@@JeanLucCaptain TBF to Germany at that time they were dragged into WW1 same as Russia but Wilhem II and a number of poor decisions early in the war did made it worse for them too. It wasn't like anyone at the time expected that it would explode into WW1 that quickly. (Though many did prepare for it, they just didn't expect it to become the Meat Grinder in the Western Front that it became, you can even see this early in the war where in the West before the Trenches there was manuver warfare but as time went on and they dug in both sides realised the predicament they find themselves in.)
What comes to mind for me is a wider Japanese fascination with European military culture, as shown when Japanese school uniforms transitioned from traditional Japanese fashion to clothing influenced by the Prussian and British army and navy uniforms. In manga/anime, "The Rose of Versailles" was a popular manga from the early '70s with a heroine in male French military uniform as well. Leiji Matsumoto specialized in retro futuristic work in which stuff like old battleships, pirate ships, and trains take off into the stars, with some of the casts wearing uniforms influenced by old Euro costuming as well.
It should be added that The Rose of Versailles wasn't doing all that great in sales until it was picked up by the theatre group Takarazuka Revue and their take has become a staple of a certain type of female representation. There was an interest that went beyond manga readers of the time.
I don't think it's fascination but more of inspiration due to needing a stand-in, like how we always have a stand-in for Third Reich and Roman Empire in authoritarian empires in Western fiction.
@@EzekielDeLaCroixI don’t see why it cant be shades of both. Like the fall of the samurai and the largescale adoption of western military, political, and other structures in the mid 19th century that jumpstart both the west and japan towards pretty much world domination I can only assume has left a pretty big impression on japan’s national memory.
@@midshipman8654 Because most of the time, designing a unique culture with reasons for their aesthetics is difficult and takes up too much time for most people. I won't deny someone probably did say "Hurr durr napoleonic imperial arrogance and splendor." as a sort of symbolism or what not - but a lot of the times, they just want to get the point across of what kind of "faction" they are and so they use aesthetics most people recognize.
I find the scene where the curator mistakes tye japanese oni mask for a roman one really hilarious, McQuve doesn't even say anything, he just looks disheartened at the abysmal ignorance and incompetence of the curator, it seems like he's thinking: . And i think that it was so attached to that vase not because of its historical or artistic value, but simply because it was the only original piece in the Zeon collection, the rest being little more than tourist souvenirs.
There seems to be an overall ignorance of history in the Universal Century in general, and among spacenoids in particular. Ghiren, for example, seemed to think Hitler was from the Middle Ages and assumed that if his father was comparing him to someone, then it must be a compliment.
@@Swindle1984 I think AD is referred to as the Middle Ages in UC. or at least that's what they seem to be going with now, Unicorn uses that naming convention too but yea agree with the points made
@@Swindle1984 He took it as a compliment because he saw Hitler as a role model in a way, only hoping to be more successful in his plans with Zeon. Degwin did indeed say that to Ghiren out of spite though, and Ghiren taking it with stride was just the cherry on top.
@@vincentlamb3436 He takes it as a complement because he has no idea who the dude is, hence why when Gihren leaves Degwin thinks to himself "but son, Hitler was defeated..." Tomino wasn't exactly subtle with what he was trying to say.
@@pyramidinu9449 the problem is that in UC 79 the aesthetic of thigs like clothes, cars and houses is too similar to our own to be more than a hundred years into the future. My theory is that Zeon underwent a deep cultural and political degeneration that led to huge failure in education and allowed the Zabis to install a dictatorship. Zeon died long before the start of the One Year War.
@@MM22966 It's actually meant to parallel Alexander the Great more, ESPECIALLY with Reinhard. He even dies at the same age of something mysterious that maybe possibly was poisoning but might've been disease, the history books aren't sure.
Dune's imperium is the Czarist Russian Empire though. Dune is Leslie Blanch "Sabres of Paradise - Conquest and Vengeance in the Caucasus" in SPAAACE! (with a passing grab from Cordwainer Smith lore). It's okay.
@@SeruraRenge11Its a lot of things but IMO its the closest to the Rise of Islam than HRE but the Empire thats toppled does take from the HRE, at least in the general beats of the story, Powerful Empire gets toppled by a new religion through a War and people who live in a Dessert Planet is basically the entire History of the Rise of Islam except instead of 1 Empire its actually 2, The Eastern Roman Empire aka Byzantine Empire and the Sassanid Empire. Really a lot of Near Eastern History is in there mixed in with others, Spice is Oil so it also Mirrors both the Colonialism of the British and French in the region as well as the Ottomans control of it through much of history.
Funny how any LotGH planetside Empire scenes look just like they could have been taken straight up from the Rose of Versailles. This setting was cool AF. The algorithm just pushed your video to my feed, grateful for this! I'm subscribing!
Its probably my favourite look for science fiction. The only thing I can think of as similar in concept though not in execution would be Star Wars, at least the original films and more so in the original Ralph Mcquarrie paintings which have this almost space medieval look in areas were thinks look almost old fashioned yet still are clearly sci-fi another series that is weirdly like this is Babylon 5 with the different alien species having old fashion dress mainly the Centauri and Narn. Gundam (U.C. Timeline) and LOTGH are just awesome in their design language. Kind of want to watch Glass Fleet now
The Centauri have a lot of parallels to the Austrian Empire specifically, to the point that one of their plotlines is notably inspired by of the assassination of Franz Ferdinand and the consequences thereof.
@@bakasta5992 yeah that's another great example of this thou I guess in that case it was because they were adapting Treasure Island and just placing the story in space it gives of a similar feeling unique in western Sci-Fi especially to such and extreme.
There is also such importance placed on fashionability of space prussians because fashion and displays of power, wealth, and taste serve to justify their existence as a self governing group. The space Prussian creates not only an ideological distinction between themselves, their enemy and the common people, but a very clear visual one too. Kinda reminds me of the way that nobility and royals dress in Code geass, it serves to highlight them as the people of importance while also showing their utter separation from how most normal people live.
I'm kinda surprised you didn't mention Space Pirate Captain Harlock. Admittedly it's more of a 17-18th century Age of Sail motif rather than 19th century Prussian/German, but in terms of space opera anime with a visual style drawing heavily from historical European aesthetics I feel like it's probably one of the more influential works. In regards to Glass Fleet, I remember watching it and thinking it was pretty good. Though that was like 15 years ago, and I don't really remember any of the specifics.
I really love when something like this pops up in sci fi. I think old sci fi in particular works pretty well with this. Like, you could put it in black and white, present it as a documentary of some old conflict and ut wouldn't feel out of place
Look up Tex Talks BattleTech, the setting fits this idea to a tee. The Ameris Civil War videos are probably the best examples of this and I'd recommend them if you're in a mood for a gravel-voiced Texan to tell you about the geopolitical circumstances that lead to the creation of the UrbanMech.
