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kaigouBased on convos with Pix, Saro, Caroline, and a few others. crits and comments are welcome. Final version will likely end up on Zan's site (and Tyr's, if GWA wants it). Right now it's just a bit rambly, and will be reorganized, but I wanted to toss the preliminary out there and see what other GW folks thought.
In an interview with Minami Masahiko, the executive producer for Cowboy Bebop and one of the collaborators on G Gundam and 08th MS Team Gundam, Masakhiko touches on a change in perspective at Sunrise/Bandai in the mid-90s. "I've heard that Japanese animation is getting more popular overseas... I personally believe I am creating something very interesting. For IRON LEAGUER, I actually had fans overseas in my mind when I was creating it." He goes on to imply that much of the reason for this is economics; the state of animation in Japan in the mid-90s was financially tight for many studios. Expanding the anime audience to appeal to a larger audience was beginning to look like the best way (if not the only way) for studios to succeed. "I would like to spread the overseas popularity of animation, so I can get a larger budget (laughs) and create more interesting works."
What caught my eye was the acknowledgment that, even that early in the fansub era, Sunrise/Bandai was aware that the anime population outside Japan was growing by leaps and bounds. This apparently had an impact, possibly causing a shift in their approach to certain characters, plots, and overall stories. The non-Japanese fandom was beginning to be taken more seriously, especially with the rise of anime conventions in the U.S. (you may recall that many of today's largest anime cons were first staged in the early to mid-90s).
There are seventeen Gundam series, including GWing and the newest, GSeed. The only thing of which I'm relatively certain is that all Gundam series always have a young, Japanese male as its lead character; I'm somewhat certain the secondary characters are multi-cultural (to some extent). But from the implications in that interivew, Gundam Wing was created and designed at a point when Bandai/Sunrise was beginning to seriously consider how its multi-cultural characters might be taken by viewers from those cultures. The implication in the interview was that previously this was not taken into consideration, because it wasn't expected that extra-Japan viewers were likely to be a large audience. In that sense, this shift -- and its timing as relates to GWing's production and release -- raises some rather intriguing ideas for me.
These aren't perfect analogies, granted, but they hold up relatively well. What makes them most interesting, to me, is the possibility that these additional archetypes (after the standard young, Japanese male lead) were created/added/smoothed to appeal to the viewer's cultural background as much as the original Japanese audience. A balance, then, must be struck between what a Japanese teenage fan would perceive as "culture A" versus how "culture A" would see itself. I suspect this would require, to some extent, that the archetypes be even more subtle so as to be ambiguous and therefore complimentary to both halves, even in situations where the two cultures may be in conflict (or misunderstanding) more than cooperative.
First, the representations of the characters. Heero represents not only the young Japanese lead, but to a certain extent he's also the embodiment of the last of the Samurai-like attitude during WWII. When the Emperor says fight and die, the young men did so, in droves, with pride. Heero reflects this in his actions, willingly interpreting surrender as total, and self-destructing. His progress through the series -- from fixed-on-death as the ultimate sacrifice, to willing to survive and create a New World -- echoes Japan's arc from pre-WWII to post-WWII.
Wufei is a tougher nut to crack in this analogy, given the animosity between China and Japan for so many centuries. While China had done its share of running roughshod across Japan, in more recent memory (the 30s), Japan occupied China -- a feat that still rankles on many Chinese. Compared to the partnerships between the other pilots in terms of battles and/or planning (Heero/Duo, Trowa/Quatre, Trowa/Wufei, Duo/Quatre, Heero/Trowa, Heero/Quatre), Wufei is not partnered with Heero nearly as much as the rest. If Wufei is an archetype for the rest of the Asian world (but viewed through Japanese perspective), then it's no surprise that he would be more often at odds with Heero than in a partnership. (Also note that Duo and Wufei rarely interact in the series, either; if they are representative of a Japanese perspective of the two countries, it's likely Bandai/Sunrise didn't miss that China and the US have more often been at odds than allied during the 20th century.)
