaries never mount coups regardless of the circumstances because all too often once they wield power absolute they tend to want to keep it. The armor of Li’s boys during their wedding crashing operation was more in the spirit of Japanese samurai than any armor of Chinese manufacture that I can remember from High Imperial China and Late Imperial China. The only time foreign help of any sort was welcome was with international pariahs like the Soviet Union and Weimar Germany, the latter of which provided most of the military muscle to fight imperialism prior to the entry of the Allies. Under Sun Yat-sen paranoia was at least pragmatic paranoia, and that is about as far as China has ever really come to opening up since the Song Dynasty. While Li is for the sake of the story a patriot albeit one with loli-con tendencies he is not unlike the Japanese in regards to using military power as a means to get control. Hence Li’s sameness, even excluding his loli-con predisposition, is what makes him a hero, he’s Japanese-like. If unconditional or hardly conditional cooperation with Lulu is in the works then Li will be Wang Jingwei (read: traitor) with long hair and a sword. Li will be little better than than a Cao Cao with pedophilia.
Historically China and Chinese have looked down upon military coups as a means to get power, the latest example being Yuan Shikai, the father of warlords. The importance of having to mobilize the peasantry and the working classes has characterized the Nationalist Revolution under Sun Yat-sen and the Communist Revolution under Mao Zedong. For reasons I do not fully understand, and I doubt anyone ever fully will, military might alone, or basically what Li is doing, is a losing proposition if done in China. The implicit notion that Li ought to subvert himself to Lulu’s will to take on Britannia is also takes on the flavor of the “first among equals” ideology where the rest of the Asian peoples provide the muscle while Japanese provide the brains. Once Li gets hitched to his loli, I just hope they avoid giving Li the Nine Bestowments if he is to remain a patriot in the Chinese vein. Though some douche bag such as Lulu would make for a decent enough recipient of the Nine Bestowments for epic faux pas.
The point that Lulu is not Japanese over looks the fact that he has gone quite native. Lulu is getting ever closer to being an Emperor with divine status (Geass powers already make him a demi-god) as Diethard (German), or Goebbels-lite (also German), is keen on creating a personality cult, hence it’s some sneaky dirty unwashed foreigner who is liable for the blame when Lulutology takes hold. Kaguya trying to pimp out the old palace practices of Japan doesn’t really help wash away Lulu’s veneer as a successor Emperor in the Japanese tradition. The key difference here is that Kaguya would have polygamy more openly rather than differentiating wife from concubines and mistresses for legal and possibly dynastic purposes as would be the case else where. (Note not necessarily a bad thing)
The Indians providing aid to the Japanese is also strange and odd given how their technology is comparable to the best Britannia has to offer yet abstain from actual combat seems to suggest that Japanese are better suited as fighters and the Indians are better suited to be producers. I have to say Rakshata is not a very flattering depiction of a foreigner as she is more along the lines of exotic seductress with her pipe and propensity for lounging about and not buttoning her shirt in certain places. While ostensibly brilliant, her tech manuals invite a bit of suspicion as they are decidedly small and not big enough to beat people to death with. Given how India can play its own games it is rather odd that while a militarily more powerful EU would have given a greater impetus toward their goal of liberation, as it would have made the powers in Luoyang look north rather than south given China’s traditional vulnerability in the steppe regions given that her navy in the Geassverse is sufficient deterrent to the Royal Navy, it is ignored in favor arming a merry band of terrorists with dangerously nebulous goals. By arming the Elevens they were in effect showing off some new tech that is superior to their nominal Chinese allies’ quite why this goes unnoticed is strange to say the least… I’d go deeper but this is merely the tip of a rather potentially monstrous iceberg. There are no allies, and no equals here, it is not a common struggle to unite the Earth Sphere. It is a national epic in the vein of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History of the Kings of Great Britain (it includes the original King Arthur), which in the modern sense is oozing with propaganda and wanton imperialism.
The portrayal of women is probably less than flattering as well since strong women in a more dominant independent role are for the most part frowned upon. Kallen maybe strong as a fighter, but she needs Lulu (her man) to tell her what to do, even going so far as begging him to order her around. While the fanservicey nature of the show does demand that every woman be some how alluring, including Nina, they are nonetheless by and large dependent on a man. Cornelia was about as close as we got to a strong independent female who was master of her own destiny and leader of men, and her unhappy fate was to lose her sister and her brave soldiers to the machinations of a “superior” if more physically weak man. Hence the most GAR of women loses to the physically weak man. Since I am after all a dude and my view is decidedly skewed and itsubun is taking challenges I humbly request that the female blogging collective, Round Robin (or as I call them the Frauleinwehr). Weigh in at some point at their leisure. You can tell that I am most displeased with the current treatment of my Warrior Princess…
I hope that Goro Taniguchi and the Sunrise team are not actually endorsing the events of those dark times and embracing military adventurism. They do nevertheless rile up ill feelings that never really healed. By adopting real places and real people, it does raise some disquieting allusions for those familiar with the war where millions died not so long ago. Given the right circumstances CG like a lot of things can be interpreted as vile propaganda, it’s just easier with something as charged Geass. I just hope that they plan to end it all tastefully. By tying themselves to the past and present they limit the breadth and scope of the tale they could have woven. However by invoking real places and real peoples they are pretty much walking on eggs loaded with dynamite. Stylistic choices are like diction they color how a story will be interpreted. They have defined the other, but I wonder if they intended to depict the “other” in such a manner that I hypothesize.
End Subliminal message.
If Lulu’s victory is complete in the end it will be a tacit endorsement of militarism at its worst, the doctrine that might makes right for certain people and not others. I hope that they end it that every one loses and that the horror of war and folly of oppression as a means to gain an empire will be the finally legacy and not any implicit endorsement of war as best weapon in the diplomatic arsenal. The scary thing is that while propaganda is not new Sunrise has been able to bring it or a close relative of propaganda on a prime time slot. If it is propaganda then the implications are alarming, if it is a tasteless joke regarding world affairs coupled with mecha and harem fanservice it is much more benign and palatable. Sure it may be just a story, but so was Triumph of the Will and Birth of a Nation. Every nation engages in this sort of behavior, I just take solace in the fact that DoD public affairs guys are just so terrible at it that no one takes their word without a fist full of salt.
I’d advise one to be wary of digging too deep in Geass one may not like what they find. Again I hope that this is one show where one is by and large asked to turn on, tune in, and drop out. Otherwise you might not be unlike those who loved Birth of a Nation unconditionally. It maybe superbly done, but the message might still be hitting too close for some who belong to the “other” category.
The Moral.
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36 Comments
Haha, I didn’t understand half of your wonderful writing because I don’t get military stuff, or maybe it’s just cos your intelligence is just too advanced for a dumbie like me
But I don’t think Lulu should win in the end cos the whole thing should just be like a Death Note ending. Yeah, no one agrees with me that Lulu should die and CC should shoot him and Kallen should witness his pitiful death all because the real bad guy is Lulu’s father. If only there was a nicer way to resolve things like Hammer-scissors-papers.
Hey Crusader. I will definitely pitch this idea to the girls, although it’ll be a while before we get around to it due to the availability of other topics that they want to address first. Thank you for the suggestion. I’m sure the R-R members will have a lot of differing and interesting perspectives on the issue.
My secret to liking Code Geass is not to take it too literally. To me, it is like the Lance Burton Magic Show of Anime! As for the insights that can be extracted from this show, it is really up to the individuals.
@blissmo
I have my own take on how Code Geass could be done and it ends with Lulu killed by Kallen. :p
Why isn’t this article showing up on the front page of THAT?
