Sometimes I'm asked the question, "What did you think of x?" X usually happens to be a long speech or a series of speeches on a subject, such as a book. The question addresses the entirety of the speech, with all its details. How is one to communicate every thought in response to every word, sentence, argument, and story/myth in a speech? The answer to that question seems to be: another speech.

Yet this seems silly and precludes dialogue between two people. Clarity of communication, disputation, and the open-ended nature of discussion are impossible if one person is passively letting a speech pour into his ears.

What is a better question?

The Japanese Muse is a trip. Genres range from action/adventure to romance to collect-your-favorite-monster, but the artwork is very attractive. What I am most interested in is what kind of beliefs are reflected in Japanimation, or Anime, and what seems to be consistent. Some of the series I see in brief have strong spiritual slants (perhaps very strange to our habits of secular thought). However the ones I have seen in my years at college include DragonBall Z, Love Hina, Cowboy Bebop, Record of Lodoss War, and the Gundam series.

My favorite series is Gundam Wing, which seems to score big in every area. The plot begins in the year AC (After Colony) 195, several generations after humans have successfully created habitable colonies in space. The colonies are contrasted to the current world government on Earth, known as the Earth Sphere Alliance. The Earth and Space. Nature and technology. That is a common theme among many explored in this epic series. To get back on track, what makes the plot epic is that the series begins with the colonies sending five mysterious shuttles to Earth, each equipped with a pilot and his legendary humanoid ship, a Gundam. Tension already exists between Earth and Space and the plot thickens.

Series such as the old-school Voltron of the 80s and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers include humanoid ships, also known as mecha. And the glitz and glamour of their machines combining to defeat threatening evil seems to be the focus. But for Gundam Wing the poet behind the series makes clear that he is concerned about people. For instance the central character of the series, Heero Yui (the first name should ring a bell if we pay attention to it), appears to us when he is about to enter the Earth's atmosphere. The special forces of the Earth Sphere Alliance, known as Oz, catches onto him and a masked lieutenant named Zechs Merquise makes an important quote: "It's not the [mobile] suit we're after, it's the pilot." He says this after soldiers underneath him marvel at the abilities of the Gundam.

The characters in Gundam Wing each hold separate philosophies of war, peace, and life. They come from monarchal, aristocratic, democratic, and tyrannic backgrounds. They come from the West, East, and Space. Yet this is not just complexity to make your eyes dazzle, since the 49 episodes and 3 movie episodes of plot development bring the characters into conflict with one another, and they grow as their beliefs are challenged.

What are some of the beliefs in conflict? Pacifism, Eastern warrior thought, and the idea of Just War are all carefully yet enigmatically woven together to fight for the solution to War. Humanity and the use of technology are put to the test, and the duty of a soldier is formed during actual battle. There's several more themes to catch while watching the series, and I've found more every time I've watched it.

Artistically the animation is superb and the music is well-written. Colors are used symbolically (pay attention to the colors of clothing, machines, etc) throughout. The camera shots inform the viewer of all the characters' viewpoints and the various angles of the scene so that space and depth is well-grasped.

Classical allusions to Greek thought and Shakespeare show that this Anime series, though from the East, is a strong dose of Western thought in the midst of the majority of Anime series. For instance, the dualism of good and evil is present but not present. I'll leave it up to the interested viewer to figure this out.

Gundam Wing is a well-crafted anime on all levels. It has several morals which it wishes to communicate but allows this to come about naturally through the movement of the plot and its characters. I recommend it.