I got the idea for this post while reading John Scalzi’s Old Man’s War, but knowledge thereof isn’t required, and I’ll try not to spoil it too badly. Suffice to say that I’ll mostly deal with that Japanese stuff I’m always on about, as it’s full of counterexamples to things Scalzi does that I don’t especially like.
Archive for the ‘Gundam’ Category
Complex feelings about moral complexity (or, A paean to Paptimus-sama)
Posted 20 May 2010Keeping up with the Jones-家: Sora no Woto 8, Gundam Unicorn 1
Posted 27 February 2010School has kept me busy lately — you may have inferred this. My recent Super Fanicom activity amounts to 97% administrative, 2% writerly, and 1% other. And I certainly haven’t had time to keep up with anime in the past week or two. Until yesterday, that is, and during this rare breather I’ll do my best to catch you up with me. Or something like that. At any rate there will be a few of these, in the interest of keeping post length down.
Zeta Gundam in the history of violence
Posted 18 January 2010I’m twelve episodes into Zeta Gundam (which is in turn the fifth series in my project to acquaint myself, finally, with UC Gundam), and I suppose it’s about time that I started collecting my thoughts. I’d probably misplace them otherwise, and that wouldn’t do.
What strikes me (lolpun) about Zeta is the willingness of its characters to slap the hell out of each other. As in 0079, much of the non-mecha physical violence we see in Zeta occurs between people on the same side — and, as in 0079, it serves as a reminder that people on the same side don’t always or even typically get along, that “sides” are deceptively arbitrary. But Zeta takes it to the limit. Here, physical violence between allies is an institution.