Well Crusader-kun, although we have had our differences regarding the girls of True Tears, and even though I sometimes disagree with you regarding other editorials that you wrote, I have to say that there’s no doubt that you always put a lot of thought into them, and often make very good points regardless of whether I disagree with them or not. This is no different, heck, this may be one of the better articles you’ve written.
It’s a far more interesting and educational read than the “objective analysis” by “certain people”, that’s for sure.
You can not drop Code Geass. I will never forgive you.
You’re being too judgmental.
I think you’re looking way, way too into a shonen action anime.
Like Freud said, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
This is just silly. I think you are digging too deep. Anything and everything can be found to be wrong in some sense, but I think in this case you are just looking for something that is not there.
I manage by firmly believing the end of the series will have a merry cadre of emotional casualties against all odds putting Lelouch and all his works into its grave, then walking away into the post-apocalyptic sunset aware that for all the misery that entailed, letting it go on any longer would have just let Lelouch make things even worse, *somehow*.
Thing being that’s what made me stick with season one until the end and then Sunrise blew my mind by having that actually *happen*. So we might be overdrawn on our “the righteous bereaved sets out after the vile one in the midst of a massive chaotic upheaval under cover of a nuke threat, obtains sanction and acceptance from the loved one of his wronged most important person in a moment of moving emotional catharsis, runs down the vile one, faces him down, when he erects his shields of deception that had never failed him before shines the light of truth onto his lies rendering them as ashes, has a “Thy Dastardly Deeds are Done!” moment, and then proceeds to methodically nail his ass to the wall while neutralizing his ally with naught but the aura of the righteousness of his cause. Brings His Man in Alive like some kind of super-Mounty, only indulging in grinding his face into the floor with one hand when situationally relevant.” account. But I’m still buzzed enough from that to put up with a lot, I find.
Don’t be worried about those that commented you are going too deep. After all, animation originated not as merely some cartoon/entertainment but Art that serves as a societal critique: animeshon
Certainly, I view animation as a symptom of modernity, as a (perhaps weak) voice of the artist. Even fanservice in animation speaks of a certain symptom that deserves more critical attention: what defines fanservice; who does it cater to?; why is it there? and so on and so forth.
Thanks for the insightful read. It certainly is refreshing. I look forward to more articles like these.
your write up is pretty interesting. i dropped the show early on because when i thought about it the premise bothered me a lot. for me the notion of japan as an oppressed colonized country didn’t jive too well with what I know of east asia & south asia history & japanese colonialism (not to mention where’s room for the story of internal colonialization like okinawa and hokkaido in stories like these? none and that’s too bad) and in the show the japanese need someone from the colonizer’s side to give them independence (tired old trope of white man to the rescue – no thanks). having a character like suzaku who’s basically a collaborator be a major part of the story was interesting, but not enough to make the whole thing worth keeping up with where i was concerned. just my two cents.
@blissmo
My knowledge of those times is a pretty niche thing, so don’t feel bad you weren’t an aspiring history major. I am as dumb as everyone else, its just that I excel in areas of limited practical use.
@itsubun
Thank you for passing it on, comrade. I look forward to seeing the results some day.
@The Sojourner
This is what I found I do hope they jest. If there is more like this to be extracted I’d sooner dismiss it than delve deeper and more greedily.
@Ascaloth
I respectfully request that you not suggest that there ought to be comparisons made, all opinions are equal.
Perhaps we do not agree on the issue at hand nonetheless thanks for reading. Lastly Noe won a moral victory. XD
@LDC
The phrase does not belie my intention to drop it.
@Halcyon
I hope you are right. I really do hope that this cigar is nothing more than a cigar.
@dan
I dared to dig, and I found Durin’s Bane.
@jack
In essence let’s hope for the Spirit of Tomino to bring the thunder.
@A
There is always a message in art, however the message that might be here is not one I like.
@mu
Yeah they elected to draw upon something that is far too recent for them to be bold and daring without being insulting. Perhaps if the story took place in a world without a real world parallel then things would have been different, but such is life I suppose.
Well you know what Tomino said about Gundam, that “it’s just a giant robot show.” Of course that was after he said it was more than a giant robot show and was about war and humanity. I don’t think the CG writers are looking to make these connections you are making, rather they are writing a show to make a lot of money. And this show makes a lot of money by having fanservice, giant robots, and keikaku doori.
“Hence the most GAR of women loses to the physically weak man.”
And I see little problem with that, brains > brawn in my book. Maybe that’s because I’m a physically weak man with brains myself
I never cared much for Cornelia.
If you really want to check out if/what statement the director/production staff is trying to make you should cross-reference and compare any earlier works done by the Studio or the director. That’d give you an idea of whether or not there’s a subconscious message to the work.
IMHO, as interesting as Code Geass is (and we can probably sit here all day and come up with multiple allusions as to what parts of CG has), the product as a whole seems to really sum up to a nice, pretty entertaining show with lots of fanservice, mecha and action sequences which is really to target a certain demographic for merchandise tie-ins (I mean really, how seriously can you take an anime that plugs Pizza Hut every few episodes? Requisite Product Placement? Check!).
With the first season proving moderately successful this season seems to be geared towards capitalizing on that success by introducing new characters and mechas that Sunrise/Bandai can sell you via figurines and model kits.
That’s just my 2 cents.
@Calawain
You mean tactical elegance < Keikaku magic. Lulu lacks brains what he has is ego and magic in abundance, given how he never really learned how to play chess properly I think he’s been Geassing people to get good grades…
I have never met a man who was so smart as to outwit a well aimed bullet. We need to increase you toughness stat someday.
@Halcyon
As mecha go Knightmare Frames just aren’t as sexy as the VF series and certain Gundams IMHO. They’re not bad but they just don’t beg to be bought. Given their recent work I think Sunrise is rather favorable to terrorism as some sort of over romanticized rebellion of a few “inspired” individuals with alarmingly nebulous and mutable goals. Personally I think that they are implicitly aiding and abetting terrorism because they do not understand what it really is nor do they understand the circumstances that brought it about. They see it as little more than a David vs Goliath struggle, sadly those that they claim are “Davids” are in the minority for a reason, namely because what they advocate is not tolerable to the majority.
Can’t help but feel your taking a somewhat biased and/or overly negative approach again when reading into what Sunrise is trying to accomplish in this series. While I agree there have been instances of nationalism, I feel that the series is bringing the idea up and then knocking it down with the actions and portrayal of some of the characters more then glorifying it. I wrote a response to this article on my blog if you’d care to read it.
Anyway, as for Gundam 00, come on man, Counterrorists Won and they even used the very symbol of the company in the Gundam getting trashed to show it. That seems like a pretty anti-terrorist message if you ask me.
I don’t know how much of it’s politically motivated… since depending on which episode of Geass you’re looking at, they’re either ultra-nationalistic… or extremely liberal. And, to be blunt, the American Revolution basically began as what we would now dub a terrorist operation – insurgents operating with the tacit support of the populace against what are seen as oppressive tyrants by the natives but who are seen as the light of civilization fighting against overeager and deluded idealists. Now, anti-Americanism is rife in the series, especially with how Britannia = America without the nuclear bomb, and with a policy of charging into countries and imposing their own values – this is effectively what happened to Japan in the 1950’s, after all… although it wasn’t as oppressive as it’s shown here. In one way, you could look at the Britannian invasion of Area Eleven as the American occupation, post-WW2; new political institutions imposed on the population of an occupied country after it lost a war against a greater industrial power. On the other hand, they may be (to some extent, with the finesse of someone whose research was all done on Wikipedia and Youtube) be trying to retell the story of the American Revolution with Japan as ‘America’.
