Problem with alien-invasion anime

Madzack · Post by **Madzack** » Fri Aug 22, 2003 1:49 pm

There's the bit of problem I have with most alien-invasion themed animes. Most aliens are just cannon fodders. There's no one character representing them, just hordes rushing down the hill. In fact, they're not characters at all!! They serve no function other than being target practice for some heroes' super abilities or mech-piloting skills. Most of the time, they're marginalised behind main characters, like the Jovian Lizards of Nadesico, and the plots more focused (biased?) on the personal lives of our goody-two shoes, touchy-feely, (human) protagonists (as well as a conspiracy or two).

Any thoughts on this?

MrScribble · Post by **MrScribble** » Fri Aug 22, 2003 2:59 pm

Madzack wrote:There's the bit of problem I have with most alien-invasion themed animes. Most aliens are just cannon fodders. There's no one character representing them, just hordes rushing down the hill. In fact, they're not characters at all!! They serve no function other than being target practice for some heroes' super abilities or mech-piloting skills. Most of the time, they're marginalised behind main characters, like the Jovian Lizards of Nadesico, and the plots more focused (biased?) on the personal lives of our goody-two shoes, touchy-feely, (human) protagonists (as well as a conspiracy or two).

Any thoughts on this?

That's done on purpose to preserve the "The main good guy//character rocks!" image.

If all the 'cannonfodder' aliens got character or were otherwise deepened out, the viewer would sympathize with them and would thus feel bad about the good guy blasting all the aliens.

Lone Wolf · Post by **Lone Wolf** » Fri Aug 22, 2003 3:11 pm

'Crest of the Stars'...

FATTY_VM · Post by **FATTY_VM** » Fri Aug 22, 2003 4:57 pm

does "onegai teacher" count .....

O yeah .. i officially denounce its american title "teacher please", because it sounds like a slutty fourth rate porn Video .. the title and the iffy box set dont lend to the fact that it isnt so .... (not that i mind the box or the dvd covers

)

kyosukeshin · Post by **kyosukeshin** » Sat Aug 23, 2003 11:38 am

Macross (better known by most as Robotech) actually showed their storyline from both the human and alien point of view which I thought was really cool.

Mr Pilkington · Post by **Mr Pilkington** » Sat Aug 23, 2003 11:50 am

I like Nadesco. Both sides sworn to up hold the standars of Gekigangar!

OmniStrata · Post by **OmniStrata** » Sat Aug 23, 2003 2:53 pm

Blue Gender
those aliens aren't cannon fodder
the humans are ^_^

Anlushac11 · Post by **Anlushac11** » Sun Aug 24, 2003 5:55 am

8)

I just saw a bunch of Last Exile Episodes and I think the Guild kicks butt.

Im not sure if I would call them Aliens but the Guild pilots seem to be pretty good pilots, and the one female guild pilot was just toying with the main character.

Madzack · Post by **Madzack** » Sun Aug 24, 2003 7:55 am

Anlushac11 wrote:8)

I just saw a bunch of Last Exile Episodes and I think the Guild kicks butt.

Same principle. Aliens, humans, empires, whatever the invaders. I always felt they lack character and something.

Another thing lacking is a sort of a "intimate" relationship between enemies, the invader and the invaded. Not just romance, but like say, Shinji getting up close and personal with an Angel (SPOILERS: By the time he met Kaworu, it's already too late) I want the antagonists to really get inside each other's mind, or act as each other's phantasm, something that haunts his or her past (Please, Cowboy Bebop doesn't count)

But what I really missed is a romance between enemies. So far, most involve secondary characters. Why not involve main characters, like say a hot-shot pilot who discovers his soulmate works for the enemy?

Saying this, I long for the days of Mospeada or Southern Cross, where such romances are possible.

AquaSky · Post by **AquaSky** » Sun Aug 24, 2003 8:19 am

You might like somehting along the lines of Urusei Yatsura then. It's a comedy with little to no sci-fi and drama elements, but if you want another take on the genre, it's worth a look.

AnimeMusicVideos.org

Problem with alien-invasion anime

Problem with alien-invasion anime

Re: Problem with alien-invasion anime