Animation: Art in Motion

What are the aspects of a “good” story

Hello again! Sadly, this may be my last time writing for a bit. I’m suffering from writer’s block and I need some time to think about future subjects. This week, I’ll be discussing what aspects go into crafting a memorable story. Through my consumption of media, I’ve been able to come up with a list of the three key aspects that make a good story: Characters, Plot, and Setting. These three aspects need to work in tandem for the result to be considered “good”. If even one of them is out of line, then the whole product can suffer.

Characters

If the story is a chessboard, then the characters are the pieces. You can’t play a game of chess without them, and you can’t write a story without characters. Your setting may be intriguing and your plot compelling, but you’ll need characters to bring out the best in both. The best characters are those who aren’t cardboard cutouts; those who aren’t one-dimensional or rely too heavily on tropes. Without a reason for being there, characters just waste space. They also need motivation. They need to feel like they contributing to the overarching story, otherwise why are they in the story to begin with? Characters can only do things “just cause” for so long before it gets stale. Another aspect of a character is to make them seem “real”. You shouldn’t have a five-year-old quoting Shakespeare while solving murder mysteries; it just doesn’t make sense and feels very unrealistic.

Another part of this is the character’s likability; but this is where it gets interesting. Characters don’t always need to be likable to be a good character. While it helps if your character is likable and relatable to the reader, it’s not always a necessity. It’s one of the reasons people love the villains in stories so much; they’re the bad guy, but they were written in a way that they’re enjoyable to watch. You may even just love to hate them. I feel like a good example of strong character writing is The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald; none of the characters, except arguably Nick, are particularly good or likable people. But they’re so interesting that you get engrossed in the plot and want to know what’s going to happen to them. Which brings us to…

Plot

Plot, or the story, is the driving force for the characters. You can have the best characters in the world, but if their entire reason for existing is to go to a Burger King and do something mundane then the story falls flat. A good plot needs to be motivating and compelling. The characters and the plot can push each other to larger horizons if they’re well made. It can allow characters to develop and mature throughout the story and serve as the main reason for them being there. Without a plot, great characters are left hanging as the consumer anxiously anticipates what’s going to happen but is let down by the “action” of the story. In the same vein, even the greatest plot can feel disappointing if its characters are boring.

One of the most interesting things about this discussion is whether you believe the plot or characters are more important to the overall development of a story. Because of the closely-knit relationship between the two, it’s relatively easy for media to focus on one while letting the other side suffer as a result. “Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World” by Haruki Murakami is one example that I can think of. Without spoiling anything, that novel has a fantastical plot that made me unable to put the book down while I was reading it. However, the character development in it fell slightly flat for me, and I wouldn’t have enjoyed it as much if it weren’t for the plot and the setting. Hey, look! It’s a transition for…

Setting

The setting of the story exists in a weird vacuum where it’s simultaneously the least and most important part of any story. The setting is where the story takes place, and it serves as the foundation for the story. A weak setting can cause a story to crumble under the weight of being dull. A story can take place anywhere; however there needs to be a purpose for choosing an area to serve as the setting. This is why it can be very important or not important at all. Your story needs to follow the rules of said setting, or it comes across as being lazy. You can’t have a story take place on Earth and have the characters floating around as if there’s zero gravity without explaining how. If the character’s goal is to kill the Demon King, then the story can’t exist in a Subway unless it just so happens that the Subway Manager is the Demon King.

I feel like when you’re talking about setting, it’s important to distinguish real life settings and fantasy settings. Both can be viewed as very different, depending on what the story you’re reading is about. You also need to consider how important the setting is to the story. In my opinion, the film Blade Runner is an excellent example of an important setting; while many love the films characters and plot, the setting of a Cyberpunk future really steals the show, especially when you see all the amazing technology and the retro-future aesthetic of the film. As far as more mundane settings go, “It” by Stephen King is a good example. The town essentially becomes a character itself; much of the history of the town, Pennywise, and the actions of its residents is interwoven into the plot itself, making the boring old town of Derry feel like something more sinister.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, these are just my opinions. If you disagree with me, I would like to hear what you consider to be the most important parts of a story.

