July 25th, 2021
Gundam UC Mega Review and Analysis Part 2
Anime Relations: Kidou Senshi Gundam, Kidou Senshi Gundam: Dai 08 MS Shoutai, Kidou Senshi Gundam 0080: Pocket no Naka no Sensou, Kidou Senshi Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory, Kidou Senshi Zeta Gundam, Kidou Senshi Gundam ZZ, Kidou Senshi Gundam F91, Kidou Senshi Gundam I, Kidou Senshi Gundam II: Ai Senshi-hen, Kidou Senshi Gundam III: Meguriai Sora-hen, Kidou Senshi Gundam MS IGLOO: Mokushiroku 0079, Kidou Senshi Gundam MS IGLOO: 1-nen Sensou Hiroku, Kidou Senshi Z Gundam I: Hoshi wo Tsugu Mono, Kidou Senshi Z Gundam II: Koibito-tachi, Kidou Senshi Z Gundam III: Hoshi no Kodou wa Ai, Kidou Senshi Gundam MS IGLOO 2: Juuryoku Sensen, Kidou Senshi Gundam Unicorn, Kidou Senshi Gundam: The Origin, Kidou Senshi Gundam Thunderbolt, Kidou Senshi Gundam Unicorn RE:0096, Kidou Senshi Gundam Thunderbolt 2nd Season, Kidou Senshi Gundam NT, Kidou Senshi Gundam: The Origin - Zenya Akai Suisei
This is part 2/2 of my Mega Gundam review and analysis, it may help to read part one below this one first (also available by pressing this link https://myanimelist.net/blog.php?eid=867380 ) -. Please enjoy!;
The Char Problem - The Many Masks of Casval Rem Deikun
Something else that fascinates me both about each Gundam as a narrative, Gundam as a meta piece of media and the fanbase as a group is all of their individual approaches to Édouard Mass. The Origin paints him as a Psychopathic Maniac from the day of his birth with a stare that freaks people out for some reason(?!), Zeta depicts him as a simply lost soul and CCA tries to make out this, in theory, great concept that
Then you have every Gundam since UC which must have a Char clone (once more, often missing the point in much the same way as is the case with Ramba Ral) and finally the critical response.
There's remarkably little good analysis of Char as a whole, not on an individual film/tv show basis but as a solid character.
The reason given for this is usually something along the lines of "He's too complicated a character to cover in the video/essay/etc"(If your reading this I'm sure you know the type of thing I'm talking about) and while I'd agree he is complex and furthermore I'm in no ways confident in my ability to break down a 40 year spanning at times 20-33ish something year old, I'd actually preface that people mix 'Complicated' with 'A complete and utter mess'.
Parts of Char and his representation are downright masterful, epically some of the Meta elements that we will discuss shortly but from a top down perspective, Char is messy and mostly because of what we just discussed in our previous segment. While I'd still see problems with it, if the Gundam meta-narrative went straight from 79' into CCA then Char migth just be one of the all time greatest conceived characters in all of fiction - Complicated, emotional, crafty but caring, revenge driven and blood lusting, charisma ridden anti-hero - Expect Zeta exists...
Now don't miss-understand, while I think it's handled badly, it is entirely plausible and actually quite a great idea that after the events of Zeta, Char essentially gives up on Earth dwelling humanity and decides to start lobbing asteroids at the earth to speed up the process of evolution, all while finally accepting his true mantel as the heir to space and perhaps embracing a martyrdom philosophy like his father.
That would be great and could make for a brilliant movie and way to end off the franchise's first saga, essentially framing Char as Gundam's true main protagonist (ignoring ZZ for this hypothetical moment) but it isn't, because quiet simple 1st Lt.Quattro Bajeena is not the same person as Captain Aznable.
While easy to forget, we watch a fairly stable Char in Zeta interact with the world as a relatively normal person (He has his hang-ups and seems a bit lost about what his place in the world is but all told he isn't the man from CCA).
What exactly makes him go from Amuro's best friend forever, who he has a mutual respect for/with and shares drinks alongside, back to wanting literally nothing more out of life then to re-spark his old rivalry and
If Char became so distraught and broken after the events of the Gypys conflict that he essentially reverted back to a child's mind-set of longing for his Mother and best buddy, than how did he manage to muster the composure to rebuild Neo-Zeon from absolutely nothing?
I can read between the lines just fine but they keep moving and it feels alot like contrivance, that we both want him to be the man who can put on the mask of politics, like the speech in Dakar and rally the people (And magically generating materials) to his call but also the boy who just wants to play Han Solo.
And as discussed we already know the true answer even if there isn't a present in universe one - Money.
It's a sad reality but CCA is the way it is because of-course the premise of finishing a ten year long rivalry on the big screen sounds appealing, it doesn't matter that said rivalry ended literally years ago both in our world and especially in-universe.
It's a cheap reason to backtrack Char, Amuro and Bright's developments, a terrible reason not to bring back any of the old cast or ships from Zeta and ZZ and the time skip is in all likelihood just an excuse to push more toys with a vague amount of diegetic reasoning.
It's just downright lazy writing, in Zeta Char regrets what happened in 79' but he's clearly moving on, if slowly, and even attempts to help
If he never got over his childish games from 79' and his fruitless pursuit of revenge at the cost of his own and Sayla's development, than why didn't he kill Mineva Zabi when he did his own best friend Garma, simply for his surname?
What possible reason could he have for playing with her as a child or why does he jeopardise the AEUG just to tell Haman to be nicer to Mineva Is that part of his act, a really, really elaborate long game?!?!
In original Zeta his compassion for Mineva was a sign of his growth, moving past the events of revenge and loss in the One Year War and perhaps even regretting his revenge laden path, there is no reason the Gypys conflict should of caused these sorts of changes in him. Make him depressed and ready for some light Genocide, sure we all know that feeling on a Monday morning but what the he*l made him want to fight Amuro again?????
They say a picture is worth a 1000 words, well does Char look like he's holding back a deep seeded urge to murder Amuro in this rather famous scene? Can you image what must of happened to go from this to CCA? It sure ain't shown to the audience, that's for sure if nothing else - The closet I've seen is that he took Amuro's words about sacrifice to heart, but than why not side with Amuro - Perhaps it is actually Amuro's character that's just as at fault here?
As mentioned though, let's take a brief moment to look at some of the real brilliance that is also present in Tomino's writing of Char. The biggest of this is Char's many faces as seen throughout the original saga and even into F91.
Before Char clones were just a thing we all came to except as 'well that's just Gundam for ya' the series actually did some really fascinating things with the concept. Each of the early Char clones represents an internal aspect of the original 79's Char, let's go over them briefly-
Jerid Messa - Jerid is the first of these, possibly an accident and certainly the worst of them. Non-the-less Jerid cleverly represents the arrogance of Char. He's assured in his skills but never truly defeats Kamille, he's able to rationalise the most heinous of acts as justified and furthermore unable to see that his comrades and love interests keep dieing because of his own incompetence (Much like Char with a certain someone), finally he's hell-bent on revenge for most of the series.
Glemy Toto - Glemy is probably the best example of this and the closet thing to foreshadowing the Char we would see in CCA that there is. Unlike Jerid, while he can pilot quite well it's not really his thing, no rather he represents the manipulative scheming of Char.
He has ambitions against the leaders of his organisation and enough autonomy and hinted family links with-in said organisation to achieve these ends - But more importantly he represents the more openly 'evil' part of Char, the part that will happily seduce children if that should prove useful to him, who'll betray any one if needed and truly sees nothing wrong with his almost paedophilic tendencies and abuse. Further like Char, his biggest weakness is a girl in the forum of Roux Lucca.
As I say, this is the best display of taking an aspect of Char and running with it and is ultimately one of Tomino's best, most boundary pushing characters, as well as a great boon to ZZ.
Iron Mask - From his name to his visage, Iron Mask is the most apparent of the Char aspects, in large part due to the fact details need to be communicated efficiently, so there's little time for another slow burn like Glemy or Jerid.
With that said Iron Mask like Glemy brilliantly communicates the aspect of restrain and identity. It's important that Iron Mask is the only clone who actually wears a mask that is comparable to Char 79' (Glemy and Jerid both have permanently revealed faces), rather then the manipulation of Glemy, Iron Mask represents the restraint, or quite literally the mask.
He hides his face as a bargain with himself to not allow his emotions to get the better of him, in much the same way Char has to carefully keep in check his urge to just stab Garma to death in his sleep at the training academy and so on.
He represents the fact that underneath the mask Char is in a constant debate with himself over who he really is - Is he Sayla's brother, Edward? The Zeon Ace and trusted confident of Garma and Cecilia, Char? The son of Zeon Zum Dikun? In this sense Iron Mask's short lived screen time helps to really concisely express this regard even if he is ridiculous as hel* to watch in motion.
After that there is arguably two more 'A CHAR's', Quattro who is more of an alter ego Char wishes to be for a while, as-a-versed to his normal disguise, and Casval of CCA who is now so detached from the Char of his childhood that in a sense he's no longer the actual Char beneath the mask - But rather the Char of 79' is probably more true to him then his birth name is anymore (Which is perhaps the only conceivable reason for why he pursues Amuro, a sort of attempt to be himself again in a sense).
It's alot to process but that's by no means a negative, no rather it's in these broud swaths that Char seems like an incredible complex and in-depth character...Well except for the usual Tomino issues;
Jerid is just down-right bad, a large problem with him being an aspect of Char, is the fact Char is also right there, we don't need an aspect of him if he's already here because the parallels become too harsh or comparable. Aside from that Jerid is just really oddly, badly written and bland - His message of male promotion over woman would work better if he didn't have actual plot armour protecting him - I mean I'd promote a hospitalised soldier who got thrown off a cliff, only to immediately kill a cyber newtype, any day of the week....
Meanwhile Glemy may be the best or at-least most interesting Char clone but he starts life as a bumbling comic relief pilot and while his weird gravitation towards Roux Lucca and Leena are there from the start, it's undeniable for much of the early series he doesn't actually fit his later role, plus his steadfast determination to the Blue Team, seems somewhat out of character in retrospect and yet is integral to his character development.
Finally Iron Mask is-... Well with a name like that it's pretty clear his representation is overtly blunt, for good reason but blunt no less.
Again as should be clear a large part of the issue here is the length, after all lots of other shows do this sort of writing.
In King Lear many of the characters represent aspect of the King or at-least what we perceive a King should be, or in Evangellion Hideki Anno is on record as saying most of the characters are aspects of himself or people he's known, but with the Char vessels as with Char himself, there's just not enough for them to do. Iron Mask and Glemy do better here but Quattro, Jerid and Char are just around for too long and I think Tomino knows it to as he frequently sends Quattro off screen on political errands and both Char and Jerid disappear for large portions of 79' and Zeta.
So while so many of these ideas are really, truly brilliant, you can't just ignore the long stretches of these show's where the characters become bland or are just miss-used out of the necessity to hit the 50ish episode mark, such brilliantly tightknit characters just really don't suit the long form nature of 80's serialised anime. Of course this is meant to be a review of all TV early UC...
So Where does that leave Riddhe and Full-Frontal? -Full Frontal is clearly filling a role that Iron Mask already had 20 years earlier and Riddhe is a clone of Jerid or perhaps Glemy if seen in a certain light, who as discussed are already aspects of Char (So a weird double clone thing) but we can go unfortunately a bit more in-depth than that(not that Unicorn really does.....)
{The following will be pretty spoiler heavy for Unicorn in general so skip to the next section if that's something you've yet to see};
As mentioned Full Frontal fulfils the same role as Iron Mask, he puts on a false front in order to make use of that same charm as Char to rally the people behind him, funnily enough further like Iron Mask, both appear to have been 'created' as it were - with Narrative telling us that Full Frontal was one of many attempts at a Char clone (did they like, alter his body to? Was he always blond and blue eyed?), while Iron Mask isn't exactly 'normal'.
I'd be loath to suggest this is any way means the light novel author was unaware of Iron Mask but maybe he simply believed it was a good opportunity, with that said with-in the anime Full Frontal doesn't really do anything and is really just symbolic of Unicorn's deeper failings.
It never leans all that hard into the idea of him as a vessel nor how he actually feels about that in any meaningful way, nor do we even know who made him that way and for what cause. We also never learn why the actual Fu*k a Captain is the leader of sleeves...not... ya know, an admiral or some such.
In the end Full Frontal really does do nothing but make gimmicky references to Char, the 3 times faster ace pilot thing, the almost one for one Sassaby looking mobile suit, the Char kick, some vague illusions of mass political and economic change, it's all meh.
If that was an intentional design, to show how he really is just an empty copy, then maybe it could mean something ala Roux Le Cruise in Seed (Oh God did I just compliment Seed?!) but with him as the primary villain it just falls flat.
The pinnacle of this is when they seemingly give up on being clever like they had been up till now with the likes of Puru 12 and just resort to pointless fanservice for the final battle by giving the Unicorn something that looks like OG Char's legless Zeong to punch like the Nu Gundam did in CCA.
Add in some time travel shenanigans and what I believe was Amuro, Lala and Char's souls? And Frontal just kind of surrenders I guess? Considering we don't actually know his motives or agenda because he's just that secretive, its hard to know what the force ghosts or Banagher said, that made him want to spontaneously fade to rust.
It's incredibly weak, possibly the least creative part of Unicorn in general, goes nowhere, says nothing new about Char's character or Frontal himself, doesn't really act as Banagher's rival and is probably one of the most bland Char clones in the whole franchise. Ahem, I did mention that I do actually like Unicorn ya?😂
Then we have ensign Riddhe, initially a 'nice guy' who seems to if anything be more of a call back to Quattro then Char down to the black Hiyuki Shiki, we soon realise he's going down the Jerid route. Now that could definitely be interesting, seeing that idea in a smaller scale story here it could have real hard hitting impact but for reasons which as I understand retain to most of his parts of the books being cut, he instead falls in love with Minerva (sort of), gets very depressed, than snaps, does some evil stuff including killing best girl and then gets to be a good guy again cause of the power of New-Type friendship. Meh.
It's all very Meh, like Frontal he has fairly few scenes and those aren't used all that well. The logical role for him to take would be to kill the mobile armour in Ep4 as seen, then have a feedback burst of New-type angst and just as he tries to apologise, gets killed by Puru 12 or Banagher, spring-boarding their further development - instead he survives that battles, repeats his getting rejected by Minerva scene from ep 3/4 in ep 5/6, goes berserk, kills the best female Gundam pilot in the UC and then gets to survive for a second time, just so he can help make a barrier?
Mehhhhhhhhhhhh, it's all so Mehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
A large part of Unicorn's problem is how it pulls a Stardust Memory, in that the final few moments somehow making the rest of the story worse off, in the case of what we're talking on, both Riddhe and Frontal seem like they'll be used to say something useful and fresh the whole way through but after the end you realise they never did and suddenly that promise is unfilled and feels hollow.
The obvious alternative for Riddhe which would of kept with the ideas the show seemed to be gunning for up until episode 7 when it devolved into a generic Gundam finale - Would of been to have him not kill Puru, to have him get close and than not do it, to show the better outcome, that the cycle of 'Char' can be ended, in much the same way Unicorn seems to want to be about the ending of the cycle of war but I digress.
The constant struggle of all Anime, Between Art and Profitability-
Aside from being an anti-war thematic experience and 'A CHAR' lead story for most of it's run in one fashion or another, Gundam also grapples with one other issue that faces almost all anime and in it's case maybe more-so then most other properties.
See as I'm sure you're well aware Gundam started life being sponsored by a line of metal action figures from Clover and conversely is still to this day powered in large part by Bandai's Gunpla market.
As such the line between art and profitability is one of Gundam's big struggles, as even the iconic colours and samurai stylings of the original RX-78-2 were a change made by the toy company back in the original 1979 show. All art has this issue unless being produced with no gain in mind (some even belief that true art can only be made by those who aren't being reimbursed or at-least wantonly so, for their time). With all this in mind it migth be pressing to move away from the themes and characters of Gundam and take a quick look at the mechs that inhabit these stories-
The 90's Ova's - The Ova's are the easiest to talk about in this regard as their being funded by a guarantied cash stream not only meant they were able to come out highly irregularly in the case of Stardust and The 08th but also the budget for music and animation are much higher.
Furthermore while many iconic suits come from these shows, they generally make a fair deal of sense as there's not as much onus to include extra suits for marketing purposes. This is most prevalent in War in the Pocket where we see only two new suits both of which make logical in-universe sense, the Alex Gundam great - It starts in that grey outer armour giving it an intimidating appearance, almost like that of the 'bad guys' machine or super secret weapon, but once it's outer armour falls to reveal it's true colour scheme is far more akin to a regular Gundam,.
It really helps to hammer home for Al and the audience that 'We're the bad guys!?', additionally the Kampfer while primarily fitting in well with Zeon's late war strategy of 'just try anything however specific or experimental' is an initially cool design with a great build up, that makes you want to see it in combat... Until you do and than suddenly you really wish you hadn't and you no longer desire a Gunpla of it, which is just ingenious.
While the ground type Gundam of the titular 08th Ms team, along with the GPO 1,2 and 3 all raise some continuity questions, they're all great designs and feel fairly decently justified.
Post 90's Ova Material - Thunderbolt is once more a story of two sides, the first season mainly uses pre-existing suits from the One Year War, with interesting and experimental bonus armaments, an easy way to sell old kits again but a palatable one to be sure.
Season 2 however goes the complete opposite direction, we see whole myriads of random older suits regardless of whether they make sense or not and the new mechs seem to be actively trying to break bits of the Canon (How does the Atlas Gundam exist mere months after the War? How does it add to the development history of the Mk2 or the GPO line? Why didn't they just do the Alex Mk2 like sensible people, which in itself would of been a neat reference to push sales? This alternate UC timeline stuff is an excuse to go completely left field).
Even The GM's seem to of gotten boosts that don't even vaguely try to line up with any prior information. Like that series in general it's a let down and clear attempt to use Thunderbolt S1's great success to push more toy kits. Cheap.
The Origin on the other hand fairs much better, due to it's intrinsic nature of being before The War and the inception of any Mobile Suits, it sticks to a limited number of logical prototypes for the Gun-cannon, Zaku and Gun Tank, while one migth draw issue with the deliberate attempts to custom paint the Zaku 1's in Ral's, Char's and the Tri star's custom colours in order to possibly sell 3 of the same kit (And boy did they get alot of kits out of the Origin) - I think it's more of an innocently fun reference and nothing to split hairs over.
Overall the Origin unsurprisingly fairs well in this regard and deserves props for not trying to shoehorn in anymore call-back suits then nessacerily.
MS-Igloo fairs in much the same light being that the only suits that gets much spotlight are the basic Zaku 2, Gm 1 and the Zudah which in itself is a nice fit for both the show's plot and the universe in general (The idea of a technical failure being rebranded to try boost moral with a faulty weapon is a perfect MS-Igloo idea and where that property really does shine best).
Mainline Gundam's - We've already discussed much of the mainline series's use of suits so I'll try and refrain from re-iterating my thoughts on the likes of the 'PMX-002 BOLINOAK SAMMAHN' or how my beloved 'MSA-003-Nemo' is for all intensive purposes just a GM2 unit painted green with slightly different shoulders and an alternate slightly sleeker looking shield.
As for the original, while it does feature alot of mechs, it uses the clever wording of 'prototype' to explain away the suits that Clover made them include (Like the Guntank and GunCanon) and with Zeon they're free to go as wild as they like - As at the time they we're supposedly unaware anyone would want to buy themselves a Zaku.
A point definitely in the favour of the original as 'Art over Money' is the fact that after being prematurely cancelled the production team desperately begged for an extra five episodes to finish the story, which to me screams of genuine care and compassion for the property even if they did think it would be little more then a one off venture.
I'm still waiting for that directors cut of the Original - Maybe for the 50th?....
As I've already made my feelings on Zeta abundantly clear, lets move straight to ZZ which as usual out-preforms it's predecessor.
Where Zeta had dozens of suits with no given purpose or production explanation, ZZ is pretty sparing.
The first ten episodes mostly relie on the Methus, Zeta and Gaza-C, all suits from Zeta with a few extra likes the Gaza-D (a rather clear to follow upgrade from the C) to keep things interesting.
Furthermore logic returns and dictates that since the AUEG has been reduced to just the Argama and the completely and constantly unprotected, borderline defenceless Le Vie En Rose, the hero's only receive two suits across the whole show - Those being the repaired Hyaku Shiki and the title Gundam Double Zeta.
While the Double Zeta itself isn't my favourite (Though I appreciate it being the first 'Full Armour' Gundam, unless you count the Mk2 Defencer) and its gimmick can annoying (26/07/2022 Note; Upon my rewatch I actually came to be more fond of the ZZ and the gimmick can be fun too), they keep said trait to a relative minimum and I'd argue it's no worse then all the transformers nonsense of Zeta.
Aside from that while there are a decent number of Axis suits like the Zaku 3 and new Gelgoog (as used rather fittingly by the ace pilots that are Chara & Mashymre bodyguards/Knights) generally speaking all these suits make sense either being moral boasting upgrades to classic Zeon suits or regular upgrades to the new designs.
For example the Quibble is still Haman's suit 47 eps after Zeta's finale and the Puru line use combinations of enhanced Quibble's and the left over Phyco-Gundam (Which at long last gets a good fight scene that actually makes it intimidating for once rather then just physics defying) instead of them just having a constant slew of magically developed custom machines.
Overall it's a return to how 79' did things and it's much appreciated.
CCA is one I'm mixed on - In-Universe the time-skip explains any and all new suits (Ignoring how Neo-Zeon can still exist with this many resources despite now only controlling a single colony, with side 3 and Axis being in ruins) however certain designs in particular irk me/strike me as odd.
The Nu Gundam is like much of this film, a fan-service nod. It's not a logical progression of the Zeta or Double Zeta, rather it's an evolution of the original RX-78-2 and clearly it succeeded as it's one of the fan base's favourite models and best selling multitude of kits despite its bizarre placement. Don't get me wrong it's a memorable design and fun to watch but it feels insincere to me.
Same goes for the Sassaby, it's by no means a continuation of the Hyaku Shiki instead being a mash up of Char's Zaku 2 command type and his Gelgoog.
Again it feels lame, if the idea is after Zeta he discards playing nice with the people of Earth, than a suit that's a total departure from everything before it would make some sense, if he's trying to be a kid again, then a mix of all his suits could work. As is it just feels like more pointless pandering even if it is a really great design.
The Unicorn is neat, the Black Unicorn is a joke, Puru 12's machine is a great evolution and I love the effort they put in to bring back the Nahel Argama alongside the CCA warships but that's about it.
There's alot of old suits in Unicorn, some of which I think are harmless fun referencing but others feel like a deliberate sales pitch to me, the Black Hyaku Shiki for example or Full Frontal's uninspired machine are both great examples of this.
I'd say Unicorn falls on the right side of Money vs Art but not by much near the end and I could easily be convinced its got its eye on the cash prize above all else at times.
I Should mention that ep3/4's mobile armour is a great design and makes way more sense in the Earths atmosphere then pretty much any of the others and the Garencieres is a fun and fresh design that still fits in and pays homage to Zeon - While the fact it's technically a refitted freighter makes it's existence far more practical and credible than most of the post ZZ Neo-Zeon craft.
Also the ZZ fanboy in me loves that the new Neo-Zeon Cruiser Vessels are labelled 'The Endra class'.
Finally you have my beloved F91.
Like CCA the time-skip allows them to introduce alot at little narrative cost, mind you they stick to the world building and have the federation mainly just use the Jegan and it's descendants. The upgraded Guntank prototype is clearly just meant for fun not massive profits and while they have a decent number, the Vanguard feel fairly reserved in their amount of suits, all of which is greatly appreciated.
Finally you have the F91 itself, the only mainline Gundam that isn't a Gundam, no really - If you'll remember back it was only named as such by the Arc's acting Captain informally, in reality it stands for 'Formula 91' and it's technology was developed partially in a effort to help the disabled.
Considering how short F91 is and the Mech's introduction not actually being till about the 42+min mark (around episode 2 or 3 in a normal tv show), we get a fair bit of lore for the 91 which gives it a sense of character that I really appreciate, it's similar to the Unicorn or the 78-2 it that way, further it's medical origins give it a decent excuse for it's New-Type bullcrap, and the fact it's littered in radiators gives an early indication that it has some serious power.
The after-image ability of it's fins gives purpose to what would otherwise be pointless decoration, all while maintaining the original colour-scheme and making brilliant directorial use of the classic Gundam 'Face'.
Plus it's sudo-thruster, hip canons are the coolest mecha weapon ever, it's smaller 15-metre height to the RX-78-2's 18-metres allows it to have a clever energy shield(s) and combined with the aforementioned radiators gives great cause for it's absurd increased speed, which is actually a noticeable trait/factor when compared to alot of other supposedly 'fast' suits in UC Gundam which can often all blur together.
Yes the F91 is my favourite, yes I'm probably bias but I actually do believe there's a pretty good argument in its favour, yes I dedicated the longest mech design section to a 2 hour movie and yes the spoiler box below gives you an epic wallpaper that you can thank me for later.
Other monitory issues that prevail through Gundam are the likes of Sayla not returning in Zeta or CCA because of a voice actor issue, which is just bad writing, image what the dub would look like if it followed this thread, Char and Bright have at-least 5 voices each a piece! We have spoken fairly extensively already on the properties various struggles to fit into certain formats of the time and how Counterattack is just fan-service rather then a thematic conclusion to the Saga, so I won't repeat the details of all that.
All told I think Gundam does more often then not manage to shine it's messages and themes through more brightly then it's plastic model advertising but it's certainly a narrow tight-rope the series's has to navigate and one that, when done wrong, can be a contributing failure to the likes of CCA, Thunderbolt S2 and Zeta, alongside our final point of course-
'Gundam Sequels Since 79' Fail and do Nothing but Complicate the Timeline, Because Their Souls are Weighed Down by the Burden of History'
As my pun title should imply, for our final section's talking point I'd like to sort of correlate all we've been talking on so far and preface my theory on why so many Gundams to me fail so disappointingly. We can bring a few things together here, for example we've already talked about the struggle to keep up the façade of an anti war message when your original show has 3 direct sequels or issues that you run into when you consider the fact everything is happening concurrently in one Timeline rather then separate continuities.
So the following paragraphs will essentially address where I think each of these shows goes unfortunately wrong ultimately failing to be all it could of been. I think I've already harped on enough about how this effects Zeta so Ill leave that out from here;
Stardust Memory(Spoilers Ahoy) - For around 10 episodes Stardust Memory was quickly becoming my favourite Mech show to date, all the pieces were in place, a crew of actually trained cadets and veteran crewmen, enemies with a well thought out plan and interesting motives + a new take on a true purest form of Zeon and maybe most of all a theme about why we fight, something which Zeta is seriously missing and here comes Stardust to fix it but then it all goes wrong.
A love triangle that isn't foreshowed (Nena sees Gatou in episode one and doesn't react to him at all), interesting but completely unexplained subterfuge within the Delaz fleet and the ultimate shoehorning in of the most bland and uninteresting villain from all of Gundam.
Now don't get me wrong,
As mentioned Stardust Memory for most of it's run seems to be about belief, the belief we all need to fight in something like a massive, apocalyptic space war. We get Gatou and his pilots who genuinely seem to believe in the Zeon ideals and are haunted by a drive for retribution, Admiral Delaz who was a true subscriber of Geinren Zabi's doctrine, effectively a real High ranking Nazis
field commander/officer.
Then there's the likes of the trio of federation ace pilots who seem to simply fight because that's their job, true career soldiers aswell as Lt.Burning
So while all that and more (Kelly, Shima, Captain Synapse, Gatou's Wingman, The Axis Captain, etc) is really great, the true conflict the series has to revolve around is Kou Uriki - What does he fight for? The second and third episodes has Gatou essentially lay this out, stating that Kou can never beat him in combat because he doesn't believe in a cause, this is fascinating and true as the closet Kou ever really gets is a draw and that's only after Gatou damages the GPO2 by firing the nuke.
See what everything seems to be leading up to is Kou developing something to believe in based on his time with the assorted Albion pilots, Kelly, Nena and Gatou but it just never happens.
As the lads at 'Weekly Suit Gundam' put it, if the epilogue for Stardust showed Kou became a Jerid Messa type figure, someone with no moral compass or real reasons to fight but through the ignorance of always being given powerful machines and so on becomes arrogant and willing to commit atrocities for more power - Then that would be exceptionally interesting & help improve Zeta's story, but that isn't what happens.
Furthermore the original goal of Stardust was to shore up plot holes like why the Titans are so powerful with so many unwarranted resources, what were Axis doing for the better part of a decade and why does no one have Pegasus class Cruisers in Zeta, are all thrown to the wind.
The weight of those questions becomes too much and if anything they generate more plot holes in the timeline.
The GPO1,2 and 3 all preform immaculately and most of their data and the teams who created them still exist (Heck the GPO3 is still around) so the question becomes why aren't they further developed by the time of the Gypys/The Zeta Anime?
I can understand why they stop strapping on nuclear warheads(A-Giant-Gundam-Gas-Canister would be more the Titan's style and I only wish that were more of a joke.....) but no-one is going to convince me the Mk2 would win in a fight against any of the GPO models.
Then there's the Albion - We all know the real reason there's no Pegasus carriers in Zeta is because Tomino and Co didn't want the bad guys to have their own iconic WhiteBase look-a-like (That would be too nuanced for Zeta, the Titans have to make do with The Phyco-Gundam...despite the fact that they developed the Mk2 but never produce any more of them, even thought they're constantly being between by a single one for 20 episodes....darn it and I said I wouldn't mention Zeta....) and that in the real world the WhiteBase was the only one to of ever appeared on Tv (thought it's ridiculous to suggest the Titans or Federation wouldn't of built more of them) - But with the Albion we-are presented with unequivocal evidence that not only were they're new upgraded Pegasus Mk2's being made in 83(just 4 years before Zeta's onset) but that the Albion itself is both still in one piece and affiliated with the Titans!
Much of this comes down to Bask Om, like in Zeta he's equally uninteresting here, despite an opportunity to flesh out his character with as little as maybe telling us if he has say a family or the reason he wants/is obsessed with power/helps integrally to establish the Titans, instead - He's still just the same incompetent shouty man, his re-introduction forces the new villains and heroes to be put to the side and adds nothing to the story, only takes.
There also seems to be a deliberate jab (I really hope it is meant to be deliberate) at the shallowness of Zeta when we see a federation admiral with Jamatov, turn in his seat to reveal him menacingly stroking a cat like a true nefarious James Bond villain.
I could go on...Quite alot in fact but I think you get the point. The need to link 79' and Zeta together more cohesively ultimately ruins what otherwise could of been a truly brilliant show about extremism, belief and authority but fails at doing anything more than creating new plot holes that Zeta really didn't need.
This here meme sums up the later half of Stardust Memory in full...
Gundam The Origin(Spoilers Ahoy) - The origin technically exist in a sort of alternate timeline so it's the least egregious of these 4 examples, still where Unicorn has to get to F91 and Stardust to Zeta, the Origin is required to match up to some degree with the original 79' anime.
We've already discussed how it makes Ral too sympathetic for his own good - Big military mission to recover a cat? Definitely that's Ral in a nutshell. Turning down orders because he's secretly a 'nice guy'- No chance, not in this style anyway.
The same can be said for Dozel, his depiction is about right for the most part, his genuine care for his family including Garma, his actual talent for battle strategy and I really love the part where he rationalises operation British by saying he's protecting his Mineva even if all the Mineva's he killed couldn't be saved by their fathers, the problem with him is they play up the hamyness way to much.
He's constantly bending iron railings, or cowering in fear of Gearin, even in his best scenes their often marred by his extreme goofiness which far exceeds the originals show's version of him.
Then there's Garma and Char.
I already mentioned my issue with Char, the idea that even as a child (and seemingly before his Father's assassination) he was already a creepy uncaring sociopath seems over the top. The Char of 79' is suave and cunning, not a crazed nut-job.
The idea that he has always been ready at any moment to snap like an elastic band at passing cowboys takes away alot of his charm and reservedness.
With Garma they similarly overplay his incompetence and cowardis. Now no doubt is Garma a goofy opponent in 79' but at the same time he seems like a true confident of Char, a little bit of a lady's man and ultimately an incredibly brave(if stupid) warrior - How is any of that conveyed in the Origin with it's depiction of the completely cowardly, idiotic boy who probably couldn't talk to a woman without stuttering?
More-over, while he may laugh after the fact, Char seems to genuinely question weather it was worth watching
Furthermore I'm really not a big fan of the old 'every character is related to one another in their respective histories' trope, having the Black star trio be both original test pilots and once been Ral's subordinates, alongside Ramba himself and Char, to make up the 5 first ever mech users is a bit much and in general there is a fair degree of this strewn through-out the whole story which can sometimes give it a 'fanfiction-y' feeling but isn't a major issue. Ultimately The Origin is the one that fairs best of my four chosen problem children with its odd inconsequential factor (Who cares if Revell is a warmongering mumbler supreme now? Its a different timeline, yada yada...), but it stills struggles to properly account for it's given responsibility and could do with alot of shoring up.
Char's Counterattack(Spoilers Ahoy) - Char's Counterattack differs from the other three I've chosen to talk about, in that where they all need to reach a certain point, Counterattack doesn't. Indeed by the end of ZZ Judau has succeeded in surpassing Amuro and Kamille, and helping the struggling souls of the world find peace, Captain Bright has finally been able to let go of command and hand the reigns of the future over the next generation and as for Neo-Zeon, all their leaders are dead, Minera is missing, they're hierarchy collapsed, Axis among other mining asteroids in ruin, the Core Side 3 fu*ked and barely a handful of ships left - Which we see get arrested by the new combined Fleet.
Add to that the AUEG now having only one ship and the Titans being entirely defeated, reason dictates there will be no more large scale conflicts, due to the sheer lack of any fighting strength in the whole universe, till at-least some decades have passed as seen in F91.
So then CCA essentially has a clean slate, it has no obligation to connect to anything yet to come, nor is there many losse ends other then the faith of Char and Mineva - That's not so say that continuing on and further elaboration of the themes so far is a bad idea but rather-more that it is a great opportunity for new ideas and organisations.
Instead we get the exact opposite of that, Char, Amuro and Bright all have their development backpedalled, no other classic characters appear except Astonaige Medoz who they do ridiculously dirty but at-least he learned how to make pasta or somen....,
Neo-Zeon magics itself back into existence, as do the AUEG with the far less catchy name of 'Londo Bell', there's a new Gundam, a raft of characters who just repeat the stories of Zeta and ZZ before getting unceremoniously killed off, no true advancement of the themes(Haman already represented the idea of not wanting to wait for progress, in contrast to Judau believing in people's inherit 'goodness'), we have repeats of droping stuff out of space and ultimately it all just sort of ends.
It's just so frustrating when you consider how unnecessary it is, there is so much great stuff that could be done here and alot of it is but the fact CCA is just an excuses for Amuro and Char to fight each other on the big screen one last time is painfully sickening.
As mentioned it's quite possibly the biggest case of 'profit winning out over art', that's not to say there aren't some passionate people in here; From the animation, to the composition and Tomino's directing (plus multiple good strains of writing in amongst), it's all mesmerising but also remarkably childish and insincere and acts as afar less satisfying closing act to what had been building up to be an epic conclusion with a deeper meaning behind it.
It's upsetting to put it lightly and fails as a conclusion or follow up as it gleefully ignores the better part of 97 episode preceding it.
The world at the end of CCA is really not all that different to the one of ZZ, Neo-Zeon are crushed (again and not for the last time...), Bright and his ship are pretty much all that's left of the 'good' part of the federation and the thematic message is if anything a little more needlessly bleak.
Where ZZ ends hopeful that the likes of Judau (Who heads for Jupiter as if trying to help colonise the world outside the Earth sphere, much like Haman spoke about), Lenna and Puru could bring peace or at-least change to the next generations with a tinge of sorrow represented in the bureaucracy of the federation admiralty, which only Bright seems capable of fully understanding the full breath of (and one would think the next step for him would be trying to bring true reform via the AEUG faction to the whole federation and supporting the next generation from the shadows rather then the front line...but I digress again.) - CCA sort of says the same thing, everyone is still selfish and corrupt but the prevention of the Axis crash shows there's hope for humanity.
The story hasn't moved along at all, no that would have to wait for a certain beast of possibility..
Gundam Unicorn(Spoilers Ahoy) - While I was watching Unicorn I told my sibling about how the premise revolves around 'LaPlus'es box' and we theorised that maybe its contents would be simply a copy of the F91 DVD.
It was a joke, a good one at that but in all honesty it got me thinking, if not that, then what could possibly tie the past of the franchise to it's in-universe future? Well apparently nothing.
Unicorn is constantly predicated on the premise of multiple McGuffins and mystery boxes. Is Full Frontal Char? - Meh no but yes.
What's in LaPlus'es box? - Exactly what you'd image, considering it borderline couldn't of been anything else, etc.
Now credit where it's due these hunts actually work remarkably well for 6 episodes, far better then they do in something like the Star Wars franchise, however the issue is, no matter how well the gimmick works along the way, such a writing mechanic makes for shaky foundations when it comes to crunch time.
How could the plane stick the landing when it's wings were constructed from the toilet paper of contrivance and it's engines powered by the will of suspense, it's fuselage made from the rice-crackers of untold backstories and it's runway the glorious undeniable fact that this all somehow has to lead to that darn F91 Blu Ray disk?
For me I really started to feel that hype everyone associates with Unicorn in episode 3, when while I realised that the Nahel Argama was clearly just fanservice(why not have some of the old crew members return and use that for further story telling possibilities with the new Gundam pilot and Puru 12? I suppose the voice actors weren't available?-,-), that clearly not only were we really going to include a Puru from the New-Type battalion but they were going to truly use that to tell a dynamic story about abuse (physical and mental) and expand upon a brilliantly interesting plot thread that CCA had just left wide open.
Episode 4/5 however were the ones that truly got me onboard for more then just hype or hope. One of my favourite scenes from this franchise will now forever be that moment on the Garuda when it all seems set up to do it, the generic Gundam thing, Banagher will rescue Minerva and escape, while Marida Cruz will be forced to accidentally kill Zimmerman, sending her down an even darker path but instead it doesn't!
Instead Banagher finally gains his resolve and he saves them all, he with Zimmerman's aid brings Marida back, saves Minerva and even manages to get the Garencieres back into space. The theme of breaking the cycle, of not just being another chapter in Gundam's long history of repeated sorrow seems at long last certain.
The conclusive ending this show so desperately needs seems so close and it goes further!
Bright seems completely set up to finally take matters into his own hands and reform the Federation once and for all and the formation of the alliance between the Nahel Argama and Neo-Zeon, not as a true combined fleet or political maneuver but rather as a group of individuals trying desperately to change the world - Just like Stardust it seems we're there, we are ready to right the wrongs of CCA and bring this baby home, we're- And then we get episode 7.
I make a conceited effort not to hype things up but even I couldn't help but be giddy, just seeing the fact the final episode would be 30 minutes longer, the clear set up for everything to come home, the astounding production values so far, the steadfast confidence I was developing in this new team and source material writer, the adherence to the 5 core themes, everything, all of it was ready.
Then Episode 7 fuc*ks it entirely, no doubt there's good in here but overall it sucks. Riddhe, Angelo and Full Frontal become little more than plot devices and are exceedingly cheap and weak characters, the box literally makes no difference to anything or anyone,
There's a big stupid battle, a big boring space laser, a short recap of mostly better stories and a return of the now time-travel-capable moda-friggin Zeong?!?!
Bright does nothing, absolutely nothing.
They make a generic speech and it just ends, no resolution, heck I'd call it far more open ended then CCA is.
It's so very close too, that's the bit that hurts most. They have Riddhe acknowledge
Furthermore the fact that sunrise has to leave it open in case they want to do more follow ups (i.e. Narrative and Hathway's Flash) means it can't actually make a difference, which in turn makes the whole thing superfluous, ruins it's unique angle/themes and is overall an incredibly beautiful waste of time.
The Curse of F91 is indeed a powerful one....
Why Do I Still Watch Gundam? Do I even Like it? Am I the Problem, is it Even meant for Someone Like Me?
So then maybe the most appropriate final question is why do I even watch Gundam?
My philosophy is on record as being that I don't watch much that I don't enjoy or see potential in, unless specifically asked to watch it by a friend etc.
I suppose a part of the reason is the fact that even at its worst, there is always a redeeming factor, weather that be a great soundtrack, amazing direction or just fun stupid robot fights, furthermore I like to try and watch a fair amount of more historically relevant anime on a regular basis so most Gundam show's would come under that remit too - But really, while I definitely do hate or becoming frustrated by some endings or the wasted potential of more series then one would hope, I love this franchise.
F91 is beautiful on a level I struggle to describe despite how objectively bad it's pacing is, the original Gundam is still one of my all time favourite war and adolescence stories, 6 episodes of Unicorn are the hypest mech thing ever and War in the Pocket is truly a higher tier of art than most normal anime can hope to match.
I may not be the best Gundam fan, as a franchise it isn't actually that militarily orientated, with weird rankings and navel structures, bizarre weapons and often a total lack of any sort of tactics, moreover a cool fight or design doesn't do it for me if the narrative doesn't back said objects up.
No in truth seemingly only every second UC entry and every other AU property seem to succeed but when it's at it's best, when Gundam reaches those storytelling, visual and audible highs, When Amuro rejects pointless revenge and uses his powers for his family rather than war as he makes it home after Au Bu A Qu in the original and Encounters by Daisuke Inoue starts to play - The sombre imagery of the nuke in ep 12 of Zeta, How Bernie truly surpasses the title of grunt, when El-Pe-Puru and Judah sit quietly and comfort each other aboard the Argama - Gatou fighting with Kou in episode 10(alternately Kelly and Kou in ep7) or the surprising wholesomeness of the 08th Ms team - Zimmerman allowing Marida to be her own woman and
After-Word
By coincidence this is my 15th review, hurrah! I have no intention of doing something like this for each arbitrary milestone number but I'm glad it happened to line up this way. Writing and thinking about Gundam is an oddly different and I suppose harder experience to other animes.
When I write on a drama or slice of life I can work from my own personnel field of reference, I know people, I've experience how they can be and even in something like my Full Metal Panic Review I often times hone more in on the human conflict side then the war elements. Furthermore the sheer size of what we've covered here today far outweighs the usual 1-27 eps shows that I'm used to talking about, a character like Char requires genuine thought for the basic fact of just how much of him there really is, and I'm quite glad I did.
I think after this I do have a better understand and appreciation for what Tomino was aiming for and while a character like Jerid is still to me terrible and poorly written, I think before this I couldn't even see what Jerid was meant to be (Thank you to ZZ and Glemy for helping me reverse engineer that Jerid was an aspect of Char all along).
I'm currently getting into Late UC and really loved the original Crossbone Manga, as such if my time with that or Victory and Turn-A Gundam (I probably won't watch Hathaway's flash until it is at-least near the completion of all 3 movies) change my opinions or perspectives in some sense, then I'll be sure to come back and add something of an addendum.
I'm also still interested in doing slightly less specific reviews for War in the Pocket, Stardust, ZZ, CCA and Unicorn, aswell as maybe some Alternate universe shows, which I guess I could do similar review to this on, so it's unlikely this will be the last time for me with or writing on Gundam but for now I've got some things to say on a certain Revolutionary Girl and some Magical acropolises😂😉.
With all that said I really hope you enjoyed, if so feel free to ask any questions in the comment box thing below or leave a 'helpful' on one of my Gundam related reviews (Like the Zeta one. Turn phones to 'Desktop Mode') and without further ado,
Thanks for Reading,
I hope you enjoyed.
The Char Problem - The Many Masks of Casval Rem Deikun
Something else that fascinates me both about each Gundam as a narrative, Gundam as a meta piece of media and the fanbase as a group is all of their individual approaches to Édouard Mass. The Origin paints him as a Psychopathic Maniac from the day of his birth with a stare that freaks people out for some reason(?!), Zeta depicts him as a simply lost soul and CCA tries to make out this, in theory, great concept that
.
Then you have every Gundam since UC which must have a Char clone (once more, often missing the point in much the same way as is the case with Ramba Ral) and finally the critical response.
There's remarkably little good analysis of Char as a whole, not on an individual film/tv show basis but as a solid character.
The reason given for this is usually something along the lines of "He's too complicated a character to cover in the video/essay/etc"(If your reading this I'm sure you know the type of thing I'm talking about) and while I'd agree he is complex and furthermore I'm in no ways confident in my ability to break down a 40 year spanning at times 20-33ish something year old, I'd actually preface that people mix 'Complicated' with 'A complete and utter mess'.
Parts of Char and his representation are downright masterful, epically some of the Meta elements that we will discuss shortly but from a top down perspective, Char is messy and mostly because of what we just discussed in our previous segment. While I'd still see problems with it, if the Gundam meta-narrative went straight from 79' into CCA then Char migth just be one of the all time greatest conceived characters in all of fiction - Complicated, emotional, crafty but caring, revenge driven and blood lusting, charisma ridden anti-hero - Expect Zeta exists...
Now don't miss-understand, while I think it's handled badly, it is entirely plausible and actually quite a great idea that after the events of Zeta, Char essentially gives up on Earth dwelling humanity and decides to start lobbing asteroids at the earth to speed up the process of evolution, all while finally accepting his true mantel as the heir to space and perhaps embracing a martyrdom philosophy like his father.
That would be great and could make for a brilliant movie and way to end off the franchise's first saga, essentially framing Char as Gundam's true main protagonist (ignoring ZZ for this hypothetical moment) but it isn't, because quiet simple 1st Lt.Quattro Bajeena is not the same person as Captain Aznable.
While easy to forget, we watch a fairly stable Char in Zeta interact with the world as a relatively normal person (He has his hang-ups and seems a bit lost about what his place in the world is but all told he isn't the man from CCA).
What exactly makes him go from Amuro's best friend forever, who he has a mutual respect for/with and shares drinks alongside, back to wanting literally nothing more out of life then to re-spark his old rivalry and
Frankly it's absurd. Throwing rocks at Earth? Yep that tracks. Big battle with Amuro? He*l no - If anything it would make far more sense for him to team up with Amuro & Bright to stop the federation once and for all.
If Char became so distraught and broken after the events of the Gypys conflict that he essentially reverted back to a child's mind-set of longing for his Mother and best buddy, than how did he manage to muster the composure to rebuild Neo-Zeon from absolutely nothing?
I can read between the lines just fine but they keep moving and it feels alot like contrivance, that we both want him to be the man who can put on the mask of politics, like the speech in Dakar and rally the people (And magically generating materials) to his call but also the boy who just wants to play Han Solo.
And as discussed we already know the true answer even if there isn't a present in universe one - Money.
It's a sad reality but CCA is the way it is because of-course the premise of finishing a ten year long rivalry on the big screen sounds appealing, it doesn't matter that said rivalry ended literally years ago both in our world and especially in-universe.
It's a cheap reason to backtrack Char, Amuro and Bright's developments, a terrible reason not to bring back any of the old cast or ships from Zeta and ZZ and the time skip is in all likelihood just an excuse to push more toys with a vague amount of diegetic reasoning.
It's just downright lazy writing, in Zeta Char regrets what happened in 79' but he's clearly moving on, if slowly, and even attempts to help
so what rekindles it?
If he never got over his childish games from 79' and his fruitless pursuit of revenge at the cost of his own and Sayla's development, than why didn't he kill Mineva Zabi when he did his own best friend Garma, simply for his surname?
What possible reason could he have for playing with her as a child or why does he jeopardise the AEUG just to tell Haman to be nicer to Mineva Is that part of his act, a really, really elaborate long game?!?!
In original Zeta his compassion for Mineva was a sign of his growth, moving past the events of revenge and loss in the One Year War and perhaps even regretting his revenge laden path, there is no reason the Gypys conflict should of caused these sorts of changes in him. Make him depressed and ready for some light Genocide, sure we all know that feeling on a Monday morning but what the he*l made him want to fight Amuro again?????
They say a picture is worth a 1000 words, well does Char look like he's holding back a deep seeded urge to murder Amuro in this rather famous scene? Can you image what must of happened to go from this to CCA? It sure ain't shown to the audience, that's for sure if nothing else - The closet I've seen is that he took Amuro's words about sacrifice to heart, but than why not side with Amuro - Perhaps it is actually Amuro's character that's just as at fault here?As mentioned though, let's take a brief moment to look at some of the real brilliance that is also present in Tomino's writing of Char. The biggest of this is Char's many faces as seen throughout the original saga and even into F91.
Before Char clones were just a thing we all came to except as 'well that's just Gundam for ya' the series actually did some really fascinating things with the concept. Each of the early Char clones represents an internal aspect of the original 79's Char, let's go over them briefly-
Jerid Messa - Jerid is the first of these, possibly an accident and certainly the worst of them. Non-the-less Jerid cleverly represents the arrogance of Char. He's assured in his skills but never truly defeats Kamille, he's able to rationalise the most heinous of acts as justified and furthermore unable to see that his comrades and love interests keep dieing because of his own incompetence (Much like Char with a certain someone), finally he's hell-bent on revenge for most of the series.
Glemy Toto - Glemy is probably the best example of this and the closet thing to foreshadowing the Char we would see in CCA that there is. Unlike Jerid, while he can pilot quite well it's not really his thing, no rather he represents the manipulative scheming of Char.
He has ambitions against the leaders of his organisation and enough autonomy and hinted family links with-in said organisation to achieve these ends - But more importantly he represents the more openly 'evil' part of Char, the part that will happily seduce children if that should prove useful to him, who'll betray any one if needed and truly sees nothing wrong with his almost paedophilic tendencies and abuse. Further like Char, his biggest weakness is a girl in the forum of Roux Lucca.
As I say, this is the best display of taking an aspect of Char and running with it and is ultimately one of Tomino's best, most boundary pushing characters, as well as a great boon to ZZ.
Iron Mask - From his name to his visage, Iron Mask is the most apparent of the Char aspects, in large part due to the fact details need to be communicated efficiently, so there's little time for another slow burn like Glemy or Jerid.
With that said Iron Mask like Glemy brilliantly communicates the aspect of restrain and identity. It's important that Iron Mask is the only clone who actually wears a mask that is comparable to Char 79' (Glemy and Jerid both have permanently revealed faces), rather then the manipulation of Glemy, Iron Mask represents the restraint, or quite literally the mask.
He hides his face as a bargain with himself to not allow his emotions to get the better of him, in much the same way Char has to carefully keep in check his urge to just stab Garma to death in his sleep at the training academy and so on.
He represents the fact that underneath the mask Char is in a constant debate with himself over who he really is - Is he Sayla's brother, Edward? The Zeon Ace and trusted confident of Garma and Cecilia, Char? The son of Zeon Zum Dikun? In this sense Iron Mask's short lived screen time helps to really concisely express this regard even if he is ridiculous as hel* to watch in motion.
After that there is arguably two more 'A CHAR's', Quattro who is more of an alter ego Char wishes to be for a while, as-a-versed to his normal disguise, and Casval of CCA who is now so detached from the Char of his childhood that in a sense he's no longer the actual Char beneath the mask - But rather the Char of 79' is probably more true to him then his birth name is anymore (Which is perhaps the only conceivable reason for why he pursues Amuro, a sort of attempt to be himself again in a sense).
It's alot to process but that's by no means a negative, no rather it's in these broud swaths that Char seems like an incredible complex and in-depth character...Well except for the usual Tomino issues;
Jerid is just down-right bad, a large problem with him being an aspect of Char, is the fact Char is also right there, we don't need an aspect of him if he's already here because the parallels become too harsh or comparable. Aside from that Jerid is just really oddly, badly written and bland - His message of male promotion over woman would work better if he didn't have actual plot armour protecting him - I mean I'd promote a hospitalised soldier who got thrown off a cliff, only to immediately kill a cyber newtype, any day of the week....
Meanwhile Glemy may be the best or at-least most interesting Char clone but he starts life as a bumbling comic relief pilot and while his weird gravitation towards Roux Lucca and Leena are there from the start, it's undeniable for much of the early series he doesn't actually fit his later role, plus his steadfast determination to the Blue Team, seems somewhat out of character in retrospect and yet is integral to his character development.
Finally Iron Mask is-... Well with a name like that it's pretty clear his representation is overtly blunt, for good reason but blunt no less.
Again as should be clear a large part of the issue here is the length, after all lots of other shows do this sort of writing.
In King Lear many of the characters represent aspect of the King or at-least what we perceive a King should be, or in Evangellion Hideki Anno is on record as saying most of the characters are aspects of himself or people he's known, but with the Char vessels as with Char himself, there's just not enough for them to do. Iron Mask and Glemy do better here but Quattro, Jerid and Char are just around for too long and I think Tomino knows it to as he frequently sends Quattro off screen on political errands and both Char and Jerid disappear for large portions of 79' and Zeta.
So while so many of these ideas are really, truly brilliant, you can't just ignore the long stretches of these show's where the characters become bland or are just miss-used out of the necessity to hit the 50ish episode mark, such brilliantly tightknit characters just really don't suit the long form nature of 80's serialised anime. Of course this is meant to be a review of all TV early UC...
So Where does that leave Riddhe and Full-Frontal? -Full Frontal is clearly filling a role that Iron Mask already had 20 years earlier and Riddhe is a clone of Jerid or perhaps Glemy if seen in a certain light, who as discussed are already aspects of Char (So a weird double clone thing) but we can go unfortunately a bit more in-depth than that(not that Unicorn really does.....)
{The following will be pretty spoiler heavy for Unicorn in general so skip to the next section if that's something you've yet to see};
As mentioned Full Frontal fulfils the same role as Iron Mask, he puts on a false front in order to make use of that same charm as Char to rally the people behind him, funnily enough further like Iron Mask, both appear to have been 'created' as it were - with Narrative telling us that Full Frontal was one of many attempts at a Char clone (did they like, alter his body to? Was he always blond and blue eyed?), while Iron Mask isn't exactly 'normal'.
I'd be loath to suggest this is any way means the light novel author was unaware of Iron Mask but maybe he simply believed it was a good opportunity, with that said with-in the anime Full Frontal doesn't really do anything and is really just symbolic of Unicorn's deeper failings.
It never leans all that hard into the idea of him as a vessel nor how he actually feels about that in any meaningful way, nor do we even know who made him that way and for what cause. We also never learn why the actual Fu*k a Captain is the leader of sleeves...not... ya know, an admiral or some such.
In the end Full Frontal really does do nothing but make gimmicky references to Char, the 3 times faster ace pilot thing, the almost one for one Sassaby looking mobile suit, the Char kick, some vague illusions of mass political and economic change, it's all meh.
If that was an intentional design, to show how he really is just an empty copy, then maybe it could mean something ala Roux Le Cruise in Seed (Oh God did I just compliment Seed?!) but with him as the primary villain it just falls flat.
The pinnacle of this is when they seemingly give up on being clever like they had been up till now with the likes of Puru 12 and just resort to pointless fanservice for the final battle by giving the Unicorn something that looks like OG Char's legless Zeong to punch like the Nu Gundam did in CCA.
Add in some time travel shenanigans and what I believe was Amuro, Lala and Char's souls? And Frontal just kind of surrenders I guess? Considering we don't actually know his motives or agenda because he's just that secretive, its hard to know what the force ghosts or Banagher said, that made him want to spontaneously fade to rust.
It's incredibly weak, possibly the least creative part of Unicorn in general, goes nowhere, says nothing new about Char's character or Frontal himself, doesn't really act as Banagher's rival and is probably one of the most bland Char clones in the whole franchise. Ahem, I did mention that I do actually like Unicorn ya?😂
Then we have ensign Riddhe, initially a 'nice guy' who seems to if anything be more of a call back to Quattro then Char down to the black Hiyuki Shiki, we soon realise he's going down the Jerid route. Now that could definitely be interesting, seeing that idea in a smaller scale story here it could have real hard hitting impact but for reasons which as I understand retain to most of his parts of the books being cut, he instead falls in love with Minerva (sort of), gets very depressed, than snaps, does some evil stuff including killing best girl and then gets to be a good guy again cause of the power of New-Type friendship. Meh.
It's all very Meh, like Frontal he has fairly few scenes and those aren't used all that well. The logical role for him to take would be to kill the mobile armour in Ep4 as seen, then have a feedback burst of New-type angst and just as he tries to apologise, gets killed by Puru 12 or Banagher, spring-boarding their further development - instead he survives that battles, repeats his getting rejected by Minerva scene from ep 3/4 in ep 5/6, goes berserk, kills the best female Gundam pilot in the UC and then gets to survive for a second time, just so he can help make a barrier?
Mehhhhhhhhhhhh, it's all so Mehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
A large part of Unicorn's problem is how it pulls a Stardust Memory, in that the final few moments somehow making the rest of the story worse off, in the case of what we're talking on, both Riddhe and Frontal seem like they'll be used to say something useful and fresh the whole way through but after the end you realise they never did and suddenly that promise is unfilled and feels hollow.
The obvious alternative for Riddhe which would of kept with the ideas the show seemed to be gunning for up until episode 7 when it devolved into a generic Gundam finale - Would of been to have him not kill Puru, to have him get close and than not do it, to show the better outcome, that the cycle of 'Char' can be ended, in much the same way Unicorn seems to want to be about the ending of the cycle of war but I digress.
The constant struggle of all Anime, Between Art and Profitability-
Aside from being an anti-war thematic experience and 'A CHAR' lead story for most of it's run in one fashion or another, Gundam also grapples with one other issue that faces almost all anime and in it's case maybe more-so then most other properties.
See as I'm sure you're well aware Gundam started life being sponsored by a line of metal action figures from Clover and conversely is still to this day powered in large part by Bandai's Gunpla market.
As such the line between art and profitability is one of Gundam's big struggles, as even the iconic colours and samurai stylings of the original RX-78-2 were a change made by the toy company back in the original 1979 show. All art has this issue unless being produced with no gain in mind (some even belief that true art can only be made by those who aren't being reimbursed or at-least wantonly so, for their time). With all this in mind it migth be pressing to move away from the themes and characters of Gundam and take a quick look at the mechs that inhabit these stories-
The 90's Ova's - The Ova's are the easiest to talk about in this regard as their being funded by a guarantied cash stream not only meant they were able to come out highly irregularly in the case of Stardust and The 08th but also the budget for music and animation are much higher.
Furthermore while many iconic suits come from these shows, they generally make a fair deal of sense as there's not as much onus to include extra suits for marketing purposes. This is most prevalent in War in the Pocket where we see only two new suits both of which make logical in-universe sense, the Alex Gundam great - It starts in that grey outer armour giving it an intimidating appearance, almost like that of the 'bad guys' machine or super secret weapon, but once it's outer armour falls to reveal it's true colour scheme is far more akin to a regular Gundam,.
It really helps to hammer home for Al and the audience that 'We're the bad guys!?', additionally the Kampfer while primarily fitting in well with Zeon's late war strategy of 'just try anything however specific or experimental' is an initially cool design with a great build up, that makes you want to see it in combat... Until you do and than suddenly you really wish you hadn't and you no longer desire a Gunpla of it, which is just ingenious.
While the ground type Gundam of the titular 08th Ms team, along with the GPO 1,2 and 3 all raise some continuity questions, they're all great designs and feel fairly decently justified.
Post 90's Ova Material - Thunderbolt is once more a story of two sides, the first season mainly uses pre-existing suits from the One Year War, with interesting and experimental bonus armaments, an easy way to sell old kits again but a palatable one to be sure.
Season 2 however goes the complete opposite direction, we see whole myriads of random older suits regardless of whether they make sense or not and the new mechs seem to be actively trying to break bits of the Canon (How does the Atlas Gundam exist mere months after the War? How does it add to the development history of the Mk2 or the GPO line? Why didn't they just do the Alex Mk2 like sensible people, which in itself would of been a neat reference to push sales? This alternate UC timeline stuff is an excuse to go completely left field).
Even The GM's seem to of gotten boosts that don't even vaguely try to line up with any prior information. Like that series in general it's a let down and clear attempt to use Thunderbolt S1's great success to push more toy kits. Cheap.
The Origin on the other hand fairs much better, due to it's intrinsic nature of being before The War and the inception of any Mobile Suits, it sticks to a limited number of logical prototypes for the Gun-cannon, Zaku and Gun Tank, while one migth draw issue with the deliberate attempts to custom paint the Zaku 1's in Ral's, Char's and the Tri star's custom colours in order to possibly sell 3 of the same kit (And boy did they get alot of kits out of the Origin) - I think it's more of an innocently fun reference and nothing to split hairs over.
Overall the Origin unsurprisingly fairs well in this regard and deserves props for not trying to shoehorn in anymore call-back suits then nessacerily.
MS-Igloo fairs in much the same light being that the only suits that gets much spotlight are the basic Zaku 2, Gm 1 and the Zudah which in itself is a nice fit for both the show's plot and the universe in general (The idea of a technical failure being rebranded to try boost moral with a faulty weapon is a perfect MS-Igloo idea and where that property really does shine best).
Mainline Gundam's - We've already discussed much of the mainline series's use of suits so I'll try and refrain from re-iterating my thoughts on the likes of the 'PMX-002 BOLINOAK SAMMAHN' or how my beloved 'MSA-003-Nemo' is for all intensive purposes just a GM2 unit painted green with slightly different shoulders and an alternate slightly sleeker looking shield.
As for the original, while it does feature alot of mechs, it uses the clever wording of 'prototype' to explain away the suits that Clover made them include (Like the Guntank and GunCanon) and with Zeon they're free to go as wild as they like - As at the time they we're supposedly unaware anyone would want to buy themselves a Zaku.
A point definitely in the favour of the original as 'Art over Money' is the fact that after being prematurely cancelled the production team desperately begged for an extra five episodes to finish the story, which to me screams of genuine care and compassion for the property even if they did think it would be little more then a one off venture.
I'm still waiting for that directors cut of the Original - Maybe for the 50th?....
As I've already made my feelings on Zeta abundantly clear, lets move straight to ZZ which as usual out-preforms it's predecessor.
Where Zeta had dozens of suits with no given purpose or production explanation, ZZ is pretty sparing.
The first ten episodes mostly relie on the Methus, Zeta and Gaza-C, all suits from Zeta with a few extra likes the Gaza-D (a rather clear to follow upgrade from the C) to keep things interesting.
Furthermore logic returns and dictates that since the AUEG has been reduced to just the Argama and the completely and constantly unprotected, borderline defenceless Le Vie En Rose, the hero's only receive two suits across the whole show - Those being the repaired Hyaku Shiki and the title Gundam Double Zeta.
While the Double Zeta itself isn't my favourite (Though I appreciate it being the first 'Full Armour' Gundam, unless you count the Mk2 Defencer) and its gimmick can annoying (26/07/2022 Note; Upon my rewatch I actually came to be more fond of the ZZ and the gimmick can be fun too), they keep said trait to a relative minimum and I'd argue it's no worse then all the transformers nonsense of Zeta.
Aside from that while there are a decent number of Axis suits like the Zaku 3 and new Gelgoog (as used rather fittingly by the ace pilots that are Chara & Mashymre bodyguards/Knights) generally speaking all these suits make sense either being moral boasting upgrades to classic Zeon suits or regular upgrades to the new designs.
For example the Quibble is still Haman's suit 47 eps after Zeta's finale and the Puru line use combinations of enhanced Quibble's and the left over Phyco-Gundam (Which at long last gets a good fight scene that actually makes it intimidating for once rather then just physics defying) instead of them just having a constant slew of magically developed custom machines.
Overall it's a return to how 79' did things and it's much appreciated.
CCA is one I'm mixed on - In-Universe the time-skip explains any and all new suits (Ignoring how Neo-Zeon can still exist with this many resources despite now only controlling a single colony, with side 3 and Axis being in ruins) however certain designs in particular irk me/strike me as odd.
The Nu Gundam is like much of this film, a fan-service nod. It's not a logical progression of the Zeta or Double Zeta, rather it's an evolution of the original RX-78-2 and clearly it succeeded as it's one of the fan base's favourite models and best selling multitude of kits despite its bizarre placement. Don't get me wrong it's a memorable design and fun to watch but it feels insincere to me.
Same goes for the Sassaby, it's by no means a continuation of the Hyaku Shiki instead being a mash up of Char's Zaku 2 command type and his Gelgoog.
Again it feels lame, if the idea is after Zeta he discards playing nice with the people of Earth, than a suit that's a total departure from everything before it would make some sense, if he's trying to be a kid again, then a mix of all his suits could work. As is it just feels like more pointless pandering even if it is a really great design.
The Unicorn is neat, the Black Unicorn is a joke, Puru 12's machine is a great evolution and I love the effort they put in to bring back the Nahel Argama alongside the CCA warships but that's about it.
There's alot of old suits in Unicorn, some of which I think are harmless fun referencing but others feel like a deliberate sales pitch to me, the Black Hyaku Shiki for example or Full Frontal's uninspired machine are both great examples of this.
I'd say Unicorn falls on the right side of Money vs Art but not by much near the end and I could easily be convinced its got its eye on the cash prize above all else at times.
I Should mention that ep3/4's mobile armour is a great design and makes way more sense in the Earths atmosphere then pretty much any of the others and the Garencieres is a fun and fresh design that still fits in and pays homage to Zeon - While the fact it's technically a refitted freighter makes it's existence far more practical and credible than most of the post ZZ Neo-Zeon craft.
Also the ZZ fanboy in me loves that the new Neo-Zeon Cruiser Vessels are labelled 'The Endra class'.
Finally you have my beloved F91.
Like CCA the time-skip allows them to introduce alot at little narrative cost, mind you they stick to the world building and have the federation mainly just use the Jegan and it's descendants. The upgraded Guntank prototype is clearly just meant for fun not massive profits and while they have a decent number, the Vanguard feel fairly reserved in their amount of suits, all of which is greatly appreciated.
Finally you have the F91 itself, the only mainline Gundam that isn't a Gundam, no really - If you'll remember back it was only named as such by the Arc's acting Captain informally, in reality it stands for 'Formula 91' and it's technology was developed partially in a effort to help the disabled.
Considering how short F91 is and the Mech's introduction not actually being till about the 42+min mark (around episode 2 or 3 in a normal tv show), we get a fair bit of lore for the 91 which gives it a sense of character that I really appreciate, it's similar to the Unicorn or the 78-2 it that way, further it's medical origins give it a decent excuse for it's New-Type bullcrap, and the fact it's littered in radiators gives an early indication that it has some serious power.
The after-image ability of it's fins gives purpose to what would otherwise be pointless decoration, all while maintaining the original colour-scheme and making brilliant directorial use of the classic Gundam 'Face'.
Plus it's sudo-thruster, hip canons are the coolest mecha weapon ever, it's smaller 15-metre height to the RX-78-2's 18-metres allows it to have a clever energy shield(s) and combined with the aforementioned radiators gives great cause for it's absurd increased speed, which is actually a noticeable trait/factor when compared to alot of other supposedly 'fast' suits in UC Gundam which can often all blur together.
Yes the F91 is my favourite, yes I'm probably bias but I actually do believe there's a pretty good argument in its favour, yes I dedicated the longest mech design section to a 2 hour movie and yes the spoiler box below gives you an epic wallpaper that you can thank me for later.
Other monitory issues that prevail through Gundam are the likes of Sayla not returning in Zeta or CCA because of a voice actor issue, which is just bad writing, image what the dub would look like if it followed this thread, Char and Bright have at-least 5 voices each a piece! We have spoken fairly extensively already on the properties various struggles to fit into certain formats of the time and how Counterattack is just fan-service rather then a thematic conclusion to the Saga, so I won't repeat the details of all that.
All told I think Gundam does more often then not manage to shine it's messages and themes through more brightly then it's plastic model advertising but it's certainly a narrow tight-rope the series's has to navigate and one that, when done wrong, can be a contributing failure to the likes of CCA, Thunderbolt S2 and Zeta, alongside our final point of course-
'Gundam Sequels Since 79' Fail and do Nothing but Complicate the Timeline, Because Their Souls are Weighed Down by the Burden of History'
As my pun title should imply, for our final section's talking point I'd like to sort of correlate all we've been talking on so far and preface my theory on why so many Gundams to me fail so disappointingly. We can bring a few things together here, for example we've already talked about the struggle to keep up the façade of an anti war message when your original show has 3 direct sequels or issues that you run into when you consider the fact everything is happening concurrently in one Timeline rather then separate continuities.
So the following paragraphs will essentially address where I think each of these shows goes unfortunately wrong ultimately failing to be all it could of been. I think I've already harped on enough about how this effects Zeta so Ill leave that out from here;
Stardust Memory(Spoilers Ahoy) - For around 10 episodes Stardust Memory was quickly becoming my favourite Mech show to date, all the pieces were in place, a crew of actually trained cadets and veteran crewmen, enemies with a well thought out plan and interesting motives + a new take on a true purest form of Zeon and maybe most of all a theme about why we fight, something which Zeta is seriously missing and here comes Stardust to fix it but then it all goes wrong.
A love triangle that isn't foreshowed (Nena sees Gatou in episode one and doesn't react to him at all), interesting but completely unexplained subterfuge within the Delaz fleet and the ultimate shoehorning in of the most bland and uninteresting villain from all of Gundam.
Now don't get me wrong,
no rather it's all the broken promises that the ending represents.
As mentioned Stardust Memory for most of it's run seems to be about belief, the belief we all need to fight in something like a massive, apocalyptic space war. We get Gatou and his pilots who genuinely seem to believe in the Zeon ideals and are haunted by a drive for retribution, Admiral Delaz who was a true subscriber of Geinren Zabi's doctrine, effectively a real High ranking Nazis
field commander/officer.
Then there's the likes of the trio of federation ace pilots who seem to simply fight because that's their job, true career soldiers aswell as Lt.Burning
So while all that and more (Kelly, Shima, Captain Synapse, Gatou's Wingman, The Axis Captain, etc) is really great, the true conflict the series has to revolve around is Kou Uriki - What does he fight for? The second and third episodes has Gatou essentially lay this out, stating that Kou can never beat him in combat because he doesn't believe in a cause, this is fascinating and true as the closet Kou ever really gets is a draw and that's only after Gatou damages the GPO2 by firing the nuke.
See what everything seems to be leading up to is Kou developing something to believe in based on his time with the assorted Albion pilots, Kelly, Nena and Gatou but it just never happens.
As the lads at 'Weekly Suit Gundam' put it, if the epilogue for Stardust showed Kou became a Jerid Messa type figure, someone with no moral compass or real reasons to fight but through the ignorance of always being given powerful machines and so on becomes arrogant and willing to commit atrocities for more power - Then that would be exceptionally interesting & help improve Zeta's story, but that isn't what happens.
Furthermore the original goal of Stardust was to shore up plot holes like why the Titans are so powerful with so many unwarranted resources, what were Axis doing for the better part of a decade and why does no one have Pegasus class Cruisers in Zeta, are all thrown to the wind.
The weight of those questions becomes too much and if anything they generate more plot holes in the timeline.
The GPO1,2 and 3 all preform immaculately and most of their data and the teams who created them still exist (Heck the GPO3 is still around) so the question becomes why aren't they further developed by the time of the Gypys/The Zeta Anime?
I can understand why they stop strapping on nuclear warheads(A-Giant-Gundam-Gas-Canister would be more the Titan's style and I only wish that were more of a joke.....) but no-one is going to convince me the Mk2 would win in a fight against any of the GPO models.
Then there's the Albion - We all know the real reason there's no Pegasus carriers in Zeta is because Tomino and Co didn't want the bad guys to have their own iconic WhiteBase look-a-like (That would be too nuanced for Zeta, the Titans have to make do with The Phyco-Gundam...despite the fact that they developed the Mk2 but never produce any more of them, even thought they're constantly being between by a single one for 20 episodes....darn it and I said I wouldn't mention Zeta....) and that in the real world the WhiteBase was the only one to of ever appeared on Tv (thought it's ridiculous to suggest the Titans or Federation wouldn't of built more of them) - But with the Albion we-are presented with unequivocal evidence that not only were they're new upgraded Pegasus Mk2's being made in 83(just 4 years before Zeta's onset) but that the Albion itself is both still in one piece and affiliated with the Titans!
Much of this comes down to Bask Om, like in Zeta he's equally uninteresting here, despite an opportunity to flesh out his character with as little as maybe telling us if he has say a family or the reason he wants/is obsessed with power/helps integrally to establish the Titans, instead - He's still just the same incompetent shouty man, his re-introduction forces the new villains and heroes to be put to the side and adds nothing to the story, only takes.
There also seems to be a deliberate jab (I really hope it is meant to be deliberate) at the shallowness of Zeta when we see a federation admiral with Jamatov, turn in his seat to reveal him menacingly stroking a cat like a true nefarious James Bond villain.
I could go on...Quite alot in fact but I think you get the point. The need to link 79' and Zeta together more cohesively ultimately ruins what otherwise could of been a truly brilliant show about extremism, belief and authority but fails at doing anything more than creating new plot holes that Zeta really didn't need.
This here meme sums up the later half of Stardust Memory in full...Gundam The Origin(Spoilers Ahoy) - The origin technically exist in a sort of alternate timeline so it's the least egregious of these 4 examples, still where Unicorn has to get to F91 and Stardust to Zeta, the Origin is required to match up to some degree with the original 79' anime.
We've already discussed how it makes Ral too sympathetic for his own good - Big military mission to recover a cat? Definitely that's Ral in a nutshell. Turning down orders because he's secretly a 'nice guy'- No chance, not in this style anyway.
The same can be said for Dozel, his depiction is about right for the most part, his genuine care for his family including Garma, his actual talent for battle strategy and I really love the part where he rationalises operation British by saying he's protecting his Mineva even if all the Mineva's he killed couldn't be saved by their fathers, the problem with him is they play up the hamyness way to much.
He's constantly bending iron railings, or cowering in fear of Gearin, even in his best scenes their often marred by his extreme goofiness which far exceeds the originals show's version of him.
Then there's Garma and Char.
I already mentioned my issue with Char, the idea that even as a child (and seemingly before his Father's assassination) he was already a creepy uncaring sociopath seems over the top. The Char of 79' is suave and cunning, not a crazed nut-job.
The idea that he has always been ready at any moment to snap like an elastic band at passing cowboys takes away alot of his charm and reservedness.
With Garma they similarly overplay his incompetence and cowardis. Now no doubt is Garma a goofy opponent in 79' but at the same time he seems like a true confident of Char, a little bit of a lady's man and ultimately an incredibly brave(if stupid) warrior - How is any of that conveyed in the Origin with it's depiction of the completely cowardly, idiotic boy who probably couldn't talk to a woman without stuttering?
More-over, while he may laugh after the fact, Char seems to genuinely question weather it was worth watching
and I really do think in 79 he truly cared for Garma as his best friend. I don't get any of that emotion at all in the Origin
Furthermore I'm really not a big fan of the old 'every character is related to one another in their respective histories' trope, having the Black star trio be both original test pilots and once been Ral's subordinates, alongside Ramba himself and Char, to make up the 5 first ever mech users is a bit much and in general there is a fair degree of this strewn through-out the whole story which can sometimes give it a 'fanfiction-y' feeling but isn't a major issue. Ultimately The Origin is the one that fairs best of my four chosen problem children with its odd inconsequential factor (Who cares if Revell is a warmongering mumbler supreme now? Its a different timeline, yada yada...), but it stills struggles to properly account for it's given responsibility and could do with alot of shoring up.
Char's Counterattack(Spoilers Ahoy) - Char's Counterattack differs from the other three I've chosen to talk about, in that where they all need to reach a certain point, Counterattack doesn't. Indeed by the end of ZZ Judau has succeeded in surpassing Amuro and Kamille, and helping the struggling souls of the world find peace, Captain Bright has finally been able to let go of command and hand the reigns of the future over the next generation and as for Neo-Zeon, all their leaders are dead, Minera is missing, they're hierarchy collapsed, Axis among other mining asteroids in ruin, the Core Side 3 fu*ked and barely a handful of ships left - Which we see get arrested by the new combined Fleet.
Add to that the AUEG now having only one ship and the Titans being entirely defeated, reason dictates there will be no more large scale conflicts, due to the sheer lack of any fighting strength in the whole universe, till at-least some decades have passed as seen in F91.
So then CCA essentially has a clean slate, it has no obligation to connect to anything yet to come, nor is there many losse ends other then the faith of Char and Mineva - That's not so say that continuing on and further elaboration of the themes so far is a bad idea but rather-more that it is a great opportunity for new ideas and organisations.
Instead we get the exact opposite of that, Char, Amuro and Bright all have their development backpedalled, no other classic characters appear except Astonaige Medoz who they do ridiculously dirty but at-least he learned how to make pasta or somen....,
Neo-Zeon magics itself back into existence, as do the AUEG with the far less catchy name of 'Londo Bell', there's a new Gundam, a raft of characters who just repeat the stories of Zeta and ZZ before getting unceremoniously killed off, no true advancement of the themes(Haman already represented the idea of not wanting to wait for progress, in contrast to Judau believing in people's inherit 'goodness'), we have repeats of droping stuff out of space and ultimately it all just sort of ends.
It's just so frustrating when you consider how unnecessary it is, there is so much great stuff that could be done here and alot of it is but the fact CCA is just an excuses for Amuro and Char to fight each other on the big screen one last time is painfully sickening.
As mentioned it's quite possibly the biggest case of 'profit winning out over art', that's not to say there aren't some passionate people in here; From the animation, to the composition and Tomino's directing (plus multiple good strains of writing in amongst), it's all mesmerising but also remarkably childish and insincere and acts as afar less satisfying closing act to what had been building up to be an epic conclusion with a deeper meaning behind it.
It's upsetting to put it lightly and fails as a conclusion or follow up as it gleefully ignores the better part of 97 episode preceding it.
The world at the end of CCA is really not all that different to the one of ZZ, Neo-Zeon are crushed (again and not for the last time...), Bright and his ship are pretty much all that's left of the 'good' part of the federation and the thematic message is if anything a little more needlessly bleak.
Where ZZ ends hopeful that the likes of Judau (Who heads for Jupiter as if trying to help colonise the world outside the Earth sphere, much like Haman spoke about), Lenna and Puru could bring peace or at-least change to the next generations with a tinge of sorrow represented in the bureaucracy of the federation admiralty, which only Bright seems capable of fully understanding the full breath of (and one would think the next step for him would be trying to bring true reform via the AEUG faction to the whole federation and supporting the next generation from the shadows rather then the front line...but I digress again.) - CCA sort of says the same thing, everyone is still selfish and corrupt but the prevention of the Axis crash shows there's hope for humanity.
The story hasn't moved along at all, no that would have to wait for a certain beast of possibility..
Gundam Unicorn(Spoilers Ahoy) - While I was watching Unicorn I told my sibling about how the premise revolves around 'LaPlus'es box' and we theorised that maybe its contents would be simply a copy of the F91 DVD.
It was a joke, a good one at that but in all honesty it got me thinking, if not that, then what could possibly tie the past of the franchise to it's in-universe future? Well apparently nothing.
Unicorn is constantly predicated on the premise of multiple McGuffins and mystery boxes. Is Full Frontal Char? - Meh no but yes.
What's in LaPlus'es box? - Exactly what you'd image, considering it borderline couldn't of been anything else, etc.
Now credit where it's due these hunts actually work remarkably well for 6 episodes, far better then they do in something like the Star Wars franchise, however the issue is, no matter how well the gimmick works along the way, such a writing mechanic makes for shaky foundations when it comes to crunch time.
How could the plane stick the landing when it's wings were constructed from the toilet paper of contrivance and it's engines powered by the will of suspense, it's fuselage made from the rice-crackers of untold backstories and it's runway the glorious undeniable fact that this all somehow has to lead to that darn F91 Blu Ray disk?
For me I really started to feel that hype everyone associates with Unicorn in episode 3, when while I realised that the Nahel Argama was clearly just fanservice(why not have some of the old crew members return and use that for further story telling possibilities with the new Gundam pilot and Puru 12? I suppose the voice actors weren't available?-,-), that clearly not only were we really going to include a Puru from the New-Type battalion but they were going to truly use that to tell a dynamic story about abuse (physical and mental) and expand upon a brilliantly interesting plot thread that CCA had just left wide open.
Episode 4/5 however were the ones that truly got me onboard for more then just hype or hope. One of my favourite scenes from this franchise will now forever be that moment on the Garuda when it all seems set up to do it, the generic Gundam thing, Banagher will rescue Minerva and escape, while Marida Cruz will be forced to accidentally kill Zimmerman, sending her down an even darker path but instead it doesn't!
Instead Banagher finally gains his resolve and he saves them all, he with Zimmerman's aid brings Marida back, saves Minerva and even manages to get the Garencieres back into space. The theme of breaking the cycle, of not just being another chapter in Gundam's long history of repeated sorrow seems at long last certain.
The conclusive ending this show so desperately needs seems so close and it goes further!
Bright seems completely set up to finally take matters into his own hands and reform the Federation once and for all and the formation of the alliance between the Nahel Argama and Neo-Zeon, not as a true combined fleet or political maneuver but rather as a group of individuals trying desperately to change the world - Just like Stardust it seems we're there, we are ready to right the wrongs of CCA and bring this baby home, we're- And then we get episode 7.
I make a conceited effort not to hype things up but even I couldn't help but be giddy, just seeing the fact the final episode would be 30 minutes longer, the clear set up for everything to come home, the astounding production values so far, the steadfast confidence I was developing in this new team and source material writer, the adherence to the 5 core themes, everything, all of it was ready.
Then Episode 7 fuc*ks it entirely, no doubt there's good in here but overall it sucks. Riddhe, Angelo and Full Frontal become little more than plot devices and are exceedingly cheap and weak characters, the box literally makes no difference to anything or anyone,
reversing all of that progress ep 4 established.
There's a big stupid battle, a big boring space laser, a short recap of mostly better stories and a return of the now time-travel-capable moda-friggin Zeong?!?!
Bright does nothing, absolutely nothing.
They make a generic speech and it just ends, no resolution, heck I'd call it far more open ended then CCA is.
It's so very close too, that's the bit that hurts most. They have Riddhe acknowledge
for everyone, just this once to survive.
Furthermore the fact that sunrise has to leave it open in case they want to do more follow ups (i.e. Narrative and Hathway's Flash) means it can't actually make a difference, which in turn makes the whole thing superfluous, ruins it's unique angle/themes and is overall an incredibly beautiful waste of time.
The Curse of F91 is indeed a powerful one....
Why Do I Still Watch Gundam? Do I even Like it? Am I the Problem, is it Even meant for Someone Like Me?
So then maybe the most appropriate final question is why do I even watch Gundam?
My philosophy is on record as being that I don't watch much that I don't enjoy or see potential in, unless specifically asked to watch it by a friend etc.
I suppose a part of the reason is the fact that even at its worst, there is always a redeeming factor, weather that be a great soundtrack, amazing direction or just fun stupid robot fights, furthermore I like to try and watch a fair amount of more historically relevant anime on a regular basis so most Gundam show's would come under that remit too - But really, while I definitely do hate or becoming frustrated by some endings or the wasted potential of more series then one would hope, I love this franchise.
F91 is beautiful on a level I struggle to describe despite how objectively bad it's pacing is, the original Gundam is still one of my all time favourite war and adolescence stories, 6 episodes of Unicorn are the hypest mech thing ever and War in the Pocket is truly a higher tier of art than most normal anime can hope to match.
I may not be the best Gundam fan, as a franchise it isn't actually that militarily orientated, with weird rankings and navel structures, bizarre weapons and often a total lack of any sort of tactics, moreover a cool fight or design doesn't do it for me if the narrative doesn't back said objects up.
No in truth seemingly only every second UC entry and every other AU property seem to succeed but when it's at it's best, when Gundam reaches those storytelling, visual and audible highs, When Amuro rejects pointless revenge and uses his powers for his family rather than war as he makes it home after Au Bu A Qu in the original and Encounters by Daisuke Inoue starts to play - The sombre imagery of the nuke in ep 12 of Zeta, How Bernie truly surpasses the title of grunt, when El-Pe-Puru and Judah sit quietly and comfort each other aboard the Argama - Gatou fighting with Kou in episode 10(alternately Kelly and Kou in ep7) or the surprising wholesomeness of the 08th Ms team - Zimmerman allowing Marida to be her own woman and
- It is these moments that I feel no other anime can claim to have quite so many of, in such varied and brilliant ways and that is why I both keep watching Gundam and you should too.
After-Word
By coincidence this is my 15th review, hurrah! I have no intention of doing something like this for each arbitrary milestone number but I'm glad it happened to line up this way. Writing and thinking about Gundam is an oddly different and I suppose harder experience to other animes.
When I write on a drama or slice of life I can work from my own personnel field of reference, I know people, I've experience how they can be and even in something like my Full Metal Panic Review I often times hone more in on the human conflict side then the war elements. Furthermore the sheer size of what we've covered here today far outweighs the usual 1-27 eps shows that I'm used to talking about, a character like Char requires genuine thought for the basic fact of just how much of him there really is, and I'm quite glad I did.