The adaptations of Dune lean into this heavily since it's basically space feudalism, fighting with swords and personal body shields. House Atreides looks like "good" Zeon.
@@Joshua_N-A The shield is designed to only stop fast-moving projectiles. It allows low energy matter to pass through. Otherwise, you would turn it on and gradually suffocate. This means you can be slain by melee and thrown weapons. Short swords and darts are popular for this reason; a dart can pass through the shield if its relative velocity to the shield is low. Another fun interaction fact is that while lasers exist in Dune, shooting a shield with a laser causes a chain reaction that will cause both the shooter and the target to explode.
@@Joshua_N-A Have you seen Star Gate? Goa'uld pesonal shields worked similarly as throwables hardcountered them. Except, if you hit them with energy weapons, they wouldn't cause a 10 MegaTon nuclear explosion.
As several people have mentioned - Gundam Wing, Treize Kushrenada in particular. It's ultimately just a reinterpretation of the Zeon aesthetic, as they reuse core elements of the original in each new series, but it's closer historically to actual Prussian uniforms. Another series where Sunrise implements this is in Code Geass with the Britainian Empire. Speaking of Wing, the central theme from the Endless Waltz OVA was that history repeats itself. I believe that sentiment underlies the decision to incorporate the aristocratic style motif. (There may have also been some real world inspiration as well in the way that outdated fashion from previous decades has a tendency to come back in style for a bit) When we look at Zeon, they are living in space and are actually the more advanced faction from a technological perspective. However, at the same time, they are space "colonists". This lends to the idea of a new era of imperialism and suggests that as humanity faces new challenges, old habits inevitably re-emerge. Aside from the political setting of these series, there is a more generalized social commentary as well. Civilization is constantly in a state of change and reacts in various ways. This is where the liberal / conservative dichotomy originates, despite the fact that it typically manifests in politics. It is society trying to establish some equilibrium between tradition and progress. Combining these two seemingly opposing concepts reinforces the notion of that cyclical nature.
Yeah but Treize also has really...wierd motivations for his actions. Speaking as someone who was in the Army, yeah I get what he's saying about people being more eager for war when you can send robots to do a soldier's job and thus risk nothing on your own side....but the show never brings up the counterpoint that no mother will ever accept that their son had to die on the battlefield because you didn't like the ethical implications of sending a robot to do it in his stead.
I am very happy that you mentioned the connection between the Meiji restoration and the Prussian government under Otto von Bismarck. I get so tired of historically ignorant anime commentators who all say the connection between Japan and Germany began in World War II. But you should note the underlying reason WHY Meiji Japan decided to model its army and education system on that of Prussia: the Franco-Prussian War! Before 1870 Meiji Japan was looking to France as the military model: after all, Napoleon had kicked the ass of almost everything else in Europe! But when Prussia defeated France in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71, suddenly Prussia (which soon unified all the northern German states under Prussian King Wilhelm I, soon crowned Kaiser of the new German Empire) became the 800 pound Gorilla of Europe! Japan said adieu to France, and Willkommen to Germany, as far as modern nation training was concerned! Well I’m glad this vid popped up in my feed, because if it’s representative of your content, this is the kind of anime commentary I want to see! And several million points out of ten for introducing me to some Yaz works I never heard of before!
Tbf, at the time France was still THE preeminent land power in Europe with the biggest and, by most metrics, most powerful army. Not to mention they controlled like a quarter of the world's population that they could bring to bear on their enemies. They held out all 4 years against German assault in WW1 for a reason. But well they were unprepared in 1870.
@@SeruraRenge11 they held out for 4 years in ww1 due to the british buying them time to adapt. the french forces in 1914 were really bad, like extremely bad. and most pre-ww1 french industry was in german hands in ww1. the french military was signifcantly smaller than the german military, with older equipment, tactics and uniforms. with british aide the french army was so bloodied it mutatanied. now imagine they had to shoulder the whole front by themselves.
I am a bit sad the new Dune doesn't take on the old, lavish fasion and instead went straight into stark minimalism. I like Denis Villeneuves style but I do miss SciFi to feature victorian era style. In the 90s Babylon 5 had that with the Centauri who also feel like Space Prussians with this whole eagerness to be recognized as a super power, to dominte the others and these clasic outfits they all wear but it is rare nowadays.
It didn't do it specifically because people saw Lynch's Dune, which personally I really like but get why people didn't, and it massively turned them off.
It's so clear when reading dune that the fashion sense of the elites was intended to be VERY lavish and sophisticated, elegant, yet often excessive. It's really odd to imagine Dune without that.
I think the effectiveness of this particular aesthetic - outside of being super drippy and having easily distinguished visuals between factions - is that it works well to create an emotional parity between the faction in the hearts of the audience. Using Space Prussians builds on the our romanticized concept of the European nobility and lets the work create more idealized and stylish antagonists which we can respect/adulate even while the faction they support is truly unpalatable objectively speaking. While conversly the capitalistic Western democracy/anocracy faction can be realistically corrupt and hypocritical while we in the audience can still understand why the characters would defend it, as push comes to shove we would probably do the same. It can really work to get you more invested, at least if the writer(s) know what they're doing.
The way you described the aesthetic regression in a lot of sci-fi made think quite a bit of Frank Herbert’s Dune. Given it was published all the way back in 1965, I wonder if that novel could have influenced any of the anime here. It basically does exactly what you described but with an Arabian aesthetic in place of a Prussian one. Perhaps you could argue it to be the progenitor of this style of sci-fi.
Lot of good stuff in here. I knew these fellas in marching band uniforms were based on Prussia, and Reinhard von Lohengramm was a mix of Napoleon and and Friedrich II, but never really knew WHY
Gundam Wing has a similar vibe, though it might be more Napoleonic than Prussian. But being an alternate timeline it doesn't explain the fashions on display.
I really like what you said about Zeon being "nouveau riche", I was always curious if an aristocracy existed pre-independence or if it was something that came out after it.
Gankutsuou is a 2000s Anime adaption of Count of Monte-Cristo that reimagines the story as a Futuristic Space Opera but still plenty of Aesthetic and Politics from the July Monarchy. Some even more recent Prussian Anime I could recommend are Tanya The Evil and Izetta The Last Witch. I still haven't seen Scwarzenmarcken yet but it's supposed to be East Germany inspired. Also Britannia in Code Geass feels like an alternate Evolution of Hanorvian England. The Free Planets Alliance in LOTGH I feel is more Third French Republic, the Patriotic Knights Corps are like the Chamelots Du Roi.
excellent vid! the whole space prussian thing also reminds me a bit of babylon 5. i think besides the symbolism, it's also just a way to illustrate a possible cyclical nature of these conflicts.