Quatre is often considered Muslim in the fandom, though he never once utters the words 'Allah' or any other Islamic-type phrase. And the clothing worn by the Maganacs and Quatre's father are more reminiscent of some Hollywood notion of Turkey -- or even the stereotypical gypsies -- than the Middle East per se. It's entirely possible that Sunrise/Bandai chose the eye and hair color much like My Little Pony: one green-eyed boy, one light-blue-eyed boy, one pink horse, one blue horse... But it's also hard to discredit T.E. Lawrence as a role model for Quatre, especially with the scene where Quatre and the Maganacs attack the train, with Quatre at the head. If you've seen Lawrence of Arabia, then you've seen what could be a template for that scene in GWing. And if Quatre is a T.E. Lawrence-based archetype, this matches up with some of Quatre's other character traits: wealthy, educated upper class, throwing his lot in with a group of freedom fighters in the desert. (Oh, and gay, but Lawrence apparently considered himself somewhat asexual.)
Contrast with Trowa, who seems in fanon to often be Latin or Hispanic, another fanon assumption that I can't find grounds for in any of the official material. I would instead posit Trowa as the counterpart to Quatre, given that he's cast as such repeatedly through the series. Where Quatre is empathic, Trowa is compassionate. Where Quatre is wealthy and fights from a sense of obligation, Trowa is of mercenary background and fights because it's what he's always done. If Quatre is the European upper-class, Trowa is the downtrodden masses: they play the roles of the lord and the peon, the name everyone knows and the one with no name. In Europe through WWII, like in pre-Meiji era Japan, the faceless masses who worked the lands often had no surname. The lord's name was what others adopted when a surname was required.
And then we get to Duo, which is where the analogies get really interesting to me. I'm sure someone else has drawn these lines, but many of the sites that once housed such essays are falling to the wayside now. It's harder to find previous fans who've analyzed such, so forgive me if I'm repeating what's been written or said before. I had always approached Duo with the curiosity, as an American, of how his representation reflected the Japanese impression of the U.S. But to know that Bandai/Sunrise was writing characters with the emergent intent of appealing to non-Japanese audiences adds an additional level.
But first, we have to address Relena. Although she's decried by many in the fandom as an annoying, mostly-incidental character, if you step away from her wacky characterization (she's put through the wringer by the writers, IMO; they appear to have had trouble balancing her character into something consistently strong without going overboard), plot-wise Relena is the catharsis in most of the series. She begins with a willingness to fight, but knuckles under (or attempts pacification rather than rebellion, if you prefer), and despite essentially cooperating with the enemy eventually realizes that she must do what she can to fight.
I've seen it said that Sanq (Cinq) is Greece, but I've always felt it was more likely France. First, Cinq = five, and France is roughly a pentagonal shape. Second, the costumes and architecture reflect French-European styles, and France does have ports on the Mediterranean. But third, and most important in terms of this analogy, France began WWII attempting to fight, keeled under to the Germans, cooperated with the enemy, until finally its resistance forces rose up -- with considerable help from Britain and the U.S. -- to drive out the Germans. There's also a loose connection, then, between France and French Indochina, which Japan was busy occupying in 1940; troop movement into Indochina brought economic embargo from the U.S. as retaliation. And finally, her continued inspiration for Heero may also be a soft tweak on the longheld Japanese fascination with all things French; until a few years ago, the most common type of foreign food available in Japan was French. (Even other animes from the 70s and 80s reflect a fascination with France, like Rose of Versailles.)
Now, back to Duo. First, when Duo and Heero meet, Heero is striking out at Relena, a perceived enemy. (Like I said, the analogy is not perfect, which is why it's more of a metaphor, unless you stretch and say the French element in this case is French Indochina.) Japan, during WWII, was not acting out of a sense of unification with Hitler's Germany so much as out of a wish for conquest on its own. It had determined that point was the best time to strike, to expand its power base. It was willing to fight to the death, until two cities were decimated by the U.S.; Duo shoots Heero twice. This is where literary fun comes into the metaphor, since the story chronologically doesn't follow history exactly but instead touches on a dynamic that might still be recognizable to those knowing the help/compete relationship between Japan and the U.S.
