One of the main reasons why it took me so long to give any Macross series a try was because I was aware of how integral singing was to the plot of the original series. The idea of singing being a big part, and even a tool, of conflict just sounded ridiculous. Once I gave Frontier a try though I was able to see how it was worked fairly well into the show, having a physical effect on the Vajra, and then in SDF Macross how it wasn’t the music itself but the lack of Zentradi culture that made it effective. Even so, this role for music relies on very sci-fi concepts to work. But while the role of music in Macross and other anime series might seem ridiculous, fanservice, or a blatant attempt to broaden the fanbase that merchandise can be sold to, there may be some small connection to the real world at the core of the concept.
What brought me to this thought was a book I had read recently, Helmet for My Pillow by Robert Leckie. It’s his personal account of being a US Marine in World War II (his name may be familiar if you’ve watched HBO’s The Pacific; he’s one of the individuals that part of the series was based on, though I have yet to see it myself) from his point of view as an enlistedman. His writing was very thoughtful and at the same time even cynical, it’s the view of a very intelligent and incisive man in a role that you wouldn’t necessarily think would be volunteered for by such a poetic writer. At least three times during the course of the book he mentions he and his comrades wishing for a song or a battlecry, something simple but powerful to motivate them. To quote:
It is sad to have to go off to war without a song of your own to sing. Something like a rousing war song – something like the “Minstrel Boy” or something jolly and sardonic like the Englishman’s “Sixpence” – might have made the war a bit more worth fighting. But we got none. Ours was an Advanced Age, too sophisticated for such outdated frippery. War cries or war songs seemed naive and embarrassing in our rational time. We were fed food for thought; abstractions like the Four Freedoms were given us. Sing a marching song about that, if you can.
If a man must live in mud and go hungry and risk his flesh you must give him a reason for it, you must give him a cause. A conclusion is not a cause.
[Helmet for My Pillow, page 29.]
For as intellectual as Leckie was, he was not ‘above’ the simple, sentimental things that inspire people to bravery. Rather his intelligence made him realize and be self-conscious about how much impact a song or a slogan, properly worded and meaningful, can have on the people who recite it. Being someone who was born long after the war Leckie went though, living in a totally different era and not experiencing the conflict and hardships that he did, I have to say that I tend to think of such things as embarrassing, just as he wrote. They seem naive or ridiculous or even jingoistic to my ear, they might even be outmoded in the modern or postmodern or whatever label you would give to the kind of life most of us know in the 21st century (at least in the First World anyway.) But he makes a very strong point about how they can matter to someone who has to risk their life and endure hardships. The sort of naive simplicity may be rugged and enduring precisely because it is so simple. It’s a basic and easily understandable and tangible thing that can make taking an action simpler. While I still feel the urge to turn up my nose at many of the instances of music in anime war narratives, in light of his words I’ve had to rethink some of my opinions in this regard.
There seem to me to be three broad categories of how music is used in anime war narratives. First is the classic ‘something to fight for’ kind of songs. They need not be rousing battle songs like US Civil War-era Battle Hymn of the Republic, they just need to remind one of what they’re fighting for, even if it’s indirectly such as the nostalgia for the Australian homeland in Waltzing Matilda. The second kind tries to bring together the two sides of a conflict or stop them from fighting. While their real world parallels are generally topical and thus less known, there are plenty of them though they usually take a sharper tone than the peace and love ones in anime, songs that either denounce conflict in general or highlight its brutality in hopes of giving both sides pause. Edwin Starr’s War from the Vietnam War era would be an example of the former, while U2′s Bloody Sunday is a familiar example of the latter. Last is a sort unique to anime, where the song itself is a weapon and doesn’t have a real world parallel unless you really stretch it to include music as psychological warfare like the bagpipes and taiko drums which may have served a purpose but weren’t game changers in battle. Music has played a role in the maneuver of pre-radio armies, such as marches and signal trumpets, but it’s not used directly to fight, just organizationally, and thus is outside the scope of this editorial. Since I’m trying to explore the link, however tenuous, between the real world role of music in conflict and that in anime, I will be discussing only the first two. For more of how music is used directly, I’d direct you to this post over at We Remember Love.