Its hard to say what exactly Yaz and Tomino intended in 1979 but many people have pointed out to me the antebellum visual elements (garmas GF and the ball) and plantation colonies like Texas colony and the values of the EF and Zeon as being similar to the American Civil War and of course Gone With The Wind being a seminal piece of western film fiction in Japan. Some have even suggested that Garma and Char are temperment x pallette swaps of Ashley Wilkes and Rhett Butler. Space Prussians are definitely a thing and ostentatious uses of random german words are almost more common than Japanese ones in the entire historical canon naming conventions in Anime, but I think they were clever enough to use lots of different interesting inspirations in 0079. Some have said the Boshin war is also an inspiration but the belligerents don't resemble them visually. I really like M'quve and Ramba Ral as really interesting polar characteristics of what Zeon represents, since the show doesn't always tell you outright you can come to conclusions using different characters dispositions. Ral is egalitarian and pessimistic and M'quve is optimistic and elitist- they almost seem like opposites but they both share some interesting values as well. Regality is definitely one of the defining values of Zeon. And nothing represents Regality like Prussia, Napoleonic France, The 3rd Reich, or Ancient Rome of which many visual motifs are clearly borrowed as well.
_"Its hard to say what exactly Yaz and Tomino intended in 1979"_ This depends entirely on what you're talking about. UC Gundam is generally very loud with its left leanings. Sometimes to the point of smashing you over the head with a 1 ton hammer.
I do love how eclectic Zeon is, USSR, Nazis, Mussolini stuff, older European aristocracy, bits of US and other independence/seccession movements. They're let by Space Hitler, son of Space Stalin and his weird little gaggle of siblings.
I would say the Earth Federation are more like the US and Allies Ironically as Japan was an Axis Power, the Allies may have had a ton wrong with them but they were the better alternative than the Axis, Zeon for the most part is just Space Axis combining the Big 3 Axis forces, (their penchient for Super Weapons and Style of Dress come from the Germans, their tendency to infight comes from the IJA and IJN and they are a Straight up monarchy like Japan.) the only Soviet aspect that I can think of is how the current Principality got into Power with Char being basically the Son of Space Trotsky. Also Fun Fact: Mussolin was Once a Socialist before creating the you know what Ideology.
@forickgrimaldus8301 He didn't really change. He (and Giovanni Gentile) just refined it into a new branch on the socialist tree. The USSR part is mainly the revolutionary-repressive nature of Zeon and the Deikum-Degwin-Jimba situation, being the animalfarmized sinplified version of Lenin-Stalin-Trotsky. (Though Origin does make Jimba more of a bastard like his parallel) Deikun/m is Lenin, Jimba Trotsky, and Degwin Stalin, which is why I call Gihren "Space Hitler, son of Space Stalin."
@@DIEGhostfish yup hence its not really Socialist anymore you can find a lot of info on how Faschists view Economics also Faschists don't like Socialists, like on a Foundational and Economic basis.
Dude, well done, great speech work, your voice was both captivating and casual in a way that kept me interested but relaxed. The script was smooth and I loved those references to niche historical media . Good stuff.
Something else I like to think of is the idea that in the future we will have moved through so many styles and gone through so many phases in fashion that we will eventually have tried every possible fashion and will have nothing left to play with so and we will instead establish an equilibrium that may include older aesthetics.
During the Meiji Era's expansive reforms, Prussia made a profound impact on Japanese culture and the popular imagination. Prussian engineers were hired to set up engineering academies, Japan's public school system was modeled after the Prussian public school system (not unique to Japan, incidentally) and the army was trained by and modeled after the Prussian army. The Japanese gained a wider fascination with European culture during the Meiji Era, but Prussia especially. Fashion among the Japanese elite trended toward European and especially Prussian fashion; see also Count Okubo and his magnificent mutton chops. Not surprising the influence and aesthetic remains to some degree in the popular imagination.
00 was peak 2000s era, with contemporary middle-eastern troubles etc. Setsuna was actually middle eastern(some say allusion to kurdish with "Krugistan"), as well as talk about the global war on terror. Seed took a turn from credible about 2nd Iraq war, Japan's position in international politics etc, to non-credible as time goes on and politics change, and back to credible with brexit shennigans, a new cold war dividing up the world, and influenza pandemic.
there seem to be also a huge german asthetic vibe in most shows with cyborgs or mechas as well, I was rereading battle angle alita the otherday and realized how german everything was.
One of the things that attracted me the most to Gundam and made me start reading the Origins manga earlier this year is this 80s uniform aesthetic. It's so perfectly evocative. All straight lines, epaulettes, winged shouders, and emblazoned chest designs. It's fantastic stuff. Even watching Gundam Hathaway a few months ago, I was struck by how even modern Sunrise productions take care to make uniforms and suits look really, really good. Somebody there loves fashion in a big way.
Double replying because you mentioned Yasuhiko, and he drew the entire manga that I'm reading, Origins, so of course that's why the depictions of Xeon and Earth Federation uniforms are so crisp and beautifully rendered, he literally designed these uniforms!
Well, Gundam has always been super detail oriented in many aspects. There is a good reason why Gundam is considered the father of the real robot genre.
just discovered your channel, and what an excellent analysis here. This really had my thinking about Zeon in a way I hadn't before, excellent work! and that Japanese-Cuban film looks AMAZING thank you so so much for bringing it to my attention!
Magnetic Rose from Memories (1995) kinda gives me that feel when they go across the ship, this 17-18th century regality but in space and vintage futurism
There is some similar things in the fantasy genre too. Specifically the adventurer's guild: it's just modern bureaucratic system. Like how local town office works. And fantasy progressively lean into how to develop local business than going for national or international power struggle.
I encourage you to finish Round Vernian Vifam, it's peak hidden gem 80's mecha anime with kid pilots who have to grow up to survive and rescue their parents. There's also a sequel OVA where the kids reunite for one last adventure. I recently picked up both 4-packs of the main Vifam mecha model kits that have been rereleased by Bandai Namco. Really cool designs.
I suspect part of why Japan likes to explore Space Prussia is both the Meiji influence you mention and the fact that, while communism played itself out over the twentieth century, fascism died very early. Japan still looks back on its imperial time before and during WWII as a good thing, so it's not surprising to me that they like to imagine what such an empire might look like...in space.
Lotghs governmental structure Also always made me think that since the empires establishment it must've been intended to keep their society at Stillstand/Stuck in a long Lost time to more easily control their people.
Keep them poor, keep them right above starvation, and keep them ignorant(in the context of how much knowledge they have), this is a classic method used by authoritarian power(though there are other ways to run such power too).
two other examples, not exactly japanese, but influential, are Jack Vances Dieing Earth Series from 1950, which was very influention in fiction, and Hodgesons The Night land from 1912. The former being so far in the future that the sun is about to go out and much of society is a hodge podge of different whimsical things from the uncontable eons of tech, cultural, and preternatural developments. And the latter is even further in the future when the sun has fon out and there is only a single surviving place of human residence left in the “night lands”. The whole thing is set in a very somber archaic atmosphere where everyone knows that they will soon come to an end. Its even writen in a pseudo older english style and I think the introduction actually starts with a scene set in the 1600’s.
