“Even If It Means Our Battles to Date Are Meaningless” the Anime Gundam Wing and Postwar History, Memory, and Identity in Japan
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University of Massachusetts Boston ScholarWorks at UMass Boston Graduate Masters Theses Doctoral Dissertations and Masters Theses 8-2020 “Even if it Means Our Battles to Date are Meaningless” The Anime Gundam Wing and Postwar History, Memory, and Identity in Japan Genevieve R. Peterson Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umb.edu/masters_theses Part of the History Commons “EVEN IF IT MEANS OUR BATTLES TO DATE ARE MEANINGLESS” THE ANIME GUNDAM WING AND POSTWAR HISTORY, MEMORY, AND IDENTITY IN JAPAN A Thesis Presented by GENEVIEVE R. PETERSON Submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies, University of Massachusetts Boston, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS August 2020 History Program © 2020 by Genevieve R. Peterson All rights reserved “EVEN IF IT MEANS OUR BATTLES TO DATE ARE MEANINGLESS” THE ANIME GUNDAM WING AND POSTWAR HISTORY, MEMORY, AND IDENTITY IN JAPAN A Thesis Presented by GENEVIEVE R. PETERSON Approved as to style and content by: ________________________________________________ Timothy Hacsi, Associate Professor Chairperson of Committee ________________________________________________ Pamela Lee Novick, Associate Lecturer Member ________________________________________________ Heidi Gengenbach, Associate Professor Member ________________________________________________ Professor Elizabeth McCahill, Program Director History Program ________________________________________________ Professor Timothy Hacsi, Chairperson Department of History ABSTRACT “EVEN IF IT MEANS OUR BATTLES TO DATE ARE MEANINGLESS” THE ANIME GUNDAM WING AND POSTWAR HISTORY, MEMORY, AND IDENTITY IN JAPAN August 2020 Genevieve R. Peterson, B.A., Gordon College M.A., University of Massachusetts Boston Directed by Professor Timothy Hacsi Since 1945, three narratives have dominated Japan’s postwar memory landscape: the heroic narrative, the victim narrative, and the perpetrator narrative. There are few places in Japanese public discourse demonstrating an engagement with the gray areas between the narratives. What makes a hero? What kinds of visions do victims cast? How evil are perpetrators? While often absent in public discourse, these questions are frequently explored in Japanese popular media, including anime. When the 50th anniversary of the end of the Asia-Pacific War occurred in 1995, Japan’s public figures attempted to lay its memory to rest. In the same year, on April 7th, an anime aired on Japanese television that dove into the depths of war memory. This thesis analyzes the anime Mobile Suit Gundam Wing as a probe iv into postwar memories about the Asia-Pacific War and what those memories reveal about Japanese attitudes towards their history and identity in the late twentieth century. v DEDICATION & ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This thesis is dedicated to John A. Peterson, Preston Steinbar, and Bob Haas in honor of their example of hard work. Ecclesiastes 3: 9-14. This thesis has been made possible by readers like you. A few are named here. First, to Yatate Hajime and Tomino Yoshiyuki. For Gundam. To my loving family. Special thanks to Rachele, my first Gundam Wing watching companion, and Dad, who taped the midnight run when I missed it during the afterschool block. I’m so grateful I didn’t have to wait to watch Episode 30: Reunion with Relena. To Mrs. Leveson, for whose class I first wrote an assignment about Gundam Wing. In response to a writing prompt about leadership I wrote about Treize. To Mr. Hewitt, for whose class I wrote my first assignment about Heero Yuy. To the following academics who took me seriously as an academic (although I am sure there are others): Steve Alter, Nicholas Cole, Simon Lancaster, Hiromu Nagahara, and Luman Wang. Special thanks to David Wick, who told me my work was meaningful and encouraged my submissions to the Athens Institute for Education and Research. To my professors at UMB for the opportunities they provided to continue my education in local, public, and Asian history: Vincent Cannato, Monica Pelayo, Marilyn Morgan, Jane Becker, Roberta Wollons, and Liza McCahill. Thanks also to Heidi Genganbach for serving on my thesis committee. Special thanks to Tim Hacsi, a great believer in the historical value of popular media and a great champion of this thesis. To Bill and Aida Spencer who suggested I write about what I love. To Pam Novick who affirmed my love of Japanese media. I can’t wait to write about it more. To Gwen and Grammy, Bob and Dawn, and Bill and Peg whose generosity made this thesis possible. To Nina and Thom of Mobile Suit Breakdown, a weekly Gundam podcast for new fans, old fans, and not yet fans. In addition to fascinating information, you brought me so much laughter. To Maggie and Jennalyn, of course. Special thanks as well to Elizabeth, Katie Joy, and Kratz, most excellent proofreaders. And to ヒーロ。