Music as Motivator in Anime
Anime rarely uses the directly motivating kinds of songs like Battle Hymn of the Republic, the majority being of the catchy tunes that remind the troops of home and what they’re out fighting for, or to use that favorite Japanese phrase, what they’re out there to protect. They do exist though they often seem to be confined to older shows, perhaps indicative of that shift into an “Advanced Age” where such overtly patriotic tunes have become embarrassing. While not a part of the narrative as such, the OP from Space Battleship Yamato is a straight out of WWII Japan (and earlier times) kind of proud, naval ballad that contains everything you’d expect: sadness for leaving home, a desire to protect one’s loved ones there, a strong will to fight, and a spirit of camaraderie. There’s also the Free Planets Alliance Anthem from Legend of the Galactic Heroes. While it’s not the war ballad from Yamato, it serves an important function. It states what the Alliance stands for, and even with its good amount of English language mistakes it’s less silly than you’d expect a full length song written in English by a Japanese anime staff. It contains all the key components of the Alliance’s national myth, ideals like freedom and the struggle to attain and keep that hard won liberty.
The majority of the songs as motivators in anime tend to be of the less high-minded variety, ones that cheer up the troops (and the population in some cases) with happy pop tunes that both give a moment of respite and remind them of the homes and lives that they’re trying to protect. SDF Macross does this as Minmay’s rise to stardom in the military-sponsored idol contest eventually makes her a recruiting tool for the UN Spacy. My Boyfriend is a Pilot, while not originally intended by Minmay to bring in new recruits, ends up being a powerful motivator after the initial Zentradi attack. Her songs are what give hope to the population and crew of the Macross, and in talking about love and the usual happy, pop subjects provide the pilots with something to protect and come home to. When it is discovered that the Zentradi have no culture of their own, culture becomes something that humans are patriotic over. By the time of Macross Frontier, Culture (with a capital C) is the underlying principle of the human-Zentradi people. It is as strong and unifying to them as liberty and equality is to a modern democracy. Beyond the battlefield applications of Sheryl and Ranka’s songs, they also inspire the people by reminding them of Culture and how that makes them unique. The music itself, even if the topics don’t even come close to addressing war, is something that can instantly be rallied behind as a symbol of Culture and of what must be defended. Gundam SEED Destiny follows this route as well when Meer Campbell goes on tour posing as Lacus Clyne, rallying the troops and reminding them of their lives and of the ideals of ZAFT in accordance with her direction by Chairman Dullindal.
Music and Reconilliation
Quite common in anime is well is music as a way to reach both sides and bring and end to their conflict. The way it is presented in anime is highly unrealistic in all examples I have seen, but it does serve to inspire in the way Leckie wrote about, just in the opposite direction of peace. In the real world no reaction is so quick, no song has ever stopped a war, but in a gradual and long-term sense songs combined with a wider movement can inspire people to work towards resolving or preventing conflict. The anti-war movement in 1960′s-early 1970′s America had many, many songs that served to inspire its members, for example, and while the link is not concrete and direct, the many songs written about the insurgency and protests known as The Troubles in Northern Ireland at least increased awareness of the suffering involved. Here songs contributed to building enough political and social momentum to bring an end to conflicts. Anime is not so realistic in its time scale, often because its writing tends to be very shallow politically, but in a way it does at least draw some inspiration from the real world.
Gundam SEED and Gundam SEED Destiny both use this very SDF Macross kind of ability for songs to bring two sides together, but it’s rendered far less believable because both sides are human with their own culture. It’s an unsuccessful attempt to bring the Macross singing trope into the Gundam universe. In the first series Lacus uses her influence and her songs to bring together forces from the Earth Alliance and ZAFT to combat Chairman Zala, her song a rallying cry for them to fight (briefly) for the sake of peace. Gundam SEED Destiny continues this, but earlier on in the show, when it was brilliant instead of the wreck it became by the end, they took this idea and showed the cynical side of it. If songs can be used to influence people, is it not natural for political leaders to try and use them as well? Chairman Dullindal doesn’t know where Lacus is and she probably wouldn’t take orders from him anyway, so he recruits Meer Campbell to impersonate her and do his bidding. What was so great about Dullindal, again before the series wrecked him too, was that he was a benevolent leader who used tactics that the pure shounen spirit at the heart of anime always casts in the most negative light: subterfuge, manipulation, and cool calculation. Using Meer’s singing he was able to calm the population of ZAFT after the Earth Alliance’s failed nuclear bombardment of their colonies, and then when he could no longer find a peaceful solution, had her both rally the troops and remind them that they were part of a limited war. Dullindal used a full-spectrum approach to his intervention in the first half of the series, dispatching the military but using humanitarian gestures, political speeches, and Meer’s singing to reinforce to his own people and those of Earth that ZAFT was not waging a war of conquest despite being attacked first.