Aggressive Retsuko: The Beautiful Bait and Switch

I’m back again this week with an analysis post. (Haven’t had one of those in a while) This time I will be looking at this “totally adorable” anime titled Aggressive Retsuko, or Aggretsuko for short. For those of you who have never heard of and/or seen it here is the trailer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1n3xXuEyr40

On the surface, this looks like a very basic slice of life anime where the main joke is “haha cute animal sings metal”. I can say for a fact that it is so much more than that. At the end of the day, Aggretsuko is a slice of life anime, but with more complicated themes than usual. You may be asking, “what makes this anime a bait and switch”? Well…

Why animals?

One of the first questions that gets asked regarding this anime is “why are all of the characters animals”? If these are “normal people” doing normal stuff, then why do they need to be depicted as animals instead of regular humans? Well for starters, you should call up Nintendo and ask them the same thing about Animal Crossing. But for this show, the parent company of this show is Sanrio. While you might not recognize the company by its name alone, you should be able to recognize it by this:

Sanrio is the creator of Hello Kitty. Now, this could be the main explanation of why the characters are animals in this anime, but I don’t believe so. As the title of this blog implies, I believe the character design is the bait to get people interested in the anime before getting them hooked. The character design choice is also on point because most characters are puns. For example, Ton.

Ton is the main character Retsuko’s manager, and he’s a pig. But there’s more here than just what kind of animal he is. His character is the archetype of a misogynistic pig. From the viewpoint of Retsuko, Ton constantly berates her and abuses his power as her manager to get her to take on extra work and non-work-related duties. While this task could have been accomplished by just designing him with a human outer shell, it makes the character more visually interesting to see him as the pig he is. Somebody once told me that pigs, much like ogres, have layers. Later on in the first season you get to see a different side of Ton, serving as a juxtaposition to his outward appearances. However if you are curious about what that may be you’ll have to go watch the show yourself.

The Switch

I talked about the bait, so what’s the switch? It comes in the form of the surprisingly grounded and believable story. (I’m going to talk about the story completely spoiler-free for those who may want to see this for themselves.) The story stars 25-year-old Retsuko as she deals with her day to day life, both in and out of work. Work can really suck every now and then, as some of you may know. Sometimes it’s your boss, your coworkers, or even the work you’re doing. Unless you found something you absolutely love, you’ll experience burnout and the world is gonna roll you. This anime tackles burnout in a healthy way. One that anyone who has also suffered from the same feeling can relate to. Retsuko copes with her burnout through her love of metal. This is an important lesson for others who may be experiencing this; find something you love. Practice it and use it to escape from the problems weighing you down. However, you can only escape for so long. Just like Retsuko, you eventually must go back to work. You may hate it, but you must grin and bear it because your work is important. The quicker you get done with it, the sooner you can get back to your true hobby.

This show also talks about other topics such as relationships, using unhealthy ideas to escape reality, the unpredictability of life, and many others. I’ll leave that for you to discover.

Conclusion

In the end, this is an adult slice of life show masquerading as a cutesy kid show. Now I’m just a guy with opinions, and I ain’t the sharpest tool in the shed. So, I could be completely wrong with my interpretation of this anime. (Which is still currently on Netflix as of this blog post) So why not go watch it to see if I’m right or wrong?

What is so Special about Mechs: Why Giant Robots make me Happy

I think giant robots are cool; end of story. Goodnight…I’m just kidding. This week I’m here to gush about my love for Abnormally Large Mechanical Objects (ALMO for short). (Editor’s note: The mech pictured above, Tryon 3 from Gundam Build Fighters, is canonically tiny. But it invokes the spirit of a giant mech.)

Where it all started

In one of the earliest stages of my life (3 years old) I was introduced to The Transformers.

The Transformers was my first robotic outing and I loved it. I was lucky enough to grow up during a time where The Transformers were on TV with hits like Transformers Armada, Transformers Energon, Transformers Cybertron, and eventually the live-action, explosion-fueled, women-exploiting Transformers movies. Transformers were everywhere. The toyline associated with them made it easy for any kid to get hooked. I couldn’t tell you why I stayed a Transformers fan. The one thing I’m sure of is this was the start of my robot loving career.

Me with a fraction of my Transformers collection

What is so special about Mechs

It’s time to get into the meat of this blog; why I love mechs. As I said in the intro I think they’re cool, but the question is why. It’s because mecha anime combines several different aspects of fiction and real life that I love into one robot-flavored package.