For fiction that is truer than fact. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION & ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.......................................................................... vi AUTHOR’S NOTES ............................................................................................................... ix CHAPTER PAGE INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 1 Collective Memory, Cultural Trauma, and Japanese Identity ........................................... 4 Building on Historiographical Patterns in Modern Japanese History Studies ................... 7 Methodology--Analyzing Visual Media to Explicate Japanese History, Memory, and Identity ........................................................................................................................ 10 Mobile Suit Gundam ........................................................................................................ 12 Gundam Wing’s Universe and Storyline ......................................................................... 17 Chapter Overview ............................................................................................................ 21 CHAPTER ONE: TREIZE KHUSHRENADA and EMPEROR SHOWA .......................... 23 Treize Khushrenada: Chivalrous Antagonist, Heroic Perpetrator ................................... 25 Treize and Emperor Showa: Fallen Heroes ..................................................................... 35 Emperor Showa’s Life and Heroic Legacy .............................................................. 36 Treize as Analog to Emperor Showa’s Life and Heroic Legacy .............................. 41 Treize and Emperor Showa’s Silenced Legacies: A Stillborn Japanese Identity ............ 44 Becoming a Heroic Perpetrator ................................................................................ 45 The Difficulty of Facing One’s Perpetrator Identity ................................................ 48 CHAPTER TWO: ZECHS MERQUISE and JAPAN as PREWAR AND POSTWAR VICTIM ......................................................................................................................... 54 Zechs Merquise: The Making of a Victim Perpetrator .................................................... 56 Victims of Circumstances, Perpetrators of Choices: Zechs and Modern Japan’s Spiral from Tragic Victims to Perpetrators of Military Violence ......................................... 65 Six Year-old Zechs as Analog to Japanese War Orphan .......................................... 66 Modern Japan’s Spiral towards War ........................................................................ 67 Zechs as Analog to Modern Japan’s Spiral towards War ......................................... 70 Failed Victims’ Visions: A Bitter Japanese Identity ....................................................... 74 A Cycle of Victimization: The Victim Perpetrator’s Bloodstained Vision for Peace ......................................................................................................................... 75 A Failure to Face Trauma ......................................................................................... 77 CHAPTER THREE: HEERO YUY & the HEITAI, IMPERIAL JAPAN’S “EVERYMAN SOLDIER” ..................................................................................................................... 81 Heero Yuy: Humanity Lost, Humanity Regained ........................................................... 83 Traumatized by Killing: The Interior Narratives of Soldiers .......................................... 97 The Testimony of Tominaga Shouzou, Former Imperial Japanese Soldier ............. 98 vii CHAPTER ........................................................................................................................ PAGE Heero Yuy as Analog to the Testimony of Tominaga Shouzou ............................. 101 The Final Victors: Perpetrators as the Cornerstone of Post-postwar Japanese Identity 108 Heero, Treize, and Zechs: Empathetic Rejection ................................................... 109 Heero and Relena: The Realist and the Idealist ...................................................... 113 CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................................... 119 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................. 126 viii AUTHOR’S NOTES A note on Japanese names: The names of Japanese people discussed in the text follow the Japanese convention of giving the last name followed by the first name. Citations in footnotes