because I'm relena peacecraft, bitches
After re-watching Gundam Wing, I realize that the show is packed with female characters that would make for my ideal anime series: each of the women are strong in their own ways, they are all distinctly unique and have personalities as people and not just 'female characters', and they are all immensely likable for what they are.
However, the menfolks just get in the way. Of everything.
And I really would love to write a woman-by-woman analysis of it all, because each woman is uniquely cockblocked by the patriarchy, and each woman could have a very satisfying character arc if the writers could:
A)Stop making the boys the center of their worlds.
B)Stop setting them up as symbols of the nurturing woman who needs protection.
And C)Stop screwing their combat skills over. Because, yes, most of these women are combatants. Noin, for example, is canonically listed as being a better pilot than Zechs/Milliardo. Do they ever show it? No. She gets quickly and immediately trounced by any Gundam pilot in the area, whereas Zechs (the inferior fighter) gets played as a formidable match and rival for the main male character. You would think this would mean she should be allowed a Gundam and some asskicking as well, wouldn't you? But it never happens. No woman, no matter if they know how to pilot or not, ever step foot in a Gundam. Even if they have one in their possession for months and need some superior weaponry.
There is also the problem of the Gundam pilots not really listening to the women on the show. Although they may agree with them on some occasion, it is quite rare to see a woman in the lecturing position with a man. When they do, they are either ignored, or their opinion is invalidated- and this is shown as the freedom-loving nature of the Gundam pilots. The guys talk to each other on a much more equal level involving deeper understanding, the ladies are given empty pleas as the boys in their lives ignore their opinions, input, and attempts to help.
Did I mention that the vast majority of females on this show are in love with or deeply attached to a pilot of their choice? In fact, almost all the Gundam pilots are given a female 'anchor' to protect and cherish. Do they treat them with respect? No. That would mean actually acknowledging their opinions and dropping the condescension. Not even fellow soldier ladies get treated with the level of respect and camaraderie we see the men/boys give each other. It's made painfully clear from the get-go that Hilde could never be equal to the Gundam boys, but Une and Noin have skills that are arguably superior- and they are never shown to have the upper hand. It's not because they're not Gundam pilots, either: Trieze, Zechs, and several male tertiaries have been given the upper hand in many situations, whereas the women are generally ineffectual. Even when Une had Trowa in her employ, she was reduced to a quivering wreck from a few mere words from him.
Oh, don't get me started on Une. I could write an essay-length rant about how the show eventually strips her of her power and places her firmly in the position of a smiling, sweet, docile, perfect lady. She was originally a ruthless, ambitious, aggressive, merciless general. How did they accomplish this? By driving the woman in power completely mad through her devotion to the man in her life. [ASDFGHJK. SDFGHJKL. GHJ.]
This show is so genderfail it is almost beautiful. I mean it. The examples of genderfail are so clear-cut, so perfect, so textbook in their clarity that it's like the perfect breeding ground for essays. It is my ideal example of sexism in anime, right next to Naruto. It is that amazingly classic.
Do I love the women in the show? Yes. I adore them. They are lovely characters in their own right, I enjoy watching all of them when they're not being hijacked by the collective patriarchal unconscious. But dear god, do they ever get shafted by the narrative.
That said, the show itself is pretty much classic mecha anime. It's very much like watching a space opera. All of the emotions are very melodramatic, and they issue long speeches about the nature of war, peace, and human struggle. While fighting in giant robots. In space.
I must say that the speeches do make good points, and it is a lot of fun to watch them come up with these thought-provoking discourses while doing soldierly things like murder, commit acts of terrorism, and destroy space colonies. They really like hammering in a few points: one of which is the idea that fighting and warfare is an inescapable facet of human nature, and the other is the idea of pacifism and the unification of peoples. The two forces at work in the show seem to be the actual act of war as perpetuated by the many people who believe that fighting is essential to human nature/fighting is a just act, and Relena Peacecraft's ideal of total pacifism...which more and more civilians support as war rages on.
The show is extremely political, but only peripherally. That is to say, we are told of the politics that govern the actions of the military and the colonies through the dialogue of the characters, but the characters themselves are lousy politicians and even lousier soliders. The Gundam pilots seem motivated mainly by the winds of change and their own changing emotions rather than any strategic plans or orders.
