Anime Pilgrimage RTT

Southern Cross – episodes 15-24

June 27, 2006 on 11:46 pm | In Southern Cross | Comments Off on Southern Cross – episodes 15-24

I wrote this a month ago but never got around to publishing it. I realised today I have nothing more to say, so here it goes. Also there’s no image this time around because quality Southern Cross images are difficult to find.

Supplementary materials should never be necessary for the comprehension of anime. Sadly, despite its early promise, Southern Cross fails to realise its directors’ intent.

Traditional deconstruction inside

The forces of the Southern Cross army invade a Zor ship,liberating Musica in the process. When the humans realise the meaning of the mysterious flowers, negotiation eventually proves fruitless.

As I flipped through my Southern Cross handbook after completing theseries,
I noted that it was the creators’ intent to contrast the characters of Jeanne, Marie and Lana with the Zor trinities; this never really came through in the show, as Marie and Lana served exclusively as background characters. Equal time was needed for this concept to have succeeded t any extent: as they stand, Jeanne, Marie and Lana do not represent three aspects of human femininity.

The conclusive arc bases itself upon several fundamental flaws, not least of which is the complete retooling of Seifreit into a semi-insnae man bent on vengeance against Zor leader Dess. The character became so unsympathetic in these last moments that his kissing of Jeanne is rendered meaningless. Seifreit dies in flames, and I just couldn’t feel it as it didn’t seem like him.
On the subject of pointless deaths, one thing that I can’t stand is a death as contrived as that faced by Rolf. When you’re on a warship under siege, there are so many ways to die. One of the few unacceptable methods of death is to run in slow motion to take a bullet for your son. Rolf’s death was in vain as Bowie could easily have avoided the shot, not to mention the fact that he was wearing body armour at the time.
Then Musielle gets shot. Perhaps to suggest that Musica and Musique are genuinely going to have to live without their third. Where Rolf’s death was overblown, Musielle’s was given no time for reflection.

Southern Cross features a desolate conclusion, which is not in and of itself a problem. This ending, panning over the few survivors of the pointless war … it just ends. The characters looking into the sky as the world they knew crashes around them does indeed leave a message, and it’s definitely a downer, but the amount of future that is left undisclosed is disconcerting.

I would have loved Southern Cross if it didn’t flip some sort of crazy switch and ignored most of its key ideas. As a Robotech bridge it may have worked, but as its own story, it’s something of a let down.