Moving on. When Une threatens the colonies with destruction barring surrender from the Gundam rebels, she's playing a vaguely American role: if you do not accept the Potsdam Declaration (total surrender), more cities will be destroyed, like Nagasaki and Hiroshima. J's reply is that he surrenders personally, but that the colonies do not. This peculiar phrasing is also reminiscent of Emporer Hirohito's carefully-chosen semantics, in his announcement to the Japanese people that Japan "will end the war for humanitarian reasons"; he never actually used the term "surrender". Heero's actions upon J's announcement (essentially suicide) is exactly what the Imperial family feared in 1945 -- and which did happen in some limited cases; after Nagasaki was bombed, the Japanese government stalled for a week on the Potsdam Declaration while it attempted to get the word out to military officials that the Emporer would capitulate. Although that delay pushed the risk of a third bombing closer, the eventual result was fewer deaths of citizens thinking surrender required their deaths as sacrifice. Heero, in GW, does not hesitate. This is exactly how he interprets it, and it's an attitude that many Japanese would understand, while the American looks on in disbelief.
Heero's attitude after self-destructing is also reflective of the general mode of Japan, immediately following surrender. With Emporer Hirohito revealed as an ordinary human and not a God-like being, Japan flailed for a short period. It was revealed to be led by a falliable person, and the country lost a lot of its confidence and purpose. It basically went through a period of shock, much like Heero's stunned realization that he's dead to the world, and all roads are open. However, like Heero, the Japanese people pulled themselves up and got about the business of rebuilding. For Heero, this means asking for forgiveness; for the Japanese people, it meant accepting the terms of their surrender and getting back to the business of living. The analogy is weaker at this point, but Heero -- as the young Japanese male lead who embodies All That Is Good -- his attempts to rectify his wrong-doings reflect the Japanese people's attempts to repair their damaged international relations. (Heero giving up the gun to Sylvia Noventa could also be seen as a gentle echo of the Japanese agreement of the Potsdam Declaration's requirement that Japan disarm completely.)
The loose metaphor can be drawn through much of GWing, related to WWII and the interactions between the various pilots. Wufei, for the most part, remains distinct and separate, as did China for the majority of WWII. Quatre and Trowa band together at several points. If they are mirrored images of a culture (rich vs. poor), then Trowa's distrust of Quatre's willingness to help is not just Trowa's personality but also a riff on the low-income distrust of the landed gentry's generosity, which is often given and taken away with little warning. And if Quatre is the British assistance (not just in the sense of upper class, but in the sense of power and might), then his willingness to aid Relena/France echoes the British patterns -- even defending her country when she herself refuses to do so --during WWII as well.
But between Duo and Heero, as the American and Japanese archetypes, the metaphor isn't of WWII, but post-war. At the beginning of the series -- episode 2 or 3? -- Duo shoots Heero. If this were strictly playing against the WWII metaphor, this action should have happened near the end of the series. Instead, while other metaphors are playing out a WWII pattern, Duo and Heero have begun the series with the end of WWII. In that sense, the relationship between them sheds some light on how Sunrise/Bandai perceived both the Japanese/American socio-political interaction, as well as what they thought would also be a representation that would appeal to Americans. First, Duo shoots Heero (while concurrently planning to strip Heero's Gundam of all useful parts, much as American soldiers carted out many irreplaceable Japanese national treasures in the weeks following Japan's fall). Heero is left wounded, and assumed terribly injured; Sally's litany of his injuries is extensive, and if you think of Japan as a human body, I'd expect at least that many wounds to be analogous post-Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But Duo follows this up by bailing out Heero; America rebuilt Japan, in some places from the ground up. Then Heero takes Duo's technology and finishes the rebuild/reconstruction. They have become uneasy allies moving into some kind of friendship, but most definitely one based on competition: each is tracking the other and keeping score.