One reason the Japanese Imperial Army records are incomplete (to put it mildly) is due to the nature of the policies imposed by the xenophobic, extremely hostile-to-the-inhabitants Imperial policies which mirror some of those enacted by Charles vi Britannia (displacing populations, immediate second-class citizenship of the locals, resorting quickly to drastic measures while declaring the superiority of the Japanese/Britannian by virtue of culture and blood). The other reason is probably because most of those records were destroyed by the Imperial Army itself towards the end, to avoid providing any useful data to the conquerors… unlike the meticulous Germans, whose fanatical attention to detail is why German engineering was seen as being top-notch even after WW2’s failures in various fields of engineering and technology. Part of that difference is cultural as well – the Japanese aren’t as strong on record-keeping as some of their neighbors, IIRC. Chinese society, in contrast, has been copying down things for millenia.. and with the heavily bureaucratized governments of later dynasties and the emphasis on literacy created by the spread of Confuscianism as well as rise of the Mandarin system, there were strong incentives to write down EVERYTHING. The Koreans, being Chinese-influenced to some extent, also appear to have been somewhat better as record-keepers, if I’m remembering it correctly, than the Japanese have been, even after contacts with both cultures (trade and warfare).
As for strong women being put down? I suspect it’s more that, if you’re not a loli or a main character, you’re either put on a bus, put in the freezer, or sidelined until fanservice is required… which is typical of most anime. Major Kusanagi is an EXCEPTION, not the norm, as far as ’strong’ women go in anime. And even she gets turned into a fanservice machine. Female characters in anime are either supporting characters, in my experience, of else objects to sell the show to various target markets, at least in the past decade or so. Strong women tend to have to be sexy in order to get any screentime and NOT get killed… and even then, that happens to a lot of them (that, or they get turned strictly into a romance-plot character).
And to be blunt, the terrorists have won victories in the past – that’s how a lot of nations in the past century or two got started, IIRC. Now, if you want a REALLY nationalistic Japanese show, I can name two off the top of my head: Gasaraki and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. Not ONLY does Japan have the best military tech in the world, but in the former the Americans are shown as bumbling idiots who can be outdone by a single Mile-One powered Tactical Armor in a desert country that just happens to bear a strong resemblance to Afghanistan or Kazakhstan… while the latter has the JAPANESE Miracle negating the effects of fallout all over the world following several short nuclear exchanges, and at the end of Second Gig has the Japanese military machine putting paid to the American Empire’s submarines. Oh, and there’s those CIA guys who are portrayed in the typically slimy manner which combines the Incompetent Spy trope with the insensitive gaijin who gets others to do his dirty work for him. And don’t forget that CIA agents were the assassins in that show, as well as unleashing a certain terrorist who was a Special Forces soldier engaged in deniable operations.
PS: Gasaraki was directed by a certain Goro Taniguchi and produced by a certain anime company named Sunrise, as you may remember. You need to look elsewhere for their really nationalistic stuff. Anti-Americanism has always been rife in anime, but its rise to a more visible profile has to do with a certain country’s unpopular foreign policy than it does to right-wing nationalism. I will mention, as a spoiler, that one of the villains was (IIRC), using the Americans even while cooperating with them… and the Americans basically were the losers in that show.
@Kaioshin
I cannot help but feel that you all too easily dismiss what history of the conflict you know little about. The Second Sino-Japanese War and the Second World War have everything to do with how Japanese define themselves in the modern context and it has dictated the relationships of every nation that suffered Japanese Imperialism. To say the war has no bearing on Japanese society is to say that Galipoli was not a watershed moment for Australia, that the Blackest Day on the Somme was but a trifling matter for England, that Dieppe was merely a raid gone bad, and that Verdun only cost a paltry price on French national consciousness. The hard hand of war has an influence much more lasting than you can possibly imagine. The Balkans is a prime example of it when it is loosed without any pretensions of niceties and is a clear example what hatred unhealed and undimmed can do to competing peoples.
You underestimate how nationalism and war go hand in hand. So readily did you dismiss the history as “unrelated” tells me you do not wish to acknowledge what nationalism can unleash. Sure there are sympathetic Britannnians, but they are nearly all women, all of which are soft spoken, nice, caring, desiring only to support and nurture. In essence the ideal Japanese wife, Britannian men are for the most part bad, but their women are desirable and Japanese-like. Just because the women are are segregated off and cast in a different light does not mean by default that the “other” is therefore equal. During the war men were slaughtered with out so much as a thought, women however were spared, only to be dragged off to brothels. Given the historical precedent I do find it alarming that a male Britannian patriot is absent, while Britannian women are paraded around as objects of otaku desire.
You see merely friendship between Kaguya and Tian zi however, the latter is smaller, more naive and looks up to Kaguya. Therefore one cannot help but wonder why such “friendship” was not between two girls of similar age. Rather Tian zi clings to Kaguya like a child implicitly endorsing the paternal justification that leads to imperialism, hence they are only helping development and not occupying. You assume that their relationship is equal look closer and then questions start arising often with alarming possibilities.
Sure the terrorists “lose” but they are still the heroes. The South lost the American Civil War but they remain the romantic heroes who fought a “just” cause. The South also lost in “Gone with the Wind,” but there is nonetheless as tacit suggestion and advocacy that slavery was not brutal and Blacks were happy under it. They “might” be knocking down national identities, but underlying it all is a subtle advancement of Japanese values and that for there to be peace that the other must be like them. You have no ties to that conflict that is your luxury not mine. I am far more keenly aware of the rhetoric that led to Japan’s 50 years of war since the Meiji and whether they intended to or not they are drawing from that pool of ideas for inspiration.
For Kallen to be Kallen she had to reject her Britannian half in order to excel. She has niether fully reconciled with her other half having to portray her Britannian persona as weak and infantile. So why did she have to opt for a weak sickly persona rather than a yankee rebel? Was strength only possible in her Japanese identity? Kallen is more Japanese than Britannian in her “need” to be told around, her need to have Lulu do the thinking for her, she is submissive in that sense. In that sense she is closer to the Japanese ideal rather than the western norm. As I said before these parts of my brain are permanently active I have heard the rhetoric before the undertone is there. Perhaps it is not as sinister as you say, but the final say will be had in the end. Racial bigotry is not merely about slaughter of the other, it also includes turning the other into children or people who ought to be like you. Racism can be subtle and invasive.
@Haesslich
The thing that we have to remember is that at the outset that the American Revolution was not about independence. At the early stages it remained a campaign to unseat the ruling faction of Parliament and force a change in policy as George III had his opponents at home. Up until the King declared it a rebellion it was little more than organized riots. Once the early stage passed the Rebels were playing “by the rules” and suffered for it. In that sense the American Revolution was more along the lines of a peasant rebellion than classic insurgency as line battles were still being fought and armies not cells were fighting.
From what I gathered there was a mad search for what ever documents there were because even the US was aware of the Japanese trying to develop the atom bomb. France was ahead of the game when the Second World War started, but their materials were quickly sized by the Germans. One of the reasons why the French Resistance needed guns paradropped was because gun registration was so good that the Germans got a hold of the records and proceeded to seize all that they could.
Of bits and pieces that survive from the IJA and IJN, I have to say that from what I have seen I am not impressed. As far as I can tell those who could BS the best got promoted in spite of failures in the field. Strangely enough the most methodical (dry and boring) and detailed records come from the artillery arms. Japan’s artillery arm was pathetically weak while the Germans counted them amongst the elite (Stug III and assault gun crews) in comparison there is reason to suspect why there is such a gap in record keeping. Fortunately for European theater buffs the Major Allies (US, Commonwealth, UK, and USSR) had their strongest arm in artillery hence depending on where you look you get some very detailed stuff.
