Imperialism, Translation, Gunbuster (Episode Two – NSFW)

RUSSIA AND THE IMAGE

Noriko and Kazumi join the crew of the Exelion, the new Imperial Space Army battleship which replaced the Luxion after being wrecked by an alien attack against captain Admiral Takaya’s fleet. Around minute 5:25 we see a hall where all the newcomers are being welcomed and the lone Japanese flag is conspicuous [see 04]. The identification of the Imperial Space Army with Japan is almost complete.

04

And it is aboard the Exelion that Noriko and Kazumi meet what will be their major human rival in the show: Soviet ace pilot Jung-Freud.

When Gunbuster was released, the Soviet Union was barely three years away from its dissolution. As doomed as the Soviet experiment might seem to many today, the U.S.S.R. and its predecessor the Russian Empire were certainly viewed inside Japan as the largest threats to Japanese power throughout the twentieth century. Russia and Japan fought a major war in 1904-5 which Japan won, and there were bloody clashes between the Soviets and the Japanese in 1939 and again in 1945 both of which favored the former. The Imperial Japanese Army, which had been divided into an “attack Russia” faction and an “attack America” faction in the 1930s finally focused all of its planning on the second option as a result of its crushing defeat at the hands of the Soviets on the Mongolian border in 1939.

In her article “Intellectuals, Cartoons, and Nationalism During the Russo-Japanese War”, Yulia Mikhailova notes the instrumentality of the 1904-5 Russo-Japanese War in the development of Japanese political cartoons (ancestors of anime). She states:

“In the Japanese case political cartoons were essential for defining ‘us’ against ‘them’ and constructing a sense of Japaneseness. They visually identified the foreign ‘other’ against which the Japanese defined themselves, Japanese nationhood, and nationalism by the end of Meiji […] They were instrumental in two important ways. First, they incited passion among their readers, effectively antagonizing them against Russia. Second, they peddled a self-serving positive image of Japan, successfully instilling in Japanese a powerful sense of national pride as citizens (kokumin) of the new nation-state.”

Admiral Togo, hero of the Russo-Japanese War and today a Shinto god

Mikhailova thus links the generally accepted notion that the confrontation with Russia was a formative experience for Japan with an indication of the important role played by cartoons in this process. The establishment of the Soviet Union only deepened the perceived abyss between the two states in the Japanese mind, with Communism seen as the antithesis of the Chrysanthemum Throne. The character of Jung-Freud in Gunbuster is heir to this traditional perception. As her name implies, however, she is the locus of more allusions than just the Russian/Soviet one.

The impossible name of Jung-Freud is a reference to psychoanalysis and its two superstars: the Austrian Freud and his Swedish disciple Jung.  Hideaki Anno has been interested in psychoanalysis for a long time but I think we would not be amiss in seeing in this composite name a reference to Western European culture in general as well as psychoanalysis in particular. With her bright red hair and green eyes with matching green earrings, her nationality and her name, Jung-Freud invites us to consider her as a quintessential Other to Japan [see 05].  (Noriko’s hair is dark brown and Kazumi’s is dark blue.)

05

Jung-Freud challenges Kazumi to a duel with their RX-7 robots and they fight (minutes 7:00 to 9:30). During the fight sequence they drift into an area under construction and we see the following sign (min. 8:49) [see 06]:

06

安全第一

SAFETY FIRST

日本重化学工業共同体

The English line is in the original and is the standard translation of the first line, seen in construction signs around Japan. The third line is not translated and the subtitlers have not opted to render it for us. A literal translation would be “Japan Heavy Chemical Industry Consortium”. In short, the impression that the non-Japanese readers receive of a battle among equals between a Japanese and a Soviet space pilot in this scene is belied (unbeknownst to them) by the fact that once again it is Japan that is behind the building of the presumably international spacecraft. The presence of the English words “SAFETY FIRST” written very prominently in the center of the sign could even induce Anglophone fans into believing they are getting all of the information provided by the sign, when in fact this is far from being the case.