When they meet up again, and Duo has been captured and beaten down, it's Heero's turn to rescue. It's been remarked often that this back-and-forth is a hallmark of their relationship, but it's also a hallmark of Japanese-American relations for the past sixty years, too. When American hit a severe economic downturn, its manufacturing technology bogged down by legacy systems and archaic patterns, it was Japan that stepped in to educate American corporations in better methods of efficiency. Somewhere [must find to credit], there's a work on the economic lessons America taught Japan, which during the 60s and 70s America then left behind, while Japan improved on these lessons -- eventually, Japan was the one teaching the lesson back to America. This is the dynamic between Heero and Duo, and it's repeated throughout the series up to EW where Heero requests a punch before knocking out Duo. It's not a textbook friendship so much as an alliance of rivals, each seeking to one-up (and improve) the other through friendly competition. One could even go so far as to pinpoint Duo's excellent piloting skills (and Heero's reliance on them) as a nod to America's predominance in the Space Age, and its continuing superlative position in military technology such as fighter jets.
While the dynamic is not a flawless analogy to Japan-U.S. relations, it's close enough that such positive perception of both sides (interpreted as an equal exchange, taken over the entire stretch) could be potentially flattering to both the Japanese audience that relates to Heero, and the American audience that relates to Duo. The American archetype has an emphasis on indepedence, even to the point of Duo 'stealing' his Gundam while Heero 'trained' on his for years, but balanced by the Japanese archetype's emphasis on honor (eye for an eye being one part, and fulfilling debts being another).
I'll stop there because it's late and I'm tired. But that's the essay in its preliminary rough draft form. Will reread and revise later. As said before, insights and comments are welcome. Really good comments may even get quoted (but I'll ask first). Thx, all.
reminders to myself:
http://www.ex.org/2.7/04-exclusive_sunrise1.html
http://www.ex.org/3.6/09-feature_kawamori1.html
partnerships: duo/trowa/quatre, wufei, heero, comparison to WWII alliances
In an interview with Minami Masahiko, the executive producer for Cowboy Bebop and one of the collaborators on G Gundam and 08th MS Team Gundam, Masakhiko touches on a change in perspective at Sunrise/Bandai in the mid-90s. "I've heard that Japanese animation is getting more popular overseas... I personally believe I am creating something very interesting. For IRON LEAGUER, I actually had fans overseas in my mind when I was creating it." He goes on to imply that much of the reason for this is economics; the state of animation in Japan in the mid-90s was financially tight for many studios. Expanding the anime audience to appeal to a larger audience was beginning to look like the best way (if not the only way) for studios to succeed. "I would like to spread the overseas popularity of animation, so I can get a larger budget (laughs) and create more interesting works."
What caught my eye was the acknowledgment that, even that early in the fansub era, Sunrise/Bandai was aware that the anime population outside Japan was growing by leaps and bounds. This apparently had an impact, possibly causing a shift in their approach to certain characters, plots, and overall stories. The non-Japanese fandom was beginning to be taken more seriously, especially with the rise of anime conventions in the U.S. (you may recall that many of today's largest anime cons were first staged in the early to mid-90s).
There are seventeen Gundam series, including GWing and the newest, GSeed. The only thing of which I'm relatively certain is that all Gundam series always have a young, Japanese male as its lead character; I'm somewhat certain the secondary characters are multi-cultural (to some extent). But from the implications in that interivew, Gundam Wing was created and designed at a point when Bandai/Sunrise was beginning to seriously consider how its multi-cultural characters might be taken by viewers from those cultures. The implication in the interview was that previously this was not taken into consideration, because it wasn't expected that extra-Japan viewers were likely to be a large audience. In that sense, this shift -- and its timing as relates to GWing's production and release -- raises some rather intriguing ideas for me.