I know that Gasaraki and GitS are overtly racist, however there is still something to be said for being subtle. Triumph of the Will was notable free of anti-antisemitism, and in doing so made it more acceptable for Germans who lapped it up and supported Hitler and his cronies. In this day and age overt racism is frowned upon, however subtle racism, the enforcement of stereotypes for example is still at work. Hence why the KKK under David Duke were more polite, but the message was ultimately the same.
Sunrise has had stronger women in ages past like in Crest of the Stars. Alas in recent years they seem to have been shafted… T_T
… do I need to point out that this is a bit like the pot calling the kettle black? Racism, and reverse-racism, is alive and well in America.. and growing, according to some reports, due to both the way histories are being reworded to be more ‘politically correct’ as well as due to growing economic uncertainty? The illegal immigrant issues, and immigration in general, are particularly sensitive topics in the United States right now, and ethnic stereotypes are still playing well in TV.
Japan has always been somewhat xenophobic, and the entertainment will reflect the biases of the controlling majority/minority. Do I need to point back to early anime traditionally having Japanese heroes, or at least Japanese-appearing ones, even if their hair is blond, or red, or even blue? Or that many villains tended to be stereotypical images of foreigners? As a show, Geass is merely one of many, rather than a red-flag indicator of rising anti-foreigner sentiment.
Granted, that IS on the rise, but that’s more due to economic pressures, as well as unpopular stances taken by what are seen as foreign powers, than anything else. People tend to be more concerned about jobs, their personal comforts, et al rather than high-standing political ideals… at least, until they’re impacted in one of the above areas, which is where politicians can start manipulating the prejudices. Not that this is limited to Japan, mind you…
@Crusader: Are you sure you aren’t confusing real history with Code Geass. I mean it’s like you have two seperate unrelated thought processes going here. I argue you overestimate the relationship between this series and events that have happened in real history. Just because you can make connections in your own head between events that have happened in real life and events that have happened in Code Geass, doesn’t mean it is at all intentional. You can really twist anything to take a negative and offended position.
For example take Haruhi’s blackmail of the Computer Club President in the series of the same name where she abuses Mikuru sexually against her will to incriminate the guy so she can make him give up the room. Kyon’s feeble attempt to resist and the idea that Haruhi won out could be interpreted as Kyoani, Kadokawa implicating that rape or at least the sexual abuse of women is okay on top of the use of blackmail, but nobody does because we realize it’s just anime.
Yes Code Geass is somewhat politically incorrect, but that’s one of the things I think keeps it interesting. Besides accusing the producers of malice and intent to justify past attrocities of the Japanese during wartime that are best mildly related in seperation by several forced degrees to those that have transpired in Code Geass seems almost like slight paranoia and taking things a bit to far. It’s like dan says, ” Anything and everything can be found to be wrong in some sense, but I think in this case you are just looking for something that is not there.”
And Tian Zi is young and naive because she is. She’s been kept in a castle her whole life, knows nothing of the outside world and has no real power, whereas Kaguya has experienced far more and at least has some status and influence. Kaguya is the only friend Tian Zi has ever had and they have become very close, so of coure she’s going to be somewhat clingy towards her. It really has nothing to do with Japanese superiority over China unless you are actively trying to find a way to intepret it as such.
Britannia also has it’s men that are portrayed as nasty and undesirable in Nina, Rohmeyer, Viletta and to some extent Cornelia etc. as much as it has it’s men who are portrayed as charming, honorable and decently likeable in Lelouch, Rivalz, Lloyd, Kanon, Guilford and to some extent Schneizel (even if it’s just a mask) etc.
Also when the emancipation proclamation was given and the slaves were freed some of them geniunely did wish to remain with the families to which they had previously belonged as what was defined as property and didn’t believe there was any wrong in what had happened because it was the way they had been raised. The notion that their ancestors had been mistreated only kicked in in full swing later down the line of their family trees. To that extent the notion of right and wrong was defined by the circumstances of period and generational experiences. What the civil war has to with Code Geass though I’m not sure.
Really the crux of your whole argument seems to come from the idea that because you know a lot about the history of war (real life war) that the series is promoting racial discrimnation and supremacy. What I ask do the Civil War, World War II, the Sino-Japanese War etc. have to do with Code Geass? I’m not so much saying you don’t raise some interesting points (mostly about stuff that happened in real life) but the idea that you think we should believe without question that Sunrise is engaged in some sort of propoganda campaign just because you can loosely tie in your own mind (and I still don’t get what they have to do with the matter) real life war crimes to Code Geass doesn’t sit well with me. You can raise the question, but I don’t think you’ve proven anything.
Again I think I also think there’s far too much bias and assumption in this article, because it insists and hinges on the idea that we only look at one interpretation of the events (yours) to reach the conclusion.
You mean tactical elegance < Keikaku magic. Lulu lacks brains what he has is ego and magic in abundance, given how he never really learned how to play chess properly I think he’s been Geassing people to get good grades…
Oh come on -_-
Don’t let your distaste for Lelouch make you believe that he’s not a brilliant person. He comes up with plenty of amazing plans and strategies without using his geass, just his mind. Don’t be hateful because he beat Cornelia a few times~
I have never met a man who was so smart as to outwit a well aimed bullet. We need to increase you toughness stat someday.
Weren’t you the one that made a post about how a great tactical commander is the greatest military asset one could have? And you can outsmart a bullet by not being anywhere near the guy with the gun~
@Calawain
Lulu is a brilliant politician, I’ll give him that. As a commander, Lulu is Ney to Cornelia’s Davout.
@Haesslich
In ages past the “alien other” was more easily silenced it is only in the modern era where people are trying to define equality and the dynamics of minority rights in light of rule by majority. It was not long ago that Imperialism was overtaken by nationalism which led groups who previously have little sense of identity to then define themselves by defining the “other.” America was never ethnically pure as a nation state yet it is somewhat unique in that it is a nation made up of people who were or descended from disillusioned expats who left their native homes for something better. Squabbles will be a character of life in the US but it is harder if not impossible to create another film like “Birth of a Nation.”
The peculiar difference between Amreican and Japanese xenophobia is that in the latter it is almost expected and to a degree accepted that they will never like or accept Gaijin. In the former given the diverse nature of its populace any sort of xenophobia is in turn met with similarly vile vitriol against that group by other Americans. The illusion is that America is racist, in a sense like every one else we are, however we still reserve the worst of it for other Americans. If you look at the squabbles in the political scene opposing parties are seen as even more vile enemies than the alien outsiders. Special hatred is reserved for those Americans that their fellow Americans label as traitor and fifth columnist.
Political tricks are as old as civilization, the death of one requires the death of the other. When you are dirt poor it does not by default mean you will blame the “other” the reason why communism was able to take root in the poorest of countries was because it provided a more alluring alternative to religion. A paradise on earth where all men were equal and no one was rich or poorer than his fellow man. Communist revolutions start out very much as a class war, hence why the immigration issue, the war on terror, have been sidelined in favor of economic recovery. As far as I can tell corporate profits and oil prices are the sore spots getting attacked not fruit pickers.
@Kaioshin
The Second World War and especially its end had a significant impact on Japanese social consciousness and politics, we cannot ignore that when it comes to nukes they to get especially touchy. Sunrise belongs to this society and cannot be divorced from it. It influenced how Japan and Japanese people perceive themselves and their neighbors. I do not think I am forcing the issue by several degrees and they have made stylistic choices that are evocative of old imperialist propaganda.
Tian zi is not merely small she is diminutively small its a trick as old as the hills. It portrays her as small childlike in need of an honest protector, a Japanese Kaguya. They said it themselves the Tian zi is a symbol of China, hence it will invite questions as to why this symbol is small almost to the point of ridiculousness. You are free to come up with your own answer, but it does evoke the old propaganda of the small Filipino boy seeking shelter from Uncle Sam. She is free to be loli, but I wonder why it has to be loli to the point of three year old child.