The mechanisms that make the mechs

Have you ever seen an original iMac? If you have not, here’s a picture of it.

The thing I love the most about this is that you can see through the transparent plastic to look at the inner workings of the machine. I’m no computer expert, nor an expert on anything mechanical, but I love looking at all the details of any machinery. Being able to see how something works is the coolest thing to me; especially considering that computers and other machinery are magic. So when mecha anime pays tribute to the inner workings of the giant robots, the little kid inside me jumps for joy.

Giant Robot Fights are heckin’ cool

To my inner circle of friends, it is no secret that I am a Kaiju lover. You may be asking, what does that have to do with mechs? Mechs are robotic Kaiju; they’re larger than life, destructive, and they have spectacular fights. Giant robot fights are cool because of all the weight they carry behind them. When a giant robot takes a step, the whole Earth shakes. When two of them take steps, God alone knows the amount of destruction that is about to unfold. There’s a beauty to the destruction. It’s like watching a train wreck. You get to witness utter destruction on a large scale, much more grandiose than most mundane fights in other media.

Giant Robots will walk the Earth when pigs fly

One of the sad realizations that you make as a mecha fan is that they are impossible. There is no way to make a functioning giant robot like the ones we see on screen, especially with the current technology that our civilization has access to. But that gives me all the more reason to enjoy it. Despite how impossible it may be, it allows me to fantasize about a world with giant robots. I can escape reality and immerse myself in fantasy worlds where the impossible becomes possible. There’s an underlying beauty to that.

Conclusion

Giant Robots Are my guilty pleasure, and no one can Take them away from me. I’m just a guy with opinions and I think giant robots are heckin’ cool. life sometimes shows you early on what you’re going to be passionate about, and it’s easy to say that I’ve found mine.

Why I love Anime

Last week, I talked about my history with anime. This week I’m going to talk about why I love it. In order to talk about this, I will be including out of context spoilers for My Hero Academia: Season 4, Attack on Titan Season 3, GaoGaiGar: Final and Ping Pong the Animation. Turn back now if you have any interest in these shows.

Animation: Art in Motion

This is the name of my blog and it stands true; animation is art in motion. Every single frame is meticulously slaved over until it’s perfect. Every single decision is deliberate. Everything matters, and to me that is far prettier than anything I can find in real life. To me, animation is the perfect form of media because you can do SO MUCH MORE with the format than any other. To prove my point, I have handpicked four separate scenes from four different anime. I’m going to focus on three aspects that make animation the superior viewing experience. (Side note while animation covers all forms of animation, I’m specifically using anime because Japan does so much more with the medium than other country in my opinion.)

Detail: Beauty in the small things

When it comes to art, details matter. It should show details like the wind blowing, the sun’s shadows facing away from the light, or whether the subjects are focusing on something in the distance. Detail and diligence often lead to beautiful art. First up we have GaoGaiGar: Final and its beautiful combination sequence.

There’s a reason why this is the King of all Mecha Anime

Every single mechanical detail is polished, and every single action has weight attached to it. There is no moving part without a purpose. The combination feels realistic and looks beautiful thanks to the level of detail lovingly poured into the scene. The vents don’t just rotate, they blow air out of them. Parts don’t just slide together; they interlock and get set in place by several other pieces. However, this is just one aspect of detail. The other side to this coin is the lack thereof. This is prevalent in Ping Pong the Animation. Its lack of detail puts a lot more emphasis on the actual actions themselves, proving that even through a lack of detail you can still be deliberate with every action you take.

Once you strip away the distraction you can focus on what’s in front of you, luckily for you, you happen to be in front of something one would consider beautiful. Ping Pong the Animation excels in less is more, through the simplistic art style more focus is thrown at the actions of the characters and it is more translatable the hyper detailed combination sequence of GaoGaiGar.

Speed: How a Dynamic Camera sells a scene

Since everything in anime is deliberately chosen, it only makes sense that camera control is meticulously chosen as well. Back in high school, I took four years of Television and Video Production. I worked with high grade cameras and equipment, so I have a basic understanding of cameras and the limitations on what shots can be produced. That, my dear readers, is where Attack on Titan comes in.

This scene is pure unadulterated speed. No camera that I know of would be able to recreate this scene perfectly due to how high speed everything is. There really are no other words to explain this scene, it really just explains itself.