I think after this I do have a better understand and appreciation for what Tomino was aiming for and while a character like Jerid is still to me terrible and poorly written, I think before this I couldn't even see what Jerid was meant to be (Thank you to ZZ and Glemy for helping me reverse engineer that Jerid was an aspect of Char all along).
I'm currently getting into Late UC and really loved the original Crossbone Manga, as such if my time with that or Victory and Turn-A Gundam (I probably won't watch Hathaway's flash until it is at-least near the completion of all 3 movies) change my opinions or perspectives in some sense, then I'll be sure to come back and add something of an addendum.
I'm also still interested in doing slightly less specific reviews for War in the Pocket, Stardust, ZZ, CCA and Unicorn, aswell as maybe some Alternate universe shows, which I guess I could do similar review to this on, so it's unlikely this will be the last time for me with or writing on Gundam but for now I've got some things to say on a certain Revolutionary Girl and some Magical acropolises😂😉.
With all that said I really hope you enjoyed, if so feel free to ask any questions in the comment box thing below or leave a 'helpful' on one of my Gundam related reviews (Like the Zeta one. Turn phones to 'Desktop Mode') and without further ado,
Thanks for Reading,
I hope you enjoyed.
Posted by momentie | Jul 25, 2021 5:26 PM | 0 comments
July 22nd, 2021
Mega Review and Analysis of UC Gundam Part 1
Anime Relations: Kidou Senshi Gundam, Kidou Senshi Gundam: Dai 08 MS Shoutai, Kidou Senshi Gundam 0080: Pocket no Naka no Sensou, Kidou Senshi Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory, Kidou Senshi Zeta Gundam, Kidou Senshi Gundam ZZ, Kidou Senshi Gundam: Gyakushuu no Char, Kidou Senshi Gundam F91, Kidou Senshi Gundam I, Kidou Senshi Gundam II: Ai Senshi-hen, Kidou Senshi Gundam III: Meguriai Sora-hen, Kidou Senshi Gundam MS IGLOO: 1-nen Sensou Hiroku, Kidou Senshi Z Gundam I: Hoshi wo Tsugu Mono, Kidou Senshi Z Gundam II: Koibito-tachi, Kidou Senshi Z Gundam III: Hoshi no Kodou wa Ai, Kidou Senshi Gundam MS IGLOO 2: Juuryoku Sensen, Kidou Senshi Gundam Unicorn, Kidou Senshi Gundam: The Origin, Kidou Senshi Gundam Thunderbolt, Kidou Senshi Gundam Unicorn RE:0096, Kidou Senshi Gundam Thunderbolt 2nd Season, Kidou Senshi Gundam: The Origin - Zenya Akai Suisei
As a part of anime Gundam is one of the most integral pieces, spanning more than 40 years with numerous games, manga and our primary quarry of anime - This behemoth franchise continues to effect the landscape to this day.
Weather it be the original 79's essentially creating an entire genre of anime (And one of the most iconic ones to Japan at that), leading the way in the 90's for the final Ova boom or being often seen as the last true paragon of the classical mecha genre with the likes of Unicorn and Iron Blooded Orphans keeping the torch alive - Gundam is most certainly an important piece to any anime fan trying to understand and get the most out of this medium.
With all this in mind today's 'review' is going to be a little different in that I'd like to discuss my thoughts on UC Gundam (The original timeline) all the way up to and including 'MSG F91'. To start I'll be going over my briefest of feelings on each of the series I watched as a part of this (many of which I'd already watched but have since rewatched once if not twice more), feel free to just read the segments you're interested in (I'll keep major spoilers for other series out of each other e.g. No large ZZ spoilers in the Zeta section, furthermore I'll try to keep spoilers out of this initial section in general so feel free to use all of this as a vague overview of my thoughts on whether to watch any of the listed series's etc etc).
After which point I'll be discussing more broadly my general problems with UC as a meta narrative and in-universe concept, along with the reasons I believe I always get dragged back in (With adequate spoiler tags where required).
If you have come here off the back of one of my stand alone Gundam Reviews, then thank you very much and please enjoy.
Mobile Suit Gundam 9-10/10
The original Msg is still a contender for my favourite and not for nostalgia reasons.
As we will go into in further detail as we progress, much of my greater issues with many subsequence series are the weight and burden that is placed upon them. 79's story is relatively simple to follow, everything is new, everything gets a date and a big operation name. The settings are by default all fresh, the suits designed creatively, the political machination believable and both sides are corrupt and Just to varying degrees of Merit.
Even as someone who didn't start with 79' as my first mech or even Gundam show, it still felt revolutionary and to me there are few other instances where what I at-least perceive as Tomino's original vision, shines through more strongly.
The anti-war sentiments, the ideas of good intentioned people on both sides, the damage to the planet we all call home and maybe most prevalently, this strong seeded urge that his writing often glows with, that desperately wants for the world to come to an understanding - A world where no one fights or dies pointlessly but instead we talk and make an effort to understand one another.
It's something I don't think was properly captured again to this extent until (and I'm about to lose some of you I'm sure) Gundam F91 came along.
As for production quality, while of it's time it's nowhere near as bad as some decree most of the time, yes there's some very goffy stills but that's of little consequence and generally those are pretty fun to laugh at anyway.
The Ost is strong, the directing very memorable and the animation serviceable (It's the one place where maybe the show losses a point).
Many will advise you to watch only the Recap films and while I can understand why, to me they cut away to much, make the New-Types feel more like prophesised messiahs and can generally feel a bit jarring. With that said the visuals of the Recaps are unquestionably better and even the Ost gets an amazing boost.
In an ideal world we'd have an Evangellion type situation where Sunrise released a directors cut of the original but with the 'new' animations and music insert songs, all told the third film is the one most worth watching, the first two are almost wholly skippable and certainly shouldn't usurp the original for anyone even vaguely interested in the full experience of Gundam 79' - But 'Encounters in Space' (Film 3) on the other hand is original MSG at its best and a major peak for the franchise as a whole.
Mobile Suit Gundam - The 8th MS Team 8.5/10
The 8th MS Team is one alot of people flaunt as the best or 'most grounded' Gundam series.
Let's be frank neither of those claims are true, while I completely understand why people love this as one of their favourites, 0080 and 0083 are far more grounded warfare stories and arguably both are better than 8th MS team in many regards.
With that said this is by no means to say that the 8th is a bad show, it's damn great.
Shiro's hopeful optimism is infectious, his and Aina's romance a cliched classic executed beautifully and the production values are to die for. The story is heavily weakened by the possibly unmatched (In UC) levels of plot armour, contrivance and coincidences but as a slice of on the ground combat and a different take on the anti-war story, 8th MS-Team is a beloved member of the canon for good reason - And Norris is fecking awesome.
MS-Igloo 7.5-8.5/10
Igloo is marred as a black sheep of the UC canon (In particular it's first two series's) and some may be surprised to see me even give it a full section of it's own but to me Igloo actually succeeds surprisingly well. As an exploration of various unseen and unheard battles of the federation and Zeon, battles without any Gundams or New-Types, gritty, brutal and often fatal - Igloo triumphs.
I get why people dislike it's formulaic nature and I'd agree the CGI could be improved (Not to the extent some think mind you, the combat is pretty cool) however I judge show's on their individual goals and as both an oddity for consummation in a museum exhibition and as an exploration of the men and women who's life's work suddenly become obsolete artefacts (Which is a nice piece of meta writing in and of itself) with the inception of the mobile suit (So very brilliantly displayed in episode 1) the show does this to a tee.
It's not for everyone and we'll discuss some of the bizarre issues people have drawn retaining to it's depictions of Zeon later but overall Igloo isn't bad, it's just a little misunderstood.
MSG - Thunderbolt 7.5/10(S1) 5.5-6.5(S2)
Thunderbolt is a fascinating entry in the franchise, the first part is often flaunted as a jazz addled, visceral one off battle in some far corner of the universe, which conversely is a downright lie (It's more like three battles with some terrible pacing - The part about the great jazz is true though), meanwhile everyone seems to want to forget the second part even exists and I can see why.
Season one would be infinitely stronger if it really was just a single battle, its efforts to be a more dramatic narrative with gaps in between each engagement and some rather forced character building (the 'do you have a tissue' line for example is some of the most opaque character dynamic building dialogue in the franchise and that's saying something), it buzzes with potential, some of which it pulls off but most of which is just too much.
It pains me that we get 4 measly (Under 20mins an ep) episodes to cover disabled soldiers and Federation siding Spacenoids (Two topics that are ripe for the examining in this continuity).
Ultimately S1 can come across as all style and no substance but boy is that style something! The score, the visuals, the momentum of each battle, the new suit designs, it's all superb even if it did take a short lifetime to come out.
Probably the consistently most breath-taking of the digitally rendered Gundams.
Season 2 is a near indefensibly disaster.
Sure there's some neat ideas about religious fanaticism but again that's alot to do in 4 parts and I'm not even sure they really gave it much of an effort. Furthermore the new Gundam's existence doesn't track very well and the whole timescale just adds more Neo-Zeon remnants to a massive pile of Zeon Vagabonds that already existed at the time of the show's conception, wibbly-wobbly timelines be damned.
The plot actively weakens the previous series and while the production values are still high, they lose some of their weight in this jumbled mess of even more under-served rife idea.
One of the bigger UC disappointments.
Mobile Suit Gundam - 0080 - War in the Pocket 10/10
I put off 0080 because of its reputation for being a romance of pilots on opposite sides from the eyes of a child.
While this is sort of true please do not let it deter you from watching this glorious entry, we will be talking about it in full-through out the course of this essay so it may help to of seen it going forward.
With that said it operates like any other Gundam (initially at-least) so don't be put off by its description because what War in the Pocket is, is the purest form of Gundam that there is.
It's the most confident in it's anti-war message, the most powerfully effecting in it's brilliantly fleshed out characters, the best paced of any Gundam I've watched and produced wonderfully. Put simply 0080 is the best of Gundam. If your interested in my broader thoughts, I have a full review of it so feel free to check that out.
Overall War in the Pocket is the Best UC series to date on arguably all fronts.
Mobile Suit Gundam - 0083 - Stardust Memory 7.5-8.5/10
Like Igloo (Thought far less justifiably) 0083 is often slated as one of the weaker UC series by those who let their dismay at the ending ruin their experience with the whole show. That ending is to be fair, without doubt, one of the worst in Gundam history, not just because of the route they take the love triangle or the way Anival and Kou are written, but rather because of all the promises it doesn't fill - And no I don't just mean that it doesn't end with a stupid robot fight.
Stardust has all the opportunity to be everything zeta fails to be and than some - Which for a time it succeeds in superbly (It actively makes Zeta look even weaker then it already is, all while filling in some its plot convinces) however the last minute reintroduction of the Titans and the ludicrous 'epilogue' simply ruin the property and end up leaving a terribly bitter taste in your mouth.
That said this is still one of the all time strongest entries into the mecha genre there is, a show where machines actually have technical faults, where the ranks matter and the beliefs of the enemy is vivid and enthralling.
A part of me thinks if Anival Gatou told me to kamikaze into battle on the double, I'd go without hesitation, it's just how friggin brilliantly written a character and charismatic an individual he is (He's got very little competition in terms of Gundam's best Ace Rival characters, I'd even argue his case against Char).
To conclude, while it goes off the deep end in it's final act, to mixed effect, Stardust's awestriking production values (Including the best Gundam openings in 'THE WINNER') more than make up for it's failures and while it could of been a masterpiece, it certainly succeeds brilliantly for most of it's run (episodes 3 and 7 in particular are peak Gundam) and is a welcome substitute for a certain arch-rival of mine...
Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam 5.5-6.5/10
I really love the 'Sign of Zeta' song, it doesn't fit the tone whatsoever, is morbidly of its time in a horribly outdated way and doesn't hold a candle to the 90's Gundam Op's but damn what a bop.
Ahem.
I've already written at length about my feelings on Zeta, it's to me the very worst of Tomino and the team's writing habits.
It fails to properly uphold the themes of the original, is deeply effected in a negative way by Tomino's real life mental state at the time and continues to shill out to the Toy sponsors far more then the original with even more non-sensical suit designs introduced seemingly on a random weekly basis with little to no in-universe explanations or worldbuilding of the original.
Its villains are almost all contenders for the most black & white/least nuanced of the whole franchise, its fights are repetitive and without much strategy, is an active example of some of the most inexplicable New-Type Wizardry of the whole saga and is generally just 20-30 episodes of filler.
Ahem x2 - With all that said there is still some good in Zeta when looked at as a whole.
The animation is well above average for the time and the direction is also pretty great, with some awesome visual compositions in the likes of episode 12 for good measure. The Ost is objectively one of the very best of the 80's (And Gundam in general). Their are interesting threads of story and character and those who like interpretation that requires excessively deep diving may get alot out of this. Non-the-less I'm steadfast in my beliefs of Zeta mis-transcreations and it will be an important talking point going forward.
All that said, the original is still endlessly better then the '2004 remake' films...
The Glorious Giant Crab Claw Man!
Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ 7-8/10
While initially providing a degree of tonal whiplash, Tomino's improving mental state and comments from the studio and his wife quickly help to steer Gundam (temporarily) back on course. The show returns to much of it's routes, grunt pilots are once more threated as people again who's deaths hold consequences (Funerals make a well needed return, comical at times or not), the destruction of the earth is infinitely more apparent in a shown rather than told fashion - The conflict far more interesting with properly detailed and far better (or at all for that matter) motivated villains.
The cast are fun and not killed off at random for no reason, Captain Bright is used properly, El Puru(Fu*k you Unicorn, at-least get her name right)becomes the progenitor of a whole anime architype and the series conclusion is far more satisfying and thematically conclusive than anything that has come since.
ZZ is put lightly the true sequel to 79 and the better over-arching ending to the whole saga, it is truly a shame people can't look past 8 sub-par episodes in order to realise what they're missing.
So while the story has many flaws, the conflict is sometimes comically small in terms of the number of ships present at big battles and the tone overall lighter, the production is on a par with Zeta's for unsurprising reasons ('Silent Voice' is easily the best and most appropriate of the 4 Op's between the two shows and much of the rest of the Ost is straight from Zeta which is an automatic win), the characters are stronger, the themes more resonant and the presentation less back-stabby to the audience.
ZZ is a must watch before going to Counterattack or especially Unicorn and I won't accept otherwise.
MSG Char's Counterattack 4.5-5.5/10
I'll keep this brief as we will be talking about this alot as we go forward into this essay but 'Char's Counterattack' is without doubt the least satisfying cop-out of an ending possible.
It forgoes upwards of 100 of the episodes prior to it bar a couple of throw away lines, re-threads already covered ground, retcons established character progression, puts the world in an awkward position and is just a mess of part-fanservice and part-character analysis.
Now to be fair that analysis of Char and the political systems of Gundam could be great...if Zeta didn't exist.
Now to be clear that isn't to suggest I hate Char in CCA because I don't believe he could of gone from Quatro to this, no while handled exceedingly poorly and lazily, I can totally see that progression, heck it could even be an interesting one but you can not go from Quatro and Amuro being best friends forever - Straight back to rivalry mode, looking at a shot glass doesn't solve this.
Further why would you skip another decade, why does Bright look younger (even time itself seems to fear getting slaped by Captain Bright) and you can't just say that Axis rebuilt itself from a pile of blended ashes because "The public hid them from our inspections."
You wot m8? All those battleships and mobile suits? Hid them? Where the sun don't shine? What sort of a half arsed explanation is that.
I can see how I may come off as facetious on this one so let me also be brunt in saying that the production values are still great (no better than F91 or 0080's only a couple years later mind you), Beyond our Time is mis-used but a good tune along with the rest of the stellar OsT, the suit designs are memorable, the animation is good and there's always something going on. It's truly a shame that CCA is so pointless and infuriating.
Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn 7.5-8.5/10
In similar fashion to how 0083 is the true Zeta, Unicorn is the actual sequel to both CCA and ZZ. It attempts valiantly to uphold all of Gundams various messages and themes, all while desperately trying to give the timeline some semblance of closure (which it desperately needs).
If Unicorn's individual parts were listed on Mal I would quite likely give parts 3 - 6 a 10/10, however whether it's the numbing clunky dialogue of the first two parts, with their mystery box story gimmick and forced drama or the epically admirable failure that is the last feature length part - Unicorn ultimately fails under the weight of it's burdens.
In something I'd consider calling 'The curse of F91' Unicorn not only has the unfulfilled promises of Zeta and ZZ that which CCA simply left hanging in the air but also the unenviable task of trying to bridge the Gap between CCA and F91.
It's just too much, add to that a bizarre McGuffin (I guessed what was inside the box in episode one...that doesn't make me feel smug, it makes me feel sad...) and a whole cast of new characters to deal with, ultimately it just can't do it all.
So despite how I greatly respect the hustle and while it felt so good to finally be there with you all during ep3-6, to feel the hype everyone places around Zeta, CCA and Unicorn, to think it might actually succeed, ultimately the Beast of Potential was little more than a myth.
Sure does sound and look good though....
Mobile Suit Gundam Narrative(NT) 4.5-6/10
Narrative is the one I watched most recently at the time of writing, so with further thought I may come back to update my opinions/interpretations (I'm back...My feelings have not changed...) on it but put simply it...exists.
I don't really get what Narrative is for, it isn't the sequel Unicorn's ending so desperately needs but it also isn't a standalone piece or start of a new chapter.
It's meh, it actively weakens some of the elements from Unicorn and while it looks good in its own right, Unicorn's stylistic choices make it more endearing. By the end the story devolves into needless fanservice and really it forms into a sort of weird hyper condensed re-hash of what came before. It's bizarre, not really worth your time and an even less cohesive an ending to what came before or after it. Speaking of-
MSG F91 7.5-8.5/10
I make an important distinction between 'Favourites' and 'The Best'. The best UC Gundam is in my opinion either 79' or War in the Pocket but my favourite UC Gundam is F91. It's riddled with issues and a massive amount of short-sightedness on Tomino's part (Something which I'm getting used to by this point), it should be a reboot but clearly isn't (Even if it had been a TV show its just way to close to previous events - Although it can be watched as something of a standalone litmus test to see if UC Gundam is for you) and its pacing is that of a roller-coaster but with all that said - It's friggin brilliant.
The animation quality is the peak of Gundam, the Ost including the flagrant stealing of Star Wars tracks is astounding ('Eternal Wind' is the second best Gundam Op, it fits so much better with the stories themes than say for example 'Beyond our time' does and it's so well made that it's pretty much timeless. When I listen to Zeta/ZZ op's they're great but clearly dated, 'Eternal Wind' actively outperforms what's come since).
But maybe most interestingly is I believe, quite possibly by coincidence, that F91 better captures the point of '79 then anything in-between did.
New-Types return to their roots of being a type of communicative power that binds us all and cyber New-Types are done proper justice when we finally get a true/clear idea of what they are - Not just horribly tortured or mentally unstable, no where New-Types are weapons out of chance, Cyber New-Types are weapons by design (This is present in the others to but I think it's most clear here and in ZZ).
The directing is amazing
Just a shame it frags up the timeline so much but we'll get to that. Before anyone asks, yes I have bought my first Gunpla and yes it is indeed a master grade F91 v2 - God help me and have mercy.
MSG The Origin/Advent of the Red Comet 7/10
Odd placement but then again the Origin sits in an odd place. Based on flashbacks of a much more expansive manga, Origin is generally categorised as a separate timeline, which is good because it makes no sense when joined to the main timeline, not that the fact it's a separate continuity is made clear, meaning for causally fans they'll most likely be unaware of this (Which is a flaw in it's own right).
We will be using the Origin to discuss a few things but I wouldn't consider it required viewing considering it's hard to spoil something when you already know all the events.
All told the Origin is fine, visually it's a marked downgrade from Unicorn or Iron Blooded Orphans, as while it can sometimes look great and many of the stills are lovely, the CGI is far more apparent then Unicorns and the action far less dynamic then the aforementioned IBO. Generally speaking it's just underwhelming.
While it sometimes gets things right, often time it plays up some of the franchise's worst traits, we'll soon talk on how it gets parts of Ral's character completely wrong, overplays Dozel's portrayal to the point where the genuinely good writing for him is wasted on focusing in on his goffy side and how Char and Garma's character displays just make them even more confused characters than already was the case.
You may enjoy Origin and good for you, I do too sometimes but overall it's just a little... off? I think it's time to go a bit deeper into all of this discussion.
Other Gundams I've seen and Required Viewing That the Rest of This Essay Will Discuss
Aside from the UC Gundam it may be helpful to just mention the other property's I've spent time with to give a better picture of my feelings on the entire franchise, the following is that list;
Gundam 00 10/10(S1) 7.5-8.5/10(S2) 3-4/10(Follow up Movie).
Gundam Seed 7/10 Gundam Seed Destiny 4-5/10.
Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans 8.5-9/10(S1) 10/10(S2).
After War Gundam X 9-10/10
Gundam Build Fighters Original 10/10, Gundam Build Fighters Try 6/10, Gundam Build Diver(s1) 9-10/10.
Dropped; Gundam Wing (didn't see it as a kid and just couldn't get through it as an adult), G no Reconguista
Seen the first recap, didn't hate but wasn't much grabbed either.
As for what we will be discussing going forward (This has to be my longest ever pre-amble), I'll be posting spoiler tags for the biggest of spoilers but generally I'll be speaking pretty freely on MS-Gundam 79', MSG; Zeta, ZZ, CCA, Unicorn and 'War in the Pocket' - Essentially the main core of the series with lesser spoiler (which should be marked as such) for The Origin, F91, Stardust Memory and Small bits of Igloo, I don't intend to address Thunderbolt or 08th Ms team all that much as they're either encompassed in the discussion as is or simply not relevant (Thunderbolt in general is a bit too short to be all that important and 08th MS team could almost do with it's own essay but mostly fits into what will be said in relation to other shows) so they aren't required to keep up.
Spoiler Ahoy - Gundams Core Themes and not Maintaining Them
Let's start where all Gundam's should and address the core themes of Gundam.
Similar to say most Ghibli films the topics range from the destruction/pollution of planet Earth(1), The Anti-War Trio {The disenfranchising nature of war(2), The human cost/morality of war(3) and The idea that they're are 'good' people on both sides of every-conflict(4)} and finally more common themes of Adolescence/growing into a man(5) (Gundam is unfortunately almost always more Male orientated, still waiting for a true female Gundam lead, Scarlet Witch has got alot to make up for😅) which connects with the whole idea of the New-Type or us as a species coming to understand one another and end all conflict.
It's really some rather hefty topics, that in no small part give Gundam alot of it's appeal especially for the time the original anime was produced. We of course saw alot of these concepts spread out amongst show's like 'Space Battleship Yamato' five years prior and even the likes of Astro Boy touch on them but Gundam has always made an active effort to tackle them head on - well not always.
One of the reasons the original 79' still shines so bright and is still held in such high esteem by critics is simply how it not only layered out all this content but also resolved it.
With each subsequent instalment there is already a predisposed responsibility to further elaborate and comment on these themes and this is one of the places Gundam fails all too often.
In Zeta the villains are bland and poorly motivated so we've immediately lost point 4, as while there is a bit of this topic it's wholly underserved in a story where it should be the most prevalent of all the Gundams (See my Zeta Review for full thought). Point 1 is lost in that while we're told often enough that the Earth is dieing, we are almost never shown anything more then the fact the desert has nearly reached Dakar - That's pretty much it.
Points 1,2 and 5 are sort of met, however 5 is undermined by the fact Kamille is almost automatically brilliant at mobile suit piloting (Which isn't the point of New-Types and certainly doesn't add anything to him growing up) and that New-Types becoming little more then unexplained magic before the story's close.
So now we have just 2 and 3 left, even 3 is undermined by the flagrant attempts to create more toys on a weekly basis without any effort to give in-universe explanations for the outrageous numbers of unique one off suits (Seriously who approved 'gaint crab claw' man and for what purpose? Is it an ace pilot model? Are they trying to get their aces killed, if that is the case then I guess it at-least succeeded on that one charge).
To me this is sort of the way to break Gundam down into a maths equation as it were, at-least thematically speaking.
The more of these a show succeeds in, the better of a foundation it than has to work on.
In other property this wouldn't be as logical of a deal, the reason it matters in Gundam is because this is a story not necessarily driven by characters or the plot but rather by it's themes, which makes it an interesting deviation from most other animes.
A Gundam can have a non-sensical story or well-over the top goffy characters (Admiral Dozel could be a cartoon villain but really isn't) but still succeed as a griping anti-war message.
So while it may sound strange or subjective, if you've read any of my other work you know how this goes: I judge everything on a standalone basis as much as possible (sequels sometimes with-standing) - As such if I'm watching a character driven show then I'm going to attribute more points for said characters then I am for how logical the story is (think most things by Gainx), if the story is about a setting or a tightly focused narrative than I'll consider the characters to be worth less points and so on.
It is only possible to strive for objectivity if one is to be flexible.
To try and judge the merits of all shows based on a set scale of attributes is a fools errand of the naïve or arrogant. As such to me with most War narratives and especially Gundam's I consider 'Thematic Resonance' to be as important as more universally agreed definitives like artstyle or music composition.
It's a large part of why ZZ works for me but Zeta doesn't.
We see the true damage a colony or meter drop can cause first hand in ZZ and spend a whole brilliant Earth Arc in the ever more trepidations desert, that's 1.
Deaths are used sparingly and always with a visibly effect on the cast, including the deaths of grunt pilots and civilians in meaningful ways, that's number 3.
We're shown the slightly corrupt nature of Marshmallow's loyalty to Haman - The wrapped sense of 'true nobility' with-in Glemy Toto, the down-trodden righteousness of Haman herself and the innocent warriors of the Puru line - That's number 4.
Judah's constant struggle with Death is a running part of the story and his growth into someone who can surpass Kamille and Amuro is not only the proper conclusion to the saga but also a great showing of point 5.
2 is the only one that might get lost on you, as the more playful tone causes the cast of the Nahel Argama to generally be a lot happier and not overly existential but when we see the likes of the 'Rommel Squad' and the other Neo-Zeon dessert dwellers, I think we get a decent understanding of that disenfranchising.
All this may seem superfluous to some but when a Gundam losses these, droping them instead for fan service or shock value it really damages the story because the fact is all of Gundam is a massive contradiction that all media has been grappling with for the better part of a century:
'How do you make an anti-war, war film?'.
Fact is without a thorough hand on these themes, Gundam becomes a goofy kids show where stupid giant space robots, wielding laser swords stolen straight out of Star Wars, smash each other in space while people with silly names lament hollow philosophy.
Weirdly enough this is something the Gundam Fandom doesn't really seem to 'get'. Maybe it's because being a giant robot fan requires you for the most part to enjoy mecha fighting and to want more of it but it's important to understand that this franchise is not as memorable and ground-breaking as it is, as long-standing as it's becomes, without being something more. Let's go a little more specific on this.
The Bizarre Entitlement and Irony of Some Gundam fans
For me personally it's theme no.4 that matters the most or at-least the broud range it encapsulates.
I'm going to use a few quotes from real reviews and reddit posts to help hammer home the absurdity of this but to preface, in a war all people are still just people.
A weapon is just a tool with-out someone to wield it (arguably a theme in it's own right).
Vice/Rear-Admiral Dozel is a mass murdering Genocidal manic but he's also a loving family man, clever commander, fearless combatant and compassionate leader who does most of the actual work on the space based fronts during the One Year War.
On it's base level almost every Gundam, whether they be focused on space wizardry or Global warming, has a backdrop of war, therefore the fundamental tenants of a war drama/narrative have to be followed, yet this unfortunately seems to bring out the most intolerant in some people, this quote in relation to Unicorn sums it up pretty well
"It does a lot of apologizing for Zeon while trying to make the case that it was necessary. This irks me not just because Zeon were fucking terrible but because downplaying Zeon's evils feels a lot like downplaying World War II Imperial Japan's evils, given how Zeon is half Nazi Germany and half Imperial Japan. And on a meta level there's a lot of that going on with the current Japanese government."
I can only contemplate where this came from and trust me go looking you'll find plenty like this. Where do you get off exactly? Believing that you have any right to comment on the 'evil's' of imperial Japan or Nazis Germany.
Now don't run away allow me to elaborate.
The actions of the Axis powers in the second world war were some of the most deplorable in all of history and have been recognised as such, an estimated 6 million innocent, non-combatant people where killed in the Holocaust alone.
That is with-out doubt one of the most morally-irreprehensible acts in history and should go against everything we all stand for on a level far deeper then what 'morality' tells us, but does it give you the right to sit about and critic a show for trying to show both sides of a conflict?
Fu*k no.
You life could be crap, who knows maybe you've got a disease or disability or your parents broke up recently, or you never had any parents at all but whatever the case is, you don't have that right. The people who lived through that war?
They do of course, they can hate the Japanese and the Germans + Italians as much as they pleased - But you, no matter how sh*t your life is?
Unless you've fought in a war yourself than what right have you to comment on the morality of the average solider.
Make no mistake I'm not talking 'bout Hitler or his generals and advisers, I'm talking about the men on the ground, or the guy who guarded the camps, pulled the lever on hundreds of thousands of innocents.
What right have you born, based on the age range for the average anime viewer, some 40-62 years later to say a fictional anime is bad because it's depiction of pretend semi-space Nazi's tries to label them as humans?
Do you really think that's what those men and women who lived through the War wanted?
Your role as an entitled individual of a free state is to understand not to judge. To understand and learn about history, to be more tolerant in your daily life or not to vote for authoritarian extremism.
It's to be informed and to do your part, however small, not to judge others. That in no small part is clearly a message of Gundam. Dozel is commonly considered to be the man behind operation British, the direct order having come from Geinren Zabi.
He dropped a colony which in universe I believe I'm correct in saying is the most lives ever talking with-in a Gundam setting and yet... He clearly loves Mineva and his wife and mistress with all his heart, because he's human - The human behind operation British.
"They're definitely WAY more immoral than the Federation. Zeon commits war crimes like it's their job."
It's believed between half a million to over a million innocent non-combative Japanese Civilians were killed by the American's during the war (over 100k from the Nuclear explosions alone), we did that because we had to, because they refused to surrender. We nuked two populated civilian centres because we believed if we simple hit the enemy military bases they'd just shrug it off right?
It definitely had nothing to do with the fact that bombing an unprotected civilian area is infinitely easier with a single plane then a well protected and very wary military centre or harbour. We fire bombed their little wooden towns because we had to right? They started it with Pearl Harbour right?
However you feel about the war, the lives of the 1 million people lost in Japan are in no way less valid then those 6 million Jewish people, they were all civilians, all innocent, a mix of mostly women, children and the elderly.
The number of civilians or people in general killed, the number of crimes committed isn't the point when we're talking this many dead on all sides - A war is all figures until it ends, then those scores become the lives of the lost, multiplied by the number of maimed and grieving, and nothing more.
I could continue to list morbid statistics of the events Gundam takes most of it's ques from but the fact is, Unicorn and War in the Pocket's messages, of how even the people on the right side of history can easily rationalise equally unforgivably acts, their message about how no war is worth the deaths of so many, the human cost - If you can't understand the importance of messages like those, than consider yourself, like me, extremely privileged.
Two of my great grandfathers were participants in the second world war but I don't for a second believe I have the right to objectively or even subjectively say the enemy's they were fighting were 'evil', the German and Japanese people my fighter & cargo plane piloting Great-grandfather fought were humans to, who believed just as much as he that what they we're doing was right.
The show isn't downplaying Operation British, which remember is often drawn as an allegory for the Nuclear Warheads that ended the war, how the he*l would downplaying that even be sympathetic to imperialist Japan for God's sake? - No rather it's simply trying to explain why someone would do this, because if in your mind the only way to be a Nazis was to be 'evil' then you're already on the same path, that in the right circumstances, in a different era or country would potentially lead you to being intolerant yourself.
We see that mob mentality of hatred towards 'foreigners' with Brexit and Trump, it's not on the level of the Nazis but the point is more apparent then ever.
Maybe the best way to try and reconcile this most important of Gundam's messages (To me at-least) is to look at the first biggest instance of it, at loyal Nazis speical force's commander and mobile suit ace - Ramba friggin Ral;
Ramba Ral isn't a TV Trope, he's a Literal Space Nazi -
Yes everyone's favourite character (I refuse to believe anyone exists that dislikes Ral) Ramba Ral is quite literally a fuc*ing Nazis SS commando. Process that for a moment - Not just a Nazis foot solider but rather deliberately a special forces, close quarters specialist.
The guy who gets reincarnated in build fighters as Anime's-Best-Group-Dad and Wrestling-Badass, is a friggin real life, relatively high ranking, Nazis loyalist..... So then how the hel* is this the trope he spawned!;
"Affably Evil". "The good hearted Villains". "Simply born on the wrong side" - And many more such similar terms as seem to be partially used by Gundam production teams themselves.
This is all just such a complete mis-understanding of what Ral and his entire team (including his best friend and his hot wife) are meant to represent.
You think Ral wouldn't of joined the federation speical forces had he been born on Earth? You think he wouldn't of still been clearly excited by war, because he quite obviously gets a kick from it.
Equally do you think he wouldn't of taken the time to break bread with a young Zeon pilot had the roles been reversed?
Had Amuro been a Zion and Ral the Federation representative do you think he wouldn't of shown him the same kindness, tutelage and battlefield etiquette?
Ramba Ral is unquestionably a moda-trucking Nazis and if the Origin is to be believed, one from a family of some notoriety, in that sense that would make him a true Aryan poster boy for the military.
To touch briefly on the Origin (as this is meant to be a review of all the stories), while that show does some interesting things with Ral, along with some rather superfluous fanservice things, the biggest miss-step they make is having him turn down Dozel.
By having Ral make some great big stand of defiance against Operation British you weaken his characterisation because the Ral I watched in 79', while he'd probably leak the information to try and minimise civilian causalities, I think ultimately he'd go through with it. He's a true career solider from before the One Year War even started, he would do as ordered.
If anything it's one of the Origins biggest missed opportunities that they don't have him do it.
What I'm getting at with this miniature ramble is not that Ral is a terrible person but that Gundam doesn't operate in such black and white terms, instead it's far more true to life. Good people can easily rationalise terrible things.
The point of Ral or Kelly (I never even realised he was meant to be the stand-in Ral till I went investigating) or Cyclops team and the crew of the Jotunheim or the Zimmerman faction of the Sleeves or Norris Packard Chad-Ace supreme - Is not to portrait these as morally upstanding people on the wrong side of a war but rather as regular humans.
It's one of the reasons why I love 'War in the Pocket' so much, as I feel it gets this across the most clearly. Cyclops team are down right malevolent psychopaths with some serious social issues. They're a specific speical Ops team who would happily blow up a whole colony while laughing evilly no doubt.
We see they're more then ready and do kill a number of innocent men, women and children, yet when Garcia shows kindness to Bernie through the vale of being a rank above him, it feels genuine.
The connection the whole team has to Al is bourn from a utilitarian usefulness the boy presents and yet I think by the end of the show, while they'd probably shoot him if ordered to, they kinda care about him if only as their little mascot and they definitely have a bizarre comradery among each other and towards Bernie - That's the mass murdering morally bankrupt lunatics we're talking about.
The Gundam's That do This Wrong Have Already Failed - What happens when this element of Gundam goes wrong is we see Gundam Seed where despite being a retelling of 79' they completely fu*k the meaning of Ral's character. Or staying with our early UC topic you have (say it with me now everyone!) Zeta Gundam!
Not to harp on about it much more but Zeta Gundam is a prime example of a Gundam story undercut by not getting the message, which is fascinating when we consider it's a Tomino helmed story.
Bask Om, Admiral Jamatov and Jemicon have literally no conceivable motives yet are the longest standing villains, with a combined screen-time that out-weights both Scirocco or Haman.
Unlike Geinren Zaabi, I'm not even sure if they're actually racist or want world domination or if they even dislike Zeon on a personal level, heck they may even be Spacenoids for all I know. Zeta gets this so backwards that when Emma sees the evil of the Titans, she immediately switch's sides, because of course no good person especially a strong woman like Emma, could actually stay with the Titans if they saw the truth.
Even the likes of ace lesser characters like Yazan and Jerid have much of this problem and
Not only does it actively undermine any story it's in (regardless of the Gundam or even War Drama tags) it shows a fundamental disrespect to human life, real warriors and the deaths of millions throughout our shared history.
I've talked alot in other essay about Paedophilia, grooming, incest and other delicate topics but to me War stands on equal footing with any of them for how it should be handled with tact and care, with a nuanced understanding that is all of our shared responsibilities if we're lucky enough to live in a modern peaceful country where we will probably never be asked/forced to fight and are under no emanate threat of drone strikes or your over-zealous neighbours restarting a 1000 year old grudge - Or you can go play Call of Duty and watch your Gundams solely for the Stupid Japan-Land robots punching each other, it's your life and your entertainment, (I really mean that, we all need to relax sometimes and the enjoyment of violence is hard weirder into us, it isn't relevant to our current discussion but see Build Fighters S1 for more on this reality - "I can be serious about it because it's not real!" - Is a more insightful line/mantra then anything in Zeta....)enjoy!
Exceptional Short-Sightedness/Tomino's Extreme Lack of Faith
Now that we've covered the most difficult but equally important part of UC Gundam, lets take a quick look at its creator and how his mind-set as the Captain of this ship has affected its troubled moorings over the years.
Tomino like many Japanese creators isn't actually the easiest person to find info on, there is more of it due to him being the face of Gundam and in the industry for so long but it can still be hard to get a fix on the man as a person.
From what we do know he is the type of creator who often allows his emotional state to affect his work, furthermore he's had a long career and when he made say the original Gundam, it is my strong belief he didn't expect for it to span the next 45 years of his life, as evidenced by his immediate move to 'Space Runaway Ideon' and later 'Aura Battler Dunbine' almost immediately after 79's close.
What this is to suggest is that the foundations all UC Gundam have to struggle with are based in industry norms and short-sighted creative decisions. This isn't to say I'm trying to blame Tomino or paint him as some sort of hack, indeed I have massive continued respect for the man but it's undeniable that Gundam has suffered for being a product of it's time - To a very noticeable degree.
Firstly is the format, even the most die-hard fans of Zeta will admit that it wains directionless in the middle and before the final battle for Gryps (an understatement to be sure) or that 79' & ZZ sometimes veer too near to their monster of the week roots.
The fact is if most of the long UC Gundams were cut down by say 10 episodes, they might become better, the writing would be more succinct, you wouldn't have the massive gaps of whole episodes in-between a character's development etc etc.
Furthermore, where massive Gundam/Tomino fan and fellow writer/director Hideki Anno would go on to put his depressed emotions and feelings into his work in a constructive manner and create something almost wholly new with those feelings, Tomino simply tries to force Zeta into matching his mental state.
People say ZZ is a tonal shift but in a sense Zeta is just as much of one when compared to 79's original run.
Moreover 'Kill 'em all Tomino' (A title he didn't actually originally receive from Gundam, though it sure as heck solidified it) is maybe the man's worst trait.
To kill a character is something I could write a whole separate Gundam Based essay on but keeping it exceedingly brief, just killing characters for the sake of it, is cheap and very bad. This seems to be something Tomino definitely understands in most of his work, i.e. 79' and ZZ but his real world pick-up's lead him to callously wasting lives for little to often no reason in Zeta and CCA, to the point where he essentially proves this point to be true when he retcons or changes a large number of the casualties in the Zeta Recap films.
With that mentioned, Retconning is another interesting word.
While not overly prevalent in the West either, Japan didn't do much in the way of alternate universes or reboots during the 70s-90s and being a traditional director Tomino was no different. Again I can't really solely blame Tomino for this and in the years to come he would definitely make up for it by letting other creators pilot Gundam and attempts like Turn-A to apparently acknowledge flat out the mess that is all the different timelines - However it's an undeniable truth that F91 (and Victory) exist.
The Curse Of F91 as I like to lovingly put it is one of Gundam's biggest problems, especially for Unicorn.
Wanting to finally move past Char's slightly gay 15 year obsession with some kid who beat him one time, Tomino decides to try reboot the series with F91 - Putting aside the fact that got shot down and eventually made into the O' so beloved movie, every Gundam that now comes out set after Char's Counterattack(CCA) has to contend with the fact that in the year UC.123, the wars must all be over, a significant time of peace must of passed, the Federation are still using 30 year old Jegan type suits, the Federation are still incompetent and in power, the Zabi family has been all but forgotten and both New-Types and Gundams are little more then a myth. Ahem - 'That's alot of damage'.
While a product of it's time it's also fascinatingly short-sighted on our lead writer's part and completely removes the possibility for more early UC stories... Well unless you pull a Unicorn and kind of just pretend that F91 doesn't exist...We'll come back to this last point soon but for now it acts as the ultimate evidence of poor worldbuilding management.
All told I really believe Tomino in a sense has always had a slight lack of Faith in Gundam, both in the sense that I don't think he ever planned for this level of longevity nor success and a sort of sad internal understanding that the longer it goes, the more he's failed.
The bigger Gundam is, the less effective it's core anti-war message has been and that would depress anyone, as evidence by his own comments on disliking how dark Zeta gets and his initial, although later revised, disapproval of the life-size RX-78 that was constructed some years back.
While he does seem to of reconciled with these larger issues and from what I as an onlooker can tell, he does seem like quite the happy, active and spritely 79 year old, it's undeniable the detrimental effect Zeta and CCA have on most long-running characters and the problematic nature that F91 presents for the timeline as a whole.
And then of course there's him - The one character no review could try and ignore, the man who optimises the entirety of early UC (and in a sense all of Gundam), The Red Comet-
Please Note - This is part 1 of 2, here's the second part(You should also just be able to scroll upwards to find it) https://myanimelist.net/blog.php?eid=867499 - I hope you enjoyed and thanks for reading😎.
Weather it be the original 79's essentially creating an entire genre of anime (And one of the most iconic ones to Japan at that), leading the way in the 90's for the final Ova boom or being often seen as the last true paragon of the classical mecha genre with the likes of Unicorn and Iron Blooded Orphans keeping the torch alive - Gundam is most certainly an important piece to any anime fan trying to understand and get the most out of this medium.
With all this in mind today's 'review' is going to be a little different in that I'd like to discuss my thoughts on UC Gundam (The original timeline) all the way up to and including 'MSG F91'. To start I'll be going over my briefest of feelings on each of the series I watched as a part of this (many of which I'd already watched but have since rewatched once if not twice more), feel free to just read the segments you're interested in (I'll keep major spoilers for other series out of each other e.g. No large ZZ spoilers in the Zeta section, furthermore I'll try to keep spoilers out of this initial section in general so feel free to use all of this as a vague overview of my thoughts on whether to watch any of the listed series's etc etc).
After which point I'll be discussing more broadly my general problems with UC as a meta narrative and in-universe concept, along with the reasons I believe I always get dragged back in (With adequate spoiler tags where required).
If you have come here off the back of one of my stand alone Gundam Reviews, then thank you very much and please enjoy.
Mobile Suit Gundam 9-10/10
The original Msg is still a contender for my favourite and not for nostalgia reasons.
As we will go into in further detail as we progress, much of my greater issues with many subsequence series are the weight and burden that is placed upon them. 79's story is relatively simple to follow, everything is new, everything gets a date and a big operation name. The settings are by default all fresh, the suits designed creatively, the political machination believable and both sides are corrupt and Just to varying degrees of Merit.
Even as someone who didn't start with 79' as my first mech or even Gundam show, it still felt revolutionary and to me there are few other instances where what I at-least perceive as Tomino's original vision, shines through more strongly.
The anti-war sentiments, the ideas of good intentioned people on both sides, the damage to the planet we all call home and maybe most prevalently, this strong seeded urge that his writing often glows with, that desperately wants for the world to come to an understanding - A world where no one fights or dies pointlessly but instead we talk and make an effort to understand one another.
It's something I don't think was properly captured again to this extent until (and I'm about to lose some of you I'm sure) Gundam F91 came along.
As for production quality, while of it's time it's nowhere near as bad as some decree most of the time, yes there's some very goffy stills but that's of little consequence and generally those are pretty fun to laugh at anyway.
The Ost is strong, the directing very memorable and the animation serviceable (It's the one place where maybe the show losses a point).
Many will advise you to watch only the Recap films and while I can understand why, to me they cut away to much, make the New-Types feel more like prophesised messiahs and can generally feel a bit jarring. With that said the visuals of the Recaps are unquestionably better and even the Ost gets an amazing boost.
In an ideal world we'd have an Evangellion type situation where Sunrise released a directors cut of the original but with the 'new' animations and music insert songs, all told the third film is the one most worth watching, the first two are almost wholly skippable and certainly shouldn't usurp the original for anyone even vaguely interested in the full experience of Gundam 79' - But 'Encounters in Space' (Film 3) on the other hand is original MSG at its best and a major peak for the franchise as a whole.
Mobile Suit Gundam - The 8th MS Team 8.5/10
The 8th MS Team is one alot of people flaunt as the best or 'most grounded' Gundam series.
Let's be frank neither of those claims are true, while I completely understand why people love this as one of their favourites, 0080 and 0083 are far more grounded warfare stories and arguably both are better than 8th MS team in many regards.
With that said this is by no means to say that the 8th is a bad show, it's damn great.
Shiro's hopeful optimism is infectious, his and Aina's romance a cliched classic executed beautifully and the production values are to die for. The story is heavily weakened by the possibly unmatched (In UC) levels of plot armour, contrivance and coincidences but as a slice of on the ground combat and a different take on the anti-war story, 8th MS-Team is a beloved member of the canon for good reason - And Norris is fecking awesome.
MS-Igloo 7.5-8.5/10
Igloo is marred as a black sheep of the UC canon (In particular it's first two series's) and some may be surprised to see me even give it a full section of it's own but to me Igloo actually succeeds surprisingly well. As an exploration of various unseen and unheard battles of the federation and Zeon, battles without any Gundams or New-Types, gritty, brutal and often fatal - Igloo triumphs.
I get why people dislike it's formulaic nature and I'd agree the CGI could be improved (Not to the extent some think mind you, the combat is pretty cool) however I judge show's on their individual goals and as both an oddity for consummation in a museum exhibition and as an exploration of the men and women who's life's work suddenly become obsolete artefacts (Which is a nice piece of meta writing in and of itself) with the inception of the mobile suit (So very brilliantly displayed in episode 1) the show does this to a tee.
It's not for everyone and we'll discuss some of the bizarre issues people have drawn retaining to it's depictions of Zeon later but overall Igloo isn't bad, it's just a little misunderstood.
MSG - Thunderbolt 7.5/10(S1) 5.5-6.5(S2)
Thunderbolt is a fascinating entry in the franchise, the first part is often flaunted as a jazz addled, visceral one off battle in some far corner of the universe, which conversely is a downright lie (It's more like three battles with some terrible pacing - The part about the great jazz is true though), meanwhile everyone seems to want to forget the second part even exists and I can see why.
Season one would be infinitely stronger if it really was just a single battle, its efforts to be a more dramatic narrative with gaps in between each engagement and some rather forced character building (the 'do you have a tissue' line for example is some of the most opaque character dynamic building dialogue in the franchise and that's saying something), it buzzes with potential, some of which it pulls off but most of which is just too much.
It pains me that we get 4 measly (Under 20mins an ep) episodes to cover disabled soldiers and Federation siding Spacenoids (Two topics that are ripe for the examining in this continuity).
Ultimately S1 can come across as all style and no substance but boy is that style something! The score, the visuals, the momentum of each battle, the new suit designs, it's all superb even if it did take a short lifetime to come out.
Probably the consistently most breath-taking of the digitally rendered Gundams.
Season 2 is a near indefensibly disaster.
Sure there's some neat ideas about religious fanaticism but again that's alot to do in 4 parts and I'm not even sure they really gave it much of an effort. Furthermore the new Gundam's existence doesn't track very well and the whole timescale just adds more Neo-Zeon remnants to a massive pile of Zeon Vagabonds that already existed at the time of the show's conception, wibbly-wobbly timelines be damned.
The plot actively weakens the previous series and while the production values are still high, they lose some of their weight in this jumbled mess of even more under-served rife idea.
One of the bigger UC disappointments.
Mobile Suit Gundam - 0080 - War in the Pocket 10/10
I put off 0080 because of its reputation for being a romance of pilots on opposite sides from the eyes of a child.
While this is sort of true please do not let it deter you from watching this glorious entry, we will be talking about it in full-through out the course of this essay so it may help to of seen it going forward.
With that said it operates like any other Gundam (initially at-least) so don't be put off by its description because what War in the Pocket is, is the purest form of Gundam that there is.
It's the most confident in it's anti-war message, the most powerfully effecting in it's brilliantly fleshed out characters, the best paced of any Gundam I've watched and produced wonderfully. Put simply 0080 is the best of Gundam. If your interested in my broader thoughts, I have a full review of it so feel free to check that out.
Overall War in the Pocket is the Best UC series to date on arguably all fronts.
Mobile Suit Gundam - 0083 - Stardust Memory 7.5-8.5/10
Like Igloo (Thought far less justifiably) 0083 is often slated as one of the weaker UC series by those who let their dismay at the ending ruin their experience with the whole show. That ending is to be fair, without doubt, one of the worst in Gundam history, not just because of the route they take the love triangle or the way Anival and Kou are written, but rather because of all the promises it doesn't fill - And no I don't just mean that it doesn't end with a stupid robot fight.
Stardust has all the opportunity to be everything zeta fails to be and than some - Which for a time it succeeds in superbly (It actively makes Zeta look even weaker then it already is, all while filling in some its plot convinces) however the last minute reintroduction of the Titans and the ludicrous 'epilogue' simply ruin the property and end up leaving a terribly bitter taste in your mouth.
That said this is still one of the all time strongest entries into the mecha genre there is, a show where machines actually have technical faults, where the ranks matter and the beliefs of the enemy is vivid and enthralling.
A part of me thinks if Anival Gatou told me to kamikaze into battle on the double, I'd go without hesitation, it's just how friggin brilliantly written a character and charismatic an individual he is (He's got very little competition in terms of Gundam's best Ace Rival characters, I'd even argue his case against Char).
To conclude, while it goes off the deep end in it's final act, to mixed effect, Stardust's awestriking production values (Including the best Gundam openings in 'THE WINNER') more than make up for it's failures and while it could of been a masterpiece, it certainly succeeds brilliantly for most of it's run (episodes 3 and 7 in particular are peak Gundam) and is a welcome substitute for a certain arch-rival of mine...
Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam 5.5-6.5/10
I really love the 'Sign of Zeta' song, it doesn't fit the tone whatsoever, is morbidly of its time in a horribly outdated way and doesn't hold a candle to the 90's Gundam Op's but damn what a bop.
Ahem.
I've already written at length about my feelings on Zeta, it's to me the very worst of Tomino and the team's writing habits.
It fails to properly uphold the themes of the original, is deeply effected in a negative way by Tomino's real life mental state at the time and continues to shill out to the Toy sponsors far more then the original with even more non-sensical suit designs introduced seemingly on a random weekly basis with little to no in-universe explanations or worldbuilding of the original.
Its villains are almost all contenders for the most black & white/least nuanced of the whole franchise, its fights are repetitive and without much strategy, is an active example of some of the most inexplicable New-Type Wizardry of the whole saga and is generally just 20-30 episodes of filler.
Ahem x2 - With all that said there is still some good in Zeta when looked at as a whole.
The animation is well above average for the time and the direction is also pretty great, with some awesome visual compositions in the likes of episode 12 for good measure. The Ost is objectively one of the very best of the 80's (And Gundam in general). Their are interesting threads of story and character and those who like interpretation that requires excessively deep diving may get alot out of this. Non-the-less I'm steadfast in my beliefs of Zeta mis-transcreations and it will be an important talking point going forward.
All that said, the original is still endlessly better then the '2004 remake' films...
The Glorious Giant Crab Claw Man!Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ 7-8/10
While initially providing a degree of tonal whiplash, Tomino's improving mental state and comments from the studio and his wife quickly help to steer Gundam (temporarily) back on course. The show returns to much of it's routes, grunt pilots are once more threated as people again who's deaths hold consequences (Funerals make a well needed return, comical at times or not), the destruction of the earth is infinitely more apparent in a shown rather than told fashion - The conflict far more interesting with properly detailed and far better (or at all for that matter) motivated villains.
The cast are fun and not killed off at random for no reason, Captain Bright is used properly, El Puru(Fu*k you Unicorn, at-least get her name right)becomes the progenitor of a whole anime architype and the series conclusion is far more satisfying and thematically conclusive than anything that has come since.
ZZ is put lightly the true sequel to 79 and the better over-arching ending to the whole saga, it is truly a shame people can't look past 8 sub-par episodes in order to realise what they're missing.
So while the story has many flaws, the conflict is sometimes comically small in terms of the number of ships present at big battles and the tone overall lighter, the production is on a par with Zeta's for unsurprising reasons ('Silent Voice' is easily the best and most appropriate of the 4 Op's between the two shows and much of the rest of the Ost is straight from Zeta which is an automatic win), the characters are stronger, the themes more resonant and the presentation less back-stabby to the audience.
ZZ is a must watch before going to Counterattack or especially Unicorn and I won't accept otherwise.
MSG Char's Counterattack 4.5-5.5/10
I'll keep this brief as we will be talking about this alot as we go forward into this essay but 'Char's Counterattack' is without doubt the least satisfying cop-out of an ending possible.
It forgoes upwards of 100 of the episodes prior to it bar a couple of throw away lines, re-threads already covered ground, retcons established character progression, puts the world in an awkward position and is just a mess of part-fanservice and part-character analysis.
Now to be fair that analysis of Char and the political systems of Gundam could be great...if Zeta didn't exist.
Now to be clear that isn't to suggest I hate Char in CCA because I don't believe he could of gone from Quatro to this, no while handled exceedingly poorly and lazily, I can totally see that progression, heck it could even be an interesting one but you can not go from Quatro and Amuro being best friends forever - Straight back to rivalry mode, looking at a shot glass doesn't solve this.
Further why would you skip another decade, why does Bright look younger (even time itself seems to fear getting slaped by Captain Bright) and you can't just say that Axis rebuilt itself from a pile of blended ashes because "The public hid them from our inspections."
You wot m8? All those battleships and mobile suits? Hid them? Where the sun don't shine? What sort of a half arsed explanation is that.
I can see how I may come off as facetious on this one so let me also be brunt in saying that the production values are still great (no better than F91 or 0080's only a couple years later mind you), Beyond our Time is mis-used but a good tune along with the rest of the stellar OsT, the suit designs are memorable, the animation is good and there's always something going on. It's truly a shame that CCA is so pointless and infuriating.
Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn 7.5-8.5/10
In similar fashion to how 0083 is the true Zeta, Unicorn is the actual sequel to both CCA and ZZ. It attempts valiantly to uphold all of Gundams various messages and themes, all while desperately trying to give the timeline some semblance of closure (which it desperately needs).
If Unicorn's individual parts were listed on Mal I would quite likely give parts 3 - 6 a 10/10, however whether it's the numbing clunky dialogue of the first two parts, with their mystery box story gimmick and forced drama or the epically admirable failure that is the last feature length part - Unicorn ultimately fails under the weight of it's burdens.
In something I'd consider calling 'The curse of F91' Unicorn not only has the unfulfilled promises of Zeta and ZZ that which CCA simply left hanging in the air but also the unenviable task of trying to bridge the Gap between CCA and F91.
It's just too much, add to that a bizarre McGuffin (I guessed what was inside the box in episode one...that doesn't make me feel smug, it makes me feel sad...) and a whole cast of new characters to deal with, ultimately it just can't do it all.
So despite how I greatly respect the hustle and while it felt so good to finally be there with you all during ep3-6, to feel the hype everyone places around Zeta, CCA and Unicorn, to think it might actually succeed, ultimately the Beast of Potential was little more than a myth.
Sure does sound and look good though....
Mobile Suit Gundam Narrative(NT) 4.5-6/10
Narrative is the one I watched most recently at the time of writing, so with further thought I may come back to update my opinions/interpretations (I'm back...My feelings have not changed...) on it but put simply it...exists.
I don't really get what Narrative is for, it isn't the sequel Unicorn's ending so desperately needs but it also isn't a standalone piece or start of a new chapter.
It's meh, it actively weakens some of the elements from Unicorn and while it looks good in its own right, Unicorn's stylistic choices make it more endearing. By the end the story devolves into needless fanservice and really it forms into a sort of weird hyper condensed re-hash of what came before. It's bizarre, not really worth your time and an even less cohesive an ending to what came before or after it. Speaking of-
MSG F91 7.5-8.5/10
I make an important distinction between 'Favourites' and 'The Best'. The best UC Gundam is in my opinion either 79' or War in the Pocket but my favourite UC Gundam is F91. It's riddled with issues and a massive amount of short-sightedness on Tomino's part (Something which I'm getting used to by this point), it should be a reboot but clearly isn't (Even if it had been a TV show its just way to close to previous events - Although it can be watched as something of a standalone litmus test to see if UC Gundam is for you) and its pacing is that of a roller-coaster but with all that said - It's friggin brilliant.
The animation quality is the peak of Gundam, the Ost including the flagrant stealing of Star Wars tracks is astounding ('Eternal Wind' is the second best Gundam Op, it fits so much better with the stories themes than say for example 'Beyond our time' does and it's so well made that it's pretty much timeless. When I listen to Zeta/ZZ op's they're great but clearly dated, 'Eternal Wind' actively outperforms what's come since).
But maybe most interestingly is I believe, quite possibly by coincidence, that F91 better captures the point of '79 then anything in-between did.
New-Types return to their roots of being a type of communicative power that binds us all and cyber New-Types are done proper justice when we finally get a true/clear idea of what they are - Not just horribly tortured or mentally unstable, no where New-Types are weapons out of chance, Cyber New-Types are weapons by design (This is present in the others to but I think it's most clear here and in ZZ).
The directing is amazing
Add to that a great dub and the fact it's the only mainline Gundam that doesn't have an actual 'Gundam' (No really the F91 isn't a Gundam...it really isn't...lol) this is some of the most pure and oddly engaging Gundam to date.
Just a shame it frags up the timeline so much but we'll get to that. Before anyone asks, yes I have bought my first Gunpla and yes it is indeed a master grade F91 v2 - God help me and have mercy.
MSG The Origin/Advent of the Red Comet 7/10
Odd placement but then again the Origin sits in an odd place. Based on flashbacks of a much more expansive manga, Origin is generally categorised as a separate timeline, which is good because it makes no sense when joined to the main timeline, not that the fact it's a separate continuity is made clear, meaning for causally fans they'll most likely be unaware of this (Which is a flaw in it's own right).
We will be using the Origin to discuss a few things but I wouldn't consider it required viewing considering it's hard to spoil something when you already know all the events.
All told the Origin is fine, visually it's a marked downgrade from Unicorn or Iron Blooded Orphans, as while it can sometimes look great and many of the stills are lovely, the CGI is far more apparent then Unicorns and the action far less dynamic then the aforementioned IBO. Generally speaking it's just underwhelming.
While it sometimes gets things right, often time it plays up some of the franchise's worst traits, we'll soon talk on how it gets parts of Ral's character completely wrong, overplays Dozel's portrayal to the point where the genuinely good writing for him is wasted on focusing in on his goffy side and how Char and Garma's character displays just make them even more confused characters than already was the case.
You may enjoy Origin and good for you, I do too sometimes but overall it's just a little... off? I think it's time to go a bit deeper into all of this discussion.
Other Gundams I've seen and Required Viewing That the Rest of This Essay Will Discuss
Aside from the UC Gundam it may be helpful to just mention the other property's I've spent time with to give a better picture of my feelings on the entire franchise, the following is that list;
Gundam 00 10/10(S1) 7.5-8.5/10(S2) 3-4/10(Follow up Movie).
Gundam Seed 7/10 Gundam Seed Destiny 4-5/10.
Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans 8.5-9/10(S1) 10/10(S2).
After War Gundam X 9-10/10
Gundam Build Fighters Original 10/10, Gundam Build Fighters Try 6/10, Gundam Build Diver(s1) 9-10/10.
Dropped; Gundam Wing (didn't see it as a kid and just couldn't get through it as an adult), G no Reconguista
Seen the first recap, didn't hate but wasn't much grabbed either.
As for what we will be discussing going forward (This has to be my longest ever pre-amble), I'll be posting spoiler tags for the biggest of spoilers but generally I'll be speaking pretty freely on MS-Gundam 79', MSG; Zeta, ZZ, CCA, Unicorn and 'War in the Pocket' - Essentially the main core of the series with lesser spoiler (which should be marked as such) for The Origin, F91, Stardust Memory and Small bits of Igloo, I don't intend to address Thunderbolt or 08th Ms team all that much as they're either encompassed in the discussion as is or simply not relevant (Thunderbolt in general is a bit too short to be all that important and 08th MS team could almost do with it's own essay but mostly fits into what will be said in relation to other shows) so they aren't required to keep up.
Spoiler Ahoy - Gundams Core Themes and not Maintaining Them
Let's start where all Gundam's should and address the core themes of Gundam.
Similar to say most Ghibli films the topics range from the destruction/pollution of planet Earth(1), The Anti-War Trio {The disenfranchising nature of war(2), The human cost/morality of war(3) and The idea that they're are 'good' people on both sides of every-conflict(4)} and finally more common themes of Adolescence/growing into a man(5) (Gundam is unfortunately almost always more Male orientated, still waiting for a true female Gundam lead, Scarlet Witch has got alot to make up for😅) which connects with the whole idea of the New-Type or us as a species coming to understand one another and end all conflict.
It's really some rather hefty topics, that in no small part give Gundam alot of it's appeal especially for the time the original anime was produced. We of course saw alot of these concepts spread out amongst show's like 'Space Battleship Yamato' five years prior and even the likes of Astro Boy touch on them but Gundam has always made an active effort to tackle them head on - well not always.
One of the reasons the original 79' still shines so bright and is still held in such high esteem by critics is simply how it not only layered out all this content but also resolved it.
With each subsequent instalment there is already a predisposed responsibility to further elaborate and comment on these themes and this is one of the places Gundam fails all too often.
In Zeta the villains are bland and poorly motivated so we've immediately lost point 4, as while there is a bit of this topic it's wholly underserved in a story where it should be the most prevalent of all the Gundams (See my Zeta Review for full thought). Point 1 is lost in that while we're told often enough that the Earth is dieing, we are almost never shown anything more then the fact the desert has nearly reached Dakar - That's pretty much it.
Points 1,2 and 5 are sort of met, however 5 is undermined by the fact Kamille is almost automatically brilliant at mobile suit piloting (Which isn't the point of New-Types and certainly doesn't add anything to him growing up) and that New-Types becoming little more then unexplained magic before the story's close.
So now we have just 2 and 3 left, even 3 is undermined by the flagrant attempts to create more toys on a weekly basis without any effort to give in-universe explanations for the outrageous numbers of unique one off suits (Seriously who approved 'gaint crab claw' man and for what purpose? Is it an ace pilot model? Are they trying to get their aces killed, if that is the case then I guess it at-least succeeded on that one charge).
To me this is sort of the way to break Gundam down into a maths equation as it were, at-least thematically speaking.
The more of these a show succeeds in, the better of a foundation it than has to work on.
In other property this wouldn't be as logical of a deal, the reason it matters in Gundam is because this is a story not necessarily driven by characters or the plot but rather by it's themes, which makes it an interesting deviation from most other animes.
A Gundam can have a non-sensical story or well-over the top goffy characters (Admiral Dozel could be a cartoon villain but really isn't) but still succeed as a griping anti-war message.
So while it may sound strange or subjective, if you've read any of my other work you know how this goes: I judge everything on a standalone basis as much as possible (sequels sometimes with-standing) - As such if I'm watching a character driven show then I'm going to attribute more points for said characters then I am for how logical the story is (think most things by Gainx), if the story is about a setting or a tightly focused narrative than I'll consider the characters to be worth less points and so on.
It is only possible to strive for objectivity if one is to be flexible.
To try and judge the merits of all shows based on a set scale of attributes is a fools errand of the naïve or arrogant. As such to me with most War narratives and especially Gundam's I consider 'Thematic Resonance' to be as important as more universally agreed definitives like artstyle or music composition.
It's a large part of why ZZ works for me but Zeta doesn't.
We see the true damage a colony or meter drop can cause first hand in ZZ and spend a whole brilliant Earth Arc in the ever more trepidations desert, that's 1.
Deaths are used sparingly and always with a visibly effect on the cast, including the deaths of grunt pilots and civilians in meaningful ways, that's number 3.
We're shown the slightly corrupt nature of Marshmallow's loyalty to Haman - The wrapped sense of 'true nobility' with-in Glemy Toto, the down-trodden righteousness of Haman herself and the innocent warriors of the Puru line - That's number 4.
Judah's constant struggle with Death is a running part of the story and his growth into someone who can surpass Kamille and Amuro is not only the proper conclusion to the saga but also a great showing of point 5.
2 is the only one that might get lost on you, as the more playful tone causes the cast of the Nahel Argama to generally be a lot happier and not overly existential but when we see the likes of the 'Rommel Squad' and the other Neo-Zeon dessert dwellers, I think we get a decent understanding of that disenfranchising.
All this may seem superfluous to some but when a Gundam losses these, droping them instead for fan service or shock value it really damages the story because the fact is all of Gundam is a massive contradiction that all media has been grappling with for the better part of a century:
'How do you make an anti-war, war film?'.
Fact is without a thorough hand on these themes, Gundam becomes a goofy kids show where stupid giant space robots, wielding laser swords stolen straight out of Star Wars, smash each other in space while people with silly names lament hollow philosophy.
Weirdly enough this is something the Gundam Fandom doesn't really seem to 'get'. Maybe it's because being a giant robot fan requires you for the most part to enjoy mecha fighting and to want more of it but it's important to understand that this franchise is not as memorable and ground-breaking as it is, as long-standing as it's becomes, without being something more. Let's go a little more specific on this.
The Bizarre Entitlement and Irony of Some Gundam fans
For me personally it's theme no.4 that matters the most or at-least the broud range it encapsulates.
I'm going to use a few quotes from real reviews and reddit posts to help hammer home the absurdity of this but to preface, in a war all people are still just people.
A weapon is just a tool with-out someone to wield it (arguably a theme in it's own right).
Vice/Rear-Admiral Dozel is a mass murdering Genocidal manic but he's also a loving family man, clever commander, fearless combatant and compassionate leader who does most of the actual work on the space based fronts during the One Year War.
On it's base level almost every Gundam, whether they be focused on space wizardry or Global warming, has a backdrop of war, therefore the fundamental tenants of a war drama/narrative have to be followed, yet this unfortunately seems to bring out the most intolerant in some people, this quote in relation to Unicorn sums it up pretty well
"It does a lot of apologizing for Zeon while trying to make the case that it was necessary. This irks me not just because Zeon were fucking terrible but because downplaying Zeon's evils feels a lot like downplaying World War II Imperial Japan's evils, given how Zeon is half Nazi Germany and half Imperial Japan. And on a meta level there's a lot of that going on with the current Japanese government."
I can only contemplate where this came from and trust me go looking you'll find plenty like this. Where do you get off exactly? Believing that you have any right to comment on the 'evil's' of imperial Japan or Nazis Germany.
Now don't run away allow me to elaborate.
The actions of the Axis powers in the second world war were some of the most deplorable in all of history and have been recognised as such, an estimated 6 million innocent, non-combatant people where killed in the Holocaust alone.
That is with-out doubt one of the most morally-irreprehensible acts in history and should go against everything we all stand for on a level far deeper then what 'morality' tells us, but does it give you the right to sit about and critic a show for trying to show both sides of a conflict?
Fu*k no.
You life could be crap, who knows maybe you've got a disease or disability or your parents broke up recently, or you never had any parents at all but whatever the case is, you don't have that right. The people who lived through that war?
They do of course, they can hate the Japanese and the Germans + Italians as much as they pleased - But you, no matter how sh*t your life is?
Unless you've fought in a war yourself than what right have you to comment on the morality of the average solider.
Make no mistake I'm not talking 'bout Hitler or his generals and advisers, I'm talking about the men on the ground, or the guy who guarded the camps, pulled the lever on hundreds of thousands of innocents.
What right have you born, based on the age range for the average anime viewer, some 40-62 years later to say a fictional anime is bad because it's depiction of pretend semi-space Nazi's tries to label them as humans?
Do you really think that's what those men and women who lived through the War wanted?
Your role as an entitled individual of a free state is to understand not to judge. To understand and learn about history, to be more tolerant in your daily life or not to vote for authoritarian extremism.
It's to be informed and to do your part, however small, not to judge others. That in no small part is clearly a message of Gundam. Dozel is commonly considered to be the man behind operation British, the direct order having come from Geinren Zabi.
He dropped a colony which in universe I believe I'm correct in saying is the most lives ever talking with-in a Gundam setting and yet... He clearly loves Mineva and his wife and mistress with all his heart, because he's human - The human behind operation British.
"They're definitely WAY more immoral than the Federation. Zeon commits war crimes like it's their job."
It's believed between half a million to over a million innocent non-combative Japanese Civilians were killed by the American's during the war (over 100k from the Nuclear explosions alone), we did that because we had to, because they refused to surrender. We nuked two populated civilian centres because we believed if we simple hit the enemy military bases they'd just shrug it off right?
It definitely had nothing to do with the fact that bombing an unprotected civilian area is infinitely easier with a single plane then a well protected and very wary military centre or harbour. We fire bombed their little wooden towns because we had to right? They started it with Pearl Harbour right?
However you feel about the war, the lives of the 1 million people lost in Japan are in no way less valid then those 6 million Jewish people, they were all civilians, all innocent, a mix of mostly women, children and the elderly.
The number of civilians or people in general killed, the number of crimes committed isn't the point when we're talking this many dead on all sides - A war is all figures until it ends, then those scores become the lives of the lost, multiplied by the number of maimed and grieving, and nothing more.
I could continue to list morbid statistics of the events Gundam takes most of it's ques from but the fact is, Unicorn and War in the Pocket's messages, of how even the people on the right side of history can easily rationalise equally unforgivably acts, their message about how no war is worth the deaths of so many, the human cost - If you can't understand the importance of messages like those, than consider yourself, like me, extremely privileged.
Two of my great grandfathers were participants in the second world war but I don't for a second believe I have the right to objectively or even subjectively say the enemy's they were fighting were 'evil', the German and Japanese people my fighter & cargo plane piloting Great-grandfather fought were humans to, who believed just as much as he that what they we're doing was right.
.
The show isn't downplaying Operation British, which remember is often drawn as an allegory for the Nuclear Warheads that ended the war, how the he*l would downplaying that even be sympathetic to imperialist Japan for God's sake? - No rather it's simply trying to explain why someone would do this, because if in your mind the only way to be a Nazis was to be 'evil' then you're already on the same path, that in the right circumstances, in a different era or country would potentially lead you to being intolerant yourself.
We see that mob mentality of hatred towards 'foreigners' with Brexit and Trump, it's not on the level of the Nazis but the point is more apparent then ever.
Maybe the best way to try and reconcile this most important of Gundam's messages (To me at-least) is to look at the first biggest instance of it, at loyal Nazis speical force's commander and mobile suit ace - Ramba friggin Ral;
Ramba Ral isn't a TV Trope, he's a Literal Space Nazi -
Yes everyone's favourite character (I refuse to believe anyone exists that dislikes Ral) Ramba Ral is quite literally a fuc*ing Nazis SS commando. Process that for a moment - Not just a Nazis foot solider but rather deliberately a special forces, close quarters specialist.
The guy who gets reincarnated in build fighters as Anime's-Best-Group-Dad and Wrestling-Badass, is a friggin real life, relatively high ranking, Nazis loyalist..... So then how the hel* is this the trope he spawned!;
"Affably Evil". "The good hearted Villains". "Simply born on the wrong side" - And many more such similar terms as seem to be partially used by Gundam production teams themselves.
This is all just such a complete mis-understanding of what Ral and his entire team (including his best friend and his hot wife) are meant to represent.
You think Ral wouldn't of joined the federation speical forces had he been born on Earth? You think he wouldn't of still been clearly excited by war, because he quite obviously gets a kick from it.
Equally do you think he wouldn't of taken the time to break bread with a young Zeon pilot had the roles been reversed?
Had Amuro been a Zion and Ral the Federation representative do you think he wouldn't of shown him the same kindness, tutelage and battlefield etiquette?
Ramba Ral is unquestionably a moda-trucking Nazis and if the Origin is to be believed, one from a family of some notoriety, in that sense that would make him a true Aryan poster boy for the military.
To touch briefly on the Origin (as this is meant to be a review of all the stories), while that show does some interesting things with Ral, along with some rather superfluous fanservice things, the biggest miss-step they make is having him turn down Dozel.
By having Ral make some great big stand of defiance against Operation British you weaken his characterisation because the Ral I watched in 79', while he'd probably leak the information to try and minimise civilian causalities, I think ultimately he'd go through with it. He's a true career solider from before the One Year War even started, he would do as ordered.
If anything it's one of the Origins biggest missed opportunities that they don't have him do it.
What I'm getting at with this miniature ramble is not that Ral is a terrible person but that Gundam doesn't operate in such black and white terms, instead it's far more true to life. Good people can easily rationalise terrible things.
The point of Ral or Kelly (I never even realised he was meant to be the stand-in Ral till I went investigating) or Cyclops team and the crew of the Jotunheim or the Zimmerman faction of the Sleeves or Norris Packard Chad-Ace supreme - Is not to portrait these as morally upstanding people on the wrong side of a war but rather as regular humans.
It's one of the reasons why I love 'War in the Pocket' so much, as I feel it gets this across the most clearly. Cyclops team are down right malevolent psychopaths with some serious social issues. They're a specific speical Ops team who would happily blow up a whole colony while laughing evilly no doubt.
We see they're more then ready and do kill a number of innocent men, women and children, yet when Garcia shows kindness to Bernie through the vale of being a rank above him, it feels genuine.
The connection the whole team has to Al is bourn from a utilitarian usefulness the boy presents and yet I think by the end of the show, while they'd probably shoot him if ordered to, they kinda care about him if only as their little mascot and they definitely have a bizarre comradery among each other and towards Bernie - That's the mass murdering morally bankrupt lunatics we're talking about.
The Gundam's That do This Wrong Have Already Failed - What happens when this element of Gundam goes wrong is we see Gundam Seed where despite being a retelling of 79' they completely fu*k the meaning of Ral's character. Or staying with our early UC topic you have (say it with me now everyone!) Zeta Gundam!
Not to harp on about it much more but Zeta Gundam is a prime example of a Gundam story undercut by not getting the message, which is fascinating when we consider it's a Tomino helmed story.
Bask Om, Admiral Jamatov and Jemicon have literally no conceivable motives yet are the longest standing villains, with a combined screen-time that out-weights both Scirocco or Haman.
Unlike Geinren Zaabi, I'm not even sure if they're actually racist or want world domination or if they even dislike Zeon on a personal level, heck they may even be Spacenoids for all I know. Zeta gets this so backwards that when Emma sees the evil of the Titans, she immediately switch's sides, because of course no good person especially a strong woman like Emma, could actually stay with the Titans if they saw the truth.
Even the likes of ace lesser characters like Yazan and Jerid have much of this problem and
.
Not only does it actively undermine any story it's in (regardless of the Gundam or even War Drama tags) it shows a fundamental disrespect to human life, real warriors and the deaths of millions throughout our shared history.
I've talked alot in other essay about Paedophilia, grooming, incest and other delicate topics but to me War stands on equal footing with any of them for how it should be handled with tact and care, with a nuanced understanding that is all of our shared responsibilities if we're lucky enough to live in a modern peaceful country where we will probably never be asked/forced to fight and are under no emanate threat of drone strikes or your over-zealous neighbours restarting a 1000 year old grudge - Or you can go play Call of Duty and watch your Gundams solely for the Stupid Japan-Land robots punching each other, it's your life and your entertainment, (I really mean that, we all need to relax sometimes and the enjoyment of violence is hard weirder into us, it isn't relevant to our current discussion but see Build Fighters S1 for more on this reality - "I can be serious about it because it's not real!" - Is a more insightful line/mantra then anything in Zeta....)enjoy!
Exceptional Short-Sightedness/Tomino's Extreme Lack of Faith
Now that we've covered the most difficult but equally important part of UC Gundam, lets take a quick look at its creator and how his mind-set as the Captain of this ship has affected its troubled moorings over the years.
Tomino like many Japanese creators isn't actually the easiest person to find info on, there is more of it due to him being the face of Gundam and in the industry for so long but it can still be hard to get a fix on the man as a person.
From what we do know he is the type of creator who often allows his emotional state to affect his work, furthermore he's had a long career and when he made say the original Gundam, it is my strong belief he didn't expect for it to span the next 45 years of his life, as evidenced by his immediate move to 'Space Runaway Ideon' and later 'Aura Battler Dunbine' almost immediately after 79's close.
What this is to suggest is that the foundations all UC Gundam have to struggle with are based in industry norms and short-sighted creative decisions. This isn't to say I'm trying to blame Tomino or paint him as some sort of hack, indeed I have massive continued respect for the man but it's undeniable that Gundam has suffered for being a product of it's time - To a very noticeable degree.
Firstly is the format, even the most die-hard fans of Zeta will admit that it wains directionless in the middle and before the final battle for Gryps (an understatement to be sure) or that 79' & ZZ sometimes veer too near to their monster of the week roots.
The fact is if most of the long UC Gundams were cut down by say 10 episodes, they might become better, the writing would be more succinct, you wouldn't have the massive gaps of whole episodes in-between a character's development etc etc.
Furthermore, where massive Gundam/Tomino fan and fellow writer/director Hideki Anno would go on to put his depressed emotions and feelings into his work in a constructive manner and create something almost wholly new with those feelings, Tomino simply tries to force Zeta into matching his mental state.
People say ZZ is a tonal shift but in a sense Zeta is just as much of one when compared to 79's original run.
Moreover 'Kill 'em all Tomino' (A title he didn't actually originally receive from Gundam, though it sure as heck solidified it) is maybe the man's worst trait.
To kill a character is something I could write a whole separate Gundam Based essay on but keeping it exceedingly brief, just killing characters for the sake of it, is cheap and very bad. This seems to be something Tomino definitely understands in most of his work, i.e. 79' and ZZ but his real world pick-up's lead him to callously wasting lives for little to often no reason in Zeta and CCA, to the point where he essentially proves this point to be true when he retcons or changes a large number of the casualties in the Zeta Recap films.
With that mentioned, Retconning is another interesting word.
While not overly prevalent in the West either, Japan didn't do much in the way of alternate universes or reboots during the 70s-90s and being a traditional director Tomino was no different. Again I can't really solely blame Tomino for this and in the years to come he would definitely make up for it by letting other creators pilot Gundam and attempts like Turn-A to apparently acknowledge flat out the mess that is all the different timelines - However it's an undeniable truth that F91 (and Victory) exist.
The Curse Of F91 as I like to lovingly put it is one of Gundam's biggest problems, especially for Unicorn.
Wanting to finally move past Char's slightly gay 15 year obsession with some kid who beat him one time, Tomino decides to try reboot the series with F91 - Putting aside the fact that got shot down and eventually made into the O' so beloved movie, every Gundam that now comes out set after Char's Counterattack(CCA) has to contend with the fact that in the year UC.123, the wars must all be over, a significant time of peace must of passed, the Federation are still using 30 year old Jegan type suits, the Federation are still incompetent and in power, the Zabi family has been all but forgotten and both New-Types and Gundams are little more then a myth. Ahem - 'That's alot of damage'.
While a product of it's time it's also fascinatingly short-sighted on our lead writer's part and completely removes the possibility for more early UC stories... Well unless you pull a Unicorn and kind of just pretend that F91 doesn't exist...We'll come back to this last point soon but for now it acts as the ultimate evidence of poor worldbuilding management.
All told I really believe Tomino in a sense has always had a slight lack of Faith in Gundam, both in the sense that I don't think he ever planned for this level of longevity nor success and a sort of sad internal understanding that the longer it goes, the more he's failed.
The bigger Gundam is, the less effective it's core anti-war message has been and that would depress anyone, as evidence by his own comments on disliking how dark Zeta gets and his initial, although later revised, disapproval of the life-size RX-78 that was constructed some years back.
While he does seem to of reconciled with these larger issues and from what I as an onlooker can tell, he does seem like quite the happy, active and spritely 79 year old, it's undeniable the detrimental effect Zeta and CCA have on most long-running characters and the problematic nature that F91 presents for the timeline as a whole.
And then of course there's him - The one character no review could try and ignore, the man who optimises the entirety of early UC (and in a sense all of Gundam), The Red Comet-
Please Note - This is part 1 of 2, here's the second part(You should also just be able to scroll upwards to find it) https://myanimelist.net/blog.php?eid=867499 - I hope you enjoyed and thanks for reading😎.
Posted by momentie | Jul 22, 2021 5:45 PM | 0 comments
June 29th, 2021
An Ode to Fallen Nemo (Part 2 of 2)
Anime Relations: Kidou Senshi Gundam, Kidou Senshi Zeta Gundam, Kidou Senshi Z Gundam I: Hoshi wo Tsugu Mono, Kidou Senshi Z Gundam II: Koibito-tachi
Foreword;
The following is part two (Here's part 1 for your convenience - https://myanimelist.net/blog.php?eid=866409 ) of a two part short story that I wrote as part of my review for 'Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam'. It includes some spoilers for the show, thought no major character deaths of anything of that nature but is probably best enjoyed with some prior knowledge of the show up to around episode 30. This is my first time attempt at a critic of this kind and was spurned by the fact that I struggled greatly to put into words my negative feelings towards Zeta Gundam without devolving into a mindless rant. As such I choose the biggest issue I had with the show (The treatment of the nameless, faceless unsung hero's of the Nemo pilots) and decided to try my hand at writing something of a parody detailing some of the stories short comings and a short story about some of the whole franchise's most tragically forgotten pilots. I hope you enjoy, each part is about 7000 words (Hence why I can't put it all under a single post), if you do or have a thoughts on it please use the comment function or leave a helpful on the main review page (https://myanimelist.net/profile/momentie/reviews) New; A slightly updated version of this short story is now available via Honey-feed, which is where I'd suggest you'll get the optimal reading experience - https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novels/5593 - Thanks for reading.
Chapter 3
It would be some 30 hours later that Sabban finally found himself released from solitary confinement, this meant he'd done longer then the designated 72 hours, something which he'd taught a deliberate insult at first but the apologetic pleas of one of the ship's lesser officers convinced him that his elongated stayed had actually not been of a malicious nature but rather instead he'd simply been forgotten. A part of him contemplated if he'd of preferred for his original insight to of been the truth of the matter.
Meer moments after getting free, the hollow clinging noise of the ship alert-alarm rang out, quickly followed by a message for all pilots to head to their machines. Sabban internally cursed his bad luck's timing and quickly headed for the changing room. Normal suit on, he made it to the elevator just in time to call out to non other then the rest of his squad about to head downwards, "Wait up!" he called out. Shasha hearing this quickly pressed the control button and a brief moment later Sabban had arrived aboard the lift. "So then what's happening?" he inquired once the lift had restarted it's journey. "It's the Alexandrea again, apparently they've got two transformable mobile armours with them as well this time" Shasha responded gravely. "Two armours? I thought a single armour was enough to destroy a whole fleet!?" Ennya exclaimed, from his tone of voice it was clear this wasn't one of his usual poor taste jokes. Zori outstretched a hand and affectionately patted Ennya lightly on the head, "Don't worry, armours aren't as dangerous as they we're back in the one year war, our Gundam type units can more then handle them!" she said reassuringly and somewhat uncharacteristically.
Sabban glanced at Shasha, raising an eyebrow at Zori's surprizing confidence. Shasha for her part took the lead, "That's the attitude Zori, those armours won't stand a chance against 'Quattro' and his team... but umm, ahem. You sure your ok?". Zori abandoned her Ennya head patting, which conversely had caused the boy's face to turn bright red, to look up at Shasha. Pumping her fist in the air defiantly she spoke with unusual vigour "Ya I'm good now.. I'll make Mili glad she rescued me.. wherever she is" Zori finished with a meek smile. Sabban returned the smile then turned and punched Ennya softly in the shoulder, "Hear that pal? Don't wanna let her get too much stronger then you, so you better not hold back ya hear!" he said grinning teasingly. Ennya's faced puffed up as a combined result of Zori's head patting and Sabban's teasing, glared at his former upper-classmate "and what are you meant to be, our boss? Don't forget you got demoted, Crewmen Vint!" he said pocking a finger back in Sabban's direction. "Why you cheeky - Never hear about respecting your elders little boy?" Sabban shot back jokingly, Zori laughed happily observing the interaction, before finally Shasha clapped her hands together "Ahem. The lift has stopped if you hadn't noticed children".
