Star Driver Final Episode.
To tell you the truth, I wasn’t really into this anime first, found it lame, “Oh, another mecha show.” Macross Frontier too, though Kanno Yoko’s music was awesome. Usually mecha doesn’t appeal to me. But, I had an chance to watch Star Driver with my fellow otakus, and alas! CPR got me hooked! Prelude to romantic topsy-turvy! What a wonderful skinship!
No wonder Star Driver is all about libido, yes, sex drive. So, instead of Star Driver, it’s Sex Driver. Interesting enough, in Star Driver, the word libido is used to describe will to power. So, with the word libido, sex drive, and megalothymia are used interchangeably in this show.
Libido is also a drive to build the empire. Donald Trump must have enormous libido. Now he’s running for president, the most powerful position on earth. Even Obama admits that presidential campaign involves megalomaniac madness.
That makes me think that the archetype of Star Driver is Fist of the North Star (FNS). It particularly reminds me of FNS episode 22, the most memorable battle scene, Ken vs Shin. Yes, it’s about Shin’s libido. After that episode, FNS just gets flip-floppy. But the original story of Fist of the North Star was about Ken, Shin, and Yuria, just like Star Driver is about Takuto, Sugata, and Wako. Or I would say Tokio, Ryosuke, Sora.
In FNS, jealous Shin takes away Yuria from Ken by force, betraying his best friend. And then Shin builds his own megalopolitan empire “Southern Cross,” and becomes the KING, a merciless tyrant. And he makes Yuria the Queen of Southern Cross. Very bubble mentality of the 80’s. The era of nikushokukei (carnivore).
Btw, Star Driver plot takes place at “Southern Cross” High School in “Southern Cross” Isle. Yes, Southern Cross, the city built for Yuria! Just like Southern Cross, Coral Castle is a product of libido also.
In the final episode, Reiji, Takuto’s archenemy, reveals that his libido is actually a wish to regain what he lost, i.e., a life with his ex-lover, Sora, his eternal feminine. All of his energy has been devoted to that. Just to attain Paradise Regained. So, he decides to annihilate the entire human race. Simply madness. Why can’t he just paint? Does he want to be like Hitler, a painter turned dictator?
Just like Reiji expresses his saudade in his paintings, Shin madly screams, “The only thing I wanted was Yuria!” Yes, Yuria forever…
Reiji’s past was “Good old days”…hu? That thinking makes him old already. Totally Oyaji. He already experienced paradise in his youth and still griping? He was too lucky. I should be the one being envious and jealous and asking God for revenge. As a dude, I never had good old days, never experienced paradise, i.e. school romance. So, I thought America would be a paradise, the scion of Kenya would immanetize the eschaton. But now, facing the tough reality, I watch anime…
Too bad Reiji didn’t get to discover 2-D. If only he watched anime…Why waste libido for futile battles? He is too nikushokukei. Sure, I also wish to go back to high school. But to remake my high school years. Never been kissed in high school, so over the top kiss scenes definitely made me more melancholic. “I wish my school life were like that!” I screamed at my laptop.
Anyway, Star Driver is Le Petit Prince. Why? Because in Japanese, it’s Hoshi no Ouji-sama ( 星の王子様). Star Prince! Star Prince is Small Prince. Small is beautiful! Star is beautiful! Thus, Star Driver is beautiful!
How I wish I could spend quiet night with girls, having tea together at cafe beneath the beautiful starry sky! That’s why I want to be Star-Prince, or Galactic Bishonen! At best, I can even get CPR!
Interesting write up. Would have never though to compare SD to FNS. Just seemed like a huge leap, but it makes sense. It’s the love triangle that gets played out in different ways.
What I find about nostalgia that people/character miss focus on is not actually reliving the past, but rather, not having a jaded mindset. Example would be, even if Head did go back in time, he would eventually go crazy because while he’s reliving his golden years, he knows that’s not going to last. Eventually, going through each past moment would drive him insane over and over again.
It’s a very rare thing for people to acknowledge that they would want to go back in time AND wipe their knowledge of the future to truly relive the moments.
@SquareSphere
Thank you very much for the comment with insight.
Yeah, that’s also sound too. Your comment reminds me of Schwarzenegger’s cloning film, a mad doctor cloning his dead wife over and over. His wife’s life doesn’t last so each time he needs to clone her. Anitya, impermannce…
Head probably has a selected memory, the longer the times goes, the fuzzier the memory becomes. Probably he just remembered the good part of his youth, not the bad part. I never had golden years, so I’m more like Faust than Head. Not to relive but remake the Eden! But instead of gaining the power of time-trip, I watch 2-D, which is anime.