Anime Spectacular Pt. 2: GBF Boogaloo

I went back and forth for two series to use as an example of what I call "middling" characterization. The first was Yuki Yuna is a Hero, a show that I both admire for its central conceit and various concepts and loathe because of how shackled it is to writing for an otaku fanbase. It's a series that deserves to be better than it is, and it also deserves to be talked about.

I decided to do Gundam Build Fighters instead though, because I like giant robots.

Gundam Build Fighters is the story of Sei Iori, a model-building fanatic who can build awesome model robots but stinks at piloting them. He forms a partnership with Reiji, an enigmatic red-haired kid with incredible control skills and a bitchin' bracelet, and together they-

Whoa, sorry, hold up. Before I talk about Gundam Build Fighters, I have to talk about Gundam and its Big Damn Theme.

"Gundam" is possibly the single most recognizable giant robot name in the world. I'm pretty sure that even people who don't know what the hell you're talking about if you mention Getter Robo, Mazinkaizer, or GaoGaiGar will still follow you if you shout "It's a Gundam!"

The reason for this is that Gundam is probably the best known of the "real robot" shows- giant robot series that portray mecha as advanced weapons of war, but not necessarily super-weapons. In most of the many series in the franchise, the Gundams themselves are super-advanced machines but not invincible. They're ahead of military technology, but only just, and people will build weapons to counteract them.

Gundam is a franchise, though- a group of shows, many of which don't even share a universe with each other, which just happen to feature giant mecha with this particular design and aesthetic. They do have one other commonality: just about every single Gundam series is about human conflict, with the rough message of "war is bad and so is killing people." Even G Gundam, a shlocky tribute to low-budget kung fu movies and a show with fewer brain cells than the average 4Chan troll, manages to wrench in the message by explicitly setting itself in a world where war has been replaced by sportsmanship and people are still jerks. My personal favorite show of the bunch, Gundam 00, tries to set itself in as close to a real-world landscape as its sci-fi premise allows in order to explore real-world confiict dynamics (with various degrees of success). Gundam Wing is ultimately an argument against "safe wars" fought by unmanned machines, reasoning that the human cost of a war is its greatest deterrent.

Also, they have explosions.

I'm not saying that every Gundam is necessarily a "smart" series, or even a well-written character piece wrapped around a mecha story. We aren't talking Eureka Seven here*, or anything. They just have a very consistent message and broad theme, even if that theme is "fighting is bad". It's that very recognizable ethos that sort of makes a Gundam series what it is.

Gundam Build Fighters isn’t about that. Gundam Build Fighters is all about how much fun it is to blow shit up with giant robots!

Okay that's actually not entirely accurate. GBF is really just a massive bout of fanservice for the people who've spent their life's savings keeping Bandai in business by buying increasingly-elaborate model robot kits. It's not even about giant robots- in GBF's universe, all the previous Gundam shows are television series. The only difference is the presence of a fantasy/sci-fi twist wherein the discovery of a special particle allows people to move Gundam models (Gunpla) around and simulate beam sabers, explosions, and missile attacks. Kids get together and explode each other's models for fun. That's it, that’s the show. There’s a plot, but it’s a really bog standard “shy kid gains confidence through competition” story.

One look at the series and it's completely obvious who this is being made for and why. Some of the background characters (and even the incidental characters) are direct references to characters from previous Gundam shows. The models on display are creative re-imaginings of previous Gundam mecha, with unique twists. The main character's rival uses a bright red Zaku as his first model just to reference Char, a charismatic villain from the original Gundam series. It's like if Slice of Life was an entire side-series instead of a goofy hundredth-episode shout-out. And didn't take place in the same universe. And wasn't the same genre as Friendship is Magic.

Back to our heroes. The reason I brought up GBF to talk about characterization was to drive home what middling characterization looks like. All of the cast members in GBF are distinct from each other in some way- Sei is shy and reserved, but enthusiastic about his hobby. Reiji is brash and reckless, but has the skills to back those traits up. Aila Jyrkiainen is silent most of the time and occasionally makes very blunt statements, inadvertently making her one of the most accurate depictions of a Finnish person as written by another country**. Nils Nielsen is a samurai... physics genius... martial artist... American okay his motifs are really weird. Though on the other hand, he's a black, American character in an anime whose major asset is his scientific know-how and calm demeanor and not his musculature. I think I'll let it slide.