True to her words they'd reached the 2nd hanger level. Looking around himself Sabban noted that the mechanical team had indeed succeeded in repaired Zori's Nemo 28, across from which stood an empty holding cell where Unit 30 migth of once stood. Looking at his own machine, unit 27, it was clear it had been maintained in his absents. "I see that look Sabban, heh heh, your old bud Ennya has ya covered, made sure your Nemo is in tip top shape" Ennya interjected noticing Sabban's line of sight, his own previous embarrassment fading as he stuck his chest out proudly, "Well just as long as you did the same for your own" Sabban replied. In front of the group, already in his suit was the illustrious and somewhat aloof final member of the Nemo squad, Petty Officer Kolme Nilas. Seeing them enter, he stepped out of the cock pit and called out to the rest of the group "You kids can 'ead out first if you want, gimme time to get my ol' bones comfy in this crappy seat. Cap'ain says we're to launch from the portside catapult and intercept the enemy" he finished in his usual lazy tone of voice.
Ennya offered a thumbs up towards the man as he retreated back into his Nemo, Sabban noted that the group seemed to be getting on slightly more amicably with Mr.Nilas, a possible result of the older man acting a little kinder due to pitying them losing a comrade in their first ever battle. "Alrigth then, I'll take point you three follow me out" Shasha announced in her customary way. "..umm actually could I go first..please" Zori said, an unbefitting look of determination in her face. "oh? Well yes, why not, I guess I should go last and make sure that lazy Irishman doesn't try to slack off in here" Shasha said trying to make it sound like that had always been her plan. Launch order set the quartet headed to their individual machines and made their way two by two up the large mobile suit elevator, then across to the portside launcher, opposite them they could see the Gundam and Rick Dias teams already on their way out. "Hey zori, has the Hyaku Shiki already launched?" Sabban inquired unable to spot the machine, "..hmm? No 'lieutenant Quattro' had to go on one of his business trips to the moon I think.." Zori replied politely as she and Sabban edged closer to the launch.
"-Then who's in command?" Sabban said allowed but Zori had already moved on, now that the recently repaired Nemo 28 had been properly secured in the foot shackles just outside the bay entranceway. From his place standing in the hanger doorway, he watched as the impressive catapult of the Argama lobbed Unit 28 forward at a ferocious speed before hitting the end of the track and firing the mech off towards the enemy. Unlike the higher ranking pilots, those who controlled the mighty Nemo's had no obligation to announce their launch, so Sabban silently made his own way on to the launcher, ready for the familiar sudden surge of G-Force when all of a sudden his comm board lit up. "Come in Nemo-squadron, this is the bridge. Do not launch, return to the ship and defend the port bow, two mobile armours sighted and closing fast at 2 o clock".
With a curt 'Roger' to the bridge, Sabban activated the release mechanism and repositioned his mech a little way up the deck manually, behind him Ennya too started making his way out the door in unit 29, Shasha and Kolme a little ways further behind that. Zori likewise gave a small acknowledgement of the orders and began to slow her suit's momentum, Sabban watched as it began turning around to regroup with her squad. In the distance he could also see the Zeta Gundam and Methuss, along with Lieutenant Apolly's group who had engaged with the Habarbi's and Hizacks that had survived the previous battle, some distance out in front of the Argama towards the Alexandrea. "Looks like reinforcements aren't coming any time soon, Zori hurry back, the 5 of us will use a staggered line formation and concentrate our beam fire on those mobile armours, they won't know what hit 'em - as long as that's ok with you leader Niju?" Sabban stated over the radio link to the rest of his comrades.
While he awaited the replies of his team he rose up his weapon to take aim, the two mobile armours popped up on his display as Gabthley types, currently moving towards the ship at a frightening clip, it was a mud brown machine with dark green highlights, two claws protruding from its underside and a large prominent canon from its front section, accompanied by two further shoulder mounted weapons. As he watched the usual distance calculator count down, aware of both Ennya and Shasha's machines now positioned as per his simplistic plan, he noticed the two enemy mech break apart, one heading for the very front of the ship, the other staying on course to pass right over the bridge and themselves. "Looks like one of them's trying to outflank us, Zori from where you are, you should have a clear sho--".
A cold hand ran down his back, his hair stood on end, his words refused to come. Nemo 28, which had been making it's way back to the ship had been, by coincidence or some cruel twist of faith, caught un-aware straight in the new flight path of the enemy mech. Sabban couldn't even be sure if Zori had known she was even in any imminent danger as the Gabthley let loose a flurry of fire from it's trio of canon's. The assault had clearly been aimed at the Argama and indeed most of the laser fire glided past it, ignoring the Nemo entirely bar a single shot from the main canon. This shot haphazardly aimed, maybe because of a poor sensor or faulty equipment, had gone off course, soaring through the air it had stuck straight into Nemo 28, which recoiled in on itself, the sheer force of the impact causing the torso armour to buckle inwards like crumpled paper. A few moments later the machine filled the sky with an awe inspiring flash of fiery light. One moment the supposed technological pinnacle of mass production type mobile suits, the next a cloud of smoke and debris before Sabban's eyes.
****
Sabban could hear the voices over his comms. Shasha was yelling something about him not being a fool, Ennya seemed to be on the verge of tears and the deck crew reported some form of damage having been taken from the encroaching Gabthleys and mentioned something about 'a unit 29' being destroyed. He could hear the voices but in a way it felt like he couldn't, like the thoughts racing through his own head overpowered the actually people talking, reducing their words to little more then white noise. Like his own thoughts where yelling the loudest of all, 'How could it happen, what's even the point of these bolt buckets if they break so easily? Why didn't I go in front? Zori was always weaker then me in combat, why'd I let her go first - the fuck is this'. That armour didn't even stop to check he'd killed her, I don't think he even meant to hit her, was it just a passing explosion to him, just some fucked up accident? Does he even care, is it no more then another flaming Nemo to him? Are we all just nameless corpses waiting to die! As the thoughts continued to race through his mind, looping like a record, his mech drifted up towards the wreckage, surrounded all the while by streams of AA fire from the Argama. Eventually a dull thud awakened Sabban to his senses. The thud had been caused by his machine colliding with one of the many shards of debris from what had once been unit 29.
Sabban's throat wretched, as the sickening sensation of nausea that often permeates vomiting took hold of him. Clutching at his stomach he held back the sensation before smashing a fist down against his chair's side rest "The hell is this? You can't be dead, your going to avenge Mili aren't you? you can't die before you've even started that, before you've even talkin a single shot! How th- t...the hell am I meant to explain this to your little sister..." he cried out, still obliviously ignoring the cacophony of sound coming from his radio equipment.
Still yelling Sabban suddenly felt himself jolted forward and a faint voice abounding through his cockpit "-ut of my way, Small-fry-", having been partially standing at the time, he fell forward slamming his helmet off the machines console and in turn his face off the thick glass of his normal suit's helmet. The impact finally caused the slew of complicated thoughts coursing through his mind to subside as he leaned back into his chair. Glancing around he quickly understood what this impact had been. His monitors all flashed red and a small holographic diagram revealed that he'd lost his Nemo's left arm, riffle and a number of his cameras after the enemy machine had impacted straight into him. The voice he'd heard had been that of the enemy pilot, a temporary connection contact link had formed by the two machines momentarily locking paths and the fact that Sabban had absent-mindedly left his comm channels all open.
Now awake again he quickly took to assessing his surroundings, he'd drifted out a decent way from the ship, looking back in its direction he spotted his remaining three allies all still standing on the catapult deck of the Argama, desperately trying to shoot out at the two mobile armours, now circling like hawks above the vessel. His radio continued to buzz too, "Sabban! Sabban, are you ok Sabban? Crewmen Sabban Vint come in!" called out the voice of Shasha in Nemo 26. Sabban lifted up his visor, did his best to clean up his face before pressing the unmute button on his mic, "...ya I'm here, I'm here. I think my Nemo can still move, I'm coming to help", his reply given he set his machine to move forwards, rapidly moving it back to be near the others, Ennya drifted out a small ways to meet him half-way, firing his weapon the whole time. As the distance between them closed the Gabthley mobile armour, clearly feeling pestered by the rain of fire from below, suddenly changed course to swoop down towards Ennya. For his part Ennya looked as though he was about to draw his beam saber, "Hey Ennya, stay as you are, I'll stop that asshole in his tracks, then you shoot, got it" hearing a newfound dedication in Sabban's voice, Ennya reluctantly agreed.
As discussed Sabban lowered himself into position, drawing his beam saber with his remaining right side arm, he held it out in front of the rest of his machine, in the best sword's stance as the battered mech could manage. The armour itself now almost level with the two Nemo's, began transforming in-front of their eyes, before long it was suddenly a hulking beast, two hands, two legs and an old fashioned rick dom-esk head. Still carried by it's momentum it took out it's own saber and charged straight into Sabban's blade. The impact was intense, even with his thruster set to max, Sabban found himself being pushed back blocking Ennya's line of fire, furthermore warning displays appeared all around the suit's monitors, informing him that the clash was causing such a great strain on the Nemo's hydraulic joints, that before long the whole suit would no doubt fail. Re-adjusting his suit's thrusters and posture to better take the brutal force of the Gabthley, Sabban turned on his contact link mic, "You can hear me right? Your the bastard who shot down Zori aren't you?!". "Huh? who's this 'Zori'? Listen punk, I'm impressed you managed to even stop my machine in your pathetic excuse for a mobile suit but you should know this much; my names Jerid Messa, Titan Ace and I've got one goal only, to destroy the Zeta Gundam!" came the reply from 'Jerid', his voice young but seemingly rage addled, a sort of determined naivety to it.
"Zeta? The hell's that got to do with it, don't we even matter to you? What are you titans even fighting for" Sabban shot back vehemently. "Fighting for? What sort of stupid question is that? You dense or something solider! We're fighting to wipe out all Zeon remnant filth" Jerid replied proudly. "But the AEUG aren't Zeon, we're just fighting you because of your tyrannical policies against space-noids! So what you'll just crush anyone who disagrees with you?", "Exactly, the Titans will crush all those who oppose use!" Jerid said, his voice hinting at him caring little for this debate of politics. "But don't you see how ridiculous that sounds? We're only fighting because we disagree with your methods and your only fighting because you think we pose a threat. Don't you see how pointless all this is? Who cares about the damn Gundams, what sort of a reason is that to kill people?! How can you threat enemy pilots with so little respect that they just become steeping stones on your stupid murderous path to the Gundam?! What sort of motive to kill is that, aren't you even human?" Sabban finished, tears welling in his eyes as the words he uttered slowly hammered home with what shallow reasons for which the man in front of him had cut down his friend. All the while the enemy's machine continued to press forward, the two beam sabers now so close to his Nemo that it's metal armour plating had begun to liquify, the head mounted cameras had gone first, each cracking and blistering, visible lines running through the Nemo's visor section, till finally shattering completely from the sheer heat of the the energy begin produced by the two mechs.
Suddenly a strange sensation ran down Sabban's spine and what felt akin to 'Deja Vu' or even that sensation of a light-blub moment when one remembers where they left something they'd lost. Cutting off his conversation with the enemy pilot he quickly shouted into the other comm feed, "Ennya dodge right quickly!". With the words said Sabban followed his own advice and deactivated his saber, while ramming the control level forwards to push his whole suit rapidly downwards. For it's part the enemy mobile armour was flung forward by the sudden lack of connection, it's imposing beam saber cutting across the outer layer of Sabban's torso armour, mere inches from cutting the whole cockpit open, meanwhile the Nemo's arm now freed burst into smoke and fell limply to unit 27's side. Concurrently to this the two shoulder canons of the Gabthley fired, all while Sabban heard Jerid shout the words "I'm finished with this crap, where's Kamille Bidan hiding!". The canon fire set outwards, with one blast gliding past where Ennya's unit 29 had been just moments before, the second shot hit non-lethally into his Nemo's waistline armour before the Gabthley moved by, ignoring Ennya's helpless attempts to fire his riffle at the hulking suit, which simple shrugged off any laser blasts that hit it.
"That was one hell of a good call Sabban, how'd the heck you know to dodge?" Ennya said excitedly, the adrenalin evident in his voice as he began moving his suit over next to Sabban's and grabbed on to it with a gentle thud, the Gabthley now out of range having turned back into it's flight form. "I - I don't know, just instinct I guess..." Sabban murmured half-heartedly. "ha, be careful saying stuff like that, people'll start callin' ya a new-type" Ennya laughed lightly, the grief he felt for Zori still apparent in his voice, "Hello bridge? This is Crewmen Ennya in unit 29, looks like Nemo 27's cameras are caput, not to mention it's arms, permission to land Sabban back on deck?"
"Permission granted 29, get 27 back home", with this short exchange complete Ennya began pushing both his and Sabban's units back over in the general direction of the bridge, as he did Shasha's voice cropped up, "Looks like they hit the far catapult deck pretty hard, I'm going to go stand guard there till the other mech teams can get back from assaulting the Alexandrea, Mr. Nilas follow after me once Sabban's secure. Ennya you take his place guarding the portside bow, understood?" Shasha's instructions were clear and delivered with a steadfast tone of voice, truly befitting of an up and coming field officer and showing no sign of letting her feelings for Zori cloud her judgement.
"No worries, boss" Kolme replied, clearly happy to take orders from the younger pilot. "Roger that Shaser" replied Ennya, a tinge of relief creeping into his voice having survived the previous encounter with 'Jerid', "Hey Sabban buddy, you sure that guy didn't score a hit on you, sure feels warm in here since I started carrying you. I'd rather not risk something happening to you aswell.." Ennya asked casually, his voice trailing off and betraying his thought process towards the end of his sentence. "Warm? I mean I've got warning signs going off in all directions but temperature control feels fine, how 'bout you?" Sabban replied, his mind still focused on other matters , "He scraped the outer waist of my armour but nothing major, guess he maybe hit my aircon unit, never realised how warm it'd get so quickly without that thing" Ennya lackadaisically said with a small handwave and shrug of his lanky shoulders while he moped at his brow.
"What did you just say Kid?" intruded the voice of Kolme Nilas. "Err- hit to the waist, looks like my AC is fried that's all Mr.Nilas, I can still fight so nothing to wor-"
"Get Out Of There Now Boy!" Kolme had borderline yelled the words at his mic. "huh, what's wrong I do-", "I said get out, push Sabban's suit away, then pull the eject. Christ I thought they fixed that fault back in the days of the GM. Hey Ennya? Did you hear me? Eject now damn it, I'm not playin' around!" Kolme barked, his voice growing ever more worried with each word. "I- I can't Mr. Nilas, i-it-it's getting too hot to touch the instruments, it just keeps getting warmer! Oh shit the eject handle ain't working, it won't budge!" Ennya responded his voice raising to a disconcerting squeal.
"Ennya? Just keep clam pal, grab the level with both hands and use your whole upper body strength, don't worry about moving me, right Mr.Nilas?" Sabban added, hearing the panic encroaching into Ennya's voice however what he couldn't see, what with his broken camera's, was the situation outside, indeed he had no idea what had actually worried the old man so much about an apparently broken AC unit but he wasn't looking to take any more chances with the lives of his fellow squad-mates. For his part Kolme's unit 3 had pushed away from the warship and started rapidly trying to catch up with and help the two young men but more pressingly was Ennya's mech itself, flames now spewed out of it's mid-riff segment, as sparks began to emit from all across it's other joints. "Ah crap, it's, it's- the whole damn cockpits on fire! Shit my normal suits melting, it's friggin searing onto my skin!" Ennya cried out desperately. Sabban reached out to open his own cockpit, with the intention of getting a better picture of the situation and trying to force open Ennya's machine from the outside but as he reached out, he was thrown back into his chair when his Nemo was propelled forward, having been pushed away from Unit 29 as Ennya made his final act. "Ennya? Ennya! Come on pal, you gotta keep trying, the eject, keep trying the eject for God's sake!" in spite of his pleases, for a few moments at-least, no response was forthcoming.
Then two sounds finally made themselves known to Sabban, one the dull clink as his suit landed in the hands of unit 3, which had by now caught up to him, and two the sound of desperate coughing, choking even over the comms. The voice belonged to Ennya. Standing up out of his chair, Sabban scrambled to get one of the cameras working, literally smacking at the screens in the hopes of one giving him an image. Finally one sparked to life, showing him a grainy image full of score lines from the cracked glass of the lens. The image only held for a few fleeting seconds before the camera finally gave it's final breath but it was long enough. Staring at the low quality picture in front of him, Sabban observed a usually green Nemo, shrouded in an all consuming void of viscous flames, pouring out from each and every joint and especially from around the cockpit door. The radio link sounded one last cry of Anguish from Ennya before his entire suit exploded into a magnificent ball of smoke and soot, Sabban's camera cutting out part way through this gruelling process.
"Those damn bastards at Anaheim, they've had four years to fix that fault. Kid I'm so sorry..." Kolme muttered, his sentence droping away at the end. Sabban collapsed into his seat, staring up at the blank and static filled monitors surrounding him, the image of the flaming red Nemo seemingly imprinted into his eyes. Aside from Kolme a second voice now sprung from his machine "This is the bridge, Zeta and Methuss are inbound but the damage to the ship is serve, Nemo squadron, please move to cover the damage until Kamille and Fa have returned" the voice of Torrez called out. With her previous confidence shaken but still intact, Shasha did her best to issue new orders to the remains of her team "Sa-s.. Ahem- Crewman Vint, if Mr.Nilas pushes you in the right direction think you can make it back on your own? Then M-", "Oh heck no, you think I'm gonna run away now? I'll kill those bastards, that dickhead didn't even try to kill Ennya, a friggin technical fault? What even is this God forsaken machine!" Sabban yelled, grabbing at his control sticks and trying to activate his suit's thrusters. For it's part unit 3 held firm, it's superior custom thrusters preventing Sabban's escape. "Calm your shit kid, what can you do without arms and camera's for crying out loud-" Kolme yelled back, partially having to talk over Sabban who continued to yell obscenities at his mics.
"That's fine Petty Officer, I understand his felling's" Shasha interrupted, also talking over Sabban's pointless outrage, "your job now is to get him and yourself back to the ship in one piece, do I make myself clear Officer Nilas?" Sabban uttered, her voice now having somehow regained it's composure. Kolme, a little taken a back, replied with a polite "Y-Yes Ma'am. And Lass...Good luck".
****
Unit 3 continued to push the injured Nemo 27 back towards the hanger bay, paying little heed to Sabban's continued protests, the bridge now piped up once more. "The Zeta Gundam and the others are 30 seconds out but it looks like one of those Gabthley's is going to try make one last pass, seems to be aiming straight for the pre-existing deck damage. You must buy us the time needed number 26, another direct hit could blow the whole ship open!" . From his place aboard unit 27 Sabban could of sworn he heard Shasha gulp hard, followed by a series of deep breaths over the still open comm link - "Understood bridge, I'll get you the time you need" Shasha confirmed diffidently. Sabban, temporarily distracted from his ranting pressed at his physical comm link to unit 3 "Kolme? Damn it old man, at least tell me what's going on out there, please" Sabban begged into the mic. "I don't think you really want that Kid" Kolme answered curtly. "What's that supposed to mean?" Sabban shot back.
Sighing sympathetically Kolme looked out over his still operational screens, "I guess you've got the Right to know, right now she's put unit 26 a few meters out in-front of that ruddy great hole the enemy made before, with her sword drawn in one h'nd and rifle in t'other". "Wait, your not saying... She's trying to use her whole Nemo as one big shield for the ship? That's suicide!" Sabban bemoaned. "Real optimist ain't ya, Tch the enemy stopped to fight you didn't 'e? Real cocky fucker I'm guessing so if he stops to battle yer frei- ahem, I mean the petty officer, then that should buy enough time for the Zeta to rescue us all, it's a damn brave plan, I'll give her th- oh Christ!" Kolme sweared, his words changing course near their end point. Sabban had some idea of what had made him stop, with his radio receiver now turned up to the max, he'd heard it, the screeching sound of metal crunching into metal echoed across his cabin, follower successively by the hollow low pitched sound of an energy canon discharging.
"Sh-Shasha? Shasha you ok? Shasha..." Sabban partially whispered, his tone growing progressively delusional in response to a guttural, hollow, sickening coughing noise protruded from his receiver, with the sound of heavy pools blood splattering across a dashboard in great quantities. "...Kolme what happening out there..." Sabban muttered pleadingly. "She, sh- that damn scumbag just rammed straight into her, didn't even change into his mech's form, the cannon barrel just went straight through the dam cockpit. Bastard fired point-blank, Unit 26 got torn in half!" Kolme concluded, his anger towards the enemy obvious in his voice. "bu... but she's ok right, I can hear her..." Sabban whimpered as the sounds of Shasha hacking sounded out across his own operating space.
****
Chapter 4
It wouldn't be till some time later that Sabban would learn the greater results of his second sortie. As predicted the Zeta Gundam, accompanied by the Methuss successful returned after unit 26's crippling blow, with the Rick Dias team not far behind them. As for Shasha, her efforts had proven to be questionable, as thought indeed her mech had managed to take the brunt of the attack, protecting the Argama from any further damage in the process, it would later be revealed that a second hit would of been unlikely to actually sink the ship. After some protesting, Sabban had convinced Kolme to risk the recovery of what was left of Shasha's Nemo and soon after the three units found themselves back on the Argama's upper deck. A fire crew and the illusive Dr.Hasain had been summoned to the scene but once the fire hazard was sorted and what was left of the cockpit wrenched open, it became clear that particular effort had been wasted. Sabban, who had dismounted his own machine to help with the recovery operation, burning his hands in his over eagerness to open the hatch and now standing on the melted metal frame leading into the Nemo, looking in at what lay before him. As Hasain exited it he shock his head slowly and offered a faint apology and friendly pat on the back to Sabban before leaving with the fire fighting crew to tend to their next duties.
The damage had been fatal, Unit 26 had been rammed in the right side of the lower torso, the canon's impact alone had penetrated the first layers of ill-suited armour, when it had fired it's powerful barrage not only had it cut the suit clean in two, it had also torn straight through the far side of the machine, causing massive damage to the backpack and taking the right arm off in the process. According to the firemen it was a small miracle the suit hadn't immediately blown up on impact. Furthermore it caused the entire cabin to be irradiated and much like her loyal mech Shasha's entire right arm and much of the right side of her chest and leg had been eviscerated without leaving any traces of ever having existed. The blood lose following had been more then enough to kill off what little agonising life she'd been clinging onto, as heard by Sabban over the comm link.
His back leant against the still boiling (not that he cared much any longer) frame-way into the cock-pit, Sabban stared blankly into the cabin at his former ally and team leader. At a friend he'd known since childhood, a friend he'd shared a childish rivalry with for years, till just minutes ago in fact. More then a friend, she's mo-... was like a kind big sister to me... Sabban lamented internally. Around him he was aware of a large amount of activity, hushed whispers of mechanics who took to returning the still partially functional units 27 and 3 to the lower deck. Rumours already beginning to spread that the Nemo squadron had been all but wiped out. Some younger voices peaked his shell shocked ears as-well "I can't believe Yazan and that Jerid guy got away again. Think the Alexandrea will keep following us forever Kamille? I mean I thought when Emma blew up it's bridge with the MkII a while ago that would be the end of it but it just keeps on coming back" moaned the voice of young teenaged women in a bright orange normal suit. Walking along-side her stood a kid of similar height in a white spacesuit, with standout blue hair - "Who knows Fa, not like they ever achieve anything, there just a nuance if anything" the young man said lazily crossing his hands behind his head, the duo walking off towards the hallways leading to the rest of the ship.
"...Heh... so they didn't even get the bastard who did this to you Shasha?..." Sabban murmured quietly to himself as he watched the two younger 'ace pilots' wander away, "A nuance huh?...Doesn't killing off all of us count for anything...". Sabban continued to stare blankly in at Shasha, another voice now joining him. "Hey, look Kid, I'm sorry if I came across as harsh in the past, just thought you should know I get how you feel, you aren't alone in this or whatever, ahem. Guess I'll be going then" the voice of Kolme Nilas said in an awkward tone of sincerity before pushing himself away and floating in the direction of one of the exiting hallways. Sabban's eye's followed the shrewd man's progress before catching sight of Unit 3 passing, being piloted by some nameless engineer, off in the general direction of the elevator. For it's part Nemo No.3 had a number of new scorch marks where enemy hits had marked it, along with a portion of it's shield having been torn off but all told it had clearly suffered the least injury during the battle.
Sabban turned his attention away from the mech and back to Shasha's corpse, her remaining hand lay limply on her lap, her face harshly burnt from such close exposure to the beam weaponry, most of her hair had caught a flame and been turned to ash, floating around in the lessened gravity. Thoughts once more started to file into Sabban's shattered mind, It's only been a week. He cast his mind back what felt a lifetime, to just one week ago, to the day they'd been told about their new positions as active pilots aboard the Argama, told to pack a single carry on bag, the rest of their possessions would be delivered back home for them. He remembered teasing Ennya about weather one bag would be enough for all his fictional stuffed animals, at which point Mili had chewed him out and made him apologies to Zori, who'd become genuinely upset trying to decide between which of her two actual stuffed animals to bring and thought that Sabban's comments had also been mocking her. huh, in the end I agreed to let her put the second one in my bag, that big clownfish thing, I guess it's still in the barracks here somewhere... He remembered how Shasha had stood a little aways from that whole scene, cheeks red as she'd tried to not show embarrassment, of course this had been a fruitless act considering they we're all well aware that buried deep in the bottom of her rucksack was a small teddy bear, a gift from her sickly mother, that she always brought along no matter the location of any given training excursion.
Tears huh? he thought to himself, dabbing away at his face with the sleeve of his normal suit. Now that he'd started reminiscing the memories wouldn't stop. The way they'd all been so giddy leading up to the flight, unable to contain their excitement at going off to fight the good fight against the tyrannical Titan's fleet. Shasha had tried to play it cool, saying something about how it shouldn't be any surprize the academy's 3rd highest ever ranking cadet core would get picked for such an important job but behind the false aloofness, when she though no one was looking, he'd caught her happily smiling to herself effeminately or contently staring out the small launch's windows, looking out at her first proper trip into space. He'd always found the way she concealed her softer side in favour of her young officer routine to be one of her most endearing qualities. That whole trip on the launch must of looked pretty strange to an onlooker, mustn't it?, he thought back to how they'd all been confined to that small transport. Zori had dedicated herself to reading every bit of information she could on both the 'MSA - 003 - NEMO' and the Argama itself that she could find, which in turn caused her to be completely entranced, so much so that when Ennya had tried his usual hopelessly youthful attempts at flirting with her, she'd inadvertently ended up giving the poor boy the cold shoulder. Of course every one in their whole year had been well aware of Ennya's crush on Zori, well except for Zori herself that is. He'd fallen for her on the first day when he'd im-promptly joined their class along with the others in the newly organised fast track pilot scheme, Guess I'll never know if he'd of built up the courage to ask her out now. Damn guy was just a child, his 18th isn't for another two months.
Then there'd been Mili who'd to everyone's surprize been leafing through the available male sections of the personnel forms for the warship, when Sabban and Shasha had inquired to weather this was of a romantic pursuit, something which had seemed odd considering Mili's persuasion towards members of her own sex, the mountainous women had offered them a confused look before explaining she'd simply been looking to see if any of the men on the Argama migth pose a threat to her undefeated arm wrestling streak, she'd explained this completely straight faced, while flexing an arm demonstrably that's right we decided Captain Bright was probably her greatest opponent didn't we?
While he'd known Shasha since childhood and first met Zori and Mili, already joined at the hip, when they'd transfer into his highschool back in Von Brown city, these last 18 months or even just the last 8 after Ennya had joined to complete their little group and the they'd been officially designated a training squad, had been no doubt the most fun of his whole life, sure they'd all known why they were there, training to be the next generation of pilots for a war that had just started burgeoning fourth between the rouge Federal force's Titan faction and the rapidly growing forces of the free peoples of space, but back then that really didn't seem to matter all that much. Naïve as they'd all known it was, they'd felt like they had been learning to be hero's. Of course they all had they're reasons for joining up, money, fame, family ties and so on but while bonding over the harsh punishments the drill instructors would dish out on a whim or laughing with one another in the mess hall after a particularly hard days practise on the range in one of the battered old GM Mk1's that passed for the schools test units, with their once iconic bright red paint now faded and striped away, they'd come to find a comradery, a fellowship non of them had even realised they we're desiring in the first place.
"I get how you feel"
Sabban rolled Kolme's passing remark around in his mind, turning his head to look towards the narrow corridor Kolme had headed off towards. The comparatively barely scratched unit 3 flashed innocuously into his mind. He abounded down from his perch on the wreckage of Unit 26, his hands still throbbing from the pain of the earlier burn, his head spinning from exhaustion and his distraught mental distress. He quickly lounged his way through the low gravity room into the same corridor as Kolme, whom he spotted at the bottom end hanging lazily on to one of the handles that served to make getting around the anti gravity more convenient. Calling out as he did, Sabban launched himself forward once more, tumbling into Kolme who had stopped to abide Sabban's call. Hands outstretched Sabban grabbed the middle aged man by the scruff of his worn normal suits colour, the momentum of the zero G pushing them both in-to a wall to one side, Sabban rose one clenched fist into the air.
"What the hell you playin at kid!" Kolme exclaimed glaring down at his assailant. "Your a damn coward Nilas, you knew what would happen from the moment we stepped onto this stupid ship, didn't you" Sabban shouted into the man's face. "And I tried to warn you lot didn't I-" Kolme tried to explain maintaining a begrudged tone of voice. "You call that helping us? Was letting Zori go out there first meant to be helping? Or when you grabbed my suit instead of trying to go straight to help Ennya. Heck we could of at-least tried to assist Shasha for Pete's sake", "Oh ya? Think it's all that simply do ya? I told you all to be careful, that Hogei girl and her tall friend just got unlucky to end up going against such superior suits, the hell's that my fault? And what good would charging at the Ennya boy's exploding suit of done hey?" Kolme ruefully retorted.
"Your a damn coward Kolme Nilas, it's no wonder that white board was covered in names when we arrived, no mystery as to what happened to Nemo's 4 through 25 is it? "Last Nemo Standing Nilas" eh?! How dare you tell me you get how this feels!" Sabban stated coldly shoving Kolme further against the wall and swinging his fist straight at the older man's face. Kolme seemingly taking offense to the passing slight against previous comrades grabbed the oncoming fist head on, then suddenly lobbed himself forward, talking the opportunity to counter grab Sabban and ramming him into the wall opposite the one they'd just been against, "Now you listen here ya damn kid! I understand your hurting, I really do but talking it out on an old man like me ain't helping anybody ya hear? You think it's just other Nemo pilots I've watched go out there and die? Well your dead wrong, I've seen dozens of comrades go, crap I started out in a god damn antiquated GM mark two, me and my squad belonged to a ship called the Monte Blanc. Heard of it? No didn't think so, one of the first ships to join this God's forsaken conflict and yet when it got fucked, did anyone care? For about 5 minutes maybe, since then I don't think I've heard a single person ever mention the hundreds of young men and women, just like you, who we're her crew. They were my friends, family even and they all died protecting this ship which couldn't even be arsed to hold a funeral for em after they sunk!'".
"I've served as many missions for this damn ship as anyone and what thanks do I get? A replacement Nemo after my old 'Jim' got too banged up to keep using. No promotion, no shiny suit or special nickname. For all intensive purposes I migth as well be invisible to them, look at us standing around here yelling at each other, if one of the ace pilots did that there'd be an instant crowd of onlookers trying to break up the fight but us? No-One-Cares. Nemo's go out there and get destroyed in almost every single battle and ya know what? Who cares! Not the other pilots, not the bridge crew past the admin responsibilities of ordering up a new lemon and corpse child to pilot it - and certainly not those damn new-type children. I mean for God's sake, when the Methuss arrived here who did they assign it to? Never mind me with a couple dozen successful combat missions logged, they didn't even offer it to one of the Rick Dias team, no instead they put a damn untrained intelligence officer and that child Yuiry girl with all of a few Nemo simulation runs, on it! The fact is kid they just don't care, whatever your feeling right now? Well imagine that five times over and then some, then come back and tell me that I don't know how you feel. I ain't a coward I just refuse to get myself killed for a bunch of bastards like the AEUG and I'm not enough of a scumbag for the Titans to hire me!". The barrage complete Kolme finally realised he was still gripping onto Sabban's suit, who in turn had let go of his, he returned the favour, stepped back and watched as the boy, now quiet, his rage seemingly deflated and subsided, floated almost limply away from where he'd been held. Kolme turned away and tutted "I've already applied for a transfer to the Radish, I gave Commander Henken a trip on my Gm right through the middle of recently active battlefield on the moon once, so maybe he remembers me, I 'an hope so at-least. Mind you what sort of a man losses his ship the second an enemy Captain walks aboard is as a leader is anybody's guess", he paced a few more feet down the corridor before, without bothering to turn back around, giving one final comment "I really am sorry kid, belief it or don't, that's on you but for what it's worth I hope you can stick around a little longer, I've no wish to see you go the way of your friends".
****
Sabban floated around the empty corridor, a lone mechanic walked past, sparing Sabban a brief glance before noticing the pilots emblem and deciding it best to keep on walking without a word. Suddenly snapping Sabban out his trance came the vessel's intercom and the familiar voice of Captain Bright Noa. "To all crewmembers, it is with a heavy heart that I inform you that after todays battle against the Alexandrea, which regrettable managed to evade our attempts to destroy it once more, we lost some valuable members of our staff. These include the pilots of Nemo's 26 through 29 aswell as two engineers who were unlucky enough to be present in the area of the Argama that was damaged by the enemy" Bright stated in his ever-solemn tone of voice. "...the hell's he mean, I'm not dead and can't he even read out their names? What about Mili, doesn't she deserve to even be remembered as 'Nemo No.30'..." Sabban spoke quietly, aiming his words in the general direction of the nearest speaker.
"It is with great honour that we should all join together to remember these brave fallen souls, all of whom were some of the best mechanics and pilots in the galaxy, a group of cunning warriors and if I say so myself, good friends", hearing these final hollow words expunged, Sabban collapsed helplessly to his knees, tears floating silently and mockingly around him.
Epilogue
The small grey figure of an AEUG launch slowly soared it's way down through the large imposing doors of the fleet's pride and joy, non other then the unofficial prize flagship, the Argama. As the small craft landed and a pair of extending steps made it's way forward out from the main doorway exit, four young men and women made they're way down the steps, a couple offering thanks to the pilot and Co-pilot, who in turn offered what migth of been seen as a look of pity, along with an accompanying nod of acknowledgement.
The four youths, fresh off the back of graduation from the moon's premier private cadet training facility, one of many front's for the AEUG, filed out making their ways through the impressive hanger, commenting on and admiring the various different mobile suits that they passed along the way. One member of the group, with something of a look of group leader about him, stepped ahead of the rest and inquired to a man that looked conspicuously like an older version of the famous 'One Year War' ace pilot Char Aznable. The man promptly pointed them in the direction of the large mobile suit lift to the back of the cavernous room. Following this route the group of eager eyed youngsters soon found their way down to the under hanger, an equally tall but much smaller room, with less colour to its metallic walls. Both more dimly lit and less populated then the pervious room, around them they observed six mobile suits, 4 of which gleamed to such an extend that one could almost smell the fresh factory paint off them. Two further suit at the end of the room showed far more ware, one had clearly had ad-hoc bits of plating and repairs done to it, most clearly around it's shield, waist armour area and extensive retrofitting of its leg thrusters. As for the other it too had clearly been repaired at some length, parts of it seemingly covered in soot and intentionally left unattended burn marks and paint stripping of what looked to have been a great fire. Against standard issue this second mech also pertained a large haphazardly painted number '27' on the side of it's right hand shoulder and thought the recruits couldn't see it from their vantage point, a similar marking was apparent on the opposite side with the number '26' on it.
Standing in the large expanse of space between all these mobile suits stood a small group of two pilots and two mechanics. One of the mechanics nodded to the duo of pilots, whom turned to face the new-comers, of said group, a young women of about 5'10 with auburn hair, could of sworn she saw the older of the two gentlemen mouth the words "-The 7th batch eh?-" thought it was impossible to know for sure. The group closed in on the two older pilots and introduced themselves, one by one calling out their names and ranks. The younger of the two veteran pilots whom at a distance had looked to be in his 30s but up close one would of struggled to tell if the man, with his myriad of stress lines, deeply bagged eyes, lightly tanned skin, ragged working overalls and dishelved hair, wasn't actually somewhat younger and nearer to their own age. Now stepping forward and giving the group a once over, he smiled half heartedly, then boldly with a straight face, yet still somehow un-enthusiastic announced "Welcome to Hell Kids".
The End
Afterword;
I hope if you've read down this far you've come to understand my grievances with the show a little better. I don't write about show's I don't feel I can contribute something of value to with my takes or opinions, so I had considered skipping a review of Gundam Zeta entirely, however I really felt an urge to write about it, to try and express my feelings for what made this show fail so entirely for me personally as a wanna' be Gundam fan. I'll be posting an additionally smaller extract under the anime's actually review page in the coming weeks with my more normal style of analysis, which I'd appreciate your talking the time to check out and press the 'helpful' button on if you in any way enjoyed this unwarranted foray into the fiction-essay writing genre (alternately leave a like over on it's HoneyFeed page if you feel so inclined - https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novels/5593 ).
I hope you enjoyed-
-Thanks for Reading.
The following is part two (Here's part 1 for your convenience - https://myanimelist.net/blog.php?eid=866409 ) of a two part short story that I wrote as part of my review for 'Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam'. It includes some spoilers for the show, thought no major character deaths of anything of that nature but is probably best enjoyed with some prior knowledge of the show up to around episode 30. This is my first time attempt at a critic of this kind and was spurned by the fact that I struggled greatly to put into words my negative feelings towards Zeta Gundam without devolving into a mindless rant. As such I choose the biggest issue I had with the show (The treatment of the nameless, faceless unsung hero's of the Nemo pilots) and decided to try my hand at writing something of a parody detailing some of the stories short comings and a short story about some of the whole franchise's most tragically forgotten pilots. I hope you enjoy, each part is about 7000 words (Hence why I can't put it all under a single post), if you do or have a thoughts on it please use the comment function or leave a helpful on the main review page (https://myanimelist.net/profile/momentie/reviews) New; A slightly updated version of this short story is now available via Honey-feed, which is where I'd suggest you'll get the optimal reading experience - https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novels/5593 - Thanks for reading.
Chapter 3
It would be some 30 hours later that Sabban finally found himself released from solitary confinement, this meant he'd done longer then the designated 72 hours, something which he'd taught a deliberate insult at first but the apologetic pleas of one of the ship's lesser officers convinced him that his elongated stayed had actually not been of a malicious nature but rather instead he'd simply been forgotten. A part of him contemplated if he'd of preferred for his original insight to of been the truth of the matter.
Meer moments after getting free, the hollow clinging noise of the ship alert-alarm rang out, quickly followed by a message for all pilots to head to their machines. Sabban internally cursed his bad luck's timing and quickly headed for the changing room. Normal suit on, he made it to the elevator just in time to call out to non other then the rest of his squad about to head downwards, "Wait up!" he called out. Shasha hearing this quickly pressed the control button and a brief moment later Sabban had arrived aboard the lift. "So then what's happening?" he inquired once the lift had restarted it's journey. "It's the Alexandrea again, apparently they've got two transformable mobile armours with them as well this time" Shasha responded gravely. "Two armours? I thought a single armour was enough to destroy a whole fleet!?" Ennya exclaimed, from his tone of voice it was clear this wasn't one of his usual poor taste jokes. Zori outstretched a hand and affectionately patted Ennya lightly on the head, "Don't worry, armours aren't as dangerous as they we're back in the one year war, our Gundam type units can more then handle them!" she said reassuringly and somewhat uncharacteristically.
Sabban glanced at Shasha, raising an eyebrow at Zori's surprizing confidence. Shasha for her part took the lead, "That's the attitude Zori, those armours won't stand a chance against 'Quattro' and his team... but umm, ahem. You sure your ok?". Zori abandoned her Ennya head patting, which conversely had caused the boy's face to turn bright red, to look up at Shasha. Pumping her fist in the air defiantly she spoke with unusual vigour "Ya I'm good now.. I'll make Mili glad she rescued me.. wherever she is" Zori finished with a meek smile. Sabban returned the smile then turned and punched Ennya softly in the shoulder, "Hear that pal? Don't wanna let her get too much stronger then you, so you better not hold back ya hear!" he said grinning teasingly. Ennya's faced puffed up as a combined result of Zori's head patting and Sabban's teasing, glared at his former upper-classmate "and what are you meant to be, our boss? Don't forget you got demoted, Crewmen Vint!" he said pocking a finger back in Sabban's direction. "Why you cheeky - Never hear about respecting your elders little boy?" Sabban shot back jokingly, Zori laughed happily observing the interaction, before finally Shasha clapped her hands together "Ahem. The lift has stopped if you hadn't noticed children".
True to her words they'd reached the 2nd hanger level. Looking around himself Sabban noted that the mechanical team had indeed succeeded in repaired Zori's Nemo 28, across from which stood an empty holding cell where Unit 30 migth of once stood. Looking at his own machine, unit 27, it was clear it had been maintained in his absents. "I see that look Sabban, heh heh, your old bud Ennya has ya covered, made sure your Nemo is in tip top shape" Ennya interjected noticing Sabban's line of sight, his own previous embarrassment fading as he stuck his chest out proudly, "Well just as long as you did the same for your own" Sabban replied. In front of the group, already in his suit was the illustrious and somewhat aloof final member of the Nemo squad, Petty Officer Kolme Nilas. Seeing them enter, he stepped out of the cock pit and called out to the rest of the group "You kids can 'ead out first if you want, gimme time to get my ol' bones comfy in this crappy seat. Cap'ain says we're to launch from the portside catapult and intercept the enemy" he finished in his usual lazy tone of voice.
Ennya offered a thumbs up towards the man as he retreated back into his Nemo, Sabban noted that the group seemed to be getting on slightly more amicably with Mr.Nilas, a possible result of the older man acting a little kinder due to pitying them losing a comrade in their first ever battle. "Alrigth then, I'll take point you three follow me out" Shasha announced in her customary way. "..umm actually could I go first..please" Zori said, an unbefitting look of determination in her face. "oh? Well yes, why not, I guess I should go last and make sure that lazy Irishman doesn't try to slack off in here" Shasha said trying to make it sound like that had always been her plan. Launch order set the quartet headed to their individual machines and made their way two by two up the large mobile suit elevator, then across to the portside launcher, opposite them they could see the Gundam and Rick Dias teams already on their way out. "Hey zori, has the Hyaku Shiki already launched?" Sabban inquired unable to spot the machine, "..hmm? No 'lieutenant Quattro' had to go on one of his business trips to the moon I think.." Zori replied politely as she and Sabban edged closer to the launch.
"-Then who's in command?" Sabban said allowed but Zori had already moved on, now that the recently repaired Nemo 28 had been properly secured in the foot shackles just outside the bay entranceway. From his place standing in the hanger doorway, he watched as the impressive catapult of the Argama lobbed Unit 28 forward at a ferocious speed before hitting the end of the track and firing the mech off towards the enemy. Unlike the higher ranking pilots, those who controlled the mighty Nemo's had no obligation to announce their launch, so Sabban silently made his own way on to the launcher, ready for the familiar sudden surge of G-Force when all of a sudden his comm board lit up. "Come in Nemo-squadron, this is the bridge. Do not launch, return to the ship and defend the port bow, two mobile armours sighted and closing fast at 2 o clock".
With a curt 'Roger' to the bridge, Sabban activated the release mechanism and repositioned his mech a little way up the deck manually, behind him Ennya too started making his way out the door in unit 29, Shasha and Kolme a little ways further behind that. Zori likewise gave a small acknowledgement of the orders and began to slow her suit's momentum, Sabban watched as it began turning around to regroup with her squad. In the distance he could also see the Zeta Gundam and Methuss, along with Lieutenant Apolly's group who had engaged with the Habarbi's and Hizacks that had survived the previous battle, some distance out in front of the Argama towards the Alexandrea. "Looks like reinforcements aren't coming any time soon, Zori hurry back, the 5 of us will use a staggered line formation and concentrate our beam fire on those mobile armours, they won't know what hit 'em - as long as that's ok with you leader Niju?" Sabban stated over the radio link to the rest of his comrades.
While he awaited the replies of his team he rose up his weapon to take aim, the two mobile armours popped up on his display as Gabthley types, currently moving towards the ship at a frightening clip, it was a mud brown machine with dark green highlights, two claws protruding from its underside and a large prominent canon from its front section, accompanied by two further shoulder mounted weapons. As he watched the usual distance calculator count down, aware of both Ennya and Shasha's machines now positioned as per his simplistic plan, he noticed the two enemy mech break apart, one heading for the very front of the ship, the other staying on course to pass right over the bridge and themselves. "Looks like one of them's trying to outflank us, Zori from where you are, you should have a clear sho--".
A cold hand ran down his back, his hair stood on end, his words refused to come. Nemo 28, which had been making it's way back to the ship had been, by coincidence or some cruel twist of faith, caught un-aware straight in the new flight path of the enemy mech. Sabban couldn't even be sure if Zori had known she was even in any imminent danger as the Gabthley let loose a flurry of fire from it's trio of canon's. The assault had clearly been aimed at the Argama and indeed most of the laser fire glided past it, ignoring the Nemo entirely bar a single shot from the main canon. This shot haphazardly aimed, maybe because of a poor sensor or faulty equipment, had gone off course, soaring through the air it had stuck straight into Nemo 28, which recoiled in on itself, the sheer force of the impact causing the torso armour to buckle inwards like crumpled paper. A few moments later the machine filled the sky with an awe inspiring flash of fiery light. One moment the supposed technological pinnacle of mass production type mobile suits, the next a cloud of smoke and debris before Sabban's eyes.
****
Sabban could hear the voices over his comms. Shasha was yelling something about him not being a fool, Ennya seemed to be on the verge of tears and the deck crew reported some form of damage having been taken from the encroaching Gabthleys and mentioned something about 'a unit 29' being destroyed. He could hear the voices but in a way it felt like he couldn't, like the thoughts racing through his own head overpowered the actually people talking, reducing their words to little more then white noise. Like his own thoughts where yelling the loudest of all, 'How could it happen, what's even the point of these bolt buckets if they break so easily? Why didn't I go in front? Zori was always weaker then me in combat, why'd I let her go first - the fuck is this'. That armour didn't even stop to check he'd killed her, I don't think he even meant to hit her, was it just a passing explosion to him, just some fucked up accident? Does he even care, is it no more then another flaming Nemo to him? Are we all just nameless corpses waiting to die! As the thoughts continued to race through his mind, looping like a record, his mech drifted up towards the wreckage, surrounded all the while by streams of AA fire from the Argama. Eventually a dull thud awakened Sabban to his senses. The thud had been caused by his machine colliding with one of the many shards of debris from what had once been unit 29.
Sabban's throat wretched, as the sickening sensation of nausea that often permeates vomiting took hold of him. Clutching at his stomach he held back the sensation before smashing a fist down against his chair's side rest "The hell is this? You can't be dead, your going to avenge Mili aren't you? you can't die before you've even started that, before you've even talkin a single shot! How th- t...the hell am I meant to explain this to your little sister..." he cried out, still obliviously ignoring the cacophony of sound coming from his radio equipment.
Still yelling Sabban suddenly felt himself jolted forward and a faint voice abounding through his cockpit "-ut of my way, Small-fry-", having been partially standing at the time, he fell forward slamming his helmet off the machines console and in turn his face off the thick glass of his normal suit's helmet. The impact finally caused the slew of complicated thoughts coursing through his mind to subside as he leaned back into his chair. Glancing around he quickly understood what this impact had been. His monitors all flashed red and a small holographic diagram revealed that he'd lost his Nemo's left arm, riffle and a number of his cameras after the enemy machine had impacted straight into him. The voice he'd heard had been that of the enemy pilot, a temporary connection contact link had formed by the two machines momentarily locking paths and the fact that Sabban had absent-mindedly left his comm channels all open.
Now awake again he quickly took to assessing his surroundings, he'd drifted out a decent way from the ship, looking back in its direction he spotted his remaining three allies all still standing on the catapult deck of the Argama, desperately trying to shoot out at the two mobile armours, now circling like hawks above the vessel. His radio continued to buzz too, "Sabban! Sabban, are you ok Sabban? Crewmen Sabban Vint come in!" called out the voice of Shasha in Nemo 26. Sabban lifted up his visor, did his best to clean up his face before pressing the unmute button on his mic, "...ya I'm here, I'm here. I think my Nemo can still move, I'm coming to help", his reply given he set his machine to move forwards, rapidly moving it back to be near the others, Ennya drifted out a small ways to meet him half-way, firing his weapon the whole time. As the distance between them closed the Gabthley mobile armour, clearly feeling pestered by the rain of fire from below, suddenly changed course to swoop down towards Ennya. For his part Ennya looked as though he was about to draw his beam saber, "Hey Ennya, stay as you are, I'll stop that asshole in his tracks, then you shoot, got it" hearing a newfound dedication in Sabban's voice, Ennya reluctantly agreed.
As discussed Sabban lowered himself into position, drawing his beam saber with his remaining right side arm, he held it out in front of the rest of his machine, in the best sword's stance as the battered mech could manage. The armour itself now almost level with the two Nemo's, began transforming in-front of their eyes, before long it was suddenly a hulking beast, two hands, two legs and an old fashioned rick dom-esk head. Still carried by it's momentum it took out it's own saber and charged straight into Sabban's blade. The impact was intense, even with his thruster set to max, Sabban found himself being pushed back blocking Ennya's line of fire, furthermore warning displays appeared all around the suit's monitors, informing him that the clash was causing such a great strain on the Nemo's hydraulic joints, that before long the whole suit would no doubt fail. Re-adjusting his suit's thrusters and posture to better take the brutal force of the Gabthley, Sabban turned on his contact link mic, "You can hear me right? Your the bastard who shot down Zori aren't you?!". "Huh? who's this 'Zori'? Listen punk, I'm impressed you managed to even stop my machine in your pathetic excuse for a mobile suit but you should know this much; my names Jerid Messa, Titan Ace and I've got one goal only, to destroy the Zeta Gundam!" came the reply from 'Jerid', his voice young but seemingly rage addled, a sort of determined naivety to it.
"Zeta? The hell's that got to do with it, don't we even matter to you? What are you titans even fighting for" Sabban shot back vehemently. "Fighting for? What sort of stupid question is that? You dense or something solider! We're fighting to wipe out all Zeon remnant filth" Jerid replied proudly. "But the AEUG aren't Zeon, we're just fighting you because of your tyrannical policies against space-noids! So what you'll just crush anyone who disagrees with you?", "Exactly, the Titans will crush all those who oppose use!" Jerid said, his voice hinting at him caring little for this debate of politics. "But don't you see how ridiculous that sounds? We're only fighting because we disagree with your methods and your only fighting because you think we pose a threat. Don't you see how pointless all this is? Who cares about the damn Gundams, what sort of a reason is that to kill people?! How can you threat enemy pilots with so little respect that they just become steeping stones on your stupid murderous path to the Gundam?! What sort of motive to kill is that, aren't you even human?" Sabban finished, tears welling in his eyes as the words he uttered slowly hammered home with what shallow reasons for which the man in front of him had cut down his friend. All the while the enemy's machine continued to press forward, the two beam sabers now so close to his Nemo that it's metal armour plating had begun to liquify, the head mounted cameras had gone first, each cracking and blistering, visible lines running through the Nemo's visor section, till finally shattering completely from the sheer heat of the the energy begin produced by the two mechs.
Suddenly a strange sensation ran down Sabban's spine and what felt akin to 'Deja Vu' or even that sensation of a light-blub moment when one remembers where they left something they'd lost. Cutting off his conversation with the enemy pilot he quickly shouted into the other comm feed, "Ennya dodge right quickly!". With the words said Sabban followed his own advice and deactivated his saber, while ramming the control level forwards to push his whole suit rapidly downwards. For it's part the enemy mobile armour was flung forward by the sudden lack of connection, it's imposing beam saber cutting across the outer layer of Sabban's torso armour, mere inches from cutting the whole cockpit open, meanwhile the Nemo's arm now freed burst into smoke and fell limply to unit 27's side. Concurrently to this the two shoulder canons of the Gabthley fired, all while Sabban heard Jerid shout the words "I'm finished with this crap, where's Kamille Bidan hiding!". The canon fire set outwards, with one blast gliding past where Ennya's unit 29 had been just moments before, the second shot hit non-lethally into his Nemo's waistline armour before the Gabthley moved by, ignoring Ennya's helpless attempts to fire his riffle at the hulking suit, which simple shrugged off any laser blasts that hit it.
"That was one hell of a good call Sabban, how'd the heck you know to dodge?" Ennya said excitedly, the adrenalin evident in his voice as he began moving his suit over next to Sabban's and grabbed on to it with a gentle thud, the Gabthley now out of range having turned back into it's flight form. "I - I don't know, just instinct I guess..." Sabban murmured half-heartedly. "ha, be careful saying stuff like that, people'll start callin' ya a new-type" Ennya laughed lightly, the grief he felt for Zori still apparent in his voice, "Hello bridge? This is Crewmen Ennya in unit 29, looks like Nemo 27's cameras are caput, not to mention it's arms, permission to land Sabban back on deck?"
"Permission granted 29, get 27 back home", with this short exchange complete Ennya began pushing both his and Sabban's units back over in the general direction of the bridge, as he did Shasha's voice cropped up, "Looks like they hit the far catapult deck pretty hard, I'm going to go stand guard there till the other mech teams can get back from assaulting the Alexandrea, Mr. Nilas follow after me once Sabban's secure. Ennya you take his place guarding the portside bow, understood?" Shasha's instructions were clear and delivered with a steadfast tone of voice, truly befitting of an up and coming field officer and showing no sign of letting her feelings for Zori cloud her judgement.
"No worries, boss" Kolme replied, clearly happy to take orders from the younger pilot. "Roger that Shaser" replied Ennya, a tinge of relief creeping into his voice having survived the previous encounter with 'Jerid', "Hey Sabban buddy, you sure that guy didn't score a hit on you, sure feels warm in here since I started carrying you. I'd rather not risk something happening to you aswell.." Ennya asked casually, his voice trailing off and betraying his thought process towards the end of his sentence. "Warm? I mean I've got warning signs going off in all directions but temperature control feels fine, how 'bout you?" Sabban replied, his mind still focused on other matters , "He scraped the outer waist of my armour but nothing major, guess he maybe hit my aircon unit, never realised how warm it'd get so quickly without that thing" Ennya lackadaisically said with a small handwave and shrug of his lanky shoulders while he moped at his brow.
"What did you just say Kid?" intruded the voice of Kolme Nilas. "Err- hit to the waist, looks like my AC is fried that's all Mr.Nilas, I can still fight so nothing to wor-"
"Get Out Of There Now Boy!" Kolme had borderline yelled the words at his mic. "huh, what's wrong I do-", "I said get out, push Sabban's suit away, then pull the eject. Christ I thought they fixed that fault back in the days of the GM. Hey Ennya? Did you hear me? Eject now damn it, I'm not playin' around!" Kolme barked, his voice growing ever more worried with each word. "I- I can't Mr. Nilas, i-it-it's getting too hot to touch the instruments, it just keeps getting warmer! Oh shit the eject handle ain't working, it won't budge!" Ennya responded his voice raising to a disconcerting squeal.
"Ennya? Just keep clam pal, grab the level with both hands and use your whole upper body strength, don't worry about moving me, right Mr.Nilas?" Sabban added, hearing the panic encroaching into Ennya's voice however what he couldn't see, what with his broken camera's, was the situation outside, indeed he had no idea what had actually worried the old man so much about an apparently broken AC unit but he wasn't looking to take any more chances with the lives of his fellow squad-mates. For his part Kolme's unit 3 had pushed away from the warship and started rapidly trying to catch up with and help the two young men but more pressingly was Ennya's mech itself, flames now spewed out of it's mid-riff segment, as sparks began to emit from all across it's other joints. "Ah crap, it's, it's- the whole damn cockpits on fire! Shit my normal suits melting, it's friggin searing onto my skin!" Ennya cried out desperately. Sabban reached out to open his own cockpit, with the intention of getting a better picture of the situation and trying to force open Ennya's machine from the outside but as he reached out, he was thrown back into his chair when his Nemo was propelled forward, having been pushed away from Unit 29 as Ennya made his final act. "Ennya? Ennya! Come on pal, you gotta keep trying, the eject, keep trying the eject for God's sake!" in spite of his pleases, for a few moments at-least, no response was forthcoming.
Then two sounds finally made themselves known to Sabban, one the dull clink as his suit landed in the hands of unit 3, which had by now caught up to him, and two the sound of desperate coughing, choking even over the comms. The voice belonged to Ennya. Standing up out of his chair, Sabban scrambled to get one of the cameras working, literally smacking at the screens in the hopes of one giving him an image. Finally one sparked to life, showing him a grainy image full of score lines from the cracked glass of the lens. The image only held for a few fleeting seconds before the camera finally gave it's final breath but it was long enough. Staring at the low quality picture in front of him, Sabban observed a usually green Nemo, shrouded in an all consuming void of viscous flames, pouring out from each and every joint and especially from around the cockpit door. The radio link sounded one last cry of Anguish from Ennya before his entire suit exploded into a magnificent ball of smoke and soot, Sabban's camera cutting out part way through this gruelling process.
"Those damn bastards at Anaheim, they've had four years to fix that fault. Kid I'm so sorry..." Kolme muttered, his sentence droping away at the end. Sabban collapsed into his seat, staring up at the blank and static filled monitors surrounding him, the image of the flaming red Nemo seemingly imprinted into his eyes. Aside from Kolme a second voice now sprung from his machine "This is the bridge, Zeta and Methuss are inbound but the damage to the ship is serve, Nemo squadron, please move to cover the damage until Kamille and Fa have returned" the voice of Torrez called out. With her previous confidence shaken but still intact, Shasha did her best to issue new orders to the remains of her team "Sa-s.. Ahem- Crewman Vint, if Mr.Nilas pushes you in the right direction think you can make it back on your own? Then M-", "Oh heck no, you think I'm gonna run away now? I'll kill those bastards, that dickhead didn't even try to kill Ennya, a friggin technical fault? What even is this God forsaken machine!" Sabban yelled, grabbing at his control sticks and trying to activate his suit's thrusters. For it's part unit 3 held firm, it's superior custom thrusters preventing Sabban's escape. "Calm your shit kid, what can you do without arms and camera's for crying out loud-" Kolme yelled back, partially having to talk over Sabban who continued to yell obscenities at his mics.
"That's fine Petty Officer, I understand his felling's" Shasha interrupted, also talking over Sabban's pointless outrage, "your job now is to get him and yourself back to the ship in one piece, do I make myself clear Officer Nilas?" Sabban uttered, her voice now having somehow regained it's composure. Kolme, a little taken a back, replied with a polite "Y-Yes Ma'am. And Lass...Good luck".
****
Unit 3 continued to push the injured Nemo 27 back towards the hanger bay, paying little heed to Sabban's continued protests, the bridge now piped up once more. "The Zeta Gundam and the others are 30 seconds out but it looks like one of those Gabthley's is going to try make one last pass, seems to be aiming straight for the pre-existing deck damage. You must buy us the time needed number 26, another direct hit could blow the whole ship open!" . From his place aboard unit 27 Sabban could of sworn he heard Shasha gulp hard, followed by a series of deep breaths over the still open comm link - "Understood bridge, I'll get you the time you need" Shasha confirmed diffidently. Sabban, temporarily distracted from his ranting pressed at his physical comm link to unit 3 "Kolme? Damn it old man, at least tell me what's going on out there, please" Sabban begged into the mic. "I don't think you really want that Kid" Kolme answered curtly. "What's that supposed to mean?" Sabban shot back.
Sighing sympathetically Kolme looked out over his still operational screens, "I guess you've got the Right to know, right now she's put unit 26 a few meters out in-front of that ruddy great hole the enemy made before, with her sword drawn in one h'nd and rifle in t'other". "Wait, your not saying... She's trying to use her whole Nemo as one big shield for the ship? That's suicide!" Sabban bemoaned. "Real optimist ain't ya, Tch the enemy stopped to fight you didn't 'e? Real cocky fucker I'm guessing so if he stops to battle yer frei- ahem, I mean the petty officer, then that should buy enough time for the Zeta to rescue us all, it's a damn brave plan, I'll give her th- oh Christ!" Kolme sweared, his words changing course near their end point. Sabban had some idea of what had made him stop, with his radio receiver now turned up to the max, he'd heard it, the screeching sound of metal crunching into metal echoed across his cabin, follower successively by the hollow low pitched sound of an energy canon discharging.
"Sh-Shasha? Shasha you ok? Shasha..." Sabban partially whispered, his tone growing progressively delusional in response to a guttural, hollow, sickening coughing noise protruded from his receiver, with the sound of heavy pools blood splattering across a dashboard in great quantities. "...Kolme what happening out there..." Sabban muttered pleadingly. "She, sh- that damn scumbag just rammed straight into her, didn't even change into his mech's form, the cannon barrel just went straight through the dam cockpit. Bastard fired point-blank, Unit 26 got torn in half!" Kolme concluded, his anger towards the enemy obvious in his voice. "bu... but she's ok right, I can hear her..." Sabban whimpered as the sounds of Shasha hacking sounded out across his own operating space.
****
Chapter 4
It wouldn't be till some time later that Sabban would learn the greater results of his second sortie. As predicted the Zeta Gundam, accompanied by the Methuss successful returned after unit 26's crippling blow, with the Rick Dias team not far behind them. As for Shasha, her efforts had proven to be questionable, as thought indeed her mech had managed to take the brunt of the attack, protecting the Argama from any further damage in the process, it would later be revealed that a second hit would of been unlikely to actually sink the ship. After some protesting, Sabban had convinced Kolme to risk the recovery of what was left of Shasha's Nemo and soon after the three units found themselves back on the Argama's upper deck. A fire crew and the illusive Dr.Hasain had been summoned to the scene but once the fire hazard was sorted and what was left of the cockpit wrenched open, it became clear that particular effort had been wasted. Sabban, who had dismounted his own machine to help with the recovery operation, burning his hands in his over eagerness to open the hatch and now standing on the melted metal frame leading into the Nemo, looking in at what lay before him. As Hasain exited it he shock his head slowly and offered a faint apology and friendly pat on the back to Sabban before leaving with the fire fighting crew to tend to their next duties.
The damage had been fatal, Unit 26 had been rammed in the right side of the lower torso, the canon's impact alone had penetrated the first layers of ill-suited armour, when it had fired it's powerful barrage not only had it cut the suit clean in two, it had also torn straight through the far side of the machine, causing massive damage to the backpack and taking the right arm off in the process. According to the firemen it was a small miracle the suit hadn't immediately blown up on impact. Furthermore it caused the entire cabin to be irradiated and much like her loyal mech Shasha's entire right arm and much of the right side of her chest and leg had been eviscerated without leaving any traces of ever having existed. The blood lose following had been more then enough to kill off what little agonising life she'd been clinging onto, as heard by Sabban over the comm link.
His back leant against the still boiling (not that he cared much any longer) frame-way into the cock-pit, Sabban stared blankly into the cabin at his former ally and team leader. At a friend he'd known since childhood, a friend he'd shared a childish rivalry with for years, till just minutes ago in fact. More then a friend, she's mo-... was like a kind big sister to me... Sabban lamented internally. Around him he was aware of a large amount of activity, hushed whispers of mechanics who took to returning the still partially functional units 27 and 3 to the lower deck. Rumours already beginning to spread that the Nemo squadron had been all but wiped out. Some younger voices peaked his shell shocked ears as-well "I can't believe Yazan and that Jerid guy got away again. Think the Alexandrea will keep following us forever Kamille? I mean I thought when Emma blew up it's bridge with the MkII a while ago that would be the end of it but it just keeps on coming back" moaned the voice of young teenaged women in a bright orange normal suit. Walking along-side her stood a kid of similar height in a white spacesuit, with standout blue hair - "Who knows Fa, not like they ever achieve anything, there just a nuance if anything" the young man said lazily crossing his hands behind his head, the duo walking off towards the hallways leading to the rest of the ship.
"...Heh... so they didn't even get the bastard who did this to you Shasha?..." Sabban murmured quietly to himself as he watched the two younger 'ace pilots' wander away, "A nuance huh?...Doesn't killing off all of us count for anything...". Sabban continued to stare blankly in at Shasha, another voice now joining him. "Hey, look Kid, I'm sorry if I came across as harsh in the past, just thought you should know I get how you feel, you aren't alone in this or whatever, ahem. Guess I'll be going then" the voice of Kolme Nilas said in an awkward tone of sincerity before pushing himself away and floating in the direction of one of the exiting hallways. Sabban's eye's followed the shrewd man's progress before catching sight of Unit 3 passing, being piloted by some nameless engineer, off in the general direction of the elevator. For it's part Nemo No.3 had a number of new scorch marks where enemy hits had marked it, along with a portion of it's shield having been torn off but all told it had clearly suffered the least injury during the battle.
Sabban turned his attention away from the mech and back to Shasha's corpse, her remaining hand lay limply on her lap, her face harshly burnt from such close exposure to the beam weaponry, most of her hair had caught a flame and been turned to ash, floating around in the lessened gravity. Thoughts once more started to file into Sabban's shattered mind, It's only been a week. He cast his mind back what felt a lifetime, to just one week ago, to the day they'd been told about their new positions as active pilots aboard the Argama, told to pack a single carry on bag, the rest of their possessions would be delivered back home for them. He remembered teasing Ennya about weather one bag would be enough for all his fictional stuffed animals, at which point Mili had chewed him out and made him apologies to Zori, who'd become genuinely upset trying to decide between which of her two actual stuffed animals to bring and thought that Sabban's comments had also been mocking her. huh, in the end I agreed to let her put the second one in my bag, that big clownfish thing, I guess it's still in the barracks here somewhere... He remembered how Shasha had stood a little aways from that whole scene, cheeks red as she'd tried to not show embarrassment, of course this had been a fruitless act considering they we're all well aware that buried deep in the bottom of her rucksack was a small teddy bear, a gift from her sickly mother, that she always brought along no matter the location of any given training excursion.
Tears huh? he thought to himself, dabbing away at his face with the sleeve of his normal suit. Now that he'd started reminiscing the memories wouldn't stop. The way they'd all been so giddy leading up to the flight, unable to contain their excitement at going off to fight the good fight against the tyrannical Titan's fleet. Shasha had tried to play it cool, saying something about how it shouldn't be any surprize the academy's 3rd highest ever ranking cadet core would get picked for such an important job but behind the false aloofness, when she though no one was looking, he'd caught her happily smiling to herself effeminately or contently staring out the small launch's windows, looking out at her first proper trip into space. He'd always found the way she concealed her softer side in favour of her young officer routine to be one of her most endearing qualities. That whole trip on the launch must of looked pretty strange to an onlooker, mustn't it?, he thought back to how they'd all been confined to that small transport. Zori had dedicated herself to reading every bit of information she could on both the 'MSA - 003 - NEMO' and the Argama itself that she could find, which in turn caused her to be completely entranced, so much so that when Ennya had tried his usual hopelessly youthful attempts at flirting with her, she'd inadvertently ended up giving the poor boy the cold shoulder. Of course every one in their whole year had been well aware of Ennya's crush on Zori, well except for Zori herself that is. He'd fallen for her on the first day when he'd im-promptly joined their class along with the others in the newly organised fast track pilot scheme, Guess I'll never know if he'd of built up the courage to ask her out now. Damn guy was just a child, his 18th isn't for another two months.
Then there'd been Mili who'd to everyone's surprize been leafing through the available male sections of the personnel forms for the warship, when Sabban and Shasha had inquired to weather this was of a romantic pursuit, something which had seemed odd considering Mili's persuasion towards members of her own sex, the mountainous women had offered them a confused look before explaining she'd simply been looking to see if any of the men on the Argama migth pose a threat to her undefeated arm wrestling streak, she'd explained this completely straight faced, while flexing an arm demonstrably that's right we decided Captain Bright was probably her greatest opponent didn't we?
While he'd known Shasha since childhood and first met Zori and Mili, already joined at the hip, when they'd transfer into his highschool back in Von Brown city, these last 18 months or even just the last 8 after Ennya had joined to complete their little group and the they'd been officially designated a training squad, had been no doubt the most fun of his whole life, sure they'd all known why they were there, training to be the next generation of pilots for a war that had just started burgeoning fourth between the rouge Federal force's Titan faction and the rapidly growing forces of the free peoples of space, but back then that really didn't seem to matter all that much. Naïve as they'd all known it was, they'd felt like they had been learning to be hero's. Of course they all had they're reasons for joining up, money, fame, family ties and so on but while bonding over the harsh punishments the drill instructors would dish out on a whim or laughing with one another in the mess hall after a particularly hard days practise on the range in one of the battered old GM Mk1's that passed for the schools test units, with their once iconic bright red paint now faded and striped away, they'd come to find a comradery, a fellowship non of them had even realised they we're desiring in the first place.
"I get how you feel"
Sabban rolled Kolme's passing remark around in his mind, turning his head to look towards the narrow corridor Kolme had headed off towards. The comparatively barely scratched unit 3 flashed innocuously into his mind. He abounded down from his perch on the wreckage of Unit 26, his hands still throbbing from the pain of the earlier burn, his head spinning from exhaustion and his distraught mental distress. He quickly lounged his way through the low gravity room into the same corridor as Kolme, whom he spotted at the bottom end hanging lazily on to one of the handles that served to make getting around the anti gravity more convenient. Calling out as he did, Sabban launched himself forward once more, tumbling into Kolme who had stopped to abide Sabban's call. Hands outstretched Sabban grabbed the middle aged man by the scruff of his worn normal suits colour, the momentum of the zero G pushing them both in-to a wall to one side, Sabban rose one clenched fist into the air.
"What the hell you playin at kid!" Kolme exclaimed glaring down at his assailant. "Your a damn coward Nilas, you knew what would happen from the moment we stepped onto this stupid ship, didn't you" Sabban shouted into the man's face. "And I tried to warn you lot didn't I-" Kolme tried to explain maintaining a begrudged tone of voice. "You call that helping us? Was letting Zori go out there first meant to be helping? Or when you grabbed my suit instead of trying to go straight to help Ennya. Heck we could of at-least tried to assist Shasha for Pete's sake", "Oh ya? Think it's all that simply do ya? I told you all to be careful, that Hogei girl and her tall friend just got unlucky to end up going against such superior suits, the hell's that my fault? And what good would charging at the Ennya boy's exploding suit of done hey?" Kolme ruefully retorted.
"Your a damn coward Kolme Nilas, it's no wonder that white board was covered in names when we arrived, no mystery as to what happened to Nemo's 4 through 25 is it? "Last Nemo Standing Nilas" eh?! How dare you tell me you get how this feels!" Sabban stated coldly shoving Kolme further against the wall and swinging his fist straight at the older man's face. Kolme seemingly taking offense to the passing slight against previous comrades grabbed the oncoming fist head on, then suddenly lobbed himself forward, talking the opportunity to counter grab Sabban and ramming him into the wall opposite the one they'd just been against, "Now you listen here ya damn kid! I understand your hurting, I really do but talking it out on an old man like me ain't helping anybody ya hear? You think it's just other Nemo pilots I've watched go out there and die? Well your dead wrong, I've seen dozens of comrades go, crap I started out in a god damn antiquated GM mark two, me and my squad belonged to a ship called the Monte Blanc. Heard of it? No didn't think so, one of the first ships to join this God's forsaken conflict and yet when it got fucked, did anyone care? For about 5 minutes maybe, since then I don't think I've heard a single person ever mention the hundreds of young men and women, just like you, who we're her crew. They were my friends, family even and they all died protecting this ship which couldn't even be arsed to hold a funeral for em after they sunk!'".
"I've served as many missions for this damn ship as anyone and what thanks do I get? A replacement Nemo after my old 'Jim' got too banged up to keep using. No promotion, no shiny suit or special nickname. For all intensive purposes I migth as well be invisible to them, look at us standing around here yelling at each other, if one of the ace pilots did that there'd be an instant crowd of onlookers trying to break up the fight but us? No-One-Cares. Nemo's go out there and get destroyed in almost every single battle and ya know what? Who cares! Not the other pilots, not the bridge crew past the admin responsibilities of ordering up a new lemon and corpse child to pilot it - and certainly not those damn new-type children. I mean for God's sake, when the Methuss arrived here who did they assign it to? Never mind me with a couple dozen successful combat missions logged, they didn't even offer it to one of the Rick Dias team, no instead they put a damn untrained intelligence officer and that child Yuiry girl with all of a few Nemo simulation runs, on it! The fact is kid they just don't care, whatever your feeling right now? Well imagine that five times over and then some, then come back and tell me that I don't know how you feel. I ain't a coward I just refuse to get myself killed for a bunch of bastards like the AEUG and I'm not enough of a scumbag for the Titans to hire me!". The barrage complete Kolme finally realised he was still gripping onto Sabban's suit, who in turn had let go of his, he returned the favour, stepped back and watched as the boy, now quiet, his rage seemingly deflated and subsided, floated almost limply away from where he'd been held. Kolme turned away and tutted "I've already applied for a transfer to the Radish, I gave Commander Henken a trip on my Gm right through the middle of recently active battlefield on the moon once, so maybe he remembers me, I 'an hope so at-least. Mind you what sort of a man losses his ship the second an enemy Captain walks aboard is as a leader is anybody's guess", he paced a few more feet down the corridor before, without bothering to turn back around, giving one final comment "I really am sorry kid, belief it or don't, that's on you but for what it's worth I hope you can stick around a little longer, I've no wish to see you go the way of your friends".
****
Sabban floated around the empty corridor, a lone mechanic walked past, sparing Sabban a brief glance before noticing the pilots emblem and deciding it best to keep on walking without a word. Suddenly snapping Sabban out his trance came the vessel's intercom and the familiar voice of Captain Bright Noa. "To all crewmembers, it is with a heavy heart that I inform you that after todays battle against the Alexandrea, which regrettable managed to evade our attempts to destroy it once more, we lost some valuable members of our staff. These include the pilots of Nemo's 26 through 29 aswell as two engineers who were unlucky enough to be present in the area of the Argama that was damaged by the enemy" Bright stated in his ever-solemn tone of voice. "...the hell's he mean, I'm not dead and can't he even read out their names? What about Mili, doesn't she deserve to even be remembered as 'Nemo No.30'..." Sabban spoke quietly, aiming his words in the general direction of the nearest speaker.
"It is with great honour that we should all join together to remember these brave fallen souls, all of whom were some of the best mechanics and pilots in the galaxy, a group of cunning warriors and if I say so myself, good friends", hearing these final hollow words expunged, Sabban collapsed helplessly to his knees, tears floating silently and mockingly around him.
Epilogue
The small grey figure of an AEUG launch slowly soared it's way down through the large imposing doors of the fleet's pride and joy, non other then the unofficial prize flagship, the Argama. As the small craft landed and a pair of extending steps made it's way forward out from the main doorway exit, four young men and women made they're way down the steps, a couple offering thanks to the pilot and Co-pilot, who in turn offered what migth of been seen as a look of pity, along with an accompanying nod of acknowledgement.
The four youths, fresh off the back of graduation from the moon's premier private cadet training facility, one of many front's for the AEUG, filed out making their ways through the impressive hanger, commenting on and admiring the various different mobile suits that they passed along the way. One member of the group, with something of a look of group leader about him, stepped ahead of the rest and inquired to a man that looked conspicuously like an older version of the famous 'One Year War' ace pilot Char Aznable. The man promptly pointed them in the direction of the large mobile suit lift to the back of the cavernous room. Following this route the group of eager eyed youngsters soon found their way down to the under hanger, an equally tall but much smaller room, with less colour to its metallic walls. Both more dimly lit and less populated then the pervious room, around them they observed six mobile suits, 4 of which gleamed to such an extend that one could almost smell the fresh factory paint off them. Two further suit at the end of the room showed far more ware, one had clearly had ad-hoc bits of plating and repairs done to it, most clearly around it's shield, waist armour area and extensive retrofitting of its leg thrusters. As for the other it too had clearly been repaired at some length, parts of it seemingly covered in soot and intentionally left unattended burn marks and paint stripping of what looked to have been a great fire. Against standard issue this second mech also pertained a large haphazardly painted number '27' on the side of it's right hand shoulder and thought the recruits couldn't see it from their vantage point, a similar marking was apparent on the opposite side with the number '26' on it.
Standing in the large expanse of space between all these mobile suits stood a small group of two pilots and two mechanics. One of the mechanics nodded to the duo of pilots, whom turned to face the new-comers, of said group, a young women of about 5'10 with auburn hair, could of sworn she saw the older of the two gentlemen mouth the words "-The 7th batch eh?-" thought it was impossible to know for sure. The group closed in on the two older pilots and introduced themselves, one by one calling out their names and ranks. The younger of the two veteran pilots whom at a distance had looked to be in his 30s but up close one would of struggled to tell if the man, with his myriad of stress lines, deeply bagged eyes, lightly tanned skin, ragged working overalls and dishelved hair, wasn't actually somewhat younger and nearer to their own age. Now stepping forward and giving the group a once over, he smiled half heartedly, then boldly with a straight face, yet still somehow un-enthusiastic announced "Welcome to Hell Kids".
The End
Afterword;
I hope if you've read down this far you've come to understand my grievances with the show a little better. I don't write about show's I don't feel I can contribute something of value to with my takes or opinions, so I had considered skipping a review of Gundam Zeta entirely, however I really felt an urge to write about it, to try and express my feelings for what made this show fail so entirely for me personally as a wanna' be Gundam fan. I'll be posting an additionally smaller extract under the anime's actually review page in the coming weeks with my more normal style of analysis, which I'd appreciate your talking the time to check out and press the 'helpful' button on if you in any way enjoyed this unwarranted foray into the fiction-essay writing genre (alternately leave a like over on it's HoneyFeed page if you feel so inclined - https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novels/5593 ).
I hope you enjoyed-
-Thanks for Reading.
Posted by momentie | Jun 29, 2021 12:49 PM | 0 comments
An Ode to Fallen Nemo (Part 1 of 2)
Anime Relations: Kidou Senshi Gundam, Kidou Senshi Zeta Gundam, Kidou Senshi Z Gundam I: Hoshi wo Tsugu Mono, Kidou Senshi Z Gundam II: Koibito-tachi
Foreword;
The following is part one of a two part short story that I wrote as part of my review for 'Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam'. It includes some spoilers for the show, thought no major character deaths of anything that nature but is probably best enjoyed with some prior knowledge of the show up to around episode 30. This is my first time attempt at a critic of this kind and was spurned by the fact that I struggled greatly to put into words my negative feelings towards Zeta Gundam without devolving into a mindless rant. As such I choose the biggest issue I had with the show (The treatment of the nameless, faceless unsung hero's of the Nemo pilots) and decided to try my hand at writing something of a parody detailing some of the stories short comings and a short story about some of the whole franchise's most tragically forgotten pilots. I hope you enjoy, each part is about 7000 words (Hence why I can't put it all under a single post), if you do or have a thoughts on it please use the comment function or leave a helpful on the main review page (https://myanimelist.net/profile/momentie/reviews) New; A slightly updated version of this short story is now available via Honey-feed, which is where I'd suggest you'll get the optimal reading experience - https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novels/5593 - Thanks for reading.
Sabban Vint, a young man in his early 20's well built with crew cut auburn hair, shuffled around in his seat expectantly as he stared out the portholed windows of a small AEUG launch. Out of said window he observed the passage of a large warship's bow, that ship was to be his new home for the foreseeable future, non other then the unofficial fleet flagship - The Argama. The launch, a form of space bus one migth say, was currently filled with just 7 people, those being the two pilots to the fore of the craft and his 4 comrades in arms. As he continued to stare out, he watched as they closed in on the massive hanger-bay doors of the Argama, space now replaced with the tall metallic walls of the ship's main interior Deck. Coming to a halt the launch set itself down gently a little inside the doorway, which in turn now closed sealing the room and making it breathable once more.
The small spacecraft's doorway to the front opened automatically and a small set of steps expanded out from there. One by one the 5 young men and women each exited down these steps, a couple of them offering thanks to the pilots as they passed, whom in turn offered seemingly apathetic nods to the youths. Now standing out in the cavernous room, the group of rookies began glancing around each other, the room was quickly filling with people, who returned now that it was safe once more not to be wearing the standard issue breathing apparatus attire, more commonly referred to as 'normal suits'. Following there example Sabban unclipped his own helmet to get a better look at his surroundings, "That's the Zeta Gundam ain't it?" he exclaimed pointing over towards the large imposing figure of a blue and white mobile suit to one corner of the hanger. Beside him the tallest of their group, a muscle bound young women by the name of Mili Sanju spoke up "and that over there's the Hyaku Shiki right?" she opted indicting to a gleaming golden mobile suit with the kanji for those very words imbedded lavishly on its shoulders. Mili's strong frame was no coincidence, indeed back on the moon she'd been known as a bit of a 'gym freak' giving any one of the male students a run for their money in terms of fitness.
"..That one to the back is the Methuss.. it's an experimental transformable suit.." said a quiet voice to the left side of Sabban. The voice rather fittingly belonged to Zori Hogei, the shortest of the group, with shoulder length black hair, she had made up for what she lacked in stature by consistently scoring the highest on every test back at the academy. "Wait really? I thought it was some captured suit, dont'cha think it looks like a giant beetle?" insisted the jovial voice of Ennya Zwan, by far the youngest of the group, the scruffy young man had got into the pilot course via the fast track scheme at the age of just 17, a few months later here he was still acting the class clown. Sabban couldn't help but grin remembering how shocked Ennya had been to get the news they would be heading for the Argama. Well, in truth they'd all been pretty surprised, just barely out of the training they'd expected nothing more then to be put on regimental guard duty for the AEUG's base's in Von Brown City or sent to be test pilots for Anaheim Electrical, one of the organizations biggest financial sponsors but instead the order had come through for the five of them to head to this very ship to be it's newest squadron of pilots.
Speaking of their fifth member, standing a little ahead of the rest of the group, Miss. Shasha Niju decided it was her time to cut in, "Alright you lot, that's enough chatter, we're not here as cadets on field trip remember" she said sternly giving Ennya and Sabban a glare in particular. For her part Shasha had been the class leader back in training, she placed second in most technical and practical tests making her the most well rounded pilot of the group. Her abilities along with Sabban's own during mock battles had garnered them both the immediate rank of petty officer upon graduation, with the rest of their cohort at the base level of 'Crewmen'. Shasha had continued to fulfil her role as group leader even after they'd departed for their new assignments. Second tallest of the group she stood at an impressive 6 foot ( just below Mili's 6,2), her blond hair tied neatly in a ponytail, she had impressive posture and a befitting general air of a young officer about her.
"That's great and all, oh my 'capitain' but I don't see much of a welcoming party" Sabban said mockingly. Shasha's face grew characteristically indignant as she glanced around the hanger. The place had now fully filled with pilots, engineers and mechanics all going about repairs and inspections of the different mobile suits and weapons that surrounded them. A little ways in front of them they spotted a man float down in the minimal gravity from the cockpit of the ever gleaming Hyaku Shiki, he stopped at the base of it and turned to stare up at it, seemingly to make sure he'd fully completed his inspection of the impressive machine. The man had somewhat long blond hair, a conspicuous pair of sunglasses lay atop his visage and a bright red jacket over his shoulders. "Hey that's not-" Ennya started but before he could finished Shasha marched forwards hailing towards the man in red. The others quickly followed, wanton not to get left behind. "lieutenant Quattro Sir! General Purpose Mobile Suit Squadron 117 reporting for duty Sir!" Shasha borderline bellowed, while clapping her boots together and performing the sharpest of salutes.
'Quattro' for his part glanced over at the sudden intrusion and raised an eyebrow as thought trying to remember if he should know the group of young people saluting him. "Oh! The new Nemo pilots" he exclaimed clasping his hands together triumphantly, "sorry to disappoint but you've got the wrong deck, your looking for the second floor. If you report in there you should find someone with your instructions" he said while gesturing a hand in the direction of the far side of the hanger. He grinned kindly and in a joking tone of voice continued "It's like the great red comet, Char Aznable once said 'these aren't the mechs your looking for Amuro'" with this comment he laughed allowed a little before realising no one else had understood the joke and coughing into his hand politely. "Ahem, well you'd best get going then" he finished turning his attentions back to his mech.
The group of pilots saluted and started to make their way across the room towards the elevator 'Quattro' had pointed to. Once they were out of earshot they couldn't help but discuss the great AEUG ace's strange use of reference to the Zeon hero of the one year war but before long there attentions drew distracted as they closed in on the elevator. It was to the rear of the large room, at the walls either side of it stood six mobile suit holding units, 3 filled with the bulky red and black Rick Dais's of the Argama and the other three presumably belonging to the machines they'd passed on the way in. At the end of this path stood a massive mobile suit elevator used to transport mechs between the upper and lower hangers while additionally next too that was a much smaller service lift for use of personnel. As they walked along Mili put on a visibly quizzical face - "Hey Zori aren't Rick Dias's meant to be grey or black? Why're all these one's red?". Ennya was quick with an un-asked for reply "Probably makes 'em faster right zoe?". Walking a little in front, Sabban caught sight of Shasha sighing at the rest of the group's overt eagerness. Zori for her part was the usual one whom had questions of this nature thrown at her, her academic prowess always proceeding her. "..I don't think the colour red would make them go faster though.." she half mumbled quietly in response to Ennya's joke.