Having seen Ryutarou's adaptation of Tezuka/Lang's *Metropolis* it kinda blew my mind realizing that Rock was another Tezuka character from a different series. I should read Phoenix
Rock is actually is one of Tezuka's earliest characters and appears in a lot of his work along with many other of his characters. For example in 2003's Astro boy, rock is the antagonist in a two parter episode that also contains the Phoenix as a character
Another really interesting video. Always been a fan of the style and I have a few of my own takes on it. I feel why it might be popular is it is fundamentally different from the world today. A lot of sci-fi that you see effectively boils down to a future version of our modern society with similar governments and institutions. That is something a bit boring and doesn't really help with escapism in a way whereas having these styles makes it a unique and distinct world in a way. As you said a s well it's a good way to help make sure the setting does become dated in some way which was one of the reasons why you see neo-feudalism in Frank Herbert's Dune. He knew that his depiction of the future would be dated within a short period so such actions as removing computers help stop that from happening. As for Zeon I always had my own head cannon that. We know the Federation have deported a lot of people from earth especially those who were seen as against the Federation order of things. It's likely these people subscribe to ideologies that were opposed to the Federation, anticapitalism, monarchism, fascism and so on. It's likely as well many of these people were nationalists for their own country and we see as well the religious as well. These ideologies would have likely been looking for something to attach to and when Zeon Deikun came along that would be the perfect point. I also stand that many spacey democratic institution is a farce and nothing than an example of corruption from the Federation and it is not just Zeon. All the other major UC antagonists in UC gundam are the same. Usually aristocratic space monarchy's
Ohhhh the irony of ralking about industrialist european empire culture with besaid island’s ost which drew influence from polynesian culture of living with nature
In Zardoz there's kind of a regression theme with immortals that have been made to be really old, though it's more like 20s/30s dancehall sort of clothing, if my fashion history is serving me well
Universal Century Gundam always gave me this weird vibe like the whole setting is completely believable. The locations and characters just have this strange feeling of realness and familiarity to them as if I could've lived in that universe in an alternate lifetime.
Awesome video, personally a really big fan of Gundam, it's aesthetic and all the inter space politics so I'm glad there's something else in line with those plots
While the Principality of zeon resembles the space Prussia or aka the space Nazis, the Neo Zeon however has the design more close to other major political factions in the history like Soviet (Char Neo Zeon) and British empire (Full Frontal and the sleeves) always amazed me and that's one of the reasons why I like this show. What also amazes me is the different definition of "red comet" in different political factions, the OYW char was a Red Baron ish character since he was severing in a Prussian style military, while the Neo Zeon Char was more of a soviet dictator style of "red" due to his ideological differences. And when it move on to FF, the more elegant and royalty style of British"red" were displayed given by the design of Sleeves Moblie suits and how Full Frontal behaves. They all named "red comet" but you can feel the difference between them, I think that's amazing
Thank you for this analysis. I became aware of this in the fashion from Gundam Wing. It isn't the most extravagant version, but I became very curious about why a Japanese show was using such detailed European inspired aristocratic fashion. Your history lesson here really clears that up.
I thought the desperate need for Zeon's aristocrats were a directly parallel to the early German empire's desire to be seen as a legitimate royal class. Once the separate Holy Roman Empire states fused under Prussian rule to become one country, there was a sense the country was too new to be taken seriously. The pomp and circumstance, as well as distinctly modern approaches with this almost Baroque overlays where it fit, was an elaborate display of legitimacy as a world power while avoiding the waiting period expected of places like Poland. Zeon came out of the gate swinging for power yet they were basically just the management of zero g miners and orbital manufacturing blocks. Zeon would have seen themselves implicitly in the German Empire's shoes.
I love the aesthetics of the 19th century and seeing it transposed into space is always great. Personally I wish the other great powers would get space counterparts. So we could have space France, Space Russia, and space Austria.
![ลองสุ่มไอโฟน 990 โกงมั้ย? [ โกงมั้ยครับ ep.101 ] | DOM](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/bfsWe0j492k/mqdefault.jpg)
Space Prussia has more romance than I know what to do with. It'll never stop being cool.
Prussian style uniforms in spaceeeeeee
Prussia Gloria Intensifies
Random dude dying in a shell crater in no man's land: i fail to see the romance.
@@JeanLucCaptain TBF to Germany at that time they were dragged into WW1 same as Russia but Wilhem II and a number of poor decisions early in the war did made it worse for them too.
It wasn't like anyone at the time expected that it would explode into WW1 that quickly. (Though many did prepare for it, they just didn't expect it to become the Meat Grinder in the Western Front that it became, you can even see this early in the war where in the West before the Trenches there was manuver warfare but as time went on and they dug in both sides realised the predicament they find themselves in.)
@@forickgrimaldus8301 the war poetry of the time was apocalyptic
What comes to mind for me is a wider Japanese fascination with European military culture, as shown when Japanese school uniforms transitioned from traditional Japanese fashion to clothing influenced by the Prussian and British army and navy uniforms. In manga/anime, "The Rose of Versailles" was a popular manga from the early '70s with a heroine in male French military uniform as well. Leiji Matsumoto specialized in retro futuristic work in which stuff like old battleships, pirate ships, and trains take off into the stars, with some of the casts wearing uniforms influenced by old Euro costuming as well.
The traditional Japanese school backpack, yes, THAT iconic one, is based off a 19th century Prussian soldier's backpack.
It should be added that The Rose of Versailles wasn't doing all that great in sales until it was picked up by the theatre group Takarazuka Revue and their take has become a staple of a certain type of female representation. There was an interest that went beyond manga readers of the time.
I don't think it's fascination but more of inspiration due to needing a stand-in, like how we always have a stand-in for Third Reich and Roman Empire in authoritarian empires in Western fiction.
@@EzekielDeLaCroixI don’t see why it cant be shades of both.
Like the fall of the samurai and the largescale adoption of western military, political, and other structures in the mid 19th century that jumpstart both the west and japan towards pretty much world domination I can only assume has left a pretty big impression on japan’s national memory.
@@midshipman8654 Because most of the time, designing a unique culture with reasons for their aesthetics is difficult and takes up too much time for most people. I won't deny someone probably did say "Hurr durr napoleonic imperial arrogance and splendor." as a sort of symbolism or what not - but a lot of the times, they just want to get the point across of what kind of "faction" they are and so they use aesthetics most people recognize.
May the algorithm bless your channel
it's happening?
It found me, so that's a new sub.
The Hibari video was relentlessly put on my videos until I eventually watched it, sometimes TH-cam really does understand what you want
I find the scene where the curator mistakes tye japanese oni mask for a roman one really hilarious, McQuve doesn't even say anything, he just looks disheartened at the abysmal ignorance and incompetence of the curator, it seems like he's thinking: .