The duel ends when the girls run into a dead space alien. Even though there is no victor, Jung-Freud seemingly accepts Kazumi’s superiority. At the very least from now on she will behave in a genuinely friendly fashion toward the two Japanese pilots and will never challenge Kazumi again. She will go on to challenge Noriko in Episode Four, which I view as a tacit avowal of her own inferiority to the more senior Kazumi.

Jung-Freud’s about-face is depicted in a sequence extending from minutes 12:00 to 14:00. The sequence is well known as a standard example of fan-service. It basically involves Noriko, Kazumi and Jung-Freud chatting while fully nude in a public bath. The Anime Enyclopedia defines fan-service as “a temporary suspension of the concerns of the story in order to amuse or entertain the audience – usually images and moments in which the female characters lose their clothes or pose provocatively”. As banal as a straightforward description of the sequence may sound, it is pivotal to our understanding of Gunbuster‘s imperialism. The power differentials are very clearly set out and the scene as a whole marks the conquest of the Other (which Jung-Freud symbolizes) by Japan.

The sequence begins with Noriko and Kazumi in the bath. Kazumi remains in the water and thus is mostly covered from our gaze, throughout the two minutes [see 07]. Noriko goes out and then in again, and is significantly more exposed, although there is never a full frontal view [see 08]. Forty seconds into the sequence Jung-Freud opens the door to the bath and comes in, shot in full frontal view [see 09]. She sits by the bath and crosses her legs provocatively. Her reason for coming is to apologize to Kazumi for her behavior earlier, and she invites both Japanese girls to her birthday party. She then reveals she has a crush on Kazumi’s and Noriko’s Japanese coach (Ota) and asks Kazumi when his birthday is. She replies it was the day before yesterday. Since we have received hints before that Kazumi and her coach have a certain romantic bond with each other, we know Jung-Freud’s second challenge is doomed as well.

07

08

09

The exploitation and domestication of Jung-Freud is blatantly palpable. Most fans will probably be shocked to find that the Soviet pilot is interested in burying the hatchet rather than challenging Kazumi again. Also, no reason is given as to why she should fall for the Japanese coach, unless we are meant to believe that Japanese manhood is irresistible.

That said, most of the imperialism is communicated here through the image. There is a clear inverse correlation between power and nudity: Jung-Freud as the more exposed is the most vulnerable; the Japanese are in control with Kazumi taking the lead. Furthermore, Jung-Freud, already sporting a number of foreign traits, becomes overloaded in this sequence. So far we have seen her in an Army uniform and her spacesuit, but now that she is nude we find that she wears a large Christian cross. We will see this cross again in later episodes. The coup de grace takes place literally in the background. Throughout the sequence the Japanese girls are shown with the public bath wall in the background. This bath is exactly like a traditional Japanese sento bath, reinforcing the two girls’ Japaneseness. Jung-Freud’s background, on the other hand is as far removed from a Russian or Soviet environment as could be: it is a big painting of the American landing on the Moon, complete with an American flag and the words “United States” written in all-caps below it.

10

The image that we see right around minute 13:20 gives us this overloaded symbol of the Other in perfect detail: a Soviet woman with bright red hair, large-breasted and fully nude, with a European name allusive of psychoanalysis (as the culmination of Western thought), wearing a Christian cross, sits against the backdrop of a representation of America’s finest hour [see 10]. Note that the American Moon landings were an integral part of the nation’s struggle against Soviet Union and a bitter time for the latter country. Note also the fact that it would have been difficult for a Soviet officer to carry such a large Christian cross around. The text humiliates and subjugates Jung-Freud / the Other, as she apologizes to Japan in girlish, non-threatening Japanese and then confesses her desire for a Japanese male, a desire which we know as viewers is already doomed.

My friend iskra has pointed out to me that Gunbuster uses a 5-second refrain from the Soviet anthem as a motif for Jung-Freud (e.g. when she comes to the rescue in minute 16:29 of this episode). The pitch of the melody has been cut off at the end and looped, almost as if the melody is not allowed to run its course before it is forced to start up again. This appropriation of the foreign continues in full force in the next episode.

[In the interests of full disclosure, I should add that I have contributed my part to the continued exploitation of Jung-Freud.  See here (NSFW)]

~ by Haloed Bane on November 27, 2011.