Conclusion
Music in anime war narratives often appears, and sometimes is, silly. Aside from series that have an in-universe reason for it to have power, it can seem jarring and out of place in the story of conflict. But given how it has inspired soldiers and populations in times of war, there may be more to be said for its use in some series. A song does not need to directly address a war or any ideals that it is fought on behalf of to inspire. A catchy tune and reminders of home may be enough of a cause to inspire men to risk their lives and bear hardships and deprivation. In some anime series it serves this purpose, though it is not always directly presented to the audience that it does. And while music as an end to war in anime is a shallow and simplistic concept, if looked at over a longer time span and with accompanying society-wide movements it has been at least a small part of ending conflicts in real life. This latter point is far more of a shaky connection than the former, but as much as I despise the trope it cannot be 100% dismissed, perhaps just 99% consigned to the annals of ‘LOL animu!’
17 Comments
Very interesting read. I’d like to add on to what you said about Minmei importance to the Macross World as well as her power of song. In Flashback 2012 which takes place many years after the end of SDF and DYRL we get to see that Misa is a captain of Megaroad 01 and that she and Hikaru are setting out to find new civilizations in the space, and hopefully to spread their own. An older and wiser Minmei was invited to come abroad the ship as a means helping to spread culture to the other civilizations they would meet or to at least find a common ground with them. She leaves with Hikaru, and Misa on Megaroad 01 and that’s the last of SDF Macross.
The way that Culture becomes almost the religion of the human-Zentradi species after SDF Macross presents some interesting areas that I would like to see explored in future series. Like how much spreading Culture is and isn’t compatible with different species, for example.
I think Macross 7 goes into that a little bit.
Yeah, but only ever so little. Music still gets through to the Protodeviln in the end, even if it takes time and doesn’t have the instant shock factor that it had with the Zentradi, nor the ECM ability it had versus the Vajra. I have no idea when the next Macross series might be, or if it would be willing to depart much from its optimistic view of a universal Culture, but it would be interesting to see. What if the human-Zentradi ran into another species with it’s own version of Culture, just as important to them, but with aggressive policies towards them? It’s a great thing about Macross that there’s still so much that can be done in that universe.
Isn’t it? That’s why Macross is my favorite Mecha franchise.
In 5 years. It seems that Kawamori brings out a new Macross every 5 years in time for an anniversary. Zero was for the 20th, Frontier was for the 25th, we’ll likely see a new one for the 30th. Most likely an OVA.
Also, I believe the closest we’ve come to what you’ve described would be in Macross II where the Marduk use song to motivate (to put it mildly) their troops to battle.
And yes, this is me lobbying you to retro blog it. Sure it isn’t the best of shows (it suffers from being too short where Macross 7 was too long) but in the end, it still is quintessentially Macross.
I don’t know about ‘quintessentially Macross’ but Lovers Again is a curiosity worth checking out for a Macross fan. I can’t say I enjoyed it much, but I’m glad I did watch it.
http://ghostlightning.wordpress.com/2009/05/31/mac2/
The VF there is worth a look-see, as is the ridiculous Macross class cannon ships which are basically SDF’s with booms and arms made of Britai’s Nupetz Verghintz class flagships but shoot mega-beams just like in DYRL.
Ah, I guess we’ll see if the five year pattern holds up. I might get to Macross II at some point, though as for blogging it it will probably be a single post along the lines of my Macross 7 instead of an episode by episode retroblog.
If memory serves, Fafner’s soundtrack had quite a few of those sweeping tracks that depict a long arduous journey filled with glory, but also with a hint of tragedy floating about. Beyond that though, I find that most of the music used in those shows tend towards creating a cinematic feeling of awesome rather than the Battle Hymn type of stuff.
I suppose if I could name music that has served to inspire in wartime scenarios based on what I listen to, Ace Combat would be tops. The Unsung War is just a glorious piece.
I’ll have to check Fafner out some time. Ace Combat is a great example, and I was thinking about Ace Combat 5′s peace song for the latter section before deciding to keep things strictly to anime. But yeah, I’m in total agreement about how good the music is in those games, especially in 5 and Zero. ‘Unsung War’, ‘First Flight, and ‘Zero’ have been instant favorites of mine ever since I first heard them. Zero might have been my favorite, I liked the one on one duel aspect of it in the Spanish guitar parts, backed up by the epic chorus and the overall darker feeling of that game vs AC5.
Now I’m going to have to go listen to those songs again, heh.
Interesting take on the role of music and I have to add a bit of editorial myself and disagree with you on some points.
I think one of the most interesting things about the Macross universe is that while in SDF Macross and Macross Frontier, music’s role is taken a priori, it is actually the completely opposite in Macross 7. This is even more important to note because as we know, Max and Milia should be the ones the most supportive of this tactic, but are in fact marginally supportive of it for much of the beginning. At first everyone sees Firebomber’s music as inconsequensial and annoying even. In fact it shows what the ‘average real world’ person would think of the whole music idea. The fact that music ultimately becomes something important, is a way to drive the plot and makes a lot of sense within the world, but unlike the other Macross shows is never taken so seriously at first.