Impact: being able to feel the animation

Over the weekend, the last episode of My Hero Academia: Season 4 aired and that alone reminded me why I love anime. It was the inspiration I needed to write this blog. This episode was otherworldly and carried so much weight that my laptop felt heavier. All of this build up lead to this scene.

What can I say but PLUS ULTRA!!!!!!

Everything about this scene just works and that’s because of the weight that the animation carries. When Endeavor uses Prominence Burn and the highly detailed lines start fading away and converting into simplistic sketches only to then fade away into nothing. That right there is the beauty of animation. That can’t just be replicated in real life. Something could get close through using CGI, but at that point we’re back to square one with animation.

Conclusion

All in all, I respect animation so much more than anything else because it can do so much more. But then again, I’m just a guy with opinions. But I dare you to change my mind.

My History with Anime

Nothing fancy this time, just recounting the point in my life when I discovered anime.

The Beginning

Just like most anime watchers, there was a point in my life where I didn’t even realize I was watching anime. A lot of people my age (I’m 21 btw) grew up in an era watching shows like Naruto, Dragonball Z, One Piece, Zatch Bell!, Pokemon, Yugioh, InuYasha, Cowboy Bebop, and many more. In the moment most viewers believed they were watching a high-octane action cartoon but only a select few knew the truth. A lot of us were secretly watching anime. For some this intrigued them, and they delved deeper. For me however, I just kind of forgot about it all. Until one fateful afternoon when I just happened to stumble upon Inazuma Eleven; after that my life was changed forever.

Inazuma Eleven: My First “Real” Anime

Roughly six years ago, I was bored one afternoon browsing through the Nintendo EShop when I happened to find this quirky little game made by Level 5, titled Inazuma Eleven. I was very curious because the name stood out to me. I watched the trailer for the game and found myself invested in it all.

The Nintendo EShop also had the first three episodes of this anime for all to see, so I immediately watched all three in 480p on a very small screen. I was instantly hooked and craved more. Because I was new to Anime as a whole, I had no idea where to look. Like most new anime watchers, I went straight to Youtube. The episodes were in 360p and cut into three seperate parts, but I didn’t care. I just wanted more. For the next two years I consumed nearly three hundred episodes of Inazuma Eleven and three movies. I loved every second of it and this silly show about overpowered soccer got me through some tough times. After all that time I needed more anime to fill the ever-present hole in my entertainment, so I scoured the internet looking for more, which lead to my discovery period.

The Discovery Period

I was a ravenous beast and needed more shows to watch with no idea on what to look for. Luckily for me I had a few friends who were really into anime and they constantly berated me for my lack of knowledge on the subject. Without them I wouldn’t have discovered my big three; King of the Braves: GaoGaiGar, Code Geass, and Eureka Seven. These three shows defined my experience with anime. If Inazuma Eleven was the catalyst, then these were the explosion. From then on, I just started watching whatever caught my eye, both the good and the bad. I discovered many hits and a few regrettable misses. (For my full list of anime seen click here) After a while I started slowing down as more responsibilities, social obligations, and multiplayer video games entered my life and that leads me to where I am now.

The Current Anime Watcher

Now that I’m almost done with college and the responsibilities of life will take over most of my time, I don’t get to watch as much anime as I used to. With how many I’ve currently seen, I’ve become more cynical with anime. One could say that I’ve become jaded; I just can’t find the same enjoyment that I used to back in the day (I sound like such an old person). However, due to my new jaded nature I’ve been able to weed out all the garbage and only focus on what I believe to be the gems of anime. But then again, my gems can be someone’s garbage and vice versa, but I’m just a guy with opinions so what would I know.

I can’t stop smiling at Eizouken ni wa Te wo Dasu na!

With the all the wide-spread panic courtesy of the Corona Virus, I think it’s nice to have something to smile at in these tough times. Luckily, that’s exactly what “Eizouken ni wa Te wo Dasu na!” excels at. (also known as “Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!” or “Keep Your Hands Off The Film Club”)

Editor’s Note: At the time of me writing this post, the anime that is being showcased isn’t complete .

Eizouken ni wa Te wo Dasu na! is about three high school girls making an anime; a pretty basic concept on paper, but one that excels in execution. It’s a slice of life feel-good kind of show, but also showcases an amazingly realistic depiction of the struggles of creating animation. I’m no art major, but I fully grasp that the media I love is extremely difficult to create. Every little detail is painstakingly crafted to perfection and it shows. I especially love how it delves into the creative process behind anime and how what you end up with can be completely different than it started out as. The show does a great job with world building and crafting genuinely real characters that are three dimensional.