The issue is that all of these characters are exaggerated traits. When you look at Blue Exorcist, Rin and Yukio are built up to resemble real people on some level. They have a few exaggerated traits, but their relationship with each other is supposed to resemble a relationship between actual siblings. Meanwhile, in GBF? None of these people are real. They're broad tropes over broad tropes over broad tropes, caricatures of actual hobbyists and children. The thing is, you can make compelling characters out of that- Digimon Adventure did it for its entire cast of human children. The issue is that GBF is far more concerned with showing off the next model exploding into another model than it is putting effort into its plot, and without a compelling plot to fall back on, the characters fall flat. Sei and Reiji are basically the only two characters who have a strong dynamic with each other, and Tatsuya Yuuki will get praise from anyone who watches the show but he's ultimately just a meme with awesome glasses.

So this means I dislike the show and the characters, right?

Aw, hell no. I loved the shit out of GBF.

The key to GBF surviving its lack of a strong cast or plot is its tone and incidental elements. The series doesn't take itself seriously at all- there's a scene where one of the main characters tries to flirt with a girl by presenting her with a perfectly-constructed Gundam model. And it kind of works. There's a whole bit where a bunch of characters gang up on this guy to take revenge on him for stealing their girlfriends in previous tournaments. It's a crazy farce punctuated by occasional bursts of emotion, and it knows it. Exaggerated characters work perfectly in a farce. It doesn't hurt that Bandai's been making a lot of money off these models, and so it poured all the budget it could into making sure the animation in the series looks good and making the soundtrack and sound design in general match the mood. What other show about giant robots can brag that its most badass theme is faux flamenco music?

So what does this mean for those of us writing fiction? Well, for starters, it is much harder for us to compensate for having broad characters if our plots aren't exciting. If your Slice of Life story or fluff romance piece isn't sporting very compelling characters (I'm avoiding the use of the word "relatable" here for a reason), even if they're just sort of "serviceable" you won't attract attention because you can't compensate with presentation. It might be possible to save your piece through the power of beautiful prose, but not all of us are Ray Bradbury, P.G. Wodehouse, or Chatoyance.*** Serviceable prose is easy enough to turn out. Good prose is difficult, but you can accomplish it. Prose that can take a simple story and make it amazing? There's a reason we venerate authors who can pull that shit off- not all of us can. Unless you're ready to throw your hat in with the greats, you had better think twice about whether your fluff story's characters can sustain audience interest.

Of course, if you're writing Human in Equestria, you'll probably survive no matter what purely through the adorations of an audience with questionable taste.

And that, finally, brings us to the show that made me mad enough to start writing this in the first place. Join me next time for a more focused and somewhat angry dissection of Nanoha ViviD, a show that has plenty of opportunities to write interesting characters but does everything it possibly can to decline.

*Watch. This. Show. You will hate the main character for a while, but once you get past that you will be rewarded.
**Okay, she's really just a tsundere with a tragic past, but I've got to grab the jokes when I can get 'em.
***Fight me.

Comments

[Andrew-R]

They do have one other commonality: just about every single Gundam series is about human conflict, with the rough message of "war is bad and so is killing people."

- oh, well.. This leads to this unsolvable in general question about how films/literature really works .. Because "Starship troopers" (film) was called fascist propaganda by some, even if intent was exact opposite (or actually it was more intellectual than you really can fit into 2h of story?). So, same message was received (and even worked?) in exact opposite way depending on viewers! Same might be applicable to WH40K - it might be extreme antiwar parody, but people seriously like to play it without giving such thoughts a lot of mindtime ..? I at least never meet pacifist who said his/her views were influenced by thinking about wh40k games seriously (but those might exist, or will exist!).

Actually, I think our time is nearly about Message Wars - who build more penetrable, more invasive and outstanding Message. To deliver with as big hummer as possible ... So, some thoughts about human condition under war applicable to our time of infowars?

It might be possible to save your piece through the power of beautiful prose, but not all of us are Ray Bradbury, P.G. Wodehouse, or Chatoyance.***

- because I always (well, for 2.5 years now) like to see my favourite pony in good company of literary giants, where, IMO, she really belongs!