Example: the main character was challenged to a duel in Antarctica by a prominent soldier of the enemy army. Instead of turning down the challenge, which would be a waste of time and energy for a soldier on a mission, he agreed to it and actually carried it out, when he could have easily escaped and/or shot the enemy in the head. When another main character caught sight of the main antagonist, he accepted his challenge to a sword fight. The main character was in a giant robot. The main antagonist was on a boat. He could have easily killed him and destroyed the boat, but instead he grabbed a katana and fought, and when he was defeated by sword, he ran away and sulked half a season.
These people are supposed to be assassins fighting for the oppressed colonies. Good night.
Now don't get me wrong, I do enjoy the politics and the amount of thought that went into them. I do like that the characters are screwy headcases, the lot of them. I just find it hilarious when the heads of military pull these shenanigans and are never called on it. How did you people manage to win the war for this long?
Another aspect of the show that I like is the pronounced fairytale qualities it has: namely, chivalry, knights, and princesses. It's a recurring theme in the show. I like the constant parallels to Heero as knight to Relena's queen, because this is one relationship in the show that actually does operate on some modicum of equal respect. There is a scene in which Heero fanboys Relena while she's fangirling on him, both very stoically- the polite couple's conversation over who is more awesome. "You are surely more awesome than me." "Not at all, you are clearly more amazing." "Nonsense." In fact, the relationship between Heero and Relena, knight-to-queen, is a large part of what sells me on this show. It's sad that this fandom likes to hate on her and its other ladies so much, because I would like heavy quantities of fic for them. Gen, romance, whatever. Just these two doing what they do.
Another tie-in to the very European fairytale story elements are the costumes. Mmm-mm. Epaulets, long jackets, puffed sleeves and amulets matched with eighties-style formal wear. The military outfits are delicious, as are the Sanq kingdom regalia. Props on those. Heero should wear more of it, and less of those black Lycra bike shorts.
I'm not sure I would recommend the show to those who aren't familiar with it nostalgically or don't like mecha, and I really don't recommend it to those who require a hefty amount of gender equality in their anime. But rewatching it was a great deal of fun, and it did leave me with the ficcing urge- which is rare for most anime/tv shows/movies. So, at least one thumb up for me in memory of my early anime geek days when I was first discovering fanfiction.net.
However, the menfolks just get in the way. Of everything.
And I really would love to write a woman-by-woman analysis of it all, because each woman is uniquely cockblocked by the patriarchy, and each woman could have a very satisfying character arc if the writers could:
A)Stop making the boys the center of their worlds.
B)Stop setting them up as symbols of the nurturing woman who needs protection.
And C)Stop screwing their combat skills over. Because, yes, most of these women are combatants. Noin, for example, is canonically listed as being a better pilot than Zechs/Milliardo. Do they ever show it? No. She gets quickly and immediately trounced by any Gundam pilot in the area, whereas Zechs (the inferior fighter) gets played as a formidable match and rival for the main male character. You would think this would mean she should be allowed a Gundam and some asskicking as well, wouldn't you? But it never happens. No woman, no matter if they know how to pilot or not, ever step foot in a Gundam. Even if they have one in their possession for months and need some superior weaponry.
There is also the problem of the Gundam pilots not really listening to the women on the show. Although they may agree with them on some occasion, it is quite rare to see a woman in the lecturing position with a man. When they do, they are either ignored, or their opinion is invalidated- and this is shown as the freedom-loving nature of the Gundam pilots. The guys talk to each other on a much more equal level involving deeper understanding, the ladies are given empty pleas as the boys in their lives ignore their opinions, input, and attempts to help.
Did I mention that the vast majority of females on this show are in love with or deeply attached to a pilot of their choice? In fact, almost all the Gundam pilots are given a female 'anchor' to protect and cherish. Do they treat them with respect? No. That would mean actually acknowledging their opinions and dropping the condescension. Not even fellow soldier ladies get treated with the level of respect and camaraderie we see the men/boys give each other. It's made painfully clear from the get-go that Hilde could never be equal to the Gundam boys, but Une and Noin have skills that are arguably superior- and they are never shown to have the upper hand. It's not because they're not Gundam pilots, either: Trieze, Zechs, and several male tertiaries have been given the upper hand in many situations, whereas the women are generally ineffectual. Even when Une had Trowa in her employ, she was reduced to a quivering wreck from a few mere words from him.