To go further in depth on the show, you need to first watch the opening so that the points I present will make sense. What makes this opening important is that we get a glimpse at each character in their entirety with just 3 shots.

Midori Asakusa

We are shown everything we need to know about the character from this image alone. Midori Asakusa is the director of the three. She does the story boards and backgrounds for the various projects that they work on. Her character portrait features machines because she cares about their inner workings and what makes them function. If there is any form of machinery in the project, she wants it to be as realistic as possible. Spoiler, so far this has caused her to butt heads with her comrades before.

Tsubame Mizusaki

Tsubame Mizusaki is the animator of the group and the unintentional promoter of the group, as she is an exceptionally famous model. While Midori Asakusa provides the basis for what they will be working on, it’s Tsubame Mizusaki who really works on the meat of the project, single-handedly doing all the animation work herself. Just like Midori Asakusa, she cares about realism. She obsesses over realistic movements of animation, to the point of pulling several all-nighters just to perfect the movements of a single scene. She is absolutely dedicated to her craft and doesn’t believe a shot is good enough until every minuscule detail is attended to. She takes the Steve Job’s approach to creating; even if nobody notices the detail, that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be there.

Side note, I love how every time Tsubame Mizusaki goes on a rant about animation they show exactly what she’s talking about in the animation itself.

Sayaka Kanamori

Lastly, we have Sayaka Kanamori, in my opinion the best character in the show. She’s the brains behind the trio, and through her sheer willpower she keeps the other two dreamers in check: she’s crass, shrewd, and painfully honest. Without her, the group wouldn’t function. While Sayaka Kanamori doesn’t understand anime, she does understand what it takes to get projects off the ground and into production. With her realist nature and mind for business, she’s usually the “mom” of the group, having to constantly keep her other two comrades in check to make sure their aspirations remain grounded. She’s also the main talker of the group, using her “Yakuza Boss” personality as a weapon to make sure that nothing gets in the way of her comrade’s goals.

She steals the show with every scene she’s in and makes the whole experience better.

Conclusion

In the end, this anime makes me smile because the characters are so gosh darn enjoyable to watch. I love seeing them succeed because they truly earned it. But then again I’m just a guy with opinions, what do I know. If you’re interested in checking this out, you can make a free account on https://www.crunchyroll.com/ (if you don’t have one already) and watch the first ten episodes for free. Don’t worry, it’s easy breezy.

My Personal Top 10 Anime (Currently)

This week is a cheat week for me, so I’m going to take it nice and easy. I’ll be talking about my ten personal favorite anime over the course of my history.

Before I get started, I just want to say that this list is my own opinion; meaning that some people won’t agree with my choices. That’s okay. These are also ranked in order of how much I’m emotionally invested in the property. Because of this don’t take this list as me saying certain anime is better than others; I’m just listing which ones made me feel the most emotional. One last thing, for those of you who may be interested in checking any of these out, I will be doing my best to avoid any and all spoilers. Now that groundwork has been laid, let’s get into the list starting with…

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Why you should watch this Criminally Underrated Film: featuring Redline

Ever heard of Redline……….nope, didn’t think so.

This week, I’m here to discuss why you should watch Redline. Hopefully after you’re done reading this, you’ll be just as invested in this movie as I am. To avoid spoilers for the movie, I will only be talking about the first twelve minutes of it. They serve not only as the opening to the film, but the world that it builds up. Check out the intro to the movie here.

Pretty exhilarating, huh? Let me break down why you should watch the full movie

The Animation

I don’t even know where to begin, because this is something to behold. The animators behind Redline found the perfect way to capture the essence of SPEED; everything flows smoothly, and the cars are in constant motion. The constant shaking of the racers and their machines means you can really feel the speed of everything through the screen.

There’s just so much energy present that it excites me to my core. Nothing is left out, with every detail emphasized and every cutaway feeling important. Every move the racers make translates to something physical that you can see. The level of detail boosts this animated feature into the realms of reality and makes this cartoony world feel real.

