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GUNDAM_NARRATIVE

                                             March 30, 2021

The movie Gundam Narrative from 2018
finally abandons the pretense that this      Within the story, there's a
space opera is some form of "science         particular mecha that's
fiction": it indulges in romantic            called "Narrative", what
spiritualist notions about the               that's really supposed to
persistance of the soul after death.         mean isn't at all clear

The NewTypes of the Gundam universe                       (What is the
then don't just have faster reflexes                      Narrative drive?)
and some strong intuition/precognition
ability, they are influenced by the
spirits of the dead.                         The idea that fighter space
                                             craft need *human beings*
                                             inside them as control systems,
                           NEWTYPE           and that an actual futuristic
                                             space battle would be anything
Then there's a technology they call          but an automated spasm that
"the psycho frame" that has something        would occur in an eye-blink
to do with mental control of machinery       has always seemed crazy.
but has some sort of side-effect
involving access to the Other World--           You might cut the original
like, if you die in a "psycho frame"            Gundam some slack on this
your spirit may move into the tech?             front, though: it appeared
                                                in a world where computer
  There's a bunch of stuff about a              electonics were still only
  dead girl named Rita who keeps                beginning to minaturize.
  appearing in magical mecha form
  with a spiritual glow around                  A running joke had the hero
  her-- she speaks to those that can            flipping through a large manual
  here in an innocent echoing little            *printed on paper* while trying
  girl voice, expressing belief in              to learn to pilot the gear.
  The Soul and reincarnation.


                  Pondering the ghost of gundams          Real Gundam nerds
                  past, I wonder about it's               memorize the look
                  enduring appeal-- what does             of the various
                  this say, where is this going?          forms of mecha the
                                                          franchise has
                                                          featured...
              GUNDAM_SEED
                                                          They may even know
                                                          what the iconic
                                                          v-shaped forehead
                                                          antennas are
                                                          supposed to do.



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