Finally reaching the elevator, Shasha urged them all to quiet down like a school supply teacher migth of and before Zori had the chance to properly explain the reasoning behind the strange change in the Rick Dias's colour scheme, they instead ushered themselves into the small elevator. The lift began slowly lowering, begin frontless with just a small handrailing to prevent one from tumbling accidentally forwards, the squad soon caught sight of their destination. In front of them sprawled out a much smaller hanger bay with a similar layout of 6 mech holding areas but without any additional space for catapults such as the upper deck pertained. More pressingly, held in each one of the six chambers was a tall, gaunt blue and green mobile suit. The slew of machines we're all humanoid in nature, standing at an impressive height of 19.5 metres, the head alone a metre tall and with a battle skirt-esk armour, wide berthed legs and an expressionless face, what stood before them was non other then the AUEG mass production general purpose mobile suit extraordinaire, 'The Nemo'. From the back right hand corner of the room stood one that had clearly been used frequently, with plenty of scorch marks and even bits of armour seemingly welded on across varies vital parts of the suit, as well as two highly prominent extra pieces of kilt armour stapled to the machines waist. Furthermore as Sabban looked down at the machine he could of sworn the leg thrusters we're those of a far stronger suit, like the Rick Dias's they'd just pasted, rather then those of it's sister designs. As for said design the other five mobile suits all glistened brightly, the paint looked fresh and it seemed apparent to the rookie pilots that they stood in the presence of five brand new machines.
With the elevator settled they trooped off and began to once more take in their surroundings, the room was far more dimly lit then the upper deck had been, meanwhile where the main hanger had been teaming with workers, Sabban could only see two engineers in their distinctly blue attire, working on the battered suit at the back of the room. Next to them was a third man wearing what often passed as the uniform of the AUEG pilots, a plain brown pair of overalls. One of the engineers nudged the pilot who in turn looked over to see the new visitors. While most of the others where busy ogling the mobile suits around them, Sabban could of sworn he saw the pilot mutter the words '-5th group eh-' under his breath, though at his distance it was hard to lip read the words.
With a polite cough from Shasha informing the others to stop messing and fall in line she once more stepped forward, saluted smartly and proclaimed that they were reporting for duty as instructed. The pilot she had called out to had by now sauntered his way across to them, his posture was lax, his medium length greying hair wavy and poorly tended to, with him now standing closer it was clear to see his overalls too were poorly kept, covered in oil stains and the like. He scratched absentmindedly at one ear as Shasha gave introductions to each member of the team and their respective ranking, when she finished the man waved a hand loosely in the air as something of a half hearted salute before looking closely at each recruit "That'll be enough of the 'Sir!' spiel, you said your a petty officer ya? Well so am I so no need for all da' formality. Oh- and welcome to Hell kids", he'd finished his almost slurred and ominously clichéd sentence with an unenthusiastic yawn.
"..Umm excuse me si- I mean petty officer.. if your not in charge then who is?.." Zori asked while standing reservedly in Mili's shadow. The aged man stared across at Zori with something akin to, but not quite, contemp. In fact now that Sabban's focus was squarely on the aged 'gentleman' he started to question just how old he actually was, his appearance from afar had made him look like someone in their late 40s or even early 50s but up close he wasn't so sure. "Listen up little miss, all of you for that matter, 'cause I'll only say it once ya hear? This here ship is the Argama and on it there's three types of pilots, you got the lads at the top, the supposed 'new-types' like that Kamille boy, their led mostly by 'lieutenant Quattro', then there's Apolly's bunch in the Rick Dias's. Apolly's sound enough but he has his hands full just trying to keep his own lads alive so don't expect much in the way of 'orders' from the supposed leader of 'The-Rick-Dias-Team'" he paused his ramblings for a moment at this stage and begin shuffling around in his overall pockets. "Then there's us alright? We're the grunts, the expendables, pawns, whatever way you 'wanna slice it hear? Our orders, if you can call 'em that, will come from the bridge or Quatro or even Kamille if he's got some busy work needs 'doin. Heck alot of my orders come from that Sheen women and she isn't even assigned to this ship. Point I'm trying to get at is no cares about us 'k? Keep 'yere head down and your machine maintained during the quiet moments. When in battle stick together, always hold your shield far enough away from you so that when it explodes and thrust me it will explode, at-least it doesn't damage your camera's and never - ever - try to be a hero, we aren't payed enough for that sort of crap".
With these final words of his tirade conveyed, the old pilot had started sorting out a pile of trinkets he'd recovered from the pocket he'd earlier been searching. The pile consisted of a large number of keys, sub divided in-to groups of two on a small binding ring. One key was a slim rectangular block object, with a USB-esk end and a number ranging from '26' up to '30' on it, the second key was an exceedingly old fashioned looking foe-brass locker key. Of that pile he first untangled the odd-set-out, consisted of a near identical locker key as well as three of the USB types, one with the number '3' on it in smudged lettering, the other two had a faded federation logo imbedded on them with a white background, rather then the light green of the others and no other visible markings. Along side these were a number of miscellaneous other keys. He put this particular set back into his pocket before gradually tossing the other 5 identical sets out one by one to those before him. "Those'll get you into the lockers in the changing room for 'yere normal suits, same key will also match a valuables locker in ya digs, got it? The others all correspond to these here mobile suits. The 'MSA - 003' better know as the 'Nemo' or better yet the 'Dead pilot walking'...you can sort who gets which one by yourselves, there all pretty much the exact same" with those final disconcerting words and the keys effectively handed out, the old pilot turned to walk away.
"Err Mr you didn't tell us your name... or what we're meant to be doing right now - Sir?" Sabban would normally of thought it amusing to hear Shasha ask this question in such an unconfident manner but he had to admit it was the same thought that had ran through his own mind. The pilot stopped in his tracks and sighed, turning back around on the spot he stared Shasha straight in the eyes as he responded to her questions "I told ya it's not my damn job to boss y'all around, the names Petty Officer Kolme Nilas and you can think again if you 'recon I'm gonna concierge you to your room or take you on a pleasant guided tour around the ship as if this were the Ritz back on Granada ya hear? Pilots sleep in room 2B, I'm sure a fine body of men like yourselves can at-least find your way there by yourself without getting too lost".
The Quintet somewhat dejectedly made their way back along the under hanger towards the lift. A heavy silence had replaced their early enthusiasm, "Not really what I expected from our new boss" Ennya sighed, "Relax, he's probably just hazing us, like the good old days back at camp" Sabban said patting his younger friend heartily on the back. "..are we really just p-pawns.." Zori muttered darkly to herself as Sabban continued to assault Ennya's back. "Heck no, after all everyone knows the Nemo's a... a- a? a state of the line suit!" Mili affirmed in an attempt to raise her friends spirits. "Mili's right Zori, Hizacks can't even use multiple beam weapons at the same time right?" Sabban added, as he did Mili shot him a thankful smile, Zori had a bad habit of getting easily stressed but changing the topic to the technical details of one machine or other was the quick way to snap her out of it. As hoped her face brightened as she proceeded to explain the specific details of how Sabban was quite correct in his assertion about the Nemo's superior capabilities. Mili smiled contently at seeing her friend's worries alleviated, making it clear that such worries hadn't even crossed her own mind. For as long as he'd known them, Mili and Zori had been something of a cliched partnership of best friends, in spite of the obvious room for 'the brains and the brawn' jokes, it would take a brave individual to try and mock Zori at the risk of Mili's wrath.
"That's nice and all but we're not gonna be much of a team with a leader like that old Scottish fart" Ennya uttered breaking back into the conversation. They had reached the foot of the elevator at this stage and stood around it simply chatting "Scottish? I was thinking he sounded more Irish then that" Sabban interjected, trying to lighten the mood. Shasha who'd seemed lost in thought till now, was the one to break this small talk, "No matter about him, if he won't lead us then I will!" she proclaimed boldly "First order of business is getting rid of these bags before we take a proper look at our new posts, he said the room code was 2B correct? Well we can most certainly show him by finding it and with-out asking directions at that!". With her decree made on behalf of the whole squad, they collectively re-boarded the lift and set off in search of their new accommodation.
****
A few days later Sabban found himself blinking rapidly as he took in the situation, around him laser fire jettisoned itself loses in all directions against a backdrop of seemingly innocuously twinkling stars. For all his harsh words Kolme had been right about the pace of battles when you launched from the Argama. Himself (In Nemo 27) and Ennya(Nemo 29) had been ordered by the bridge to simply 'defend' the ship's aft frontage, while Zori (N28) and Mili (N30) did much the same at the opposite end of the vessel. As for Kolme (3) and Shasha(26), they'd been picked seemingly at random by Kamille and 'Quattro' to help intercept an incoming enemy mobile suit team. The battle had begun only a few minutes ago when the helmsmen of the Argama had spotted a Titan ship called the 'Alexandrea' which apparently the crew where all wall acquainted with. It had launched its mobile suits in response to the Argama firing off the first volley of it's main canons. The Alexandrea's opening gambit had consisted of 4 Hambarbi type suits, which one migth describe as a blue suit with a rigid wing-like structure, a triangular head section and claws for hands. Alongside these was a whole boat load of the Titan's own general use mobile suit, the 'Hizack', a green machine that looked conspicuously like the rather famous Zaku Mk2 of the one year war and apparently housed both Federation and former Zeon technologies from that war. There was apparently such a great number of these Hizacks that the bridge crew had claimed they couldn't pick a precise figure. With these dire odds in play the Zeta and Hyaku Shiki had gone with the two members of the nemo team to intercept the enemy's lead suit, apparently commanded by a fierce-some pilot named "Yazan Gable" and accompanied by one other Hambarbi and a number of the lesser suits. The rest of the force had split in to three other groups, two consisting of a single Hambarbi and 2 Hizacks and a third group of just a duo of Hizacks which currently appeared to be bottling it's way straight for Sabban and Ennya's current position.
The Methuss along with the Rick Dias Team had followed after one of those other Hambarbi teams so it was clear to Sabban that failure could mean the sinking of their home with no reinforcements likely. He took a deep breath while studying his equipment, just like in the simulations he watched as the distance between him and the enemy suits gradually decreased, gaining ever closer to effective firing range. He flicked open the communication switches to talk to the bridge "Two units at 11 o clock, will move to intercept, requesting AA batteries assist", "Roger Nemo 27, Anti-Air will help at next available opportunity" came the reply from the bridge officer 'Torrez'. Muting his mike, Sabban wondered to himself what else could the AA guns actually be doing other then firing off in seemingly random directions but quickly shock his head and turned his focus back to the job at hand, "Ennya let them shoot first then return fire, I'll go for the one in back, you take the other one". "Roger" Ennya replied quaintly, his usually tone of voice far more mellow in the face of their first real taste of battle. Sabban carefully moved the control stick for the Nemo's right arm, positioning the shield carefully in front of himself, making sure to cover his suit's torso. With the other stick he carefully raised his beam rifle as all the while the number on the distance calculator grew even smaller.
'0'. The flurry of fire soared forth from the Hizack weapons as they barred their way ever forward towards the ship, as planned Sabban's shield took the brunt of the volley and raising his weapon he pulled the control trigger. Somewhat disappointingly he watched as his first two strikes missed, however with a little correction his third fourth and fifth hit home. Of those the first two bounced off the Hizack's own defences, while it raised up it's reloaded weapon to fire once more, then the fifth hit, a plum of colourful smoke burst out and the shots it had readied, fired harmlessly off course. "Gotcha!" Sabban exclaimed and as if on que a further volley set past him as the Argama's AA battery kicked to life and slammed into the damaged Hizack, finishing it off in a brilliant explosion of fire. Sabban quickly regained his composure glancing over to the other Hizack, unlike his it was still careering forward with renewed vigour. It had forgone shooting at the Nemo's and instead begun blasted straight at the ship. Glancing over to Ennya's Nemo, Sabban was relieved to see the thing still in one piece. "What happened Ennya?", "Sorry K' their opening attack took out my cameras" Ennya replied despondently. Indeed it was clear that Ennya's shield had been blown to shreds and the front of his suit had become blacken, obscuring his view 'Just as the old man predicted would happen...' Sabban pondered to himself. "You better get back to the ship then, don't worry about this I'll cover you" with the informal order given to his temporarily set back friend, Sabban pressed down hard on the control pedal of his Nemo and began altering the vernier's in order to project himself towards the next enemy.
Now in position directly in the path of the Hizack, Sabban finished changing out his own rifle's energy pack and passed it over to his right arm, the one with the mounted shield. In his left he picked up his beam saber from it's resting place and activated the mighty weapon. A faint hissed accompanied it's activation as the thin beam of light and condensed energy surged from the hilt of the weapon. The Hizack rose it's weapon to shoot, still not showing any signs of slowing before realising it's energy was all wasted. In an effort to correct this scuppered situation it tossed aside the rifle and instead projected a beam saber of it's own. A mere matter of moments passed before finally the two machines clashed. Sabban felt his whole body shudder as the tremendous force of the fast moving mech collided blade first with his own. Their two sabers meeting violently, the Hizack's momentum now lost, boosted backwards while firing it's two helmet mounted Vulcan cannons. Sabban was quick to react, he surged forward with his own boosters, effectively ducking under the line of machine gun fire and slashed upwards once more with his weapon.
The Hizack blocked again, now it's turn on the defensive it swung back it's off hand then surged forward with some light assistance from its own verniers. Sabban rose his shields, the two mobile suits still locking blades as the Hizack's other fist smashed into the Nemo's shield, sending fragments of debris from it, which floated about harmlessly in the vacuum of space. The two mechs held still, stuck in this stalemate for a few moments before Sabban took his chance. The Nemo's shield was attached to the arm, leaving the hand free to hold a rifle, furthermore it possessed the power to both keep up it's beam saber and fire it's weapons, these facts in mind Sabban had carefully positioned his riffle so that when the Hizack had collided with his shield it had left the mech's cockpit wide open. Hesitating for only a passing moment, Sabban pulled the trigger. A colourful beam of light emerged from his weapon and then again out the back of the hapless enemy Hizack. The machines beam saber now deactivated, the hilt floating away helplessly alongside the rest of the suit. Sabban backed off knowing what would come next 'That was so easy...so easy to kill a man...' he thought grimly to himself, being a solider he'd known this was coming but the though still invaded his mind and as he watched the defeated Hizack float gradually further away, it's torso sparking dramatically until the whole thing exploded emphatically in an awesome burst of light, Sabban also couldn't help but think another thought to himself 'Was that guy another grunt, a grunt just like me?'
Before he could lament this worrying thought any further he was rudely awoken by the Nemo's buzzing comms system, "Sabban, buddy can you hear me? It's Ennya, look behind you quick, I think the other's are in trouble!"
Chapter-2
Sabban did as Ennya had suggested and spun his Nemo round to observe what had panicked the boy so thoroughly, not that it traditionally took much, he also flicked the switch on his radio unit to an open setting in the hopes of hearing what was happening. "..S-Someone help, we need reinforcement, Mi-Mili's gonna die!" came the shrill voice of Zori over the intercom. Looking ahead and making use of his camera's magnification process, Sabban spotted the problem. The second of the enemy's groups of three, consisting of a Hambarbi and two Hizacks had chosen to attack the ship from the rear while Sabban and Ennya had been busy. Not only out-numbered by one, the Hambarbi had proven a far more powerful suit then the feeble Nemo could hope to match, from his viewpoint Sabban could see the results of the battle so far, Zori's suit had literally lost an arm and a leg, with substantial damage to the head an booster pack aswell, floating around it lay the wrecking of another Hizack which clearly the duo had managed to take out before Zori's suit got so badly damaged. Below him on the flight deck Sabban could also see Ennya, who's mech had now landed below with it's cockpit open to allow Ennya to observe the on-going battle in spite of his broken camera equipment.
Across from all this however was the real issue. Placed a few yards in-front of Zori's disabled machine was Nemo no.30, Mili, currently clashing blades with a second Hizack, her suit too had taken heavy damage but non-the-less held it's place. Behind all this the Hambarbi which had seemingly backed off due to covering fire from the Argama, was now closing the distance fast. "Hold on Mili, I'll be there soon" Sabban called out over the radio receiver, while activating his backpack to move himself forward. Despite his claim it was becoming painfully clear he wouldn't make it in time. Another voice lit up the comms "Nemo 30, hold the line, reinforcements are on their way!" 'Torrez' communicated sullenly, as though Mili had much choice in the matter. Possibly to everyone's surprize Mili's suit suddenly sprang to live as the women managed to maneuver it's leg upwards to strike the Hizack she was engaging. Pushing it off balance it drifted back just far enough for Mili to use the space to surge forward and slash the cockpit of the suit with her now freed weapon.
"Way to go!" Sabban and Ennya cheered near simultaneously as the mech she'd been fighting exploded in defeat but there was no time to relax, as the stricken Hizack floated aside the Hambarbi took it's place, Mili was too slow this time and before anyone knew what had happened, the Hambarbi slashed upwards with it's intimidating clawed fist, tearing open Mili's suit's torso. Not even stopping to finish the job the blue enemy mech simply continued its pursuits forwards towards the Argama. "Mili!" Zori screamed over the radio link, "damn machine, why won't you move? I have to help her!". Her voice straining Zori continued to shout out for her friend, Sabban was forced to watch, still too far to reach the crippled Nemo but just as all seemed lost, Mili's Nemo turned to face them, still being spun by the sheer force of the previous attack. Zori let out a cry of relief, as did the two young men when they realised that thought the front of the suit had been completely stripped back, it was clear the pilot, in her normal suit was still alive if unconscious.
"Right then, time to stop that bast-" Sabban begun, his resolved renewed at the sight of his friend still breathing, however before he could finish off the sentence, his sensor picked up another suit moving remarkably fast, first behind him, then briefly straight above and then right ahead. The Zeta Gundam. Even in it's jet mode, it's imposing canon glistened as it let loose a powerful energy blast. Said attack collided straight into the Hambarbi which had no time to even attempt an evade, the blast causing it to recoil backwards, it's thrusters clearly damaged by the impact it drifted carelessly back towards Mili's still stricken suit. "That's the way Mr.Kamille, now finish him- No wait! Don't shoot, for God's sake-". Sabban's words fell onto deaf ears, Kamille's Zeta Gundam effortlessly fired a second blast which expectantly finished off the Hambarbi and it in turn exploded in an impressive engulf of flames, the sheer force of which collided mightily with the openly exposed cockpit of Nemo Unit 30, spewing a typhoon of visceral flames into the unprotected pilot's cabin.
****
Shasha recoiled slightly as what was left of her mech, number 26, was strapped into the holding container on the lower deck. With her cockpit now open she took the chance to properly observe the damage, her Nemo's arm from a little above the elbow and down had been blown clean off, a part of the chest sections armour and her riffle lost along with it. Glancing across she saw unit 3 similarly come to halt and out emerged Petty Officer Kolme. Clenching her fists Shasha kicked off her suit and floated over to the man, grabbing onto the tip of his open hatch she began her assault "What the hell was that? You left me for dead out there, I signalled you and you just ignored me! if the Hyaku Shiki hadn't been passing I'd be dead for sure!" she proclaimed swinging an arm to her side empathetically. Kolme looked over to her, his face showing little surprize at the insult "Sorry lass, the minovsky particles were to high, I couldn't hear you properly". "Couldn't hear me? My rigth friggin arm got blown off, ain't that enough of a damn signal for ya?"
Before the conflict of interests could go any further, a voice called out to them from below - "Hey knock it off you two, now isn't the time" Sabban said in a half hearted shout. Shasha looked over towards him, more then a little used to butting heads with her long standing friend, ready to retaliate when finally she saw it. While she'd been yelling at Kolme, the other mechs had finished returning, well most of them. Leaving an apparent gap in-between unit 3 and 26, Sabban's 27 with it's battered shield and Ennya's blackened Nemo 29 had redocked with their respective holding units nearest the lift. More conspicuous then the gap between the suits was what Sabban's machine held in it's hands, the upper torso of a Nemo missing most of it's head and backpack alongside only having one remaining leg and arm, it made the significant damage to Shasha's machine look minimal. More pressingly then what was there, was what wasn't. On the floor next to Sabban was the figure of a small women, Zori, on her knees crying into her hands, crouching behind her was Ennya who'd embraced her in something of an ad-hoc hug. Sabban for his part just stood idlily to the side.
"Wh- What happened..." Shasha said her mouth suddenly dry as she floated her way down to the group. Sabban opened his own mouth to answer but Zori got their first, "W- we, we got the first enemy just fine.. but then th- the Hambarbi was just too fast-.. Mili was protecting me- a-.. and, and then she.." Zori uttered incoherently through her tear stained face that stared desperately up at Shasha. "-and then that bastard Kamille killed her..." Sabban interrupted quietly. The others, even Kolme who'd been hanging back from the group shuffling his feet and looking awkwardly towards the ground, all looked over to young pilot with shock on their faces, Ennya quickly explained for Shasha's sake that what Sabban had meant was that the Zeta Gundam had hit Mili's damaged suit as collateral but Sabban wasn't finished "Like Hell it was accident! I told him to stop but he wouldn't listen. Shouldn't his new type bullcrap of warned him! Mili'd be fine if he'd--" before he could go any further Sabban found himself grabbed by the scuff of his collar. "That's quite enough kid" snarled the voice of Kolme, the one responsible for the collar grabbing.
"Look around you, you're makin' a scene. I'm sorry 'bout your friend but I told you 'lot to be ready, this is how things are. Best thing you guys can do now is get some rest, then get back here and see what 'an be done about these machine repairs" the rapidly greying man said sternly. Finally paying heed to his surroundings Sabban realised they were far from alone on the deck, a number of mechanics had already filled down to begin damage assessment and make sure non of the damaged Nemo's still ran the risk of catching fire or worse yet exploding, in fact the commotions had attracted enough attention that a good dozen heads were now looking in their general direction, thought none of them showed any signs of trying to interrupt the arguments. Sabban scoffed and swiped away the hands holding his onto his normal suit. "Fine then, you don't want me to make a scene, then I'll do things by the book" he called back, turning away from the group of pilots and heading in the lifts general direction. "That's a crap idea kid, no one on this ship needs dissent between us pilots. Let it go, ain't no one's fault your friend died!" Kolme responded back calling after the young man but Sabban had already set course for the bridge.
****
During his short lived time aboard the Argama Sabban had already started to get a feel for the assault carrier. It's living quarters, break room and other non-combat areas we're all relatively small compared to the large hanger bays, with it's retractable residential blocks housing individual cabins for higher ranking pilots and officers, aswell as the pilots and engineer's barracks. The aforementioned barracks was nothing to write home about, a long narrow room, lined with 12 beds each divided by a thin curtain. To the far end of the room stood the valuables lockers and to the end nearest the door a whiteboard lined with pilot stand-by rotas and other remedial duty lists, said board had been somewhat mysteriously filled with a series of names Sabban and the others hadn't recognised on arrival but when asked, Kolme had simply told them to ignore those names and had later wiped them off when he taught no one was looking. Aside from this the only difference to their old academe home was that the beds and the Chester-draws at the ends of those beds we're of an expectantly much higher quality.
The core of the ship, including the bridge, captains quarters, pilot changing room, etc was all fairly condensed and somewhat to Sabban's surprise he found not a single guard posted anywhere with-in the ship, indeed he easily entered the bridge without anyone so much as asking for his name and rank. Having reached the bridge so easily Sabban had thought the bulk of the operation to be complete. He confronted the captain with his most professional of army cadet salutes and explained that he believed Kamille's blatant disregard for his allies had been highly inappropriate and that if the Zeta had been better used, the outcome of the battle could of been entirely averted. Captain Bright Noa acknowledged the young mans complaints and told Sabban he'd put due thought into said disagreement over the pilot of Nemo 30. "Disagreement? Sir with all due respect, he migth as well of shot her himself and for your information she had a name ya know!" Sabban exclaimed indignantly. "Watch your tone Nemo 27, such remarks towards a fellow pilot doing their utmost to protect this ship could be seen as highly inflammatory, we all have to stick together in these hard times, it's my job as Captain to see the bigger picture, you understand?" Bright responded calmly. Sabban, tired from the battle, thoughts of his own morality after scoring his first kill still fresh and an exuberate grief at the death of one of his closest friends, finally lost his composure.
He lurched forward laying his hand on Captain Bright's fore-arm, gripping tightly he drew the taller man close "My name isn't 27 Sir! and that Kamille child is a damn murderer, what sort of captain doesn't take immediate action against something like that, heck what sort of leader keeps sending out a small child into battle in our best suit for that matter? I thought you we're meant to be one of the hero's of the one year wa--" before Sabban could continue with his rage addled rant he found himself interrupted once more, this time struck across the face, he stumbled backwards as the mighty force of the legendary 'Bright Noa backhand' left him dazed and confused.
It was in this way Sabban found himself confined to a 72 hour sentence in the brig for 'insubordination and deformation' along with a hefty field demotion for his 'immaturity', not exactly the result he'd initially hoped for. Around 42 hours into this cost free stay in the small blank walled box room that served as the Argama's time out quarters, Sabban stared intently at the roof when he heard the sound of footsteps outside the door. It was by his estimation too early for a food delivery which meant he had a guest. As predicted the familiar face of Ennya appeared behind the barred door with a friendly accompanying "Yo". The two conversed for a time, with Ennya inquiring as to weather Sabban had now cooled off. "Tch, I guess it was a bit much on my part, still though that guy can really throw a slap and what's up with his uniform?" Sabban said coyly. "Those are some strange complaints ya got there bud, then again you've always had quite the temper on you. Watcha mean about his uniform though, looks find to me?" Ennya replied with a small laugh, "It's a federation uniform, that's what! The guy's like second in command of this whole outfit bar Commodore Blex, yet he goes around in an enemy uniform aboard the damn flagship. And that's another thing, what's the deal with a Commodore being our leader? I mean shouldn't it be an Admiral or somen?".
Ennya laughed politely from his place outside the cell, "Well seems your back to your normal self, good to see you keeping your spirits up, still though getting detention on just our third day! That's gotta' be a record right? Shasha says it took you at-least 4 back at the academy" Ennya said laughing. "Ha! they'd of long expelled me from that place if I didn't have the highest scores in the mock battles... Tch, maybe it would of been better not to of joined up at all...arghh screw this mopping bollocks, what about you guys? How's Shasha and Zori holding up after... well you know". Ennya moved about awkwardly outside the cell, "Well Shasha's doin' what she always does when she's upset...", "I should of guessed, that poor Nemo of hers must of been more thoroughly cleaned and inspected these last few days then any other suit in history. And Zori?"
"She's doing better then you'd think, Mr.Astenage says they can use the recovered wrecking of unit 30, along with what's left of 28 to make a good as new Nemo. Zoe says it'll be like... like Mili's flying alongside her once it's done" Ennya finished, chocking slightly on the last few words.
Sabban stood up from where he'd been sitting and made his way across to his side of the doorway, "Hey and what about you eh, slacking off on your machine maintenance as usual I suppose? You know Shasha will chew you out for that right?" he asked kindly in a less boisterous tone then before. Ennya cast his eyes to the floor as he spoke "It's just - well, if only I hadn't been such an idiot and blinded myself like that, maybe I could of helped..." he half muttered. Sabban was about to correct his friend, remind him that if his own unit 27 couldn't get their in time, then there would of been no way for Ennya's 29 to go any faster, that it was all that Kamille's fault, but realising the selfish nature of those words, he held his tongue. The pain was clear on the 17 year old's face and Sabban was well aware nothing he could say would make that go away for his young friend.
****
Please note this is only part 1 of 2, here's part 2 - https://myanimelist.net/blog.php?eid=866413 or go to HoneyFeed for the optimale version - https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novels/5593 . I hope you enjoyed thus far and - Thanks for reading.
The following is part one of a two part short story that I wrote as part of my review for 'Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam'. It includes some spoilers for the show, thought no major character deaths of anything that nature but is probably best enjoyed with some prior knowledge of the show up to around episode 30. This is my first time attempt at a critic of this kind and was spurned by the fact that I struggled greatly to put into words my negative feelings towards Zeta Gundam without devolving into a mindless rant. As such I choose the biggest issue I had with the show (The treatment of the nameless, faceless unsung hero's of the Nemo pilots) and decided to try my hand at writing something of a parody detailing some of the stories short comings and a short story about some of the whole franchise's most tragically forgotten pilots. I hope you enjoy, each part is about 7000 words (Hence why I can't put it all under a single post), if you do or have a thoughts on it please use the comment function or leave a helpful on the main review page (https://myanimelist.net/profile/momentie/reviews) New; A slightly updated version of this short story is now available via Honey-feed, which is where I'd suggest you'll get the optimal reading experience - https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novels/5593 - Thanks for reading.
An Ode to Fallen Nemo
Sabban Vint, a young man in his early 20's well built with crew cut auburn hair, shuffled around in his seat expectantly as he stared out the portholed windows of a small AEUG launch. Out of said window he observed the passage of a large warship's bow, that ship was to be his new home for the foreseeable future, non other then the unofficial fleet flagship - The Argama. The launch, a form of space bus one migth say, was currently filled with just 7 people, those being the two pilots to the fore of the craft and his 4 comrades in arms. As he continued to stare out, he watched as they closed in on the massive hanger-bay doors of the Argama, space now replaced with the tall metallic walls of the ship's main interior Deck. Coming to a halt the launch set itself down gently a little inside the doorway, which in turn now closed sealing the room and making it breathable once more.
The small spacecraft's doorway to the front opened automatically and a small set of steps expanded out from there. One by one the 5 young men and women each exited down these steps, a couple of them offering thanks to the pilots as they passed, whom in turn offered seemingly apathetic nods to the youths. Now standing out in the cavernous room, the group of rookies began glancing around each other, the room was quickly filling with people, who returned now that it was safe once more not to be wearing the standard issue breathing apparatus attire, more commonly referred to as 'normal suits'. Following there example Sabban unclipped his own helmet to get a better look at his surroundings, "That's the Zeta Gundam ain't it?" he exclaimed pointing over towards the large imposing figure of a blue and white mobile suit to one corner of the hanger. Beside him the tallest of their group, a muscle bound young women by the name of Mili Sanju spoke up "and that over there's the Hyaku Shiki right?" she opted indicting to a gleaming golden mobile suit with the kanji for those very words imbedded lavishly on its shoulders. Mili's strong frame was no coincidence, indeed back on the moon she'd been known as a bit of a 'gym freak' giving any one of the male students a run for their money in terms of fitness.
"..That one to the back is the Methuss.. it's an experimental transformable suit.." said a quiet voice to the left side of Sabban. The voice rather fittingly belonged to Zori Hogei, the shortest of the group, with shoulder length black hair, she had made up for what she lacked in stature by consistently scoring the highest on every test back at the academy. "Wait really? I thought it was some captured suit, dont'cha think it looks like a giant beetle?" insisted the jovial voice of Ennya Zwan, by far the youngest of the group, the scruffy young man had got into the pilot course via the fast track scheme at the age of just 17, a few months later here he was still acting the class clown. Sabban couldn't help but grin remembering how shocked Ennya had been to get the news they would be heading for the Argama. Well, in truth they'd all been pretty surprised, just barely out of the training they'd expected nothing more then to be put on regimental guard duty for the AEUG's base's in Von Brown City or sent to be test pilots for Anaheim Electrical, one of the organizations biggest financial sponsors but instead the order had come through for the five of them to head to this very ship to be it's newest squadron of pilots.
Speaking of their fifth member, standing a little ahead of the rest of the group, Miss. Shasha Niju decided it was her time to cut in, "Alright you lot, that's enough chatter, we're not here as cadets on field trip remember" she said sternly giving Ennya and Sabban a glare in particular. For her part Shasha had been the class leader back in training, she placed second in most technical and practical tests making her the most well rounded pilot of the group. Her abilities along with Sabban's own during mock battles had garnered them both the immediate rank of petty officer upon graduation, with the rest of their cohort at the base level of 'Crewmen'. Shasha had continued to fulfil her role as group leader even after they'd departed for their new assignments. Second tallest of the group she stood at an impressive 6 foot ( just below Mili's 6,2), her blond hair tied neatly in a ponytail, she had impressive posture and a befitting general air of a young officer about her.
"That's great and all, oh my 'capitain' but I don't see much of a welcoming party" Sabban said mockingly. Shasha's face grew characteristically indignant as she glanced around the hanger. The place had now fully filled with pilots, engineers and mechanics all going about repairs and inspections of the different mobile suits and weapons that surrounded them. A little ways in front of them they spotted a man float down in the minimal gravity from the cockpit of the ever gleaming Hyaku Shiki, he stopped at the base of it and turned to stare up at it, seemingly to make sure he'd fully completed his inspection of the impressive machine. The man had somewhat long blond hair, a conspicuous pair of sunglasses lay atop his visage and a bright red jacket over his shoulders. "Hey that's not-" Ennya started but before he could finished Shasha marched forwards hailing towards the man in red. The others quickly followed, wanton not to get left behind. "lieutenant Quattro Sir! General Purpose Mobile Suit Squadron 117 reporting for duty Sir!" Shasha borderline bellowed, while clapping her boots together and performing the sharpest of salutes.
'Quattro' for his part glanced over at the sudden intrusion and raised an eyebrow as thought trying to remember if he should know the group of young people saluting him. "Oh! The new Nemo pilots" he exclaimed clasping his hands together triumphantly, "sorry to disappoint but you've got the wrong deck, your looking for the second floor. If you report in there you should find someone with your instructions" he said while gesturing a hand in the direction of the far side of the hanger. He grinned kindly and in a joking tone of voice continued "It's like the great red comet, Char Aznable once said 'these aren't the mechs your looking for Amuro'" with this comment he laughed allowed a little before realising no one else had understood the joke and coughing into his hand politely. "Ahem, well you'd best get going then" he finished turning his attentions back to his mech.
The group of pilots saluted and started to make their way across the room towards the elevator 'Quattro' had pointed to. Once they were out of earshot they couldn't help but discuss the great AEUG ace's strange use of reference to the Zeon hero of the one year war but before long there attentions drew distracted as they closed in on the elevator. It was to the rear of the large room, at the walls either side of it stood six mobile suit holding units, 3 filled with the bulky red and black Rick Dais's of the Argama and the other three presumably belonging to the machines they'd passed on the way in. At the end of this path stood a massive mobile suit elevator used to transport mechs between the upper and lower hangers while additionally next too that was a much smaller service lift for use of personnel. As they walked along Mili put on a visibly quizzical face - "Hey Zori aren't Rick Dias's meant to be grey or black? Why're all these one's red?". Ennya was quick with an un-asked for reply "Probably makes 'em faster right zoe?". Walking a little in front, Sabban caught sight of Shasha sighing at the rest of the group's overt eagerness. Zori for her part was the usual one whom had questions of this nature thrown at her, her academic prowess always proceeding her. "..I don't think the colour red would make them go faster though.." she half mumbled quietly in response to Ennya's joke.
Finally reaching the elevator, Shasha urged them all to quiet down like a school supply teacher migth of and before Zori had the chance to properly explain the reasoning behind the strange change in the Rick Dias's colour scheme, they instead ushered themselves into the small elevator. The lift began slowly lowering, begin frontless with just a small handrailing to prevent one from tumbling accidentally forwards, the squad soon caught sight of their destination. In front of them sprawled out a much smaller hanger bay with a similar layout of 6 mech holding areas but without any additional space for catapults such as the upper deck pertained. More pressingly, held in each one of the six chambers was a tall, gaunt blue and green mobile suit. The slew of machines we're all humanoid in nature, standing at an impressive height of 19.5 metres, the head alone a metre tall and with a battle skirt-esk armour, wide berthed legs and an expressionless face, what stood before them was non other then the AUEG mass production general purpose mobile suit extraordinaire, 'The Nemo'. From the back right hand corner of the room stood one that had clearly been used frequently, with plenty of scorch marks and even bits of armour seemingly welded on across varies vital parts of the suit, as well as two highly prominent extra pieces of kilt armour stapled to the machines waist. Furthermore as Sabban looked down at the machine he could of sworn the leg thrusters we're those of a far stronger suit, like the Rick Dias's they'd just pasted, rather then those of it's sister designs. As for said design the other five mobile suits all glistened brightly, the paint looked fresh and it seemed apparent to the rookie pilots that they stood in the presence of five brand new machines.
With the elevator settled they trooped off and began to once more take in their surroundings, the room was far more dimly lit then the upper deck had been, meanwhile where the main hanger had been teaming with workers, Sabban could only see two engineers in their distinctly blue attire, working on the battered suit at the back of the room. Next to them was a third man wearing what often passed as the uniform of the AUEG pilots, a plain brown pair of overalls. One of the engineers nudged the pilot who in turn looked over to see the new visitors. While most of the others where busy ogling the mobile suits around them, Sabban could of sworn he saw the pilot mutter the words '-5th group eh-' under his breath, though at his distance it was hard to lip read the words.
With a polite cough from Shasha informing the others to stop messing and fall in line she once more stepped forward, saluted smartly and proclaimed that they were reporting for duty as instructed. The pilot she had called out to had by now sauntered his way across to them, his posture was lax, his medium length greying hair wavy and poorly tended to, with him now standing closer it was clear to see his overalls too were poorly kept, covered in oil stains and the like. He scratched absentmindedly at one ear as Shasha gave introductions to each member of the team and their respective ranking, when she finished the man waved a hand loosely in the air as something of a half hearted salute before looking closely at each recruit "That'll be enough of the 'Sir!' spiel, you said your a petty officer ya? Well so am I so no need for all da' formality. Oh- and welcome to Hell kids", he'd finished his almost slurred and ominously clichéd sentence with an unenthusiastic yawn.
"..Umm excuse me si- I mean petty officer.. if your not in charge then who is?.." Zori asked while standing reservedly in Mili's shadow. The aged man stared across at Zori with something akin to, but not quite, contemp. In fact now that Sabban's focus was squarely on the aged 'gentleman' he started to question just how old he actually was, his appearance from afar had made him look like someone in their late 40s or even early 50s but up close he wasn't so sure. "Listen up little miss, all of you for that matter, 'cause I'll only say it once ya hear? This here ship is the Argama and on it there's three types of pilots, you got the lads at the top, the supposed 'new-types' like that Kamille boy, their led mostly by 'lieutenant Quattro', then there's Apolly's bunch in the Rick Dias's. Apolly's sound enough but he has his hands full just trying to keep his own lads alive so don't expect much in the way of 'orders' from the supposed leader of 'The-Rick-Dias-Team'" he paused his ramblings for a moment at this stage and begin shuffling around in his overall pockets. "Then there's us alright? We're the grunts, the expendables, pawns, whatever way you 'wanna slice it hear? Our orders, if you can call 'em that, will come from the bridge or Quatro or even Kamille if he's got some busy work needs 'doin. Heck alot of my orders come from that Sheen women and she isn't even assigned to this ship. Point I'm trying to get at is no cares about us 'k? Keep 'yere head down and your machine maintained during the quiet moments. When in battle stick together, always hold your shield far enough away from you so that when it explodes and thrust me it will explode, at-least it doesn't damage your camera's and never - ever - try to be a hero, we aren't payed enough for that sort of crap".
With these final words of his tirade conveyed, the old pilot had started sorting out a pile of trinkets he'd recovered from the pocket he'd earlier been searching. The pile consisted of a large number of keys, sub divided in-to groups of two on a small binding ring. One key was a slim rectangular block object, with a USB-esk end and a number ranging from '26' up to '30' on it, the second key was an exceedingly old fashioned looking foe-brass locker key. Of that pile he first untangled the odd-set-out, consisted of a near identical locker key as well as three of the USB types, one with the number '3' on it in smudged lettering, the other two had a faded federation logo imbedded on them with a white background, rather then the light green of the others and no other visible markings. Along side these were a number of miscellaneous other keys. He put this particular set back into his pocket before gradually tossing the other 5 identical sets out one by one to those before him. "Those'll get you into the lockers in the changing room for 'yere normal suits, same key will also match a valuables locker in ya digs, got it? The others all correspond to these here mobile suits. The 'MSA - 003' better know as the 'Nemo' or better yet the 'Dead pilot walking'...you can sort who gets which one by yourselves, there all pretty much the exact same" with those final disconcerting words and the keys effectively handed out, the old pilot turned to walk away.
"Err Mr you didn't tell us your name... or what we're meant to be doing right now - Sir?" Sabban would normally of thought it amusing to hear Shasha ask this question in such an unconfident manner but he had to admit it was the same thought that had ran through his own mind. The pilot stopped in his tracks and sighed, turning back around on the spot he stared Shasha straight in the eyes as he responded to her questions "I told ya it's not my damn job to boss y'all around, the names Petty Officer Kolme Nilas and you can think again if you 'recon I'm gonna concierge you to your room or take you on a pleasant guided tour around the ship as if this were the Ritz back on Granada ya hear? Pilots sleep in room 2B, I'm sure a fine body of men like yourselves can at-least find your way there by yourself without getting too lost".
The Quintet somewhat dejectedly made their way back along the under hanger towards the lift. A heavy silence had replaced their early enthusiasm, "Not really what I expected from our new boss" Ennya sighed, "Relax, he's probably just hazing us, like the good old days back at camp" Sabban said patting his younger friend heartily on the back. "..are we really just p-pawns.." Zori muttered darkly to herself as Sabban continued to assault Ennya's back. "Heck no, after all everyone knows the Nemo's a... a- a? a state of the line suit!" Mili affirmed in an attempt to raise her friends spirits. "Mili's right Zori, Hizacks can't even use multiple beam weapons at the same time right?" Sabban added, as he did Mili shot him a thankful smile, Zori had a bad habit of getting easily stressed but changing the topic to the technical details of one machine or other was the quick way to snap her out of it. As hoped her face brightened as she proceeded to explain the specific details of how Sabban was quite correct in his assertion about the Nemo's superior capabilities. Mili smiled contently at seeing her friend's worries alleviated, making it clear that such worries hadn't even crossed her own mind. For as long as he'd known them, Mili and Zori had been something of a cliched partnership of best friends, in spite of the obvious room for 'the brains and the brawn' jokes, it would take a brave individual to try and mock Zori at the risk of Mili's wrath.
"That's nice and all but we're not gonna be much of a team with a leader like that old Scottish fart" Ennya uttered breaking back into the conversation. They had reached the foot of the elevator at this stage and stood around it simply chatting "Scottish? I was thinking he sounded more Irish then that" Sabban interjected, trying to lighten the mood. Shasha who'd seemed lost in thought till now, was the one to break this small talk, "No matter about him, if he won't lead us then I will!" she proclaimed boldly "First order of business is getting rid of these bags before we take a proper look at our new posts, he said the room code was 2B correct? Well we can most certainly show him by finding it and with-out asking directions at that!". With her decree made on behalf of the whole squad, they collectively re-boarded the lift and set off in search of their new accommodation.
****
A few days later Sabban found himself blinking rapidly as he took in the situation, around him laser fire jettisoned itself loses in all directions against a backdrop of seemingly innocuously twinkling stars. For all his harsh words Kolme had been right about the pace of battles when you launched from the Argama. Himself (In Nemo 27) and Ennya(Nemo 29) had been ordered by the bridge to simply 'defend' the ship's aft frontage, while Zori (N28) and Mili (N30) did much the same at the opposite end of the vessel. As for Kolme (3) and Shasha(26), they'd been picked seemingly at random by Kamille and 'Quattro' to help intercept an incoming enemy mobile suit team. The battle had begun only a few minutes ago when the helmsmen of the Argama had spotted a Titan ship called the 'Alexandrea' which apparently the crew where all wall acquainted with. It had launched its mobile suits in response to the Argama firing off the first volley of it's main canons. The Alexandrea's opening gambit had consisted of 4 Hambarbi type suits, which one migth describe as a blue suit with a rigid wing-like structure, a triangular head section and claws for hands. Alongside these was a whole boat load of the Titan's own general use mobile suit, the 'Hizack', a green machine that looked conspicuously like the rather famous Zaku Mk2 of the one year war and apparently housed both Federation and former Zeon technologies from that war. There was apparently such a great number of these Hizacks that the bridge crew had claimed they couldn't pick a precise figure. With these dire odds in play the Zeta and Hyaku Shiki had gone with the two members of the nemo team to intercept the enemy's lead suit, apparently commanded by a fierce-some pilot named "Yazan Gable" and accompanied by one other Hambarbi and a number of the lesser suits. The rest of the force had split in to three other groups, two consisting of a single Hambarbi and 2 Hizacks and a third group of just a duo of Hizacks which currently appeared to be bottling it's way straight for Sabban and Ennya's current position.
The Methuss along with the Rick Dias Team had followed after one of those other Hambarbi teams so it was clear to Sabban that failure could mean the sinking of their home with no reinforcements likely. He took a deep breath while studying his equipment, just like in the simulations he watched as the distance between him and the enemy suits gradually decreased, gaining ever closer to effective firing range. He flicked open the communication switches to talk to the bridge "Two units at 11 o clock, will move to intercept, requesting AA batteries assist", "Roger Nemo 27, Anti-Air will help at next available opportunity" came the reply from the bridge officer 'Torrez'. Muting his mike, Sabban wondered to himself what else could the AA guns actually be doing other then firing off in seemingly random directions but quickly shock his head and turned his focus back to the job at hand, "Ennya let them shoot first then return fire, I'll go for the one in back, you take the other one". "Roger" Ennya replied quaintly, his usually tone of voice far more mellow in the face of their first real taste of battle. Sabban carefully moved the control stick for the Nemo's right arm, positioning the shield carefully in front of himself, making sure to cover his suit's torso. With the other stick he carefully raised his beam rifle as all the while the number on the distance calculator grew even smaller.
'0'. The flurry of fire soared forth from the Hizack weapons as they barred their way ever forward towards the ship, as planned Sabban's shield took the brunt of the volley and raising his weapon he pulled the control trigger. Somewhat disappointingly he watched as his first two strikes missed, however with a little correction his third fourth and fifth hit home. Of those the first two bounced off the Hizack's own defences, while it raised up it's reloaded weapon to fire once more, then the fifth hit, a plum of colourful smoke burst out and the shots it had readied, fired harmlessly off course. "Gotcha!" Sabban exclaimed and as if on que a further volley set past him as the Argama's AA battery kicked to life and slammed into the damaged Hizack, finishing it off in a brilliant explosion of fire. Sabban quickly regained his composure glancing over to the other Hizack, unlike his it was still careering forward with renewed vigour. It had forgone shooting at the Nemo's and instead begun blasted straight at the ship. Glancing over to Ennya's Nemo, Sabban was relieved to see the thing still in one piece. "What happened Ennya?", "Sorry K' their opening attack took out my cameras" Ennya replied despondently. Indeed it was clear that Ennya's shield had been blown to shreds and the front of his suit had become blacken, obscuring his view 'Just as the old man predicted would happen...' Sabban pondered to himself. "You better get back to the ship then, don't worry about this I'll cover you" with the informal order given to his temporarily set back friend, Sabban pressed down hard on the control pedal of his Nemo and began altering the vernier's in order to project himself towards the next enemy.
Now in position directly in the path of the Hizack, Sabban finished changing out his own rifle's energy pack and passed it over to his right arm, the one with the mounted shield. In his left he picked up his beam saber from it's resting place and activated the mighty weapon. A faint hissed accompanied it's activation as the thin beam of light and condensed energy surged from the hilt of the weapon. The Hizack rose it's weapon to shoot, still not showing any signs of slowing before realising it's energy was all wasted. In an effort to correct this scuppered situation it tossed aside the rifle and instead projected a beam saber of it's own. A mere matter of moments passed before finally the two machines clashed. Sabban felt his whole body shudder as the tremendous force of the fast moving mech collided blade first with his own. Their two sabers meeting violently, the Hizack's momentum now lost, boosted backwards while firing it's two helmet mounted Vulcan cannons. Sabban was quick to react, he surged forward with his own boosters, effectively ducking under the line of machine gun fire and slashed upwards once more with his weapon.
The Hizack blocked again, now it's turn on the defensive it swung back it's off hand then surged forward with some light assistance from its own verniers. Sabban rose his shields, the two mobile suits still locking blades as the Hizack's other fist smashed into the Nemo's shield, sending fragments of debris from it, which floated about harmlessly in the vacuum of space. The two mechs held still, stuck in this stalemate for a few moments before Sabban took his chance. The Nemo's shield was attached to the arm, leaving the hand free to hold a rifle, furthermore it possessed the power to both keep up it's beam saber and fire it's weapons, these facts in mind Sabban had carefully positioned his riffle so that when the Hizack had collided with his shield it had left the mech's cockpit wide open. Hesitating for only a passing moment, Sabban pulled the trigger. A colourful beam of light emerged from his weapon and then again out the back of the hapless enemy Hizack. The machines beam saber now deactivated, the hilt floating away helplessly alongside the rest of the suit. Sabban backed off knowing what would come next 'That was so easy...so easy to kill a man...' he thought grimly to himself, being a solider he'd known this was coming but the though still invaded his mind and as he watched the defeated Hizack float gradually further away, it's torso sparking dramatically until the whole thing exploded emphatically in an awesome burst of light, Sabban also couldn't help but think another thought to himself 'Was that guy another grunt, a grunt just like me?'
Before he could lament this worrying thought any further he was rudely awoken by the Nemo's buzzing comms system, "Sabban, buddy can you hear me? It's Ennya, look behind you quick, I think the other's are in trouble!"
Chapter-2
Sabban did as Ennya had suggested and spun his Nemo round to observe what had panicked the boy so thoroughly, not that it traditionally took much, he also flicked the switch on his radio unit to an open setting in the hopes of hearing what was happening. "..S-Someone help, we need reinforcement, Mi-Mili's gonna die!" came the shrill voice of Zori over the intercom. Looking ahead and making use of his camera's magnification process, Sabban spotted the problem. The second of the enemy's groups of three, consisting of a Hambarbi and two Hizacks had chosen to attack the ship from the rear while Sabban and Ennya had been busy. Not only out-numbered by one, the Hambarbi had proven a far more powerful suit then the feeble Nemo could hope to match, from his viewpoint Sabban could see the results of the battle so far, Zori's suit had literally lost an arm and a leg, with substantial damage to the head an booster pack aswell, floating around it lay the wrecking of another Hizack which clearly the duo had managed to take out before Zori's suit got so badly damaged. Below him on the flight deck Sabban could also see Ennya, who's mech had now landed below with it's cockpit open to allow Ennya to observe the on-going battle in spite of his broken camera equipment.
Across from all this however was the real issue. Placed a few yards in-front of Zori's disabled machine was Nemo no.30, Mili, currently clashing blades with a second Hizack, her suit too had taken heavy damage but non-the-less held it's place. Behind all this the Hambarbi which had seemingly backed off due to covering fire from the Argama, was now closing the distance fast. "Hold on Mili, I'll be there soon" Sabban called out over the radio receiver, while activating his backpack to move himself forward. Despite his claim it was becoming painfully clear he wouldn't make it in time. Another voice lit up the comms "Nemo 30, hold the line, reinforcements are on their way!" 'Torrez' communicated sullenly, as though Mili had much choice in the matter. Possibly to everyone's surprize Mili's suit suddenly sprang to live as the women managed to maneuver it's leg upwards to strike the Hizack she was engaging. Pushing it off balance it drifted back just far enough for Mili to use the space to surge forward and slash the cockpit of the suit with her now freed weapon.
"Way to go!" Sabban and Ennya cheered near simultaneously as the mech she'd been fighting exploded in defeat but there was no time to relax, as the stricken Hizack floated aside the Hambarbi took it's place, Mili was too slow this time and before anyone knew what had happened, the Hambarbi slashed upwards with it's intimidating clawed fist, tearing open Mili's suit's torso. Not even stopping to finish the job the blue enemy mech simply continued its pursuits forwards towards the Argama. "Mili!" Zori screamed over the radio link, "damn machine, why won't you move? I have to help her!". Her voice straining Zori continued to shout out for her friend, Sabban was forced to watch, still too far to reach the crippled Nemo but just as all seemed lost, Mili's Nemo turned to face them, still being spun by the sheer force of the previous attack. Zori let out a cry of relief, as did the two young men when they realised that thought the front of the suit had been completely stripped back, it was clear the pilot, in her normal suit was still alive if unconscious.
"Right then, time to stop that bast-" Sabban begun, his resolved renewed at the sight of his friend still breathing, however before he could finish off the sentence, his sensor picked up another suit moving remarkably fast, first behind him, then briefly straight above and then right ahead. The Zeta Gundam. Even in it's jet mode, it's imposing canon glistened as it let loose a powerful energy blast. Said attack collided straight into the Hambarbi which had no time to even attempt an evade, the blast causing it to recoil backwards, it's thrusters clearly damaged by the impact it drifted carelessly back towards Mili's still stricken suit. "That's the way Mr.Kamille, now finish him- No wait! Don't shoot, for God's sake-". Sabban's words fell onto deaf ears, Kamille's Zeta Gundam effortlessly fired a second blast which expectantly finished off the Hambarbi and it in turn exploded in an impressive engulf of flames, the sheer force of which collided mightily with the openly exposed cockpit of Nemo Unit 30, spewing a typhoon of visceral flames into the unprotected pilot's cabin.
****
Shasha recoiled slightly as what was left of her mech, number 26, was strapped into the holding container on the lower deck. With her cockpit now open she took the chance to properly observe the damage, her Nemo's arm from a little above the elbow and down had been blown clean off, a part of the chest sections armour and her riffle lost along with it. Glancing across she saw unit 3 similarly come to halt and out emerged Petty Officer Kolme. Clenching her fists Shasha kicked off her suit and floated over to the man, grabbing onto the tip of his open hatch she began her assault "What the hell was that? You left me for dead out there, I signalled you and you just ignored me! if the Hyaku Shiki hadn't been passing I'd be dead for sure!" she proclaimed swinging an arm to her side empathetically. Kolme looked over to her, his face showing little surprize at the insult "Sorry lass, the minovsky particles were to high, I couldn't hear you properly". "Couldn't hear me? My rigth friggin arm got blown off, ain't that enough of a damn signal for ya?"
Before the conflict of interests could go any further, a voice called out to them from below - "Hey knock it off you two, now isn't the time" Sabban said in a half hearted shout. Shasha looked over towards him, more then a little used to butting heads with her long standing friend, ready to retaliate when finally she saw it. While she'd been yelling at Kolme, the other mechs had finished returning, well most of them. Leaving an apparent gap in-between unit 3 and 26, Sabban's 27 with it's battered shield and Ennya's blackened Nemo 29 had redocked with their respective holding units nearest the lift. More conspicuous then the gap between the suits was what Sabban's machine held in it's hands, the upper torso of a Nemo missing most of it's head and backpack alongside only having one remaining leg and arm, it made the significant damage to Shasha's machine look minimal. More pressingly then what was there, was what wasn't. On the floor next to Sabban was the figure of a small women, Zori, on her knees crying into her hands, crouching behind her was Ennya who'd embraced her in something of an ad-hoc hug. Sabban for his part just stood idlily to the side.
"Wh- What happened..." Shasha said her mouth suddenly dry as she floated her way down to the group. Sabban opened his own mouth to answer but Zori got their first, "W- we, we got the first enemy just fine.. but then th- the Hambarbi was just too fast-.. Mili was protecting me- a-.. and, and then she.." Zori uttered incoherently through her tear stained face that stared desperately up at Shasha. "-and then that bastard Kamille killed her..." Sabban interrupted quietly. The others, even Kolme who'd been hanging back from the group shuffling his feet and looking awkwardly towards the ground, all looked over to young pilot with shock on their faces, Ennya quickly explained for Shasha's sake that what Sabban had meant was that the Zeta Gundam had hit Mili's damaged suit as collateral but Sabban wasn't finished "Like Hell it was accident! I told him to stop but he wouldn't listen. Shouldn't his new type bullcrap of warned him! Mili'd be fine if he'd--" before he could go any further Sabban found himself grabbed by the scuff of his collar. "That's quite enough kid" snarled the voice of Kolme, the one responsible for the collar grabbing.
"Look around you, you're makin' a scene. I'm sorry 'bout your friend but I told you 'lot to be ready, this is how things are. Best thing you guys can do now is get some rest, then get back here and see what 'an be done about these machine repairs" the rapidly greying man said sternly. Finally paying heed to his surroundings Sabban realised they were far from alone on the deck, a number of mechanics had already filled down to begin damage assessment and make sure non of the damaged Nemo's still ran the risk of catching fire or worse yet exploding, in fact the commotions had attracted enough attention that a good dozen heads were now looking in their general direction, thought none of them showed any signs of trying to interrupt the arguments. Sabban scoffed and swiped away the hands holding his onto his normal suit. "Fine then, you don't want me to make a scene, then I'll do things by the book" he called back, turning away from the group of pilots and heading in the lifts general direction. "That's a crap idea kid, no one on this ship needs dissent between us pilots. Let it go, ain't no one's fault your friend died!" Kolme responded back calling after the young man but Sabban had already set course for the bridge.
****
During his short lived time aboard the Argama Sabban had already started to get a feel for the assault carrier. It's living quarters, break room and other non-combat areas we're all relatively small compared to the large hanger bays, with it's retractable residential blocks housing individual cabins for higher ranking pilots and officers, aswell as the pilots and engineer's barracks. The aforementioned barracks was nothing to write home about, a long narrow room, lined with 12 beds each divided by a thin curtain. To the far end of the room stood the valuables lockers and to the end nearest the door a whiteboard lined with pilot stand-by rotas and other remedial duty lists, said board had been somewhat mysteriously filled with a series of names Sabban and the others hadn't recognised on arrival but when asked, Kolme had simply told them to ignore those names and had later wiped them off when he taught no one was looking. Aside from this the only difference to their old academe home was that the beds and the Chester-draws at the ends of those beds we're of an expectantly much higher quality.
The core of the ship, including the bridge, captains quarters, pilot changing room, etc was all fairly condensed and somewhat to Sabban's surprise he found not a single guard posted anywhere with-in the ship, indeed he easily entered the bridge without anyone so much as asking for his name and rank. Having reached the bridge so easily Sabban had thought the bulk of the operation to be complete. He confronted the captain with his most professional of army cadet salutes and explained that he believed Kamille's blatant disregard for his allies had been highly inappropriate and that if the Zeta had been better used, the outcome of the battle could of been entirely averted. Captain Bright Noa acknowledged the young mans complaints and told Sabban he'd put due thought into said disagreement over the pilot of Nemo 30. "Disagreement? Sir with all due respect, he migth as well of shot her himself and for your information she had a name ya know!" Sabban exclaimed indignantly. "Watch your tone Nemo 27, such remarks towards a fellow pilot doing their utmost to protect this ship could be seen as highly inflammatory, we all have to stick together in these hard times, it's my job as Captain to see the bigger picture, you understand?" Bright responded calmly. Sabban, tired from the battle, thoughts of his own morality after scoring his first kill still fresh and an exuberate grief at the death of one of his closest friends, finally lost his composure.
He lurched forward laying his hand on Captain Bright's fore-arm, gripping tightly he drew the taller man close "My name isn't 27 Sir! and that Kamille child is a damn murderer, what sort of captain doesn't take immediate action against something like that, heck what sort of leader keeps sending out a small child into battle in our best suit for that matter? I thought you we're meant to be one of the hero's of the one year wa--" before Sabban could continue with his rage addled rant he found himself interrupted once more, this time struck across the face, he stumbled backwards as the mighty force of the legendary 'Bright Noa backhand' left him dazed and confused.
It was in this way Sabban found himself confined to a 72 hour sentence in the brig for 'insubordination and deformation' along with a hefty field demotion for his 'immaturity', not exactly the result he'd initially hoped for. Around 42 hours into this cost free stay in the small blank walled box room that served as the Argama's time out quarters, Sabban stared intently at the roof when he heard the sound of footsteps outside the door. It was by his estimation too early for a food delivery which meant he had a guest. As predicted the familiar face of Ennya appeared behind the barred door with a friendly accompanying "Yo". The two conversed for a time, with Ennya inquiring as to weather Sabban had now cooled off. "Tch, I guess it was a bit much on my part, still though that guy can really throw a slap and what's up with his uniform?" Sabban said coyly. "Those are some strange complaints ya got there bud, then again you've always had quite the temper on you. Watcha mean about his uniform though, looks find to me?" Ennya replied with a small laugh, "It's a federation uniform, that's what! The guy's like second in command of this whole outfit bar Commodore Blex, yet he goes around in an enemy uniform aboard the damn flagship. And that's another thing, what's the deal with a Commodore being our leader? I mean shouldn't it be an Admiral or somen?".
Ennya laughed politely from his place outside the cell, "Well seems your back to your normal self, good to see you keeping your spirits up, still though getting detention on just our third day! That's gotta' be a record right? Shasha says it took you at-least 4 back at the academy" Ennya said laughing. "Ha! they'd of long expelled me from that place if I didn't have the highest scores in the mock battles... Tch, maybe it would of been better not to of joined up at all...arghh screw this mopping bollocks, what about you guys? How's Shasha and Zori holding up after... well you know". Ennya moved about awkwardly outside the cell, "Well Shasha's doin' what she always does when she's upset...", "I should of guessed, that poor Nemo of hers must of been more thoroughly cleaned and inspected these last few days then any other suit in history. And Zori?"
"She's doing better then you'd think, Mr.Astenage says they can use the recovered wrecking of unit 30, along with what's left of 28 to make a good as new Nemo. Zoe says it'll be like... like Mili's flying alongside her once it's done" Ennya finished, chocking slightly on the last few words.
Sabban stood up from where he'd been sitting and made his way across to his side of the doorway, "Hey and what about you eh, slacking off on your machine maintenance as usual I suppose? You know Shasha will chew you out for that right?" he asked kindly in a less boisterous tone then before. Ennya cast his eyes to the floor as he spoke "It's just - well, if only I hadn't been such an idiot and blinded myself like that, maybe I could of helped..." he half muttered. Sabban was about to correct his friend, remind him that if his own unit 27 couldn't get their in time, then there would of been no way for Ennya's 29 to go any faster, that it was all that Kamille's fault, but realising the selfish nature of those words, he held his tongue. The pain was clear on the 17 year old's face and Sabban was well aware nothing he could say would make that go away for his young friend.
****
Please note this is only part 1 of 2, here's part 2 - https://myanimelist.net/blog.php?eid=866413 or go to HoneyFeed for the optimale version - https://www.honeyfeed.fm/novels/5593 . I hope you enjoyed thus far and - Thanks for reading.
Posted by momentie | Jun 29, 2021 8:00 AM | 0 comments
May 26th, 2021
The Complete Shuffle! Retrospective Part 5 (of 5)
Anime Relations: Shuffle!
Well here we are, the final part of our 43,000 word(Yes I'm going to keep bringing that up, sue me) essay on 'Shuffle!'. As mentioned this final part is a whole lot shorter then the others and mainly deals with the final episode and a conclusion segment to wrap everything up. If you've stumbled across this unknowingly, then be sure to check out the other four pars, starting here first https://myanimelist.net/blog.php?eid=860551 - . So for one last time, please enjoy
Episode 24 - "And...What is Important"
With all that we've just discussed and have been in general about Rin and Asa safely kept in mind, we now find ourselves on our way to the final episode. Shuffle's finally is a favorite of mine in a medium that while sometimes struggles to finish satisfactorily, definitely presents some stiff competitions. If you'll allow me to gush for just a moment, I love how in the end after 23 episodes of defying convention it at last stops and tells you that its ok to want a happy ending, that sometimes things do work out and you can be a hero for someone that you care about. I love how it masterfully wraps up all the loose ends, how it's not afraid to be cheesy and add in many a moment of levity, how it doesn't wholesale reject the traits that make us fall in-love with these genres in the first place. To get a little ahead of myself, I love how it's a happy ending. Heck if nothing else I love how 10 minutes of it act as an epilogue, now why aren't those legally compulsory?
While I'm unsure if it's my favorite ending of all time (Gurren Lagann, Code Geass, Fmab, Ryvious the original Madoka and Full Metal Panic and the Tv version of Eva are my incredibly generic guesses for what some of my top three would probably be) I'm confident it would place in the top ten were I to ever sit down and field them. With all that said we should probably take a proper look at what were dealing with.
We start things ahead and off the bat we have some interesting framing. Asa has got up and left the hospital, Rin in hot pursuit is framed desperately searching the building for her, the presentation takes wonderful strides to dull the colours of these scenes while also making sure to once more make use of perspective to draw Rin as small as is noticeable, the rooms are all empty of other people which all adds to put emphasis not only on Rin's hunt but also to make him look even smaller and add to the growing sense of desperation.
There is A scene with other people that acts as one of the many examples of Shuffle's brilliant compliance with basic writing tenants. Rather then Rin saying or monologuing something to convey his thoughts, he instead rounds a corner to what appears to be the A&E department. A trolley surrounded by emergency staff parades down the hallway, with the focus being on Rin's expression, this short couple of seconds seamlessly communicating what he's thinking and the deepest worries which he's feeling in this moment, without a single piece of explanatory, worthless dialogue being spoken.
We got some shots of Asa's journey interspliced into here, one in particular depicts her falling in front of a rubbish collection point, the lingering shot has her sandwiched between a discarded can in the foreground and piles of other miscellaneous rubbish bags in the background. This piece of imagery feels dark, chilling almost and I've always inferred it one of two ways. On the one hand it seems to be almost a homage to similar sub-themes in the likes of original 'Ghost in the Shell' where the idea of the corpse of a human being comparable to garbage is a side focus of that films amazing art directions however it could also be seen as a representation for Asa, Ama and all the test subjects, who are failed experiments doomed to die at the hand of their own extraordinary abilities and potential. Conversely it could just be as heart-breaking as it is eye-catching and nothing more.
The rest of the city is portraited in much the same manner as the hospital, with only a collection of uncaring, machines in the form of car traffic for company. Rin and his quest seem even smaller when framed on these sullen backgrounds. He retreats to the familiar setting of the park and while sitting on the fountain-side considers his options. This small, tiny even, moment is it, this is the culmination of his arc and I absolutely love the subtlety, it's here he decides his next course of action and here where he finally has to think about her, not about himself or what would be the socially right move (which in this moment would probably be to call the police or Ama or anyone for that matter) but instead he thinks about Asa and Asa alone deciding what he thinks is best her, himself and no one else.
Now we come to it, this one is the last big scenes we need to discuss in the whole shows run. I referenced it earlier all the way back in episode 20 (Which for me writing this was some weeks ago) this scene is my final 'Favorite Scene Tm' and I want to preface it by one last time reiterating that I am in no way qualified in any form of media study, indeed I'm a rank amateur in all manor of analysis regardless of the form of media and as such I doubt my word's can truly do this scene any real justice, therefore if it's a while since you last watched Shuffle, I advised your going back and rewatching this scene (up to the break title card, or just the whole episode if you want) to properly re-acquit yourself with the tone and feeling of this scene. You done? Great let's continue-
After re-uniting with a forlorn Asa, Rin listens calmly to her for a time. No music plays which I love and Rin is mostly silent to boot, as Asa with a hollow smile utters her devotion to the young man. There's some more nice parallels to other scenes here. Rin gives Asa his jacket, the only other case of this is with Primula in episode 15, furthermore his eyes are obscured throughout most scene as he hides his turn intention, his mind already made up. "I really like that you know me as well as you do Rin" - Asa face is continually drawn in that same unnerving ghostly fashion from the prior episode, adding further to the sickly sweet feel of the scene. The camera grows legs and proceeds to track much of the shots, in particular is how Asa closes the distance between herself and Rin, however the following shots hold as Rin steps away, replacing the closeness with a new distance.
The two continue to chat, they're usual banter still shining through to give this tragedy some minor moments of levity. Your heart breaks some as Asa continues still to rambles onwards "-I am glad that you said it though. I'm glad that you said it just like a proper gentleman would". As Rin increases the aforementioned distance between them you soon realize that what he's doing isn't what he's been told, that would be to let her die like she asked, nor does he leave it to Asa's mum to talk her out of her crazed course of action (which remember is what happens in all the others arcs to a degree) instead he does what he wants, he decides to save her no matter what it takes.
The music at last cuts back but it isn't for a dramatic rescue this time, no that was episode 15, instead its much more intimate, so much smaller and yet a way bigger act in it's own fashion. It's surprisingly graphic as Rin slits his wrist and presents a kind expression through his blood stained face while Asa, all the while Despairs at the scene unfolding in front of her. Personally speaking I'm quite squeamish, in fact just writing this vague summary with the episode in the background makes me somewhat embarrassingly a little light headed (It's why there's such a gaping hole in my knowledge of gory horror anime), regardless of that I think it's fair to say this scene shows another glimpse of the production team's fantastic breath of skills, as the blood is in no way obscure, hammering home the severity of the scene but also imploring it's importance.
This small act has it's desired effect and 24 episodes-in and Rin finally becomes the hero of the story. It's a redemption arc in a sense, I've already said at tedium how in each of the other arcs someone else plays a large part in the saving of each girl, Lycoris for Primula and Nerine, Kikyou for Cia, Primula and Asa for Keade and while in each story Rin does take an important role, I love how in the end he does the truly heroic act in order to save the one he loves. It's cheesy in a sense, a little too romantic for some I'm sure but the camera swooshes out as Asa's powers envelopes the screen, the story draws to a close.
The advertisement section ends and we resume where we began some approximate 540 minutes worth of screen-time earlier, in the hallway of the Fuyou residence. The art-style has changed once more, now being slightly more detailed and even moving at a higher frame rate in places which all makes for a nice touch to make it seem more flush and fluid moving. This final section of the show is it's epilogue but that doesn't mean were done talking, no indeed there's some clever stuff going on here.
Firstly as suggested we have a mirror to a scene in episode 1 however Primula's pigtail swing into the frame clueing us in that this is no recap. She also narrates this final segment as mentioned in my analysis of her character earlier on.
This epilogue is so satisfying because it takes its time as we will see, to show us each characters continued development. Primula herself helpfully clues us in only around 3 weeks have pasted, ergo the characters are definitely still working on themselves but enough time has pasted for most of them, that we can enjoy the catharsis of seeing how they've grown. Primarily on that list is Keade, she's put all her more dangerous tendencies into the role of being an older sister, however unlike with Rin, Primula is someone who as a younger sister (rather then surget daughter) is someone who can relie on to support her rather then how with Rin, Keade was simply catering to his every desire. This new set up is a marked improvement for them both.
The scene continues to repeat the same joke from the opening episode with Keade forgetting her own lunch, though Primula's inclusion here obviously changes this scene intrinsically. A new one off track plays over the moment and Primula conveys the aforementioned information about the passing of 3 weeks as well as confirming her age as just one year below Keade's. We follow up with a scene reminiscent of 22's with the girl's on the way to school. The 4 make for a nice grouping even before Rin and Asa's entrance and Primula's continued narration proceeds to spell out the plot for anyone still not paying attention "-but honestly I think he did what he thought was right". She says this as a response to the news that the gang were thoroughly pissed at Rin for risking his life which is an expected and fairly justified thing to hear.
As stated, we get something akin to 22 in these last ten minutes, essentially fanservice, however what I've always found interesting about it is how it's less fantisiful then twenty-two's efforts. Where it had maid outfits, lewd Kikyou and drunk dads, 24 is far more low-key, it's much more grounded, more realistic. The people involved act like a group of friends who've been through a ton of traumatic events in recent months. Sure there's still the girls fawning over Rin but it's far less ecchi. Furthermore rather then a party, they have a simply return of the roof-top get together. It's also playful in a really up-lifting way, for example the visual novel character cut ins return (not for the first time but they always make themselves absent in the more serious parts of the story), except this time the borders spring to life, bouncing off one another and covering over each other as the character talk over one another. It's a nice touch and pretty darn wholesome.
We get to see Isekai receive a genuine rejection from each of the girls which is both brutal and hilarious for how straight it's played, it's then followed by one last subversion as I think it's fair to say most of us expected Mayumi and Isekai to final become an item but instead despite a compliment about her...face we get one more glorious beat down of everyone's favorite resident gutter dwelling pervert. ("Bam and the dirt's gone" as I've written in notes). There's some more great comedy beats as during said roof-top lunch break Primula non-chalantly assassinates Rin with her cooking and pretends like it wasn't her elaborate plan while grinning machiavellianly all the while. It should also be noted that Nerine is absent from this scene, a further usage of the shows adherence to it's own rules and a good way to display her continued development past the confines of the group, which will touch on a little more in a second.
Following that we have a couple more important narrative points left to mention as the show seamlessly ties up it's remaining loose ends. Like most of Shuffle it's a simple action, we watch as Ama walks down a street covering herself with foe confidence as she strides past the two otherworldly king, as they pass they mumble to one another about a women they once knew and how they only wish that now they could apologies for what happened. Ama turns and bows. That's it. This to me is how all loose ends should be tied up, by like law or something. The composition is quite nice here to, it's set in what the film 'Your name' calls golden hour, or dusk to be it less romantically, as such the sun covers the all too familiar highstreets in a warm glow while in a sense being a visual metaphor for the comprise between light and dark, rather fitting for the best friend duo of the God and Demon.
We get one of the two instances of 'plot' based fanservice next with Asa presented in a frilly servers out-fit at the café where Kareha works. Her and Rin share one last set of cute dialogue showing how all is once more well in the world and in what I believe is Kareha's little sister's second appearance and only line in the show, she sums up the smile these final scenes always puts on my face, with a blush of her own - "I love a happy ending".
And then it ends, we get some great custom credits, which are always a win in my book, including an exceptionally well animated kiss between Keade and Cia (that being the other instance of fanservice) and wrap up the last bit of development for Nerine. We learn early in the episode that's she's really taking to her new pursuit of radio and may even be going to sing on air in the near future. Like the Ama ending, this is such a perfect illustration of a masterfully written ending, after-all not only is she clearly living life for herself and enjoying it at that, but the point about singing is definite proof that she's come to terms with the death of her sister and has truly recovered from her survivors guilt. Her shot in the credits shows her at Lycoris'es grave, its both nice as she's the only character incapable of being present in the epilogue but also another sign of Nerine's progression, prior to episode 15 I'm strongly confident she could of never faced that grave but now she looks on at it as her own person. It's also nice how in the end Shin's theory that no one would grief the artificial life's proved false, as evidenced by this shot of Nerine at the grave site. Neither the show of Nerine ever forget their big sister, which plays quite well into the theme of family and is just a nice way to wrap things up.
A Long-Sought After Conclusion
Well then here we are some 42,000+ words later. I've no intention to do the whole sappy 'this show changed my life' spiel, however I suppose some context is appropriate in the final act. 'Shuffle!' was not my first anime but one of a series of recommendations from a good friend, meaning It was certainly something I watched in my first year of proper anime viewing (You know that year when you realize anime is more then just Digimon, Yu-Gi-Oh and Pokémon). I loved it on that first watch and it probably set my standards for harem and rom-com anime way to high. If you've seen my Mal list you'll know I actually score most generic harems in the region of a 7 (Read 'On Judging anime by Jury' via my blog -
https://myanimelist.net/blog.php?eid=845864 for more info on the scoring system if your interested in boring stuff like me) but for one to get a 10 this is the standard I expect.
Coming up with a summary here is tricky, we've gone through a lot and Shuffle as a show has so many dense layers that I once more must insist that I have hardly done it justice, however as I said at the very beginning I've always struggled to find any good analysis for more niche shows like this one. Sure there is some but much of it is shallow or people complaining that they don't 'like Asa as the winner' or they hate how 'Rin is a pus*y' which brings us back to what we discussed in the 'Maturity in Nudity' segment. If someone else has done a better analysis, please send it on to me as I'd love to hear the thoughts of other reasonable open-minded tolerate people but in lieu of that let's wrap this up shall we?
I've watched Shuffle more then 5 times now and an inordinate time has been spent thinking about it, so much so that between that and this essay you could probably add an extra couple watches on to it. Ever since that first re-watch five years ago I've been threatening friends and my long suffering brother that I would actually write something about it one day but you migth still ask why? (though how you got down this far would then baffle me senseless). Shuffle for me is the optimi of what makes anime unique, it appeals to an audience of young adults and teenagers that the west so often wants to forget exist and refuses point blank to cater to with an any sincerity. It's a visual wonder with it's ocean of metaphor, literary short-hand and show not tell story telling, combined with it's frequent abusing of the art style to fascinating extend. The Ost is varied and versatile (although the version I have of it is missing many of the one off tracks which is thoroughly annoying), it embodies the somber yet springy spirit of those visual novel soundtracks we've all come to love. The story is slow and considered, it - well - shuffles from genre to genre with ample amounts of foreshadowing, logical decisions, natural, relatable drama and a real sense of the anime heart that so many other often looked down upon shows exude. I've heard people using the term "Gainx spirit" to refer to Studio Gainx and Trigger shows and I can think an alternative form of that shines through the visual novel shows of the 2000's. An honest sincerity to which they speak to their audience with, a kindness that isn't afraid to critic when needed but is ultimately made by those with a passion for this unique form of story telling.
I love that Shuffle is never cruel but instead pragmatic about it's character, it doesn't try to pretend their illness, mental or otherwise are some good romantic thing, it doesn't approve of detrimental altruism that so many wish fulfillment stories make light of, but it also takes great care to humanize these troubles. To remind it's audience that it's ok to not be ok. It's messages about genre tropes and fantasy metaphors for real world issues seem more relevant now-a-days then they ever did 15 years ago with a foresight one could compare to Anno's own predictions towards otaku culture back in 95's Evangellion. Speaking of I referred to Shuffle as the Evangellion of the rom-com/harem genre and I stand by that. Not quite a deconstruction, not quite a condemnation but instead filled with themes of surprising hope and the chance of continued retribution. Not so much a subversion but rather a show that does it's trappings so well that it ends up exposing their inherit flaws. This isn't a show about condemning escapism but instead one about reminding you that sometimes you have to wake up from the dream in order to reach an even better reality and what better a message could you possibly try to deliver to an audience of young people in a world as painful as ours, then that.
As much as I'd long for it to be, this is by no means a comprehensive analysis, there really is so much more to this silly, light-hearted anime from 2005 but I hope in these rambling pages you've come to see just why I love Shuffle and why it is, I think such a crime that this is an anime that was forgotten by the general community. In an era of anime where each season some new show comes along to 'fix a genre', weather it be the recent likes of Mushiko Tensei for Isekai, Rent-a-Girlfriend for harem or Horimiya for romance this isn't to say I have an issue with any of those shows in particular but that I think everyone would do well to look back on what came first, the age of a one series complete show, with concise and emotional story telling that exceeds in every department may be over as every new series seems intend on dragging their stories out into multi seasoned incomplete set of half-stories but that doesn't mean we don't have the luxury of being able to go back to it. In this age of ultimate availability, we can choose to watch whatever we want at any time, sure there is plenty of new properties still coming out but maybe it's time we all stop trend chasing, don't watch shows that you don't enjoy just so you can hate on them but equally do give all shows you try a fair shot in good faith. Like Shuffle, dispense with the rhetoric, form your own opinion but be flexible with-in them, be tolerant and open to change, try to understand everyone no matter how deplorable they may seem. If a Japanese cartoon about cute highschool girls can do it then surely so can you?
I sincerely hope you got something from this essay and maybe Shuffle even raised in your estimations a little after it. If you got down this far you have my extreme and whole-hearted thanks for reading and I honestly really hope you enjoyed. Best Regards - Momentie
Episode 24 - "And...What is Important"
With all that we've just discussed and have been in general about Rin and Asa safely kept in mind, we now find ourselves on our way to the final episode. Shuffle's finally is a favorite of mine in a medium that while sometimes struggles to finish satisfactorily, definitely presents some stiff competitions. If you'll allow me to gush for just a moment, I love how in the end after 23 episodes of defying convention it at last stops and tells you that its ok to want a happy ending, that sometimes things do work out and you can be a hero for someone that you care about. I love how it masterfully wraps up all the loose ends, how it's not afraid to be cheesy and add in many a moment of levity, how it doesn't wholesale reject the traits that make us fall in-love with these genres in the first place. To get a little ahead of myself, I love how it's a happy ending. Heck if nothing else I love how 10 minutes of it act as an epilogue, now why aren't those legally compulsory?
While I'm unsure if it's my favorite ending of all time (Gurren Lagann, Code Geass, Fmab, Ryvious the original Madoka and Full Metal Panic and the Tv version of Eva are my incredibly generic guesses for what some of my top three would probably be) I'm confident it would place in the top ten were I to ever sit down and field them. With all that said we should probably take a proper look at what were dealing with.
We start things ahead and off the bat we have some interesting framing. Asa has got up and left the hospital, Rin in hot pursuit is framed desperately searching the building for her, the presentation takes wonderful strides to dull the colours of these scenes while also making sure to once more make use of perspective to draw Rin as small as is noticeable, the rooms are all empty of other people which all adds to put emphasis not only on Rin's hunt but also to make him look even smaller and add to the growing sense of desperation.
There is A scene with other people that acts as one of the many examples of Shuffle's brilliant compliance with basic writing tenants. Rather then Rin saying or monologuing something to convey his thoughts, he instead rounds a corner to what appears to be the A&E department. A trolley surrounded by emergency staff parades down the hallway, with the focus being on Rin's expression, this short couple of seconds seamlessly communicating what he's thinking and the deepest worries which he's feeling in this moment, without a single piece of explanatory, worthless dialogue being spoken.
We got some shots of Asa's journey interspliced into here, one in particular depicts her falling in front of a rubbish collection point, the lingering shot has her sandwiched between a discarded can in the foreground and piles of other miscellaneous rubbish bags in the background. This piece of imagery feels dark, chilling almost and I've always inferred it one of two ways. On the one hand it seems to be almost a homage to similar sub-themes in the likes of original 'Ghost in the Shell' where the idea of the corpse of a human being comparable to garbage is a side focus of that films amazing art directions however it could also be seen as a representation for Asa, Ama and all the test subjects, who are failed experiments doomed to die at the hand of their own extraordinary abilities and potential. Conversely it could just be as heart-breaking as it is eye-catching and nothing more.
The rest of the city is portraited in much the same manner as the hospital, with only a collection of uncaring, machines in the form of car traffic for company. Rin and his quest seem even smaller when framed on these sullen backgrounds. He retreats to the familiar setting of the park and while sitting on the fountain-side considers his options. This small, tiny even, moment is it, this is the culmination of his arc and I absolutely love the subtlety, it's here he decides his next course of action and here where he finally has to think about her, not about himself or what would be the socially right move (which in this moment would probably be to call the police or Ama or anyone for that matter) but instead he thinks about Asa and Asa alone deciding what he thinks is best her, himself and no one else.
Now we come to it, this one is the last big scenes we need to discuss in the whole shows run. I referenced it earlier all the way back in episode 20 (Which for me writing this was some weeks ago) this scene is my final 'Favorite Scene Tm' and I want to preface it by one last time reiterating that I am in no way qualified in any form of media study, indeed I'm a rank amateur in all manor of analysis regardless of the form of media and as such I doubt my word's can truly do this scene any real justice, therefore if it's a while since you last watched Shuffle, I advised your going back and rewatching this scene (up to the break title card, or just the whole episode if you want) to properly re-acquit yourself with the tone and feeling of this scene. You done? Great let's continue-
After re-uniting with a forlorn Asa, Rin listens calmly to her for a time. No music plays which I love and Rin is mostly silent to boot, as Asa with a hollow smile utters her devotion to the young man. There's some more nice parallels to other scenes here. Rin gives Asa his jacket, the only other case of this is with Primula in episode 15, furthermore his eyes are obscured throughout most scene as he hides his turn intention, his mind already made up. "I really like that you know me as well as you do Rin" - Asa face is continually drawn in that same unnerving ghostly fashion from the prior episode, adding further to the sickly sweet feel of the scene. The camera grows legs and proceeds to track much of the shots, in particular is how Asa closes the distance between herself and Rin, however the following shots hold as Rin steps away, replacing the closeness with a new distance.
The two continue to chat, they're usual banter still shining through to give this tragedy some minor moments of levity. Your heart breaks some as Asa continues still to rambles onwards "-I am glad that you said it though. I'm glad that you said it just like a proper gentleman would". As Rin increases the aforementioned distance between them you soon realize that what he's doing isn't what he's been told, that would be to let her die like she asked, nor does he leave it to Asa's mum to talk her out of her crazed course of action (which remember is what happens in all the others arcs to a degree) instead he does what he wants, he decides to save her no matter what it takes.
The music at last cuts back but it isn't for a dramatic rescue this time, no that was episode 15, instead its much more intimate, so much smaller and yet a way bigger act in it's own fashion. It's surprisingly graphic as Rin slits his wrist and presents a kind expression through his blood stained face while Asa, all the while Despairs at the scene unfolding in front of her. Personally speaking I'm quite squeamish, in fact just writing this vague summary with the episode in the background makes me somewhat embarrassingly a little light headed (It's why there's such a gaping hole in my knowledge of gory horror anime), regardless of that I think it's fair to say this scene shows another glimpse of the production team's fantastic breath of skills, as the blood is in no way obscure, hammering home the severity of the scene but also imploring it's importance.