And i think that it was so attached to that vase not because of its historical or artistic value, but simply because it was the only original piece in the Zeon collection, the rest being little more than tourist souvenirs.
There seems to be an overall ignorance of history in the Universal Century in general, and among spacenoids in particular. Ghiren, for example, seemed to think Hitler was from the Middle Ages and assumed that if his father was comparing him to someone, then it must be a compliment.
@@Swindle1984 I think AD is referred to as the Middle Ages in UC. or at least that's what they seem to be going with now, Unicorn uses that naming convention too
but yea agree with the points made
@@Swindle1984 He took it as a compliment because he saw Hitler as a role model in a way, only hoping to be more successful in his plans with Zeon. Degwin did indeed say that to Ghiren out of spite though, and Ghiren taking it with stride was just the cherry on top.
@@vincentlamb3436 He takes it as a complement because he has no idea who the dude is, hence why when Gihren leaves Degwin thinks to himself "but son, Hitler was defeated..." Tomino wasn't exactly subtle with what he was trying to say.
@@pyramidinu9449 the problem is that in UC 79 the aesthetic of thigs like clothes, cars and houses is too similar to our own to be more than a hundred years into the future. My theory is that Zeon underwent a deep cultural and political degeneration that led to huge failure in education and allowed the Zabis to install a dictatorship. Zeon died long before the start of the One Year War.
Dune is largely responsible for this space Prussian aesthetic, and in it's case it's very important to the book's setting.
It's less Prussia and more the old Holy Roman Empire that preceded it, according to Herbert.
With some fall of the Roman Empire thrown in. @@SeruraRenge11
@@MM22966 It's actually meant to parallel Alexander the Great more, ESPECIALLY with Reinhard. He even dies at the same age of something mysterious that maybe possibly was poisoning but might've been disease, the history books aren't sure.
Dune's imperium is the Czarist Russian Empire though. Dune is Leslie Blanch "Sabres of Paradise - Conquest and Vengeance in the Caucasus" in SPAAACE! (with a passing grab from Cordwainer Smith lore). It's okay.
@@SeruraRenge11Its a lot of things but IMO its the closest to the Rise of Islam than HRE but the Empire thats toppled does take from the HRE, at least in the general beats of the story,
Powerful Empire gets toppled by a new religion through a War and people who live in a Dessert Planet is basically the entire History of the Rise of Islam except instead of 1 Empire its actually 2, The Eastern Roman Empire aka Byzantine Empire and the Sassanid Empire.
Really a lot of Near Eastern History is in there mixed in with others,
Spice is Oil so it also Mirrors both the Colonialism of the British and French in the region as well as the Ottomans control of it through much of history.
Funny how any LotGH planetside Empire scenes look just like they could have been taken straight up from the Rose of Versailles. This setting was cool AF.
The algorithm just pushed your video to my feed, grateful for this! I'm subscribing!
Its probably my favourite look for science fiction. The only thing I can think of as similar in concept though not in execution would be Star Wars, at least the original films and more so in the original Ralph Mcquarrie paintings which have this almost space medieval look in areas were thinks look almost old fashioned yet still are clearly sci-fi another series that is weirdly like this is Babylon 5 with the different alien species having old fashion dress mainly the Centauri and Narn. Gundam (U.C. Timeline) and LOTGH are just awesome in their design language. Kind of want to watch Glass Fleet now
Star Wars really was always a fantasy story, its no coincidence that its success also coincided with a massive boom in fantasy works in America.
@@pandoranbias1622 Probably why the Prequels and sequels never captured the same magic as they were more "science fiction" than they were "fantasy"
The Centauri have a lot of parallels to the Austrian Empire specifically, to the point that one of their plotlines is notably inspired by of the assassination of Franz Ferdinand and the consequences thereof.
Treasure Planet kindaaaaa?
@@bakasta5992 yeah that's another great example of this thou I guess in that case it was because they were adapting Treasure Island and just placing the story in space it gives of a similar feeling unique in western Sci-Fi especially to such and extreme.
Regress would not be the word I use for Logh, Renaissance to a better time would be my wording
There is also such importance placed on fashionability of space prussians because fashion and displays of power, wealth, and taste serve to justify their existence as a self governing group. The space Prussian creates not only an ideological distinction between themselves, their enemy and the common people, but a very clear visual one too.
Kinda reminds me of the way that nobility and royals dress in Code geass, it serves to highlight them as the people of importance while also showing their utter separation from how most normal people live.
I'm kinda surprised you didn't mention Space Pirate Captain Harlock. Admittedly it's more of a 17-18th century Age of Sail motif rather than 19th century Prussian/German, but in terms of space opera anime with a visual style drawing heavily from historical European aesthetics I feel like it's probably one of the more influential works.
In regards to Glass Fleet, I remember watching it and thinking it was pretty good. Though that was like 15 years ago, and I don't really remember any of the specifics.
+ Galaxy Express 999 which is in the same universe
Arcadia often seems to be a mix of a WW1-WW2 battleship and an age of sail galleon.
I think the Gamilons in Space Battleship Yamato also have that European military aesthetic
I really love when something like this pops up in sci fi. I think old sci fi in particular works pretty well with this. Like, you could put it in black and white, present it as a documentary of some old conflict and ut wouldn't feel out of place
Please sir THIS IS A Future historical documentary!
Look up Tex Talks BattleTech, the setting fits this idea to a tee. The Ameris Civil War videos are probably the best examples of this and I'd recommend them if you're in a mood for a gravel-voiced Texan to tell you about the geopolitical circumstances that lead to the creation of the UrbanMech.
Space Prussians often have some pretty sweet looking equipment
The adaptations of Dune lean into this heavily since it's basically space feudalism, fighting with swords and personal body shields. House Atreides looks like "good" Zeon.
How is one supposed to stab one's opponent who is also equipped with the same shield?
@@Joshua_N-A The slow blade penetrates the shield.
House Atreides are 100% spanish, they look like they came from collaborating in the 123098210938th constitution in less than a decade
@@Joshua_N-A The shield is designed to only stop fast-moving projectiles. It allows low energy matter to pass through. Otherwise, you would turn it on and gradually suffocate. This means you can be slain by melee and thrown weapons. Short swords and darts are popular for this reason; a dart can pass through the shield if its relative velocity to the shield is low.
Another fun interaction fact is that while lasers exist in Dune, shooting a shield with a laser causes a chain reaction that will cause both the shooter and the target to explode.
@@Joshua_N-A Have you seen Star Gate? Goa'uld pesonal shields worked similarly as throwables hardcountered them. Except, if you hit them with energy weapons, they wouldn't cause a 10 MegaTon nuclear explosion.
As several people have mentioned - Gundam Wing, Treize Kushrenada in particular. It's ultimately just a reinterpretation of the Zeon aesthetic, as they reuse core elements of the original in each new series, but it's closer historically to actual Prussian uniforms. Another series where Sunrise implements this is in Code Geass with the Britainian Empire.