All of this combines with the fact that it’s all hand-drawn to really increase the wow factor that Redline presents. Within twelve minutes it’s introduced you to its world, fast pace, and weirdness that make it so unique. It wastes no time in explaining the world that it has created and helping the viewer accept everything as normal. Everything that happens feels self-contained and ordinary in this wacky movie about racing, and it’s something that I love more than anything else.

The Sounds

The sound design also works wonderfully with the high-octane action that is present. The song in the background (featured above) has the right amount of oomph to it and feels right at home with the race. Like ogres, the song has layers. Different parts of it are dedicated to when certain racers are doing better. For example, when JP takes the lead, guitars are introduced into the track. Whenever Sonoshee McLaren is the focus of the scene, more pop elements are introduced into the song. Now that I’ve told you about this, go back and watch the scene again with that in mind. It helps to enhance your appreciation of the music in the movie. But sound design is more than just music. Redline also knows when to have quiet moments for the audience to fully absorb what’s going on. In the beginning of the scene above, there’s no music in the background until the racers come roaring into the picture. It’s decisions like this that can really sell a product to its audience.

The Feel

This movie just feels right. It feels natural, and everything makes sense once you take a step back and notice all the nuance that went into creating it. This movie is a passion project that so much time, effort, and love went into, and that really comes through when you’re watching it.

Go watch this movie

I’ve written everything I needed to say for this film, and now that you’ve read it all I say you should go out and rent or purchase it. Hopefully you can even get someone you know interested in the film. You can find it here to rent or purchase. The movie is under $10 so you won’t be breaking the bank. If you ask me, you should really race to the finish to see Redline. But then again, I’m just a guy with opinions so I could be totally wrong with my assessment. Weigh the options and make your own judgement.

**Here’s hoping Redline races its way into your heart.**

What’s so exciting about Great Pretender

Another week, another introspective piece on anime. This time, I’ve got my eyes set on a trailer for an upcoming anime called Great Pretender.

Great Pretender is a new original anime airing in July 2020. It’s about Edamura Makoto, the self-proclaimed best conman in Japan, being outmaneuvered by Frenchman Laurent Thierry. Now forced into a partnership, Edamura must do all of Laurent’s dirty work while being chased by Special Investigator Paula Dickins of the FBI. Will he make it out or will he get caught up in the con’s game? We’ll just have to find out in the summer.

What makes this stand out

From the very beginning, we’re greeted with our main character hanging from the iconic Hollywood sign screaming for help. I’m immediately hooked; I want to know what lead him to this situation. It makes you wonder how in the world he is going to get out of it. Directly after that, you are bombarded with very snazzy jazz music and wonderfully composed shots of the show’s setting.

These scenery shots make me excited for this anime. They are the perfect fusion of watercolor and modern anime aesthetic; each piece is visually stunning, and I would hang each of them on my walls. More than just the art, it’s also the setting of Los Angeles that’s interesting. I absolutely love it when Japan makes content that’s based in the USA because seeing their interpretation of different places is fascinating. As someone who has been to L.A. before, I can say that [+Ultra] did a fantastic job at capturing it in all its glory.

Although I’ve never seen Ocean’s Eleven, the whole trailer gives off a vibe that feels very reminiscent of that movie. Because I’ve never seen it, or really any heist-related media, this has my attention. I want Great Pretender to succeed because it can be mine and many other’s gateway into the heist genre.

In Conclusion

Great Pretender is shaping up to be a stand-out hit in the Summer 2020 anime season. It’s got a unique art style that beautifully clashes the modern anime aesthetic against the gorgeous watercolor backgrounds. The soundtrack is a wonderfully composed piece of high-octane jazz that serves to put emphasis on the fact that our characters will be dealing with some high stakes gambling; after all, they’re trying to swindle money away from high ranking criminals while being hunted down by the FBI. The voice acting is on point, paring each character up with an excellent actor who can perfectly capture the feel of each character.

All in all, I am thoroughly excited for this anime and I hope you are too. Then again, I’m just a guy with opinions. I could be right… or I could be wrong. That’s for you to decide. When July 2020 rolls around will you choose to watch Great Pretender, or will you decide to fold?

How a soundtrack can elevate a show to new heights featuring: Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt

Ya like jazz? A simple question asked by a simple bee. You’re probably wondering what Jerry Seinfeld’s Bee Movie has to do with the topic at hand. Well today we’re going to be analyzing jazz and how it takes what was already a pretty stand out hit to the next level.

