possibility Responsibility
As cool as it might sound to fly a giant robot and fight to change the world for the better, the responsibility of carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders like Banagher is unwillingly forced to do doesn’t sit too well with him. Throughout the story, Banagher struggles with himself as he is pulled between the hardships of his new responsibility and his desire to do what he feels is correct. Thus Banagher becomes the main medium through which one of the main themes of the story is conveyed; the struggle between personal desires and responsibility. Banagher had been destined to be the axis the world shifts around since his birth into the Vist family. Cardeas discovered Banagher’s Newtype abilities and abiding by the Newtype Philosophy established by Zeon Zum Deikun, saw him as the one with the ability to truly know the hearts of others, making him the perfect candidate for the responsibility of Laplace’s Box. He had originally set him up for inheritance of the Vist foundation and direct possession of the box, however, due to his mother’s desire to remain uninvolved in such dirty political curses, Banagher left with his mother and was unknowingly deemed his illegitimate son. But thanks to fate, Banagher was the one who stumbled upon the Unicorn, the newly created “Key to the Box”, in the hour of Cardeas’ death, and became the heir to Laplace’s Box, coincidently Cardeas’ original choice. However, Banagher wasn’t exactly a fan of this new responsibility. While his father told him to follow his heart and do what he feels he should, he was still forced to bear the curse of the Vist Foundation and all the conflict that would arise from it; the war is practically being fought over him. And during this suffering, Banagher cries out against the pain that comes from this responsibility, even though he struggles to do what he feels is correct, he is forced to deal with the immeasurable consequences of his actions. | Banagher's anxiety over the pressure placed upon him by his father is seen to manifest itself in a nightmare in which Cardeas' dead and bloody body cries out to him to essentially bring justice to the world while the Destroy Mode of the Unicorn stands menacingly in the distance, towering over Banagher. |
Alberto Vist, the legitimate son of Cardeas Vist and current head of Anaheim Electronics, the main supplier of weaponry to both Zeon and the Federation and beneficiary of the wealth of the Vist Foundation, is portrayed by his greed and desire. His physical appearance is, like other greedy characters, symbolically overweight. He hates Banagher with a burning passion for he was the one who stole his inheritance, and he hates Cardeas for being the one who decided to let Banagher have it.
prince riddhe
At the beginning of the story, Riddhe is still a sheltered, privileged child, born into a family of wealthy means. The world has been given to him since birth and he still reflects his childlike innocence at this point of the story. However, as much as Riddhe wished to remain in this blissful life of doing as he pleased, the responsibility of his family caught up with him. Being the “prince” of an influential senator in the Federation government, he is forced to be used as a pawn in the Nahel Argama’s, the Federation ship followed during the story, military actions. His father is once again attempting to control his actions. “It’s always like this. Dad always has a wide vision, always asking me to see the big picture, and yet won’t understand the world his own son sees. The one correct is always dad, and he’ll use power to override everything despite it being a mistake.” But as the story progresses, Riddhe is seen once again turning away from his responsibility, yet this time, he is acting on what he feels is the right thing to do, rather than what he simply childishly desires. He willingly defies not only his father’s wishes to use him as a political and military pawn, but also the acts of the Federation as a whole when he becomes a traitor in order to save Mineva, Micott, and Takuya. |
teenage angst returns
Ok, so who else finds it impractical that the angsty, hormonal teenagers are the ones piloting the giant robots and changing political relationships on world levels and spouting philosophical insight? Well, there’s an underlying purpose for this, the classic “why do you treat me like a kid, my thoughts matter too” argument. However, this is more than just simple teen angst and genuine disregard for responsibility placed upon the younger by adults. In this story, the younger characters are the ones struggling to fight responsibility, while the adults are slave to it. Adults in the story became slaves to their responsibilities, and in doing so, become unable to act on their own accord when the situation presents itself. But in spite of being relentlessly put down for their age, the youth are yet to be entirely bound by the “shackle of responsibility” and are this able to act as they please, and change what they see as wrong through means by which they see fit. | I suppose this is a good excuse for making all the protagonists in a war setting teenagers |
“This is why the adults can’t express their true thoughts, Banagher suddenly thought. The more they obey their duties, the more they will succumb to their responsibilities, and they will gradually lose sight of everything around it. And once they find a situation where nothing can work, they will push the responsibility onto someone else and remain silent. They shunned the responsibilities by making it rather vague, saying that they had no rights or authority, only caring about what’s in front of them and saving themselves. If the world is destroyed before of this, the adults will definitely say that they don’t have the power and rights to save the world.”
“But the atmosphere that filled the Nahel Argama was not of regret over the loss of the battle, but regret and anger over being unable to do anything. That’s right, nobody managed to do anything. Including themselves, everyone present did not manage to do anything. They did fight—to survive, to carry out their responsibilities. However, they never got anything. From the beginning till the end, they were all restrained by their positions, started bluffing, playing pointless tricks, and yet never did anything that was really necessary. In the end, everyone lost something important.”
“But the atmosphere that filled the Nahel Argama was not of regret over the loss of the battle, but regret and anger over being unable to do anything. That’s right, nobody managed to do anything. Including themselves, everyone present did not manage to do anything. They did fight—to survive, to carry out their responsibilities. However, they never got anything. From the beginning till the end, they were all restrained by their positions, started bluffing, playing pointless tricks, and yet never did anything that was really necessary. In the end, everyone lost something important.”
princess mineva zabi vs Audrey burne
As the heir to the throne of those responsible for the atrocities of The One Year War, Mineva is the character most aware of her inherited responsibility. The personality she displays in the first part of the story is nearly inhuman; she acts on nothing but her responsibility in the political conflict over the box. Because of this, Mineva acts apart from what her true self desires. However, Banagher sparks a development in her that allows her to begin to act on her own accord, rather than what she is expected to do. “Even as she pretended to talk like an adult, it was all the same. The way she was held back by her position as she spoke covered her true self. Is it because she can’t remain undefended against me once she feels that I’m necessary to her? If that’s the case, I might as well be someone unnecessary to her. ‘Let me hear your voice.’ Banagher said. ‘I want to hear, not about what you have to do, but what you want to do. If you’re willing to tell me…’” This is also represented in the duality of her name, there is the Mineva that acts upon responsibility, and the Audrey that acts as her true self. Ironically, her true name is the one relating to her false self. |