Speaking of Wing, the central theme from the Endless Waltz OVA was that history repeats itself. I believe that sentiment underlies the decision to incorporate the aristocratic style motif. (There may have also been some real world inspiration as well in the way that outdated fashion from previous decades has a tendency to come back in style for a bit) When we look at Zeon, they are living in space and are actually the more advanced faction from a technological perspective. However, at the same time, they are space "colonists". This lends to the idea of a new era of imperialism and suggests that as humanity faces new challenges, old habits inevitably re-emerge.
Aside from the political setting of these series, there is a more generalized social commentary as well. Civilization is constantly in a state of change and reacts in various ways. This is where the liberal / conservative dichotomy originates, despite the fact that it typically manifests in politics. It is society trying to establish some equilibrium between tradition and progress. Combining these two seemingly opposing concepts reinforces the notion of that cyclical nature.
Yeah but Treize also has really...wierd motivations for his actions. Speaking as someone who was in the Army, yeah I get what he's saying about people being more eager for war when you can send robots to do a soldier's job and thus risk nothing on your own side....but the show never brings up the counterpoint that no mother will ever accept that their son had to die on the battlefield because you didn't like the ethical implications of sending a robot to do it in his stead.
Not to mention Tubarov, the guy who invented said robots, was dressed like a Renaissance nobleman like the rest of Romefeller
I am very happy that you mentioned the connection between the Meiji restoration and the Prussian government under Otto von Bismarck. I get so tired of historically ignorant anime commentators who all say the connection between Japan and Germany began in World War II. But you should note the underlying reason WHY Meiji Japan decided to model its army and education system on that of Prussia: the Franco-Prussian War! Before 1870 Meiji Japan was looking to France as the military model: after all, Napoleon had kicked the ass of almost everything else in Europe! But when Prussia defeated France in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71, suddenly Prussia (which soon unified all the northern German states under Prussian King Wilhelm I, soon crowned Kaiser of the new German Empire) became the 800 pound Gorilla of Europe! Japan said adieu to France, and Willkommen to Germany, as far as modern nation training was concerned!
Well I’m glad this vid popped up in my feed, because if it’s representative of your content, this is the kind of anime commentary I want to see! And several million points out of ten for introducing me to some Yaz works I never heard of before!
Tbf, at the time France was still THE preeminent land power in Europe with the biggest and, by most metrics, most powerful army. Not to mention they controlled like a quarter of the world's population that they could bring to bear on their enemies. They held out all 4 years against German assault in WW1 for a reason. But well they were unprepared in 1870.
@@SeruraRenge11 they held out for 4 years in ww1 due to the british buying them time to adapt. the french forces in 1914 were really bad, like extremely bad. and most pre-ww1 french industry was in german hands in ww1. the french military was signifcantly smaller than the german military, with older equipment, tactics and uniforms.
with british aide the french army was so bloodied it mutatanied. now imagine they had to shoulder the whole front by themselves.
I am a bit sad the new Dune doesn't take on the old, lavish fasion and instead went straight into stark minimalism. I like Denis Villeneuves style but I do miss SciFi to feature victorian era style. In the 90s Babylon 5 had that with the Centauri who also feel like Space Prussians with this whole eagerness to be recognized as a super power, to dominte the others and these clasic outfits they all wear but it is rare nowadays.
It didn't do it specifically because people saw Lynch's Dune, which personally I really like but get why people didn't, and it massively turned them off.
It's so clear when reading dune that the fashion sense of the elites was intended to be VERY lavish and sophisticated, elegant, yet often excessive. It's really odd to imagine Dune without that.
I think the effectiveness of this particular aesthetic - outside of being super drippy and having easily distinguished visuals between factions - is that it works well to create an emotional parity between the faction in the hearts of the audience. Using Space Prussians builds on the our romanticized concept of the European nobility and lets the work create more idealized and stylish antagonists which we can respect/adulate even while the faction they support is truly unpalatable objectively speaking. While conversly the capitalistic Western democracy/anocracy faction can be realistically corrupt and hypocritical while we in the audience can still understand why the characters would defend it, as push comes to shove we would probably do the same.
It can really work to get you more invested, at least if the writer(s) know what they're doing.
"...people have so little sense of a future that they've begun yearning for the past..."
oh shit!
The way you described the aesthetic regression in a lot of sci-fi made think quite a bit of Frank Herbert’s Dune. Given it was published all the way back in 1965, I wonder if that novel could have influenced any of the anime here. It basically does exactly what you described but with an Arabian aesthetic in place of a Prussian one. Perhaps you could argue it to be the progenitor of this style of sci-fi.
Your content is full of this honest, sincere whimsy that makes me remember why I love the medium. Thanks a bundle 🙏🏾
thank you so much!
Lot of good stuff in here. I knew these fellas in marching band uniforms were based on Prussia, and Reinhard von Lohengramm was a mix of Napoleon and and Friedrich II, but never really knew WHY
Gundam Wing has a similar vibe, though it might be more Napoleonic than Prussian. But being an alternate timeline it doesn't explain the fashions on display.
I really like what you said about Zeon being "nouveau riche", I was always curious if an aristocracy existed pre-independence or if it was something that came out after it.
Gankutsuou is a 2000s Anime adaption of Count of Monte-Cristo that reimagines the story as a Futuristic Space Opera but still plenty of Aesthetic and Politics from the July Monarchy. Some even more recent Prussian Anime I could recommend are Tanya The Evil and Izetta The Last Witch. I still haven't seen Scwarzenmarcken yet but it's supposed to be East Germany inspired. Also Britannia in Code Geass feels like an alternate Evolution of Hanorvian England.
The Free Planets Alliance in LOTGH I feel is more Third French Republic, the Patriotic Knights Corps are like the Chamelots Du Roi.
Dang this was pretty interesting observation on Prussian
As a German I demand space Bavarians including culturally fitting (!) uniforms.
Yes
What about space Hanseatic or Reinelander?
excellent vid! the whole space prussian thing also reminds me a bit of babylon 5. i think besides the symbolism, it's also just a way to illustrate a possible cyclical nature of these conflicts.
Its hard to say what exactly Yaz and Tomino intended in 1979 but many people have pointed out to me the antebellum visual elements (garmas GF and the ball) and plantation colonies like Texas colony and the values of the EF and Zeon as being similar to the American Civil War and of course Gone With The Wind being a seminal piece of western film fiction in Japan. Some have even suggested that Garma and Char are temperment x pallette swaps of Ashley Wilkes and Rhett Butler. Space Prussians are definitely a thing and ostentatious uses of random german words are almost more common than Japanese ones in the entire historical canon naming conventions in Anime, but I think they were clever enough to use lots of different interesting inspirations in 0079. Some have said the Boshin war is also an inspiration but the belligerents don't resemble them visually. I really like M'quve and Ramba Ral as really interesting polar characteristics of what Zeon represents, since the show doesn't always tell you outright you can come to conclusions using different characters dispositions. Ral is egalitarian and pessimistic and M'quve is optimistic and elitist- they almost seem like opposites but they both share some interesting values as well. Regality is definitely one of the defining values of Zeon. And nothing represents Regality like Prussia, Napoleonic France, The 3rd Reich, or Ancient Rome of which many visual motifs are clearly borrowed as well.