This small act has it's desired effect and 24 episodes-in and Rin finally becomes the hero of the story. It's a redemption arc in a sense, I've already said at tedium how in each of the other arcs someone else plays a large part in the saving of each girl, Lycoris for Primula and Nerine, Kikyou for Cia, Primula and Asa for Keade and while in each story Rin does take an important role, I love how in the end he does the truly heroic act in order to save the one he loves. It's cheesy in a sense, a little too romantic for some I'm sure but the camera swooshes out as Asa's powers envelopes the screen, the story draws to a close.
The advertisement section ends and we resume where we began some approximate 540 minutes worth of screen-time earlier, in the hallway of the Fuyou residence. The art-style has changed once more, now being slightly more detailed and even moving at a higher frame rate in places which all makes for a nice touch to make it seem more flush and fluid moving. This final section of the show is it's epilogue but that doesn't mean were done talking, no indeed there's some clever stuff going on here.
Firstly as suggested we have a mirror to a scene in episode 1 however Primula's pigtail swing into the frame clueing us in that this is no recap. She also narrates this final segment as mentioned in my analysis of her character earlier on.
This epilogue is so satisfying because it takes its time as we will see, to show us each characters continued development. Primula herself helpfully clues us in only around 3 weeks have pasted, ergo the characters are definitely still working on themselves but enough time has pasted for most of them, that we can enjoy the catharsis of seeing how they've grown. Primarily on that list is Keade, she's put all her more dangerous tendencies into the role of being an older sister, however unlike with Rin, Primula is someone who as a younger sister (rather then surget daughter) is someone who can relie on to support her rather then how with Rin, Keade was simply catering to his every desire. This new set up is a marked improvement for them both.
The scene continues to repeat the same joke from the opening episode with Keade forgetting her own lunch, though Primula's inclusion here obviously changes this scene intrinsically. A new one off track plays over the moment and Primula conveys the aforementioned information about the passing of 3 weeks as well as confirming her age as just one year below Keade's. We follow up with a scene reminiscent of 22's with the girl's on the way to school. The 4 make for a nice grouping even before Rin and Asa's entrance and Primula's continued narration proceeds to spell out the plot for anyone still not paying attention "-but honestly I think he did what he thought was right". She says this as a response to the news that the gang were thoroughly pissed at Rin for risking his life which is an expected and fairly justified thing to hear.
As stated, we get something akin to 22 in these last ten minutes, essentially fanservice, however what I've always found interesting about it is how it's less fantisiful then twenty-two's efforts. Where it had maid outfits, lewd Kikyou and drunk dads, 24 is far more low-key, it's much more grounded, more realistic. The people involved act like a group of friends who've been through a ton of traumatic events in recent months. Sure there's still the girls fawning over Rin but it's far less ecchi. Furthermore rather then a party, they have a simply return of the roof-top get together. It's also playful in a really up-lifting way, for example the visual novel character cut ins return (not for the first time but they always make themselves absent in the more serious parts of the story), except this time the borders spring to life, bouncing off one another and covering over each other as the character talk over one another. It's a nice touch and pretty darn wholesome.
We get to see Isekai receive a genuine rejection from each of the girls which is both brutal and hilarious for how straight it's played, it's then followed by one last subversion as I think it's fair to say most of us expected Mayumi and Isekai to final become an item but instead despite a compliment about her...face we get one more glorious beat down of everyone's favorite resident gutter dwelling pervert. ("Bam and the dirt's gone" as I've written in notes). There's some more great comedy beats as during said roof-top lunch break Primula non-chalantly assassinates Rin with her cooking and pretends like it wasn't her elaborate plan while grinning machiavellianly all the while. It should also be noted that Nerine is absent from this scene, a further usage of the shows adherence to it's own rules and a good way to display her continued development past the confines of the group, which will touch on a little more in a second.
Following that we have a couple more important narrative points left to mention as the show seamlessly ties up it's remaining loose ends. Like most of Shuffle it's a simple action, we watch as Ama walks down a street covering herself with foe confidence as she strides past the two otherworldly king, as they pass they mumble to one another about a women they once knew and how they only wish that now they could apologies for what happened. Ama turns and bows. That's it. This to me is how all loose ends should be tied up, by like law or something. The composition is quite nice here to, it's set in what the film 'Your name' calls golden hour, or dusk to be it less romantically, as such the sun covers the all too familiar highstreets in a warm glow while in a sense being a visual metaphor for the comprise between light and dark, rather fitting for the best friend duo of the God and Demon.
We get one of the two instances of 'plot' based fanservice next with Asa presented in a frilly servers out-fit at the café where Kareha works. Her and Rin share one last set of cute dialogue showing how all is once more well in the world and in what I believe is Kareha's little sister's second appearance and only line in the show, she sums up the smile these final scenes always puts on my face, with a blush of her own - "I love a happy ending".
And then it ends, we get some great custom credits, which are always a win in my book, including an exceptionally well animated kiss between Keade and Cia (that being the other instance of fanservice) and wrap up the last bit of development for Nerine. We learn early in the episode that's she's really taking to her new pursuit of radio and may even be going to sing on air in the near future. Like the Ama ending, this is such a perfect illustration of a masterfully written ending, after-all not only is she clearly living life for herself and enjoying it at that, but the point about singing is definite proof that she's come to terms with the death of her sister and has truly recovered from her survivors guilt. Her shot in the credits shows her at Lycoris'es grave, its both nice as she's the only character incapable of being present in the epilogue but also another sign of Nerine's progression, prior to episode 15 I'm strongly confident she could of never faced that grave but now she looks on at it as her own person. It's also nice how in the end Shin's theory that no one would grief the artificial life's proved false, as evidenced by this shot of Nerine at the grave site. Neither the show of Nerine ever forget their big sister, which plays quite well into the theme of family and is just a nice way to wrap things up.
A Long-Sought After Conclusion
Well then here we are some 42,000+ words later. I've no intention to do the whole sappy 'this show changed my life' spiel, however I suppose some context is appropriate in the final act. 'Shuffle!' was not my first anime but one of a series of recommendations from a good friend, meaning It was certainly something I watched in my first year of proper anime viewing (You know that year when you realize anime is more then just Digimon, Yu-Gi-Oh and Pokémon). I loved it on that first watch and it probably set my standards for harem and rom-com anime way to high. If you've seen my Mal list you'll know I actually score most generic harems in the region of a 7 (Read 'On Judging anime by Jury' via my blog -
https://myanimelist.net/blog.php?eid=845864 for more info on the scoring system if your interested in boring stuff like me) but for one to get a 10 this is the standard I expect.
Coming up with a summary here is tricky, we've gone through a lot and Shuffle as a show has so many dense layers that I once more must insist that I have hardly done it justice, however as I said at the very beginning I've always struggled to find any good analysis for more niche shows like this one. Sure there is some but much of it is shallow or people complaining that they don't 'like Asa as the winner' or they hate how 'Rin is a pus*y' which brings us back to what we discussed in the 'Maturity in Nudity' segment. If someone else has done a better analysis, please send it on to me as I'd love to hear the thoughts of other reasonable open-minded tolerate people but in lieu of that let's wrap this up shall we?
I've watched Shuffle more then 5 times now and an inordinate time has been spent thinking about it, so much so that between that and this essay you could probably add an extra couple watches on to it. Ever since that first re-watch five years ago I've been threatening friends and my long suffering brother that I would actually write something about it one day but you migth still ask why? (though how you got down this far would then baffle me senseless). Shuffle for me is the optimi of what makes anime unique, it appeals to an audience of young adults and teenagers that the west so often wants to forget exist and refuses point blank to cater to with an any sincerity. It's a visual wonder with it's ocean of metaphor, literary short-hand and show not tell story telling, combined with it's frequent abusing of the art style to fascinating extend. The Ost is varied and versatile (although the version I have of it is missing many of the one off tracks which is thoroughly annoying), it embodies the somber yet springy spirit of those visual novel soundtracks we've all come to love. The story is slow and considered, it - well - shuffles from genre to genre with ample amounts of foreshadowing, logical decisions, natural, relatable drama and a real sense of the anime heart that so many other often looked down upon shows exude. I've heard people using the term "Gainx spirit" to refer to Studio Gainx and Trigger shows and I can think an alternative form of that shines through the visual novel shows of the 2000's. An honest sincerity to which they speak to their audience with, a kindness that isn't afraid to critic when needed but is ultimately made by those with a passion for this unique form of story telling.
I love that Shuffle is never cruel but instead pragmatic about it's character, it doesn't try to pretend their illness, mental or otherwise are some good romantic thing, it doesn't approve of detrimental altruism that so many wish fulfillment stories make light of, but it also takes great care to humanize these troubles. To remind it's audience that it's ok to not be ok. It's messages about genre tropes and fantasy metaphors for real world issues seem more relevant now-a-days then they ever did 15 years ago with a foresight one could compare to Anno's own predictions towards otaku culture back in 95's Evangellion. Speaking of I referred to Shuffle as the Evangellion of the rom-com/harem genre and I stand by that. Not quite a deconstruction, not quite a condemnation but instead filled with themes of surprising hope and the chance of continued retribution. Not so much a subversion but rather a show that does it's trappings so well that it ends up exposing their inherit flaws. This isn't a show about condemning escapism but instead one about reminding you that sometimes you have to wake up from the dream in order to reach an even better reality and what better a message could you possibly try to deliver to an audience of young people in a world as painful as ours, then that.
As much as I'd long for it to be, this is by no means a comprehensive analysis, there really is so much more to this silly, light-hearted anime from 2005 but I hope in these rambling pages you've come to see just why I love Shuffle and why it is, I think such a crime that this is an anime that was forgotten by the general community. In an era of anime where each season some new show comes along to 'fix a genre', weather it be the recent likes of Mushiko Tensei for Isekai, Rent-a-Girlfriend for harem or Horimiya for romance this isn't to say I have an issue with any of those shows in particular but that I think everyone would do well to look back on what came first, the age of a one series complete show, with concise and emotional story telling that exceeds in every department may be over as every new series seems intend on dragging their stories out into multi seasoned incomplete set of half-stories but that doesn't mean we don't have the luxury of being able to go back to it. In this age of ultimate availability, we can choose to watch whatever we want at any time, sure there is plenty of new properties still coming out but maybe it's time we all stop trend chasing, don't watch shows that you don't enjoy just so you can hate on them but equally do give all shows you try a fair shot in good faith. Like Shuffle, dispense with the rhetoric, form your own opinion but be flexible with-in them, be tolerant and open to change, try to understand everyone no matter how deplorable they may seem. If a Japanese cartoon about cute highschool girls can do it then surely so can you?
I sincerely hope you got something from this essay and maybe Shuffle even raised in your estimations a little after it. If you got down this far you have my extreme and whole-hearted thanks for reading and I honestly really hope you enjoyed. Best Regards - Momentie
Posted by momentie | May 26, 2021 8:57 AM | 0 comments
May 25th, 2021
The Complete Shuffle! Retrospective Part 4 (of 5)
Anime Relations: Shuffle!
Welcome once more, this is part 4 of our retrospective look at Shuffle, over 15 years on from when everyone forgot it. This section is the last of the long 10,000 word blocks with block 5 being comparably much shorter, so grab yourself a beverage and let's continue
Next is another couple of small moments interlaced into a greater story. We have a scenes of Keade wondering, cumulating with her on a high river bridge, her attire is even more dreary then normal with the darkened colour pallet. Prior to this we have Primula rushing to tell Rin and the others about how Keade has gone missing. Immediately her panicked attitude and deminer, along with the framing of the whole episode or even the whole arc put two exceedingly unsettlingly thoughts in our minds - is she going to attack Asa again or does she have something more self-destructive in mind? Cutting back to our bridge shot we hear footsteps, there's both a wave of relief as we presume Rin has arrived but also one of intense dread. On the one hand we know she's probably safe from suicide now but there's still the possibility she'll try and kill Rin but then all those fears are dashed as we realize it ain't Rin. Part of what makes the reveal nice is how we as the audience expect it to be Rin probably as much as Keade does. Her mind is shattered but it's doubtful she expects Asa any more then the rest of us.
With Asa now here the two retreat to the side of the riverbank, interestingly this is another location we visited a few times before, one notably occasion being when Rin rejects Kikyou here. Speaking of this scene, aside from being wonderfully mature for any anime, regardless of the harem tag, it also helps heavily to mirror Keade's arc to the other girls with Asa now taking on the big sister role that Kikyou and Lycoris fulfilled in earlier arcs. As Shuffle is a show with a strong emphasis on the role of family within life along with the significance of found family, I think it's only fitting how pivotal the 3 older sister characters are to the individual story arcs.
Past that this scene also has some just gorgeous imagery and symbolism, alongside the more saturated colouring of these moments we have Keade and Asa almost looking like their dressed for a funeral which is only further emphasized by the flowers in Asa's hands, whose red colouring acts as the only real splash of flavoring on screen, making them pop and draw the eye, more-so adding to the funeral imagery which at first seems sad, however the flowers act under three rather important separate guises. For one there's the literal meaning as that of an apology, secondarily they symbolize death, but of what? Well in reality while the whole scene conjures the though of a sad funeral, really it's the end of Keade's self-harming lifestyle and her movement into living for herself, as such the flowers take on a third meaning as a symbol of Asa congratulating Keade on her potential to be a truly brilliant person. A gift from one best friend to another.
I also love how large amounts of this conversation are done with little to no music whatso-ever with just the sounds of the pouring rain in the background, until Keade says it "I wasn't good enough to make him love me - it's not that surprising, some of the awful things I did shouldn't be forgiven - It was all I cared about, everything I did was for Rin, It was the one thing I could do to try to make up for what I'd done, but then after a while, I realized what I really wanted was for him to fall in love with me. I wasn't honest with myself, everything I did was because I wanted to be with Rin".
Really I could just put in the whole conversation in here and I don't really know how to express my love for it without incomprehensible gushing. For one it's framing, where Rin's realization and dedication our done in the sunlight of a picturesque park surrounded by friends, Keade's confession is on the wind swept riverbank in the pouring rain facing her romantic rival. Where Rin is looking to the future to try and make things better, Keade is wallowing, drowning as it were, in the past. This scene is truly heartbreaking as Keade further breaks down, wishing to see him one last time just so she can keep on loving him. She pours out all her feelings here in an act that forever cements her as one of, if not Thee best, childhood friend character in this or any medium and I absolutely love it. Even as the scene goes on there still this lingering fear in your mind that Keade will flip out and try to drown Asa or some such as she states in classic 'yandere who'se already gone over the edge fashion' - "It makes sense though, I can't blame Rin for choosing someone like you over someone like me", as she says it the flowers fall from Asa's hand in a wonderfully animated fashion, the music changes and the tension goes, its a full realease. It's over. You realize that the show has no interest in spoiling everything with some shocking murder scene, like we talked about in out analysis of Keade, even after all this, at her lowest moment of all, there's still hope. Hope of retribution. "So I guess it's your job to make him happy now - Good for you - and Asa I know that you love him but I still...I'm so sorry...".
We move past this to watch the four other primary members of the group out searching for Keade, unaware of her revelations and breakdown into her best friends arms. We get nice quick shot of Rin center screen walking down the roadway, it's framed very similarly to the flashback dreams but with a square focus on just him (Plus it's obviously the present day now) and there she is. He offers her a handkerchief and asks if she's ok and the two finally have the conversation. It's beautiful because really this is their first genuine talk they've had in the whole show. No more masks, hyporacry,vdramatic irony or pretending to play house, instead they finally converse properly, with Rin demanding Keade listen to him proclaim his feelings for Asa. Not out of malice, masocism or cruelty but so that she can understand that he'll still always love her, that he'll always be grateful for the cushioned lifestyle she afforded him for years of his life and that she has the opportunity to go forward and be so much more then just his Japanese housewife. "Now hold on, that isn't fair. You need to hear this from me, right now and from no one else", again I could just copy and paste this whole conversation into here.
"Please don't love me, Please don't love me, I don't know how I'm supposed to.... I love you so much!...." aside from some more brilliant voice acting, the two hug and this is to me the best yandere resolution/good end I've ever seen and as the two walk away from one another, the episode still isn't finished just yet.
"I made stew because I figured you'd probably be cold and hungry and stews good for that. Ok you make it better, but I want you to have some"- We're going to talk about this a whole lot more as we finally reach our character analysis of Primula but in this moment we watch as arriving home Keade finds Primula has made her stew and prepares her a towel. This is what I alluded to earlier, in this moment Keade realizes what Rin already has, that the world hasn't ended, that she isn't alone but instead there are still people who love her. I epically like how the scene frames it to make Primula, in her more adult attire, appear to be taller then Keade, after all despite the neglect, Primula has kept growing as a person in all this time, while Keade is just starting on that journey. In a way what the 3 episodes that make up/form the main crux of her arc lead too isn't the amazing discourse between her and Asa or the hug from Rin, it's this moment here, quiet and short in her own home, like a certain relevant someone we know, where Keade realizes how much more then Rin she has to live for and to me that's incredibly wonderful.
Shuffle! may at times have to sideline some of it's characters out of certain episodes but right here in episode 21 we see the show give further closure to Nerine and Cia, a new beginning for Primula, the final stepping stones of set up for Rin and Asa plus the climax of Keade's arc and to me that's mega impressive.
The episode ends, for the first time in a bit, not on a cliff-hanger but a reward. We saw this in episode 17 were it ends in a reward for Cia but here it's Rin reward, in fact as will soon address almost all of episode 22 is. We get to watch Rin finally confess his feeling for Asa. I quite like how they're already dating at this point, far to many anime make the concemation of the leads becoming boyfriend and girlfriends out to be some massive deal but here that's borderline breezed past off screen (We already mentioned the not-so-shallow allusions to this all the way back in episode 18) because of this the two confessing Love for one another actually comes across as quite real, sincerer even. The anime doesn't end when the two hook up, nor when they admit they're conviction to the 'L-word'. No instead we truly understand what love means to these characters, weather it's Primula's cat dolls, Nerine and Cia's need to love themselves or Rin and Keade's shared familial love. This confession is something we understand and rather then that devaluing it, it makes it into something far more speical, to me at-least.
There are some other nice details here, Asa puts me out of a job by drawing the parallels between her dismissal of her mother and Keade's abusive of Rin, out to the audience. With Rin and her having a really open chat (which helps to further these two's believability as a real couple of real individuals in spite of their fictionality). Rin even admits to how hard his past was but how much you can endure for a family member that you love. Furthermore the shot composition is just lovely (It should be noted that after Rin and Keade literally hug it out, the art style resumes usual business hours and goes back to normal(also notice the 'next time' segment also returns to being the less stressful on my heart, normal version)) . The episode is rounded out on this confession and a truly classic anime kiss to rival even the other greats among it's contemporize.
Character Focus - Primula;
Alas we come to our penultimate character study. Knowing where to place Primula in this essay was little tricky, for one I maintain that she's in truth the core of the anime, in that she mirrors each character's struggles in someway and straight up narrates the final episode's epilogue. Furthermore her arc forms the shows climax/main action set-piece in episode 15. With all that said putting a focus on her too early would require describing a great deal of scenes we had yet to reach and in that is something important. Primula never stops developing throughout the course of the show, it's what makes her a great and highly engaging character. I've chosen to place her exploration here as her role in episode 22 can be baffling for those who haven't been paying attention plus we've covered the bulk of the steps towards development now.
As I mentioned quite some time earlier, way back in our episode 6 discussion, Primula pays homage to many of her predecessors in more ways then one. Coming back to the narrator idea, this is quite a prevalent trope in older anime, where-in the youngest character takes the role of narrator in some fashion. This is, in my view to do with the idea of a youthful pair of eyes, the adventurous escapist spirit that the shows are oft marketed towards, with an aire of an unreliable narrator to it. Rather famous examples of this would be Ruri in Martian Success Nadesco who goes on to be the lead character in the much maligned follow up movie, Rai Ayanami in Evangellion takes this role in a way only Eva could come up with and in the years to come shows like the Melancholy of Haruhi Susamia would do much to similar effect with Yuki Nagato.
Aside from this making for a nice reference to other property's or how it's neat to call out Primula's parelells to her follow cast members, it plays a more important role when looking at her character. She by far develops the most of all the characters, being almost unrecognizable by the end and this is because she starts at ground zero. Primula is deliberately a small mute blank child at the series onset, so of course her many struggles would have the most impact on her. As such when we talk about Primula her core tenants of development are that of her growing up/the struggle of fitting in during adolesence, the themes of neglect paired with found family and feelings of a lack of self-worth.
Like with Rin we've already discussed most of this so it's more a case of pulling all the strands together now. Child neglect we've most recently touched on, it's a topic the show rather appropriately handles as a B-plot. We see it during the first arc and the biggest early indicator to it would appear to be when Rin discovers Primula's lack of undergarments however arguable this is a theme introduced in the girl's very first on-screen appearance. As early as episode two we witness Primula simply wandering the rainy streets of the town, with retrospect its clear by the God's reactions that she has wondered off of her own accord and while they later imply they possibly let her escape in order for her to meet Rin as something of a social experiment (Another interesting example of the manipulation directed towards Primula), the fact is she's clearly someone with the mentality of a child, lightly dressed, wandering the streets of a strange location, under a strange sky. There's something else to be gleaned from her initial scene too. Rin doesn't obtain her the plushie from the claw machine. I love this detail as even in her first moments of spotlight Rin is letting her down, it's not really his fault but it plays heavily into her character. No one cares, she's always the neglected child.
This goes further in her backstory, as discussed at some length prior, The demons created her not to be unkind but because if she dies during experimentation no one would mourn her. On their part it does suggest some remorse for what they perceived as the death of the first test subject during the first infinite Magica experiments however what's key to us is the fact her very creation was a result of a need for someone who was both mailable and disposable but ultimately was done out of a strange form of kindness. Even now we're not done, next we have Lycoris, again we've already discussed her prior but the point is despite being the only one to show Primula any real kindness during her stunted childhood, Lycoris eventually chooses to save her sister Nerine and in doing so she abandons Primula, her kindred sister, to a life of isolation and loneliness. This comes to what should be a head in the Keade arc where we see Primula's depravity in the background of the Fuyou arc, however something interesting here is the resolution to it. Primula in this arc is the one who's always there for Keade, not the other way round. There's no real moment where Keade or Rin apologies to Primula, instead she gets up on her own two feet and try's to rectify the situation by herself.
This proves to be a more common motive for her then you migth think, after all she followed Narine into the real world, under her own agenda to see the man that Lycoris'es 'loved'. Primula acts, to the best of her abilities, to be independent repeatedly. This is added to by the fact she isn't a member of the harem till around episode 22 but is still a primary cast member, puts her in a peculiar position by rom-com anime standards.
Moving past her neglect, we have her struggle to fit in, this applies to her lack of humanity, her absences of family and her totally empty reservoir of self-worth. Rather then pointing out again how this parallels the others, lets re-acquaint ourselves with how it affects Remmu. She is for all intensive purpose, species-less. Not human, not wholly demon or god but some kind of hybrid machination. This proves quite the struggle for her, she was created absent of any real personality and her attempts to make connections end in heartbreak. This leads us to an interesting aspect of her character, the deconstruction of the Lolita architype. I pre-ambled about this somewhat near the top of the essay but I don't think Shuffle is a deconstruction anime but rather that it has elements of that genre and maybe nowhere more then in Primula. Putting aside her characterization for a moment, on a meta-narrative level the show seems to be saying quite a bit with her presentation. Like how the Lycoris backstory makes Nerine's reason for liking Rin a more valid one or how the show turns the old 'parents away on a business trip' into a major narrative note, Primula is given some fairly heavy reasons for existing the way she does.
The idea of the dead-pan loli being as such because of a grim backstory is not uncommon but Shuffle's is definitely an interesting example of it because of the meta-implications. Referencing Nadesco's Ruri again, she's dead pan because she's an Ai interfaced (as confirmed to us almost immediately with-in the story), so it's definitely not new but what is, is the way its used to explore loli culture. We've mentioned at length how Primula's cloths change to match any given situation, the same can be said for how she's drawn. Depending on the tone of a scene and the artist at the helm Primula is often depicted with longer legs or a more pronounced chest, conversely the inverse occurs frequently as-well. This is another one of the show's uses of animation abuse, in the real world changing the proportion of a women would be tricky and needlessly expensive to do justice but here it can be done with ease but why you migth ask? Well one of the questions Shuffle asks it's otaku audience is what about these architypes is it that you like? Do you like that Keade is dedicated to the point of desperation? Do you like how Cia flaunts her body due to a lack of confidence in her personality? Do you like that Primula is child-like?
To say it again, the show isn't so much criticizing you, as it is trying to get you to ask yourself these questions. If your a lolicon fan then why? The aesthetic? The age? Or maybe the personality? It can seem foreign now-a-days in a time where loli characters appear to be getting progressively smaller, more child like and worryingly incestual but back in the 90's and 2000's loli had a different meaning. A fan tern coined based off the Russian book 'Lolita', loli didn't describe a child - because the word 'child' already exists for that, instead it described an astatic of character. Somewhat unique in that other fan terms like 'Tsundere' were used as short hand for an anime personality type, loli refers to an artistic choice, as such the 2000's in particular are known for a whole host of iconic loli Tsundere's (Taiga, Louise, Nagi, Shana, Nagisa, Ayu and Chuunibyou's Rikka along with most of the cast of Higarushi are just some leading same age loli roles that spring to mind), however the term back then didn't refer to children as some have appropriated it to mean in more recent times. This in itself alone makes Primula's depiction even more interesting as the questions she's asking seem more relevant now today then ever before.
Primula isn't here to judge her fans, much like the others she's her to help (mostly young men in this case) think through some rather complicated adolescent feelings of wish fulfilment. The show isn't trying to paint you as wrong for liking the idea of Primula or Keade but instead wants to convey how damaging an ideal that migth be for the girl in question. There's nothing wrong with fantasying about a perfect DereDere housewife but what's important is that you remember that vision would in reality be a person with their own feelings and emotions and that's what leads us to the point of Primula's more deconstructive side. What would a loli be like in real life? The show gets you to consider the terrible events that would make someone that deadpan and emotionless, it points out there lack of common sense and their feelings of worthlessness. That idealized vision of purity would in reality be just a girl trying to fit in. However as we've mentioned shuffle is never content not to offer an alternative and as such we see Primula change over the course of the series. It's crucial that she only considers herself romantically attracted to Rin in the final act of the show because only then is she a fully fledged person, the show is saying it's fine to find a fully consenting person of your own age appealing but that you must look past the idealized idea of that person, to identify if what you looking or aiming for is something healthy for everyone that's involved.
Like the others, Primula is painted in many different lights, some people like the idea of a weak partner who they can 'rescue' yet shuffle points out just how much damage that does to a person. I already mentioned the effects of being emotionally vapid and even the idea of the ideal family unit is brought heavily into question. The show isn't trying to judge anyone, it isn't going around calling people pedophiles or other hollow buzzwords and rhetoric it's simply asking you to consider the often harsh reality behind the fantasy, that is in sense the core elements of the whole show and all it's fantasy allegory's. It's another reason for why Primula acts as the shows heart by being the most representative of this idea.
My apologies if this segment feels more rigid in tone then the rest, to my own shame I find myself a little fatigued with the topic of Lolita and shota depiction in anime at the moment. For those reading this as my first piece of work, off the back of the recent fractures the inspired trend chaser of a youtuber 'Noralities' has perpetuated, I found myself experiencing first hand the intolerance of modern anime discourse and being rather rudely awoken to the fact that some perfectly logical and intelligent, analytical even, people will dismiss an entire anime production for the inclusion of a loli or shota. The idea that normal reasonable people are so intolerant to even having a civil discussion about these arkward topics without the use of said shallow rhetoric words like 'Peodifllia' has been genuinely quite disheartening, so it's with my utmost apologies that this segment isn't my best explained. Primula has always been for me one of the best written parts about Shuffle, despite a small enough screen presence she's a complex and highly developed character used to deliver a variety of good messages both meta and otherwise. If you have an interest in more of my thoughts on this matter you can read my 'Super Lovers' Review here on Mal (A slightly early version of it is also available on my Mal's blog page). Thanks for understanding.
Ahem. Like Rin, Primula's development isn't a straight line, she starts fragile but determined to find Rin, then she attempts to resist returning to the demon world but gives in for Rin, Keade and Nerine's collective sakes, then she finds herself a family only to follow that by once more being neglected, as she makes desperate attempts to appease an increasingly uninterested Keade and Rin. Non-the-less she perseveres eventually becoming Keade's rock and forming herself into a fully fledged person. This growth she under goes is wonderfully charted by the smaller moments, her cloths, her cooking and her consideration for others all change in small ways throughout and by the time of episode 22 Primula has finally begun to think for herself, the lessons she learns from episode 15 come to fruition. Ep 15 teaches Primula that despite the betrayal that Rin and Lycoris perpetrated, she is loved by them both (It's another part of why it's important that it's not just Rin who saves her) and then through witnessing Keade's struggle, she learns that in turn there are people who need her, that she can be the Lycoris Keade needs in that moment. It's only through this continued development that Primula comes to apricate what it means to be a human, that we all mess up and hurt one another, that we all do our best to support each other. It's once more a simple message but it's only with this learned that she can move on, she has to first learn what love is in order to be in love.
Like we discussed with the Rin/Asa's confession scene, a large part of Remmu's journey is to learn what love is. Lycoris conveyed it to the girl with the first cat plushie, something which Rin would go on to reinforce with the second toy and while this is a good way to explain it to a child, Primula needs to learn to appreciate a deeper kind of love in order to develop into a greater more fleshed out person. She first learns heartbreak when Lycoris dies and when Rin betrays her thrust but what she sees in episode 15 is how affection goes further then a physical object the likes of teddy bear but in standard Shuffle fashion, Rin has little do to with this learning curve. Lycoris started it but Keade finishes it, after all it's through Keade that Primula comes to understand the difference between familial love and romantic love. This is why a fully developed Primula in episode 22 is capable of showing jealous and envy towards the other girls vying for Rin's attentions, she's no longer just a child, something which episode 24 confirms in a literal sense by giving us the information that she was only ever a year (two at most) younger then the rest of the cast. The point being that it was a question of her understanding of the world that made attraction to her immoral, not her age. When we speak of these things, age is almost never the important thing to discuss.
To conclude our analysis of Primula I actually find it quite hard to narrow down what exactly the message being conveyed by Primula's character is. Where you can boil the other's down to one overly-simplistic sentence, Cia needs to love herself, Nerine needs to live for herself, Keade can find retribution and Rin needs to learn the difference between what's 'right' and what's Right, Primula is a little more opaque to disconcert.
One reading could be that no matter your background you can still aim to make the best of life, another migth be to understand that even when your neglected by the people you love, they may still care for you. One could look to the meta elements and say the breakdown of the loli genre is the message or that it's a heart-felt metaphor for the struggles of growing up as a teenager, while trying to fit in but being a little bit different. It could be one of trying to effect the changes in your life that you'd like to see in others or maybe it's as simple as a message about growth. A combination in a sense of all those pre-requisites, telling us that no matter the background, your individual struggles and short-comings, no matter how many times you've been hurt and burned, you can still become a great person, still go on to be better then you once were. A message if you will about how we never stop changing and growing as people in the best possible way.
I personally have very little affinity for lolicon culture or loli waifu's, I don't really play the Waifu game but if I was asked who the best written loli is, my mind will always arrive at Primula in quick succession. The extent of topics and morality covered by her are highly compelling, while still managing to have her be comic relief early on. She's a well written character with some great intentions for the show's audience and for that she may just be my favorite character of the whole show.
Episode 22 - A bountiful Dream
As I alluded to in the previous section, episode 22 can come across as a bemusing experience, the fan service is cranked up to 11 and the tone returns to that of the opening moments of the show's first few episodes. We get a return of the visual novel character bubbles, sound effects and all. Cia or more precisely Kikyou is extremely sexual and Primula and Nerine don cat cosplay. As I also implied, the easy answer for all this is it's the reward, Rin's reward for actually manning up somewhat, for doing the best thing he could think of with the Keade situation and later making sure to give her closure while still trying his best to show his more brotherly affections before finally confessing his love to Asa.
However we can go a bit more in-depth then just that with a return to the quick fire scenes game;
For one we have the opening scenes for example, which automatically confers this is going to be a lighter episode when we witness Rin receiving back slaps a plenty from fellow students. It's a nice gag but also serves to both reflect how much further along Rin and Asa's relationship has become, while also it reminds us of the simpler times when Asa used to greet Rin with a similar such slap on the way to school. The same scene also acts as the return of the aforementioned character bubbles.
What follows on from this is a series of fluffy classroom scenes, it has after all been awhile since we spent any significant time in the school. I quite appreciate the rather lengthy scene of isekai, Mayumi and Rin simply chilling in the cafeteria. It's a nice reminder of these three's pre-existing bond from before the series opening and furthermore Isekai affords a nice moment of clarity when he compliments Rin in making the adult choice and choosing respectfully, the one girl he actually felt romantic feelings towards. The scene is also pretty funny with Mayumi delivering a wonderfully animated punch while showing surprisingly good form.
Something that isn't even a full scene but is worth quickly mentioning. Said cut displays Nerine and Cia quaintly spending their lunch break time with a separate group of friends. It's a nice touch and an easy way to keep communicating to us how the duo are moving further away from the infatuation with Rin being their only motivations.
Next up is some more great relationship building. People often praise shows like Golden Time for it's portrayal of relationships that go further then the 'will they won't they' phase and I recently reviewed Horimiya, a show which is flaunted for much the same traits however here in Shuffle we get much the same to very little fan fare. In the current scene we see Asa and Rin happily spending time together in Rin's new apartment. Rin mentions how easy life's been up till now, it's a nice level of self-awareness considering how to some degree one would argue his life has been awful but what he's accepting here is how easy Keade has made it for him in more recent years.
I also greatly appreciate how Asa never offers to help with the money situations, after-all that would devalue his efforts and the weight of his independently made decisions. The scene is rounded out with a casual kiss and 'casual' is the important word there. In spite of Rin looking initially surprised we get the impression/feeling that this is becoming a natural part of their lives, showing just how comfortable a partnership they have become in each others company. There are few shows that pull off, off-handed kisses all that well but here we have a great example of one doing just that.
Next is one of the episodes only slow scenes as we watch Keade and Rin talk for the first time since the previous story. There's the implication of some time passing between 21 and 22 but it's clear Keade is still bent out of shape, as Shuffle once again refuses to have her be simply 'fixed' the moment her arc ends. This conversation is one of the shows most mature and ends in a quiet hug. Despite this episodes focus on over the top fan service the show is never foolish enough to extend that out as far as Keade. This scene just proves how much more tactful it is then that, there's also some more great voice-acting by Keade's voice actress.
Now we come to the last big talking point of the episode, that final scene. To give context, Rin and Asa stand in the new apartment looking out at the view of the town, the balcony door is open which gives the scene a brilliant use of visual story telling. Rin is framed behind the open glass door, as such the clouds of the dusk skyline reflect across his visage, for him life is now great, all his friends have found their answers and are all on the path to recovery, he himself has found a new road to walk along while meanwhile he's now with the girl of his dreams, his life is literally clear skies now, he's taken personal responsibility in his life and all this episode is his reward, but even now we still have those unassuming clouds on the horizon, foreshadowing what's left to come in the show's remaining screen-time. In stark contrast Asa is framed on the open doorway, completely unobscured by any clouds or sky of any kind representative of how her struggle is only just beginning and reflective of how despite how close they seem to be in a physical proximity sense, they are still divided and the hardships of life are still actively vying to draw them apart, like how the glass doorframe standing between them quite literally separates them in the framing of the shot.
Episode 22 heavily mirrors episode 12 in that we witness what seems to be a good end, a harem end even. Everyone has reached a relative point of equilibrium but like with Primula once before, Asa falls foul to an almost identical illness. That last point is interesting, it plays into the point of this episode heavily. The conflict of the Primula arc was Rin's fault in a sense along with that of Primula's illness but this time Rin has done nothing wrong, he's done his best, done what he believed to be right, is trying to support his friends in a more productive manner and to be a good boyfriend to Asa and yet in the end she still falls ill and that's part of the point. I compared Primula's sickness to a simile for cancer earlier on and here we see that come back once more. In a manor of speaking Asa falling sick is very true to life, even if we do everything we can to help those around us and be a good person, even if we beat the cancer once, you can never know when it will cruely return, unannounced, un-timely and uninvited. It's all the more painful because of the fact that Rin had finally done the right thing. Primula breaking felt like an inevitability but Asa's while equally indivertible is the fault of no-one, we feel as powerless as Rin is about to become.
This mirroring to episode 12 is present in more then that however. Like 12 we see the happy end portraited in a slightly unnatural way, sure it's less tragic and the characters have worked through most of their issues but theirs an intentional dissonance in how obtrusive the fanservice is. The characters come off like their in a classic tropes harem, Kikyou acts like a true sexual deviant, Primula, though totally in character, can come across as out of character and even Nerine seems out to impress Rin. Sure Things have moved far past episode 12 but we still aren't quite their, this is still a fantasy and ep 22 does an amazing job of displaying that fact to great (if not a little confusing on a first watch) effect, while also never stepping out of line. Keade is still recovering, Primula is still finding her feet, Nerine and Cia are still shown developing outside of the main group and despite all the vulumtous fan service, even in this most intentionally lustful of episodes, the show never uses nudity as a joke. Now maybe it's time we properly address that final point -
Theme - Maturity in nudity
Now here's a topic I first addressed right back at the start of this elongated essay, let's take a moment to put on our school boy analysis writing skills and tackle this theme head on rather then in my usual round-about manner.
As a theme of the story it's one thoroughly grounded in Japanese culture, who's perception of nudity varies greatly from our own versions of it over here in the bulk of western countries. For one thing censoring nudity is a relatively new concept to the country, only becoming a regulation post the year 2000 which stands in a marked contrast to our own off-com standards boards and the likes of them. For an easy example just watch older anime and you'll be surprised how often a child or even fully grown women in say a Gundam series will be suddenly naked for a few seconds of shot, not for the purposes of fan-service mind you. Gurren Lagann makes something of a meta joke about this with a whole mini-episode of the spin off 'parallels works' series being dedicated to a naked version of young Dari. This all stems from an expectation, one that all upstanding citizens should hold the naked form with a sense of sincerity and reverence, something which in the last couple decades the Japan's government finally seems to of realized migth be a miss-placed thrust in their idealized image of a humanity so apparently adept at personnel responsibility but it non-the-less makes for an interesting part of anime history.
For our purposes on the other hand we have Shuffle's frequent use of nudity and it is indeed regular, not to the level of something like Highschool DxD, indeed I'd almost hesitate to put an 'ecchi' tag on the property were it not for it's nudity scenes. Yet as mentioned at large, Shuffle never uses these scenes for titlating fan service, instead when a bra is lost we as the audience are expected to acknowledge and be mature enough to realize that it's a signal for us to pay attention rather then be aroused. It migth seem like a foreign contradictory concept to many of us but nudity is such an important part of all our lives that Shuffle expects any display of it to make you consider it's secondary meaning. Maybe the best way to illustrate this is some examples-
-The best of these is episode 11, just the whole thing to be honest. We've only glossed over it so far but during the course of the episode we follow Mayumi and Miss.Mou as they go on a heavily fan-service filled mini-adventure. On the surface it acts as a nice break in between the more somber episodes 10 and 12 and as a cushion before the show takes on a regularly darkener subject matter in general, this alone is something I love epically as it gives time to some characters who are somewhat less served in the anime then there visual novel counterparts migth of been but there's more at work here from our perspective. The 'plot' of the episode is manly Mayumi in specific losing her underwear and her mission to both work a shift in a maid café and to then recover said undergarments. This is not the show's most complicated plot however despite being the prime opportunity to sneak in some grotesk oppai shots, it never does. In fact despite a myriad of soft core shots the only nudity comes right at the end of the episode when Mou and Mayumi take a bath in her family's onsen. Here the two are on screen nude but importantly the tone of the scene is completely different to everything from before. Now the music is more calm, the framing less sexual and the two characters simply talk about the mundanity of life. It's sober though to a lesser extent to much of the other scenes I've referenced but in an episode spent being solely comedy driven, the sudden change to actual full blown uncensored fan-service heralds a more serious moment in the story.
We also previously spoke about how the inclusion of a see through bra scene for Primula helped to eventuate the severity of that scene. There we're saw how Rin and by proxy the audience don't react with arousal but instead with embarrassment at the realization that they've let the girl down. Like I said before, this scene wouldn't hit as hard without this clarity and lack of ambiguity and so it's should be unsurprising that this is her only nudity scene in the whole show.
During Kikyou's ep 17, the date is brought to a sobering halt when Kikyou flashes Rin and tries to proposition him with her body. As soon as she's actually presenting herself openly to him, Rin and ergo the viewer is smacked in the face with how wrong, how messed up this whole situation is, to an extend doubly so for the viewer who knows Kikyou has stolen Cia's form. All this despite the fact Cia is meant to be on of the two main fanservice scenes. The show is using the reality that nudity affords in order to hammer home the severity or sometimes just the importance of a scene
We see it again when Keade offers herself to Rin, this scene hits with far more sincerity and desperation because she is actually on screen, likewise the same is appropriate with most of Keade's nudity moments.
And finally we have what I mentioned about episode 22, like 11 it's full of fanservice including the sexy older sister trope, cat maid cosplay trope and general girl's fighting over the main guy activities but throughout it all they're never nude because the point of these scenes is both a further release of the high stakes tensions of the previous 3 arcs and as an embodiment of the faulty 'harem good end' mentality of most harems and even standard rom-com anime. If any of the fanservice was presented with nudity it would throw the whole thing off kilter and its in this way that the show manages to weaponize it's own obesity into something more adult.
The truly sad part about all this is, with the prominent divide that's formed in the anime community around Dragon Maid, Re;zero, Sao cancel culture and almost everything Noralities legion of parrot like follows champion, combined with the elitisms, hate culture and gatekeeping the anime communities have always attracted and appealed to, many will go into Shuffle! seeing it's ecchi or harem tag and immediately decide there's no value to be had. They'll dismiss the whole show because of a loli or scenes of minor nudity, all because there unwilling to look past their pre-conceived notions and bias's about their own countries politics or about their opinions on any given genre tag. It's a shame to put it lightly that one would miss out on all this depth and sub-text for a silly reason like that.
Nudity in Shuffle! is always used sparingly and for good reason, weather it's to eventuate the severity of a point or as a metaphor like in the advert's title card it is constantly used to signal a change in tone or pacing to a masterful extend and rather then degrading any scene it's included in, it instead manages to present itself as a prevailing sign of the shows - well - maturity.
Episode 23 - Character - Asa
If Primula forms the show's core in that her story and character journey mirror that of all the questions the other character's strands each ask us as the viewer, then Asa Shigure makes up the other half of that coin, she is the shows answer to it's own questions. When we look at Asa as a character we have to understand what the point of her is, as it deviates form the others. Where there all used to propose faults in the genre formulas and architypes, Asa is used to illustrate a less toxic route through life. She isn't perfect by any means (which is quite important), she can be rash and tomboyish but she's deeply caring and has an old head on her shoulders as it were. Her playful almost Tsundere aspects act as a front for her more motherly interior and a deep route sense of shame and regret for her past actions as a child, which in turn continue to plague her in the present day, however despite all this Asa's issues are initially external. Where Cia, Nerine and Keade all have a hand in their own misery's, Asa doesn't, she didn't ask to be born ill, mind you we will soon see that she isn't infallible to the same traps as the other girls fall into.
This fallibility plays heavily into what the point of Asa is, realistic. We see this part of her portraited all over the series, I mentioned before a great visual reference to it in episode 18 when we see her and Rin bantering while an alternative young couple do the generic formulaic asking out scene in the background of our focused foreground. We also mentioned how in that same episode, when Asa is neglected she doesn't swoon and look on wistfully but instead pouts and when it reaches a boiling point, she doesn't make excuses for Rin or blame herself like some of the other girls migth of but instead slaps him and gives him a what for lecture. In fact are very first scene of discussion was one where we saw how much she contrasts Nerine in her apparel and cooking style, along with her sisterly tendency to carry plasters around.
Even when they do finally get together, their relationship differs heavily from that of Rin's with the others. They date, kiss and talk in a causal manor, they act like old best friends because that's what they are. A good couple is one where both parties aren't just 'in love' but rather one where they enjoy each others company, feel comfortable in their intimacy and can act naturally. When Rin is with Cia, Nerine and Kikyou he has to keep putting up a front, as do they, both parties have to actively try to impress one another, to make things 'perfect', to make them 'how it's supposed to be' and when he's around Keade and Primula he has to act in that traditional image of what he perceives a man of the house to be, all playing back into his characters theme of societal and culture male expectations but with Asa he and she look genuinely happy, like they're having a whole lot of fun just talking or going to cafe's or doing the shopping. A large part of Asa's later character is this relationship and it's a healthy one built on mutual thrust and a slow burn of bonding made up across the whole series's run.
This aspect of realism goes further, I earlier referred to Asa as '-keeps spoiling the plot' and that can now take on an entendred meaning, as not only does she audibly spoil elements of the story when she explains that you don't control who you fall in love with, that it's more speical then that but she also is an active agent against the harem formula. To elaborate Asa is used to discount the tropes of the story in exchange for submitting a better way forward. It's her who convinces and supports Rin in rescuing/visiting Primula, rather then just having him work it out by himself. It's her who we think will be/is going to be the victim of a yandere attack but instead becomes the one to partially save Keade with just her words and hug and helps largely in pulling her back into the light. But as mentioned this realism is a double edged sword, because in real life even if you are a pragmatic, caring and an ultimately kind individual, a 'good' person if you will, life isn't fair and Asa becomes very ill.
Her fallibility - As we discuss episode 23 and the first half of 24 will experience how Asa being a real person can lead to it's own form of hardship. The episode cleverly open on a remind of who Rin is and where he's been, rather then on Asa, this will soon be used to draw parallels between his past self and her current state. He lashes out at a doctor seemingly in charge of threating Asa after the closing events of 22. He's intentions are in the right place but his actions proves extremely selfish as he now puts Ama in a position of having to support both him and her daughter Asa, when she herself is already under some great considerable strain. Remember this it will be really important.
We at long last get a full account of the details involved in Asa and Ama's respective backstories. The details themselves aren't overly important as they were guessable but non-the-less a good source of intrigue. What actually stands out most in this scene is the brilliant directing on display, the speical effects used for the explosion really sell you on the idea that this was a truly catastrophic event and the general direction of the flashback with its vague, dreary and dreamlike illusions to Asa's father/Ama's savoir are visually most welcome. With this information we now better understand the nature of Asa's illness as we can link it straight back to what we already knew about Primula's however it also brings to light a new questions. Primula simply needed to mature as a person in order to better control her powers but as Asa is already a fleshed out individual her issue comes from the fact she refuses to use said powers.
In what is a truly brilliant masterstroke of an idea, the show actually turns the concept of the young heroine being our most realistic love interest, into her central plot point. Asa's ambitions to be in her own words "-I'm a human, just a human" are her hang up.
The episode has some other note worthy points slightly less tangential to her personnel story. There's a nice short scene where Keade, Primula and Kareha come to visit. It being these three is a good combination considering two of them are Asa's best friends and the third is essentially Asa's cousin. This scene is also great for Rin, as Kareha (Along with Ama in another scene) asks Rin to think about what it is that only he can do, imperatively though she doesn't tell him or so much as give him a hint as to what that is, only that she's relying on him. It's so important that this is the case and it continues to put the oneness on Rin to make the decision that he believes is right.
As you can imagine from my summary description alone, the confect of this final arc revolves around Rin and Asa arguing over her hesitance/reluctance to use her powers. We get a number of beautifully slow dialogue scenes of Rin spending time with Asa who the animation team do a great job of gradually making her look more and more decrepit, her face turning ever more pale till the point its almost boney and malnourished. To me this is a wonderful alternative extreme to the yandere faces that Keade made earlier on and like that one, this one two absolutely haunts my dreams. Asa is being what you migth call Selfishly Altruistic, its a theme every character shares and a general theme of the show and while Asa manages to keep away from it for a time, we now see it finally catch up to her. Her conflict is in a way the most realistic, it's solution is simple, just use the magic, but like is so often true in life, it's not that simple. It's funny that on occasion through-out this essay I've referenced how people far to often fail to see past themselves, can have their minds narrowed by a certain sense of thinking. In Asa were seeing this, she isn't doing this out of malice, she ain't trying to hurt Rin or Ama, she's doing what she believes is right. Grasping why Asa won't just use her magic can be really difficult but if you've ever experienced people who act like this in the real world, then you can totally understand what the story's trying to say here in this particular element.
Rin growing ever more desperate placates her, borderline begging her to act before it's to late but Asa's retort is frustratingly blunt "It's my life to bet, not yours". These episodes make a brilliant job of showing us Rin's anguish, he mops around the hospital corridors and waiting rooms which reflect his own isolation in their barren emptiness. I find it a genuinely heart-breaking scene when Asa describes her dream, one where an aged version of herself and Rin stand upon the same overlook and once more profess their feelings for one another, all the while the camera stops upon a disconcerting top down view of an empty dusk-bathed overlook. The words don't match the image of path she's chosen to thread.
Finally we get the last piece of the puzzle as Asa explains her motives, stating she doesn't want to use the magic in an effort not to hurt her mother any further then she already did as a child. The voice acting and animation are crushing as your heart strings get snapped in half. Aside from playing into the themes of her character and that of the show's, it is also just a wonderful case of irony. Her actions mirror Rin's so closely (remember the scene at the episodes open?) she believes whole-heartily that what's she's doing is for the best but in reality she's making her mother responsible for her own daughters death. To loop it back to my earlier point, were you to compare this to modern politics, it's like those who saddle their high horse in order to defend some group or minority who never asked for such help. Asa has decided on what's best for her and her mother with out talking all the facts into consideration
With that we come to the end of episode 23 and with it we can now truly understand what an Asa Shigure really is. Her and Rin initially may seem like an old fashion 'the opposites attract' type couple, the introvert and the extrovert, the reliable best friend and the indecisive young boy but in reality they share more in-common then we expect. They've both got unfounded expectations on their shoulder, both have been through a traumatic upbringing and they each are kind hearted to an absolute detrimental fault. That's part of what makes them such a great couple to each other, along with what we already discussed above.
In a way Asa's character is much simpler to talk of then the others, as her role within the narrative as a more realistic 'Waifu' means that she dispenses with much of the baggage and that of what she does have mirrors the other characters and hence we've already discussed it. As I've no intention to repeat myself considered the absurd length of this essay already, I shant go off on another ramble about the themes of finding your personal identity when your only a young person or on another rant about the topic of extreme altruism but please don't take any of that to mean that I value Asa's character any less then I do the other 5 primary forces of the show.
No indeed her portrayal is one of the things that I believe makes Shuffle work so well, not content just to criticize it gives us a more healthy vague guideline to contemplate, with it's take on an ideal 'healthy relationship' and then snatches it away in what has to be the most realistic depiction of how crap life can be, even when your in love. Illness or accidents, differences in opinion or un-foreseen consequence of previous actions can all jump from nowhere to ruin everything. It's a really harsh lesson but one that's important to teach, especially to a young otaku audience and definitely if it has a happy ending. Asa as a character represents reality, represents the fallibility of us and the importance of always getting back up on our feet no matter what life throws at us. It's about holding on to the people you love and realizing when what your doing is hurting them the most, not helping. She's about facing reality with a head held high.
Thanks once more for joining me on this analysis of an old classic. Part 5 is majortively shorter then the rest and should be up next to this part -https://myanimelist.net/blog.php?eid=861578 . Again arigato (Chri*t that's cringe) for reading part 4, feel free to leave a comment or a 'helpful' on the main review's page and I hope you enjoyed thus far
Next is another couple of small moments interlaced into a greater story. We have a scenes of Keade wondering, cumulating with her on a high river bridge, her attire is even more dreary then normal with the darkened colour pallet. Prior to this we have Primula rushing to tell Rin and the others about how Keade has gone missing. Immediately her panicked attitude and deminer, along with the framing of the whole episode or even the whole arc put two exceedingly unsettlingly thoughts in our minds - is she going to attack Asa again or does she have something more self-destructive in mind? Cutting back to our bridge shot we hear footsteps, there's both a wave of relief as we presume Rin has arrived but also one of intense dread. On the one hand we know she's probably safe from suicide now but there's still the possibility she'll try and kill Rin but then all those fears are dashed as we realize it ain't Rin. Part of what makes the reveal nice is how we as the audience expect it to be Rin probably as much as Keade does. Her mind is shattered but it's doubtful she expects Asa any more then the rest of us.
With Asa now here the two retreat to the side of the riverbank, interestingly this is another location we visited a few times before, one notably occasion being when Rin rejects Kikyou here. Speaking of this scene, aside from being wonderfully mature for any anime, regardless of the harem tag, it also helps heavily to mirror Keade's arc to the other girls with Asa now taking on the big sister role that Kikyou and Lycoris fulfilled in earlier arcs. As Shuffle is a show with a strong emphasis on the role of family within life along with the significance of found family, I think it's only fitting how pivotal the 3 older sister characters are to the individual story arcs.
Past that this scene also has some just gorgeous imagery and symbolism, alongside the more saturated colouring of these moments we have Keade and Asa almost looking like their dressed for a funeral which is only further emphasized by the flowers in Asa's hands, whose red colouring acts as the only real splash of flavoring on screen, making them pop and draw the eye, more-so adding to the funeral imagery which at first seems sad, however the flowers act under three rather important separate guises. For one there's the literal meaning as that of an apology, secondarily they symbolize death, but of what? Well in reality while the whole scene conjures the though of a sad funeral, really it's the end of Keade's self-harming lifestyle and her movement into living for herself, as such the flowers take on a third meaning as a symbol of Asa congratulating Keade on her potential to be a truly brilliant person. A gift from one best friend to another.
I also love how large amounts of this conversation are done with little to no music whatso-ever with just the sounds of the pouring rain in the background, until Keade says it "I wasn't good enough to make him love me - it's not that surprising, some of the awful things I did shouldn't be forgiven - It was all I cared about, everything I did was for Rin, It was the one thing I could do to try to make up for what I'd done, but then after a while, I realized what I really wanted was for him to fall in love with me. I wasn't honest with myself, everything I did was because I wanted to be with Rin".
Really I could just put in the whole conversation in here and I don't really know how to express my love for it without incomprehensible gushing. For one it's framing, where Rin's realization and dedication our done in the sunlight of a picturesque park surrounded by friends, Keade's confession is on the wind swept riverbank in the pouring rain facing her romantic rival. Where Rin is looking to the future to try and make things better, Keade is wallowing, drowning as it were, in the past. This scene is truly heartbreaking as Keade further breaks down, wishing to see him one last time just so she can keep on loving him. She pours out all her feelings here in an act that forever cements her as one of, if not Thee best, childhood friend character in this or any medium and I absolutely love it. Even as the scene goes on there still this lingering fear in your mind that Keade will flip out and try to drown Asa or some such as she states in classic 'yandere who'se already gone over the edge fashion' - "It makes sense though, I can't blame Rin for choosing someone like you over someone like me", as she says it the flowers fall from Asa's hand in a wonderfully animated fashion, the music changes and the tension goes, its a full realease. It's over. You realize that the show has no interest in spoiling everything with some shocking murder scene, like we talked about in out analysis of Keade, even after all this, at her lowest moment of all, there's still hope. Hope of retribution. "So I guess it's your job to make him happy now - Good for you - and Asa I know that you love him but I still...I'm so sorry...".
We move past this to watch the four other primary members of the group out searching for Keade, unaware of her revelations and breakdown into her best friends arms. We get nice quick shot of Rin center screen walking down the roadway, it's framed very similarly to the flashback dreams but with a square focus on just him (Plus it's obviously the present day now) and there she is. He offers her a handkerchief and asks if she's ok and the two finally have the conversation. It's beautiful because really this is their first genuine talk they've had in the whole show. No more masks, hyporacry,vdramatic irony or pretending to play house, instead they finally converse properly, with Rin demanding Keade listen to him proclaim his feelings for Asa. Not out of malice, masocism or cruelty but so that she can understand that he'll still always love her, that he'll always be grateful for the cushioned lifestyle she afforded him for years of his life and that she has the opportunity to go forward and be so much more then just his Japanese housewife. "Now hold on, that isn't fair. You need to hear this from me, right now and from no one else", again I could just copy and paste this whole conversation into here.
"Please don't love me, Please don't love me, I don't know how I'm supposed to.... I love you so much!...." aside from some more brilliant voice acting, the two hug and this is to me the best yandere resolution/good end I've ever seen and as the two walk away from one another, the episode still isn't finished just yet.
"I made stew because I figured you'd probably be cold and hungry and stews good for that. Ok you make it better, but I want you to have some"- We're going to talk about this a whole lot more as we finally reach our character analysis of Primula but in this moment we watch as arriving home Keade finds Primula has made her stew and prepares her a towel. This is what I alluded to earlier, in this moment Keade realizes what Rin already has, that the world hasn't ended, that she isn't alone but instead there are still people who love her. I epically like how the scene frames it to make Primula, in her more adult attire, appear to be taller then Keade, after all despite the neglect, Primula has kept growing as a person in all this time, while Keade is just starting on that journey. In a way what the 3 episodes that make up/form the main crux of her arc lead too isn't the amazing discourse between her and Asa or the hug from Rin, it's this moment here, quiet and short in her own home, like a certain relevant someone we know, where Keade realizes how much more then Rin she has to live for and to me that's incredibly wonderful.
Shuffle! may at times have to sideline some of it's characters out of certain episodes but right here in episode 21 we see the show give further closure to Nerine and Cia, a new beginning for Primula, the final stepping stones of set up for Rin and Asa plus the climax of Keade's arc and to me that's mega impressive.
The episode ends, for the first time in a bit, not on a cliff-hanger but a reward. We saw this in episode 17 were it ends in a reward for Cia but here it's Rin reward, in fact as will soon address almost all of episode 22 is. We get to watch Rin finally confess his feeling for Asa. I quite like how they're already dating at this point, far to many anime make the concemation of the leads becoming boyfriend and girlfriends out to be some massive deal but here that's borderline breezed past off screen (We already mentioned the not-so-shallow allusions to this all the way back in episode 18) because of this the two confessing Love for one another actually comes across as quite real, sincerer even. The anime doesn't end when the two hook up, nor when they admit they're conviction to the 'L-word'. No instead we truly understand what love means to these characters, weather it's Primula's cat dolls, Nerine and Cia's need to love themselves or Rin and Keade's shared familial love. This confession is something we understand and rather then that devaluing it, it makes it into something far more speical, to me at-least.
There are some other nice details here, Asa puts me out of a job by drawing the parallels between her dismissal of her mother and Keade's abusive of Rin, out to the audience. With Rin and her having a really open chat (which helps to further these two's believability as a real couple of real individuals in spite of their fictionality). Rin even admits to how hard his past was but how much you can endure for a family member that you love. Furthermore the shot composition is just lovely (It should be noted that after Rin and Keade literally hug it out, the art style resumes usual business hours and goes back to normal(also notice the 'next time' segment also returns to being the less stressful on my heart, normal version)) . The episode is rounded out on this confession and a truly classic anime kiss to rival even the other greats among it's contemporize.
Character Focus - Primula;
Alas we come to our penultimate character study. Knowing where to place Primula in this essay was little tricky, for one I maintain that she's in truth the core of the anime, in that she mirrors each character's struggles in someway and straight up narrates the final episode's epilogue. Furthermore her arc forms the shows climax/main action set-piece in episode 15. With all that said putting a focus on her too early would require describing a great deal of scenes we had yet to reach and in that is something important. Primula never stops developing throughout the course of the show, it's what makes her a great and highly engaging character. I've chosen to place her exploration here as her role in episode 22 can be baffling for those who haven't been paying attention plus we've covered the bulk of the steps towards development now.
As I mentioned quite some time earlier, way back in our episode 6 discussion, Primula pays homage to many of her predecessors in more ways then one. Coming back to the narrator idea, this is quite a prevalent trope in older anime, where-in the youngest character takes the role of narrator in some fashion. This is, in my view to do with the idea of a youthful pair of eyes, the adventurous escapist spirit that the shows are oft marketed towards, with an aire of an unreliable narrator to it. Rather famous examples of this would be Ruri in Martian Success Nadesco who goes on to be the lead character in the much maligned follow up movie, Rai Ayanami in Evangellion takes this role in a way only Eva could come up with and in the years to come shows like the Melancholy of Haruhi Susamia would do much to similar effect with Yuki Nagato.
Aside from this making for a nice reference to other property's or how it's neat to call out Primula's parelells to her follow cast members, it plays a more important role when looking at her character. She by far develops the most of all the characters, being almost unrecognizable by the end and this is because she starts at ground zero. Primula is deliberately a small mute blank child at the series onset, so of course her many struggles would have the most impact on her. As such when we talk about Primula her core tenants of development are that of her growing up/the struggle of fitting in during adolesence, the themes of neglect paired with found family and feelings of a lack of self-worth.
Like with Rin we've already discussed most of this so it's more a case of pulling all the strands together now. Child neglect we've most recently touched on, it's a topic the show rather appropriately handles as a B-plot. We see it during the first arc and the biggest early indicator to it would appear to be when Rin discovers Primula's lack of undergarments however arguable this is a theme introduced in the girl's very first on-screen appearance. As early as episode two we witness Primula simply wandering the rainy streets of the town, with retrospect its clear by the God's reactions that she has wondered off of her own accord and while they later imply they possibly let her escape in order for her to meet Rin as something of a social experiment (Another interesting example of the manipulation directed towards Primula), the fact is she's clearly someone with the mentality of a child, lightly dressed, wandering the streets of a strange location, under a strange sky. There's something else to be gleaned from her initial scene too. Rin doesn't obtain her the plushie from the claw machine. I love this detail as even in her first moments of spotlight Rin is letting her down, it's not really his fault but it plays heavily into her character. No one cares, she's always the neglected child.
This goes further in her backstory, as discussed at some length prior, The demons created her not to be unkind but because if she dies during experimentation no one would mourn her. On their part it does suggest some remorse for what they perceived as the death of the first test subject during the first infinite Magica experiments however what's key to us is the fact her very creation was a result of a need for someone who was both mailable and disposable but ultimately was done out of a strange form of kindness. Even now we're not done, next we have Lycoris, again we've already discussed her prior but the point is despite being the only one to show Primula any real kindness during her stunted childhood, Lycoris eventually chooses to save her sister Nerine and in doing so she abandons Primula, her kindred sister, to a life of isolation and loneliness. This comes to what should be a head in the Keade arc where we see Primula's depravity in the background of the Fuyou arc, however something interesting here is the resolution to it. Primula in this arc is the one who's always there for Keade, not the other way round. There's no real moment where Keade or Rin apologies to Primula, instead she gets up on her own two feet and try's to rectify the situation by herself.
This proves to be a more common motive for her then you migth think, after all she followed Narine into the real world, under her own agenda to see the man that Lycoris'es 'loved'. Primula acts, to the best of her abilities, to be independent repeatedly. This is added to by the fact she isn't a member of the harem till around episode 22 but is still a primary cast member, puts her in a peculiar position by rom-com anime standards.
Moving past her neglect, we have her struggle to fit in, this applies to her lack of humanity, her absences of family and her totally empty reservoir of self-worth. Rather then pointing out again how this parallels the others, lets re-acquaint ourselves with how it affects Remmu. She is for all intensive purpose, species-less. Not human, not wholly demon or god but some kind of hybrid machination. This proves quite the struggle for her, she was created absent of any real personality and her attempts to make connections end in heartbreak. This leads us to an interesting aspect of her character, the deconstruction of the Lolita architype. I pre-ambled about this somewhat near the top of the essay but I don't think Shuffle is a deconstruction anime but rather that it has elements of that genre and maybe nowhere more then in Primula. Putting aside her characterization for a moment, on a meta-narrative level the show seems to be saying quite a bit with her presentation. Like how the Lycoris backstory makes Nerine's reason for liking Rin a more valid one or how the show turns the old 'parents away on a business trip' into a major narrative note, Primula is given some fairly heavy reasons for existing the way she does.
The idea of the dead-pan loli being as such because of a grim backstory is not uncommon but Shuffle's is definitely an interesting example of it because of the meta-implications. Referencing Nadesco's Ruri again, she's dead pan because she's an Ai interfaced (as confirmed to us almost immediately with-in the story), so it's definitely not new but what is, is the way its used to explore loli culture. We've mentioned at length how Primula's cloths change to match any given situation, the same can be said for how she's drawn. Depending on the tone of a scene and the artist at the helm Primula is often depicted with longer legs or a more pronounced chest, conversely the inverse occurs frequently as-well. This is another one of the show's uses of animation abuse, in the real world changing the proportion of a women would be tricky and needlessly expensive to do justice but here it can be done with ease but why you migth ask? Well one of the questions Shuffle asks it's otaku audience is what about these architypes is it that you like? Do you like that Keade is dedicated to the point of desperation? Do you like how Cia flaunts her body due to a lack of confidence in her personality? Do you like that Primula is child-like?
To say it again, the show isn't so much criticizing you, as it is trying to get you to ask yourself these questions. If your a lolicon fan then why? The aesthetic? The age? Or maybe the personality? It can seem foreign now-a-days in a time where loli characters appear to be getting progressively smaller, more child like and worryingly incestual but back in the 90's and 2000's loli had a different meaning. A fan tern coined based off the Russian book 'Lolita', loli didn't describe a child - because the word 'child' already exists for that, instead it described an astatic of character. Somewhat unique in that other fan terms like 'Tsundere' were used as short hand for an anime personality type, loli refers to an artistic choice, as such the 2000's in particular are known for a whole host of iconic loli Tsundere's (Taiga, Louise, Nagi, Shana, Nagisa, Ayu and Chuunibyou's Rikka along with most of the cast of Higarushi are just some leading same age loli roles that spring to mind), however the term back then didn't refer to children as some have appropriated it to mean in more recent times. This in itself alone makes Primula's depiction even more interesting as the questions she's asking seem more relevant now today then ever before.
Primula isn't here to judge her fans, much like the others she's her to help (mostly young men in this case) think through some rather complicated adolescent feelings of wish fulfilment. The show isn't trying to paint you as wrong for liking the idea of Primula or Keade but instead wants to convey how damaging an ideal that migth be for the girl in question. There's nothing wrong with fantasying about a perfect DereDere housewife but what's important is that you remember that vision would in reality be a person with their own feelings and emotions and that's what leads us to the point of Primula's more deconstructive side. What would a loli be like in real life? The show gets you to consider the terrible events that would make someone that deadpan and emotionless, it points out there lack of common sense and their feelings of worthlessness. That idealized vision of purity would in reality be just a girl trying to fit in. However as we've mentioned shuffle is never content not to offer an alternative and as such we see Primula change over the course of the series. It's crucial that she only considers herself romantically attracted to Rin in the final act of the show because only then is she a fully fledged person, the show is saying it's fine to find a fully consenting person of your own age appealing but that you must look past the idealized idea of that person, to identify if what you looking or aiming for is something healthy for everyone that's involved.
Like the others, Primula is painted in many different lights, some people like the idea of a weak partner who they can 'rescue' yet shuffle points out just how much damage that does to a person. I already mentioned the effects of being emotionally vapid and even the idea of the ideal family unit is brought heavily into question. The show isn't trying to judge anyone, it isn't going around calling people pedophiles or other hollow buzzwords and rhetoric it's simply asking you to consider the often harsh reality behind the fantasy, that is in sense the core elements of the whole show and all it's fantasy allegory's. It's another reason for why Primula acts as the shows heart by being the most representative of this idea.
My apologies if this segment feels more rigid in tone then the rest, to my own shame I find myself a little fatigued with the topic of Lolita and shota depiction in anime at the moment. For those reading this as my first piece of work, off the back of the recent fractures the inspired trend chaser of a youtuber 'Noralities' has perpetuated, I found myself experiencing first hand the intolerance of modern anime discourse and being rather rudely awoken to the fact that some perfectly logical and intelligent, analytical even, people will dismiss an entire anime production for the inclusion of a loli or shota. The idea that normal reasonable people are so intolerant to even having a civil discussion about these arkward topics without the use of said shallow rhetoric words like 'Peodifllia' has been genuinely quite disheartening, so it's with my utmost apologies that this segment isn't my best explained. Primula has always been for me one of the best written parts about Shuffle, despite a small enough screen presence she's a complex and highly developed character used to deliver a variety of good messages both meta and otherwise. If you have an interest in more of my thoughts on this matter you can read my 'Super Lovers' Review here on Mal (A slightly early version of it is also available on my Mal's blog page). Thanks for understanding.
Ahem. Like Rin, Primula's development isn't a straight line, she starts fragile but determined to find Rin, then she attempts to resist returning to the demon world but gives in for Rin, Keade and Nerine's collective sakes, then she finds herself a family only to follow that by once more being neglected, as she makes desperate attempts to appease an increasingly uninterested Keade and Rin. Non-the-less she perseveres eventually becoming Keade's rock and forming herself into a fully fledged person. This growth she under goes is wonderfully charted by the smaller moments, her cloths, her cooking and her consideration for others all change in small ways throughout and by the time of episode 22 Primula has finally begun to think for herself, the lessons she learns from episode 15 come to fruition. Ep 15 teaches Primula that despite the betrayal that Rin and Lycoris perpetrated, she is loved by them both (It's another part of why it's important that it's not just Rin who saves her) and then through witnessing Keade's struggle, she learns that in turn there are people who need her, that she can be the Lycoris Keade needs in that moment. It's only through this continued development that Primula comes to apricate what it means to be a human, that we all mess up and hurt one another, that we all do our best to support each other. It's once more a simple message but it's only with this learned that she can move on, she has to first learn what love is in order to be in love.
Like we discussed with the Rin/Asa's confession scene, a large part of Remmu's journey is to learn what love is. Lycoris conveyed it to the girl with the first cat plushie, something which Rin would go on to reinforce with the second toy and while this is a good way to explain it to a child, Primula needs to learn to appreciate a deeper kind of love in order to develop into a greater more fleshed out person. She first learns heartbreak when Lycoris dies and when Rin betrays her thrust but what she sees in episode 15 is how affection goes further then a physical object the likes of teddy bear but in standard Shuffle fashion, Rin has little do to with this learning curve. Lycoris started it but Keade finishes it, after all it's through Keade that Primula comes to understand the difference between familial love and romantic love. This is why a fully developed Primula in episode 22 is capable of showing jealous and envy towards the other girls vying for Rin's attentions, she's no longer just a child, something which episode 24 confirms in a literal sense by giving us the information that she was only ever a year (two at most) younger then the rest of the cast. The point being that it was a question of her understanding of the world that made attraction to her immoral, not her age. When we speak of these things, age is almost never the important thing to discuss.
To conclude our analysis of Primula I actually find it quite hard to narrow down what exactly the message being conveyed by Primula's character is. Where you can boil the other's down to one overly-simplistic sentence, Cia needs to love herself, Nerine needs to live for herself, Keade can find retribution and Rin needs to learn the difference between what's 'right' and what's Right, Primula is a little more opaque to disconcert.
One reading could be that no matter your background you can still aim to make the best of life, another migth be to understand that even when your neglected by the people you love, they may still care for you. One could look to the meta elements and say the breakdown of the loli genre is the message or that it's a heart-felt metaphor for the struggles of growing up as a teenager, while trying to fit in but being a little bit different. It could be one of trying to effect the changes in your life that you'd like to see in others or maybe it's as simple as a message about growth. A combination in a sense of all those pre-requisites, telling us that no matter the background, your individual struggles and short-comings, no matter how many times you've been hurt and burned, you can still become a great person, still go on to be better then you once were. A message if you will about how we never stop changing and growing as people in the best possible way.
I personally have very little affinity for lolicon culture or loli waifu's, I don't really play the Waifu game but if I was asked who the best written loli is, my mind will always arrive at Primula in quick succession. The extent of topics and morality covered by her are highly compelling, while still managing to have her be comic relief early on. She's a well written character with some great intentions for the show's audience and for that she may just be my favorite character of the whole show.
Episode 22 - A bountiful Dream
As I alluded to in the previous section, episode 22 can come across as a bemusing experience, the fan service is cranked up to 11 and the tone returns to that of the opening moments of the show's first few episodes. We get a return of the visual novel character bubbles, sound effects and all. Cia or more precisely Kikyou is extremely sexual and Primula and Nerine don cat cosplay. As I also implied, the easy answer for all this is it's the reward, Rin's reward for actually manning up somewhat, for doing the best thing he could think of with the Keade situation and later making sure to give her closure while still trying his best to show his more brotherly affections before finally confessing his love to Asa.
However we can go a bit more in-depth then just that with a return to the quick fire scenes game;
For one we have the opening scenes for example, which automatically confers this is going to be a lighter episode when we witness Rin receiving back slaps a plenty from fellow students. It's a nice gag but also serves to both reflect how much further along Rin and Asa's relationship has become, while also it reminds us of the simpler times when Asa used to greet Rin with a similar such slap on the way to school. The same scene also acts as the return of the aforementioned character bubbles.
What follows on from this is a series of fluffy classroom scenes, it has after all been awhile since we spent any significant time in the school. I quite appreciate the rather lengthy scene of isekai, Mayumi and Rin simply chilling in the cafeteria. It's a nice reminder of these three's pre-existing bond from before the series opening and furthermore Isekai affords a nice moment of clarity when he compliments Rin in making the adult choice and choosing respectfully, the one girl he actually felt romantic feelings towards. The scene is also pretty funny with Mayumi delivering a wonderfully animated punch while showing surprisingly good form.
Something that isn't even a full scene but is worth quickly mentioning. Said cut displays Nerine and Cia quaintly spending their lunch break time with a separate group of friends. It's a nice touch and an easy way to keep communicating to us how the duo are moving further away from the infatuation with Rin being their only motivations.
Next up is some more great relationship building. People often praise shows like Golden Time for it's portrayal of relationships that go further then the 'will they won't they' phase and I recently reviewed Horimiya, a show which is flaunted for much the same traits however here in Shuffle we get much the same to very little fan fare. In the current scene we see Asa and Rin happily spending time together in Rin's new apartment. Rin mentions how easy life's been up till now, it's a nice level of self-awareness considering how to some degree one would argue his life has been awful but what he's accepting here is how easy Keade has made it for him in more recent years.
I also greatly appreciate how Asa never offers to help with the money situations, after-all that would devalue his efforts and the weight of his independently made decisions. The scene is rounded out with a casual kiss and 'casual' is the important word there. In spite of Rin looking initially surprised we get the impression/feeling that this is becoming a natural part of their lives, showing just how comfortable a partnership they have become in each others company. There are few shows that pull off, off-handed kisses all that well but here we have a great example of one doing just that.
Next is one of the episodes only slow scenes as we watch Keade and Rin talk for the first time since the previous story. There's the implication of some time passing between 21 and 22 but it's clear Keade is still bent out of shape, as Shuffle once again refuses to have her be simply 'fixed' the moment her arc ends. This conversation is one of the shows most mature and ends in a quiet hug. Despite this episodes focus on over the top fan service the show is never foolish enough to extend that out as far as Keade. This scene just proves how much more tactful it is then that, there's also some more great voice-acting by Keade's voice actress.
Now we come to the last big talking point of the episode, that final scene. To give context, Rin and Asa stand in the new apartment looking out at the view of the town, the balcony door is open which gives the scene a brilliant use of visual story telling. Rin is framed behind the open glass door, as such the clouds of the dusk skyline reflect across his visage, for him life is now great, all his friends have found their answers and are all on the path to recovery, he himself has found a new road to walk along while meanwhile he's now with the girl of his dreams, his life is literally clear skies now, he's taken personal responsibility in his life and all this episode is his reward, but even now we still have those unassuming clouds on the horizon, foreshadowing what's left to come in the show's remaining screen-time. In stark contrast Asa is framed on the open doorway, completely unobscured by any clouds or sky of any kind representative of how her struggle is only just beginning and reflective of how despite how close they seem to be in a physical proximity sense, they are still divided and the hardships of life are still actively vying to draw them apart, like how the glass doorframe standing between them quite literally separates them in the framing of the shot.
Episode 22 heavily mirrors episode 12 in that we witness what seems to be a good end, a harem end even. Everyone has reached a relative point of equilibrium but like with Primula once before, Asa falls foul to an almost identical illness. That last point is interesting, it plays into the point of this episode heavily. The conflict of the Primula arc was Rin's fault in a sense along with that of Primula's illness but this time Rin has done nothing wrong, he's done his best, done what he believed to be right, is trying to support his friends in a more productive manner and to be a good boyfriend to Asa and yet in the end she still falls ill and that's part of the point. I compared Primula's sickness to a simile for cancer earlier on and here we see that come back once more. In a manor of speaking Asa falling sick is very true to life, even if we do everything we can to help those around us and be a good person, even if we beat the cancer once, you can never know when it will cruely return, unannounced, un-timely and uninvited. It's all the more painful because of the fact that Rin had finally done the right thing. Primula breaking felt like an inevitability but Asa's while equally indivertible is the fault of no-one, we feel as powerless as Rin is about to become.
This mirroring to episode 12 is present in more then that however. Like 12 we see the happy end portraited in a slightly unnatural way, sure it's less tragic and the characters have worked through most of their issues but theirs an intentional dissonance in how obtrusive the fanservice is. The characters come off like their in a classic tropes harem, Kikyou acts like a true sexual deviant, Primula, though totally in character, can come across as out of character and even Nerine seems out to impress Rin. Sure Things have moved far past episode 12 but we still aren't quite their, this is still a fantasy and ep 22 does an amazing job of displaying that fact to great (if not a little confusing on a first watch) effect, while also never stepping out of line. Keade is still recovering, Primula is still finding her feet, Nerine and Cia are still shown developing outside of the main group and despite all the vulumtous fan service, even in this most intentionally lustful of episodes, the show never uses nudity as a joke. Now maybe it's time we properly address that final point -
Theme - Maturity in nudity
Now here's a topic I first addressed right back at the start of this elongated essay, let's take a moment to put on our school boy analysis writing skills and tackle this theme head on rather then in my usual round-about manner.
As a theme of the story it's one thoroughly grounded in Japanese culture, who's perception of nudity varies greatly from our own versions of it over here in the bulk of western countries. For one thing censoring nudity is a relatively new concept to the country, only becoming a regulation post the year 2000 which stands in a marked contrast to our own off-com standards boards and the likes of them. For an easy example just watch older anime and you'll be surprised how often a child or even fully grown women in say a Gundam series will be suddenly naked for a few seconds of shot, not for the purposes of fan-service mind you. Gurren Lagann makes something of a meta joke about this with a whole mini-episode of the spin off 'parallels works' series being dedicated to a naked version of young Dari. This all stems from an expectation, one that all upstanding citizens should hold the naked form with a sense of sincerity and reverence, something which in the last couple decades the Japan's government finally seems to of realized migth be a miss-placed thrust in their idealized image of a humanity so apparently adept at personnel responsibility but it non-the-less makes for an interesting part of anime history.
For our purposes on the other hand we have Shuffle's frequent use of nudity and it is indeed regular, not to the level of something like Highschool DxD, indeed I'd almost hesitate to put an 'ecchi' tag on the property were it not for it's nudity scenes. Yet as mentioned at large, Shuffle never uses these scenes for titlating fan service, instead when a bra is lost we as the audience are expected to acknowledge and be mature enough to realize that it's a signal for us to pay attention rather then be aroused. It migth seem like a foreign contradictory concept to many of us but nudity is such an important part of all our lives that Shuffle expects any display of it to make you consider it's secondary meaning. Maybe the best way to illustrate this is some examples-
-The best of these is episode 11, just the whole thing to be honest. We've only glossed over it so far but during the course of the episode we follow Mayumi and Miss.Mou as they go on a heavily fan-service filled mini-adventure. On the surface it acts as a nice break in between the more somber episodes 10 and 12 and as a cushion before the show takes on a regularly darkener subject matter in general, this alone is something I love epically as it gives time to some characters who are somewhat less served in the anime then there visual novel counterparts migth of been but there's more at work here from our perspective. The 'plot' of the episode is manly Mayumi in specific losing her underwear and her mission to both work a shift in a maid café and to then recover said undergarments. This is not the show's most complicated plot however despite being the prime opportunity to sneak in some grotesk oppai shots, it never does. In fact despite a myriad of soft core shots the only nudity comes right at the end of the episode when Mou and Mayumi take a bath in her family's onsen. Here the two are on screen nude but importantly the tone of the scene is completely different to everything from before. Now the music is more calm, the framing less sexual and the two characters simply talk about the mundanity of life. It's sober though to a lesser extent to much of the other scenes I've referenced but in an episode spent being solely comedy driven, the sudden change to actual full blown uncensored fan-service heralds a more serious moment in the story.
We also previously spoke about how the inclusion of a see through bra scene for Primula helped to eventuate the severity of that scene. There we're saw how Rin and by proxy the audience don't react with arousal but instead with embarrassment at the realization that they've let the girl down. Like I said before, this scene wouldn't hit as hard without this clarity and lack of ambiguity and so it's should be unsurprising that this is her only nudity scene in the whole show.
During Kikyou's ep 17, the date is brought to a sobering halt when Kikyou flashes Rin and tries to proposition him with her body. As soon as she's actually presenting herself openly to him, Rin and ergo the viewer is smacked in the face with how wrong, how messed up this whole situation is, to an extend doubly so for the viewer who knows Kikyou has stolen Cia's form. All this despite the fact Cia is meant to be on of the two main fanservice scenes. The show is using the reality that nudity affords in order to hammer home the severity or sometimes just the importance of a scene
We see it again when Keade offers herself to Rin, this scene hits with far more sincerity and desperation because she is actually on screen, likewise the same is appropriate with most of Keade's nudity moments.
And finally we have what I mentioned about episode 22, like 11 it's full of fanservice including the sexy older sister trope, cat maid cosplay trope and general girl's fighting over the main guy activities but throughout it all they're never nude because the point of these scenes is both a further release of the high stakes tensions of the previous 3 arcs and as an embodiment of the faulty 'harem good end' mentality of most harems and even standard rom-com anime. If any of the fanservice was presented with nudity it would throw the whole thing off kilter and its in this way that the show manages to weaponize it's own obesity into something more adult.
The truly sad part about all this is, with the prominent divide that's formed in the anime community around Dragon Maid, Re;zero, Sao cancel culture and almost everything Noralities legion of parrot like follows champion, combined with the elitisms, hate culture and gatekeeping the anime communities have always attracted and appealed to, many will go into Shuffle! seeing it's ecchi or harem tag and immediately decide there's no value to be had. They'll dismiss the whole show because of a loli or scenes of minor nudity, all because there unwilling to look past their pre-conceived notions and bias's about their own countries politics or about their opinions on any given genre tag. It's a shame to put it lightly that one would miss out on all this depth and sub-text for a silly reason like that.
Nudity in Shuffle! is always used sparingly and for good reason, weather it's to eventuate the severity of a point or as a metaphor like in the advert's title card it is constantly used to signal a change in tone or pacing to a masterful extend and rather then degrading any scene it's included in, it instead manages to present itself as a prevailing sign of the shows - well - maturity.
Episode 23 - Character - Asa
If Primula forms the show's core in that her story and character journey mirror that of all the questions the other character's strands each ask us as the viewer, then Asa Shigure makes up the other half of that coin, she is the shows answer to it's own questions. When we look at Asa as a character we have to understand what the point of her is, as it deviates form the others. Where there all used to propose faults in the genre formulas and architypes, Asa is used to illustrate a less toxic route through life. She isn't perfect by any means (which is quite important), she can be rash and tomboyish but she's deeply caring and has an old head on her shoulders as it were. Her playful almost Tsundere aspects act as a front for her more motherly interior and a deep route sense of shame and regret for her past actions as a child, which in turn continue to plague her in the present day, however despite all this Asa's issues are initially external. Where Cia, Nerine and Keade all have a hand in their own misery's, Asa doesn't, she didn't ask to be born ill, mind you we will soon see that she isn't infallible to the same traps as the other girls fall into.
This fallibility plays heavily into what the point of Asa is, realistic. We see this part of her portraited all over the series, I mentioned before a great visual reference to it in episode 18 when we see her and Rin bantering while an alternative young couple do the generic formulaic asking out scene in the background of our focused foreground. We also mentioned how in that same episode, when Asa is neglected she doesn't swoon and look on wistfully but instead pouts and when it reaches a boiling point, she doesn't make excuses for Rin or blame herself like some of the other girls migth of but instead slaps him and gives him a what for lecture. In fact are very first scene of discussion was one where we saw how much she contrasts Nerine in her apparel and cooking style, along with her sisterly tendency to carry plasters around.
