In the previous part of this analysis, I examined the impact of Melissa’s attack on Misa when she related her two losses, the absence and coldness of her father, and her second thoughts on her choice to join the military. Here’ I’ll discuss how Misa’s emotional and mental state impacts whatever plans her father may have had for her future.
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In the previous part of this analysis, I examined the circumstances of Sakiko’s death and how they, combined with the circumstances of Riber’s death, triggered a cascade of events that demolished Misa’s perception of her enrollment in the Far East Officers’ Academy. Here, I’ll discuss how the effects these events had on Misa impact whatever plans her father may have had for her future. This post will be one of the longest in this series, because it discusses one of the most pivotal parts of the narrative in White Reminiscences, where the foundations for the uneasy relationship Misa has with her father in SDFM.
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Both White Reminiscences and the TV series make it abundantly clear that Riber’s death was absolutely devastating for Misa and that she carried her grief over his death well into the series. In the previous part of this series, I mentioned that she couldn’t help noticing her father’s emotional absence during Riber’s loss. This, I think, contributes to the formation of a first “crack” in her perception of him and even her relationship with him. Takashi’s behavior during Sakiko’s last days and the period after her death does nothing to repair this harm. What makes the reader question the salvageability of his relationship with Misa, however, is what these events trigger in the academy.
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Ōnogi provides strong hints that Takashi had a positive opinion of Riber and that he, at the very least, didn’t object to the idea of a possible marriage between Misa and the young Fruhling. One could plausibly wonder if the idea of facilitating a marriage between Misa and Riber had the additional appeal of a formal Hayase-Fruhling connection. This, however, was not meant to be, as SDFM and White Reminiscences narrate.
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One’s true character, ideas, and values are revealed through not only their actions and words, but also by what they choose to condone and where they choose to remain silent and inactive – especially when they have the option and power to speak and act. The party scene in “White Sketch” is especially revealing here. It is during this party that Misa first meets Riber, as a matter of fact. While playing tag with other children, she bumps into Riber, causing him to spill his drink on his shirt. She’s immediately scolded by her father for her carelessness, but Riber then receives a barrage of abuse from his own father, Herbert (von) Fruhling, an old friend of Takashi Hayase’s. Herbert’s behavior and Takashi’s handling of it reveal a fair bit about their characters, despite Ōnogi’s best efforts to reframe their actions and words into something more benign.
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Μέρος της «επιστροφής» μου στην όχι και τόσο διεξοδικά συζητημένη στη Δύση σειρά anime Super Dimension Fortress Macross (SDFM ή Macross χάριν συντομίας) αποτελεί η ενδελεχής εξέταση του συνοδευτικού υλικού της – προσαρμογές σε manga, μυθιστοριογραφήσεις (novelizations), δευτερεύουσες ιστορίες (side stories), «ελαφρά μυθιστορήματα» (light novels), ηχητικά δράματα (audio dramas), κ.ο.κ. Ακολουθώντας την πάγια πρακτική μου, θα εξετάζω αυτό το υλικό κριτικά, χωρίς την ωραιοποίηση που προκαλείται συχνά από τη νοσταλγία ή την τυφλή αφοσίωση που συχνά χαρακτηρίζει τους otaku. Επιπλέον, δεν θεωρώ «αλάθητους» τους δημιουργούς των αγαπημένων μας παραγωγών. Έτσι, αυτή την προσέγγιση θα την εφαρμόζω και σε ό,τι βλέπουμε στη μικρή ή στη μεγάλη οθόνη – είτε πρόκειται για την αρχική σειρά, είτε για την κινηματογραφική μεταφορά (Macross: Do You Remember Love? ή DYRL?), είτε για το OVA Flash Back 2012 (FB2012).
Σ’ αυτό το πρώτο βήμα του «προσκυνήματός» μου για το Macross, εξετάζω το μυθιστόρημα Misa Hayase: White Reminiscences [Hayase Misa: Shiroi Tsuioku 早瀬未沙 白い追憶], που ο Gubaba με πολύ κόπο και με μεγάλη γενναιοδωρία προς την κοινότητα μετέφρασε στα Αγγλικά για το δυτικό κοινό, δίνοντάς του έτσι επιτέλους ουσιώδη πρόσβαση σ’ αυτό το υλικό. Μπορείτε να διαβάσετε το μεταφρασμένο μυθιστόρημα εδώ (επίσης βρίσκεται αρχειοθετημένο εδώ). Το μυθιστόρημα είναι έκτος έκδοσης εδώ και πολλά χρόνια και, ως εκ τούτου, μπορεί κανείς να το βρει μόνο στη δευτερογενή αγορά. Φυσικά, δεν υπάρχει επίσημη μετάφρασή του στα Αγγλικά, στα Γαλλικά ή σε οποιαδήποτε δυτική γλώσσα.
Αυτού του είδους το συνοδευτικό υλικό θα το βαθμολογώ σε δυο κριτήρια: το πρώτο είναι η καλλιτεχνική (λογοτεχνική, μουσική, κ.λπ.) αξία του. Το δεύτερο είναι η τεκμηριωτική του αξία, δηλαδή πόσο καλά «δένει» με το υπάρχον υλικό και πόσο καλά λειτουργεί ως πηγή πληροφοριών για το γενικότερο πλαίσιο και το υπόβαθρο της πλοκής και των χαρακτήρων.
Continue readingPart of my revisit to the underanalyzed in Western anime discourse Super Dimension Fortress Macross (SDFM for brevity’s sake) series and the overall Macross franchise is a thorough examination of its ancillary material – manga adaptations, novelizations, side stories, light novels, audio dramas, etc. As is my typical practice, I will be treating this material critically and without the rose-tinted glasses of childhood nostalgia or fandom loyalty; it goes without question that I am not going to bother catering to the sensitivities of fans who may view the creative team as “infallible”. Of course, this also applies to the animated material and dialogues we see in the series, the theatrical adaptation (Macross: Do You Remember Love? or DYRL? for short), and the OVA Flash Back 2012 (FB2012 for short).
In this first installment of my Macross “pilgrimage”, I am reviewing the novel Misa Hayase: White Reminiscences [Hayase Misa: Shiroi Tsuioku 早瀬未沙 白い追憶], which Gubaba kindly and generously took the trouble to translate for the benefit of Western readers, whose access to it has always been limited. You can read Gubaba’s translation here (also archived here). As it has been out of print for a long time, it is only available on the secondary market, and has never had an official translation to English, French, or any other Western language.
To better serve the readers, I will be judging ancillary material like this on two criteria: their artistic value (in this case, literary) and their documentary value. It should be pretty obvious what I mean by “artistic value.” The documentary value, on the other hand, is how well the work at hand, be it a novel, a novelization, or an audio drama, works as a context source.
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