Secondly, in terms of SEED Destiny, I think you have Meer’s role a bit wrong. While it is manipulative to have a fake Lacus singing, I believe Meer’s role was more like the USO rather than an actual active propaganda device. I mean it’s not like she was getting people to change their mind and support the war as much as she was just an entertainer to keep the troops happy. This is actually quite important, because by the end of SEED Lacus herself was quite a powerful political figure, and if you look at it from another angle, perhaps Dullandal was actually trying to sideline her political power and influence by presenting her to the world as ‘just’ an entertainer, rather than one with an actual message or brain.
I’m one of Macross 7′s biggest fans, but the behavior of Max and Millya is very odd here in this show. Inconsistent to a ridiculous degree. We have Millya driving Mylene into doing the Minmay biopic and both she and Max lecture Mylene that they were there when it actually happened and the Minmay defense was real.
The reluctance to adopt Sound Force as a legitimate strategy is I think due to a mess of the ff. factors:
Basara is a nut, nobody really trusts him as a savior.
Gadget M. Chiba is a nut, a creepy Minmay otaku, and very difficult to trust (sensibility wise).
Mylene is involved and the parents worry about her in combat (Millya wants her out completely at first).
They weren’t fighting Zentraedi this time.
Max & Millya were tsundere for each other and often bickered.
Sound Force energy attack? Really? Seriously?
etc.
It really doesn’t make sense for people to be so removed from the memory of Minmay (the younger people) given that there are so _few_ successful musicians in recent decades. If I can appreciate Elvis and The Beatles — acts whose careers were essentially over by the time I was born. How could the general population forget about Minmay and the role of her music in the Great Space War?
To DIVIDING DRIVER the point further, the existence of the propaganda film Do You Remember Love? should make the people remember love. There really shouldn’t be a large body of post-Hollywood cinema after Bodolle-zer annihilated Los Angeles and most of the planet.
I chalk this up to the general mess that is Macross 7. No matter, my TOTSUGEKI LOVE HEART is still filled with POWER TO THE DREAM.
I agree with you totally about all of those points.
BTW my favorites are My Friends, and Angel Voice (which I know was in the OVA but hey… it’s a great song!)
Hello!, New Frontier, Parade, and Mylene’s insert song are all GOOOOOOD. Dynamite 7 is awesome, and probably one of the singular crowning moments of awesome for me in all of animation did happen during Basara’s performance of Angel Voice. YOU KNOW WHAT PART.
In Macross 7 I’m not sure how much of the attitude towards music is the way people in universe perceived things and how much of it was done by the writers for a purpose. On the former front it might have been that no one took them seriously or that the enemy seemed so different that people didn’t expect it to work (and it didn’t really ‘work’ in the same way that it did with the Zentradi and Vajra.) If it’s the latter, then the writers purposefully set it up so that the rock aesthetic could be dominant, the starving artists (who live in a run down part of the fleet) devoted purely to music and having to strive constantly to be taken seriously. Given how lulz and facepalms far outnumbered good sci fi in Macross 7, I’m guessing that it was the latter.
Meer I still see as in the role of mouthpiece for Dullindal, though she was also a USO-style entertainer. In the aftermath of the failed Alliance nuclear attack she addressed the people on behalf of Dullindal and his preferred policy of peace, then singing to drive home the point. And in the concert where she showed up on the pink Zaku she had moments of speaking between songs reminding the soldiers about their mission, subtly tying her entertainment in to Dullindal’s plan for a short, non-conquest war. Whether Dullindal originally intended it or not, you’re right that Meer was a great way to sideline Lacus’s power.
A very thought-provoking post that got me thinking about another anime in which music plays a fundamental role: Rahxephon. It’s been a while since I’ve watched the series, but I remember all the mecha in that show are controlled using music and employ music (or sound) as offensive weapons. The pilots are called instrumentalists, and the main character’s mission is to “tune” or reset the world (in a less terrible way than Evangelion). There were many classical music / opera references, and I think the producers were doing for a different take on the Macross-style “pop-music-can-resolve-differences-and-bring-peace” approach. Of course, this was all before Ranka came along with Aimo…
Rahxephon sounds like it has an interesting take on the idea, I’ll have to give it a try some day. It sounds like the approach Rahxephon takes is almost like a creative, fantasy interpretation of String Theory, imagining the universe as receptive to the beauty and patterns of music. Or maybe an older idea of music having power greater than words because of how humans respond to it. That’s all speculation before even seeing an episode, but it definitely has caught my attention now that you bring it up. Thanks for sharing that