So it is true, Larry King is Emporer Palpatine!
OK Daddy Issues, should we have Dr. Phil and Jerry Springer in the house???
I think you guys did answer the question about this theme several times in the past, as this is related to who the audience of mecha anime are. In fact most are young males, who may went through teenage rebellion against their own parents.
I did see the Gundam Trilogy as a regression of the role of parents, Amuro had a caring father and a super-passive mother, Kamile had a ass-kissing, cheating, backstabbing father and a workaholic mother, while Juda has none. But all three rise up to save the day, granted you can argue if any one of them was able to find peace in the end. Yes, the Zabi's are one f"ed up family, which guys did miss that mark.
I haven't pick up the pace for
V Gundam, but already I am sure I will see more dead people. And I did agree with you guys on Unicorn about the strong father-son connection that was sorely missing from all Gundam universe back when you did the podcast review of Unicorn (can't wait for Vol.2!).
For
Gundam Wing, I was kinda of disappointed (like SBR) that Relena grew up very fast (compared to other 5!), I was hoping that she had some of the teenage girl, cynical attitude. And boy how fast her mom was gone from the screen! The parents in
SEED/Destiny were pretty close to real life, which I thought was good. And yes, Kira's creator/"father" and Mu's father are both dicks for playing god!
Gundam 00, I did like the concept of crossing path between those who fight and those who live among us - you got Setsuna killing his own parents and coming to regret it later on, Louisse losing her family and driven towards insane, and Andrei being a whiner by blaming all wrongs on his father, Sergei.
Code Geass, truth be told, you may need to watch the websoides, radio story, and perhaps buy the "official" fan guide book to get the clear story on everything. I still don't know what visions the producers had. But from what I watch and listen, Suzaku's dad is NOT a good man, he is a shrewd politician that wanted to stay in power. From the radio story, Suzaku's father took in Lelouch and Nunally as a political arrangement, with the goal that he would married Nunally and become a part of the Britannia royal family (a similar plot for R2); and he didn't cared about the massive lost of Japanese lives as he was hoping that he could secure a safe position for himself in Britannia.
Charles and Mariana, man, those are really f"ked-up parents to have, and quite a pity for Lelouch to know the truth about mommy dearest. As for Kallen, I still don't know the "official" story about her, other than that she is a "half-breed." I was hoping that R2 would explore more about Kallen's background, and how she could be wrong about her parents - I was hoping in the line of 2009
Star Trek, where Spock's father admitted to him that he really loved his human mother, that the relation was not politically. After all, Kallen did have an older brother; if her mother never loved her father, why she didn't have an abortion? (FYI, I did study several courses on Japan in college, and Japan does have a higher percentage of women choosing it compared to US, but I stop here for no further discussion).
Destiny_Gundam wrote:
Only point I'd contest is regarding the parents in Fafner. Yeah, there were some real crappy ones (like Kouyou's and Maya's dad), but by and large Fafner was filled with great parents. Yes they had to send their kids out to fight, but they hated every second of it. They tried their best to give them happy lives outside the fighting, and when some of them died their parents were absolutely devastated. I definitely hold Fafner as an example of a mecha show that kicks the bad parents trope mostly out the window.
Wow, I will agree on something with Pedobear North! I think you guys missed this spot big. For one, all population are test-tube babies, so its up to survivors to nurture the younger generation to continue life and survive, so every qualified child has to fight. Shoko's death is still of the most memorable, as she spilled out the harsh truth about her existence towards her mother, and coming to regret it just before she died. But otherwise, most stay together as a big "family" to survive and prevail against the Festrum.
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