Even when they do finally get together, their relationship differs heavily from that of Rin's with the others. They date, kiss and talk in a causal manor, they act like old best friends because that's what they are. A good couple is one where both parties aren't just 'in love' but rather one where they enjoy each others company, feel comfortable in their intimacy and can act naturally. When Rin is with Cia, Nerine and Kikyou he has to keep putting up a front, as do they, both parties have to actively try to impress one another, to make things 'perfect', to make them 'how it's supposed to be' and when he's around Keade and Primula he has to act in that traditional image of what he perceives a man of the house to be, all playing back into his characters theme of societal and culture male expectations but with Asa he and she look genuinely happy, like they're having a whole lot of fun just talking or going to cafe's or doing the shopping. A large part of Asa's later character is this relationship and it's a healthy one built on mutual thrust and a slow burn of bonding made up across the whole series's run.
This aspect of realism goes further, I earlier referred to Asa as '-keeps spoiling the plot' and that can now take on an entendred meaning, as not only does she audibly spoil elements of the story when she explains that you don't control who you fall in love with, that it's more speical then that but she also is an active agent against the harem formula. To elaborate Asa is used to discount the tropes of the story in exchange for submitting a better way forward. It's her who convinces and supports Rin in rescuing/visiting Primula, rather then just having him work it out by himself. It's her who we think will be/is going to be the victim of a yandere attack but instead becomes the one to partially save Keade with just her words and hug and helps largely in pulling her back into the light. But as mentioned this realism is a double edged sword, because in real life even if you are a pragmatic, caring and an ultimately kind individual, a 'good' person if you will, life isn't fair and Asa becomes very ill.
Her fallibility - As we discuss episode 23 and the first half of 24 will experience how Asa being a real person can lead to it's own form of hardship. The episode cleverly open on a remind of who Rin is and where he's been, rather then on Asa, this will soon be used to draw parallels between his past self and her current state. He lashes out at a doctor seemingly in charge of threating Asa after the closing events of 22. He's intentions are in the right place but his actions proves extremely selfish as he now puts Ama in a position of having to support both him and her daughter Asa, when she herself is already under some great considerable strain. Remember this it will be really important.
We at long last get a full account of the details involved in Asa and Ama's respective backstories. The details themselves aren't overly important as they were guessable but non-the-less a good source of intrigue. What actually stands out most in this scene is the brilliant directing on display, the speical effects used for the explosion really sell you on the idea that this was a truly catastrophic event and the general direction of the flashback with its vague, dreary and dreamlike illusions to Asa's father/Ama's savoir are visually most welcome. With this information we now better understand the nature of Asa's illness as we can link it straight back to what we already knew about Primula's however it also brings to light a new questions. Primula simply needed to mature as a person in order to better control her powers but as Asa is already a fleshed out individual her issue comes from the fact she refuses to use said powers.
In what is a truly brilliant masterstroke of an idea, the show actually turns the concept of the young heroine being our most realistic love interest, into her central plot point. Asa's ambitions to be in her own words "-I'm a human, just a human" are her hang up.
The episode has some other note worthy points slightly less tangential to her personnel story. There's a nice short scene where Keade, Primula and Kareha come to visit. It being these three is a good combination considering two of them are Asa's best friends and the third is essentially Asa's cousin. This scene is also great for Rin, as Kareha (Along with Ama in another scene) asks Rin to think about what it is that only he can do, imperatively though she doesn't tell him or so much as give him a hint as to what that is, only that she's relying on him. It's so important that this is the case and it continues to put the oneness on Rin to make the decision that he believes is right.
As you can imagine from my summary description alone, the confect of this final arc revolves around Rin and Asa arguing over her hesitance/reluctance to use her powers. We get a number of beautifully slow dialogue scenes of Rin spending time with Asa who the animation team do a great job of gradually making her look more and more decrepit, her face turning ever more pale till the point its almost boney and malnourished. To me this is a wonderful alternative extreme to the yandere faces that Keade made earlier on and like that one, this one two absolutely haunts my dreams. Asa is being what you migth call Selfishly Altruistic, its a theme every character shares and a general theme of the show and while Asa manages to keep away from it for a time, we now see it finally catch up to her. Her conflict is in a way the most realistic, it's solution is simple, just use the magic, but like is so often true in life, it's not that simple. It's funny that on occasion through-out this essay I've referenced how people far to often fail to see past themselves, can have their minds narrowed by a certain sense of thinking. In Asa were seeing this, she isn't doing this out of malice, she ain't trying to hurt Rin or Ama, she's doing what she believes is right. Grasping why Asa won't just use her magic can be really difficult but if you've ever experienced people who act like this in the real world, then you can totally understand what the story's trying to say here in this particular element.
Rin growing ever more desperate placates her, borderline begging her to act before it's to late but Asa's retort is frustratingly blunt "It's my life to bet, not yours". These episodes make a brilliant job of showing us Rin's anguish, he mops around the hospital corridors and waiting rooms which reflect his own isolation in their barren emptiness. I find it a genuinely heart-breaking scene when Asa describes her dream, one where an aged version of herself and Rin stand upon the same overlook and once more profess their feelings for one another, all the while the camera stops upon a disconcerting top down view of an empty dusk-bathed overlook. The words don't match the image of path she's chosen to thread.
Finally we get the last piece of the puzzle as Asa explains her motives, stating she doesn't want to use the magic in an effort not to hurt her mother any further then she already did as a child. The voice acting and animation are crushing as your heart strings get snapped in half. Aside from playing into the themes of her character and that of the show's, it is also just a wonderful case of irony. Her actions mirror Rin's so closely (remember the scene at the episodes open?) she believes whole-heartily that what's she's doing is for the best but in reality she's making her mother responsible for her own daughters death. To loop it back to my earlier point, were you to compare this to modern politics, it's like those who saddle their high horse in order to defend some group or minority who never asked for such help. Asa has decided on what's best for her and her mother with out talking all the facts into consideration
With that we come to the end of episode 23 and with it we can now truly understand what an Asa Shigure really is. Her and Rin initially may seem like an old fashion 'the opposites attract' type couple, the introvert and the extrovert, the reliable best friend and the indecisive young boy but in reality they share more in-common then we expect. They've both got unfounded expectations on their shoulder, both have been through a traumatic upbringing and they each are kind hearted to an absolute detrimental fault. That's part of what makes them such a great couple to each other, along with what we already discussed above.
In a way Asa's character is much simpler to talk of then the others, as her role within the narrative as a more realistic 'Waifu' means that she dispenses with much of the baggage and that of what she does have mirrors the other characters and hence we've already discussed it. As I've no intention to repeat myself considered the absurd length of this essay already, I shant go off on another ramble about the themes of finding your personal identity when your only a young person or on another rant about the topic of extreme altruism but please don't take any of that to mean that I value Asa's character any less then I do the other 5 primary forces of the show.
No indeed her portrayal is one of the things that I believe makes Shuffle work so well, not content just to criticize it gives us a more healthy vague guideline to contemplate, with it's take on an ideal 'healthy relationship' and then snatches it away in what has to be the most realistic depiction of how crap life can be, even when your in love. Illness or accidents, differences in opinion or un-foreseen consequence of previous actions can all jump from nowhere to ruin everything. It's a really harsh lesson but one that's important to teach, especially to a young otaku audience and definitely if it has a happy ending. Asa as a character represents reality, represents the fallibility of us and the importance of always getting back up on our feet no matter what life throws at us. It's about holding on to the people you love and realizing when what your doing is hurting them the most, not helping. She's about facing reality with a head held high.
Thanks once more for joining me on this analysis of an old classic. Part 5 is majortively shorter then the rest and should be up next to this part -https://myanimelist.net/blog.php?eid=861578 . Again arigato (Chri*t that's cringe) for reading part 4, feel free to leave a comment or a 'helpful' on the main review's page and I hope you enjoyed thus far
Posted by momentie | May 25, 2021 2:10 PM | 0 comments
The complete Shuffle! Retrospective Part 3 (of 5)
Anime Relations: Shuffle!
Welcome back. This is part 3 of our long haul road trip through the 2005 anime Shuffle! Here's a link for part 1 - https://myanimelist.net/blog.php?eid=860551 .Enjoy!
Character Focus - Keade - "I know he's not mine, He's never been mine, but I need to keep loving him";
Like with Cia and Nerine, the best way to examine Keade's character is via her arc which so seamlessly acts as a character study as-well as a highly compelling and grounded narrative.
Like the others Keade is suffering from an illness, in her case an extreme form of co-dependency syndrome. Among mental conditions this one's actually quite common in anime, being the usual reason for a yandere's actions but where shows like Mirai Nikki try to make this almost acceptable and romantic, shuffle has other ideas. As will discuss this need to have Rin relie on her is all that supports Keade. We've already mentioned how her room is barren of any other hobbies and her talent at cooking is solely motivated by a need to impress Rin. She quite literally lives for him, it isn't as simple as a lack of confidence or a need for attention, she quite literally can not live without him to relie on her. It's extremely unhealthy and has left one heck of a mark on her pychy but how did this happen? Episode 19 starts with hints towards the answer.
In usual Shuffle fashion, throughout the show we've periodically had hints to a darker story behind Rin and Keade, from both Rin's parents and Keade's mother being dead at the onset of the series, to Rin's unsettling dreams that we only get to catch glimpses of from time to time. When Keade asked about these said dreams in prior episodes, her question came off as inconsequential but once episode 19 starts we realize she migth of been more sincere in her inquires.
Episode 19's very first shot post title sequence is of a young Rin and Keade standing in flashback Rain. Again I should preface by saying I'm no expert in cinematography and shot composition but even I can take note of some really great techniques at work here. One that's super common but highly effective (and used a-lot in this arc particularly) is the distance between the two character as they are placed at opposite sides of the screen but it goes a little further then that. Keade's hair tone is dulled notably during the flashbacks and even the illumination offered by the streetlights and the shop window front are scaled down. This all drags our attentions to the negative space between them foremost. In doing so it extenuates the distance between them far more then by just placing them far apart would of done. After, your eye is then drawn to the two as individuals who you almost don't recognize as the characters we've come to know, they hold themselves in an almost limp posture, no emotions showing as they stare silently at one another until Keade breaks the silence, striding forward a few steps and the shot cuts to yet another great close-up, "I wish you were dead, I mean it. Just Die!"
The animation is short but incredibly sweet, with another great filter on it to slightly alter the style and with some great quick cuts before we're back in the almost blindingly brightly lit bedroom of Rin's.
It's worth mentioning here about the incredibly economic way in which Shuffle covers it's arc. Nerine, Primula and Lycoris are collectively covered in just three episodes as a group with extra development for Rin as-well, Cia in a 2 and Asa in 2.5. All in all the show manages to give highly complete and satisfyingly arcs in as small an amount of time as possible and that to me is because of how it manages it's characters. Allow me to elaborate, in most Visual novel shows a concession is made as it's important to understand that in most of those show's source materials you would pursue one girl's route at a time, meaning in any VN's adaption, as each girls story is explored, she is then phased out and the protagonist moves on to the next chapter.
Let me make this clear, I've got no issue with this, I love Kanon and Clanned, Grissia and School days but I can apricate the hustle Shuffle puts in, in order to hold on to its whole cast. No one is hospitalized, nobody moves to France in the last quarter nor does the protagonist have to move away with just the chosen girl. Those examples are by no means bad things as they benefit the stories being told and in most cases those sidelined characters will get to come back in the finally or Ova material but there is definitely an advantage to Shuffle's method. For one as mentioned much earlier, the likes of Nerine get to keep developing in small ways during the backgrounds of other's arcs but more importantly it allows for the great sense of foreshadowing and natural progression that I've referenced to at length. During Primula's arc you get multiple references to Kikyou (Not in words but through actions and animations), during episode 10's focus on Cia, you get leading lines from Nerine and even some spooky Keade moments. In every arc you get examples of Asa's illness playing a role. The point is by never relegating any of them out of the plot, it means each character, even if it's just in small ways, gets a great screen presence. Maybe the best example of this economy is episode 16's start. We see Rin and Keade say goodbye to Primula on their way to school. This is pretty much her only scene in the episode and it's used to show how she's already developing from the previous arc by having her wear more adult clothing. It's simple, only a couple of seconds long but highly effective at implanting ideas in an attentive viewers mind.
What all this leads to is the natural feel of the drama that I keep blaging on about. When Kikyou manifests it doesn't feel sudden. By the same measure when throughout this arc, from Rin's dreams to his and Keade's backstory, to Keade's unhealthy tendency's growing worse and even the sub-plot about Primula's neglect, non of it feels forced for the sake of drama but rather feels like it was always inevitable and that is by far my favorite form any drama can take. Another cousin of how this works is something we've already mentioned, this episode's title card is completely different to any other, being just a simple, small line of almost logical, uncaring text. It's a neat touch as I mentioned when discussing episode 18 I really like these sorts of little references/Easter eggs that benefit towards the main story being told or the tone of the episode in question.
Our next talking point opens on Keade doing the washing up, not on her face or the room she's in but on a close up of her doing the dishes. It's a nice reminder that's she both trying to be the idealized Japanese house wife and that her work is everything to her. It's followed by another shot that mirrors many of the one's we've had already. We have Keade and Primula standing on one side of the room with Rin by the doorway. The distance between them feels like a present day version of the flashback sequence we just saw. The once again static camera angel of the shot reminds us of the dollhouse ghostly analogue episode 6 presented for Primula and the slightly awkward feeling of the whole thing is reminiscent of the Kikyou date in episode 17. Keade's face is drawn minimally throughout for what should by now be an obvious reason and before the scenes close she steps away even further from Rin and Remmu. Primula has returned to her aforementioned post 15 attire indicating that she'll be relevant and something of a supportive rock for Keade in this arc.
Rin says he'll skip the breakfast that's been so prominently placed in the foreground of the still shot, as Keade steps partially off screen in what is another brilliant use of the house's architectural design. As Rin leaves we get some more of that brilliant voice work from (Carrie Savage) as Keade tries to hold up her composer in front of Primula. They go as far as to use the hanging racks to obscure our view of Keade eyes and face, adding further to this sense of her loss of control.
A large part of this episode is as mentioned. flashbacks and one point which I really love is how Shuffle turns the normal "Our parents are off on an elongated business trip for an undisclosed length of time" into a central part of it's storytelling, turning that trope on it's head by having the parent's just literally being dead. While these flashbacks occur what we're shown is present day Keade tidying and attending to other house chores on a sort of auto-pilot which carries its own form of spookiness. The whole flashback sequence is threated far differently from those we've seen before, in Primula's case we were viewing her trance like Coma dreams, with Nerine she acted as a narrator guiding us and Rin along but here we seemingly dispense of that with the flashbacks seemingly being the painful recollection of memories from either Rin or Keade's (Or both's) respective perspectives. This in turn gives them a more scattered feeling, the framing of these scenes almost makes us as the viewer feel like an intruder into someone's darkened mind.
These flashbacks are maybe the most telling information we get on both Keade and Rin's personalities and how their informed by their respective pasts. We talked a little about it at the start of this essay but the characters of Shuffle seldom fall properly into an architype, Rin included. In Keade's case her architype is the yandere, a term coined to describe a character whom obses'es over her love interest, often going as far as to scare off or even murder potential romance rivals. As I said before Keade's diagnosis of dependency syndrome is also pretty on the money when it comes to being a yandere however keeping with the idea of her being a person first not just an architype, Keade ends up breaking some conventions of the troop. For one she never kills anyone but she definitely does go to extremes. The obvious one is her outburst against Asa in episode 19/20 but you'd be foolish to ignore the greater extreme she goes to, straight up offering her body to appease Rin in episode 20. It's a raw scene that maybe hits harder then a normal murder scene migth of but to me this is what solidifies her as one of my favorite murderous love-interests. The show doesn't feel compelled to have her commit an act she can never make up for and that's really important.
Both as an element of her character and as theme of the show, retribution and hope for a better future are integral. The actions Keade takes are incredibly immoral as she breaks the thrust of everyone she cares most about but she never goes so far that she can't come back from it. I've mentioned it already but as a part of the show's core, it's never as harsh as something like 'school days' is, where it looks to critic and take the extreme worst routes, Shuffle is more content to show an alternative. We already talked about how Cia's character revolves around coming to accept her own-self-worth as a person and the same can be said for Keade, she needs to learn to accept herself and live for more then just Rin. Her actions means she falls the lowest of the group but Shuffle wants to show us how even then there are still people who care about her, there is still somewhere for her to go.
With that said were it not for Primula this could all of gone a much darker path, without her then after Keade's outburst there would of, initially at-least, been no one there for her. Keade's fears that she has nothing with-out Rin almost prove to be true, adding a wonderfully somber layer of tragedy as the emotionally stagnant younger girl is placed in the unenviable position of being Keade's savior.
Keade as a character is both extreme, yet highly relatable. We can all understand her feelings of isolation and her drive to be useful. Her existential fear of being abandoned again are poignant and that's why I love her arc. Like how Cia's illness is humanized by having Kikyou be simply trying to do her best to help, by having us sympathize with Keade the show once more tells us that its ok, not to be ok. Her actions need to be condemned but the show goes further asking what next after condemnation? Just casting her aside accomplishes little even if arguable it's what she deserves and there's the point. Where once more back to the central message of weather always doing what's morally Right is for the best.
Retribution is also a theme of Keade's character when talking about her backstory. After abusing Rin for literal years on end, she realizes her mistake and extent of her seemingly irredeemable actions against her closest friend and honorary brother. She takes it upon herself to dedicate her life to making up for it. On a narrative level, I don't think I've ever come across a better reason for a character to be so dedicated to a harem protagonist nor have I seen better explorations of the dependency Syndrome yandere troop anywhere else. Quite simply it's brilliant.
To summarize, while Keade's character may come across as a sue-do-murderous tragic heroine, in truth her story is all about retribution and coming to love yourself. Keade could never truly be with Rin as she is, because she doesn't love or understand herself. It's a charter arc about acknowledging our own unhealthy behaviors and learning to move on from them and it's an arc that preaches that even at our worst, there is always some hope of retribution, always someone who will care for you even if you don't know it or appreciate that fact.
The Rest of episode 19;
Ahem. With that section of our study into Keade's character over, lets jump back into the flashback setting and have a closer look at the scene and illustrate some of the themes I mentioned in our above study.
To give a brief one of those dreaded synopsis's, what we witness is Keade become complete despondent over the loss of her recently decreased Mother, until Rin claims the accident was his fault causing her to abuse him for some time until realizing her miss-transgression. Firstly let's give a quick mention to Keade's hospitalization, while I could be wrong I've always interpreted this as being a manic depressive episode. For those not in the know, certain forms of depression can cause a patient to completely stop functioning, their not comatosed as such but it's more then simply losing the will to go on. It's an interesting depiction and a similar event actually happens in Grissia, though that particular one includes PTSD for added measure.
This culminates in a hospital room we look in on from the place of the door. The room is completely dark, only lit shallowly by the dim artificial light of the monitoring equipment. Then young Rin opens the door and with it lets in the light. Rin proceeded to lie claiming the accident was his fault and Keade's reaction is to assault Rin attempting to strangle the kid. The next shot is one I really love, it's simply that of Rin nursing his neck, in the background we can her a jubilant father in tears over his daughters sudden recovery but what we're seeing is something much more opaque. It's a running motif through-out the show and maybe no more so then here where we're watching a child's first steps into extremely abusive neglect, while the words being spoken are those of love and attention. As I've mentioned in similar scenes prior, it creates an eerie dissonances without the need for any jump-scares or shocking visuals, it's an also most mundane camera shot and I love it.
Moving along we see this abuse carried further as we watch the two grow up. There's plenty more great uses of the house that we've come to know as a safe space, be turned into one of a horror movie or abusive victim story's setting, with young/younger versions of Keade casting shadows over every single light source she can find. To bring up the show's wonderful use of cloths once more, I especially like how we're never given a straight forward timeline to the series of events unfurling, instead we can gather how much time has pasted based on the clothing, namely the uniforms, the two are wearing, it makes for more efficient story telling and keeps the flashback from losing it's tone and momentum by having exposition to explain any of this or narration hampering the unnerving feel of the scenes.
Now (and say it with me everyone) we come to another one of my favorite set-pieces from the show (Ha! you thought I'd say 'scenes' again didn't you?). We will talk momentarily about the decision with which Rin made in deciding to take on Keade's burden and as to weather it was selfish or altruistic but first let's be a little less specific. As mentioned Keade finds the postcard from her Mother in Rin's room revealing the truth of why she was on her way home during that fateful fatal day - to come see an ill Keade. This crushes her as she realizes just how terrible a person she's been to Rin. She rushes from the house (With a lovely added detail of not having the time to put on her shoes) and find's herself on a road side, tripping she's faced with the same faith as her Mother, an oncoming traffic accident. But this time it's different, before a young truck-kun gets the opportunity to isekai Keade, Rin reaches out, it's Rin's presence that saves her.
This next bit is what really makes it for me. The camera fixes some ways off the side of the bridge suspended in the air. The score plays a new variation (To the best of my knowledge its never played before or after again), its got an almost child like instrumental reminiscent of Clanned's score... never mind this came first, ahem. As the shot pulls gradually back for a decent passage of time, it is all accompanied by Keade's voice repeating the words "I'm sorry" on loop. Aside from the obvious this scene thoroughly hammers home why Keade is the way she is but also why Rin could never love her as a partner. She was abusive to him for years but more importantly this moment cements that she's more of a troublesome little sister to him then a potential spouse. I also mentioned during the intermission that Keade's voice performance is my favorite and here another great example of it, really helping to extenuate this brilliant scene.
So that's episode 19... - only half way through!? Indeed 19 is an episode that's just jammed pack with important details and great shots and now seems like as appropriate time as any to make clear Primula's role in this arc. Like we've now come to expect Primula serves more then one purpose in this part of the show. On the one hand she's used to further continue with the family unit metaphor but interestingly like the others, as a character she's still growing. Her arc may of ended in episode 15 but real people don't just flip a switch and become fully developed. To the same extreme Primula's development is a slow burn, I've already mentioned her change in clothing but it's in Keade's arc that we get to see her properly changing, her newly fleshed out personality becomes vital to supporting Keade in this arc but her use as a child analogue certainly continues.
It's something I've always though was handled in a brilliantly subtle way. Like how Keade abuses young Rin for years on end, she is in a sense inadvertently grooming Primula. Allow me to explain further. In the second half of the episode, while we still see many cuts of Keade cleaning the house we also get a few of Primula, with Keade frequently asking her to help or do certain chores. I wouldn't go as far as to say this is point blank grooming or anything to that measure but instead is used to show just how dangerous Keade is if left unchecked. We've already discussed in part her attack on Asa and her protestation stint but I think the way Primula starts to act more and more like Keade in this arc is also very telling. Keade is having Primula do these things because she 'owes' Rin. It's never stated out-right and that obviously isn't true but it's a fascinating sub-plot that continues to add on to Primula's theme of neglect.
This furthers when Rin arrives home, he half-heartedly pats Primula on the head, his face obscured. If you look at Primula she beams at this tiny modicum of attention, to us as an audience it's unnerving. She's becoming more like Keade. For Rin it adds to the idea that his efforts to show them all affection are only causing them more heartache. Like most of the Primula focused scenes/moments, it's short, subtle and highly effective.
My next point is related though probably the one I'm least confident on in the whole essay and I'm probably just reaching here, however we witness Rin and Primula playing a game in front of the television, this at first seems innocuous and then comically as you realize their playing 'pong' and you wonder to yourselves what century this is. Yet throughout the scene we're shown how little attention Rin is paying to Keade and Primula as he literally nods along ignoring their conversation. It wouldn't therefore be surprising if their playing the pong game is another subluminal way to illustrate just how little attention Rin is playing to either of them as they part take in a game one could easily play while half asleep (Heck small detail but the score is 4 - 2 meaning Primula is twice his score). I could of course be over thinking this particular point of interest but the fact that everything else is Shuffle seems to hold purpose does make me wonder about this particular pong games inclusion.
Getting a little bit closer to the definitive we have some brilliant use of the soundscape. I've already mentioned how the Ost has some original tracks in this episode but it's next trick is more quiet. We can see through-out the scene with the pong game that Keade is stirring a pot but we can't see it's contents. However an attentive listener will notice the sound of a spoon scraping against an empty pan. To me this is far more chilling then simply playing a creepy track, instead it's something you migth not even notice till the camera cuts to reveal the truth, furthermore its far less dramatic then if she was sharpening the kitchen knife, instead going to show just how blank her mind now is, how clouded it's become.
The following shot continues that trend as the camera simply changes angel. There's no jump cut sound effect, no major swoon in the score, rapid close ups or shaky cam, no instead the camera just moves to a shot of the kitchen, a shot of Keade staring straight down the camera. This shot has stuck with me longer then any other horror shot except maybe some of the ones from Higarushi. It's not the type of shot to make your skin crawl but instead is just plain terrifying and I absolutely love that.
As if all this wasn't enough to show Keade's become broken we get Rin making one very big, very crucial mistake a couple scenes later. He rings to tell Keade he won't be needing dinner but what matters is his phrasing, in a moment of ultimate inconsiderate Jack-As*ery Rin goes back on every promise he's made Keade, in particular the promise from the her very first spot light episode and maybe one from much earlier "-so I don't need you to-" the rest of this sentence is inconsequential, this is most definitely the straw that breaks the camel's back and going back to something I said earlier, while most watching are probably realizing that the s*its about to hit the fan, for some I think this scene is one where we can really pity Keade and understand her feelings, however corrupt and bankrupt they may be.
Now you'll all be glad to hear they're are only two more scenes which I would list as 'favorites', that's not to say I won't still be gushing galore over the rest of what's left but rather to put emphasis on just how good I think those two scenes are and the one we now find ourselves on is a strong contender for what I think is the strongest of them all, with only episode 12's Primula breakdown as competition. Technically speaking Keade's breakdown trounces Primula's, the animations jumps massively in quality (And it always looks great to begin with) additionally the score plays its heart out as we get a distorted version of the everyday-life theme. The scene also acts as the only possibly climax for Keade and it's some glorious release of built up tension but I suppose we shouldn't get to far ahead of ourselves.
I prefaced this scene with the short section on Primula's role because it comes in to play in a big way here. While searching for Keade, intending to apologies as she perceives Keade's melancholy as a fault of hers. Primula checks in Rin's room only to find that Keade has blacked Asa out of a series of pictures that Rin took with her on one of their dates. Primula's face drops and all the while we have cuts of Rin and Asa returning home from another day out, with Keade approaching to greet them. Primula's reaction here is masterful, for one thing the slow pace of her finding the photo's is done expertly and while in an actual horror movie you might find a note book full of "Kill Asa" or some such, the scribbled out picture serves much the same purpose but furthermore it's the importance of this being Primula. While we've been watching her develop and change more and more she is still in our mind's the mute girl who displays no emotions.
This isn't unheard of in anime, Yuki Nagato would be used to much the same effect in 'The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya' where in if she's panicking then you really know it's something deadly. The point being, any of the characters could of been used for this moment (Putting aside why the others would be in Keade's house) but because it's Primula it adds one more extra layer of tension to an already cooked to tipping point moment, when we see the emotionless girl react with such anxiety.
Further on this also puts us in Primula's perspective, with much of the following shots essentially being shot from an onlookers point of view and my what shots. First off Asa doesn't just enter the house, she bounds in with a skip and a jump. Keep in mind that Japans is a nation of extreme politeness, even for good friends like these, Asa's disregard for convention as she playfully salutes her way through the front door, is completely out of line, especially with consideration for how conservatively tradionalist Keade is known to be. With that said I doubt this minor transgression of manor's deserves what comes next, as mentioned the animation abounds as the camera finally lifts itself from it's stationary home and begins to shake violently alongside Keade who throws Asa against the door. As also talked about the music is a wrapped twisted version of what we're most used to and there's a plethora of filming and animation tricks snuck in here that you won't even notice till a re-watch.
My favorite of these is when the camera at a slightly awkward low to the ground angle, hones in on Asa as she collapses in on herself, her illness now resurfacing once more. If you look closely one of her eyes is actually shaking violently. It's really easy to miss but your sub-conscious picks up on all these little details making the scene twice as terrifying as might otherwise of been. As I say, I love this scene while not as narratively symbolic as episode twelve's might of been, the varied use of classic horror movie cinematography and enhanced animation turn this into the shows most fidelitically impressive scene. I could go on lamenting it's brilliance but I think I've made the point. So lasted the scene fades out as we come to the episode ending with the last point of note being that the next time is just Keade monologuing to herself, capped off by Primula's usual 'join us next time' line. Simple but eerie and once more highly effective.
This scene marks the turning point of Keade's arc and while we've already discussed how it isn't necessarily the worst thing she ever does, it's pretty high up there. In one action she realizes all her pent up anger in an act that vizirates everyone's thrust. While she may claim to of not intended any harm it's worth remembering she's well aware of Asa's illness, which has also been wonderfully foreshadowed. In that is what I think is this scenes biggest triumph, this is the most dramatic Shuffle ever gets with-out the use of fantasy elements being involved and what's great is how natural it feels. Keade isn't hitting Asa because the plot demanded it, nor does Asa's illness come from nowhere, instead the entire set-piece is carefully built up to throughout the show making this feel incredibly worthy and far removed from the cheap dramatics of lesser dramas. Furthermore as we've already discussed at length when talking about Keade's character, while this is her 'yandere moment' it's important that for however bad it is to shove a sickly individual, this is still recoverable from, feeding back into her theme of retribution.
I spoke about this in my 'Full Metal Panic' review/essay but it should once more be noted that I love scenes like these because of how grounded they are. Despite their reputation, rom-com and harem anime are to me some of the most heart-felt out there. Without the need for a forced narrative or drama for the sake of drama we're instead presented with well thought out scenes that are grounded in human emotions we can all relate to. To reiterate from earlier, we are meant to sympathies with Keade even in a scene like this, we're meant to understand her desperation and I think the moment does a great job of conveying that, while also being a highly entertaining Yandere moment with some amazing production values.
Intermission #2 - A Short Transgression Into the Production of Shuffle;
So then let's talk about Rin, about how he responds to what we just discussed and about his detrimental extremist altruism, including his backstory with Keade aswell as how his kindness hurts those around him like Primula - but first let's take a quick moment to cool off and give some credit to those who made all these impressive camera angels and frames of animation work in the first place - Well that's what I wanted to say but like so many lesser known anime in the West, it can be quite difficult to actually find much in the way of information on the legions of animators, script editors, background designers and so on that worked on these classic shows. As such and in an effort not to simply recite the trivia I did find on my first goggle search I'll refrain from being to elaborate on the subject, however as context is important let's take a little look at what I did find.
First off we have the shows director 'Naoto Hosoda', who directed the majority of the shows episodes (It's also worth noting some of the show's episodes are directing/partially directed by others, which is element of what gives the show it's alternative styles) aside from which he's probably best known as a key animator or often times story-boarder on shows such as Hinamatsuri and Nagaserete Airantou aswell as often being a guest director for single episodes (notably episode 15 of Gurren Lagann). His best known work here in the West is probably his role as director on "Mirai Nikki" (The Future Diary) and "The Devil is Part Timer".
'The Devil is Part Time' is another favorite of mine that's seen something of a resurgence in popularity recently and has even had a series 2 confirmed some five plus years after it's initial release. It's clear to see Naoto's influence on it's production and deserving of an essay/review in it's own right but to come back to the other example we have 'Mirai Nikki'. As a show that one is far more maligned and contentious, for good reason too. I found it to be a show for binge watchable consumption but to lack in a great many areas of it's narrative and lack of compelling characters however it's directing was something I noted as quite strong during my watch of the show. As such it was a pleasant surprise to learn it shared Shuffle's director, with some rather famous shot's from the show, showing his stylings. For example Yuno is often framed with a form of shaky cam during action scenes and the rather infamous meme of her decapitating a girl as she runs down a hillside is highly indicative of Hosoda's style of setting a camera at a stationary angle and doing an action shot in as few clips as possible. It's something I can appreciate as being almost western in it's styling and He's got a clear flare for using live action filming techniques on anime productions.
Takayama Katsuhiko handled the shows scripts, he also worked on adapting Mirai Nikki and generally his role on most productions is adaptation. He has in this role worked on a number of more unsavory exhibits however to give credit where it's due I think he has a good sense for the pacing of a story, rarely letting them drag but always allowing for slower moments in the dialogue. Apart from Shuffle there is nothing of real note on his resumé with the top comments on Mal alone labeling him a living meme for his work on Big Order, Aldonoah Zero and even Boku no Pico, to which I'd agree. Shuffle seems to be the best work I've seen from him, however I'd be more then happy to see him work on some less sub-par shows.
As for the screenplay we have Katsumi Hasegawa, who again isn't all that public a person despite a large body of work. His portfolio is varied ranging from classic oldies like 'Blue Gender' and 'Slayers' to a-lot of kid's orientated stuff like Beyblade. I'm not familiar enough with his work to pass much comment however I am a big fan of what I have seen of Slayers.
As I've already mentioned the dub and it's actor a few times I should also give due attention to Todd Haberkon who is mostly know for his work as a solid voice actor in his own right but on this occasion amongst a few others, acted as the main ADR director primarily between episode 9 - 24. As I've already stated I think Shuffle's dub is exemplary and I really wish more recent funimation dubs were of this standard. His most notably role is generally that of 'Natsu' the lead part in the anime 'Fairy-Tail' and much like his voice acting I think I've made it clear I enjoy his directing work on 'Shuffle!', which was coincidentally one of his first times acting as lead ADR director according to his Imdb page. I've lamented how more modern ADR directors and script adapters for shows like Horimiya have a tendency to go for what's trendy, or in the case of the Evangellion dub change what isn't broken and become overly literally to the point of rigidity, with some others like the dragon maid and prison school dubs even having politically agenda fueled lines included but in Todd's case he does a wonderful job directing and brings a breath of fresh air with his style.
Of course non of these individuals would of had anything to work on with out the original source material, which as already mentioned through-out our essay is a visual novel of the same name from Studio Navel. For those who've been around the anime community for a bit you'll already know that in the 2000's there were a spate of visual novel adaptions that made it big, with the obvious one being 'Clanned' and it's sequel 'Clanned Afterstory'. As I've already mentioned Shuffle was one of these said adaptions and part of what I think makes it and most VN anime great is the fact these games being adapted are complete. A factor I think were now missing in the modern anime scene is single series complete anime. I spoke on this in my 'Rent-a-Girlfriend' review but it pains me to see romcoms and harems dragged into multiple series romps more then ever before (Not that it hasn't always been an issue), the great thing about VN's is there already complete upon release. This definitely allows anime studios to pick the best bits of these enchanting experiences and turn them into compelling and importantly complete productions, which is an important detail as we near the end of our Shuffle analysis, as it's an anime not afraid to make decisions and develop it's characters.
Character Focus - Rin
Rin Tsuchimi is, if not my favorite, a high standing contender for my most loved harem/rom-com protagonist but not because I even like him all that much. He doesn't have the charm of Kanon, Clanned or Grissia's witty protags nor is he as endearingly tragic as Full metal Panic's Sousake or as honest as The Familiar of Zero's Saito, no instead he's kind of an as*hole. To dive into Rin's character we need to look at a few elements that thankfully we've already discussed to some degree. Firstly Rin is altruistic to an absurd degree which isn't an unusual trait for his type of protagonist however is used to form integral details of his characters and informed by a somewhat logical backstory. Another large part will hone in on is the expectations of those around him, as said at length, Shuffle isn't as critical of it's genre as the likes of shows like School Days or Re;zero are, but it does share some theming with those two, that of the pressures put on young men in culture. Rin is expected to be the man of the house, he's expected to make the judgement call when Primula gets sick and he's hoisted with the decision to become either the King of the Gods or Demons as early as episode 1, its a-lot of pressure for a kid.
As for his actual arc throughout the show, we've already seen how much of what Rin needs to deal with is his indecisiveness. In what he perceives as kindness often leads to greater pain for those around him in the long run. What ties closest to the themes listed above is Rin's ability to constantly go with popular opinion, he thrusts the kings in the Primula arc, he tries to sacrifice himself to buy Cia time in the beach episode and he ignores Asa's feelings on their first date but maybe the most lasting impact of any of these acts is the one we just spoke on, becoming Keade's reason to live. Something I love about how Rin pretends to be the reason for the death of Keade's mother, is how while it seems selfless and it definitely is to an extend, in reality all Rin is doing is once more what he was told to do by non-other then Keade's own mother - "Can I ask you to look after Keade for me while I'm gone Rin?"
That short off-handed question from Miss.Fuyou changes the course of Rin and Keade's lives indefinitely and its the earliest example we know of, towards Rin's nature. On the one hand you can argue what he did was right, he 'saved' Keade in sense but much like sending Primula away was 'right' Rin's motive for doing it is in some-way, however small, down to the fact he no longer wished to be lonely. Looking upon the flashback scenes with this mindset adds a whole other layer to them as young Rin keeping the photo hidden and being both physically and emotionally abused is all based in what he perceives as the 'right' thing to do.
For me what makes his character writing so strong is how it's involved in everything he does, we've already mentioned the prime examples at tedium but this cohesion is what makes his character a compelling story to follow, he doesn't solely save Primula or Cia, Lycoris and Kikyou do that bulk of that. He's a flawed human being, simply trying to do what seems best for what we consider to be selfless reasons but in some sense aren't. Adding to the shows running theme of questioning the morality of harem fantasies, even acts we at first perceive as Just - get turning on their heads. For example Rin acts like a normal harem protagonist however he isn't dense, he's fully aware of the girls feelings towards him and the sometimes sexual nature of those but refrains from picking any of them to save their feelings but is that really the reason? As Isekai kindly point out early on, isn't Rin just preventing the inevitable of making that difficult judgment call and making it hard on all of them by leading them on?
We talked before about bedrooms before and one interesting thing about Rin's is his boat hobby. We already mentioned the tradionalist aspects of Keade and her house as well as the game of pong and the clothing her and Primula (post episode 15) wear. This seems to stretch further into Rin's room. For a boy his age the boat is the dominant feature of his bedroom. It's indictive of someone who wants a quiet life, a simply low stress hobby. A hobby were he's totally in control, were it a sport he'd have to worry about letting his team-mates down for example, but a model boat is quiet, it's rewarding in that it marks progression with out any negative side effects. The boat is a great representation not only for the passage of time with-in the show but also for Rin, theirs no scene where the girls find porno mags in his room, nor do we ever see him use the computer. Rin is inverted and highly unsuited to being man of the house or in a position to be chased by 4 women. He is literally to considerate to be unaware of the girls advances on him and in that sense he isn't really dense enough to be your stereotypical harem protagonist. It's some interesting stuff to keep in mind as we move forward.
Rin takes in Primula in episode 2, a seemingly 'haremy' trope of little significance but in truth he does so because they expect him to and the result is him neglecting the girl even after episode 15. He doesn't pick any of the girl's because life seems easier for everyone if he keeps perpetuating the harem, he doesn't want to face the consequences of breaking their hearts or at the least hurting their feelings. The fact is selfish or not Rin is just too young to be making all these decisions and I think that's the point of his character. The show is trying to talk to it's primarily young male audience, it sympathizes with the struggles of being adolescent and of having society, family and friends expect so much of you, expecting you to make so many big decisions however it isn't content to solely be kind. Like how Asa at first talks to Rin in episode 13, in episode 18 she slaps him, with the show doing much the same thing with it's audience time and time again. Episode 15 is a triumph because Rin helps put things right but in a sense he does so and his resolve comes from Asa telling him what to do. The show is literally telling it's audience male or female, not to just listen to it but to take what it says seriously and to come up with your own answers, that's why Asa slaps him in episode 18, it's why that slap is so damn important.
That's why the scenes will next discuss over the course of the remining 4 episodes are such a fitting conclusion to Rin's arc, like all the characters his development isn't instant, he trips, hurts Primula and Nerine but then gets picked up by those around him, namely Asa, then he trips again failing to actually be there for Cia but improving a little by turning her down, then he takes a step back into his old ways, acknowledging Asa's feelings and his own but still going on the pre-planned date with her and this is where the show slaps him. Asa hits Rin at the crucial moment because in real life we don't all magically do a personality 180 after a traumatic or impactful event, we stumble, struggle to learn from our past and end up making future mistakes. This is the point of Rin, only after all this does he start to change but even now he isn't done developing. As we discussed, he shows no consideration for Keade throughout her arc, pushing her further and further away, while all the time neglecting Primula despite the fact he himself parallels her as a sufferer of childhood neglect.
With the end of the Keade arc and the events of the Asa arc as will talk about shortly, we see Rin finally learn to move on from his previous f*ck ups. He realizes he needs to give Keade the space and a push to be her own person, he knows he can't be Primula's father figure and acts truly unselfishly to save Asa when she becomes too stubborn for her own good. In the final act Rin becomes a man, not the public toxic perception of one but the sort he needed to be all along, the type who's there for and supports the people in his life, not because he's told to do so or because it's 'Right' but because it's what he thinks is best and is what he wants to do and I think that's a damn good message to convey through your lead character in a harem anime.
It's through Rin that I think you see most clearly why I both love Shuffle and why it's so great in the first place. Shuffle to me is like 'Neon Genesis Evangellion' is to 'End of Eva', like 'Lyrical girl Nanoha' is to 'Madoka Magica' and like 'Gurren Lagann' is to every other Gainx and Trigger show ever made. It's got all the theming and self critical writing of a deconstruction, all the depth and brilliant character scripting to be a hate filled attack on the genre it portraits and the fans of said tropes and that wouldn't necessarily even be a bad thing but I love subtly in anime, I love how it can be enjoyed as nothing more then a really well done and producer highschool fantasy anime romp but that the more you dig into it, the more your gonna get out of it. I love how Rin is used to both criticize the show's own fanbase but done so in a constructive way, it doesn't end with Rin being killed by a full blown yandere Kaede and while that could make for a great story in it's own right, it wouldn't make for a constructive one, only a cautionary tale. Shuffle therefore instead opts to present it's young audience with some vague semblance of alternative ideas for how to live life rather then just being another said cautionary tale against the otaku culture and lifestyle.
Episode 20 - 21 - Indelible Sin, Where Feeling Go;
-So with our assessment of Rin concluded let's look at the rest of the Keade arc. We've gone through our exploration of Keade, Rin and episode 18-19 so most of the leg work here is done. Let's start picking out a few choice scenes to breakdown the rest of this story.
Let's start with a scene a couple minutes into episode 20. After episode 19's conclusion we pick back up with Rin in the hospital waiting room with best women Ama. He heads home and withdraws to his room, where our object of discourse takes place, the scene itself is by now shot in classic shuffle fashion. The camera stays fixed as though it were a CCTV camera perched to one of the box rooms walls, the lightning of the shot is once more used to great effect aswell. Rin is basked only in a small modicum of dusk-light while Keade is enshrouded in the dark, the point being that Keade has created such a gap between them that even if she could get close to Rin, there's no light left for him to give her anymore, he's no longer a source of hope for her.
She's paces forward painfully towards him, closing the distance in a rather deliberately uneasy method, before we once again get the use of a close up that obscures the eyes. As we've mentioned a few times now this is done to illustrate when a character's word don't match their meaning but they are technically speaking the truth. Keade's eyes are off screen here as she tells Rin he cares to much for other's and ignores his own problems. It's a great use of irony as while what she's saying isn't necessarily untrue, it applies far more to herself at this stage then to Rin. Keade finishes and leaves the room walking back into the dark of the hallway, meanwhile the next close up of Rin show's that they've slowly made his visage darker through the scenes, indicative of how Keade's comments have pushed the two even further away from each other. To finish with a rather obvious bit of symbolism, as she exits the room she slams shut the door to Rin's bedroom, quite literally shutting herself on the side of isolation and completing the wall between the two of them.
As we've been talking about, Rin's reaction to this is really important, he gets a flashback to isekai's line as mentioned above, leaves the house and assaults a lamp post years before Toradora made lamp-post cruelty fashionable. He's once more made the same mistake, by continuing to threat Keade like his surget wife, while running off to date Asa, he's once more fu*ked it but that's not what's important for us. What matter is he realizes it. Because Asa's been temporarily embolized, this time it's on him to accept it and this time it's on him to come up with his own solution. Brilliant.
The next scene to go over mirrors the last but with some key differences. This time Primula enters Keade's room which is pitch black, furthermore the camera now seems fixed to the ceiling as though we're not just literally looking down on Keade but figuratively. With Rin we look at his room form an eye level view like an onlooker but in Keade's room it's as though were judging her from above. Primula is holding the cat plushie given to her from Rin and unlike Keade her eyes are visible, further differentiating herself. She spits some pure truth bombs in classic deadpan loli fashion, explaining to Keade how in truth her seemingly selfless action in caring for Rin was really driven by a selfish desire to be with him. In this we come back to our analysis of Keade as Primula helps us to understand how similar Keade and Rin both truly are, as Rin will soon admit, dependency syndrome usual works both ways in some sense.
Primula goes on to demand Keade confess her true feelings for Rin to which she refuses saying she's lost the Right to do so and that she's now going to loose Rin for good. Remmu's response is a simple one, she stands there in the pitch darkness in front of her crying, broken Mother figure and asks "what about me?" all while holding a cat plushie reminding us of her status as stand-in child. As I've already gone over, in the mist of Keade's arc we have a sub-plot story about child neglect but additionally we can take that statement two ways, well three if you include how darn heartbreaking it is.
On the one hand she's quite clearly saying she doesn't want to lose Rin either, as even if she's confused on weather to see him as family or an interest of a romantic nature you can also see it as her trying in her own unique way to comfort Keade. Despite her seemingly harsh words up to this point, she's metaphorically offering out a hand to Keade, to stand by her. This is what makes this scene so brilliant, without Primula, Keade really would be alone, her worst fears realized but in a sense her neglect of Primula is Primula's own worst fear. The point being that the two come to relie on one another as will soon see, as sisters rather then the wrapped idea of family that they've had up till now/so far. This scene is the beginning of them treating each other as equals rather then as parent/guardian and child. Like Lycoris and Kikyou, it's not solely Rin who saves Keade, in fact I'd argue with-out Primula, Keade could well of become a true yandere and we could of ended up on a bad end route for sure.
Continuing on with this sub-plot of Child neglect we have the episodes final scene. Like episode 19's it's a pretty darn packed one, though less vital, what is important in it is Primula and Rin. Rin announces independence from the free state of Fuyou causing Keade to hit and even lower rock bottom then before, however in the background of this affairs is Primula. She is quite literally shot out of focus, after all she's not what's important here, her story ended 5 episodes ago and in doing this we get another amazingly great example of the anime embodying the story. Like the examples I mentioned much earlier on, the focus is literally being taken away from Primula, her relevance in the scene feels like an after-taught, just like how for Rin and Keade she's just Kinda there, like a piece of furniture. That's not to say there aren't some details to be gleaned from the moment, as the camera does zoom in on her hands for just a couple second. Here we see two things, a towel which she promptly drops as it slips from her grasp, while over hearing the conversation and the fact she's in pajamas. What this tells us is a lot about her growth as a character, this isn't the Primula from episode 2 any more, the emotionless, half alive little girl, no she's now become a more considerate person, her clothing tells us she had probably already gone to bed but couldn't sleep for worrying about Rin plus Keade and the towel rather more apparently shows how she's become more consider, realizing Rin had been in the rain umbrealless.
It's super short and simply of a scene but exceedingly meaningful and I again love the way animation and shot composition are working together to greater neglect Primula on an almost meta level. To go further, I also appreciate how Primula doesn't run off in tears like you migth expect of a normal child in other anime, it's another case of Shuffle sticking to it's own rules as it would be strange for Primula to act in that way, instead it's far more happy with it's subtle details as mentioned.
Finally we get a continuation of the next time changing to match the situation. Where the prior episode had just Keade monologuing with the final tagline from Remmu, this time the whole entire next time is just a still, silent image. No voice over, no visual, nothing. The next time's have become themselves a representation of Keade's mind and her declining mental state.
The next episode opens in a similar fashion to episode 10 and of course 13's 'house of twilight' and right off the bat you have some noticeably differences. For one another shuffling has occurred with some simple stylistic choices and filters applied in order to give the show a washed out, hazy almost melancholy feel to it. It's done, I would think rather simply yet it has the effect of adding a whole new other colour pallet to the show, not for the first time and its once more a great addition to the visuals appeal. It's not quite inverted but gives a similar effect to that which, as mentioned I love this form of using the animation in suggestive ways to tell the story with-out words. It's an exceedingly hard effect to replicate this well in Live-action but for anime is almost the ultimate form of 'Show don't Tell' which can often be something this visual medium struggles with to a surprising degree.
Following this we have another great moment, It's not that out-standing of a scene compared to the others we talked about, especially considering your attention is mostly still on the colour pallet/filter change but the significances of the scene is what makes it work so well. We have Rin, Cia and Nerine in the park, the same one from episode 13 where we witnessed Asa guide Rin in his more dramatic moment of need and were Kikyou lead Rin in episode 17. The trio sit on what is presumably the same bench as the aforementioned Asa scene and really all Rin does is vent to the two otherworlders. This scene is in itself a subversion, far to often I've made the adage that the inclusion of the two girl's indicates the intentions of a scene being fantisiful but here we go back on that a little. Nerine and Cia have developed, they've begun moving on with their lives and while their still interested in pursing Rin, now it's for their own reasons and not due to survivors guilt or a lack of self worth.
As such you expect this scene to be the two them taking Rin into the right path like Asa did prior but you know what? They don't. Sure they mirror episode 13 in that they sit quietly and listen to his grievances but this time Rin finds the answers by himself. What he realizes in this conversation is a really lovely message to, it isn't harsh or cruel in spite of all Keade's done but instead it's simply honest, maybe even a little self-depreciating - "We were mistaking comfort for happiness". I love this line so much, its quant not dramatic and while I love a dramatic scene with the MC crying as he runs to find the heroine in the final act, to me this is perfect for the story Shuffle wants to tell. Here Rin admits his faults, its not Asa or Keade pointing them out, he's admitting that he was living life as it came at him, via the path of least resistance.
But the boy still isn't finished, he goes on to thank Cia and Nerine telling them that through their struggles he was able to see himself, able to see that like them, he two and Keade needed to move forward with their lives, as he draws the parallels to Cia and Nerine's own struggles in needing to let go of their sisters, while Rin and Keade need to let go of their shared past. He's learning from their mistakes and progression, this mirroring of arcs is not only justification for Nerine and Cia to stick around in the story for the shows whole running length but is also like a - well - shuffling of the seats.
A final note is another small but appreciated detail. Like Keade not having time to put her shoes on during the flashback sequences and climax on the bridge due to the nature of her flight, at the end of this scene we see Rin murmuring about the high cost of rent in the city, now I am confident early versions of Nerine and Cia would of offered to pay the rent for him or get him a good job in their mansions or just straight up offered him a home there, maybe even having some sort of comical struggle over the matter but these versions of the two girls have moved far past that. They have developed to have more respect for both themselves and what Rin's trying to do and as such they simply cheer him on in his endearer just like any supportive friends would do.
Thanks again for reading. If your enjoying please leave a 'helpful' on the main review's page {swap your browser to 'desktop view' if you on mobile) and once more all feedback is most welcome in the comments here or on my Mal page. I won't insult your intelligence by further reminding you that this part three of 5 and that the other 4 parts should all be available along side this one, however here's a helpful link to part 4 - https://myanimelist.net/blog.php?eid=861077 . Again thanks for reading thus far and I hope you enjoyed.
Character Focus - Keade - "I know he's not mine, He's never been mine, but I need to keep loving him";
Like with Cia and Nerine, the best way to examine Keade's character is via her arc which so seamlessly acts as a character study as-well as a highly compelling and grounded narrative.
Like the others Keade is suffering from an illness, in her case an extreme form of co-dependency syndrome. Among mental conditions this one's actually quite common in anime, being the usual reason for a yandere's actions but where shows like Mirai Nikki try to make this almost acceptable and romantic, shuffle has other ideas. As will discuss this need to have Rin relie on her is all that supports Keade. We've already mentioned how her room is barren of any other hobbies and her talent at cooking is solely motivated by a need to impress Rin. She quite literally lives for him, it isn't as simple as a lack of confidence or a need for attention, she quite literally can not live without him to relie on her. It's extremely unhealthy and has left one heck of a mark on her pychy but how did this happen? Episode 19 starts with hints towards the answer.
In usual Shuffle fashion, throughout the show we've periodically had hints to a darker story behind Rin and Keade, from both Rin's parents and Keade's mother being dead at the onset of the series, to Rin's unsettling dreams that we only get to catch glimpses of from time to time. When Keade asked about these said dreams in prior episodes, her question came off as inconsequential but once episode 19 starts we realize she migth of been more sincere in her inquires.
Episode 19's very first shot post title sequence is of a young Rin and Keade standing in flashback Rain. Again I should preface by saying I'm no expert in cinematography and shot composition but even I can take note of some really great techniques at work here. One that's super common but highly effective (and used a-lot in this arc particularly) is the distance between the two character as they are placed at opposite sides of the screen but it goes a little further then that. Keade's hair tone is dulled notably during the flashbacks and even the illumination offered by the streetlights and the shop window front are scaled down. This all drags our attentions to the negative space between them foremost. In doing so it extenuates the distance between them far more then by just placing them far apart would of done. After, your eye is then drawn to the two as individuals who you almost don't recognize as the characters we've come to know, they hold themselves in an almost limp posture, no emotions showing as they stare silently at one another until Keade breaks the silence, striding forward a few steps and the shot cuts to yet another great close-up, "I wish you were dead, I mean it. Just Die!"
The animation is short but incredibly sweet, with another great filter on it to slightly alter the style and with some great quick cuts before we're back in the almost blindingly brightly lit bedroom of Rin's.
It's worth mentioning here about the incredibly economic way in which Shuffle covers it's arc. Nerine, Primula and Lycoris are collectively covered in just three episodes as a group with extra development for Rin as-well, Cia in a 2 and Asa in 2.5. All in all the show manages to give highly complete and satisfyingly arcs in as small an amount of time as possible and that to me is because of how it manages it's characters. Allow me to elaborate, in most Visual novel shows a concession is made as it's important to understand that in most of those show's source materials you would pursue one girl's route at a time, meaning in any VN's adaption, as each girls story is explored, she is then phased out and the protagonist moves on to the next chapter.
Let me make this clear, I've got no issue with this, I love Kanon and Clanned, Grissia and School days but I can apricate the hustle Shuffle puts in, in order to hold on to its whole cast. No one is hospitalized, nobody moves to France in the last quarter nor does the protagonist have to move away with just the chosen girl. Those examples are by no means bad things as they benefit the stories being told and in most cases those sidelined characters will get to come back in the finally or Ova material but there is definitely an advantage to Shuffle's method. For one as mentioned much earlier, the likes of Nerine get to keep developing in small ways during the backgrounds of other's arcs but more importantly it allows for the great sense of foreshadowing and natural progression that I've referenced to at length. During Primula's arc you get multiple references to Kikyou (Not in words but through actions and animations), during episode 10's focus on Cia, you get leading lines from Nerine and even some spooky Keade moments. In every arc you get examples of Asa's illness playing a role. The point is by never relegating any of them out of the plot, it means each character, even if it's just in small ways, gets a great screen presence. Maybe the best example of this economy is episode 16's start. We see Rin and Keade say goodbye to Primula on their way to school. This is pretty much her only scene in the episode and it's used to show how she's already developing from the previous arc by having her wear more adult clothing. It's simple, only a couple of seconds long but highly effective at implanting ideas in an attentive viewers mind.
What all this leads to is the natural feel of the drama that I keep blaging on about. When Kikyou manifests it doesn't feel sudden. By the same measure when throughout this arc, from Rin's dreams to his and Keade's backstory, to Keade's unhealthy tendency's growing worse and even the sub-plot about Primula's neglect, non of it feels forced for the sake of drama but rather feels like it was always inevitable and that is by far my favorite form any drama can take. Another cousin of how this works is something we've already mentioned, this episode's title card is completely different to any other, being just a simple, small line of almost logical, uncaring text. It's a neat touch as I mentioned when discussing episode 18 I really like these sorts of little references/Easter eggs that benefit towards the main story being told or the tone of the episode in question.
Our next talking point opens on Keade doing the washing up, not on her face or the room she's in but on a close up of her doing the dishes. It's a nice reminder that's she both trying to be the idealized Japanese house wife and that her work is everything to her. It's followed by another shot that mirrors many of the one's we've had already. We have Keade and Primula standing on one side of the room with Rin by the doorway. The distance between them feels like a present day version of the flashback sequence we just saw. The once again static camera angel of the shot reminds us of the dollhouse ghostly analogue episode 6 presented for Primula and the slightly awkward feeling of the whole thing is reminiscent of the Kikyou date in episode 17. Keade's face is drawn minimally throughout for what should by now be an obvious reason and before the scenes close she steps away even further from Rin and Remmu. Primula has returned to her aforementioned post 15 attire indicating that she'll be relevant and something of a supportive rock for Keade in this arc.
Rin says he'll skip the breakfast that's been so prominently placed in the foreground of the still shot, as Keade steps partially off screen in what is another brilliant use of the house's architectural design. As Rin leaves we get some more of that brilliant voice work from (Carrie Savage) as Keade tries to hold up her composer in front of Primula. They go as far as to use the hanging racks to obscure our view of Keade eyes and face, adding further to this sense of her loss of control.
A large part of this episode is as mentioned. flashbacks and one point which I really love is how Shuffle turns the normal "Our parents are off on an elongated business trip for an undisclosed length of time" into a central part of it's storytelling, turning that trope on it's head by having the parent's just literally being dead. While these flashbacks occur what we're shown is present day Keade tidying and attending to other house chores on a sort of auto-pilot which carries its own form of spookiness. The whole flashback sequence is threated far differently from those we've seen before, in Primula's case we were viewing her trance like Coma dreams, with Nerine she acted as a narrator guiding us and Rin along but here we seemingly dispense of that with the flashbacks seemingly being the painful recollection of memories from either Rin or Keade's (Or both's) respective perspectives. This in turn gives them a more scattered feeling, the framing of these scenes almost makes us as the viewer feel like an intruder into someone's darkened mind.
These flashbacks are maybe the most telling information we get on both Keade and Rin's personalities and how their informed by their respective pasts. We talked a little about it at the start of this essay but the characters of Shuffle seldom fall properly into an architype, Rin included. In Keade's case her architype is the yandere, a term coined to describe a character whom obses'es over her love interest, often going as far as to scare off or even murder potential romance rivals. As I said before Keade's diagnosis of dependency syndrome is also pretty on the money when it comes to being a yandere however keeping with the idea of her being a person first not just an architype, Keade ends up breaking some conventions of the troop. For one she never kills anyone but she definitely does go to extremes. The obvious one is her outburst against Asa in episode 19/20 but you'd be foolish to ignore the greater extreme she goes to, straight up offering her body to appease Rin in episode 20. It's a raw scene that maybe hits harder then a normal murder scene migth of but to me this is what solidifies her as one of my favorite murderous love-interests. The show doesn't feel compelled to have her commit an act she can never make up for and that's really important.
Both as an element of her character and as theme of the show, retribution and hope for a better future are integral. The actions Keade takes are incredibly immoral as she breaks the thrust of everyone she cares most about but she never goes so far that she can't come back from it. I've mentioned it already but as a part of the show's core, it's never as harsh as something like 'school days' is, where it looks to critic and take the extreme worst routes, Shuffle is more content to show an alternative. We already talked about how Cia's character revolves around coming to accept her own-self-worth as a person and the same can be said for Keade, she needs to learn to accept herself and live for more then just Rin. Her actions means she falls the lowest of the group but Shuffle wants to show us how even then there are still people who care about her, there is still somewhere for her to go.
With that said were it not for Primula this could all of gone a much darker path, without her then after Keade's outburst there would of, initially at-least, been no one there for her. Keade's fears that she has nothing with-out Rin almost prove to be true, adding a wonderfully somber layer of tragedy as the emotionally stagnant younger girl is placed in the unenviable position of being Keade's savior.
Keade as a character is both extreme, yet highly relatable. We can all understand her feelings of isolation and her drive to be useful. Her existential fear of being abandoned again are poignant and that's why I love her arc. Like how Cia's illness is humanized by having Kikyou be simply trying to do her best to help, by having us sympathize with Keade the show once more tells us that its ok, not to be ok. Her actions need to be condemned but the show goes further asking what next after condemnation? Just casting her aside accomplishes little even if arguable it's what she deserves and there's the point. Where once more back to the central message of weather always doing what's morally Right is for the best.
Retribution is also a theme of Keade's character when talking about her backstory. After abusing Rin for literal years on end, she realizes her mistake and extent of her seemingly irredeemable actions against her closest friend and honorary brother. She takes it upon herself to dedicate her life to making up for it. On a narrative level, I don't think I've ever come across a better reason for a character to be so dedicated to a harem protagonist nor have I seen better explorations of the dependency Syndrome yandere troop anywhere else. Quite simply it's brilliant.
To summarize, while Keade's character may come across as a sue-do-murderous tragic heroine, in truth her story is all about retribution and coming to love yourself. Keade could never truly be with Rin as she is, because she doesn't love or understand herself. It's a charter arc about acknowledging our own unhealthy behaviors and learning to move on from them and it's an arc that preaches that even at our worst, there is always some hope of retribution, always someone who will care for you even if you don't know it or appreciate that fact.
The Rest of episode 19;
Ahem. With that section of our study into Keade's character over, lets jump back into the flashback setting and have a closer look at the scene and illustrate some of the themes I mentioned in our above study.
To give a brief one of those dreaded synopsis's, what we witness is Keade become complete despondent over the loss of her recently decreased Mother, until Rin claims the accident was his fault causing her to abuse him for some time until realizing her miss-transgression. Firstly let's give a quick mention to Keade's hospitalization, while I could be wrong I've always interpreted this as being a manic depressive episode. For those not in the know, certain forms of depression can cause a patient to completely stop functioning, their not comatosed as such but it's more then simply losing the will to go on. It's an interesting depiction and a similar event actually happens in Grissia, though that particular one includes PTSD for added measure.
This culminates in a hospital room we look in on from the place of the door. The room is completely dark, only lit shallowly by the dim artificial light of the monitoring equipment. Then young Rin opens the door and with it lets in the light. Rin proceeded to lie claiming the accident was his fault and Keade's reaction is to assault Rin attempting to strangle the kid. The next shot is one I really love, it's simply that of Rin nursing his neck, in the background we can her a jubilant father in tears over his daughters sudden recovery but what we're seeing is something much more opaque. It's a running motif through-out the show and maybe no more so then here where we're watching a child's first steps into extremely abusive neglect, while the words being spoken are those of love and attention. As I've mentioned in similar scenes prior, it creates an eerie dissonances without the need for any jump-scares or shocking visuals, it's an also most mundane camera shot and I love it.
Moving along we see this abuse carried further as we watch the two grow up. There's plenty more great uses of the house that we've come to know as a safe space, be turned into one of a horror movie or abusive victim story's setting, with young/younger versions of Keade casting shadows over every single light source she can find. To bring up the show's wonderful use of cloths once more, I especially like how we're never given a straight forward timeline to the series of events unfurling, instead we can gather how much time has pasted based on the clothing, namely the uniforms, the two are wearing, it makes for more efficient story telling and keeps the flashback from losing it's tone and momentum by having exposition to explain any of this or narration hampering the unnerving feel of the scenes.
Now (and say it with me everyone) we come to another one of my favorite set-pieces from the show (Ha! you thought I'd say 'scenes' again didn't you?). We will talk momentarily about the decision with which Rin made in deciding to take on Keade's burden and as to weather it was selfish or altruistic but first let's be a little less specific. As mentioned Keade finds the postcard from her Mother in Rin's room revealing the truth of why she was on her way home during that fateful fatal day - to come see an ill Keade. This crushes her as she realizes just how terrible a person she's been to Rin. She rushes from the house (With a lovely added detail of not having the time to put on her shoes) and find's herself on a road side, tripping she's faced with the same faith as her Mother, an oncoming traffic accident. But this time it's different, before a young truck-kun gets the opportunity to isekai Keade, Rin reaches out, it's Rin's presence that saves her.
This next bit is what really makes it for me. The camera fixes some ways off the side of the bridge suspended in the air. The score plays a new variation (To the best of my knowledge its never played before or after again), its got an almost child like instrumental reminiscent of Clanned's score... never mind this came first, ahem. As the shot pulls gradually back for a decent passage of time, it is all accompanied by Keade's voice repeating the words "I'm sorry" on loop. Aside from the obvious this scene thoroughly hammers home why Keade is the way she is but also why Rin could never love her as a partner. She was abusive to him for years but more importantly this moment cements that she's more of a troublesome little sister to him then a potential spouse. I also mentioned during the intermission that Keade's voice performance is my favorite and here another great example of it, really helping to extenuate this brilliant scene.
So that's episode 19... - only half way through!? Indeed 19 is an episode that's just jammed pack with important details and great shots and now seems like as appropriate time as any to make clear Primula's role in this arc. Like we've now come to expect Primula serves more then one purpose in this part of the show. On the one hand she's used to further continue with the family unit metaphor but interestingly like the others, as a character she's still growing. Her arc may of ended in episode 15 but real people don't just flip a switch and become fully developed. To the same extreme Primula's development is a slow burn, I've already mentioned her change in clothing but it's in Keade's arc that we get to see her properly changing, her newly fleshed out personality becomes vital to supporting Keade in this arc but her use as a child analogue certainly continues.
It's something I've always though was handled in a brilliantly subtle way. Like how Keade abuses young Rin for years on end, she is in a sense inadvertently grooming Primula. Allow me to explain further. In the second half of the episode, while we still see many cuts of Keade cleaning the house we also get a few of Primula, with Keade frequently asking her to help or do certain chores. I wouldn't go as far as to say this is point blank grooming or anything to that measure but instead is used to show just how dangerous Keade is if left unchecked. We've already discussed in part her attack on Asa and her protestation stint but I think the way Primula starts to act more and more like Keade in this arc is also very telling. Keade is having Primula do these things because she 'owes' Rin. It's never stated out-right and that obviously isn't true but it's a fascinating sub-plot that continues to add on to Primula's theme of neglect.
This furthers when Rin arrives home, he half-heartedly pats Primula on the head, his face obscured. If you look at Primula she beams at this tiny modicum of attention, to us as an audience it's unnerving. She's becoming more like Keade. For Rin it adds to the idea that his efforts to show them all affection are only causing them more heartache. Like most of the Primula focused scenes/moments, it's short, subtle and highly effective.
My next point is related though probably the one I'm least confident on in the whole essay and I'm probably just reaching here, however we witness Rin and Primula playing a game in front of the television, this at first seems innocuous and then comically as you realize their playing 'pong' and you wonder to yourselves what century this is. Yet throughout the scene we're shown how little attention Rin is paying to Keade and Primula as he literally nods along ignoring their conversation. It wouldn't therefore be surprising if their playing the pong game is another subluminal way to illustrate just how little attention Rin is playing to either of them as they part take in a game one could easily play while half asleep (Heck small detail but the score is 4 - 2 meaning Primula is twice his score). I could of course be over thinking this particular point of interest but the fact that everything else is Shuffle seems to hold purpose does make me wonder about this particular pong games inclusion.
Getting a little bit closer to the definitive we have some brilliant use of the soundscape. I've already mentioned how the Ost has some original tracks in this episode but it's next trick is more quiet. We can see through-out the scene with the pong game that Keade is stirring a pot but we can't see it's contents. However an attentive listener will notice the sound of a spoon scraping against an empty pan. To me this is far more chilling then simply playing a creepy track, instead it's something you migth not even notice till the camera cuts to reveal the truth, furthermore its far less dramatic then if she was sharpening the kitchen knife, instead going to show just how blank her mind now is, how clouded it's become.
The following shot continues that trend as the camera simply changes angel. There's no jump cut sound effect, no major swoon in the score, rapid close ups or shaky cam, no instead the camera just moves to a shot of the kitchen, a shot of Keade staring straight down the camera. This shot has stuck with me longer then any other horror shot except maybe some of the ones from Higarushi. It's not the type of shot to make your skin crawl but instead is just plain terrifying and I absolutely love that.
As if all this wasn't enough to show Keade's become broken we get Rin making one very big, very crucial mistake a couple scenes later. He rings to tell Keade he won't be needing dinner but what matters is his phrasing, in a moment of ultimate inconsiderate Jack-As*ery Rin goes back on every promise he's made Keade, in particular the promise from the her very first spot light episode and maybe one from much earlier "-so I don't need you to-" the rest of this sentence is inconsequential, this is most definitely the straw that breaks the camel's back and going back to something I said earlier, while most watching are probably realizing that the s*its about to hit the fan, for some I think this scene is one where we can really pity Keade and understand her feelings, however corrupt and bankrupt they may be.
Now you'll all be glad to hear they're are only two more scenes which I would list as 'favorites', that's not to say I won't still be gushing galore over the rest of what's left but rather to put emphasis on just how good I think those two scenes are and the one we now find ourselves on is a strong contender for what I think is the strongest of them all, with only episode 12's Primula breakdown as competition. Technically speaking Keade's breakdown trounces Primula's, the animations jumps massively in quality (And it always looks great to begin with) additionally the score plays its heart out as we get a distorted version of the everyday-life theme. The scene also acts as the only possibly climax for Keade and it's some glorious release of built up tension but I suppose we shouldn't get to far ahead of ourselves.
I prefaced this scene with the short section on Primula's role because it comes in to play in a big way here. While searching for Keade, intending to apologies as she perceives Keade's melancholy as a fault of hers. Primula checks in Rin's room only to find that Keade has blacked Asa out of a series of pictures that Rin took with her on one of their dates. Primula's face drops and all the while we have cuts of Rin and Asa returning home from another day out, with Keade approaching to greet them. Primula's reaction here is masterful, for one thing the slow pace of her finding the photo's is done expertly and while in an actual horror movie you might find a note book full of "Kill Asa" or some such, the scribbled out picture serves much the same purpose but furthermore it's the importance of this being Primula. While we've been watching her develop and change more and more she is still in our mind's the mute girl who displays no emotions.
This isn't unheard of in anime, Yuki Nagato would be used to much the same effect in 'The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya' where in if she's panicking then you really know it's something deadly. The point being, any of the characters could of been used for this moment (Putting aside why the others would be in Keade's house) but because it's Primula it adds one more extra layer of tension to an already cooked to tipping point moment, when we see the emotionless girl react with such anxiety.
Further on this also puts us in Primula's perspective, with much of the following shots essentially being shot from an onlookers point of view and my what shots. First off Asa doesn't just enter the house, she bounds in with a skip and a jump. Keep in mind that Japans is a nation of extreme politeness, even for good friends like these, Asa's disregard for convention as she playfully salutes her way through the front door, is completely out of line, especially with consideration for how conservatively tradionalist Keade is known to be. With that said I doubt this minor transgression of manor's deserves what comes next, as mentioned the animation abounds as the camera finally lifts itself from it's stationary home and begins to shake violently alongside Keade who throws Asa against the door. As also talked about the music is a wrapped twisted version of what we're most used to and there's a plethora of filming and animation tricks snuck in here that you won't even notice till a re-watch.
My favorite of these is when the camera at a slightly awkward low to the ground angle, hones in on Asa as she collapses in on herself, her illness now resurfacing once more. If you look closely one of her eyes is actually shaking violently. It's really easy to miss but your sub-conscious picks up on all these little details making the scene twice as terrifying as might otherwise of been. As I say, I love this scene while not as narratively symbolic as episode twelve's might of been, the varied use of classic horror movie cinematography and enhanced animation turn this into the shows most fidelitically impressive scene. I could go on lamenting it's brilliance but I think I've made the point. So lasted the scene fades out as we come to the episode ending with the last point of note being that the next time is just Keade monologuing to herself, capped off by Primula's usual 'join us next time' line. Simple but eerie and once more highly effective.
This scene marks the turning point of Keade's arc and while we've already discussed how it isn't necessarily the worst thing she ever does, it's pretty high up there. In one action she realizes all her pent up anger in an act that vizirates everyone's thrust. While she may claim to of not intended any harm it's worth remembering she's well aware of Asa's illness, which has also been wonderfully foreshadowed. In that is what I think is this scenes biggest triumph, this is the most dramatic Shuffle ever gets with-out the use of fantasy elements being involved and what's great is how natural it feels. Keade isn't hitting Asa because the plot demanded it, nor does Asa's illness come from nowhere, instead the entire set-piece is carefully built up to throughout the show making this feel incredibly worthy and far removed from the cheap dramatics of lesser dramas. Furthermore as we've already discussed at length when talking about Keade's character, while this is her 'yandere moment' it's important that for however bad it is to shove a sickly individual, this is still recoverable from, feeding back into her theme of retribution.
I spoke about this in my 'Full Metal Panic' review/essay but it should once more be noted that I love scenes like these because of how grounded they are. Despite their reputation, rom-com and harem anime are to me some of the most heart-felt out there. Without the need for a forced narrative or drama for the sake of drama we're instead presented with well thought out scenes that are grounded in human emotions we can all relate to. To reiterate from earlier, we are meant to sympathies with Keade even in a scene like this, we're meant to understand her desperation and I think the moment does a great job of conveying that, while also being a highly entertaining Yandere moment with some amazing production values.
Intermission #2 - A Short Transgression Into the Production of Shuffle;
So then let's talk about Rin, about how he responds to what we just discussed and about his detrimental extremist altruism, including his backstory with Keade aswell as how his kindness hurts those around him like Primula - but first let's take a quick moment to cool off and give some credit to those who made all these impressive camera angels and frames of animation work in the first place - Well that's what I wanted to say but like so many lesser known anime in the West, it can be quite difficult to actually find much in the way of information on the legions of animators, script editors, background designers and so on that worked on these classic shows. As such and in an effort not to simply recite the trivia I did find on my first goggle search I'll refrain from being to elaborate on the subject, however as context is important let's take a little look at what I did find.
First off we have the shows director 'Naoto Hosoda', who directed the majority of the shows episodes (It's also worth noting some of the show's episodes are directing/partially directed by others, which is element of what gives the show it's alternative styles) aside from which he's probably best known as a key animator or often times story-boarder on shows such as Hinamatsuri and Nagaserete Airantou aswell as often being a guest director for single episodes (notably episode 15 of Gurren Lagann). His best known work here in the West is probably his role as director on "Mirai Nikki" (The Future Diary) and "The Devil is Part Timer".
'The Devil is Part Time' is another favorite of mine that's seen something of a resurgence in popularity recently and has even had a series 2 confirmed some five plus years after it's initial release. It's clear to see Naoto's influence on it's production and deserving of an essay/review in it's own right but to come back to the other example we have 'Mirai Nikki'. As a show that one is far more maligned and contentious, for good reason too. I found it to be a show for binge watchable consumption but to lack in a great many areas of it's narrative and lack of compelling characters however it's directing was something I noted as quite strong during my watch of the show. As such it was a pleasant surprise to learn it shared Shuffle's director, with some rather famous shot's from the show, showing his stylings. For example Yuno is often framed with a form of shaky cam during action scenes and the rather infamous meme of her decapitating a girl as she runs down a hillside is highly indicative of Hosoda's style of setting a camera at a stationary angle and doing an action shot in as few clips as possible. It's something I can appreciate as being almost western in it's styling and He's got a clear flare for using live action filming techniques on anime productions.
Takayama Katsuhiko handled the shows scripts, he also worked on adapting Mirai Nikki and generally his role on most productions is adaptation. He has in this role worked on a number of more unsavory exhibits however to give credit where it's due I think he has a good sense for the pacing of a story, rarely letting them drag but always allowing for slower moments in the dialogue. Apart from Shuffle there is nothing of real note on his resumé with the top comments on Mal alone labeling him a living meme for his work on Big Order, Aldonoah Zero and even Boku no Pico, to which I'd agree. Shuffle seems to be the best work I've seen from him, however I'd be more then happy to see him work on some less sub-par shows.
As for the screenplay we have Katsumi Hasegawa, who again isn't all that public a person despite a large body of work. His portfolio is varied ranging from classic oldies like 'Blue Gender' and 'Slayers' to a-lot of kid's orientated stuff like Beyblade. I'm not familiar enough with his work to pass much comment however I am a big fan of what I have seen of Slayers.
As I've already mentioned the dub and it's actor a few times I should also give due attention to Todd Haberkon who is mostly know for his work as a solid voice actor in his own right but on this occasion amongst a few others, acted as the main ADR director primarily between episode 9 - 24. As I've already stated I think Shuffle's dub is exemplary and I really wish more recent funimation dubs were of this standard. His most notably role is generally that of 'Natsu' the lead part in the anime 'Fairy-Tail' and much like his voice acting I think I've made it clear I enjoy his directing work on 'Shuffle!', which was coincidentally one of his first times acting as lead ADR director according to his Imdb page. I've lamented how more modern ADR directors and script adapters for shows like Horimiya have a tendency to go for what's trendy, or in the case of the Evangellion dub change what isn't broken and become overly literally to the point of rigidity, with some others like the dragon maid and prison school dubs even having politically agenda fueled lines included but in Todd's case he does a wonderful job directing and brings a breath of fresh air with his style.
Of course non of these individuals would of had anything to work on with out the original source material, which as already mentioned through-out our essay is a visual novel of the same name from Studio Navel. For those who've been around the anime community for a bit you'll already know that in the 2000's there were a spate of visual novel adaptions that made it big, with the obvious one being 'Clanned' and it's sequel 'Clanned Afterstory'. As I've already mentioned Shuffle was one of these said adaptions and part of what I think makes it and most VN anime great is the fact these games being adapted are complete. A factor I think were now missing in the modern anime scene is single series complete anime. I spoke on this in my 'Rent-a-Girlfriend' review but it pains me to see romcoms and harems dragged into multiple series romps more then ever before (Not that it hasn't always been an issue), the great thing about VN's is there already complete upon release. This definitely allows anime studios to pick the best bits of these enchanting experiences and turn them into compelling and importantly complete productions, which is an important detail as we near the end of our Shuffle analysis, as it's an anime not afraid to make decisions and develop it's characters.
Character Focus - Rin
Rin Tsuchimi is, if not my favorite, a high standing contender for my most loved harem/rom-com protagonist but not because I even like him all that much. He doesn't have the charm of Kanon, Clanned or Grissia's witty protags nor is he as endearingly tragic as Full metal Panic's Sousake or as honest as The Familiar of Zero's Saito, no instead he's kind of an as*hole. To dive into Rin's character we need to look at a few elements that thankfully we've already discussed to some degree. Firstly Rin is altruistic to an absurd degree which isn't an unusual trait for his type of protagonist however is used to form integral details of his characters and informed by a somewhat logical backstory. Another large part will hone in on is the expectations of those around him, as said at length, Shuffle isn't as critical of it's genre as the likes of shows like School Days or Re;zero are, but it does share some theming with those two, that of the pressures put on young men in culture. Rin is expected to be the man of the house, he's expected to make the judgement call when Primula gets sick and he's hoisted with the decision to become either the King of the Gods or Demons as early as episode 1, its a-lot of pressure for a kid.
As for his actual arc throughout the show, we've already seen how much of what Rin needs to deal with is his indecisiveness. In what he perceives as kindness often leads to greater pain for those around him in the long run. What ties closest to the themes listed above is Rin's ability to constantly go with popular opinion, he thrusts the kings in the Primula arc, he tries to sacrifice himself to buy Cia time in the beach episode and he ignores Asa's feelings on their first date but maybe the most lasting impact of any of these acts is the one we just spoke on, becoming Keade's reason to live. Something I love about how Rin pretends to be the reason for the death of Keade's mother, is how while it seems selfless and it definitely is to an extend, in reality all Rin is doing is once more what he was told to do by non-other then Keade's own mother - "Can I ask you to look after Keade for me while I'm gone Rin?"
That short off-handed question from Miss.Fuyou changes the course of Rin and Keade's lives indefinitely and its the earliest example we know of, towards Rin's nature. On the one hand you can argue what he did was right, he 'saved' Keade in sense but much like sending Primula away was 'right' Rin's motive for doing it is in some-way, however small, down to the fact he no longer wished to be lonely. Looking upon the flashback scenes with this mindset adds a whole other layer to them as young Rin keeping the photo hidden and being both physically and emotionally abused is all based in what he perceives as the 'right' thing to do.
For me what makes his character writing so strong is how it's involved in everything he does, we've already mentioned the prime examples at tedium but this cohesion is what makes his character a compelling story to follow, he doesn't solely save Primula or Cia, Lycoris and Kikyou do that bulk of that. He's a flawed human being, simply trying to do what seems best for what we consider to be selfless reasons but in some sense aren't. Adding to the shows running theme of questioning the morality of harem fantasies, even acts we at first perceive as Just - get turning on their heads. For example Rin acts like a normal harem protagonist however he isn't dense, he's fully aware of the girls feelings towards him and the sometimes sexual nature of those but refrains from picking any of them to save their feelings but is that really the reason? As Isekai kindly point out early on, isn't Rin just preventing the inevitable of making that difficult judgment call and making it hard on all of them by leading them on?
We talked before about bedrooms before and one interesting thing about Rin's is his boat hobby. We already mentioned the tradionalist aspects of Keade and her house as well as the game of pong and the clothing her and Primula (post episode 15) wear. This seems to stretch further into Rin's room. For a boy his age the boat is the dominant feature of his bedroom. It's indictive of someone who wants a quiet life, a simply low stress hobby. A hobby were he's totally in control, were it a sport he'd have to worry about letting his team-mates down for example, but a model boat is quiet, it's rewarding in that it marks progression with out any negative side effects. The boat is a great representation not only for the passage of time with-in the show but also for Rin, theirs no scene where the girls find porno mags in his room, nor do we ever see him use the computer. Rin is inverted and highly unsuited to being man of the house or in a position to be chased by 4 women. He is literally to considerate to be unaware of the girls advances on him and in that sense he isn't really dense enough to be your stereotypical harem protagonist. It's some interesting stuff to keep in mind as we move forward.
Rin takes in Primula in episode 2, a seemingly 'haremy' trope of little significance but in truth he does so because they expect him to and the result is him neglecting the girl even after episode 15. He doesn't pick any of the girl's because life seems easier for everyone if he keeps perpetuating the harem, he doesn't want to face the consequences of breaking their hearts or at the least hurting their feelings. The fact is selfish or not Rin is just too young to be making all these decisions and I think that's the point of his character. The show is trying to talk to it's primarily young male audience, it sympathizes with the struggles of being adolescent and of having society, family and friends expect so much of you, expecting you to make so many big decisions however it isn't content to solely be kind. Like how Asa at first talks to Rin in episode 13, in episode 18 she slaps him, with the show doing much the same thing with it's audience time and time again. Episode 15 is a triumph because Rin helps put things right but in a sense he does so and his resolve comes from Asa telling him what to do. The show is literally telling it's audience male or female, not to just listen to it but to take what it says seriously and to come up with your own answers, that's why Asa slaps him in episode 18, it's why that slap is so damn important.
That's why the scenes will next discuss over the course of the remining 4 episodes are such a fitting conclusion to Rin's arc, like all the characters his development isn't instant, he trips, hurts Primula and Nerine but then gets picked up by those around him, namely Asa, then he trips again failing to actually be there for Cia but improving a little by turning her down, then he takes a step back into his old ways, acknowledging Asa's feelings and his own but still going on the pre-planned date with her and this is where the show slaps him. Asa hits Rin at the crucial moment because in real life we don't all magically do a personality 180 after a traumatic or impactful event, we stumble, struggle to learn from our past and end up making future mistakes. This is the point of Rin, only after all this does he start to change but even now he isn't done developing. As we discussed, he shows no consideration for Keade throughout her arc, pushing her further and further away, while all the time neglecting Primula despite the fact he himself parallels her as a sufferer of childhood neglect.
With the end of the Keade arc and the events of the Asa arc as will talk about shortly, we see Rin finally learn to move on from his previous f*ck ups. He realizes he needs to give Keade the space and a push to be her own person, he knows he can't be Primula's father figure and acts truly unselfishly to save Asa when she becomes too stubborn for her own good. In the final act Rin becomes a man, not the public toxic perception of one but the sort he needed to be all along, the type who's there for and supports the people in his life, not because he's told to do so or because it's 'Right' but because it's what he thinks is best and is what he wants to do and I think that's a damn good message to convey through your lead character in a harem anime.
It's through Rin that I think you see most clearly why I both love Shuffle and why it's so great in the first place. Shuffle to me is like 'Neon Genesis Evangellion' is to 'End of Eva', like 'Lyrical girl Nanoha' is to 'Madoka Magica' and like 'Gurren Lagann' is to every other Gainx and Trigger show ever made. It's got all the theming and self critical writing of a deconstruction, all the depth and brilliant character scripting to be a hate filled attack on the genre it portraits and the fans of said tropes and that wouldn't necessarily even be a bad thing but I love subtly in anime, I love how it can be enjoyed as nothing more then a really well done and producer highschool fantasy anime romp but that the more you dig into it, the more your gonna get out of it. I love how Rin is used to both criticize the show's own fanbase but done so in a constructive way, it doesn't end with Rin being killed by a full blown yandere Kaede and while that could make for a great story in it's own right, it wouldn't make for a constructive one, only a cautionary tale. Shuffle therefore instead opts to present it's young audience with some vague semblance of alternative ideas for how to live life rather then just being another said cautionary tale against the otaku culture and lifestyle.