These aren't perfect analogies, granted, but they hold up relatively well. What makes them most interesting, to me, is the possibility that these additional archetypes (after the standard young, Japanese male lead) were created/added/smoothed to appeal to the viewer's cultural background as much as the original Japanese audience. A balance, then, must be struck between what a Japanese teenage fan would perceive as "culture A" versus how "culture A" would see itself. I suspect this would require, to some extent, that the archetypes be even more subtle so as to be ambiguous and therefore complimentary to both halves, even in situations where the two cultures may be in conflict (or misunderstanding) more than cooperative.
First, the representations of the characters. Heero represents not only the young Japanese lead, but to a certain extent he's also the embodiment of the last of the Samurai-like attitude during WWII. When the Emperor says fight and die, the young men did so, in droves, with pride. Heero reflects this in his actions, willingly interpreting surrender as total, and self-destructing. His progress through the series -- from fixed-on-death as the ultimate sacrifice, to willing to survive and create a New World -- echoes Japan's arc from pre-WWII to post-WWII.
Wufei is a tougher nut to crack in this analogy, given the animosity between China and Japan for so many centuries. While China had done its share of running roughshod across Japan, in more recent memory (the 30s), Japan occupied China -- a feat that still rankles on many Chinese. Compared to the partnerships between the other pilots in terms of battles and/or planning (Heero/Duo, Trowa/Quatre, Trowa/Wufei, Duo/Quatre, Heero/Trowa, Heero/Quatre), Wufei is not partnered with Heero nearly as much as the rest. If Wufei is an archetype for the rest of the Asian world (but viewed through Japanese perspective), then it's no surprise that he would be more often at odds with Heero than in a partnership. (Also note that Duo and Wufei rarely interact in the series, either; if they are representative of a Japanese perspective of the two countries, it's likely Bandai/Sunrise didn't miss that China and the US have more often been at odds than allied during the 20th century.)
Quatre is often considered Muslim in the fandom, though he never once utters the words 'Allah' or any other Islamic-type phrase. And the clothing worn by the Maganacs and Quatre's father are more reminiscent of some Hollywood notion of Turkey -- or even the stereotypical gypsies -- than the Middle East per se. It's entirely possible that Sunrise/Bandai chose the eye and hair color much like My Little Pony: one green-eyed boy, one light-blue-eyed boy, one pink horse, one blue horse... But it's also hard to discredit T.E. Lawrence as a role model for Quatre, especially with the scene where Quatre and the Maganacs attack the train, with Quatre at the head. If you've seen Lawrence of Arabia, then you've seen what could be a template for that scene in GWing. And if Quatre is a T.E. Lawrence-based archetype, this matches up with some of Quatre's other character traits: wealthy, educated upper class, throwing his lot in with a group of freedom fighters in the desert. (Oh, and gay, but Lawrence apparently considered himself somewhat asexual.)
Contrast with Trowa, who seems in fanon to often be Latin or Hispanic, another fanon assumption that I can't find grounds for in any of the official material. I would instead posit Trowa as the counterpart to Quatre, given that he's cast as such repeatedly through the series. Where Quatre is empathic, Trowa is compassionate. Where Quatre is wealthy and fights from a sense of obligation, Trowa is of mercenary background and fights because it's what he's always done. If Quatre is the European upper-class, Trowa is the downtrodden masses: they play the roles of the lord and the peon, the name everyone knows and the one with no name. In Europe through WWII, like in pre-Meiji era Japan, the faceless masses who worked the lands often had no surname. The lord's name was what others adopted when a surname was required.
And then we get to Duo, which is where the analogies get really interesting to me. I'm sure someone else has drawn these lines, but many of the sites that once housed such essays are falling to the wayside now. It's harder to find previous fans who've analyzed such, so forgive me if I'm repeating what's been written or said before. I had always approached Duo with the curiosity, as an American, of how his representation reflected the Japanese impression of the U.S. But to know that Bandai/Sunrise was writing characters with the emergent intent of appealing to non-Japanese audiences adds an additional level.