_"Its hard to say what exactly Yaz and Tomino intended in 1979"_
This depends entirely on what you're talking about. UC Gundam is generally very loud with its left leanings. Sometimes to the point of smashing you over the head with a 1 ton hammer.
I do love how eclectic Zeon is, USSR, Nazis, Mussolini stuff, older European aristocracy, bits of US and other independence/seccession movements. They're let by Space Hitler, son of Space Stalin and his weird little gaggle of siblings.
I would say the Earth Federation are more like the US and Allies Ironically as Japan was an Axis Power, the Allies may have had a ton wrong with them but they were the better alternative than the Axis,
Zeon for the most part is just Space Axis combining the Big 3 Axis forces, (their penchient for Super Weapons and Style of Dress come from the Germans, their tendency to infight comes from the IJA and IJN and they are a Straight up monarchy like Japan.) the only Soviet aspect that I can think of is how the current Principality got into Power with Char being basically the Son of Space Trotsky.
Also Fun Fact: Mussolin was Once a Socialist before creating the you know what Ideology.
@forickgrimaldus8301 He didn't really change. He (and Giovanni Gentile) just refined it into a new branch on the socialist tree.
The USSR part is mainly the revolutionary-repressive nature of Zeon and the Deikum-Degwin-Jimba situation, being the animalfarmized sinplified version of Lenin-Stalin-Trotsky. (Though Origin does make Jimba more of a bastard like his parallel) Deikun/m is Lenin, Jimba Trotsky, and Degwin Stalin, which is why I call Gihren "Space Hitler, son of Space Stalin."
@@DIEGhostfish Faschism isn't Socialism though, it believes in a Third Position Economics.
@@forickgrimaldus8301 Eh, the third position's a weird one. Less a position and more bouncing back and forth.
@@DIEGhostfish yup hence its not really Socialist anymore you can find a lot of info on how Faschists view Economics also Faschists don't like Socialists, like on a Foundational and Economic basis.
Dude, well done, great speech work, your voice was both captivating and casual in a way that kept me interested but relaxed. The script was smooth and I loved those references to niche historical media . Good stuff.
I personally find mixing the past with the future interesting, unless the series or idea takes things too far beyond or too far behind.
Your voice is soothing and your content is fascinating. Hope your stuff blows up more, I love seeing topics like this pop up in my feed.
Something else I like to think of is the idea that in the future we will have moved through so many styles and gone through so many phases in fashion that we will eventually have tried every possible fashion and will have nothing left to play with so and we will instead establish an equilibrium that may include older aesthetics.
During the Meiji Era's expansive reforms, Prussia made a profound impact on Japanese culture and the popular imagination.
Prussian engineers were hired to set up engineering academies, Japan's public school system was modeled after the Prussian public school system (not unique to Japan, incidentally) and the army was trained by and modeled after the Prussian army.
The Japanese gained a wider fascination with European culture during the Meiji Era, but Prussia especially.
Fashion among the Japanese elite trended toward European and especially Prussian fashion; see also Count Okubo and his magnificent mutton chops.
Not surprising the influence and aesthetic remains to some degree in the popular imagination.
Can't wait for the next Gundam to have 2000s style, and the MC is a hiphop artist
00 was peak 2000s era, with contemporary middle-eastern troubles etc. Setsuna was actually middle eastern(some say allusion to kurdish with "Krugistan"), as well as talk about the global war on terror.
Seed took a turn from credible about 2nd Iraq war, Japan's position in international politics etc, to non-credible as time goes on and politics change, and back to credible with brexit shennigans, a new cold war dividing up the world, and influenza pandemic.
there seem to be also a huge german asthetic vibe in most shows with cyborgs or mechas as well, I was rereading battle angle alita the otherday and realized how german everything was.
Honestly, I'm just happy to find a channel that still talks about mecha anime
LOGH goes full space prussians.
Your Insight is really subtle and surprising from watching all these analytical videos
Appleseed came to mind .. ❤
One of the things that attracted me the most to Gundam and made me start reading the Origins manga earlier this year is this 80s uniform aesthetic. It's so perfectly evocative. All straight lines, epaulettes, winged shouders, and emblazoned chest designs. It's fantastic stuff. Even watching Gundam Hathaway a few months ago, I was struck by how even modern Sunrise productions take care to make uniforms and suits look really, really good. Somebody there loves fashion in a big way.
Double replying because you mentioned Yasuhiko, and he drew the entire manga that I'm reading, Origins, so of course that's why the depictions of Xeon and Earth Federation uniforms are so crisp and beautifully rendered, he literally designed these uniforms!
Well, Gundam has always been super detail oriented in many aspects. There is a good reason why Gundam is considered the father of the real robot genre.
the moment i hear that turn A ost. i know its gonna be good
just discovered your channel, and what an excellent analysis here. This really had my thinking about Zeon in a way I hadn't before, excellent work! and that Japanese-Cuban film looks AMAZING thank you so so much for bringing it to my attention!
Great video. Im happy to find another enjoyer of Guin Rhineford's limousine
Magnetic Rose from Memories (1995) kinda gives me that feel when they go across the ship, this 17-18th century regality but in space and vintage futurism
I clapped like a seal at the phoenix mention, we love
That ffx outtro music was a pleasant surprise alongside an already interesting video
There is some similar things in the fantasy genre too. Specifically the adventurer's guild: it's just modern bureaucratic system. Like how local town office works. And fantasy progressively lean into how to develop local business than going for national or international power struggle.
I encourage you to finish Round Vernian Vifam, it's peak hidden gem 80's mecha anime with kid pilots who have to grow up to survive and rescue their parents. There's also a sequel OVA where the kids reunite for one last adventure. I recently picked up both 4-packs of the main Vifam mecha model kits that have been rereleased by Bandai Namco. Really cool designs.
I suspect part of why Japan likes to explore Space Prussia is both the Meiji influence you mention and the fact that, while communism played itself out over the twentieth century, fascism died very early. Japan still looks back on its imperial time before and during WWII as a good thing, so it's not surprising to me that they like to imagine what such an empire might look like...in space.
Always enjoy your videos and this one is no exception
Lotghs governmental structure Also always made me think that since the empires establishment it must've been intended to keep their society at Stillstand/Stuck in a long Lost time to more easily control their people.