Just because a few slaves wanted to stay with the master does not change the fact that while Sherman Marched to the sea that many more flocked to his forces. This is in the deep South mind you where it had been nothing but slavery since 1776. Yet tragically many chose to die rather than go back when Sherman out paced them and in one case had to outright abandon them. While there was a veneer of parental care from the masters, it does not change the fact that there were brutal measures of enforcement when master felt like it. The Civil War and the south does serve as a parallel because both led to “Birth of a Nation” which is in the mold of CG to a degree.
In regards to Rape in Japan it has come to the point that it has become a quip that it is their way of saying hello. They are associated with tentacle rape to a strong, and in light of that what Haruhi did seems tame in comparison. It is not right, but by now it is almost expected, though that does not make it right. The trick there is that Haruhi is a woman abusing another woman, of the same nationality. It carries no racial overtones, and it would seem to me that men are not nuanced enough to define how objectionable it is because there was no active male involvement. We can however blast Kyon for his inaction, understandable though it may be. The Computer Club president had no recourse but to cooperate as it was his word against hers and she had a photo, they had no woman to lend weight to their cause, and given her powers of manipulation the truth was insufficient in comparison to an elaborate lie.
You are free to make of it what you will, but my main point stands. By tying themselves to this history and by ceaselessly throwing around the names of real places and real people they are walking on eggs loaded with dynamite. It is not a big of a stretch to realize the parallels that they are drawing from history. I say again that that history is incredibly fraught and whether they intended to or not will also be drawing upon racial hatreds that are far from dead. Birth of a Nation was at one time seen as the truth, it was acceptable. Code Geass may well be the national epic that Sunrise wants it to be, and in doing so no matter how polite it maybe the possibility that while overtly against the military and the racist they are consciously or unconsciously reinforcing stereotypes. The perquisite of tolerance and nobility is not that it is okay to be different, but rather that they be like them.
They are not politically correct, but we have to wonder to what end?
The ‘alien other’ is pretty easy to silence even now – you jail him, per China, marginalize him (per Japan), or else send him to Gitmo on trumped-up charges – or not even charged, per anti-terrorism laws passed with the Patriot Act – (the United States) or just make sure their access to modern communications methods are low due to either lack of education or lack of economic opportunities. When it comes right down to it, you can still quiet them – you just have to know who to talk to with the people in power, or be a member of the minority who DO hold that influence by dint of birth or connections.
And may I point out that Americans tend to be racist to other Americans mostly because of their visually being different, rather than being religiously or politically on another side? Especially since 9/11 – the enemy in MANY TV shows and movies have been Arabs, or at least Middle Eastern in derivation. The anti-immigrant backlash in southern states has focused more around Hispanics than refugees from war-torn African countries… although they still get more attention than say… Bosnians who fled the Balkans in the 1990’s. Iraqis who left their country during the Saddam years were targeted as possible security risks, and Japanese were interred during the 1940’s due in large part because they were obvious targets. Germans and Italians similarly got FBI attention, but not to the same extent of property seizures and internment which paralleled the Japanese internment of British and American soldiers captured during the Second World War.
Japan has the excuse of being isolationalist for centuries; America has no such excuse for its own similar acts, as you’ve pointed out the ‘melting pot’ effect which was a result of rampant immigration for centuries combined with the fact that the country itself is an amalgamation of several territories either bartered for or conquered… all of them with their own different cultural backgrounds (Spanish, French, Native American). These prejudices are reflected in the shows created around the time… and Code Geass, and most anime of the past five years, reflects anti-Americanism (thinly veiled or not) than blatant racism. Racism is a factor in Japanese politics still – see the way they have confronted (or not confronted) atrocities against Chinese or Koreans during the Second World War, and how Koreans in Japan still get near-burakumin treatment despite being second or third-generation descendants of people relocated to Japan… but that isn’t reflected in the shows I’ve seen in the past five, ten years.
Anti-Americanism is NOT racism – it’s just antipathy towards a nation which has both built up Japan as an economic power by providing it with support during the post-war years when starvation was a threat as well as introducing certain technologies later refined by the Japanese… and the sense of injured pride that comes from being kept militarily weak in the face of Russian/Soviet and Chinese military threat profiles becoming ever more prominent as they’ve becone economic competitors instead of just potential customers. That, and the impressions of toadying from recent Prime Minsters who have basically toed the American line regarding Iraq and Afghanistan, among other things.
And while the ‘war on terror’ has been sidelined to some extent, that applies mostly to ‘common folk’ who are seeing few tangible results in their own lives and rising costs of living due to situations which were unintentionally exacerbated by the aftermath of those two wars in question… namely the destruction of the oil industry’s infrastruction in Iraq, as well as growing anti-American hostility worldwide which has resulted in old suppliers being less willing to offer favorable deals to their American partners.
“Well you know what Tomino said about Gundam, that “it’s just a giant robot show.” Of course that was after he said it was more than a giant robot show and was about war and humanity. I don’t think the CG writers are looking to make these connections you are making, rather they are writing a show to make a lot of money. And this show makes a lot of money by having fanservice, giant robots, and keikaku doori.”
Interesting point there.
I’ve always wondered what was Geass all about. From face value it seems pretty damn trashy but if you want to be pretentious, it has some moments that seem to signify a deeper show. Taniguchi, being a good director, makes the possibility for a smart show less outworldly.
Having seen Goro Taniguchi’s other stuff (Gasaraki, Planetes, Infinite Ryvius), Geass kind of feels absurdly out of place. Why use CLAMP character designs? Why throw chock-a-block-full of fanservice in random spots such as Kallen’s ass, skimpy dresses, lewd magazine posters, Pizza Hut product placement, incest/homosexual undertones, loli characters? Why even have Mechs in the show? Don’t forget about the school life elements which is currently the cool thing in Japan (heck Macross F’s QUALITY episode 8 had the highest TV ratings of all episodes).
Who knows, but while I can look at it with my ‘Deep Symbolism Glasses’, it’s getting harder and harder for me as it’s feeling more and more like an amalgam of everything popular in Anime today. Throw in some good symbolism that can make sense if you squint hard enough and you’ve got a blockbuster. First dozen or so episodes of Geass were simply fantastic but I do admit it has fallen a bit into commercial whoring.
For things to end somewhat happily, Suzaku dies in a confrontation with Lulu, CC, and Kallen. The emperor shoots Lulu which drives Kallen mad and kills him while CC takes care of his Geass. Nina blows herself up trying to come up with the Atom bomb to avenge Eupphie. Nunnally inherits the throne while Schneizel goes on to become #1 host of the enormous Britannia Club (previously known as Mexico). Kallen goes crazy and does some cult-like thing with Zero as the prophet-savior (just like Death Note). Kaguya opens her ZeroLand with attractions such as “How long can you withstand Guren’s radiation arm.”
CC takes over the world as CEO/chairman/owner of Pizza Hut and builds them all over the world proclaiming the new grilled meat/veggie pizzas to be the universal food of humanity. Domino’s resort to 5min delivery or free in order to keep pace. DiGiorno gets a hostile take over by CC piloting a resurrected Gawain.
Lulu, Suzaku, and Charles battle in Hell to see who would be Satan’s biatch.
@Haesslich: I really agree with you here, the thing is it also works both ways as you say. Even American video games in recent years have been putting you in the shoes of American soldiers who go to the Middle East and shoot up the bad guys. (Muslim Terrosists and Theocratic Leaders) Does this mean we should all be outraged that games like Army of 2 seem to be promoting the idea that we all need to head over there and shoot em’ up because they are evil enemies and need to die AND that American soldiers are so superior that two ultra bad ass one liner spewing “dudes” can handle the situation does fine. Not really, it’s just a game (a rather crappy one too), but one can see how it can work both ways too.
