［帝国式］LOHENGRAMM［組体操］/ bov

There was so much to get out of this anime, proper military strategies, a look into benefits and faults of an authoritarian vs democratic government, advances in science, politics, responsibilities of a civil servant, responsibilities of a government, responsibilities of the citizens etc…

On military strategies, we have both Yang and Reinhardt, both are whom experts on it. Yang was well versed on strategies because of his vast knowledge on past battles and just pattern matches any present battles to former ones, with good result. Reinhardt was not only a genius at forming strategies but also in attracting highly effective offices and was able to effectively use them. As a consequence of those two being the main protagonists, foolhardy thoughts like “dying for the country” (patriotic?) or “I’m the protagonist so the opponents will never beat me”, was usually negatively viewed upon. In an world where anime tends to be “WHO DO YOU THINK I AM” and trying to struggle through despite all difficulty, this logical of when to attack and when to retreat is rarely seen in today’s anime.

In terms of politics, I will be first to confess that I don’t follow as much politics as a citizen under democratic rule should according to Yang. So let’s compare the politics that is seen here to another series that at least have some kind of governments with ideological differences: Gundam. For Gundam, the ideological difference both steams from a different policy and was never the main driver for the plot, but instead Gundam tends to follow adolescents that are caught in the war (and which they just happen to be a part of the issue that the two governments are having differences in: Newtypes). For starters, most of the Gundam pilots fights because they need to stay alive, or to revenge either of their loved ones or being called a girl at (Kamille is a guy’s name), and hence focuses on of the horrors of war. Instead, it is a rarely seen in Gundam series like the scene in Char’s Counterattack, where Amuro and Char argues on ideological differences that divides the Federations and Zeons (and instead of personal ideological differences). Instead, for LoGH, Yang’s actions is solely for the survival of his country and the democratic ideology, while Reinhardt, while mostly was driven by his promise to conquer the world to Kircheis, was also driven to better the society by overthrowing the old empire and the decaying Free Planets Alliance, and having the world united under his rule, which he believes to be superior.

And in terms of authoritarian vs democratic government, is might be a good current event debate, especially with the existence of China and US, both powerful nation but operating two different forms of government (though China is operating under a different kind of authoritarian government). And unlike shallows argument, the series tries to shows both sides of the government as unbiased as possible, showing the pros and cons of each form of government, and even going as far as discussing the roles of the government and the citizens under the two systems. (It might have seen as a bit more supportive of the authoritarian government since it was the form that excelled in the end, but we must not forget that it was because of authoritarian government that so many problems arose during the Goldenbaum empire)

But finally, this is not just about some group of people who sat down to discuss the different forms of government, but we are talking about people who would be willing to give up his/her own life, act everything according to the ideology, and finally pass on their ideas to people around them. Those people were willing to take arms to protect what they think is correct, even if they think that it might be foolish (Yang, Julian), but at the same time, not take any shortcuts in order for their wish/ideology to be protected. They might not be immortal, they might even die before they see the fruits of their struggles, but heck, these people are lot more awesome than people who just goes into battle with invincible powers or is dependent on superhuman strengths.

But then again, this was such a classic; I don’t think I will see a series as massive as this.