Our Man in Japan -- War of the Samurai
DeanRaker - Columns - Comments - 08/22/04
Similarly, I believe there is a more subtle, unconscious rejection of the modern military themes seen in many real time strategy and action games. Those interested in modern warfare are often nudged into a group of people called military otaku, obsessives whose eyes glow when they talk of guns and camouflage and firepower. In the recent anime Full Metal Panic Fumoffu, the character Sagara Sosuke is portrayed as a young man who cannot distinguish reality from fiction. He views everything as a military threat, because he was raised overseas and worked for a military organization from a young age. It's a comedic exaggeration, but like any exaggeration, it shows a hint of truth.
And seriously, the Japanese Self Defense Force? The Japanese Navy? What kid would ever say in Japan, "When I grow up I want to be a soldier and protect my country?" I never did. It's farcical to imagine my friends being interested in such a thing. I can't even imagine wanting to be a cop or a fireman. They're generally parodied whenever they show up in fiction.
And yet, it does go that far. Any organization of public servants who fight to protect the interests of a nation makes me a little queasy, not because I disagree with the work they do or disrespect them, but because it's not "cool". Why a samurai then? Why a ninja who works for the shogunate? Why a mecha pilot who actually does work for the equivalent of a modern military outfit, a la Front Mission?
I think the important distinction is that these characters are often portrayed with an individualistic slant. In the Way of the Samurai games you have the freedom to decide what you want to do within the context of the game; you are not honor bound to obey the country or the code. In Front Mission, the characters are always wrestling with their roles as fighters, a struggle typical for characters of Japanese minds. (And ninjas are just cool anyway so who cares if they say they work for the government?)
Look at your Japanese heroes. They usually aren't sent by an organization or as part of a government fighting team. They are the sole ninjas, sole star fighters, sole knights. Isn't Japan supposed to be a conformist country? It has always been my view that Buddhism and its relation to Bushido and the ancient martial arts is a culture of how to be an individual in a society, not how to serve your society. They focus on the reflection of the self in order to fit in the scheme of the many, but the insight gained is a personal one. It is not a shared insight into the greater society.
I think Japanese producers demonstrate many of these unconscious impulses. It's a kind of way of redeeming the soot and blood of the war, a hearkening back to older traditions and an updating of them with progressive concepts of the self and the individual. When I hear that you are a space marine in Doom, I kind of cringe. Why can't I be the rogue futuristic fighter of the future who chanced on the space station? When I see Master Chief in Halo, the military vibe just turns me off. Don't even get me started on Vietcong, Call of Duty, or the myriad special operative games: hot properties for North American publishers, but relatively still in the water in Japan.
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