By the way, for all the moaning that’s been done over the Pizza Hut product placement, the show is still nowhere near dethroning Lucky Star as the champion of product placement, where nearly every Kadokwa/Bandai and Toei product that was red hot at the time (including intersting enough Code Geass) was featured as if to give the nod that you should go buy it, although no more or less then Code Geass is saying that because C.C is eating Pizza that you should go out and get a slice too at your local Pizza Hut branch.
I don’t understand why people get extra pissy about it when it’s Geass though as it’s becoming more and more common place in anime anyway. I think people just resent the fact it’s popular and are looking for things to complain about again. Maybe they might want to start spreading the “love” around to shows that are just as deserving if not moreso.
@Haesslich
Communications equipment are not prohibitively expensive, even the day laborers have cell phones. Public Libraries have free access and there are no shortage of lobbying groups and advocacy groups to take up a worthy cause. We have the ACLU for some people they are more vile that Al Qaeda. Even if you silence one man there are plenty on the outside who will call for his release. In America it is not that only a few have a voice, it is how loud you shout. Hence why those people who picket military funerals and blame Homosexuals get a lot more attention than their numbers would warrant. Again shout loud enough and you will be heard.
Both Arabs and Hispanics are part of the more recent wave of immigration. Once the hubbub dies down and they have been here long enough things tend to ease off. In America you will always hear of it, in a more ethnically “pure” state the minority cannot even so much as complain. America is not a melting pot we do not end up the same. We are morel like fruit salad. We are in close contact and taken collectively, yet remain distinct. The reason why America lashes out a the other is when a war takes place. Immigration has always been a problem, one that has been over looked and ignored for so long that the situation appears nigh un-salvagable. However because there is no dominant group there is an impasse that is too difficult now to surmount.
The way I see it given how America is made up of a bunch of diverse people whose compatriots back in the motherland are also racist it makes sense that we ourselves can be racist. Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing” is a simple highlight of the complexities of having to deal with the other face to face as equals. You think we ought to know better, but those who attacked on 9/11 looked alike and inevitably their faces defined the hated other that dared to attack a civilian target. The common perception is that only Caucasians can be racist and are pretty much the vast majority of racists in the US. This is patently false even the non-White minorities are capable of racism just as vile and just as poisonous. We are still a part of the peoples we left, and thusly are scarcely better. The only thing we have going is that we were all sick of life back in the motherland, however our reasons are all different.
I wish it were better, at least in the units I have seen, cooperation between servicemen is not inhibited by any racial bigotry and the desire to see Azzam the American on a pike near universal.
Japan’s seeming military weakness also allows it to invest much more in its economy. They remain a major naval power in the region so until China creates enough military might to challenge the USN a Japanese Naval Buildup is not urgently needed. China is well aware that any naval build up they do would lead to a game of “risk theory” with a possible more bloody Jutland being a likely out come. Given how Hu is still strangling people in his own party and fighting corruption a replay of the Battle of the Yalu River will be on his mind. The US does not keep it “weak” without rhyme or reason. If Japan were to re-arm it would spark an arms race Japan could ill-afford, while China’s economy remains strong. The Russian Pacific Fleet is a shadow of its former glory, and China lacks the Navy to overtly invade Japan. We also have to Keep South Korea, arguably a more valuable ally given their military might happy. It’s not just that they need the American Nuclear Umbrella, its also because the cost of going at it alone would require huge expenditures of national wealth that they would have a hard time justifying to a constituency still longing for the 1980s. Building a bomb is no small matter and it would give rise South Korea an North Korea going nuclear if Japan does the same.
The Koreans are still wary of a militarily powerful Japan. India is probably the ideal counterbalance to China’s growing might. US foreign policy is not guided by the hand of malice, but rather one that is lazy. Japan is for practical purposes a Great Power in reality if not in name, the reason why the Japan US alliance is so invaluable is because of a China, which is at the brink of Superpower might. Japan is too dependent on imports to be a superpower without building another empire. It is not all together an unequal relationship as Washington and Tokyo have haggled over bases and ships. During the Nixon’s Era it was precisely because Japan was not a puppet state under the heel of Washington that opening relations with China was desirable. It put pressure on India, Japan, and the USSR in a single swoop.
The oil pinch is also leading to the rise in the cost of food every where including the Middle East. In globalization price hikes ripple more easily.
@Tiger
Bills must be paid, and bonuses must be given. Better to advertise than to make the episode on the cheap.
@physics152
C2 will be queen of the Combine!
@Kaioshin
Army of Two was a lukewarm game. Shooting up Arabs is not going to sell a game. Hence if it were a critical and commercial success people would have cared, but it was not so it is a forgotten failure as it should be. Did you even play the game? The message was mercs cool, military bad. It was not for the most part a celebration of nationalism or patriotism, but of capitalism. At least that is what I saw for the few hours I played.
Speaking of racism in games the question remains whether or not RE4 is racist and if RE5 is too racist. We take notice of the things that do well or might do well, as for failures there is no need to give them any more press than they already got. Code Geass is successful there fore questions will be asked as to the nature of it. Is it’s lack of political sensitivities and drawing upon a legacy of bitterness racism or is it nothing more than mecha and harem?
@Kaioshin,
As far as I can see, you’ve committed at least two logical fallacies, both of them red herrings, in your arguments against Crusader:
Appeal to Motive: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appeal_to_motive
This is where you’re basically accusing Crusader of making the argument purely because he is biased against Sunrise or Code Geass, or what have you.
Two Wrongs Make A Right: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_wrongs_make_a_right
This is where you commit a variation by pulling out examples from Kadokawa, or any of KyoAni’s works, to imply that because they’re “worser offenders” of whatever “crimes” are being discussed, what Sunrise or Code Geass do is not so bad.
I’m only pointing this out because it’s not the first time you’ve committed these red herrings, and not just to Crusader or even me; I very rarely find your arguments credible just because of these. You need to work on your argumentative style a bit more.
@Ascaloth: Actually I’m arguing that two instances make a neutral. Neither are guilty of any wrongdoing as I think I pointed out and are just anime. I merely brought up Haruhi deliberately because I know it’s something highly revered and hoped it would work to highlight to people that there’s nothing especially sinister in Geass and it’s just doing anime stuff.
Also I wasn’t arguing that Crusader was biased against the studio or show, but rather that there was bias in the argument itself (A western slant on the issue) that I think Haesslich highlighted and Crusader conceded to a little. Though when you bring up appeal to motive, isn’t Crusader doing that a little when he:
Begs the question http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Begging_the_question that it’s Taniguchi’s intent to justify militaristic nationalism and racism. Essentially he asks us to assume that is the intent in order to justify that this is the intent when he is pointing out all those historical conflicts that don’t really even get tied much to Geass in the argument now that I think about it.
I would almost argue that you are showing a little bias here to as well as you are overlooking many of the leaps of logic that people have pointed out in Crusader’s article, but somehow presenting points that I haven’t even really tried to argue. Essentially that’s a Strawman Argument. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strawman_argument Really you have yet to even confront what Crusader has postulated so before we could ever really continue (By Crusader’s graces) I would hope to hear your thoughts on it.
@Crusader: “Code Geass is successful therefore questions will be asked as to the nature of it. Is it’s lack of political sensitivities and drawing upon a legacy of bitterness racism or is it nothing more than mecha and harem?”