But first, we have to address Relena. Although she's decried by many in the fandom as an annoying, mostly-incidental character, if you step away from her wacky characterization (she's put through the wringer by the writers, IMO; they appear to have had trouble balancing her character into something consistently strong without going overboard), plot-wise Relena is the catharsis in most of the series. She begins with a willingness to fight, but knuckles under (or attempts pacification rather than rebellion, if you prefer), and despite essentially cooperating with the enemy eventually realizes that she must do what she can to fight.
I've seen it said that Sanq (Cinq) is Greece, but I've always felt it was more likely France. First, Cinq = five, and France is roughly a pentagonal shape. Second, the costumes and architecture reflect French-European styles, and France does have ports on the Mediterranean. But third, and most important in terms of this analogy, France began WWII attempting to fight, keeled under to the Germans, cooperated with the enemy, until finally its resistance forces rose up -- with considerable help from Britain and the U.S. -- to drive out the Germans. There's also a loose connection, then, between France and French Indochina, which Japan was busy occupying in 1940; troop movement into Indochina brought economic embargo from the U.S. as retaliation. And finally, her continued inspiration for Heero may also be a soft tweak on the longheld Japanese fascination with all things French; until a few years ago, the most common type of foreign food available in Japan was French. (Even other animes from the 70s and 80s reflect a fascination with France, like Rose of Versailles.)
Now, back to Duo. First, when Duo and Heero meet, Heero is striking out at Relena, a perceived enemy. (Like I said, the analogy is not perfect, which is why it's more of a metaphor, unless you stretch and say the French element in this case is French Indochina.) Japan, during WWII, was not acting out of a sense of unification with Hitler's Germany so much as out of a wish for conquest on its own. It had determined that point was the best time to strike, to expand its power base. It was willing to fight to the death, until two cities were decimated by the U.S.; Duo shoots Heero twice. This is where literary fun comes into the metaphor, since the story chronologically doesn't follow history exactly but instead touches on a dynamic that might still be recognizable to those knowing the help/compete relationship between Japan and the U.S.
Moving on. When Une threatens the colonies with destruction barring surrender from the Gundam rebels, she's playing a vaguely American role: if you do not accept the Potsdam Declaration (total surrender), more cities will be destroyed, like Nagasaki and Hiroshima. J's reply is that he surrenders personally, but that the colonies do not. This peculiar phrasing is also reminiscent of Emporer Hirohito's carefully-chosen semantics, in his announcement to the Japanese people that Japan "will end the war for humanitarian reasons"; he never actually used the term "surrender". Heero's actions upon J's announcement (essentially suicide) is exactly what the Imperial family feared in 1945 -- and which did happen in some limited cases; after Nagasaki was bombed, the Japanese government stalled for a week on the Potsdam Declaration while it attempted to get the word out to military officials that the Emporer would capitulate. Although that delay pushed the risk of a third bombing closer, the eventual result was fewer deaths of citizens thinking surrender required their deaths as sacrifice. Heero, in GW, does not hesitate. This is exactly how he interprets it, and it's an attitude that many Japanese would understand, while the American looks on in disbelief.
Heero's attitude after self-destructing is also reflective of the general mode of Japan, immediately following surrender. With Emporer Hirohito revealed as an ordinary human and not a God-like being, Japan flailed for a short period. It was revealed to be led by a falliable person, and the country lost a lot of its confidence and purpose. It basically went through a period of shock, much like Heero's stunned realization that he's dead to the world, and all roads are open. However, like Heero, the Japanese people pulled themselves up and got about the business of rebuilding. For Heero, this means asking for forgiveness; for the Japanese people, it meant accepting the terms of their surrender and getting back to the business of living. The analogy is weaker at this point, but Heero -- as the young Japanese male lead who embodies All That Is Good -- his attempts to rectify his wrong-doings reflect the Japanese people's attempts to repair their damaged international relations. (Heero giving up the gun to Sylvia Noventa could also be seen as a gentle echo of the Japanese agreement of the Potsdam Declaration's requirement that Japan disarm completely.)
