Comments | incisivis: Reflections on Macrophilia Part 7: General Portrayal of Post-SDFM Zentraedi

incisivis

Reflections on Macrophilia Part 7: General Portrayal of Post-SDFM Zentraedi

Jun 26, 2010 23:52

When considered beyond the annoying treatment of my favourite characters, the status of the Zentraedi in the post-1982 Macross productions looks like a gift: they live human lives, with human bonds, and none of Robotech’s messiness. Yet despite the race’s general happiness, I just don’t find much that is compelling about the Zentraedi’s portrayal ( Read more... )

macross, reflections on macrophilia, animation, essays, robotech

Comments 4

k_dragomirov July 4 2010, 23:43:50 UTC

I can only agree with your sentiments. DYRL, Macross 7 and Macross Frontier were all somewhat disappointing in terms of Zentraedi. Which is not to say I'm not grateful for these opportunities to revisit the race. I've grown to accept these incarnations as they are, without too much lament for the subversion of SDFM ( ... )

incisivis July 6 2010, 14:10:38 UTC

Well, Guld really didn't have "the Zentraedi spirit" to me. All I saw was a character whose aggressive nature was blamed on his heritage, and thus threatened to undermine the positive messages of SDFM. Obviously we were meant to find Guld a sympathetic, tragic character, but I couldn't, not when it was suggested that what made him tragic was his Zentraedi nature.

I haven't seen much good Zentraedi art, to tell you the truth. And when I say good Zentreadi art, I mean well-drawn art of someone *besides* the sexy female Zentreadi, or of Zentreadi mecha. I want good paintings of male Zentraedi characters, for once.

Love and War's art was pretty decent, but the handling of Azonia was horrible as it casually broke down the sexual segregation that was so integral to the Zentraedi story.

k_dragomirov July 7 2010, 13:33:07 UTC

What made Guld tragic was that he decided to die to protect the person he loved (even though the love was unrequited), as well as peace in society. It was a conscious and tragic sacrifice on his part ( ... )

incisivis July 7 2010, 16:17:15 UTC

When I speak of Guld's "tragedy", I meant the suggestion that he is truly a decent man, yet his Zentraedi blood makes him do things that are not "himself", outbursts of aggression that are not part of the "nice" Guld, almost like a split personality ( ... )