This fall season of anime was the strongest in a long time.
As a fan of science fiction and fantasy, there were more options for me than
ever. Between Mushishi, Yona of the Dawn, Garo, Parasyte, Bahamut Genesis,
Fate/Stay Unlimited Blade Works, and Chaika, not to mention magical realism in
the form of Yuki Yuna is a Hero and When Supernatural Battles Become Commonplace, there was
more variety within the speculative genres than I could handle. I still need to
catch up on a lot of those shows.
And then there’s Cross Ange: Rondo of Angel and Dragon.
I like Cross Ange. But it’s not a show I feel good about
liking.
The premise of Cross Ange is one that is widely seen in the
fantasy genre and is one I happen to be a total sucker for—A royal gets torn
from power and has to adjust to hardship, working their way up to reclaim their
seat and probably overthrow an evil tyrant along the way. Boiled down, its
pretty standard stuff, but it’s a story that always works for me.
But Cross Ange also falls prey to the most annoying anime
trope—tons of fanservice. And not just fanservice that only the sharp-eyed will
pick out. This is in-your-face, breasts on the camera, guys sucking snake venom
out of a women’s leg but its framed like oral sex type stuff. Every instance
that is it possible, Ange will be nude, tied up, or otherwise put on display.
And that’s not even the worst part. In the first episode,
the director was very careful to frame a particular scene such that it could be
interpreted in one of two ways. The first is a typical horror scene, where Ange
is in prison and being abused. But it could easily be interpreted as a rape
scene, where she is shackled to a table and forcibly penetrated. It’s quick,
and we don’t see the penetration so the question is up in the air as to what
really happened—but the camera sure does love focusing on her butt as she
struggles, and we are “treated” to a shot of her lying naked on the floor with
bloodied towels.
Is it meant to be horror, or meant to titillate? It’s not
clear, and that disturbs me. But it does present a very high hurdle to get over
to enjoy the rest of the show.
The second most troublesome scene is a scene where Ange is
nearly raped by her superior officer. This scene is blatant—the officer paws at
her breasts, and the viewer is shown every bit of it.
Rape and abuse are not problematic in fiction on their own.
They are problematic when they are presented as titillation for the viewer. The
scenes in Cross Ange are presented that way, and it makes me ashamed to watch
the show. It’s sexist and tiresome to see female characters continuously
reduced to objects for the viewer in a story that is interesting without those
elements.
And the story has clear strengths. Ange reacts believably to
her sudden change from royal to what is basically the lowest caste in her
world, first with disbelief and shock and then with anger. It’s a good lesson
in writing character development after a shocking event. The pacing is handled
well, and mysteries are presented with expert showing, not blatant telling. The
world is fleshed out as Ange experiences it.
But the fanservice turns a story that I would be happy to
want to watch with friends into one I don’t even want to admit I watch. I would
never recommend Cross Ange to anyone.
A lot of people say there’s nothing wrong with fanservice,
and to a point there isn’t, but eventually it crosses a line. When every female
character is constantly subjected to a leering camera, it detracts from the
viewing experience. If you like that sort of thing its distracting, and if you
don’t its frustrating and offensive when you just want to watch the story. And
of course, time spent focusing on fanservice is time taken away from plot and
characterization. The anime High School of the Dead is a fantastic example of
this, where as the fanservice grows more and more pervasive as the show goes
on, the story suffers to an increasing degree.
If a show is meant to be a fanservice show, that’s one
thing. But mixing fanservice with a show that’s meant to tell an actual story,
the way Cross Ange does, is an issue, since people will decide that the story
itself isn’t worth it when they have to deal with the pervasive, offensive,
downright trashy fanservice to get to it. I would guess that directors put in
fanservice to attract viewers, but I hope people will eventually realize that
it turns an equal or greater number of viewers away from the work. If you have
a good story, trust in the story—don’t rely on the lowest common denominator to
win fans.