The loose metaphor can be drawn through much of GWing, related to WWII and the interactions between the various pilots. Wufei, for the most part, remains distinct and separate, as did China for the majority of WWII. Quatre and Trowa band together at several points. If they are mirrored images of a culture (rich vs. poor), then Trowa's distrust of Quatre's willingness to help is not just Trowa's personality but also a riff on the low-income distrust of the landed gentry's generosity, which is often given and taken away with little warning. And if Quatre is the British assistance (not just in the sense of upper class, but in the sense of power and might), then his willingness to aid Relena/France echoes the British patterns -- even defending her country when she herself refuses to do so --during WWII as well.
But between Duo and Heero, as the American and Japanese archetypes, the metaphor isn't of WWII, but post-war. At the beginning of the series -- episode 2 or 3? -- Duo shoots Heero. If this were strictly playing against the WWII metaphor, this action should have happened near the end of the series. Instead, while other metaphors are playing out a WWII pattern, Duo and Heero have begun the series with the end of WWII. In that sense, the relationship between them sheds some light on how Sunrise/Bandai perceived both the Japanese/American socio-political interaction, as well as what they thought would also be a representation that would appeal to Americans. First, Duo shoots Heero (while concurrently planning to strip Heero's Gundam of all useful parts, much as American soldiers carted out many irreplaceable Japanese national treasures in the weeks following Japan's fall). Heero is left wounded, and assumed terribly injured; Sally's litany of his injuries is extensive, and if you think of Japan as a human body, I'd expect at least that many wounds to be analogous post-Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But Duo follows this up by bailing out Heero; America rebuilt Japan, in some places from the ground up. Then Heero takes Duo's technology and finishes the rebuild/reconstruction. They have become uneasy allies moving into some kind of friendship, but most definitely one based on competition: each is tracking the other and keeping score.
When they meet up again, and Duo has been captured and beaten down, it's Heero's turn to rescue. It's been remarked often that this back-and-forth is a hallmark of their relationship, but it's also a hallmark of Japanese-American relations for the past sixty years, too. When American hit a severe economic downturn, its manufacturing technology bogged down by legacy systems and archaic patterns, it was Japan that stepped in to educate American corporations in better methods of efficiency. Somewhere [must find to credit], there's a work on the economic lessons America taught Japan, which during the 60s and 70s America then left behind, while Japan improved on these lessons -- eventually, Japan was the one teaching the lesson back to America. This is the dynamic between Heero and Duo, and it's repeated throughout the series up to EW where Heero requests a punch before knocking out Duo. It's not a textbook friendship so much as an alliance of rivals, each seeking to one-up (and improve) the other through friendly competition. One could even go so far as to pinpoint Duo's excellent piloting skills (and Heero's reliance on them) as a nod to America's predominance in the Space Age, and its continuing superlative position in military technology such as fighter jets.
While the dynamic is not a flawless analogy to Japan-U.S. relations, it's close enough that such positive perception of both sides (interpreted as an equal exchange, taken over the entire stretch) could be potentially flattering to both the Japanese audience that relates to Heero, and the American audience that relates to Duo. The American archetype has an emphasis on indepedence, even to the point of Duo 'stealing' his Gundam while Heero 'trained' on his for years, but balanced by the Japanese archetype's emphasis on honor (eye for an eye being one part, and fulfilling debts being another).
I'll stop there because it's late and I'm tired. But that's the essay in its preliminary rough draft form. Will reread and revise later. As said before, insights and comments are welcome. Really good comments may even get quoted (but I'll ask first). Thx, all.
reminders to myself:
http://www.ex.org/2.7/04-exclusive_sunrise1.html
http://www.ex.org/3.6/09-feature_kawamori1.html
partnerships: duo/trowa/quatre, wufei, heero, comparison to WWII alliances
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Date: 19 Jan 2005 08:45 am (UTC)