Episode 20 - 21 - Indelible Sin, Where Feeling Go;
-So with our assessment of Rin concluded let's look at the rest of the Keade arc. We've gone through our exploration of Keade, Rin and episode 18-19 so most of the leg work here is done. Let's start picking out a few choice scenes to breakdown the rest of this story.
Let's start with a scene a couple minutes into episode 20. After episode 19's conclusion we pick back up with Rin in the hospital waiting room with best women Ama. He heads home and withdraws to his room, where our object of discourse takes place, the scene itself is by now shot in classic shuffle fashion. The camera stays fixed as though it were a CCTV camera perched to one of the box rooms walls, the lightning of the shot is once more used to great effect aswell. Rin is basked only in a small modicum of dusk-light while Keade is enshrouded in the dark, the point being that Keade has created such a gap between them that even if she could get close to Rin, there's no light left for him to give her anymore, he's no longer a source of hope for her.
She's paces forward painfully towards him, closing the distance in a rather deliberately uneasy method, before we once again get the use of a close up that obscures the eyes. As we've mentioned a few times now this is done to illustrate when a character's word don't match their meaning but they are technically speaking the truth. Keade's eyes are off screen here as she tells Rin he cares to much for other's and ignores his own problems. It's a great use of irony as while what she's saying isn't necessarily untrue, it applies far more to herself at this stage then to Rin. Keade finishes and leaves the room walking back into the dark of the hallway, meanwhile the next close up of Rin show's that they've slowly made his visage darker through the scenes, indicative of how Keade's comments have pushed the two even further away from each other. To finish with a rather obvious bit of symbolism, as she exits the room she slams shut the door to Rin's bedroom, quite literally shutting herself on the side of isolation and completing the wall between the two of them.
As we've been talking about, Rin's reaction to this is really important, he gets a flashback to isekai's line as mentioned above, leaves the house and assaults a lamp post years before Toradora made lamp-post cruelty fashionable. He's once more made the same mistake, by continuing to threat Keade like his surget wife, while running off to date Asa, he's once more fu*ked it but that's not what's important for us. What matter is he realizes it. Because Asa's been temporarily embolized, this time it's on him to accept it and this time it's on him to come up with his own solution. Brilliant.
The next scene to go over mirrors the last but with some key differences. This time Primula enters Keade's room which is pitch black, furthermore the camera now seems fixed to the ceiling as though we're not just literally looking down on Keade but figuratively. With Rin we look at his room form an eye level view like an onlooker but in Keade's room it's as though were judging her from above. Primula is holding the cat plushie given to her from Rin and unlike Keade her eyes are visible, further differentiating herself. She spits some pure truth bombs in classic deadpan loli fashion, explaining to Keade how in truth her seemingly selfless action in caring for Rin was really driven by a selfish desire to be with him. In this we come back to our analysis of Keade as Primula helps us to understand how similar Keade and Rin both truly are, as Rin will soon admit, dependency syndrome usual works both ways in some sense.
Primula goes on to demand Keade confess her true feelings for Rin to which she refuses saying she's lost the Right to do so and that she's now going to loose Rin for good. Remmu's response is a simple one, she stands there in the pitch darkness in front of her crying, broken Mother figure and asks "what about me?" all while holding a cat plushie reminding us of her status as stand-in child. As I've already gone over, in the mist of Keade's arc we have a sub-plot story about child neglect but additionally we can take that statement two ways, well three if you include how darn heartbreaking it is.
On the one hand she's quite clearly saying she doesn't want to lose Rin either, as even if she's confused on weather to see him as family or an interest of a romantic nature you can also see it as her trying in her own unique way to comfort Keade. Despite her seemingly harsh words up to this point, she's metaphorically offering out a hand to Keade, to stand by her. This is what makes this scene so brilliant, without Primula, Keade really would be alone, her worst fears realized but in a sense her neglect of Primula is Primula's own worst fear. The point being that the two come to relie on one another as will soon see, as sisters rather then the wrapped idea of family that they've had up till now/so far. This scene is the beginning of them treating each other as equals rather then as parent/guardian and child. Like Lycoris and Kikyou, it's not solely Rin who saves Keade, in fact I'd argue with-out Primula, Keade could well of become a true yandere and we could of ended up on a bad end route for sure.
Continuing on with this sub-plot of Child neglect we have the episodes final scene. Like episode 19's it's a pretty darn packed one, though less vital, what is important in it is Primula and Rin. Rin announces independence from the free state of Fuyou causing Keade to hit and even lower rock bottom then before, however in the background of this affairs is Primula. She is quite literally shot out of focus, after all she's not what's important here, her story ended 5 episodes ago and in doing this we get another amazingly great example of the anime embodying the story. Like the examples I mentioned much earlier on, the focus is literally being taken away from Primula, her relevance in the scene feels like an after-taught, just like how for Rin and Keade she's just Kinda there, like a piece of furniture. That's not to say there aren't some details to be gleaned from the moment, as the camera does zoom in on her hands for just a couple second. Here we see two things, a towel which she promptly drops as it slips from her grasp, while over hearing the conversation and the fact she's in pajamas. What this tells us is a lot about her growth as a character, this isn't the Primula from episode 2 any more, the emotionless, half alive little girl, no she's now become a more considerate person, her clothing tells us she had probably already gone to bed but couldn't sleep for worrying about Rin plus Keade and the towel rather more apparently shows how she's become more consider, realizing Rin had been in the rain umbrealless.
It's super short and simply of a scene but exceedingly meaningful and I again love the way animation and shot composition are working together to greater neglect Primula on an almost meta level. To go further, I also appreciate how Primula doesn't run off in tears like you migth expect of a normal child in other anime, it's another case of Shuffle sticking to it's own rules as it would be strange for Primula to act in that way, instead it's far more happy with it's subtle details as mentioned.
Finally we get a continuation of the next time changing to match the situation. Where the prior episode had just Keade monologuing with the final tagline from Remmu, this time the whole entire next time is just a still, silent image. No voice over, no visual, nothing. The next time's have become themselves a representation of Keade's mind and her declining mental state.
The next episode opens in a similar fashion to episode 10 and of course 13's 'house of twilight' and right off the bat you have some noticeably differences. For one another shuffling has occurred with some simple stylistic choices and filters applied in order to give the show a washed out, hazy almost melancholy feel to it. It's done, I would think rather simply yet it has the effect of adding a whole new other colour pallet to the show, not for the first time and its once more a great addition to the visuals appeal. It's not quite inverted but gives a similar effect to that which, as mentioned I love this form of using the animation in suggestive ways to tell the story with-out words. It's an exceedingly hard effect to replicate this well in Live-action but for anime is almost the ultimate form of 'Show don't Tell' which can often be something this visual medium struggles with to a surprising degree.
Following this we have another great moment, It's not that out-standing of a scene compared to the others we talked about, especially considering your attention is mostly still on the colour pallet/filter change but the significances of the scene is what makes it work so well. We have Rin, Cia and Nerine in the park, the same one from episode 13 where we witnessed Asa guide Rin in his more dramatic moment of need and were Kikyou lead Rin in episode 17. The trio sit on what is presumably the same bench as the aforementioned Asa scene and really all Rin does is vent to the two otherworlders. This scene is in itself a subversion, far to often I've made the adage that the inclusion of the two girl's indicates the intentions of a scene being fantisiful but here we go back on that a little. Nerine and Cia have developed, they've begun moving on with their lives and while their still interested in pursing Rin, now it's for their own reasons and not due to survivors guilt or a lack of self worth.
As such you expect this scene to be the two them taking Rin into the right path like Asa did prior but you know what? They don't. Sure they mirror episode 13 in that they sit quietly and listen to his grievances but this time Rin finds the answers by himself. What he realizes in this conversation is a really lovely message to, it isn't harsh or cruel in spite of all Keade's done but instead it's simply honest, maybe even a little self-depreciating - "We were mistaking comfort for happiness". I love this line so much, its quant not dramatic and while I love a dramatic scene with the MC crying as he runs to find the heroine in the final act, to me this is perfect for the story Shuffle wants to tell. Here Rin admits his faults, its not Asa or Keade pointing them out, he's admitting that he was living life as it came at him, via the path of least resistance.
But the boy still isn't finished, he goes on to thank Cia and Nerine telling them that through their struggles he was able to see himself, able to see that like them, he two and Keade needed to move forward with their lives, as he draws the parallels to Cia and Nerine's own struggles in needing to let go of their sisters, while Rin and Keade need to let go of their shared past. He's learning from their mistakes and progression, this mirroring of arcs is not only justification for Nerine and Cia to stick around in the story for the shows whole running length but is also like a - well - shuffling of the seats.
A final note is another small but appreciated detail. Like Keade not having time to put her shoes on during the flashback sequences and climax on the bridge due to the nature of her flight, at the end of this scene we see Rin murmuring about the high cost of rent in the city, now I am confident early versions of Nerine and Cia would of offered to pay the rent for him or get him a good job in their mansions or just straight up offered him a home there, maybe even having some sort of comical struggle over the matter but these versions of the two girls have moved far past that. They have developed to have more respect for both themselves and what Rin's trying to do and as such they simply cheer him on in his endearer just like any supportive friends would do.
Thanks again for reading. If your enjoying please leave a 'helpful' on the main review's page {swap your browser to 'desktop view' if you on mobile) and once more all feedback is most welcome in the comments here or on my Mal page. I won't insult your intelligence by further reminding you that this part three of 5 and that the other 4 parts should all be available along side this one, however here's a helpful link to part 4 - https://myanimelist.net/blog.php?eid=861077 . Again thanks for reading thus far and I hope you enjoyed.
Posted by momentie | May 25, 2021 6:56 AM | 0 comments
May 24th, 2021
The Complete Shuffle! Retrospective Part 2 (of 5)
Anime Relations: Shuffle!
Please note as the titles suggests that this is part two of my retrospective on the anime 'Shuffle!', for part one scroll down or check it out on my reviews page, where you can leave it a 'helpful'. Now then please enjoy my further garbled rambling.
Lycoris;
Something interesting that I only realized on this specific rewatch of shuffle is how I've never questioned the legitimacy of Primula's relationship to Lycoris or that of any of the characters relationships for that matter. I'm a bit of a stickler for things like this, It wasn't till over half way through its third series did I buy into the relationship of Steven Moffat's Sherlock Holmes and Watson (and by then it was far to little, to late). Shuffle has a masterful way of characterizing its cast in small but meaningful ways. Take the Isekai, Mayumi, Rin and Keade. We're told they've all attended school together for some time but the show isn't content with just that, instead displaying in small ways how well they know each other, for example in Omelette of Happiness the 4 discuss each others cooking with mixed levels of contempt based on clear unseen prior experiences or how Asa's physicality in the form of energetic wake up slaps towards Rin helps to communicate their childhood friend closeness, or just the entirety of episode 11.
Why all this matters is it helps to make the world more alive and feel more lived in, while also making our primary cast feel more realistic and we see this again with Lycoris. Long before her brief on-screen stint we see that Nerine and Primula have something of an uneasy relationship, Nerine refers to Primula as 'Remmu' but often in a hesitant manner, meanwhile Primula never replies in kind and often ignores her completely. The audience should be compelled to wonder about this, seeing as one would initially think that their some form of estranged sisters (Shin's basta*d child maybe?). However with hindsight we come to understand that to Primula, Nerine really is little more then a stranger and for Nerine all her familiarity comes from the fact that she inherited Lycoris'es feelings and memories of Primula (among choice other memories, feelings and apparently her vocal chords).
This all matters because when Primula is finally confronted with Lycoris inside the dream-scape, for both her and the audience their is a sense of familiarity, as though we already know Lycoris and that's because the shows been doing this subtle ground work since the beginning. It should also be noted that while Lycoris and Nerine literally have identically cloned cells they are not the same person with Lycoris being far more of a big sister character, a-lot more outgoing and helpful. She's similar to Asa in that sense which might be another reason for why the writers decided to have her exit stage left for the final part of this arc, thought those parallels are by no means missed.
When Primula calls out to Lycoris as her sister, it's 15 episodes of build up that pull on the heartstrings and are a full pay off for a relationship we only get to see a glimpse of. Returning to the sunflower scene, we see Lycoris walk off into the sunflowers, away from Primula, into an eternal summer, Paradise, heaven, whatever way you want to put it, leaving Primula behind. Its a place Primula can't follow her to and it plays magnificently into her theme of neglect. Rin turns her away and in a sense so to does Lycoris. Its not to say that she does so deliberately but by saving/giving her own life for Nerine, she in turn leaves Primula alone forever, except Primula did try to follow her, by pursuing her, seeking out the boy Lycoris talked so fondly of, only for him to eventually betray her wishes as well.
Of course that means its only appropriate that in the end it's neither Lycoris, Nerine or Rin who individually save Primula but a combination of all three. Rin accepting his feelings and casting aside his allusions of what's right and wrong for a 'man', Nerine realizing her wish to avoid loss was simply a cause of another form of losing and Lycoris making good on her promise to be there for Primula. In just one episode the show manages to completely and satisfactorily wrap up four character arcs in just one go. This isn't to say their done growing as people, it will still be some time before Nerine and Primula truly show the signs of this growth but to me that's how natural character development should be. In the mean-time Rin has a ways to go, while he definitely develops, in a piece of brilliant character writing all he's really done is swap out his decision to follow the order of society and replaced it by simply following what Asa told him to do and the show is oh so aware of this.
Lycoris'es arc does end here and its a faithful send off. I've always loved how, without overshadowing the other's efforts Lycoris is the main player of this situation, helping Primula from both the outside and inside.
To set the scene, despite our hero's best efforts, words simply aren't getting through to Primula and her magic is going critical. The demise of our hero's seems imminent and inevitable until Lycoris, using the last of her consciousness(?), cancels out Primula's powers just long enough for Rin to reach her and snap her our of it. In this moment Lycoris proves herself as the true older sister and guardian of the group, an internally adult version of her gets to say one true final good bye to primula before walking off into the sunflowers one last time.
To me its nice how this defies conventions, it isn't just that the protagonist she's known a few months, calls to her or that the memory of a lost love one comes to her but a combination of both combined with the fantisiful manifestation of Lycoris'es will. It makes for a great set piece and a fitting finally, one that would set Shuffle far above most of it's contemporize in character writing and execution alone but the show's got a lot more up it's sleeve to come.
For now will leave episode 15 behind us though you can be sure will soon revisit it when addressing episode 14 and Nerine's character, as-well as when we come back to revisit Primula's character later on. As a final note there's a nice prologue-esk scene post the whole confrontation, where-by Rin gives Primula his jacket, allowing him to walk around in a tank top, extenuating his own figure and acting as a nice visual metaphor for how his accepting his emotions was far more manly then his stoic actions in episode 12, now rewarded by him talking down to the Gods while looking like a chad bodybuilder. It's some pretty great stuff but for now let's talk a step back to-
Episode 14 and Character - Nerine;
Despite Primula's low number of lines, Nerine is no doubt the story's most understated character, in fact her role in the series second half is more akin to that of a secondary supporting character, then as a love interest and that's with good reason. First off let's note how Shuffle likes to weave its story telling into its character's personalities. While some of this could be called coincidence, if it is, then its the happy sort for sure. For example, Keade the girl who's happy as long is Rin is happy waits for her turn in the spotlight the longest, meanwhile Primula, the least developed person has the least romantic of the storylines. It's a nice touch and you can even see it going one step further in the very layout of the show, our first two arcs are based almost solely in fantasy and are the ones most conveyed through metaphors, Cia's arc appropriately straddles the line between real life schizophrenia or bipolar disorder and more fantasy jargon and then finally we have Keade and Asa's far more grounded in reality story-lines at the end of the story.
As such it's no surprise that Nerine's reserved nature leads her story to be over-shadowed by that of those around her but it's no less well written for it. While I could definitely see someone being disappointed in Nerine's reduced role post ep 15 I personally find it wonderful how she gets the chance to develop and live life for herself rather then to simple follow blindly after Rin's daily shenanigans'. The small snippets we see of her joining a club, continuing in her pursuit of the ultimate Omelette and having friends outside the main group, are to me a multitude more rewarding then a gaggle of other harem anime that have the main guy and girl hook up, only to then have all the girls act as thought this never happened (I'm staring at you Highschool DxD, Infinite Stratus, Sword Art Online etc...), that's not to say she doesn't still pursue Rin but she comes to do it as a secondary part of her life, not as her whole focus for living.
I have in my notes "You can pinpoint the exact moment that her heart breaks" in relation to the scene following Primula's rescue where-in Rin and Nerine return Asa's ribbon and I stand by that, in this moment Nerine once and for all stops living for Lycoris and instead she starts living for herself, just like her sister would of wanted.
This conclusion links most importantly to the main themes explored through her and Cia's parallel characters; Survivors guilt and a lack of self-worth. Both Cia and Nerine share these two hang-ups but to differing extends, Cia clearly has a big issue with her own self worth, while Nerine feels immense guilt in her surviving in place of her sister. The two ideas are similar but not quiet the same story, one of the show's many through-lines.
Survivors Guilt - Nerine's survivors guilt is the crux of her story, her purpose for coming to the real world and chasing Rin is purely out of a perceived duty to fulfil Lycoris'es wish. In a sense she's got something of an imposter syndrome complex, going as far as to claim her ability to sing is stolen. As we've already discussed while a young girl, Nerine's powers lead her to be extremely ill, Lycoris (who's lifespan was limited to begin with) sacrifices herself to safe Nerine but unbeknownst to everyone else Nerine acquires more then just a restored constitution.
We can also infer that this guilt hangs over Nerine for some time till she finally decides the best course of action is to simply live the life Lycoris always wanted and in a heartbreaking fashion Nerine actually gives this away a couple of times if one pays attention but most particularly is when she asks Rin if she can start loving him even more. It initially comes off as an inconsequential confession that is until with hindsight we understand that what she really means is that she's admitted both to Rin, us and in no small way to herself, that she might love Rin personally and not just because of the memory's she inherited. It's an interesting principal and clues us in that during the whole first arc, really up till the close of episode 15, Nerine is really acting on behalf of an agenda and not because of her own feelings.
This all comes to ahead in episode 14 and it's an interesting one as it takes the momentum episode 13 seemed to of ended on and converts that energy into a long dialogue heavy session. The whole thing for the most part is just a conversation between Rin and Nerine set in the play-ground where Rin first met both Lycoris and more recently in episode 1, Nerine. It's a little exposition heavy but with cut-aways to break up the visuals and Nerine's emotional explanation it works rather well. The discussion comes off as necessary and mature rather then just for the purposes of giving the audience new facts to mull over. We come to understand the lengths to which Nerine has gone to live up to the life she gained, now seeing why she's so formal and princess like (aside from her actual position). To a casual viewer, till this moment it might of seemed like Nerine's infatuation with Rin was built on the rather shaky ground of one encounter as kids but to Nerine he's the boy who made Lycoris'es life a little bit brighter. She is in a sense living one of her sister's regrets out to fruition.
As yet another aside I love how this episode manages to deal with multiple deep seeded issues at once. For example if you wanted you could interpreted Lycoris'es sacrifice as something akin to an organ transplant, once again showing how the fantasy elements are really only there as some quality set dressing. More-over I've always loved the discussion on why the demon's society used clones and artificial people, it wasn't some cliché about them not being real people or even an understandably but immoral stance like 'the ends justify the means', no instead they did so not out of malice but because no one would mourn the clones when they die. It's a fascinating idea and it's made fairly clear that Shin would rather not of put anyone's life in danger, the morality is grey as all heck and I find that intriguing coming from the "King of the Demons" and the "King of the Gods".
Narine is the simplest of the characters will be examining but I believe her theme of 'guilt' which links wonderfully with others characters like Asa and Rin, works brilliantly and gives us a well fleshed out character despite her minimal on screen presence, she puts it best herself "That's why I decided to live as Lycoris, let that part of her take over". To me there's no better way her story could of ended then, as already mentioned, for her to move on with her own life, to make new friends, have and lead new experiences and grow to pursue love for her own causes. Nerine's character is all about coming to accept and live for yourself. Her arc ends with the line that in a sense started her story back when she first uttered something similar to it but now it represent progress not stagnation;
"-So now I believe the feelings I have are my own. The Lycoris part of me has vanished but - my own love remains, these feelings are mine and mine alone - from this point forward my love for you is not someone else's. So... I migth fall more in love with you, - that is of course only if you'll let me".
Intermission;
So 12 and a half thousand odd words in and we've covered the first 15 episodes in varying degrees of detail. Shorter then I'd imagined which gives me some vague hope I've managed to reduce the amount of flannel my writing style is prone too and leave out to much large technical sections that I'm not well versed enough in to properly discuss. Now seems like a good time to take a moment and look at some outlying things. I personally always leave a short break between episode 15 and 16 when watching the show (which will address more shortly) so lets follow suit of that and address the Dub as-well as the intro and outro songs or the whole Ost and sound-scape in general.
The Dub - For me the dub of shuffle is a must watch, so much so that I've never been able to get through the sub as the voices are just so familiar to me in English (which is strange because I'm usually pretty good at swapping between the two mediums, ala Zero no tsukima). It's an early Funimation Dub from before they bough out most of the competition and still had to make an active effort, as such there's some really great vocal performances here and I don't think anyone let's the team down.
Is it perfect? Probably not but its my belief that there is no such thing as a perfect dub or sub, we only think all subs are scared because we don't speak Japanese. I'll refrain from a full discussion on my stance here but generally if it's from the 2000's or most of the 90's then go with the dub, it won't change much if anything (except for the End of Eva dub, that can burn in hel*) and in reality the experience will be closer to what you'd of got if you were a native Japanese speaker. That's not to say all dubs are good, far from it and with dubs from the last decade it can be a case by case basis Kinda game.
With that needlessly said the Shuffle dub really is terrific, it's one of my personal favourite performances from Monica Rial but while she really is brilliant through-out I wouldn't say she's the star by any measure. Rin (Jerry Jewell) and Primula(Cherami Leigh) and really all the cast do a great job but two performance stand out in particular.
Cia's voice actress(Brittney Karbowski) during her arc has the task of voicing two similar but fundamentally different people/personalities and she does it wonderfully, at one point during a confrontation between Cia and Kikyou(The alter ego) the harsher voice tone she's uses for Kikyou softens until you realize they've stopped sounding different but are rather-more speaking in sync. It's really impressive and I don't think it hits quite as hard in the Japanese, thought that is just my bias opinion.
But overall Keade's voice actress (Carrie Savage) takes the cake far and away. At the start of the show her voice may come off as somewhat shrill, the classic trope of an adult playing a supposedly 'kawaii' anime girl however you soon grow to appreciate the nuance of her performance and when it comes time for Keade's arc she shows an amazing range, her screams of anger and frustration, the "Get Out Of My House" line tears shivers down your spine, only to be matched by the heart-wrenching, almost ugly cries of sadness she gives later on in the same story arc. To wrap it up, after the arcs resolution her more sombre, less angst filled sobs and her attempts to hold a conversation with-out breaking into tears are all really fantastic. It's one of my all time favourite dub performances and I'd love to hear this voice actress more often, just brilliant.
The Opening Song and Dance - For me there are anime songs I like but skip on a binge watch, songs I'll almost never skip like the first intro of "Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood" by 'Yu' which I'll watch 80%+ of the time and then there's the 90%+ grouping, songs and intros I pretty much never skip, Neon genesis Evangellion is one of course and more recently "Revolutionary Girl Utena" has joined this group and for me Shuffle's is the other one that springs to mind. It's packed full of purpose and the song has a soft spot in my heart (There's an old Christian Vee English cover of it that I also love).
The intro is full to the brim with colour coding and parrel imagery in order to implant ideas into the viewer from the get go of every episode, lets brake down a few. There's the obvious fact that the title letters are rainbow coloured and of course the section where we see various characters by just their colour on a white background (similar in style to the introspective place Primula's mind retreated to). Then there's the expressive use of different nature elements to show a representation of each girl except for/in the case of Primula who is framed behind concrete, a man made substance.
This visual metaphor for Primula goes even further. We have a few brief shots of Nerine and Cia in regal cloths + settings (Representing the fantasy elements they bring to the table) followed by Keade and Asa living their ordinary lives (Indicative of their more realistic nature) then followed by Primula, alone holding the stuffed animal doll on a backdrop of turbines. Now aside from giving those who've played "If My Heart Had Wings" flashbacks, this should act as a representation of what Primula is. Not only is she framed separate and alone which starkly contrasts the others but also the wind turbine is a man made object that harnesses nature to produce energy, Primula is a man made person who harnesses natural magic to attempt to create infinite life. It's neat.
Another element of the intro that I really like is how the music syncs to the visuals in an unusual way, the song starts with barely any instruments and just vocals as we get shots of the five girls, however as the vocal track cuts out we get a synth mixed with electric guitar segment as images of the town our hero's inhabit flash by, however with the lyrics gone, so too are the people as the town lies empty, this communicating to us that the setting plays second fiddle to the people, who with-out there is no colour (something of a prevailing message within the show). As the vocals cut back in we get to be re-acquainted to the characters as they greet one another. Its an interesting technique to have the music and visuals linked like this and not something I've seen often elsewhere.
There's also plenty of shots of the gang simply living their ordinary lives, going to school, eating etc. to help convey a sense of familiarity between the show and the audience, thought this is far more conventional then my previous point. All in all the intro has a sense of energy and pace to match it's bop of a track and its a pleasure to look for all the little hint-full bits of foreshadowing and references to the events of the show. I loved to go more in-depth, however if I'm out of my element with the narrative and visual components, then I sure as heck aren't qualified to talk opening songs, so I'll leave it here for now.
The outro is a bit more interpretive. Some points of note in it are the directions each girl looks in, which match the arrows at the start of the more light-hearted episodes, thought this may be a loose connection. More abundant is the backdrop behind each girl which portraits their associated seasons, i.e. Cia is standing in the rainy season as heavily referenced in episode 2 and Primula is behind a winter landscape, which we as an audience associate with her 'ice' magic as well as her themes of being unnatural and infertility.
Party to this is how the outro loops, the spark that blooms into a flower is the same tear that falls at the end. This gives the impression of a never-ending cycle which is quite apt considering that each girl (And Rin) has to first have their fairy tail broken, fall to a low point and then rise up above it.
Overall the outro is definitely more interoperable then I've gone into here and I'd love to hear the opinions of anyone else and your take on it. One thing I've always thought would benefit both the intro and outro is if the animations changed slightly as the series progressed, nothing major maybe have Primula's costume change to represent her new maturity developments after episode 15 or Kikyou's more happy face could reflect off something post episode 17, something to that effect anyway. As-well as that, I'd say similar could be done with the outro by changing it's order so that the girl who's arc is the focus always comes last, as Primula always crying makes little sense during Cia or Asa's arcs, however I can see how moving the Winter aesthetic to be early in the song would/migth change the thematic effect of it all. Just a thought that has strikes me from time to time when re-watching the show.
To finish out we have the rest of the OST. It's a fairly normal visual novel line-up, I personally really enjoy it, thought I could see why it migth not blow you away. A favourite track for me is when Keade losses control, lashing out at Asa and the score plays a distorted version of the more playful everyday tracks that were more used to. Its a classic horror movie trick and its much apricated. As I say my music knowledge is rather lacking so I shant use any more of your time addressing the topic but suffice to say the score serves its purpose expertly and is a welcome member of the visual novel musical canon, while it may not always match up to Kanon, Clanned, School Days, Grissia or the aforementioned If My Heart had Wings, I believe it still embodies the same spirit as those works scores do, though is arguably the weakest element of the show, mind you not by much.
Now back to our main feature;
Episode 16 - "Kikyou" and Character - Cia;
Keeping with the show's use of parallel theming, lets now take a closer look at and cover Cia's/Kikyou's characters on the far side of our brief intermission.
It should be briefly clarified that from here out we will be mentioning topics such as bipolarism, co-dependency syndrome, depression, more terminal illness's and child neglect and while I'm better read on some of these then others, I'm no expert on any of them so please take everything I say with a grain of salt and if your affected by any of the issues, please seek out the appropriate help, I sincerely wish you all the best in any endearer you may be enduring.
I initially listed episode 16 as part of the awakening arc, while listing 17 as part of the true feelings arc, this is because 16 works in the same format as the eps 12-15 with Cia being snatched out of her fragile mentality, while ep 17 is far more like episode 21 in that while Rin and the respective other are able to come to a peaceful conclusion, neither are triumphs in the same way episode 15 was. You could of course divide Shuffle in multiple different ways, one simple one being to mark episode 1-15 as arc one and 16-24 as arc 2 but there's one more nice nod by my system, that of the fact it once again matches a character personality by having Cia's arc be spread over two different story telling styles.
With the framing devices out of the way, let's get to looking at the scenes and at Cia as a character. There's a-lot that goes on in these last 9 episodes and far less that we can skim over as we did with arc 1. Episode 16 deals with Cia's downward spiral into a depressive self-loathing state that had been hinted too since the beginning, leading to her being confronted by her sister which I believe can be taken as a thinly vailed metaphor for bipolar disorder. The episode has some great minor things to note at its onset, first there's a rooftop lunch where the characters talk about how great it is that everything is 'back to normal'. Part of what I like about this scene is how untrue it is simply by the merit of Asa and Kareha being there. It's nothing major but the use of top down wide shots help to point out how things are clearly different to how they were once before, especially in the closeness of Rin and Asa.
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Then there's Rin's treatment of the girls, clever camera work makes it so that during her one scene in the episode, Rin doesn't turn his back on Primula and meanwhile Nerine leaves school before him, meaning that he never walks away from the two who are now moving forward with their lives (Further eventuated by Primula's new, more mature outfit and lack of toy cat plushie) while in the meanwhile Rin walks away and borderline ignores both Cia and Keade but instead walks towards and actively seeks out Asa, twice.
This culminates in Cia seeing Rin with Asa shopping, after witnesses how happy they are, the camera turns back to reveal her absence and in doing so the last piece is in place for Cia's arc. Cia as a character is as already mentioned similar to Nerine in that she has a degree of survivors guilt but more then that a complete lack of self-worth, believing she has no real value and that compared to the others (Including Kikyou) she 'doesn't really deserve Rin'. In just ten minutes of screen-time, in a completely natural way, Cia's personal resolve buckles and she is finally forced to face herself and to more importantly, face Kikyou.
This next scene is the first of Cia's two confrontation between herself and Kikyou and there some more of my favourites packed full of more simplistic but highly effective story telling. First we see Cia walking home after seeing Rin with Asa at the shops, she's placed along the line of the centre right (Of the 9 quadrants) which immediately helps make her look small, this is then added to by the sunset which baths the whole area is a warm red making Cia's seemingly vibrant hair blend into it's surrounding. The whole shot is great and confides in us what she's feeling right now, small, lonely and beaten.
It's followed by more use of the lighting to great effect as we watch Cia walk straight past her father (who still expects her to make dinner) and into the darkness. Now we know that she's essentially not even seen him due to being lost in thought and is heading straight to her room but visually we watch her step past her father, a God basked in the light of his traditionalist Japanese home and straight into a bleak darkness, brilliant but all these nice examples of lightning to communicate her mental state are soon over-shadowed by what occurs next. Cia enters her room, to hear a voice not quite her own. There's so many great shots here, starting with a top down look at her face's reaction to the voice, its downright terrified and the angel seems to almost shrink all her features, the body she flaunts so openly now seems small and unassuming.
A Dutch angel of Cia standing in the doorway soon arrives and with it we see her literal shadow now looms large behind her. The conversations between Cia and Kikyou are great, while they may not be wholly accurate to schizophrenia or bi-polar syndrome, they never actually claim to be, while still being some of the most easy to understand representation of mental illness in all of anime. Kikyou initially comes across as an antagonist which is a nice touch, as while I'm glad she's eventually revealed to be well meaning, her initial hostility adds a layer of tension and risk to an otherwise passive, character motive driven storyline. The mirror which has loomed over Cia all series long (refer back to the 'bedroom' section in part 1) and has frequently reflected a different expression to the one Cia is wearing, is now payed off as the confrontation goes on between the two, that is till you realize Cia and the camera aren't looking at the mirror, in fact its blank.
Kikyou is instead standing, legs surrounded in a haze, behind the mirror. If a mirror is the gateway to the soul, then she is literally said soul hiding behind the eyes or visually behind the blank mirror, its a nice touch and it can take a couple seconds before you even realize it, adding an almost spooky element to the scene. Alternatively the camera keeps returning to Cia but from a far off view, making her look even more afraid and frail, even her stance backs this up, her hands prostrated as thought to pray and her face partially turned away. The two argue with Cia finally admitting that she doesn't feel worthy to pursue Rin any longer and admitting to a degree of guilt at the fact that Kikyou can never find love for herself. In an instance Cia's expression changes revealing that Kikyou has taken control of her body. The foreshadowing for this up along in Cia's reflections as well when she briefly took control to snap some sense into Nerine in episode 14 come to fruition here as Kikyou assumes command.
I think there's actually something pretty unsettling about this whole thing, the idea that your body could be suddenly grasped from you and your consciousness unwillingly locked away. We also get another simply great example of shuffle abusing of its anime medium by using a slightly harder drawn expression with narrower eyes, to clue in the audience of the change in persona. So then how did we get here one migth wonder. Kikyou seems to be antithetical to Cia, she's overly aggressive, sexually charged and seemingly highly selfish, however examining her and Cia more closely reveals far more similarities then not.
For one, while she isn't as aggressive as Kikyou, Cia is arguable the most forward of the group, a fact that comes to ahead in episode 10 when she or her father accidentally spread a rumour that she's to be wed to Rin. We've seen her used as a primary fanservice character and aside from Asa later on and what was more of a meeting with Nerine, Cia is the only other girl to go on actual dates with Rin. Same thing with the sexuality, Cia is highly physical, often making use of her assets to accost Rin with only Asa coming close to matching her number of fan service scenes in the first arc. Then there's the selfishness, while Kikyou seems selfish, Cia seems more Naïve, not at first realizing the effect her actions migth have on the other girls as shown by the day dream where she envisions her, Narine and Keade at their joint wedding to Rin (Asa is excluded due to her lack of publicness in her feelings early on, Cia does question if Primula would want to come but she isn't considered a true member of the harem till about episode 22 and therefore not included in the day-dream).
A closer look reveals something interesting about both Cia and Kikyou as characters, what we perceive initially as selfish or naïve acts are in truth acts of harmful altruism. It's maybe the biggest theme of the whole show but Cia is in truth being selfish in her naïvely aggressive style towards Rin because she wants to make Kikyou happy. Conversely Kikyou only takes control of Cia's body to try and improve Cia's failing life and mental state. Both are acting out of a care for one another but going about it in equally wrong ways, just like what we saw when Rin sent Primula away and in Nerine's loss aversion techniques. So in reality the two aren't so far removed, something that will get revealed more so in episode 17 then 16 which before we move on to, lets address episode 16 biggest twist yet, it use's fanservice....as a plot device!
No really it does. At the start of the episode the gang, mainly Isekei discuss how red langerae is representative of a more confident women or words to roughly that effect. Cia takes some interest in this, while Mayumi and the rest of the grouping dismiss Isekei out of hand in the usual manner, however astute viewers will notice how the normal Cia panty shots are from here used to aide in the representation of her mental state. This ends during her discourse with Kikyou when we see that there plain as possible, expressing her new found lack of confidence and defeated/detrimental mindset, however when Kikyou takes over and appears in-front of Rin at the end of the episode/start of the next episode (17) the underwear is now a dark purple shade of crimson, she's gone straight past confidence to a colour more 'confident' then red and in doing so we witness the use of fanservice panty shots, to further tell the damn story.
Before we move properly into episode 17 and the third arc of the show (The honest feelings arc for our purposes) lets finish our analysis of Cia. While at first sight she appears to be an airheaded fanservice vehicle, underneath we find a surprisingly introspective young lady with some serious mental hang-ups. Her attraction to the rain in episode 2 immediately clues us in, as we'd expect her to be the genki type and associate more heavily with the sunshine, yet we catch her in contemplation over the rain. Something else of note is how aside from Rin (Our protagonist remember) only Cia has moments of internal monologue thoughts (Primula's dream sequences are almost coma like so they're not really the same or relevant), this should tell us a-lot about her as a person, she's self conscious.
This lack of self-worth becomes more apparent on subsequent rewatchs as her early episode sessions trying to decide what to wear down to an under garment level and her obsence over planning of her date with Rin clue us in early that Cia actually does a-lot more thinking then one migth first think. We'd see a similar character arc to this in 'Toradora's' own genki girl turned reliable best friend, Mineroi a few years later. Cia's story arc and theme are that of self acceptance, coming to terms with the fact that she does have self-worth and that she does deserve to find happiness which we see in-
Episode 17 - Honest Feeling;
This episode picks up where 16 left off, with Kikyou taking Rin on a date. Straight off the bat we have a hesitant Rin, thought importantly he still goes along with it. We witness the date almost from afar, with particular shots taken from the park which we've visited before (namely with Asa in episode 13). The distance of the shots and the slightly screwed fashion in which Rin and Kikyou are drawn running and holding hands, makes for a great way to visually show how unnatural their 'date' really is, as though even their body language is standing in opposition(A tricky thing to convey through tv animation). The date goes on with Kikyou eventually flashing Rin in a changing room, this is where the tone really shifts from an awkward, 'fanservicy' date, to something more toxic. Rather then being played for laughs, the flash causes Rin to become stern and disapproving while from Cia's internal perspective, Kikyou is essentially abusing their/her body. This all links back to a theme which will return too, of the idea that there is maturity in nudity even when addressing our most fanservicy character. On a smaller note there is also a large quantity of mirrors, reflections and the likes that inspire those objects, present in these quick cuts and scenes which is a great touch.
It ends in - yes yet another - of my favourite scenes, thankfully this one is shorter to talk about. We find the duo on the bank of the river (In pretty much the same position as Rin and Asa in episode 12), their basked again in the same sunlight as the episode prior which is a nice touch however while Kikyou speaks as though their a long term couple, Rin is clearly uncomfortable with the direction the day has gone in. Kikyou directly references the beach episode with the line "Isn't this great?, It's like we're the only two in the world!" but not only is this a nod to that, it also mirrors Nerine's actions in episode 15, with the difference being that Nerine had accepted herself, where as Cia/and Kikyou have not.
If this was pre-episode 15 Rin I have little doubt he may well of played along with Kikyou's game, seen the reference to the beach as romantic and gone in for the long over-due kiss but this is a Rin, who though not done learning yet, has made some strides forward and as such does not play along instead rejected Kikyou, but lets not be hasty. This is not absolution for Rin just yet, for we're still definitely seeing him in the process of growing up. After all while Rin does reject her, the right thing to do all things considered, he arguably does it because of his not-so-subconscious feelings for Asa. In a sense a selfish motive but more damning is how he leaves Kikyou go, he doesn't chase them or visit them at their home like a good friend migth.
In conclusion Rin does grow in this arc but he's still got a ways to go to prove himself solidly, as will soon see.
As for Kikyou it's not over yet, she returns to the bedroom and we get the second mirror confrontation scene. Right away they make the great decision to have the screen cut in half vertically which immediately sets the scene apart from what we'd seen so far. Kikyou expresses a sense of confusion at what's happened but starts out defiant, while meanwhile Cia is less angry and more simply remorseful. The scene is directed in such away as to make it easy for the audience to understand Cia/Kikyou's internal dilemma and as already mentioned, while it may not be wholly accurate I love how this scene frames her mental illness as something that's ok, allow me to elaborate.
As mentioned, through this scene Cia properly comes to terms with the reason she's lost faith in her ability to pursue Rin, its not because she doesn't want to hurt the other girls but because she believes to be with him would be unfair on Kikyou, cruel to her who can never have real relationships, furthermore she also simply doesn't think she's 'worthy'. Kikyou is the one who talks Cia out of this way of thinking, as she slowly losses her composer she reveals that she never asked for such pity, the art here is great with Kikyou's face doing as much work to express her feelings and sentiments as her words do. She eventually comes to the point of tears and this is what makes the scene so great to me, in those tears what had seemed to be an antagonistic individual/possible personality defect - becomes humanized. The show is essentially humanizing a mental illness, what better way to say that its ok not to be ok. That it's ok to want happiness and to not want to be alone - then to have the visual representation of bi-polar syndrome break into tears, as her voice crumbles down to merge with Cia's once and for all confirming that they are a part of each other and really that's the point. You can make it even simpler then bi-polar, in a way it's a story about realizing that its ok to want something even if you have a mental disability, it's ok to pursue what you want no matter who you are.
As Kikyou returns Cia's body with the words that she'll disappear for good if it means her sister can live and rest easy, much to Cia's protest, you realize that all this has happened over the span of just two episodes, everything from arc 1 was foreshadowing and good build up sure, but in reality in just two episodes Kikyou is introduced, developed and resolved, friggin amazing.
What follows is one of the shows most beautifully shot scenes with a Cia who's newly realized that Kikyou is not her burden to carry, her cross to bear but rather a beloved part of herself, with self acceptance in her mind and heart she stands amongst a field of flowers that wonderfully contrast the starkly more bleak and rainy setting of her and Rin's first meeting in the town flashbacks of her Father's business trip. Finally confesses her feelings to Rin point-blank with nowhere for him to run to.
Rin can't answer, well to be fair he does answer just not how she migth of hoped but definitely how she expected he would. The scene is more sombre compared to the Nerine confession though has a similar line questioning if Rin has already set his eyes on someone else, however his reaction is a little altered this time. No longer being so defiantly a no.
And so Cia blooms among the foliage in full acceptance of herself, vowing to make Rin her husband one way or another, yet this isn't really what I find important. As mentioned, while he does reject her advances Rin still doesn't really solve the problem, no instead that comes down to Kikyou and Cia crying it out between themselves. it's something I really like about Shuffle, that it isn't just a show about Rin always saving the day and the other characters making do with whatever scraps of heroism they can attain but more-over it works wonders thematically as we get to see Rin slowly improve but still in a sense fail, as well as working as a nice foil to how Lycoris played a large role in saving Primula and Nerine (their respective sisters).
In conclusion, Cia and Kikyou have the unfavourable position of being the middle story of 'Shuffle', acting as a bridging point between arcs in more ways then one, yet its pulled off magnificently presenting us with an emotionally charged, brilliantly acted and expertly shot short story (about 40 minutes or less total) that could easily of been the plot of a sci-fi light, feature film with the prevailing characters themes being those of a lack of self worth and a need for self-acceptance.
Episode 18 - A welcome break? - "The one Rin loves"
Episode 18 comes off on the surface as a break from the more emotionally charged episodes prior, even going so far as to go back to the old title card segment and having the more light hearted ad break slot with the two cat plushies and while in truth it is definitely is more lighted to watch, there's still a lot going on under the bonnet which prevails through-out the whole episode, culminating in a long over due slap at its close.
Episode 18 and 22 are the most fascinating episodes for me, not my favourites by any means but in some ways the most important. I was surprised with both episode just how much I felt compelled to write on them in my notes. Keeping with our arc grouping system, true feelings (Arc 3 for our purposes) is from episodes 17 - 21, let's examine that a little further. Episode 17 is rather obvious as the title of the episode concurs with us and is about Cia plus Kikyou accepting their true feelings and inner-self's - episodes 19 is Keade and Asa realizing their true feelings but not wholly admitting to them. Episode 20 sees Primula admit her's 5 episodes after her arc concludes and episode 21 has Keade come to terms with what she's already realized. So how in this glorious narrative cohesion does episode 18 fit in?
That's actually staring us right in the face, it's Rin's turn. Rin fascinates me as a harem protagonist, he's kind-hearted sure but that's about it. He's incredibly weak willed in some regards, aware of his situation yet often oblivious to the effects of his actions, sometimes inadvertently selfish and has a faulty sense of altruism. Through-out episodes 18 - 21 we'll be addressing Shuffle's family Unit a-lot, that of Rin, Keade and Primula as this is where Shuffle's de-constructive nature shines brightest. Shuffle is Not a de-construction or parody anime but in it's pursuit to gently show the flaws of its own and its contemporize fantasy narratives, it inadvertently manages to be one of the finest break-downs the genre has available.
As mentioned from here on out the show really brings home it's more critical nature and in just the opening minutes of the episode we get to see the start of this. In a short scene we witness Rin apologizing to Asa for the events of the previous episode, its in their usual fashion with Asa acting a little 'Tsun'. The two bounce off one another in a fairly natural way (natural for anime at-least), their not quite flirting but there's clearly a familiarity and chemistry between them. As this goes on and just beforehand we can overhear some nameless students in the background, one of them is attempting to confess to an equally unnamed boy and while Rin and Asa banter in the foreground of the scene, we can see the rigid confession scene in the background. Its a standard Japanese affair, with the girl asking the guy out via a bow, its almost theatrical with her friends hovering in the background. [b]What all this suggests to me is the writers intention is to show us how Rin and Asa relationship is far more true to life then the idealized, 'polite' idea of romance that we see in Shojo-manga. Asa in stark contrast to the young girl behind her has no interest in bowing to Rin and asking his permission to go on a date, instead she pouts at his inconsideration for missing their appointment the day prior.[b]
It's a simple visual but it's a great way to start an episode in which will see that the tropes of anime and visual novels aren't generally the best way to approach a real life romance and its the sort of visual play I can apricate.
Continuing on the episode's theme of light-hearted contrasts we move on to the 'operation-meeting' scene. What I really love about this is if you've ever played a visual novel or been around the rom-com block a few/couple of times, this scene will be far to familiar (the one in Grissia is probably my favourite). With Cia and Nerine now realizing they've lost the battle, they team up with Isekei and Mayumi in order to plan the ultimate date for Rin and Asa to go on. It's done like a military strategy meeting with a projector and maps and isekai as a General. It's amazing how simple yet effect this is, as the whole audience at this point has become aware that Isekei is an idiot who knows nothing about real relationships and yet the trio of girls go along with his plans, eventually saluting him. It's played for laughs and it is funny but the UnderCurrent here should be clear to all, that a plan like this is doomed to fail and hurt Asa's feelings.
Rin almost realizes this when he suggests that Asa migth prefer the cinema, this is a clear sign that he has developed and he even goes as far as saying "What about what I wanna do", its fantastic that this line is here, lest the scene come across as a step back for Rin but unfortunately for him, he has still yet to wholly develop, in the end going along with the light peer pressure of his 'comrades'.
An interesting point of note on the framing of the scene is how all the otherworlders sit opposite Rin, so that the scene plays as Rin, suggesting a down to earth idea like the cinema, is opposed by a Demon, a God and an imp. It's divided 50/50 and is another nice piece of literary shorthand to show the fantisiful, unrealistic nature of the girl's suggestions.
I also like how Shuffle almost always stays logical, Keade and Primula aren't here because of course they aren't, there's no way in heck Keade could handle this conversation and Primula doesn't yet attend their school yet but it also suggests something about what the girls think of Keade, they naturally assume at this point that she'd not be interested in this conversation, showing how they never even pass consideration over the ramifications of Rin dating Asa. In fact, while I praised the fact that Rin has gained some self-awareness, he never mentions or factors in Keade. His hubris in not at this point, is in his not properly acknowledging her feelings shows both his own ignorance but also reminds us that to him she's a sister not a love interest, something that will become very important presently.
Next up we've some quick fire scenes that require/are worth addressing. We get to see Primula, Rin and Keade sitting in their living room discussing Rin's impending date. As mentioned above Rin sees no issue with this as he doesn't take into account Keade's feelings which makes this scene so brilliant. Lets not break it down literally but symbolically;
Rin sitting next to his surget daughter(Who has conspicuously swapped back to her old attire as if to hammer home the point that she's meant to be his kid) and wife brags excitedly about the date he's going on with his girlfriend. It's incredibly perverse and I love it. Visually were looking at a young family having a nice discussion after dinner, when in reality with a smile on her face the wife figure, talks about her husband's lover in front of their child. It's so wrong and borderline creepy and yet it's taking place in what's meant to be the light-hearted episode. it's this subtlety that puts Shuffle on a Pedestal for me. The more you think about scenes like this, the more you get from them and did I mention there's no music?
Yup, no music except that of the heavily muffled Tv in the background. The sound is literally helping to convey the disconnect between what the character are saying and doing. This idea of the fantasy romance is being criticized more harshly here then as anywhere else, yet its not done in a flashy manner. At the scene's close its clear that only Primula understands the irony of the scene which adds to the set up for her secondary arc that's coming (It should be noted she barely opens her mouth during this whole conversation, instead just making concerned expressions).
Another quick scene is Asa picking her cloths for the date, it stands as a nice comparison to many of the other girls. Keade and Primula put f-all thought into their cloths, Nerine automatically dresses smartly/regally and Rin has a seemingly endless supply of Yakuza suits but it most contrasts the Cia date scene. As mentioned before that comical scene had a deeper point about how much Cia sweats the small stuff, by comparison Asa is far more flippant about it, that's not to say she doesn't think about it, she defiantly does but it feels more natural, she seems excited not worried. It helps hammer home the fact she's the most 'real' and healthy of the girls (Ironic I know) and makes a nice change to what we've seen prior.
Next we have the date proper. Straight off the bat the show delivers another quick scene to further set the tone. At the gate to 'cupid land' Asa reaches out to take Rin's hand but he's too distracted with the elaborate plan and walks ahead. We've seen this half a dozen times through-out the show's run and for the most part the reaction for the girl present is to swoon and look on at Rin wistfully but here Asa defies this conventions by looking thoroughly pissed and then pouting. It's funny, a little Tsundere but more importantly it establishes right away that a date with Asa is going to be a marked departure from what we've seen so far. It also adds further to Rin's foolish ignorance towards the whole situation.
For this next one I've simply written in my notes [u]"JASUS H CRIBO IT'S ATTACK OF THE DARN CGI, OH GOD NO", ahem.[/u] This is in reference to the digitally rendered go-cup ride, its thankfully the only instance of modern CGI in the whole show, which is a mercy as generally I think Shuffle looks really great but I'd be remise not to mention this one minor slip up on the art directions part.
Also as aforementioned we get a change to the half-way card. This refers to the ad break bookmark which before episode 12 is simply Primula's cat plushie's performing cute actions and in the shows attempt to disarm the audience into thinking this is a throw away episode they dispense of the post ep 12 card of the 5 girls posed naked (An obvious bit of symbolism to show how they have to bear themselves mind and soul during their respective story arcs) and back to the cats, its a nice touch and they do the same with the title card going back to the less conspicuous green arrows. This won't be the last instance of messing with the title card so keep that in mind if your looking for Easter eggs during the Keade arc.
We get another nice scene when Asa cancels Rin's plan and decides to take him on the boat trip. This expertly shows us how well she knows him as she's already aware that Rin can't do rollercoasters. In a way this makes Rin mirror Cia's earlier attempt at a date in arc one which we've already mentioned failed because of it's unnatural pursuit of a 'perfect date' and Cia's pointless adherence to her game plan. All this is to say that the audience should be sub-consciously aware that Rin's going about this the wrong way.
So that's the quick fire round through. Now we've got to the episode's most important scenes to look at. in keeping with things so far, they're not all that much longer but make it clear to anyone what's going for those who hadn't picked up on the myriad of context clues as to what this episode is really all about. So after Rin continues to perform insensitively across the course of the date, things come to a-head when Asa confronts Rin on the days activities. She calls out they're group of stalkers (In usually anime fashion Cia, Narine, Isekei and Mayumi come to observe and interfere) and questions Rin on his intentions.
Now is the time for Rin to apologies, to own up and make amends but that isn't quiet what he does, instead he does something quiet insidious, he tries to insinuate that things got out of hand because of the other's plan, going as far as to essentially say he didn't even want to go on a date. We know and I believe Asa knows this isn't what he really means and the problem isn't what he says but rather what he thinks. As Asa once more astutely points out, just as she did in episode 13, Rin has been peer pressured into doing what others think is best. He hasn't gone with his plan or what he thinks she'd like. He goes as far as to say that he wanted to do something similar but as Asa states, if that's what he wanted then he should of done it.
This is essentially the same conversation from episode 13 except in that episode sending Primula back really did seem like the right idea at the time and so Asa didn't lambast Rin but instead supported him but here what we soon realize is unlike then, now Rin has just been a di*ck-head. He's acted insensitively despite knowing it was wrong to do so and that combined with the fact he's hurt her feelings leads to a long over due slap. Now when I talked on episode 13 I praised how no-one slaped Rin and I stand by that for the reasons as mentioned there but here the slap is so deserved and even cathartic for the audience. It's a real credit to the show that it knows when and when not to slap someone as had this happened in episode 13, then now it would have had far less weight here. Rin is spiraling towards his old ways and habits from pre-episode 15 and this is just the wake up slap he needs. With a brilliant performance from Monica Rial and some great art work, this scene is the second lynch point for Rin's character arc going forward.
With some sense knocked into our trepidations protagonist, he retreats home to recover and even after all that's happened the show isn't quite done. In what follows Keade's arc officially kicks off and what a way to start it. We see Rin enter the kitchen of their home where Keade is just standing silently by the dinner table, food prepared. This scene always freaks me out but there's some clever filming tricks going on here too. For one we get another use of a stationery, natural camera angel, showing the room which has always been drawn in order to narrow it at the far end, but with this new view-point we get a Keade greatly diminished in size, while Rin standing by the rooms door looks larger but furthermore this helps to greatly increase the physical distance between them even in a room this small. Next as we're entering we're continuing from Rin's perspective which we've had all episode and like him we see a well lit room, as after all, the lights are on but what follows takes a rather literally dark turn.
After Rin rejects the food and goes off to rest we swap to Keade's perspective as she thrashes the food. I think this simple metaphor can work two ways. One it's a comparison for how Rin has been throwing her aside without a word since pretty much episode one. Secondly it can act as a representation or even a signal to the audience that the last vestiges of her sanity and self restraint are falling away, that her unhealthy obsession's with caring for someone finally takes a complete hold and she transitions to true 'yandere mode'. Also note how dimly lit the shot is. Sure it's the inside of a bin but the room seemed markedly bright from Rin's perspective so why should in be so apparently dark now?
This is all cleared in about 5 seconds of animations when we go to a top down view of the room. You could be easily forgiven for missing this but the image seems to be of Keade now standing in a dark kitchen - except… the lights are still on, the same lights as when Rin entered. have I mentioned that it's this level of subtlety that I love so much? On the surface what your seeing is Keade staring silently into the dark, which is true but in reality your seeing it from her perspective. Using a simply visual lighting trick, the show is communicating the light has literally drained from her life to the point that standing in a brightly lit room, she migth as-well be in pitch darkness. The reason the lights were on when Rin entered? Not because she hates the environment but because she literally didn't notice the fact they were on. The next shot confirms this with a close up of her/Keade's face, this isn't some stylistic choice, we can see some light still emitting from the very top left of the screen but her eyes have completely glazed over, all this conveyed in three short still shots. The light has gone out of her life, fleeting quite practically stage left. And so it begins-
Thanks for reading this, part 2 of 5, we're now a little under half way through our elongated journey. The subsequent parts can be found with the rest of the blog here on Mal and here's a cheeky link to part 3 - https://myanimelist.net/blog.php?eid=860700 .If you enjoyed and would like, please add a 'helpful' to the main review's page or leave a comment here, as all feedback is most welcome. Once again, thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed.
Lycoris;
Something interesting that I only realized on this specific rewatch of shuffle is how I've never questioned the legitimacy of Primula's relationship to Lycoris or that of any of the characters relationships for that matter. I'm a bit of a stickler for things like this, It wasn't till over half way through its third series did I buy into the relationship of Steven Moffat's Sherlock Holmes and Watson (and by then it was far to little, to late). Shuffle has a masterful way of characterizing its cast in small but meaningful ways. Take the Isekai, Mayumi, Rin and Keade. We're told they've all attended school together for some time but the show isn't content with just that, instead displaying in small ways how well they know each other, for example in Omelette of Happiness the 4 discuss each others cooking with mixed levels of contempt based on clear unseen prior experiences or how Asa's physicality in the form of energetic wake up slaps towards Rin helps to communicate their childhood friend closeness, or just the entirety of episode 11.
Why all this matters is it helps to make the world more alive and feel more lived in, while also making our primary cast feel more realistic and we see this again with Lycoris. Long before her brief on-screen stint we see that Nerine and Primula have something of an uneasy relationship, Nerine refers to Primula as 'Remmu' but often in a hesitant manner, meanwhile Primula never replies in kind and often ignores her completely. The audience should be compelled to wonder about this, seeing as one would initially think that their some form of estranged sisters (Shin's basta*d child maybe?). However with hindsight we come to understand that to Primula, Nerine really is little more then a stranger and for Nerine all her familiarity comes from the fact that she inherited Lycoris'es feelings and memories of Primula (among choice other memories, feelings and apparently her vocal chords).
This all matters because when Primula is finally confronted with Lycoris inside the dream-scape, for both her and the audience their is a sense of familiarity, as though we already know Lycoris and that's because the shows been doing this subtle ground work since the beginning. It should also be noted that while Lycoris and Nerine literally have identically cloned cells they are not the same person with Lycoris being far more of a big sister character, a-lot more outgoing and helpful. She's similar to Asa in that sense which might be another reason for why the writers decided to have her exit stage left for the final part of this arc, thought those parallels are by no means missed.
When Primula calls out to Lycoris as her sister, it's 15 episodes of build up that pull on the heartstrings and are a full pay off for a relationship we only get to see a glimpse of. Returning to the sunflower scene, we see Lycoris walk off into the sunflowers, away from Primula, into an eternal summer, Paradise, heaven, whatever way you want to put it, leaving Primula behind. Its a place Primula can't follow her to and it plays magnificently into her theme of neglect. Rin turns her away and in a sense so to does Lycoris. Its not to say that she does so deliberately but by saving/giving her own life for Nerine, she in turn leaves Primula alone forever, except Primula did try to follow her, by pursuing her, seeking out the boy Lycoris talked so fondly of, only for him to eventually betray her wishes as well.
Of course that means its only appropriate that in the end it's neither Lycoris, Nerine or Rin who individually save Primula but a combination of all three. Rin accepting his feelings and casting aside his allusions of what's right and wrong for a 'man', Nerine realizing her wish to avoid loss was simply a cause of another form of losing and Lycoris making good on her promise to be there for Primula. In just one episode the show manages to completely and satisfactorily wrap up four character arcs in just one go. This isn't to say their done growing as people, it will still be some time before Nerine and Primula truly show the signs of this growth but to me that's how natural character development should be. In the mean-time Rin has a ways to go, while he definitely develops, in a piece of brilliant character writing all he's really done is swap out his decision to follow the order of society and replaced it by simply following what Asa told him to do and the show is oh so aware of this.
Lycoris'es arc does end here and its a faithful send off. I've always loved how, without overshadowing the other's efforts Lycoris is the main player of this situation, helping Primula from both the outside and inside.
To set the scene, despite our hero's best efforts, words simply aren't getting through to Primula and her magic is going critical. The demise of our hero's seems imminent and inevitable until Lycoris, using the last of her consciousness(?), cancels out Primula's powers just long enough for Rin to reach her and snap her our of it. In this moment Lycoris proves herself as the true older sister and guardian of the group, an internally adult version of her gets to say one true final good bye to primula before walking off into the sunflowers one last time.
To me its nice how this defies conventions, it isn't just that the protagonist she's known a few months, calls to her or that the memory of a lost love one comes to her but a combination of both combined with the fantisiful manifestation of Lycoris'es will. It makes for a great set piece and a fitting finally, one that would set Shuffle far above most of it's contemporize in character writing and execution alone but the show's got a lot more up it's sleeve to come.
For now will leave episode 15 behind us though you can be sure will soon revisit it when addressing episode 14 and Nerine's character, as-well as when we come back to revisit Primula's character later on. As a final note there's a nice prologue-esk scene post the whole confrontation, where-by Rin gives Primula his jacket, allowing him to walk around in a tank top, extenuating his own figure and acting as a nice visual metaphor for how his accepting his emotions was far more manly then his stoic actions in episode 12, now rewarded by him talking down to the Gods while looking like a chad bodybuilder. It's some pretty great stuff but for now let's talk a step back to-
Episode 14 and Character - Nerine;
Despite Primula's low number of lines, Nerine is no doubt the story's most understated character, in fact her role in the series second half is more akin to that of a secondary supporting character, then as a love interest and that's with good reason. First off let's note how Shuffle likes to weave its story telling into its character's personalities. While some of this could be called coincidence, if it is, then its the happy sort for sure. For example, Keade the girl who's happy as long is Rin is happy waits for her turn in the spotlight the longest, meanwhile Primula, the least developed person has the least romantic of the storylines. It's a nice touch and you can even see it going one step further in the very layout of the show, our first two arcs are based almost solely in fantasy and are the ones most conveyed through metaphors, Cia's arc appropriately straddles the line between real life schizophrenia or bipolar disorder and more fantasy jargon and then finally we have Keade and Asa's far more grounded in reality story-lines at the end of the story.
As such it's no surprise that Nerine's reserved nature leads her story to be over-shadowed by that of those around her but it's no less well written for it. While I could definitely see someone being disappointed in Nerine's reduced role post ep 15 I personally find it wonderful how she gets the chance to develop and live life for herself rather then to simple follow blindly after Rin's daily shenanigans'. The small snippets we see of her joining a club, continuing in her pursuit of the ultimate Omelette and having friends outside the main group, are to me a multitude more rewarding then a gaggle of other harem anime that have the main guy and girl hook up, only to then have all the girls act as thought this never happened (I'm staring at you Highschool DxD, Infinite Stratus, Sword Art Online etc...), that's not to say she doesn't still pursue Rin but she comes to do it as a secondary part of her life, not as her whole focus for living.
I have in my notes "You can pinpoint the exact moment that her heart breaks" in relation to the scene following Primula's rescue where-in Rin and Nerine return Asa's ribbon and I stand by that, in this moment Nerine once and for all stops living for Lycoris and instead she starts living for herself, just like her sister would of wanted.
This conclusion links most importantly to the main themes explored through her and Cia's parallel characters; Survivors guilt and a lack of self-worth. Both Cia and Nerine share these two hang-ups but to differing extends, Cia clearly has a big issue with her own self worth, while Nerine feels immense guilt in her surviving in place of her sister. The two ideas are similar but not quiet the same story, one of the show's many through-lines.
Survivors Guilt - Nerine's survivors guilt is the crux of her story, her purpose for coming to the real world and chasing Rin is purely out of a perceived duty to fulfil Lycoris'es wish. In a sense she's got something of an imposter syndrome complex, going as far as to claim her ability to sing is stolen. As we've already discussed while a young girl, Nerine's powers lead her to be extremely ill, Lycoris (who's lifespan was limited to begin with) sacrifices herself to safe Nerine but unbeknownst to everyone else Nerine acquires more then just a restored constitution.
We can also infer that this guilt hangs over Nerine for some time till she finally decides the best course of action is to simply live the life Lycoris always wanted and in a heartbreaking fashion Nerine actually gives this away a couple of times if one pays attention but most particularly is when she asks Rin if she can start loving him even more. It initially comes off as an inconsequential confession that is until with hindsight we understand that what she really means is that she's admitted both to Rin, us and in no small way to herself, that she might love Rin personally and not just because of the memory's she inherited. It's an interesting principal and clues us in that during the whole first arc, really up till the close of episode 15, Nerine is really acting on behalf of an agenda and not because of her own feelings.
This all comes to ahead in episode 14 and it's an interesting one as it takes the momentum episode 13 seemed to of ended on and converts that energy into a long dialogue heavy session. The whole thing for the most part is just a conversation between Rin and Nerine set in the play-ground where Rin first met both Lycoris and more recently in episode 1, Nerine. It's a little exposition heavy but with cut-aways to break up the visuals and Nerine's emotional explanation it works rather well. The discussion comes off as necessary and mature rather then just for the purposes of giving the audience new facts to mull over. We come to understand the lengths to which Nerine has gone to live up to the life she gained, now seeing why she's so formal and princess like (aside from her actual position). To a casual viewer, till this moment it might of seemed like Nerine's infatuation with Rin was built on the rather shaky ground of one encounter as kids but to Nerine he's the boy who made Lycoris'es life a little bit brighter. She is in a sense living one of her sister's regrets out to fruition.
As yet another aside I love how this episode manages to deal with multiple deep seeded issues at once. For example if you wanted you could interpreted Lycoris'es sacrifice as something akin to an organ transplant, once again showing how the fantasy elements are really only there as some quality set dressing. More-over I've always loved the discussion on why the demon's society used clones and artificial people, it wasn't some cliché about them not being real people or even an understandably but immoral stance like 'the ends justify the means', no instead they did so not out of malice but because no one would mourn the clones when they die. It's a fascinating idea and it's made fairly clear that Shin would rather not of put anyone's life in danger, the morality is grey as all heck and I find that intriguing coming from the "King of the Demons" and the "King of the Gods".
Narine is the simplest of the characters will be examining but I believe her theme of 'guilt' which links wonderfully with others characters like Asa and Rin, works brilliantly and gives us a well fleshed out character despite her minimal on screen presence, she puts it best herself "That's why I decided to live as Lycoris, let that part of her take over". To me there's no better way her story could of ended then, as already mentioned, for her to move on with her own life, to make new friends, have and lead new experiences and grow to pursue love for her own causes. Nerine's character is all about coming to accept and live for yourself. Her arc ends with the line that in a sense started her story back when she first uttered something similar to it but now it represent progress not stagnation;
"-So now I believe the feelings I have are my own. The Lycoris part of me has vanished but - my own love remains, these feelings are mine and mine alone - from this point forward my love for you is not someone else's. So... I migth fall more in love with you, - that is of course only if you'll let me".
Intermission;
So 12 and a half thousand odd words in and we've covered the first 15 episodes in varying degrees of detail. Shorter then I'd imagined which gives me some vague hope I've managed to reduce the amount of flannel my writing style is prone too and leave out to much large technical sections that I'm not well versed enough in to properly discuss. Now seems like a good time to take a moment and look at some outlying things. I personally always leave a short break between episode 15 and 16 when watching the show (which will address more shortly) so lets follow suit of that and address the Dub as-well as the intro and outro songs or the whole Ost and sound-scape in general.
The Dub - For me the dub of shuffle is a must watch, so much so that I've never been able to get through the sub as the voices are just so familiar to me in English (which is strange because I'm usually pretty good at swapping between the two mediums, ala Zero no tsukima). It's an early Funimation Dub from before they bough out most of the competition and still had to make an active effort, as such there's some really great vocal performances here and I don't think anyone let's the team down.
Is it perfect? Probably not but its my belief that there is no such thing as a perfect dub or sub, we only think all subs are scared because we don't speak Japanese. I'll refrain from a full discussion on my stance here but generally if it's from the 2000's or most of the 90's then go with the dub, it won't change much if anything (except for the End of Eva dub, that can burn in hel*) and in reality the experience will be closer to what you'd of got if you were a native Japanese speaker. That's not to say all dubs are good, far from it and with dubs from the last decade it can be a case by case basis Kinda game.
With that needlessly said the Shuffle dub really is terrific, it's one of my personal favourite performances from Monica Rial but while she really is brilliant through-out I wouldn't say she's the star by any measure. Rin (Jerry Jewell) and Primula(Cherami Leigh) and really all the cast do a great job but two performance stand out in particular.
Cia's voice actress(Brittney Karbowski) during her arc has the task of voicing two similar but fundamentally different people/personalities and she does it wonderfully, at one point during a confrontation between Cia and Kikyou(The alter ego) the harsher voice tone she's uses for Kikyou softens until you realize they've stopped sounding different but are rather-more speaking in sync. It's really impressive and I don't think it hits quite as hard in the Japanese, thought that is just my bias opinion.
But overall Keade's voice actress (Carrie Savage) takes the cake far and away. At the start of the show her voice may come off as somewhat shrill, the classic trope of an adult playing a supposedly 'kawaii' anime girl however you soon grow to appreciate the nuance of her performance and when it comes time for Keade's arc she shows an amazing range, her screams of anger and frustration, the "Get Out Of My House" line tears shivers down your spine, only to be matched by the heart-wrenching, almost ugly cries of sadness she gives later on in the same story arc. To wrap it up, after the arcs resolution her more sombre, less angst filled sobs and her attempts to hold a conversation with-out breaking into tears are all really fantastic. It's one of my all time favourite dub performances and I'd love to hear this voice actress more often, just brilliant.
The Opening Song and Dance - For me there are anime songs I like but skip on a binge watch, songs I'll almost never skip like the first intro of "Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood" by 'Yu' which I'll watch 80%+ of the time and then there's the 90%+ grouping, songs and intros I pretty much never skip, Neon genesis Evangellion is one of course and more recently "Revolutionary Girl Utena" has joined this group and for me Shuffle's is the other one that springs to mind. It's packed full of purpose and the song has a soft spot in my heart (There's an old Christian Vee English cover of it that I also love).
The intro is full to the brim with colour coding and parrel imagery in order to implant ideas into the viewer from the get go of every episode, lets brake down a few. There's the obvious fact that the title letters are rainbow coloured and of course the section where we see various characters by just their colour on a white background (similar in style to the introspective place Primula's mind retreated to). Then there's the expressive use of different nature elements to show a representation of each girl except for/in the case of Primula who is framed behind concrete, a man made substance.
This visual metaphor for Primula goes even further. We have a few brief shots of Nerine and Cia in regal cloths + settings (Representing the fantasy elements they bring to the table) followed by Keade and Asa living their ordinary lives (Indicative of their more realistic nature) then followed by Primula, alone holding the stuffed animal doll on a backdrop of turbines. Now aside from giving those who've played "If My Heart Had Wings" flashbacks, this should act as a representation of what Primula is. Not only is she framed separate and alone which starkly contrasts the others but also the wind turbine is a man made object that harnesses nature to produce energy, Primula is a man made person who harnesses natural magic to attempt to create infinite life. It's neat.
Another element of the intro that I really like is how the music syncs to the visuals in an unusual way, the song starts with barely any instruments and just vocals as we get shots of the five girls, however as the vocal track cuts out we get a synth mixed with electric guitar segment as images of the town our hero's inhabit flash by, however with the lyrics gone, so too are the people as the town lies empty, this communicating to us that the setting plays second fiddle to the people, who with-out there is no colour (something of a prevailing message within the show). As the vocals cut back in we get to be re-acquainted to the characters as they greet one another. Its an interesting technique to have the music and visuals linked like this and not something I've seen often elsewhere.
There's also plenty of shots of the gang simply living their ordinary lives, going to school, eating etc. to help convey a sense of familiarity between the show and the audience, thought this is far more conventional then my previous point. All in all the intro has a sense of energy and pace to match it's bop of a track and its a pleasure to look for all the little hint-full bits of foreshadowing and references to the events of the show. I loved to go more in-depth, however if I'm out of my element with the narrative and visual components, then I sure as heck aren't qualified to talk opening songs, so I'll leave it here for now.
The outro is a bit more interpretive. Some points of note in it are the directions each girl looks in, which match the arrows at the start of the more light-hearted episodes, thought this may be a loose connection. More abundant is the backdrop behind each girl which portraits their associated seasons, i.e. Cia is standing in the rainy season as heavily referenced in episode 2 and Primula is behind a winter landscape, which we as an audience associate with her 'ice' magic as well as her themes of being unnatural and infertility.
Party to this is how the outro loops, the spark that blooms into a flower is the same tear that falls at the end. This gives the impression of a never-ending cycle which is quite apt considering that each girl (And Rin) has to first have their fairy tail broken, fall to a low point and then rise up above it.
Overall the outro is definitely more interoperable then I've gone into here and I'd love to hear the opinions of anyone else and your take on it. One thing I've always thought would benefit both the intro and outro is if the animations changed slightly as the series progressed, nothing major maybe have Primula's costume change to represent her new maturity developments after episode 15 or Kikyou's more happy face could reflect off something post episode 17, something to that effect anyway. As-well as that, I'd say similar could be done with the outro by changing it's order so that the girl who's arc is the focus always comes last, as Primula always crying makes little sense during Cia or Asa's arcs, however I can see how moving the Winter aesthetic to be early in the song would/migth change the thematic effect of it all. Just a thought that has strikes me from time to time when re-watching the show.
To finish out we have the rest of the OST. It's a fairly normal visual novel line-up, I personally really enjoy it, thought I could see why it migth not blow you away. A favourite track for me is when Keade losses control, lashing out at Asa and the score plays a distorted version of the more playful everyday tracks that were more used to. Its a classic horror movie trick and its much apricated. As I say my music knowledge is rather lacking so I shant use any more of your time addressing the topic but suffice to say the score serves its purpose expertly and is a welcome member of the visual novel musical canon, while it may not always match up to Kanon, Clanned, School Days, Grissia or the aforementioned If My Heart had Wings, I believe it still embodies the same spirit as those works scores do, though is arguably the weakest element of the show, mind you not by much.
Now back to our main feature;
Episode 16 - "Kikyou" and Character - Cia;
Keeping with the show's use of parallel theming, lets now take a closer look at and cover Cia's/Kikyou's characters on the far side of our brief intermission.
It should be briefly clarified that from here out we will be mentioning topics such as bipolarism, co-dependency syndrome, depression, more terminal illness's and child neglect and while I'm better read on some of these then others, I'm no expert on any of them so please take everything I say with a grain of salt and if your affected by any of the issues, please seek out the appropriate help, I sincerely wish you all the best in any endearer you may be enduring.
I initially listed episode 16 as part of the awakening arc, while listing 17 as part of the true feelings arc, this is because 16 works in the same format as the eps 12-15 with Cia being snatched out of her fragile mentality, while ep 17 is far more like episode 21 in that while Rin and the respective other are able to come to a peaceful conclusion, neither are triumphs in the same way episode 15 was. You could of course divide Shuffle in multiple different ways, one simple one being to mark episode 1-15 as arc one and 16-24 as arc 2 but there's one more nice nod by my system, that of the fact it once again matches a character personality by having Cia's arc be spread over two different story telling styles.
With the framing devices out of the way, let's get to looking at the scenes and at Cia as a character. There's a-lot that goes on in these last 9 episodes and far less that we can skim over as we did with arc 1. Episode 16 deals with Cia's downward spiral into a depressive self-loathing state that had been hinted too since the beginning, leading to her being confronted by her sister which I believe can be taken as a thinly vailed metaphor for bipolar disorder. The episode has some great minor things to note at its onset, first there's a rooftop lunch where the characters talk about how great it is that everything is 'back to normal'. Part of what I like about this scene is how untrue it is simply by the merit of Asa and Kareha being there. It's nothing major but the use of top down wide shots help to point out how things are clearly different to how they were once before, especially in the closeness of Rin and Asa.
[centre]
[/centre]Then there's Rin's treatment of the girls, clever camera work makes it so that during her one scene in the episode, Rin doesn't turn his back on Primula and meanwhile Nerine leaves school before him, meaning that he never walks away from the two who are now moving forward with their lives (Further eventuated by Primula's new, more mature outfit and lack of toy cat plushie) while in the meanwhile Rin walks away and borderline ignores both Cia and Keade but instead walks towards and actively seeks out Asa, twice.
This culminates in Cia seeing Rin with Asa shopping, after witnesses how happy they are, the camera turns back to reveal her absence and in doing so the last piece is in place for Cia's arc. Cia as a character is as already mentioned similar to Nerine in that she has a degree of survivors guilt but more then that a complete lack of self-worth, believing she has no real value and that compared to the others (Including Kikyou) she 'doesn't really deserve Rin'. In just ten minutes of screen-time, in a completely natural way, Cia's personal resolve buckles and she is finally forced to face herself and to more importantly, face Kikyou.
This next scene is the first of Cia's two confrontation between herself and Kikyou and there some more of my favourites packed full of more simplistic but highly effective story telling. First we see Cia walking home after seeing Rin with Asa at the shops, she's placed along the line of the centre right (Of the 9 quadrants) which immediately helps make her look small, this is then added to by the sunset which baths the whole area is a warm red making Cia's seemingly vibrant hair blend into it's surrounding. The whole shot is great and confides in us what she's feeling right now, small, lonely and beaten.
It's followed by more use of the lighting to great effect as we watch Cia walk straight past her father (who still expects her to make dinner) and into the darkness. Now we know that she's essentially not even seen him due to being lost in thought and is heading straight to her room but visually we watch her step past her father, a God basked in the light of his traditionalist Japanese home and straight into a bleak darkness, brilliant but all these nice examples of lightning to communicate her mental state are soon over-shadowed by what occurs next. Cia enters her room, to hear a voice not quite her own. There's so many great shots here, starting with a top down look at her face's reaction to the voice, its downright terrified and the angel seems to almost shrink all her features, the body she flaunts so openly now seems small and unassuming.
A Dutch angel of Cia standing in the doorway soon arrives and with it we see her literal shadow now looms large behind her. The conversations between Cia and Kikyou are great, while they may not be wholly accurate to schizophrenia or bi-polar syndrome, they never actually claim to be, while still being some of the most easy to understand representation of mental illness in all of anime. Kikyou initially comes across as an antagonist which is a nice touch, as while I'm glad she's eventually revealed to be well meaning, her initial hostility adds a layer of tension and risk to an otherwise passive, character motive driven storyline. The mirror which has loomed over Cia all series long (refer back to the 'bedroom' section in part 1) and has frequently reflected a different expression to the one Cia is wearing, is now payed off as the confrontation goes on between the two, that is till you realize Cia and the camera aren't looking at the mirror, in fact its blank.
Kikyou is instead standing, legs surrounded in a haze, behind the mirror. If a mirror is the gateway to the soul, then she is literally said soul hiding behind the eyes or visually behind the blank mirror, its a nice touch and it can take a couple seconds before you even realize it, adding an almost spooky element to the scene. Alternatively the camera keeps returning to Cia but from a far off view, making her look even more afraid and frail, even her stance backs this up, her hands prostrated as thought to pray and her face partially turned away. The two argue with Cia finally admitting that she doesn't feel worthy to pursue Rin any longer and admitting to a degree of guilt at the fact that Kikyou can never find love for herself. In an instance Cia's expression changes revealing that Kikyou has taken control of her body. The foreshadowing for this up along in Cia's reflections as well when she briefly took control to snap some sense into Nerine in episode 14 come to fruition here as Kikyou assumes command.
I think there's actually something pretty unsettling about this whole thing, the idea that your body could be suddenly grasped from you and your consciousness unwillingly locked away. We also get another simply great example of shuffle abusing of its anime medium by using a slightly harder drawn expression with narrower eyes, to clue in the audience of the change in persona. So then how did we get here one migth wonder. Kikyou seems to be antithetical to Cia, she's overly aggressive, sexually charged and seemingly highly selfish, however examining her and Cia more closely reveals far more similarities then not.
For one, while she isn't as aggressive as Kikyou, Cia is arguable the most forward of the group, a fact that comes to ahead in episode 10 when she or her father accidentally spread a rumour that she's to be wed to Rin. We've seen her used as a primary fanservice character and aside from Asa later on and what was more of a meeting with Nerine, Cia is the only other girl to go on actual dates with Rin. Same thing with the sexuality, Cia is highly physical, often making use of her assets to accost Rin with only Asa coming close to matching her number of fan service scenes in the first arc. Then there's the selfishness, while Kikyou seems selfish, Cia seems more Naïve, not at first realizing the effect her actions migth have on the other girls as shown by the day dream where she envisions her, Narine and Keade at their joint wedding to Rin (Asa is excluded due to her lack of publicness in her feelings early on, Cia does question if Primula would want to come but she isn't considered a true member of the harem till about episode 22 and therefore not included in the day-dream).
A closer look reveals something interesting about both Cia and Kikyou as characters, what we perceive initially as selfish or naïve acts are in truth acts of harmful altruism. It's maybe the biggest theme of the whole show but Cia is in truth being selfish in her naïvely aggressive style towards Rin because she wants to make Kikyou happy. Conversely Kikyou only takes control of Cia's body to try and improve Cia's failing life and mental state. Both are acting out of a care for one another but going about it in equally wrong ways, just like what we saw when Rin sent Primula away and in Nerine's loss aversion techniques. So in reality the two aren't so far removed, something that will get revealed more so in episode 17 then 16 which before we move on to, lets address episode 16 biggest twist yet, it use's fanservice....as a plot device!
No really it does. At the start of the episode the gang, mainly Isekei discuss how red langerae is representative of a more confident women or words to roughly that effect. Cia takes some interest in this, while Mayumi and the rest of the grouping dismiss Isekei out of hand in the usual manner, however astute viewers will notice how the normal Cia panty shots are from here used to aide in the representation of her mental state. This ends during her discourse with Kikyou when we see that there plain as possible, expressing her new found lack of confidence and defeated/detrimental mindset, however when Kikyou takes over and appears in-front of Rin at the end of the episode/start of the next episode (17) the underwear is now a dark purple shade of crimson, she's gone straight past confidence to a colour more 'confident' then red and in doing so we witness the use of fanservice panty shots, to further tell the damn story.
Before we move properly into episode 17 and the third arc of the show (The honest feelings arc for our purposes) lets finish our analysis of Cia. While at first sight she appears to be an airheaded fanservice vehicle, underneath we find a surprisingly introspective young lady with some serious mental hang-ups. Her attraction to the rain in episode 2 immediately clues us in, as we'd expect her to be the genki type and associate more heavily with the sunshine, yet we catch her in contemplation over the rain. Something else of note is how aside from Rin (Our protagonist remember) only Cia has moments of internal monologue thoughts (Primula's dream sequences are almost coma like so they're not really the same or relevant), this should tell us a-lot about her as a person, she's self conscious.
This lack of self-worth becomes more apparent on subsequent rewatchs as her early episode sessions trying to decide what to wear down to an under garment level and her obsence over planning of her date with Rin clue us in early that Cia actually does a-lot more thinking then one migth first think. We'd see a similar character arc to this in 'Toradora's' own genki girl turned reliable best friend, Mineroi a few years later. Cia's story arc and theme are that of self acceptance, coming to terms with the fact that she does have self-worth and that she does deserve to find happiness which we see in-
Episode 17 - Honest Feeling;
This episode picks up where 16 left off, with Kikyou taking Rin on a date. Straight off the bat we have a hesitant Rin, thought importantly he still goes along with it. We witness the date almost from afar, with particular shots taken from the park which we've visited before (namely with Asa in episode 13). The distance of the shots and the slightly screwed fashion in which Rin and Kikyou are drawn running and holding hands, makes for a great way to visually show how unnatural their 'date' really is, as though even their body language is standing in opposition(A tricky thing to convey through tv animation). The date goes on with Kikyou eventually flashing Rin in a changing room, this is where the tone really shifts from an awkward, 'fanservicy' date, to something more toxic. Rather then being played for laughs, the flash causes Rin to become stern and disapproving while from Cia's internal perspective, Kikyou is essentially abusing their/her body. This all links back to a theme which will return too, of the idea that there is maturity in nudity even when addressing our most fanservicy character. On a smaller note there is also a large quantity of mirrors, reflections and the likes that inspire those objects, present in these quick cuts and scenes which is a great touch.
It ends in - yes yet another - of my favourite scenes, thankfully this one is shorter to talk about. We find the duo on the bank of the river (In pretty much the same position as Rin and Asa in episode 12), their basked again in the same sunlight as the episode prior which is a nice touch however while Kikyou speaks as though their a long term couple, Rin is clearly uncomfortable with the direction the day has gone in. Kikyou directly references the beach episode with the line "Isn't this great?, It's like we're the only two in the world!" but not only is this a nod to that, it also mirrors Nerine's actions in episode 15, with the difference being that Nerine had accepted herself, where as Cia/and Kikyou have not.
If this was pre-episode 15 Rin I have little doubt he may well of played along with Kikyou's game, seen the reference to the beach as romantic and gone in for the long over-due kiss but this is a Rin, who though not done learning yet, has made some strides forward and as such does not play along instead rejected Kikyou, but lets not be hasty. This is not absolution for Rin just yet, for we're still definitely seeing him in the process of growing up. After all while Rin does reject her, the right thing to do all things considered, he arguably does it because of his not-so-subconscious feelings for Asa. In a sense a selfish motive but more damning is how he leaves Kikyou go, he doesn't chase them or visit them at their home like a good friend migth.
In conclusion Rin does grow in this arc but he's still got a ways to go to prove himself solidly, as will soon see.
As for Kikyou it's not over yet, she returns to the bedroom and we get the second mirror confrontation scene. Right away they make the great decision to have the screen cut in half vertically which immediately sets the scene apart from what we'd seen so far. Kikyou expresses a sense of confusion at what's happened but starts out defiant, while meanwhile Cia is less angry and more simply remorseful. The scene is directed in such away as to make it easy for the audience to understand Cia/Kikyou's internal dilemma and as already mentioned, while it may not be wholly accurate I love how this scene frames her mental illness as something that's ok, allow me to elaborate.