That’s the million dollar question. :/
I don’t understand why people get extra pissy about it when it’s Geass though as it’s becoming more and more common place in anime anyway. I think people just resent the fact it’s popular and are looking for things to complain about again. Maybe they might want to start spreading the “love” around to shows that are just as deserving if not moreso.
not to say complaining isn’t fun but i’d say it’s not just geass but since this particular show is one of the most popular animes out now and has for its bread and butter a soap opera version of realpolitik… and since japanese shows are pretty popular worldwide, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that something like geass which is created and marketed for japanese audiences will have a life outside of its intended context which is increasingly international. and since it’s referencing the real world, well, discussion of the real world is bound to be a part of that. maybe there are thoughtful and sophisticated ways of going about doing fictional imperialism or romanticizing independence movements or whatever but geass, not really… well the way they’ve calibrated the show for max fanboy/fangirl appeal is pretty sophisticated. maybe the creators don’t really care about politics or history beyond than how cool rearranging it can be. the show is just out to make money, but does that preclude serious discussion about the themes etc in this show? i don’t think so anyway. and even though the the discussion seems to have quickly coalesced along japan versus u.s. lines that’s not the only perspective on the politics of geass possible of course… plenty of english speakers with other national backgrounds who read this and other anime blogs i’m sure. sorry im too jaded but anime is conference room corporate production that’s coming out of a specific context (present-day japan) so real subversiveness or edginess (and no lelouch is not edgy) as far as politics go is expecting too much from entertainment, needless to say in the majority of popular media. (this last part of the comment meant to be general not specific)
@Ascaloth & Kaioshin
This is cute…but time to take it elsewhere boys. Bob’s your uncle.
Flipping an imaginary coin, I could either make a huge rant, write an equally long essay, or point out just a couple of details more related to the discussion than to the post itself.
Not going to rant, so here’s one note: Goro Taniguchi was assistant director, not director, for Gasaraki, which was directed by Ryousuke Takahashi of VOTOMS fame.
I’m feeling too lazy to write the actual essay length post explaining why I think this interpretation, while valid, is not inherently superior to what anyone else (including but far from limited to myself) could present. In other words, there are many other ways to look at Code Geass, either partially or completely different from Crusader’s.
Stating the obvious but, again, making the necessary points would take too much time, as would engaging in a real debate.
I can’t seem to enjoy debating anime these days, but I also keep coming back to political blogs and forums, ironically enough. Guess I’m weird like that.
So Crusader, was Mobile Suit Gundam encouraging sympathy towards the Nazi’s by having shades of grey on the Zeon side? Was Armored Trooper Votoms: Pailsen Files trying to distort WWII History, specifically the Battle for Normandy in the first episode with it’s disastrous boat raid that failed instead of suceeded? Does the flight from the harsh and oppressive Siberian Railway Company to the promised land of Yapan in Overman King Gainer have to do with trying to start up Russian/Japanese tensions from the Russo-Japanese war again?
I’d like to know your thoughts.
@XXX
I hindsight I think we could all use a bit of discretion. Thanks for reading though.
@Kaioshin
Here’s the critical difference, the Prinicpality of Zeon was overtly cloaked in allegories and references to the National Socialists, right down to how they fought the last stages of the war by using V3 (volksturm) and relying on wonder weapons of limited quantities in a last bid to win the war. The critical difference is that the Principality of Zeon was never the protagonist or the good guys as they started the precedent of colony drops. The Neo-Zeon movements were a mixture of reestablishing the old order (Delaz) and genuine independence (Char). Their redemption was in part because of Char who rejected the Principality not guys like Delaz.
Can’t comment on the other two as both were before my time and not legally obtainable at this time. Suffice to say however if the incident in Votoms involved five beaches, an alliance of troops, a pre-dawn air borne assault, a coup de main on a bridge of vital importance, and only one infamous blood bath then perhaps. However there were other bloody landings such as Anzio, and Dieppe. More over specific battles often rhyme, but campaigns and strategies vary greatly between wars. Gallipoli and Dieppe have a lot in common, Hutier’s campaigns were unique to his operational tastes. Lastly the Russo-Japanese war has no well defined ideology for “good” vs “bad” it was a colonial conflict in which side that lost the most was China, then Russia, and then Japan. In this aspect its choosing between colonialism by the Czar or the Emperor with neither being better or worse than the other. For reasons I cannot fully explain the Russo-Japanese war did not have a lasting aspect of hatred to it, mostly because they were both fighting in someone else’s backyard. Hence why it engenders much more vitriol form China than in Russia or Japan.
I recommend you read something other than secondary sources on the wars you speak of. There are an abundance of translations, maps, and first hand accounts to be found. The Russo Japanese war is quite interesting if you delve deeper, but if history is not your thing is suppose it will only bore you. Nevertheless the siege of Port Arthur is an interesting event that has parallels with the fighting on the Western Front in 1914-1918.
I’m afraid that for all the lucidity of your observations on 20th century military history I don’t think that you can extend a zeitgeist in which imperialism was still openly on the table (yes im talking about the 1930s, where the US, despite its Monroe Doctrine was more than happy to rule over the Philippines and where India was still part of Kipling’s wet dream empire) to the much more complicated political scene today.
True, the Japanese Government of the time, which imitated Bismarckian Germany’s polity, embarked on expansionism. Why? Yes, there was a feeling of racial superiority going on. But unlike the drool coming from Hitler halfway across the world Japanese militarists were virtually unopposed due to the economic difficulties of the time (Japan’s great export, silk was effectively worthless during the Great Depression) and the systematic inculcation (through the education system and the promotion of a skewed reading of bushido) of a state and emperor worshipping doctrine. We shouldn’t forget that the primary basis of expansion for Japan wasn’t purifying the world of ’scum races’ but the need for resources. If you were Jap back in the day, you’d see Africa largely partitioned amongst the Euros, America involved in the Philippines and Russian communism at the gates. Wouldn’t it seem reasonable to expand?
None of this exculpates Japanese militarism. However it does go to show the limitation to which you can take this concept and apply it to Code Geass, which is clearly influenced by our zeitgeist. It deals with terrorism and sovereignty, and the idea of freedom and national identity. If anything it is an argument AGAINST the symbol of unchecked expansion (brittania) and autocracy.
Sure, it may be unpalatable that its themes are conveyed through terrorism and such acts but to draw a link to such anachronisms and the Coprosperity sphere is plainly misleading. If anyone is attempting such a system it would be Brittania. What CG asks of us instead is how should you deal with such a system? Should you do as the Japanese populace did up until 1945 and blindly follow them to the end? or do you stand up and fight? If Zero one day decided japan wasnt enough and that hed carve an empire from Australia to Siberia then the question would be different. But alas the context is one of resistance in the name of sovreignty.
Was the Kosovo Liberation Army embarking of military adventurism? What about the Chechens? The Afghanis during the 89 invasion by the USSR? The philippine resistance movement against the USA? No. These are cases of nationalism down the barrel of a gun. What other choice did they have? And this is the broader subtext that arises in Code Geass.
It isn’t some nostalgic rehashing of the halcyon days of Imperial Japanese might. Far from it. Today such military adventures are only dreamed of by those in the White house and their WMD hunts. It is neither economically saavy nor politcally sapient to go on a military safari, unless you’re possessed by some underlying weltanschuung that explicates some ‘good’ and ‘evil’ that must duel it out. Having been the only nation to have been subjected to atomic bombing somehow I doubt that this remains in the Japanese national psyche.