Oh, don't get me started on Une. I could write an essay-length rant about how the show eventually strips her of her power and places her firmly in the position of a smiling, sweet, docile, perfect lady. She was originally a ruthless, ambitious, aggressive, merciless general. How did they accomplish this? By driving the woman in power completely mad through her devotion to the man in her life. [ASDFGHJK. SDFGHJKL. GHJ.]
This show is so genderfail it is almost beautiful. I mean it. The examples of genderfail are so clear-cut, so perfect, so textbook in their clarity that it's like the perfect breeding ground for essays. It is my ideal example of sexism in anime, right next to Naruto. It is that amazingly classic.
Do I love the women in the show? Yes. I adore them. They are lovely characters in their own right, I enjoy watching all of them when they're not being hijacked by the collective patriarchal unconscious. But dear god, do they ever get shafted by the narrative.
That said, the show itself is pretty much classic mecha anime. It's very much like watching a space opera. All of the emotions are very melodramatic, and they issue long speeches about the nature of war, peace, and human struggle. While fighting in giant robots. In space.
I must say that the speeches do make good points, and it is a lot of fun to watch them come up with these thought-provoking discourses while doing soldierly things like murder, commit acts of terrorism, and destroy space colonies. They really like hammering in a few points: one of which is the idea that fighting and warfare is an inescapable facet of human nature, and the other is the idea of pacifism and the unification of peoples. The two forces at work in the show seem to be the actual act of war as perpetuated by the many people who believe that fighting is essential to human nature/fighting is a just act, and Relena Peacecraft's ideal of total pacifism...which more and more civilians support as war rages on.
The show is extremely political, but only peripherally. That is to say, we are told of the politics that govern the actions of the military and the colonies through the dialogue of the characters, but the characters themselves are lousy politicians and even lousier soliders. The Gundam pilots seem motivated mainly by the winds of change and their own changing emotions rather than any strategic plans or orders.
Example: the main character was challenged to a duel in Antarctica by a prominent soldier of the enemy army. Instead of turning down the challenge, which would be a waste of time and energy for a soldier on a mission, he agreed to it and actually carried it out, when he could have easily escaped and/or shot the enemy in the head. When another main character caught sight of the main antagonist, he accepted his challenge to a sword fight. The main character was in a giant robot. The main antagonist was on a boat. He could have easily killed him and destroyed the boat, but instead he grabbed a katana and fought, and when he was defeated by sword, he ran away and sulked half a season.
These people are supposed to be assassins fighting for the oppressed colonies. Good night.
Now don't get me wrong, I do enjoy the politics and the amount of thought that went into them. I do like that the characters are screwy headcases, the lot of them. I just find it hilarious when the heads of military pull these shenanigans and are never called on it. How did you people manage to win the war for this long?
Another aspect of the show that I like is the pronounced fairytale qualities it has: namely, chivalry, knights, and princesses. It's a recurring theme in the show. I like the constant parallels to Heero as knight to Relena's queen, because this is one relationship in the show that actually does operate on some modicum of equal respect. There is a scene in which Heero fanboys Relena while she's fangirling on him, both very stoically- the polite couple's conversation over who is more awesome. "You are surely more awesome than me." "Not at all, you are clearly more amazing." "Nonsense." In fact, the relationship between Heero and Relena, knight-to-queen, is a large part of what sells me on this show. It's sad that this fandom likes to hate on her and its other ladies so much, because I would like heavy quantities of fic for them. Gen, romance, whatever. Just these two doing what they do.
Another tie-in to the very European fairytale story elements are the costumes. Mmm-mm. Epaulets, long jackets, puffed sleeves and amulets matched with eighties-style formal wear. The military outfits are delicious, as are the Sanq kingdom regalia. Props on those. Heero should wear more of it, and less of those black Lycra bike shorts.
I'm not sure I would recommend the show to those who aren't familiar with it nostalgically or don't like mecha, and I really don't recommend it to those who require a hefty amount of gender equality in their anime. But rewatching it was a great deal of fun, and it did leave me with the ficcing urge- which is rare for most anime/tv shows/movies. So, at least one thumb up for me in memory of my early anime geek days when I was first discovering fanfiction.net.