As mentioned, through this scene Cia properly comes to terms with the reason she's lost faith in her ability to pursue Rin, its not because she doesn't want to hurt the other girls but because she believes to be with him would be unfair on Kikyou, cruel to her who can never have real relationships, furthermore she also simply doesn't think she's 'worthy'. Kikyou is the one who talks Cia out of this way of thinking, as she slowly losses her composer she reveals that she never asked for such pity, the art here is great with Kikyou's face doing as much work to express her feelings and sentiments as her words do. She eventually comes to the point of tears and this is what makes the scene so great to me, in those tears what had seemed to be an antagonistic individual/possible personality defect - becomes humanized. The show is essentially humanizing a mental illness, what better way to say that its ok not to be ok. That it's ok to want happiness and to not want to be alone - then to have the visual representation of bi-polar syndrome break into tears, as her voice crumbles down to merge with Cia's once and for all confirming that they are a part of each other and really that's the point. You can make it even simpler then bi-polar, in a way it's a story about realizing that its ok to want something even if you have a mental disability, it's ok to pursue what you want no matter who you are.
As Kikyou returns Cia's body with the words that she'll disappear for good if it means her sister can live and rest easy, much to Cia's protest, you realize that all this has happened over the span of just two episodes, everything from arc 1 was foreshadowing and good build up sure, but in reality in just two episodes Kikyou is introduced, developed and resolved, friggin amazing.
What follows is one of the shows most beautifully shot scenes with a Cia who's newly realized that Kikyou is not her burden to carry, her cross to bear but rather a beloved part of herself, with self acceptance in her mind and heart she stands amongst a field of flowers that wonderfully contrast the starkly more bleak and rainy setting of her and Rin's first meeting in the town flashbacks of her Father's business trip. Finally confesses her feelings to Rin point-blank with nowhere for him to run to.
Rin can't answer, well to be fair he does answer just not how she migth of hoped but definitely how she expected he would. The scene is more sombre compared to the Nerine confession though has a similar line questioning if Rin has already set his eyes on someone else, however his reaction is a little altered this time. No longer being so defiantly a no.
And so Cia blooms among the foliage in full acceptance of herself, vowing to make Rin her husband one way or another, yet this isn't really what I find important. As mentioned, while he does reject her advances Rin still doesn't really solve the problem, no instead that comes down to Kikyou and Cia crying it out between themselves. it's something I really like about Shuffle, that it isn't just a show about Rin always saving the day and the other characters making do with whatever scraps of heroism they can attain but more-over it works wonders thematically as we get to see Rin slowly improve but still in a sense fail, as well as working as a nice foil to how Lycoris played a large role in saving Primula and Nerine (their respective sisters).
In conclusion, Cia and Kikyou have the unfavourable position of being the middle story of 'Shuffle', acting as a bridging point between arcs in more ways then one, yet its pulled off magnificently presenting us with an emotionally charged, brilliantly acted and expertly shot short story (about 40 minutes or less total) that could easily of been the plot of a sci-fi light, feature film with the prevailing characters themes being those of a lack of self worth and a need for self-acceptance.
Episode 18 - A welcome break? - "The one Rin loves"
Episode 18 comes off on the surface as a break from the more emotionally charged episodes prior, even going so far as to go back to the old title card segment and having the more light hearted ad break slot with the two cat plushies and while in truth it is definitely is more lighted to watch, there's still a lot going on under the bonnet which prevails through-out the whole episode, culminating in a long over due slap at its close.
Episode 18 and 22 are the most fascinating episodes for me, not my favourites by any means but in some ways the most important. I was surprised with both episode just how much I felt compelled to write on them in my notes. Keeping with our arc grouping system, true feelings (Arc 3 for our purposes) is from episodes 17 - 21, let's examine that a little further. Episode 17 is rather obvious as the title of the episode concurs with us and is about Cia plus Kikyou accepting their true feelings and inner-self's - episodes 19 is Keade and Asa realizing their true feelings but not wholly admitting to them. Episode 20 sees Primula admit her's 5 episodes after her arc concludes and episode 21 has Keade come to terms with what she's already realized. So how in this glorious narrative cohesion does episode 18 fit in?
That's actually staring us right in the face, it's Rin's turn. Rin fascinates me as a harem protagonist, he's kind-hearted sure but that's about it. He's incredibly weak willed in some regards, aware of his situation yet often oblivious to the effects of his actions, sometimes inadvertently selfish and has a faulty sense of altruism. Through-out episodes 18 - 21 we'll be addressing Shuffle's family Unit a-lot, that of Rin, Keade and Primula as this is where Shuffle's de-constructive nature shines brightest. Shuffle is Not a de-construction or parody anime but in it's pursuit to gently show the flaws of its own and its contemporize fantasy narratives, it inadvertently manages to be one of the finest break-downs the genre has available.
As mentioned from here on out the show really brings home it's more critical nature and in just the opening minutes of the episode we get to see the start of this. In a short scene we witness Rin apologizing to Asa for the events of the previous episode, its in their usual fashion with Asa acting a little 'Tsun'. The two bounce off one another in a fairly natural way (natural for anime at-least), their not quite flirting but there's clearly a familiarity and chemistry between them. As this goes on and just beforehand we can overhear some nameless students in the background, one of them is attempting to confess to an equally unnamed boy and while Rin and Asa banter in the foreground of the scene, we can see the rigid confession scene in the background. Its a standard Japanese affair, with the girl asking the guy out via a bow, its almost theatrical with her friends hovering in the background. [b]What all this suggests to me is the writers intention is to show us how Rin and Asa relationship is far more true to life then the idealized, 'polite' idea of romance that we see in Shojo-manga. Asa in stark contrast to the young girl behind her has no interest in bowing to Rin and asking his permission to go on a date, instead she pouts at his inconsideration for missing their appointment the day prior.[b]
It's a simple visual but it's a great way to start an episode in which will see that the tropes of anime and visual novels aren't generally the best way to approach a real life romance and its the sort of visual play I can apricate.
Continuing on the episode's theme of light-hearted contrasts we move on to the 'operation-meeting' scene. What I really love about this is if you've ever played a visual novel or been around the rom-com block a few/couple of times, this scene will be far to familiar (the one in Grissia is probably my favourite). With Cia and Nerine now realizing they've lost the battle, they team up with Isekei and Mayumi in order to plan the ultimate date for Rin and Asa to go on. It's done like a military strategy meeting with a projector and maps and isekai as a General. It's amazing how simple yet effect this is, as the whole audience at this point has become aware that Isekei is an idiot who knows nothing about real relationships and yet the trio of girls go along with his plans, eventually saluting him. It's played for laughs and it is funny but the UnderCurrent here should be clear to all, that a plan like this is doomed to fail and hurt Asa's feelings.
Rin almost realizes this when he suggests that Asa migth prefer the cinema, this is a clear sign that he has developed and he even goes as far as saying "What about what I wanna do", its fantastic that this line is here, lest the scene come across as a step back for Rin but unfortunately for him, he has still yet to wholly develop, in the end going along with the light peer pressure of his 'comrades'.
An interesting point of note on the framing of the scene is how all the otherworlders sit opposite Rin, so that the scene plays as Rin, suggesting a down to earth idea like the cinema, is opposed by a Demon, a God and an imp. It's divided 50/50 and is another nice piece of literary shorthand to show the fantisiful, unrealistic nature of the girl's suggestions.
I also like how Shuffle almost always stays logical, Keade and Primula aren't here because of course they aren't, there's no way in heck Keade could handle this conversation and Primula doesn't yet attend their school yet but it also suggests something about what the girls think of Keade, they naturally assume at this point that she'd not be interested in this conversation, showing how they never even pass consideration over the ramifications of Rin dating Asa. In fact, while I praised the fact that Rin has gained some self-awareness, he never mentions or factors in Keade. His hubris in not at this point, is in his not properly acknowledging her feelings shows both his own ignorance but also reminds us that to him she's a sister not a love interest, something that will become very important presently.
Next up we've some quick fire scenes that require/are worth addressing. We get to see Primula, Rin and Keade sitting in their living room discussing Rin's impending date. As mentioned above Rin sees no issue with this as he doesn't take into account Keade's feelings which makes this scene so brilliant. Lets not break it down literally but symbolically;
Rin sitting next to his surget daughter(Who has conspicuously swapped back to her old attire as if to hammer home the point that she's meant to be his kid) and wife brags excitedly about the date he's going on with his girlfriend. It's incredibly perverse and I love it. Visually were looking at a young family having a nice discussion after dinner, when in reality with a smile on her face the wife figure, talks about her husband's lover in front of their child. It's so wrong and borderline creepy and yet it's taking place in what's meant to be the light-hearted episode. it's this subtlety that puts Shuffle on a Pedestal for me. The more you think about scenes like this, the more you get from them and did I mention there's no music?
Yup, no music except that of the heavily muffled Tv in the background. The sound is literally helping to convey the disconnect between what the character are saying and doing. This idea of the fantasy romance is being criticized more harshly here then as anywhere else, yet its not done in a flashy manner. At the scene's close its clear that only Primula understands the irony of the scene which adds to the set up for her secondary arc that's coming (It should be noted she barely opens her mouth during this whole conversation, instead just making concerned expressions).
Another quick scene is Asa picking her cloths for the date, it stands as a nice comparison to many of the other girls. Keade and Primula put f-all thought into their cloths, Nerine automatically dresses smartly/regally and Rin has a seemingly endless supply of Yakuza suits but it most contrasts the Cia date scene. As mentioned before that comical scene had a deeper point about how much Cia sweats the small stuff, by comparison Asa is far more flippant about it, that's not to say she doesn't think about it, she defiantly does but it feels more natural, she seems excited not worried. It helps hammer home the fact she's the most 'real' and healthy of the girls (Ironic I know) and makes a nice change to what we've seen prior.
Next we have the date proper. Straight off the bat the show delivers another quick scene to further set the tone. At the gate to 'cupid land' Asa reaches out to take Rin's hand but he's too distracted with the elaborate plan and walks ahead. We've seen this half a dozen times through-out the show's run and for the most part the reaction for the girl present is to swoon and look on at Rin wistfully but here Asa defies this conventions by looking thoroughly pissed and then pouting. It's funny, a little Tsundere but more importantly it establishes right away that a date with Asa is going to be a marked departure from what we've seen so far. It also adds further to Rin's foolish ignorance towards the whole situation.
For this next one I've simply written in my notes [u]"JASUS H CRIBO IT'S ATTACK OF THE DARN CGI, OH GOD NO", ahem.[/u] This is in reference to the digitally rendered go-cup ride, its thankfully the only instance of modern CGI in the whole show, which is a mercy as generally I think Shuffle looks really great but I'd be remise not to mention this one minor slip up on the art directions part.
Also as aforementioned we get a change to the half-way card. This refers to the ad break bookmark which before episode 12 is simply Primula's cat plushie's performing cute actions and in the shows attempt to disarm the audience into thinking this is a throw away episode they dispense of the post ep 12 card of the 5 girls posed naked (An obvious bit of symbolism to show how they have to bear themselves mind and soul during their respective story arcs) and back to the cats, its a nice touch and they do the same with the title card going back to the less conspicuous green arrows. This won't be the last instance of messing with the title card so keep that in mind if your looking for Easter eggs during the Keade arc.
We get another nice scene when Asa cancels Rin's plan and decides to take him on the boat trip. This expertly shows us how well she knows him as she's already aware that Rin can't do rollercoasters. In a way this makes Rin mirror Cia's earlier attempt at a date in arc one which we've already mentioned failed because of it's unnatural pursuit of a 'perfect date' and Cia's pointless adherence to her game plan. All this is to say that the audience should be sub-consciously aware that Rin's going about this the wrong way.
So that's the quick fire round through. Now we've got to the episode's most important scenes to look at. in keeping with things so far, they're not all that much longer but make it clear to anyone what's going for those who hadn't picked up on the myriad of context clues as to what this episode is really all about. So after Rin continues to perform insensitively across the course of the date, things come to a-head when Asa confronts Rin on the days activities. She calls out they're group of stalkers (In usually anime fashion Cia, Narine, Isekei and Mayumi come to observe and interfere) and questions Rin on his intentions.
Now is the time for Rin to apologies, to own up and make amends but that isn't quiet what he does, instead he does something quiet insidious, he tries to insinuate that things got out of hand because of the other's plan, going as far as to essentially say he didn't even want to go on a date. We know and I believe Asa knows this isn't what he really means and the problem isn't what he says but rather what he thinks. As Asa once more astutely points out, just as she did in episode 13, Rin has been peer pressured into doing what others think is best. He hasn't gone with his plan or what he thinks she'd like. He goes as far as to say that he wanted to do something similar but as Asa states, if that's what he wanted then he should of done it.
This is essentially the same conversation from episode 13 except in that episode sending Primula back really did seem like the right idea at the time and so Asa didn't lambast Rin but instead supported him but here what we soon realize is unlike then, now Rin has just been a di*ck-head. He's acted insensitively despite knowing it was wrong to do so and that combined with the fact he's hurt her feelings leads to a long over due slap. Now when I talked on episode 13 I praised how no-one slaped Rin and I stand by that for the reasons as mentioned there but here the slap is so deserved and even cathartic for the audience. It's a real credit to the show that it knows when and when not to slap someone as had this happened in episode 13, then now it would have had far less weight here. Rin is spiraling towards his old ways and habits from pre-episode 15 and this is just the wake up slap he needs. With a brilliant performance from Monica Rial and some great art work, this scene is the second lynch point for Rin's character arc going forward.
With some sense knocked into our trepidations protagonist, he retreats home to recover and even after all that's happened the show isn't quite done. In what follows Keade's arc officially kicks off and what a way to start it. We see Rin enter the kitchen of their home where Keade is just standing silently by the dinner table, food prepared. This scene always freaks me out but there's some clever filming tricks going on here too. For one we get another use of a stationery, natural camera angel, showing the room which has always been drawn in order to narrow it at the far end, but with this new view-point we get a Keade greatly diminished in size, while Rin standing by the rooms door looks larger but furthermore this helps to greatly increase the physical distance between them even in a room this small. Next as we're entering we're continuing from Rin's perspective which we've had all episode and like him we see a well lit room, as after all, the lights are on but what follows takes a rather literally dark turn.
After Rin rejects the food and goes off to rest we swap to Keade's perspective as she thrashes the food. I think this simple metaphor can work two ways. One it's a comparison for how Rin has been throwing her aside without a word since pretty much episode one. Secondly it can act as a representation or even a signal to the audience that the last vestiges of her sanity and self restraint are falling away, that her unhealthy obsession's with caring for someone finally takes a complete hold and she transitions to true 'yandere mode'. Also note how dimly lit the shot is. Sure it's the inside of a bin but the room seemed markedly bright from Rin's perspective so why should in be so apparently dark now?
This is all cleared in about 5 seconds of animations when we go to a top down view of the room. You could be easily forgiven for missing this but the image seems to be of Keade now standing in a dark kitchen - except… the lights are still on, the same lights as when Rin entered. have I mentioned that it's this level of subtlety that I love so much? On the surface what your seeing is Keade staring silently into the dark, which is true but in reality your seeing it from her perspective. Using a simply visual lighting trick, the show is communicating the light has literally drained from her life to the point that standing in a brightly lit room, she migth as-well be in pitch darkness. The reason the lights were on when Rin entered? Not because she hates the environment but because she literally didn't notice the fact they were on. The next shot confirms this with a close up of her/Keade's face, this isn't some stylistic choice, we can see some light still emitting from the very top left of the screen but her eyes have completely glazed over, all this conveyed in three short still shots. The light has gone out of her life, fleeting quite practically stage left. And so it begins-
Thanks for reading this, part 2 of 5, we're now a little under half way through our elongated journey. The subsequent parts can be found with the rest of the blog here on Mal and here's a cheeky link to part 3 - https://myanimelist.net/blog.php?eid=860700 .If you enjoyed and would like, please add a 'helpful' to the main review's page or leave a comment here, as all feedback is most welcome. Once again, thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed.
Posted by momentie | May 24, 2021 3:57 PM | 0 comments
The complete Shuffle! Retrospective Part 1 (of 5)
Anime Relations: Shuffle!
The Greatest Show That Everyone Forgot-
A full 43,000+ word retrospective that nobody asked for;
Shuffle! is a 2005 anime adaptation of a visual novel by the same name. The anime did decently well in Japan, garnering enough attention to later receive a recap series and in the West receive a good quality dub however has since faded into obscurity, becoming the sort of show that long time anime fans might suggest to you but that is unlikely to come up in general discussion.
This lack of staying power combined with a somewhat mixed reception in the West has left the show in a somewhat unknown possession. Few reviews of any real merit exist in video or essay format and most of the ones that do spend large amounts of time being somewhat ironically butt-hurt that their favourite 'Waifu' didn't win, or my favourite review here on Mal ( Which somehow has the most likes for this series), explaining how the show is bad because Rin is indecisive and in doing so completely missing the point of the show but I digress.
Talking all this into consideration I think its high time someone, amateur or otherwise, wrote a half-competent review and analysis of the property (Unfortunately I'm the only person available), one which I personally think is one of the best in its genre, nay, the Evangellion of the Harem high-school, Visual Novel Genre (Try saying that 3 times in a row). Shuffle! as an anime (Which is all we'll be addressing here, not the original visual novel) is packed with layers of visual story telling, animation abuse and fantasy metaphors for real life illness. Its first and foremost a cleverly written and entertaining harem Romcom but secondly is a fascinating deconstruction of the genre it belongs to. It isn't afraid to call out it's audience on topics as delicate as Lolitas, yanderes and even the time honoured 'best girl debate'. Its received unsurprising levels of flack for these bold moves, from people who hate its intentionally flawed main character, to others who think a yandere with a serious Co-Dependency Mental illness deserved to 'win the day'. On the other spectrum you have those who write the show off as "Soap opera Crap" with "Forced drama and conflict".
For this essay I'd like to stand in Shuffle's corner and fight it's side of the debate, hopefully with-out getting tangled up in the semantics of preferable 2D fictional girls and the merits of wish fillment characters to much. Writing this actually proved to be somewhat difficult as how to divide up the various strands of the show and the ridiculous layers of depth can be daunting, as such I'll divide this into segments or 'arcs' and cover characters as we go along and in further depth later on. To anyone still reading this who hasn't seen Shuffle yet, now's your time to bail as heavy spoilers are ahead but take my word for it and go watch Shuffle with an open mind, give it the benefit of the doubt and you just might be pleasantly surprised. I'm aware my usual reviews have a more detailed spoiler free segment but on this occasion all that needs to be said is that this gets my highest of recommendation. If your unconvinced after watching it, feel free to come back and read the rest of this retrospective and if your not convinced after that, shoot me a message and let me know why. Now then without further ado-
Arc 1 - The Fairy-Tail Arc (Ep 1 - 11);
You can divide Shuffle's 24 episode run in multiple different ways either by character or plot but for the sake of this essay we'll call episodes 1 - 11 the 'Fairy-Tail Arc', episodes 12 - 16 the 'Awakening Arc', 17 - 21 'Honest Feelings' and finally ep 22 - 24, the 'Redemption Arc'. These titles are by no means official but should make it easier to categories the various episodes as we go along.
So keeping on topic, the fairy-tail arc has a somewhat self-explanatory name, in the interest of this not becoming one of those monotonous recap reviews, I'll try to keep story breakdown's short where possible. This first arc rapidly introduces us to the world of our story and it's characters. Based in a small Japanese city it becomes quickly apparent most of the setting parallels our own real world bar that after an unknown event, the walls between Earth and what is essentially Heaven and Hell have weakened, allowing for travel and commerce between the 3 worlds. As such we find ourselves in a educational setting where humans, Gods, Demons and hybrid combinations there-in, all attend a generic high-school anime. This in true harem fashion is all conveyed in quick succession within the first episode and clearly left vague for the sake of mimicking other shows in the genre and perpetrating a sense of mystery.
While the world of Shuffle is generally pretty fleshed out, it is seldom the focus, instead that is always on the characters, in fact even the intro song goes to great lengths to reinforce this fact with it opening on a close up of each girl, followed by shot's of the town deserted with no vocals in the background to effectively communicate at the start of every episode that this is a story all about people not places, but more on the title song later.
Moving from this were introduced to our lead players over the course of the first two episodes; Asa Shigure, Nerine, Lisianthus(Cia), Primula, Kaede Fuyo and Rin Tsuchimi, there is also a number of decently fleshed out side characters but again if you've not seen the series and you've read down this far, I'd again advice you finish the show and then come back as this is about as much exposition as I'll be giving out.
With all that table dressing out of the way lets get to it. As mentioned the fairy-tail arc generally requires the least to understand, this isn't to suggest its any less layered then the rest but instead this arc is intentionally written to give the show a solid foundation and set up each of its cast members. The brilliantly natural drama of the shows second core can only function as well as it does due to the leg work put in by this first arc. The arc also does a marvellous job of foreshadowing for future events which can make rewatchs of said episodes feel like an Easter egg hunt as you try to spot all the tell-tale signs the show lays out to hint at its true direction and intent. I won't spend to much time on the episode's of this first arc as I'm sure I'll reference them in more detail during more specific character breakdowns, however I will draw a few scenes to your attention now as I feel it helps better with understanding character themes we'll be referencing a lot later.
Ep-04-Egg Omelette of Happiness;
With-in this episode we get a microcosm of what's to come. During it we see Nerine attempt and learn to cook an omelette for Rin to show him her affections. Straight away we start to see an interesting transgression in the show's portrayal of architypes. If your unaware Shuffle's characters do actually qualify for the general stereotypes of anime romcoms, this is more obvious for some then others, for example Primula's physical appearance makes her the clear Lolita type, meanwhile Nerine seems to be a obvious DereDere at the series open ( With Asa - Tsundere, Kaede - Yandere and Cia as the Tomboy { Sometimes more recently tomboys have been refers to as 'Bakadere' } ) however Nerine straight away shows one of the core beliefs of the show, the characters are people first before tropes.
In Nerine's case we see this in her inability to bake and her somewhat pampered upbringing. Generally the DereDere type is highly devoted (often for shaky reasoning) a great cook, a competent homemaker, of a quiet disposition and usually will be the least aggressive girl of the harem. But like we said the whole episode's premise revolves around Nerine not being able to cook and we see on multiple occasions that she's hopeless at housework. Non of this is to say that Nerine isn't a DereDere but to simply reinforce the fact that the show in each of its character's premises is already going against standard anime conventions.
Now with all those traits in mind lets go back to episode 4 where we see Nerine in the cooking club room attempting to...cook. She cuts herself with the kitchen knife only for Asa to enter the room, she immediately produces a plaster from her pocket and helps out Nerine with her cut finger. After some quick consoling, Nerine asks for tutoring. In the following ten seconds the show manages to tell us everything we need to know about both characters in a matter of frames. Asa shows herself to be an experienced chef, at home in the kitchen and even more important are her motherly tendencies. Despite only being vague acquaintances at this stage in the story, Asa immediately goes to help and furthermore carries plasters clearly for similar accidents with other underclass-mates (we know she at least also taught Keade) rather then for herself.
Meanwhile Nerine is shown to be reserved and shy, unwilling to initially ask for help. She's somewhat naïve in her thinking and clearly a little clumsy. This goes further thanks to their clothing, as will talk about more as we go, clothing is often used to show development or as literary short hand throughout the story, here its used to quickly establish the duos relationship with the kitchen and to reflect parts of their personality. Nerine's apron is 'girly pink' and frilly, I'd go as far as to say ill-fitting. It reminds us of her status as a princess and her baking in-aptitude, meanwhile Asa wears a plain green well-fitted apron with no frills in sight. Aside from being colour-coded to her hair, it represents her level-headed no nonsense attitude and practical, motherly nature. This is all wonderful visual characterization.
The first arc is full of subtle moments like these that help to further develop and make for sufficient short form character growth, we could talk about these at length but the point in hand is to illustrate how the show with quiet visual ques and minimal dialogue, conveys its character traits and habits in a natural way which seems a far cry from more modern anime's blunt approach. Putting this short scene aside the episode also has another scene that greatly helps to illuminate another important staple of shuffle, its double ended foreshadowing.
This comes at the end of the episode where Nerine re-confirms her devotion to Rin and is seemingly the obvious conclusion to the episode, except as becomes apart later on, this scene takes on a whole new meaning after it's echoed in ep15. When Nerine says "Is it ok if I fall in love with you" she is essentially realizing for the fist time her own feelings, as up until this point she was simply pursuing Rin out of a survivors guilt complex towards her twin/clone sister Lycoris. While we can't know it first time round, this line acts as an early clue that the Nerine we know isn't all she seems. This is further compounded by the fact that where Cia constantly references her childhood memories of Rin, Nerine comparatively rarely does this and while this initially seems due to their disproportionate screen-time, on a rewatch this line makes far more, almost tragic sense.
The first arc is littered with foreshadowing like this to come, another example of both the above topics from episode 4, presents itself in-
Ep-09-Survival at the beach;
Here we see what will soon become standard fare for Rin, when, while believing himself and Cia to be stranded offshore and under attack by a wild animal, Rin offers in an altruistic fashion to stay behind and buy Cia time to run away. On the surface this seems like the right thing to do and you'd be forgiven for initially thinking as such, however the prevailing theme of Rin's arc is that doing what seems socially right rather then what's actually best for the person in question isn't always for the best. Will see this in a far more important way during the Awakening and Honest Feelings Arcs but Rin's short-sighed thinking is a recurring cause of hurt for the whole cast. Using the example as outlined above, what would Cia do if she did run? Ankle injured and seemingly marooned on an island, without Rin her chances of survival seem slim but more then that emotionally speaking she would surely be distraught and the real important thing is in actuality neither of those two factors. Rin's self sacrifice idea is bad because its not what Cia wants, she wants to be with him, weather that's deserted alone on an island or to die to some terrible wild beast, all she wants from him is his companionship, which in the moment Rin can't see.
That's far from all that could be said about episode 9, the fact alone that Rin and Cia temporarily find themselves in an Adam and Eve type situation while a heavenly choir sings in the background is probably worth a more detailed discussion but for our purposes, this first example of Rin's misplaced altruism is the important feature of the episode.
Aside from that there isn't to much more to draw particular attention to in the shows opening act that we won't bring up later in a more in-depth look at each character. I'd be remiss not to at-least mention the first 8 episodes wonderful display of a short arc for each character, ep 11's well placed comedic break for background character development and of course anime's best long running joke, the KKK ( Not the guys in sheets, the 'Knights of Kissy Kaede' ) who are rather appropriately phased out more and more in the second act as the show's tone begins to darken.
One final note on the first arc for the time-being would be to mention the shows use of the traditional Japanese family unit. As the whole arc revolves around setting up an idyllic world, where you, the stand-in protagonist is surrounded by attractive girls and magic as well as fun, wacky adventures, we also have a family unit to add to that fantasy. Que Kaede and Primula, who become a comfortable stand in for Rin's adoring housewife and well-mannered daughter. The show paints the trio expertly as an almost make believe young family, while always making sure to use enough Dutch camera angels and cut away shots to remind us how unrealistic this found family really is. This comes to ahead in the aptly named-
Ep-06-Smile!
This episode is Primula's spotlight moment, like Ep4 was for Nerine. It revolves around exploring this newfound family dynamic and starts to hint at Primula's true nature. Primula is an interesting one and will discuss her far more when addressing arc 2 but it should suffice to say her deadpan architype is a mirror for Ruri Hoshino who is in turn a homage to Rei Ayanami who is... well you get the picture, like in those shows and long before the likes of 'Heavens Lost Property' would re-popularize it, the episode revolves around Primula's lack of emotions and an almost inability to smile. I must say its one of the shows strengths that they get this part of her character established so quickly and don't feel the need to linger on the smiling thing for to long and while its most probably a coincidence, this being ep 6 is the same episode in which Evangelion's Rei first smiles but I once more digress.
The episode also heavily features Keade (and Rin but that's the case for all episodes bar 11), which is logical considering her surrogate mother status. Kaede in these early episodes more accurately fits the childhood friend or DereDere architypes better then any other, thought we see fairly frequent foreshadowing for her impending breakdown, epically in some rather chilling scenes during episodes 5 and 10. All in all though will address her more in her own arc as her role is mostly secondary in ep 6.
As mentioned the episode deals with Primula, first off showing us some brilliantly simple cinematography where during school hours we see that Primula essentially wonders Rin/Kaede's home as thought she were little more then a ghost. These quick cuts start with a skewed top view of Primula walking towards the camera, looking minuscule in the house's large porch area. They move to a short montage of shots showing her moving along hallways and the kitchen. The lack of music and the stationary camera lend this scene an eerie feeling as it becomes increasingly clear what the shows trying to say. When Keade and Rin aren't home there's no funny comedy skit or secret hobby that Primula takes part in, she just exists. Like a doll or lingering spirit she simply stops being relevant without the presence of the others.
The show further hammers this home when we see Primula aimlessly channel hoping on the Tv, her reflection prevailing through the images of flamboyant Japanese daytime programming, the shows are hollow, devoid of soul, manmade for a shallow purpose, simply thoughtless entertainment. And then she turns off the telly and the shot lingers for an uncomfortably long length on her face's reflection on the Tv's screen. If you still haven't picked up on the metaphor, the show has one more image in its toolbox as it shows Primula 'Playing' with her cat doll, its held up in front of her so that the sunlight shines through the window on to it. It's illuminated while she's covered in the shadows of the dimly lit room. The light on the doll is representative of how to Primula it means 'Love', her only keep sake of Lycoris or anyone for that matter, while meanwhile her being in the dark reminds us (at-least on rewatchs) that she's unnatural, inhuman and unloved. She stares at the doll not like an imaginary friend but as though she expects it to prove her very existence, all tieing into her characters theme of neglect.
Now following this we get a somewhat controversial set of scenes including a partially nude Primula and a laundry shopping scene. There's actually a lot that can be talked about here and in terms of the morality and appropriateness of the scenes, will talk in greater detail on that when we address the show's theme of 'Maturity in Nudity' (Catchy little title am I right?) but to give some surface level thoughts and clarifications on it, Primula is not a 'loli', least not in the modern or traditional senses of the word. By the end of the show she has become one but especially in the story's early stages, she's clearly meant to be a child first and foremost and as such Rin repeatedly expresses a lack of interest in her romantically (Even after ep 15 this doesn't seem to change much at all). The langerae shopping scene is really quite mundane and by anime standards markedly tame, additionally the idea of people dressing kids up as "mini-mes" is by no means exclusive to Japan and if anything is used to show how much of an outsider Primula is to the group and how uninterested or non-understanding she is of the whole affair. All told it works for some cheap laughs as well as playing an appropriate story function so I can't really see how you can draw to much issue with it if you've ever watched ANY other anime with a token Lolita character in it.
Again I don't want to get to bogged down in it but as for Bra-less Primula in the rain, I think it's really important to acknowledge how the scene is highly important to the narrative. From a few seconds of a flash and Rin's reaction, not of embarrassment for seeing her breasts but shame for not considering his stand in daughters needs, we better learn a lot about both characters. We learn Primula has an almost child like understanding of relationships, gender, sexuality and even common sense clothing etiquette. As stated, for Rin it reinforces how Primula isn't an object of sexual desire, shows his integrity/maturity and shows us just how out of his depth Rin really is when it comes to trying to raise a child at such a young age.
Could this of been communicated differently? Yes of course, simply have Keade ask Primula to try on one of here old tops, while Rin is sitting watching Tv, Primula would comply immediately swishing off her current top, revealing her undisclosed chest, which to the audience would be obscured by a chair or Rin's now flustered face and a funny scene could ensue with Kaede and Rin lambasting either each other or Primula for not addressing this earlier. Would that or something similar carry the same weight and quiet sense of nuance? Probably not and that's something that becomes re-occurring in shuffle. Raw story telling through nudity, natural drama or heartfelt dialogue is how the show operates. As I first mentioned we'll go into more detail on this later on but the show never gives us call to think these scenes are done with 'lustful intent' and I think shuffle more then deserves the benefit of the doubt.
The episode concludes with Rin gifting Primula a replacement stuffed cat doll, aside from some fun jokes mixed in like Keade fainting (twice) or the 'Nyan-dam', the resolution scene is sweet and rather straight forward. Rin gives Primula the cat which for Primula symbolizes 'Love' and not some twisted meaning of the word but instead it in its most base form, the sort one feels towards a sibling or parent. This familial love is ironically one of the only emotions Primula seems to have a true grasp on, thanks to Lycoris demonstrating it to her with the first cat plushie. This is enough to further her and Rin's bond and close the episode out an a smile. In Rin's own words to Isekei "Your ability to turn something innocent into something obscene, amazes me"
So while Ep06 alludes to and overall helps explore the dynamics of Shuffle's fantisiful family unit (Something Clanned would rather more famously go on to do in more detail a few years later, albeit in a different style and message of story telling) episode 12 would be the start of the end for this make-believe-scenario. It should be noted that if Shuffle was just an 11 episode harem it would still be an above average, but overall generically serviceable show but with the changes alluded to in ep 10 and hammered home in ep 12 we move into the second arc and the real heart of the story.
The Awakening - Arc 2 - Ep12-16
Unlike Arc 1, the title I've taken to using for arc 2 is a little more opaque. In essence shuffle's second arc revolves around acknowledging our personnel short comings and to accept that life isn't a fairy tail, were shown this through Nerine's survivors guilt, Primula's harsh reality, Cia's self worth insecurities and Rin's naiveite in believing he could live in a fairy-tail scenario forever with out hurting anyone. Unlike arc 1, from here on will be looking at things with in a more episodic manner rather then on a broud strokes basis and with a finer comb for the details of individual scenes. With that short intermission out of the way, lets address the impending end of Summer.
Ep-12-Frozen Summer;
-sees our now familiar gang of characters going about a fairly unremarkable day, its the end of summer and as such Rin, Cia and Nerine are working on completion of Holiday Homework, while Kaede and Primula go about more mundane house-work chores. All seems to be in order but from the get go the show drops two small hints of what's soon to come, there's the most obvious one which comes when we see Primula pouring a cup o' tea only for said tea to momentarily crystallize. Its a brief affair, a second later the tea returns to water, with little more then Primula's expression to prove it even happened. Interestingly, on watching this scene blank for a first time, one would be forgiven for thinking this would be the start of a set up for a generic anime arc where the young character loses confidence in their magical abilities, only for the protagonist to help them out and for the two to grow a little closer in the process but Shuffle has other plans.
To further implant this idea of a standard light-hearted anime arc, we get the second hint scene. This ones a little less apparent and almost seems out of character for both Rin and the property. While studying with Nerine and Cia, we see Rin become aroused and make one he*l of a pervy face in reaction to some 'fan-service'. To me this scene stands out so much that it was clearly intentional, as aforementioned, it initially stands to disarm us into thinking this episode will be a repeat of ep11's lighter, more comical and fan-serivicy tone, furthermore though, it serves to show how comfortable Rin has gotten in his daily life. The original troubles and issue that arose of suddenly finding one's self with a gang of female groupies have mostly been resolved, his surget family is running along smoothly and he is enjoying the summer of his youth. In shoen terms, this is Rin letting his guard down to disastrous effect.
Moreover we now start to see episode 12's wonderful use of literary short hand, firstly in terms of simple characterization, it makes logical sense to see Cia and Rin as the two least prepared for the new school term additionally that Keade is most ready in advance but putting this surface level observation aside, the show makes further use of it's usual 'parrel storytelling'. Will talk about this more in greater detail later but for the moment it should be noted that Rin's study group consists of the 'otherworlders' Cia and Nerine. These two contrast and parallel each other in many ways and the show likes to use them to highlight moments that are fantisiful or unrealistic, like for example the very scene we're discussing. The two have the most unnatural hair colours to help them stand out and Cia in particular is by far the most 'fanservicy' character in the show. So as mentioned all this builds up to disarm the audience alongside Rin in preparation for the what's to come. It might also be note worthy that Primula is not in this scene, this may seem like a given as she doesn't attend school yet, nor is she considered a member of the harem till about episode 22 but with her running theme of neglect, it's always interesting to see the show make an effort to separate her from the 'other-worlders' of the group.
In comes one of my favourite scenes in all of anime for its brilliant use of literary short hand and simplistic but effective visuals. Cast your mind back to the stage, Primula basked in the summer rays stands watering sun flowers among other plants, in the Fuyo residence's garden. She seems content and why not, she's found a family, a place to belong and has even started taking an interest in interacting with life (As evidenced by the plants which Rin implies later, that Primula planted and nurtured of her own volition) and then it happens. Its been a long time in the making, we'd been told that magic can be unstable, volatile, as evidences by Nerine and we'd had foreshadowing a plenty to indicate Primula being something more then a normal demon (as normal as you can get when talking fantasy at-least) and so in a matter of moments, we watch a circle of ice spiral out from Primula, enveloping the whole garden, all her work and rendering her unconscious but to put it that simply is to do it a major disservice, so lets break this down a little more thoroughly.
First off we see the hose Primula is wielding, eject ice rather then water, this immediately frightens her and she lets go of the hose almost involuntarily (In much the same way as is happening with her powers). It wrights violently imploring snake like imagery (Which should come as relevant considering the shows use of religious iconography) before we move to a close up of her, as a cruel white light emits out from under her on the ground and here's the first big instant of short hand. The image subconsionly brings out an idea of bed wetting, further added to by Primula's childish get up, dungarees, pigtails and all. In a lesser show this might come across as perverse but in Shuffles case it's used to subtly implant the idea of a loss of control in the minds of the viewer. If a child wets the bed its frowned upon and if a young teenager still does it, they'd be seen as immature maybe taken to a Doctor (Something that presently happens to Primula in a sense).
There's no moment where Primula or anyone else in the scene has to convey the fact that she's lost control. Far to often in anime characters will explain what's going on in any given moment or battle but here with the simple use of her expression and the visual bedwetting metaphor, all the information we need is seamlessly communicated without any dialogue what-so-ever. But the scenes still not done. For one lets talk about the choice of magic the writers use. In the case of all other magic users in the show, were shown vague explosions, particle effects and the like but Primula seemingly quite deliberately uses some form of 'Ice Magic'. The use of this cold blue tone acts as further short hand as it brings to mind the numbing, cruel and lonely sensations and emotions that modern media has come to make us associate with ice.
Rounding out the scene, as already mentioned, we witness the flowers Primula's poured her time into, freeze to ice, along with the garden tree, patio door and with a specific focus on both the sunflowers and the/a shattering cicada. Now here we have a few more things of significant but subtle note. Flowers and sunflowers in particular are used as a theme of sorts through-out the show, as will discuss in greater note later but it should be clear to most that there freezing helps to represent summer ending at Primula's hand, in an unnatural, unplanned way (Another running theme of Primula being her unnatural nature). It should also be pointed out, that while flowers are often used to represent how the other girls are in the bloom of their youth, Primula is stagnant, she isn't a fully fledged person like the others, she has quite literally stopped the blossoming of the flowers and herself (This even extends to her depictions during the intro song).
The shattering Cicada is a fairly 'anime/Japanese centric' piece of imagery. Anyone whose experienced the likes of Kagura Project or Higarushi will already be aware of the broud range of symbolism these noisy creatures are often used for. Here the shattering initially serves to convey the end of summer, same as the frozen sunflowers but it goes a step further, acting as foreshadowing towards the lethal nature of Primula's magic. It lets us know straight away that there's a chance for her to hurt those around herself and with hindsight, represents how her magic may very well be deadly to herself as-well.
To end on our primary analysis of this scene's use of visual metaphors and literary short hand, lets come back to her ice magic, as-well as the whole result of the frozen garden (Or frozen summer if you like). Something else we can interpret as the scene telling us is the unique nature of Primula, as stated primarily that she's not natural, a construct of some sort but we can get more then that. The scene helps to reinforce the idea that Primula is something dangerous, almost weapon like, 'something' to be wary and cautions of. The frozen garden of plants, she tried to grow, inspires sickening imagery of failed live, as though primula constitutes infertility, an inability to feel emotions or be human, an inability to lead a normal life and someone who can never give life.
It's some pretty heavy topics, that the show doesn't ever try to address head on but instead in more metaphoric and quiet ways.
Bedrooms;
On we move to Primula's room. Straight off the bat there's some nice parallels to be drawn between her room and that of the other characters and this is also an appropriate time to address the use of bedrooms in the show as a whole. Its by no means unique and something of a favourite thing of mine to see in anime, each room in Shuffle tells us a little something or other about the character who inhabits it. As we go along will dip into more detail on this but to be brief;
Cia's room is dominated by her mirror for obvious reasons, as well as being neater then we might except from our resident air-head (an effect of being the housekeeper no doubt). Keade's room is pretty much empty, this will be important when talking about Primula's soon but to summarize this clearly represents her totally reliance on Rin, she has no hobbies outside of looking after him and no need for excessive amounts of clothing unless it specifically helps her in her unhealthy goal to please Rin. Asa's room is choc full of two things; cloths and stuffed toys, along with a tidy little work/study table. This rather nicely tells us that she's got far more hobbies and likes to be interested in then the other girls, she takes a proper interest in cooking and fashion and as for the stuffed animals, they act both to extenuate her less tomboyish side and to remind us of how much time she's lost to her illness. In a sense some of her room is still stuck in/held back by the past, so despite it showing her greater number of interests in her daily life, its also a bittersweet reminder of her ever present disability.
So then did Primula simply drew the short straw of the design budget with her barren blank room? Well for starters she hasn't actually been around for that long, only moving in somewhere in the region of 2-6 months prior, still that's a long time not to accumulate some trinkets, especially for a girl her age. No rather as mentioned, Primula's room draws some interesting parallels to Keade's. It's empty because of her lack of hobbies or interests, in fact arguable more so because where Keade has her unhealthy devotion to Rin, Primula has nothing. She isn't just disconnected from reality, she has no interest in life itself. This goes to help with her characterization as an empty/soulless doll, with the only company she keeps being the two cat plushies, which to her are gifts that represent far more then any sentimental toy could.
While were still fresh on the topic of toys and parallels, Primula and Asa's rooms both have a focus on stuffed animals (Primula because its all that's in her room and Asa because of the sheer quantity of them) and in both cases there's a good argument to be made that they represent the love others have shown towards them, with it being clear that Asa's plushies are mostly gifts from her mother to comfort her during her sickly childhood, which again mirrors Primula nicely as she to is ill due to roughly the same reasons and both teddys represent the short flash's of love she's been shown. "Its like Poetry".
Finally on this elongated tangent is actually some nice references to Keade's brief stint of sickness, the shots in places are almost identical to when Keade was temporarily bed-bound, with even the same face flannel placed on Primula's forehead. It serves to remind us of that scene, of how that moment affected Rin and Keade and of how serve that was, due to simple over-working. Now with the setting out of the way and to steal a phrase-
And Again, He Returns from Whence He Came;
In this section will go over the events of episode 12's second half and the aptly named 'house of twilight', starting in Primula's bedroom. As mentioned we see her conditions is clearly very harsh, with the gang crowded around. Something to note immediately is the framing of the scene, Rin and Keade (Primula's surget guardians) are constantly framed together while the other girls are left just out of shot and only shown during panned and wide shots. It's a nice touch to remind us of the family dynamic that we're seeing here and as already mentioned, while shuffle is no 'Clanned; After Story' it certainly puts its own spin on that formula during these episodes, with the story going out of it's way to portrait the trio as a family going through a major crises. This is further spurred by Rin's expressions of anguish, especially when he clutches the two cat plushies with the look of a helpless, grieving Father.
Some more interesting framing comes through out with the use of - or lack there of, eyes. the most prominent example being when Rin first asks Primula to go home to the Demon world, the camera shoots just his mouth, just the hollow words, half an expression.
While Rin himself is initially hesitant, with a push from Nerine who breaks down and proclaims she won't lose anyone else, along with advice from the Kings of both the Demons and the Gods (Who act up till this point as somewhat goofy father or uncle figures), Rin gives in, he prostrates to Primula and begs her to go home and we as the audience can only watch as she's literally carried away.
Before we move to far on from it, small side note is Nerine's breakdown, this is after all technically Nerine's arc too (Will get into it more shortly, ep14 in particular has a far greater focus on it then 12). What I like here is Rin's reaction, its a small detail but Rin never out right asks awkward or insensitive questions. This is great as for one its far to common in anime but secondly it wouldn't fit into Rin's character. As we learn in greater detail later on, Rin's lost his fair share and he's the sort who can understand that feeling of loss, as such he never asks Cia or Nerine about their apparent lack of Mothers, nor does he ever directly inquire about Asa's Father, this all adds to that natural sense and feel the drama takes on. This does have a downside for him as he is less aware of Primula and her condition because of it but in scenes like this, its great to see Nerine say "I can't lose anyone else" and to have Rin simply comfort her, rather then cutting immediately to dramatic backstory time.
So getting back on track, we're far from done with ep 12 (I did say this was a busy one right?). While we've already touched on the family unit aspect and Rin's grieving Father display, we now get into some of the more nitty gritty of the show, as-well as Rin's character itself. First lets start with the property's use of fantasy metaphors to tell stories about real world illness. Primula is probably the most straight forward in this regard, her illness is a terminal one with no known cure and little in the way of warning signs. Like a fast on-setting cancer Primula is rapidly taken ill and the only treatments are experimental, this is what makes up the conflict of the arc. If you were terminally ill and the only treatment was a low chance trail cure, only being preformed in a foreign country away from all your friends and new found family, would you take it? For some that answer is easy, many would say the smallest chance is worth a shot but for others, they may choose to spend their remaining time at home surrounded by those they love, rather then risk dieing alone under a strange ceiling.
This is what's facing Primula, take away the fantasy elements for a moment, replace the Demon world for America or Europe and you have much the same conundrum. Primula herself has already decided, in fact she probably did a long time ago, her lack of interest in life, the fate of Lycoris and the other test subjects, it would of all cumulated to a mind set of little regard for her own life. Her vehement resistance to going back to the Demon world isn't spurred by fear or cowardice but instead by a wish to die with the family she's finally found, a wish which Rin for all intensive purposes, unwittingly quenches.
Primula's developmental journey is an interesting one by any standards. On the one hand it mirrors Asa's in that she is essentially not in need of personal development but required to overcome an external challenge however this isn't quite true as unlike Asa she isn't a complete or healthy person regardless of her illness. This in turn helps her mirror the others a bit more as a large part of her arc is to become a fully fledged person in her own right (Something which parallels Cia, Nerine and Keade). However it even goes a step further in that she mirrors Rin's arc in so far as his defect doesn't seem wrong on the surface but is detrimental on a deeper level. One of the reasons I believe Primula is at the core of the whole show is her similarities to each character's progression, but will talk more about that later.
So speaking of Rin's arc, lets link it back in here. We already talked about it a little when refereeing to episode 9's beach story and it's a story that doesn't really resolve till the end of the series, though it certainly is most apparent during the awakening arc. Rin is altruistic to a fault, like in ep 9, he's always ready to do 'what's right'. Rin sends Primula back to the Demon world not because it's what she wants, not because it's what he wants - but because it's what he's told is the right thing to do. Just like trying to buy Cia time, or as will see later, his extravagant date with Asa, Rin is easily peer pressured, bending to the whims of what's socially acceptable, not quite to the point where I'd say he's trying to keep up appearances or anything that vain but rather in an misguided attempt to help/please all those around him.
This adds into what I'll tentatively call one of Shuffle's main themes - Deconstruction. I say 'tentatively' as calling it a theme isn't quite the correct terminology or an apt use of its etymology but to categories Shuffle as deconstruction or parody genre anime would also be equally incorrect. Let's for those uninitiated clarify what I mean. A parody anime is one which riffs on and makes light of it's inspirations, often times breaking the fourth wall, a well know example of this would be Konosuba, an older one would be Martian Successor Nandesco. Alternatively a deconstruction is more concerned with the deliberate breaking down and analysis of a source genre or form of story telling in order to either expose the flaws of such stories and/or to in turn tell new stories, the best know recent example of this would probably be 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica'(Or just 'Madoka' for brevities sake).
Both these genres can be really interesting in their own right but I don't feel Shuffle fits in either, instead its telling a well written genre specific story, while making use of some deconstruction techniques to intentionally and often unintentionally show the flawed thinking and fantisiful escapism of its contemporaries in the same genre. The most famous example of this story telling would no doubt be the original Neon Genesis Evangellion, which while you could list as a deconstruction, is in truth a really well written real robot and phycological narrative which through it's superb quality ends up unpacking much of the logic of it's own genre. A possible exception to all this is 'School Days' where-in the original story isn't necessarily a deconstruction but rather has a myriad of bad ends, where as the anime adaptation is almost without doubt a deliberate attempt at harem anime deconstruction.
Overall it should suffice to say that Shuffle is not focused on being a deconstruction but is happy to show up it and other shows of its nature and maybe no-where more so then Rin Tsuchimi. Rin's faulty altruism is clearly an extrapolation of the standard harem protagonist, who conversely are usually self-less individuals, always ready to put themselves on the line for the heroine. In Shuffle we see this mentality questioned as to weather its all that safe an idea, so often we see a protagonist solve a female love interests problems for them or fight on their behalf but how often do they ask first? Or actually take into consideration the girls feelings on the matter? Referencing the highest ranked Mal shuffle review again, we see a fascinating comment about how Rin fails to help any of the girl's. As we'll talk about this topic at some length this is both the point of his character and a strength of the show. It fascinates me that people would of preferred that the female characters were weak, rather then the strong individuals that are instead presented.
In Rin we see this personality flaw taken forward and it makes for interesting viewing, especially when you consider it's all informed by his childhood, where in he selfishly (We will come back to that) lied to Keade to break her out of her mental instability/depressive-comatose, only for this decision to have her form a co-dependency syndrome towards him in two detrimental ways. However, interestingly enough this is one of the things I see people count against shuffle more often then not. I can understand it, at-least on a first viewing and without having watched episode 13, one could be forgiven for thinking Rin did/has done nothing wrong. By sending Primula home he's risen her chances of survival, just like how fighting off a 'tiger' in episode 9 might of, or telling Keade he'd always need her in episode 5. It's a continuing theme and while these decisions might at first seem right, maybe honourable even, is Rin really asking himself what they want or more importantly what's best for them and himself long term? What he wants.
If your one of the many I've seen at-least here on Mal who don't understand why Rin's decisions are bad or for some bewildering reason think Keade should of 'won', ask yourself would that be a healthy relationship? Is a traditional harem story that overlooks these flaws and has a fairy-tail ending with the hero rescuing the girl from a tower, better then one which deals with its own hang-ups and asks you as the viewer to think about said flaws and do the same?
In case there's still anyone not quite on board, let me use a popular anecdote. "There's always someone weird when you get on a bus, maybe they talk to themselves or dress strange. If you get on the bus and find that person isn't there - then your probably that person". If you truly believe that everything which Rin does is for the best and that Keade should of 'won' the series, then ask yourself this; are you who's Shuffles talking about?
So with all that in mind we move into ep 13. Primula has been succonded back to the Demon World and the rest of the cast is left to deal with the consequences of this decision. A part of this whole thing which I love is the whole level of responsibility being presented to us. The penalty Rin receives for prolonging his fantasy family unit is a steep one, not physically and no one really judges him for it (bar the odd jab from Isekei or the KKK) no its a little more complicated then that. See the family unit Shuffle presents is very 'Traditionally Japanese', that's not to say its hyper accurate to that or anything but its certainly conforms to it. Keade cooks, cleans, prepares lunches and does the bulk of the child minding. Meanwhile Primula is an 'ideal' seen not heard kind of child, impeccably well behaved and helpful around the house.
By all rights this should put Rin in the position of family/household bread winner but due to their circumstances it doesn't. In fact as we'll talk about in greater detail later, Rin is essentially flaunting around the place with other women, right in-front of his partner and child. There's something perverse, almost sickening about it when we see it more in episodes 18-20. More pressingly in eps 12-13 we see Rin finally embody his outdated 'Man of the house' role when it comes down to him to decide Primula's fate. It isn't something he's ready for and while Keade is framed by his side through most of it, it eventually comes down to being Rin and Rin alone to choose. The Kings, fantastical magic other-worlds and adults defer to him, his friends plead their cases and then ultimately all responsibility falls on his shoulder.
As mentioned he chooses the seemingly right option but as episode 13 progress, with the kids attending their everyday school life's, we see the real affect that this is having on them all, in particular on Rin and Keade. Some of it is tropey but I can appreciate a well placed "I made an extra lunch by accident" line, its a tried and tested cliché and sure to pull on the heartstrings while also quaintly communicating that there missing her more then they would of expected. Again it's no Clanned but I find it impressive just how much they manage to do in such a short time.
Continuing this 'man of the house theme', you'll also note how Rin is meant to hide his emotions, the others can cry or lament but Rin is shown actively trying to be resolute, brave for Keade and the others sakes, the most pain he shows is some brooding in the school park, this also ties back neatly into his altruism complex as he does all this and takes all this responsibility without ever actually having him or anyone else utter a word to acknowledge it or rather more importantly ever ask for him to do it.
There's another piece of great cinematography I just want to quickly mention here, as it doesn't really fit into the flow of the rest of the review and that's when Rin learns that Primula is never ever coming back. There's some interesting stuff here, including some great questions of morality and more characterization for Rin as well as the Kings with Mabou delivering his best line in the whole anime - "We did it because we knew there'd be no one to grieve her" which sums him and Gin up in one but, mostly I just want to very quickly address the framing. Rin stands face away from the camera looking towards the Kings of the Gods and Demons who are basked in an almost heavenly glow by the sunset outside, eyes obscured by the light. They simply tell him that he can never see her again.
So with the responsibility firmly on his shoulders, condemnation from actual God and Satin and some serious guilt to cope with, its then that Asa strikes(see what I did there Eva fans?). Or not as the case may be-
Asa Keeps Spoiling The Plot;
Lets take another moment to talk in more detail about young Miss Shigure. As my somewhat fatitious, slightly hyperbolic title implies, to those paying attention Asa has a habit of letting us in on the real plot of the story in small ways. A big example of this is episode 7 where-in Asa gets repeatedly asked out by the soccer team Captain. Very quickly as I didn't discuss this in my Fairy Tail Arc section, I've always liked how the Captain is just a nice guy, it's necessary for the story but also adds credence to it's message and in most other harem/romcom anime, it would of probably ended in a fist fight between the protagonist and the captain which the protagonist would lose only to cause the heroine to swoon out of appreciation for the effort or some such.
Anyhow, getting back on topic, as the Captain seems to be a genuinely nice guy, the question soon becomes why not? Its addressed from Kareha (The Oh la la girl for those who need a refresher) to Asa and the answers actually pretty important. She doesn't like/love him. It's as simple as that and that's not to say she hates him or finds him unattractive, she just plainly isn't interested in him in that way and its in this that we can see in someone else - Rin. By the series close the choice of potential partners for Rin has been narrowed down to Nerine, Cia and Asa with Primula and Keade still learning quite what that sort of romantic love is. So why pick Asa? Well aside from their brilliant on-screen chemistry, it's simply because she's the one he likes.
Now while will come back to that in due course, Asa lends another helping hand to the plot in episode 13. After witnessing a depressed Rin, Asa (Who's been fairly surplus to this storyline despite having some secret familial connections and similarity's to it) takes Rin to a park bench for a chat. We see through-out the show that many people (Including Miss.Mou the teacher in episode 11) relie on Asa's level headiness and common sense for advice. In Rin's case this is especially apt as she is both the childhood friend and senpai character in his life. It's also just nice to see her comfort and listen to her friend woes in his time of need. It isn't dramatic or shot in some dazzling way, instead its an almost mundane setting, it makes it feel a little more realistic.
After a short conversation we get another of my favourite moments of the show, Asa doesn't slap Rin. The whole way through the scene you expect it, a generic slap before Rin comes to his senses and goes crusading off to 'rescue' Primula but that moment never comes. Instead Asa just talks to Rin, because really that's all he needs. Not to be judged or lambasted but to be reassured that he has the Right to make a decision that he believes is right not what everyone else thinks is right and it gets better as Asa accompanies him home and even helps him with convincing the other girls, its really great and helps too both foreshadow their romantic relationship and solidify their union as best friends.
Arc 2, Episode 15 - What was Regained;
For now we're going to forego discussing episode 14 for a minute as with it's advent we have mostly all the pieces we need to talk about Nerine's character as a whole, so let's put that aside for a moment. Episode 15 of Shuffle is in an interesting position as by standard narrative conventions it is the climax of the story, logic follows that everything afterwards should be falling action but as anyone who's watched the show knows, this is far from the case.
The plot loosely revolves around the gang of Rin, Cia, Nerine, Keade and in a sense Lycoris (Nerine's dead clone sister/twin) going to 'rescue' Primula from the Demon world/realm. I say rescue but really it's more like a hospital visit that turns into a retrieval. The actual plot is fairly simple all in all, Primula's condition suddenly worsens and threatens a repeat of the first experiment's catastrophic melt-down. Meanwhile Rin with assistance from Lycoris helps Primula feel loved and in doing so saves her and everyone else present. From Primula's perspective we see a cross between her introspective consciousness and flashbacks, along with some interesting sunflower field imagery. Breaking all this down opens us up to some dense symbolism and as I'm a rank amateur's in terms of cinematography and so on, there are almost definitely better suited people to analyse these scenes. Non-the-less I can't find anyone else doing so, so I shall do my utmost to fill this role
Lets start with the very first scene of the episode, it's a short clip of a dragon like creature swooping across the screen before a cut to some forest and our gang of heroes. The scene is by no means superb but still impressive to look at and works on a few levels. For one its an example of the show's many 'Shuffle points'. Based on it's own name-sake the show frequently changes the tone or direction of the show via an aesthetic, often short lived art-style change. This is definitely one of those and overall the moment works on three distinct levels.
Firstly for the casual audience it communicates that we've left of the realm of earth. It's the obvious assumption but also a well made one. Had we just cut to the gang walking through the forest, you could conceivable mistake it for somewhere like the amazon, instead the dragon clues in anyone who may have missed the previous episode or is simply not paying attention, that this isn't Kansas anymore. Secondly it works as some small worldbuilding. Aside from flashbacks and cut always we spend very little time in the demon world other than in this specific episode so using this opportunity to show us a completely detached location that helps flesh out this world is a nice touch and I always appreciate the extra effort put into a small detail like this.
Finally however is the aforementioned 'Shuffle Point', by showing this as our first scene of the episode, in an episode that specifically decides not to include the usual opening title song, the tone is immediately set that this episode is going to be a departure. Prominently gone is the sombre tone of the previous 3 episodes, replaced with one of a quest, an adventure in to an unknown land. Note how the dragon and surrounding area come across as hostile secondly but primarily as awe inspiring, a massive world which other shows might be content to explore in great detail. With this we're prepared for a fight and a triumph because episode 15 is a reward for Rin. He criticizes himself in monologues, became depressed and than took responsibility for the actions he's taken. With help from Asa (As represented brilliantly by the double entendre red ribbon she gifts Rin) he's learned from his mistake, made a decision based on what he believes is best for Primula and done his best to take Nerine's feelings into consideration as well.
It's also another example of Shuffle! harnessing its animated medium. To capture a 5 second shot like this in live action would be incredibly expensive. From the vivid colours of the set piece's pallet, including the blue sky and bright canyon, to the creating of a dragon that isn't just a CGI monstrosity, replicating the tone this achieves in live action would be no small feat. While of course you could communicate something similar in a book format, words often don't have such an ability to rapidly bombard the audience with such intriguing rapid fire imagery. It should suffice to say that I appreciate these opening moments a lot.
Moving on there's plenty more to talk about, from the King's who break convention and simply let our hero's pass, to morally bankrupt scientists and a surprisingly epic/grandiose battle styled scene but for now lets hone in on Primula's involvement throughout. As I said at the top, she displays an internal struggle throughout the whole arc as portraited by the white void which was once her room and barren rainy fields, alongside sunflower filled meadows. It's some great imagery and to talk about it in proper detail lets first address shuffle's motif and use of colour.
Colour Motif;
It should be obvious to the most casual of casual viewers that shuffle indulges in the usual anime candy coloured hair scheming and while its in no way unique, I think how shuffle uses it in its character designs and storytelling is pretty interesting. First off there's the hair colours, it's worth noting that they nicely match the characters who wear them, Keade the most human is ginger (It's very bright but that's kind of standard in anime, see Lieutenant Matilda for an early 80's/late 70's example of overly bright ginger hair colouring), Rin has brown hair and a dark green hue to his clothing pallet, meanwhile Asa initially seems flamboyant but by the end of the series her hair colour makes perfect sense. Then we have Cia's crimson and Nerine's magenta, representatively of their otherworldly nature, the fact that they aren't human and certainly don't act like it.
This actually extends to the side characters in a fun way to. Isekei is human and his hair shows this in it's standard chestnut brown colouration (Matching his uniform design two which is a nice design choice), Mayumi is a half-demon and her design gives that off, she's short with discoloured eyes and a darker hair tone, almost imp like features translated into a cute girl design. Finally there's Kareha (Oh la laaa) an actual 'God'. She's got long blond hair tied in petite ribbons, a pale skin and a tall build, almost like a fairy, angel, or elf might be described (Further aided by her frequent comical glowing in more light-hearted scenes).
Aside from these nice considerations in characters designs, the motif of colour goes further, invading the OP, the title logo and the story. For example almost every third line of my notes seems to mention some use of lighting to represent the characters feelings or emotional state and this goes doubly if not triply so for Primula. Due to her reserved nature even near the end of the show, the bulk of her emotional communication is simply done with lighting changes often reflected off her/a deadpan expression but in the awakening arc we see it used further. Unlike is usually conventional, Primula's internal world is far from black, instead it's a pitch white room with the white, an absence of colour, representing her loneliness and isolation. Primula herself is even lit a little brighter in most of these scenes to further increase her own appearance's closeness to white.
After all Primula's design in terms of colour is grey, a shadow of colour but with two red ribbons tied into ponytails, indicative of the brief moments of love she's felt throughout her life. The white in her room or cell even, is drowning, there's no real borders, no way in or out, just the endless sea of nothing until Lycoris appears. With Nerine's signature Magenta hair colour, her very presence alone illuminates the room and brings life to Primula's brief existence. Will see more of this through-out but hopefully this short segment has helped to communicate the importance of the shows use of colour within and outside of it's characters designs.
Thanks for reading. Due to a limit on Mal of around 11.000 words,this is only part 1 of 5 parts, all of which are to be found here on Mal along side this one, please check out the other four and if you enjoyed(Here's a helpful link to part 2 -https://myanimelist.net/blog.php?eid=860582 ), leave a 'helpful' on the actual reviews page. All feedback is welcome, hope you enjoyed thus far.
Posted by momentie | May 24, 2021 12:48 PM | 0 comments
May 15th, 2021
Some of my Favorite Scenes in all Anime - A Breakdown
Anime Relations: Shuffle!
The following extracts are taken from my ever impending analysis of the anime 'Shuffle!'. Here I take the opportunity to discuss two of my favorite scenes from the show and some of my favorites in all anime. Like with my previous blog post, I keep the analysis fairly brief so please enjoy and if you've anything to add or alternate comments on the style in general, feel free to let me know as feedback is most welcome. Please note the first extract includes spoilers for episode 12 and the second for episode 19 along with general spoilers for the show at large. I hope you enjoy;
"Ep-12-Frozen Summer;
-sees our now familiar gang of characters going about a fairly unremarkable day, its the end of summer and as such Rin, Cia and Narine are working on completion of Holiday Homework, while Kaede and Primula go about more mundane house-work chores. All seems to be in order but from the get go the show drops two small hints of what's soon to come, there's the most obvious one which comes when we see Primula pouring a cup o' tea only for said tea to momentarily crystallize. Its a brief affair, a second later the tea returns to water, with little more then Primula's expression to prove it even happened. Interestingly, on watching this scene blank for a first time, one would be forgiven for thinking this would be the start of a set up for a generic anime arc where the young character loses confidence in their magical abilities, only for the protagonist to help them out and for the two to grow a little closer in the process but shuffle has other plans.
To further implant this idea of a standard light-hearted anime arc, we get the second hint scene. This ones a little less apparent and almost seems out of character for both Rin and the show. While studying with Narine and Cia, we see Rin become aroused and make a hell of a pervy face in reaction to some 'fan-service'. To me this scene stands out so much that it was clearly intentional, as aforementioned, it initially stands to disarm us into thinking this episode will be a repeat of ep11's lighter, more comical and fan-serivicy tone, furthermore though, it serves to show how comfortable Rin has gotten in his daily life. The original troubles and issues that arose of suddenly finding one's self with a gang of female groupies have mostly been resolved, his surget family is running along smoothly and he is enjoying the summer of his youth. In shoen terms, this is Rin letting his guard down to disastrous effect.
Furthermore we now start to see episode 12's wonderful use of literary short hand, firstly in terms of simple characterization, it makes logical sense to see Cia and Rin as the two least prepared for the new school term additionally to that, Keade is most ready in advance but putting this surface level observation aside, the show makes further use of it's usual 'parrel storytelling'. Will talk about this more in greater detail later but for the moment it should be noted that Rin's study group consists of the 'otherworlders' Cia and Narine. These two contrast and parallel each other in many ways and the show likes to use them to highlight moments that are fantisiful or unrealistic, like for example the very scene we're discussing. The two have the most unnatural hair colours to help them stand out and Cia in particular is by far the most 'fanservicy' character in the show. So as mentioned all this builds up to disarm the audience alongside Rin in preparation for the what's to come. It might also be note worthy that Primula is not in this scene, this may seem like a given as she doesn't attend school yet, nor is she considered a member of the harem till about episode 22 but with her running theme of neglect, it's always interesting to see the show make an effort to separate her from the 'other-worlders' of the group.
In comes one of my favorite scenes in all of anime for its brilliant use of literary short hand and simplistic but effective visuals. Cast your mind back to the stage, Primula basked in the summer rays stands watering sun flowers among other plants, in the Fuyo residence's garden. She seems content and why not, she's found a family, a place to belong and has even started taking an interest in interacting with life ( As evidenced by the plants which Rin implies later, that Primula planted and nurtured of her own volition ) and then it happens. Its been a long time in the making, we'd been told that magic can be unstable, volatile, as evidences by Narine and we'd had foreshadowing a plenty to indicate Primula being something more then a normal demon (as normal as you can get when talking fantasy at-least) and so in a matter of moments, we watch a circle of ice spiral out from primula, enveloping the whole garden, all her work and rendering her unconsion but to put it that simply is to do it a major disservice, so lets break this down a little more thoroughly.
First off we see the hose Primula is wielding, eject ice rather then water, this immediately frightens her and she lets go of the hose almost involuntarily ( In much the same way as is happening with her powers ). It wrights violently imploring snake like imagery (Which should come as relevant considering the shows use of religious imagery) before we move to a close up of her, as a cruel white light emits out from her on the ground and here's the first big instant of short hand. The image subconsionly brings out an idea of bed wetting, further added to by Primula's childish get up, dungarees, pigtails and all. In a lesser show this might come across as perverse but in Shuffles case it's used to subtly implant the idea of a loss of control in the minds of the viewer. If a child wets the bed its frowned upon and if a young teenager still does it, they'd be seen as immature, maybe even taken to a Doctor ( something that presently happens to Primula ).
There's no moment where Primula or anyone else in the scene has to convey the fact that she's lost control. Far to often in anime characters will explain what's going on in any given moment or battle but here with the simple use of her expression and the visual bedwetting metaphor, all the information we need is seamlessly communicated without any dialogue what-so-ever. But the scenes still not done. For one lets talk about the choice of magic the writers use. In the case of all other magic users in the show, were shown vague explosions, particle effects and the like but Primula seemingly quite deliberately uses some form of 'Ice Magic'. The use of this cold blue tone acts as further short hand as it brings to mind the numbing, cruel and lonely sensations and emotions that modern media has come to make us associate with ice.
Rounding out the scene, as already mentioned, we witness the flowers Primula's poured her time into, freeze to ice, along with the garden tree, patio door and with a specific focus on both the sunflowers and a shattering cicada. Now here we have a few more things of significant but subtle note. Flowers and sunflowers in particular are used as a theme of sorts through-out the show, as will discuss in greater note later but it should be clear to most that their freezing helps to represent summer ending at Primula's hand, in an unnatural, unplanned way ( another running theme of Primula being her unnatural nature ). It should also be pointed out, that while flowers are often used to represent how the other girls are in the bloom of their youth (the shows tag line), Primula is stagnant, she isn't a fully fledged person like the others (This even extends to her depictions during the intro song).
The shattering Cicada is a fairly 'anime/Japanese centric' piece of imagery. Anyone whose experienced the likes of Kagura Project or Higarushi will already be aware of the broud range of symbolism these noisy creatures are often used for. Here the shattering initially serves to convey the end of summer, same as the frozen sunflowers but it goes a step further, acting as foreshadowing towards the lethal nature of Primulas magic. It lets us know straight away that there's a chance for her to hurt those around herself and with hindsight, represents how her magic may very well be lethal to herself as-well.
To end on our primary analysis of this scene's use of visual metaphors and literary short hand, lets come back to her ice magic, as-well as the whole result of the frozen garden ( or frozen summer if you like ). Something else we can interpret as the scene telling us is the unique nature of Primula, as stated primarily that she's not natural, a construct of some sort but we can get more then that. The scene helps to reinforce the idea that Primula is something dangerous, almost weapon like, 'something' to be wary and cautions of. The frozen garden of plants, she tried to grow, inspires sickening imagery of failed live, as though primula constitutes infertility, an inability to feel emotions or be human, an inability to lead a normal life and someone who can never give life.
It's some pretty heavy topics, that the show doesn't ever try to address head on but instead in more metaphoric and quiet ways."
Some 10,000 words later;
"Now you'll all be glad to hear they're are only two more scenes which I would list as 'favorites', that's not to say I won't still be gushing galore over the rest of what's left but rather to put emphasis on just how good I think those two scenes are and the one we now find ourselves on is a strong contender for what I think is the strongest of them all, with only episode 12's Primula breakdown as competition. Technically speaking the Keade's breakdown trounces Primula's, the animations jumps massively in quality (And it always looks great to begin with) additionally the score plays its heart out as we get a distorted version of the everyday-life theme. The scene also acts as the only possibly climax for Keade and it's some glorious release of built up tension but I suppose we shouldn't get to far ahead of ourselves.
I prefaced this scene with the short section on Primula's role because it comes in to play in a big way here. While searching for Keade, intending to apologies as she perceives Keade's melancholy as fault of hers. Primula checks in Rin's room only to find that Keade has blacked Asa out of a series of pictures that Rin took with her on one of their dates. Primula's face drops and all the while we have cuts of Rin and Asa returning home from another day out, with Keade approaching to greet them. Primula's reaction here is masterful, for one thing the slow pace of her finding the photo's is done expertly and while in an actual horror movie you might find a note book full of "Kill Asa" or some such, the scribbled out picture serves much the same purpose but furthermore it's the importance of this being Primula. While we've been watching her develop and change more and more she is still in our mind's the mute girl who displays no emotions.
This isn't unheard of in anime, Yuki Nagato would be used to much the same effect in 'The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya' where in if she's panicking then you really know it's something deadly. The point being, any of the characters could of been used for this moment (Putting aside why the others would be in Keade's house) but because it's Primula it adds one more extra layer of tension to an already cooked to tipping point moment, when we see the emotionless girl react with such anxiety.
Further on this also puts us in Primula's perspective, with much of the following shots essentially being shot from an onlookers point of view and my what shots. First off Asa doesn't just enter the house, she bounds in with a skip and a jump. Keep in mind that Japan is a nation of extreme politeness, even for good friends like these, Asa's disregard for convention as she playfully salutes her way through the front door, is completely out of line, especially with consideration for how conservatively tradionalist Keade is. With that said I doubt this minor transgression of manor's deserves what comes next, as mentioned the animation abounds as the camera finally lifts itself from it's stationary home and begins to shake violently alongside Keade who throws Asa against the door. As also talked about the music is a wrapped twisted version of what we're most used to and there's a plethora of filming and animation tricks snuck in here that you won't even notice till a re-watch.
My favorite of these is when the camera at a slightly awkward low to the ground angle, hones in on Asa as she collapses in on herself, her illness now resurfacing once more. If you look closely one of her eyes is actually shaking violently. It's really easy to miss but your sub-conscious picks up on all these little details making the scene twice as terrifying as might otherwise of been. As I say, I love this scene while not as narratively symbolic as episode twelve's might of been, the varied use of classic horror movie cinematography and enhanced animation turn this into the shows most fidelitically impressive scene. I could go on lamenting it's brilliance but I think I've made the point. So lasted the scene fades out as we come to the episode ending with the last point of note being that the next time is just Keade monologuing to herself, capped off by Primula's usual 'join us next time' line. Simple but eerie and once more highly effective.
This scene marks the turning point of Keade's arc and while we've already discussed how it isn't necessarily the worst thing she ever does, it's pretty high up there. In one action she realizes all her pent up anger in an act that vizirates everyone's thrust. While she may claim to of not intended any harm it's worth remembering she's well aware of Asa's illness, which has also been wonderfully foreshadowed. In that is what I think is this scenes biggest triumph, this is the most dramatic Shuffle ever gets with out the use of fantasy elements being involved and what's great is how natural it feels. Keade isn't hitting Asa because the plot demanded it, nor does Asa's illness come from nowhere, instead the entire set-piece is carefully built up to throughout the show making this feel incredibly worthy and far removed from the cheap dramatics of lesser drama's. Furthermore as we've already discussed at length when talking about Keade's character, while this is her 'yandere moment' it's important that for however bad it is to shove a sickly individual, this is still recoverable from, feeding back into her theme of retribution.
I spoke about this in my 'Full Metal Panic' review/essay but it should once more be noted that I love scenes like these because of how grounded they are. Despite their reputation, rom-com and harem anime are to me some of the most heart-felt out there. Without the need for a forced narrative or drama for the sake of drama we're instead presented with well thought out scenes that are grounded in human emotions we can all relate to. To reiterate from earlier, we are meant to sympathies with Keade even in a scene like this, were meant to understand her desperation and I think the moment does a great job of conveying that while also being a highly entertaining Yandere moment with some amazing production values."
I hope you enjoyed these short extracts, all feedback is most welcome,
Thanks for reading.
"Ep-12-Frozen Summer;
-sees our now familiar gang of characters going about a fairly unremarkable day, its the end of summer and as such Rin, Cia and Narine are working on completion of Holiday Homework, while Kaede and Primula go about more mundane house-work chores. All seems to be in order but from the get go the show drops two small hints of what's soon to come, there's the most obvious one which comes when we see Primula pouring a cup o' tea only for said tea to momentarily crystallize. Its a brief affair, a second later the tea returns to water, with little more then Primula's expression to prove it even happened. Interestingly, on watching this scene blank for a first time, one would be forgiven for thinking this would be the start of a set up for a generic anime arc where the young character loses confidence in their magical abilities, only for the protagonist to help them out and for the two to grow a little closer in the process but shuffle has other plans.
To further implant this idea of a standard light-hearted anime arc, we get the second hint scene. This ones a little less apparent and almost seems out of character for both Rin and the show. While studying with Narine and Cia, we see Rin become aroused and make a hell of a pervy face in reaction to some 'fan-service'. To me this scene stands out so much that it was clearly intentional, as aforementioned, it initially stands to disarm us into thinking this episode will be a repeat of ep11's lighter, more comical and fan-serivicy tone, furthermore though, it serves to show how comfortable Rin has gotten in his daily life. The original troubles and issues that arose of suddenly finding one's self with a gang of female groupies have mostly been resolved, his surget family is running along smoothly and he is enjoying the summer of his youth. In shoen terms, this is Rin letting his guard down to disastrous effect.
Furthermore we now start to see episode 12's wonderful use of literary short hand, firstly in terms of simple characterization, it makes logical sense to see Cia and Rin as the two least prepared for the new school term additionally to that, Keade is most ready in advance but putting this surface level observation aside, the show makes further use of it's usual 'parrel storytelling'. Will talk about this more in greater detail later but for the moment it should be noted that Rin's study group consists of the 'otherworlders' Cia and Narine. These two contrast and parallel each other in many ways and the show likes to use them to highlight moments that are fantisiful or unrealistic, like for example the very scene we're discussing. The two have the most unnatural hair colours to help them stand out and Cia in particular is by far the most 'fanservicy' character in the show. So as mentioned all this builds up to disarm the audience alongside Rin in preparation for the what's to come. It might also be note worthy that Primula is not in this scene, this may seem like a given as she doesn't attend school yet, nor is she considered a member of the harem till about episode 22 but with her running theme of neglect, it's always interesting to see the show make an effort to separate her from the 'other-worlders' of the group.
In comes one of my favorite scenes in all of anime for its brilliant use of literary short hand and simplistic but effective visuals. Cast your mind back to the stage, Primula basked in the summer rays stands watering sun flowers among other plants, in the Fuyo residence's garden. She seems content and why not, she's found a family, a place to belong and has even started taking an interest in interacting with life ( As evidenced by the plants which Rin implies later, that Primula planted and nurtured of her own volition ) and then it happens. Its been a long time in the making, we'd been told that magic can be unstable, volatile, as evidences by Narine and we'd had foreshadowing a plenty to indicate Primula being something more then a normal demon (as normal as you can get when talking fantasy at-least) and so in a matter of moments, we watch a circle of ice spiral out from primula, enveloping the whole garden, all her work and rendering her unconsion but to put it that simply is to do it a major disservice, so lets break this down a little more thoroughly.
First off we see the hose Primula is wielding, eject ice rather then water, this immediately frightens her and she lets go of the hose almost involuntarily ( In much the same way as is happening with her powers ). It wrights violently imploring snake like imagery (Which should come as relevant considering the shows use of religious imagery) before we move to a close up of her, as a cruel white light emits out from her on the ground and here's the first big instant of short hand. The image subconsionly brings out an idea of bed wetting, further added to by Primula's childish get up, dungarees, pigtails and all. In a lesser show this might come across as perverse but in Shuffles case it's used to subtly implant the idea of a loss of control in the minds of the viewer. If a child wets the bed its frowned upon and if a young teenager still does it, they'd be seen as immature, maybe even taken to a Doctor ( something that presently happens to Primula ).
There's no moment where Primula or anyone else in the scene has to convey the fact that she's lost control. Far to often in anime characters will explain what's going on in any given moment or battle but here with the simple use of her expression and the visual bedwetting metaphor, all the information we need is seamlessly communicated without any dialogue what-so-ever. But the scenes still not done. For one lets talk about the choice of magic the writers use. In the case of all other magic users in the show, were shown vague explosions, particle effects and the like but Primula seemingly quite deliberately uses some form of 'Ice Magic'. The use of this cold blue tone acts as further short hand as it brings to mind the numbing, cruel and lonely sensations and emotions that modern media has come to make us associate with ice.
Rounding out the scene, as already mentioned, we witness the flowers Primula's poured her time into, freeze to ice, along with the garden tree, patio door and with a specific focus on both the sunflowers and a shattering cicada. Now here we have a few more things of significant but subtle note. Flowers and sunflowers in particular are used as a theme of sorts through-out the show, as will discuss in greater note later but it should be clear to most that their freezing helps to represent summer ending at Primula's hand, in an unnatural, unplanned way ( another running theme of Primula being her unnatural nature ). It should also be pointed out, that while flowers are often used to represent how the other girls are in the bloom of their youth (the shows tag line), Primula is stagnant, she isn't a fully fledged person like the others (This even extends to her depictions during the intro song).
The shattering Cicada is a fairly 'anime/Japanese centric' piece of imagery. Anyone whose experienced the likes of Kagura Project or Higarushi will already be aware of the broud range of symbolism these noisy creatures are often used for. Here the shattering initially serves to convey the end of summer, same as the frozen sunflowers but it goes a step further, acting as foreshadowing towards the lethal nature of Primulas magic. It lets us know straight away that there's a chance for her to hurt those around herself and with hindsight, represents how her magic may very well be lethal to herself as-well.
To end on our primary analysis of this scene's use of visual metaphors and literary short hand, lets come back to her ice magic, as-well as the whole result of the frozen garden ( or frozen summer if you like ). Something else we can interpret as the scene telling us is the unique nature of Primula, as stated primarily that she's not natural, a construct of some sort but we can get more then that. The scene helps to reinforce the idea that Primula is something dangerous, almost weapon like, 'something' to be wary and cautions of. The frozen garden of plants, she tried to grow, inspires sickening imagery of failed live, as though primula constitutes infertility, an inability to feel emotions or be human, an inability to lead a normal life and someone who can never give life.
It's some pretty heavy topics, that the show doesn't ever try to address head on but instead in more metaphoric and quiet ways."
Some 10,000 words later;
"Now you'll all be glad to hear they're are only two more scenes which I would list as 'favorites', that's not to say I won't still be gushing galore over the rest of what's left but rather to put emphasis on just how good I think those two scenes are and the one we now find ourselves on is a strong contender for what I think is the strongest of them all, with only episode 12's Primula breakdown as competition. Technically speaking the Keade's breakdown trounces Primula's, the animations jumps massively in quality (And it always looks great to begin with) additionally the score plays its heart out as we get a distorted version of the everyday-life theme. The scene also acts as the only possibly climax for Keade and it's some glorious release of built up tension but I suppose we shouldn't get to far ahead of ourselves.
I prefaced this scene with the short section on Primula's role because it comes in to play in a big way here. While searching for Keade, intending to apologies as she perceives Keade's melancholy as fault of hers. Primula checks in Rin's room only to find that Keade has blacked Asa out of a series of pictures that Rin took with her on one of their dates. Primula's face drops and all the while we have cuts of Rin and Asa returning home from another day out, with Keade approaching to greet them. Primula's reaction here is masterful, for one thing the slow pace of her finding the photo's is done expertly and while in an actual horror movie you might find a note book full of "Kill Asa" or some such, the scribbled out picture serves much the same purpose but furthermore it's the importance of this being Primula. While we've been watching her develop and change more and more she is still in our mind's the mute girl who displays no emotions.
This isn't unheard of in anime, Yuki Nagato would be used to much the same effect in 'The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya' where in if she's panicking then you really know it's something deadly. The point being, any of the characters could of been used for this moment (Putting aside why the others would be in Keade's house) but because it's Primula it adds one more extra layer of tension to an already cooked to tipping point moment, when we see the emotionless girl react with such anxiety.
Further on this also puts us in Primula's perspective, with much of the following shots essentially being shot from an onlookers point of view and my what shots. First off Asa doesn't just enter the house, she bounds in with a skip and a jump. Keep in mind that Japan is a nation of extreme politeness, even for good friends like these, Asa's disregard for convention as she playfully salutes her way through the front door, is completely out of line, especially with consideration for how conservatively tradionalist Keade is. With that said I doubt this minor transgression of manor's deserves what comes next, as mentioned the animation abounds as the camera finally lifts itself from it's stationary home and begins to shake violently alongside Keade who throws Asa against the door. As also talked about the music is a wrapped twisted version of what we're most used to and there's a plethora of filming and animation tricks snuck in here that you won't even notice till a re-watch.
My favorite of these is when the camera at a slightly awkward low to the ground angle, hones in on Asa as she collapses in on herself, her illness now resurfacing once more. If you look closely one of her eyes is actually shaking violently. It's really easy to miss but your sub-conscious picks up on all these little details making the scene twice as terrifying as might otherwise of been. As I say, I love this scene while not as narratively symbolic as episode twelve's might of been, the varied use of classic horror movie cinematography and enhanced animation turn this into the shows most fidelitically impressive scene. I could go on lamenting it's brilliance but I think I've made the point. So lasted the scene fades out as we come to the episode ending with the last point of note being that the next time is just Keade monologuing to herself, capped off by Primula's usual 'join us next time' line. Simple but eerie and once more highly effective.
This scene marks the turning point of Keade's arc and while we've already discussed how it isn't necessarily the worst thing she ever does, it's pretty high up there. In one action she realizes all her pent up anger in an act that vizirates everyone's thrust. While she may claim to of not intended any harm it's worth remembering she's well aware of Asa's illness, which has also been wonderfully foreshadowed. In that is what I think is this scenes biggest triumph, this is the most dramatic Shuffle ever gets with out the use of fantasy elements being involved and what's great is how natural it feels. Keade isn't hitting Asa because the plot demanded it, nor does Asa's illness come from nowhere, instead the entire set-piece is carefully built up to throughout the show making this feel incredibly worthy and far removed from the cheap dramatics of lesser drama's. Furthermore as we've already discussed at length when talking about Keade's character, while this is her 'yandere moment' it's important that for however bad it is to shove a sickly individual, this is still recoverable from, feeding back into her theme of retribution.
I spoke about this in my 'Full Metal Panic' review/essay but it should once more be noted that I love scenes like these because of how grounded they are. Despite their reputation, rom-com and harem anime are to me some of the most heart-felt out there. Without the need for a forced narrative or drama for the sake of drama we're instead presented with well thought out scenes that are grounded in human emotions we can all relate to. To reiterate from earlier, we are meant to sympathies with Keade even in a scene like this, were meant to understand her desperation and I think the moment does a great job of conveying that while also being a highly entertaining Yandere moment with some amazing production values."
I hope you enjoyed these short extracts, all feedback is most welcome,
Thanks for reading.
Posted by momentie | May 15, 2021 8:05 AM | 0 comments