Now to get this started I just want to say that I’m not music major, so I probably don’t know what I’m talking about but I’d still like to cover this topic.
And of course SPOILER WARNING for Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt.

Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt: How it’s free jazz fits perfectly with the setting

This anime current takes place in the Thunderbolt Sector, this place was once called Sector 4 (otherwise known as Moore) and it was the home to many of the characters who we meet during this adventure.

The Thunderbolt Sector is currently composed of the remains of Sector 4, and the reason why it’s called the Thunderbolt Sector is because of the electrical discharges that take place in between the scattered debris that litter the area.

This is where the free jazz kicks in to set the mood.

Free jazz is both sporadic and composed, which fits it perfectly within the setting of the Thunderbolt Sector. It fills the non-existent air with a level of unease due to how unsafe the Thunderbolt sector really is, one wrong move and you’re dead.

More than anything this is the main reason why the free jazz elevates this experience to the next level. It enhances the chaotic nature of the area, it can spiral up and down. It can have highs and it can have lows. It’s unpredictable and for a second you think you’ve got a grasp on how to handle it you’ll slip. This is my opinion is the definitive analogy for how the music fits so perfectly with the setting.

Now it’s time to move on from talking about the setting and start talking about how free jazz is a perfect way to describe Io Fleming as a character.

How the free jazz is integral to Io Fleming’s character

For starters it would be wonderful if you listen to his theme while you read this excerpt.

Io Fleming is one of the two main characters of Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt. He’s aligned with the Earth Federation Forces, specifically the Moore Brotherhood. He and the rest of his unit are in the Thunderbolt sector to retake their home.

In his first introduction scene we see him drumming away while listening to a jazz radio station. From the very beginning jazz is apart of him, jazz is what defines him.

But more than anything Io Fleming is the embodiment of free jazz just like the Thunderbolt Sector. The more we get to know his character the more we can see how chaotic yet controlled he truly is.

Io Fleming revels in the chaos, he embodies free jazz. He loves every second of the fighting because he gets to be truly free just like the music which he is so attached to. Not only that but him listening to his music offers him a break from the silence of space and the cold unforgiving nature of war. In fact a character who was close to Io Fleming fully realizes why he listens to music once he is forced to face the dreadful silence of the unforgiving void.

In the end Io Fleming is a man who wants to live free, a person who wants to be unrestricted by anything. This is why he embodies free jazz, because once he’s on the battlefield, he lets everything loose.

How Io Fleming’s Jazz clashes with Daryl Lorenz’s 1960’s styled Pop

For starters I’m going to put Daryl Lorenz’s theme here for you to listen to.

We already know who Io Fleming is so who is Daryl Lorenz. Daryl Lorenz is a member of the Principality of Zeon’s special force know as the Living Dead Division which is comprised of amputee soldiers. He is also a sniper who is tasked with holding the current position that his unit have secured.

Now how is Daryl Lorenz’s theme connected to him, better yet, how is a 1960’s style pop song important to his character? For starters when you compare the two music styles the first thing that stands out is how much more constructed Daryl’s theme is to Io’s. The song has actual lyrics and a understandable flow. This ties directly back into Daryl as a character because he is a constructed man, all of his arms and legs had to be replaced with prosthetic limbs making him much more “constructed” than Io, who is free in his own body, not restricted by anything. To further drive in the idea that Daryl is a constructed man, the Gundam that he pilots is special designed to integrate him into it becoming one with his machine.

There’s also the fact that as a character he is a lot more composed that Io Fleming. As a sniper Daryl Lorenz needs to keep his cool and calmly asses the situation while dealing with any enemies. This is exactly why these two are a perfect match for each other, you have the chaotic and free Io Fleming going up against the calm and composed Daryl Lorenz. This is why their themes clash, they are exact opposites. This is also why neither one can beat the other. Just like how music is subjective, neither one of the pilots is inherently better than the other.

What does all of this mean, why is it special?

In the end I’m just rambling off my ideas and honestly I could be 100% wrong in my analysis, I just feel from the bottom of my heart this movie/4 part OVA just wouldn’t be the same without it’s outstanding soundtrack to boost it to a higher level. But then again I’m just a guy with opinions so you don’t need to agree with me. I just like sharing how I feel.