Keep them poor, keep them right above starvation, and keep them ignorant(in the context of how much knowledge they have), this is a classic method used by authoritarian power(though there are other ways to run such power too).
two other examples, not exactly japanese, but influential, are Jack Vances Dieing Earth Series from 1950, which was very influention in fiction, and Hodgesons The Night land from 1912.
The former being so far in the future that the sun is about to go out and much of society is a hodge podge of different whimsical things from the uncontable eons of tech, cultural, and preternatural developments.
And the latter is even further in the future when the sun has fon out and there is only a single surviving place of human residence left in the “night lands”. The whole thing is set in a very somber archaic atmosphere where everyone knows that they will soon come to an end. Its even writen in a pseudo older english style and I think the introduction actually starts with a scene set in the 1600’s.
the Al Gore rhythm chose to promote this one. I don't know anything about your chanel but this was more than enough to want to see more regularly.
I thought I was going insane seeing a video with VIFAM in it in my recommended but thank you for your service
Your videos' themes highly deserve more recognition!
This randomly popped up for me. Dude this was amazing. I'll check out the show. Can't wait to see more from you.
Having seen Ryutarou's adaptation of Tezuka/Lang's *Metropolis* it kinda blew my mind realizing that Rock was another Tezuka character from a different series. I should read Phoenix
Rock is actually is one of Tezuka's earliest characters and appears in a lot of his work along with many other of his characters. For example in 2003's Astro boy, rock is the antagonist in a two parter episode that also contains the Phoenix as a character
Another really interesting video. Always been a fan of the style and I have a few of my own takes on it. I feel why it might be popular is it is fundamentally different from the world today. A lot of sci-fi that you see effectively boils down to a future version of our modern society with similar governments and institutions. That is something a bit boring and doesn't really help with escapism in a way whereas having these styles makes it a unique and distinct world in a way. As you said a s well it's a good way to help make sure the setting does become dated in some way which was one of the reasons why you see neo-feudalism in Frank Herbert's Dune. He knew that his depiction of the future would be dated within a short period so such actions as removing computers help stop that from happening.
As for Zeon I always had my own head cannon that. We know the Federation have deported a lot of people from earth especially those who were seen as against the Federation order of things. It's likely these people subscribe to ideologies that were opposed to the Federation, anticapitalism, monarchism, fascism and so on. It's likely as well many of these people were nationalists for their own country and we see as well the religious as well. These ideologies would have likely been looking for something to attach to and when Zeon Deikun came along that would be the perfect point. I also stand that many spacey democratic institution is a farce and nothing than an example of corruption from the Federation and it is not just Zeon. All the other major UC antagonists in UC gundam are the same. Usually aristocratic space monarchy's
space prussians sounds cool but it also sounds really easy to get wrong. it's the simplest things that are the hardest to accomplish correctly.
I love how much I learn about history from your videos
Ohhhh the irony of ralking about industrialist european empire culture with besaid island’s ost which drew influence from polynesian culture of living with nature
Man, this video is a gem, I can hear soft passion in your voice. Great job, hang in there, mate.
Cheers.
Thank you for making this, it was very refreshing.
I fucking love anime political dramas. One of the reasons I love Gundam, and Legend of the Galactic Heroes.
In Zardoz there's kind of a regression theme with immortals that have been made to be really old, though it's more like 20s/30s dancehall sort of clothing, if my fashion history is serving me well
Universal Century Gundam always gave me this weird vibe like the whole setting is completely believable. The locations and characters just have this strange feeling of realness and familiarity to them as if I could've lived in that universe in an alternate lifetime.
wake up babe, new pyramid Inu
edit: another banger, keep them coming
Algorithm brought me here and I was sold within the first minute. Nice!
It's amazing how it looked
I really found this fascinating, thanks
This kinda reminds me of titania. It was also a space prussian anime but didnt get made until the 2010s? Despite the mnaga being around for ages.
Awesome video, personally a really big fan of Gundam, it's aesthetic and all the inter space politics so I'm glad there's something else in line with those plots
Randomly stumbled on your channel, great video essays!
Just found your channel with this video in my recommendations and your content is fantastic!
Nice, concise video
Don't see many of tuem around in the era of hours-long "video essays"
I'd love to see more videos on Legend of the Galactic Heroes.
I'm planning on doing.a rewatch so it probably will come up some more
My favorite niche space opera topic
Vifam is great, probably my favorite mecha anime besides maybe VOTOMs or Zeta Gundam.
Venus Wars is exactly this! Its even directed by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko
While the Principality of zeon resembles the space Prussia or aka the space Nazis, the Neo Zeon however has the design more close to other major political factions in the history like Soviet (Char Neo Zeon) and British empire (Full Frontal and the sleeves) always amazed me and that's one of the reasons why I like this show.
What also amazes me is the different definition of "red comet" in different political factions, the OYW char was a Red Baron ish character since he was severing in a Prussian style military, while the Neo Zeon Char was more of a soviet dictator style of "red" due to his ideological differences. And when it move on to FF, the more elegant and royalty style of British"red" were displayed given by the design of Sleeves Moblie suits and how Full Frontal behaves. They all named "red comet" but you can feel the difference between them, I think that's amazing
Thank you for this analysis. I became aware of this in the fashion from Gundam Wing. It isn't the most extravagant version, but I became very curious about why a Japanese show was using such detailed European inspired aristocratic fashion. Your history lesson here really clears that up.
I live for Space Prussians
Gineiden and Gundam shows the Space Fascist/Imperials in anime all too well
Thank you, algorithm
I thought the desperate need for Zeon's aristocrats were a directly parallel to the early German empire's desire to be seen as a legitimate royal class. Once the separate Holy Roman Empire states fused under Prussian rule to become one country, there was a sense the country was too new to be taken seriously. The pomp and circumstance, as well as distinctly modern approaches with this almost Baroque overlays where it fit, was an elaborate display of legitimacy as a world power while avoiding the waiting period expected of places like Poland. Zeon came out of the gate swinging for power yet they were basically just the management of zero g miners and orbital manufacturing blocks. Zeon would have seen themselves implicitly in the German Empire's shoes.
pleasant. thanks.
I don't even watch anime, but I like this a loooooot
Prussia ~~IN SPACE~~
Yes, talk about Vifam please.
I loved Gasaraki and The Devil Lady but I would love to see a video on Ergo Proxy, Gilgamesh (2003) and Texhnolye
The algorithm came through just found your channel
YT put this three times on the same recommended page. The algo is trying to make you blow up
Every upload a blessing.
During the Meiji period, the Japanese wanted to model their navy after the British, their army after the French and the government after Prussia.
1:45 gotta love that Turn A OST
This was super interesting, im happy you helped me love my favorite anime more
lets just call it a formalist monarchical system.
I love the aesthetics of the 19th century and seeing it transposed into space is always great. Personally I wish the other great powers would get space counterparts. So we could have space France, Space Russia, and space Austria.
i mean the Drip speaks for itself.
Anschluss in Space
Mine Kaizer