I noticed you mentioned Verdun and Gallipoli in one of your responses in an attempt to portray the way wars shape the national psyche. As an Australian, I have to say I’m surprised you should link an event that we commemorate as the cost of leaving the shadow of Her Majesty with Japanese military adventurism. For all the knowledge you display in military history you seem to lack the understanding of the forces which cause conflict and instead move to blame nationalism as the raison detre of all wars, or at least those started by Japan. Furthermore you fail to understand WHY japanese nationalism and jingoism was an aberration rather than a manifestation of whatever intrinsic character you would attach to the Japanese (this very act I find disturbing because in it is a world of prejudice and arrogance). In any case you seem to discount the possibility that being nuked twice, having the home islands invaded and the other countless costs of 2nd World War might have had any impact on Japanese society other than to increase the revanchism. I’m sorry to say but prima facie the extreme right is still only on the fringe in Japan, just as it is in most nations today. I don’t deny that actions such as whitewashing history through dodgy textbooks and visiting controversial shrines does not help Japan’s image, but the Japanese people cannot be represented by their head of state. This may seem ironic in a democracy, but I’m sure not all Americans would happily invite inferences based on George Bush’s political views just as I wouldn’t like someone inferring my beliefs from John Howard or Kevin Rudd.
On a side note: the reason the Japanese didn’t have documentation was mainly because they weren’t implementing an Endlosunng (as opposed to the Germans). The Rape of Nanjing, as terrible as it was, was not an organised campaign to exterminate the Chinese people. Yes, the Japs did use a scorched earth policy. Someone as learned as you in Mil History should know that when you have a tiny army trying to occupy large parts of the 3rd largest country in the world against hostile subjects they have to respond somehow. Furthermore, their clandestine and highly inhumane activities such as those of Unit 731 were documented and attempts were made to rid the evidence. What happened at the end of the war? many of those conducting experiments on chinese peasants ended up working for the West in the Cold War.
ON that final note I will posit a last argument. If, in the alternative (im a law student… cant help but use that phrase!) CG IS a piece of propaganda advocating japanese militarism I fail to see how you can easily attach moral iniquity to it. All the wars fought throughout history should make this patently clear; there is rarely a right or wrong. Nazi germany was an exception. Japanese militarism, however devastating the consequences, was simply the policy of imperialism taken to the extreme. It was an idiosyncracy endemic to the 20th century which is illfitting in a world where globalization allows me to communicate with others half way across the world, sharing ideas and breaking down the very preconceptions which are the nascent stirrings of jingoism and racism.
Given that Bismarck was against the establishment of colonies for his united Germany, I do not think that it is appropriate to apply the term Bismarkian. As later events would prove his aversions to the establishment of colonies were correct even as public opinion demanded that Germany participate in the New Imperialism.
After the Great Depression struck every Imperial Power was taking steps to converting their Empires into Unions (French), or Commonwealth (Britian). The US had already assented to an Independent Philippines by 1947, and by and large the Great Depression forced a retreat from empire because it became too expensive and the situation became untenable. The weakness of the British in the Far East was the result of cut back s to military power and further negotiations and dialogue with groups like the Indian Nation Congress. Japan’s response to the turmoil was military coups at home, and opposing plans to secure an empire for resources. Extermination was not part of the official plans, but in practice what they came up with, systematic rape, casual brutality, looting (Japanese logistics were by far the worst of all major participants), use of poison gas, and Unit 731 given a carte blanche, the net result was just the same. There were reports of the Fall of Nanking which were celebrated at home with gusto, the beheading game between two officers was also publicized. Officially the policy was to have the Japanese do all the thinking while the rest can do all the heavy lifting. Lulu’s attempt to seize power was precisely that. He does the thinking the Chinese Federation does the lifting.
The ultimate fate of Unit 731 is controversial, but they did not all flee West as you imply. Rather, like the German engineers, both East and West made use of them because they could not trust each other to not make use of such knowledge. Gallipoli did define the relationship between the ANZACs and Great Britain, the operation could have been a success but the Royal Navy was already spilt into two opposing factions. Further delays on the British side only compounded problems leading to the perception that the ANZACs were brave ad courageous, but they were constantly hampered by the incompetence of British officers. Whereas before ANZAC faith in the Beitish Empire was strong at the out set, WWI and Gallipoli left a bad aftertaste where by the relationship was damaged to a point that it could no longer be what it once was.
Verdun was one success that led to the belief in a Maginot Line, that fixed defenses and overwhelming fire power could over come anything. Hence French doctrine post war emphasized fixed fortifications, and firepower exclusively, leading to their eventual collapse once the Germans flanked their defenses. The defensive mindset also doomed Poland as the majority of German divisions were committed east allowing the French if they wanted to, attack across the border with little opposition. Nationalism is not the casus belli for all wars but make up a significant portion of it in the modern world.
I am no expert on the current affairs of the Balkans, so I cannot comment fully on the Kosovo situation. The First Chechen War was about independence, the second was not about independence but rather it was subverted by global jihad. In that sense the second and ongoing Chechen conflict is military adventurism by those foreign fighters that make up a good majority of those fighting against he Russains. The way I see it the current Chechen conflict is not a war of independence, but a meat grinder whose cause will soon be forgotten. I highly doubt that given the recent prominence of foreign fighters that the Chechens are pleased and eager to have the war continue, moreover they seem to be getting sidelined as the war drags on.
The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan was advernturism on the part of the Soviets who underestimated the situation that they were getting into. It is important to remember that the recognized government of Afghanistan at the time was in the midst of a a civil war and that the native Afghan army was loyal and indeed instrumental in the Saur revolution. The rebels were already fighting against the PDPA and the other half of the Afghan Army that remained loyal to them. Once the Soviets intervened it only served to incite even more outrage.
Given that the Japanese had no internal opposition of any import or of any renown, as opposed to the “evil” Third Reich, on the face of it, the atmosphere of fear was enough to silence all opposition to what was going on. Unlike the situation in Germany where there were high profile people who resisted and paid dearly for it. Why was the situation in the more monstrous country conductive to resistance from big boys like Canaris, while the Japanese by and large did less? I think that just because there was no official policy does not mean that policy in practice can escape the label of evil as the acts perpetuated were just as monstrous if not more so. The execution of POWs, systematic rape of foreign women, slave labor, and Unit 731 is not a good reflection on the neutral character of Japanese Imperialism. Unit 731 and the military brothel system in particular were aspects rather unique to their brand of Asia for the Asians. Their behavior got worse as the war dragged on and especially at Nanking where there was no parallel on any other front. I have seen the pictures of that event and I cannot help but find such men who were willing to commit such acts and then run off scott free without any pangs of regret as anything less than human, and I doubt many would label such people good or even neutral in character. When their boast of Shanghai in three days, and China in three months proved an idle boast their superiority was shattered it was not going to be a walk in the park. The end result was that their belief in the easily attainable would cost them everything. The very inclusion of a military brothel system and the subsequent scale of rape it resulted in does not in my opinion make them the logical end result of Imperialism gone wrong, no other colonial power ever concocted a scheme so monstrous so deplorable even then that it is hard to dismiss as a natural or logical thing.
Their extreme right wields significant power and judging by the disputes over their Yasakuni Shrine honoring 14 convicted class A war criminals they have enough pull to bully their opposition into silence. Or perhaps their opposition lacks the will to fight back, either way this unchallenged far right is a rather unique aspect of Japanese politics. The lack of any effort to try and end the situation is rather curious, if the Right is as you say an abberation, then it is curious to note that this persistent thorn in Japanese relations is not being seriously dealt with.
It is going to take more than globalization to rid us of a plague that has persisted through out the ages since the dawn of civilization. Form what i have seen of surviving documents and letters even without the ideology of the Third Reich almost every other power that did participate left behind tangible records. If you run a military you will have mountains of paper work the needs to processed for logistics, reports, intelligence, pay lists, promotions, communiques, etc. Every army leaves behind a paper trail of some sort, for the Japanese military to be so big and yet so lacking in documentation is an oddity. It has nothing to do with perpetuating an extermination campaign.
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