American's military supremacy ignored in War animes

[amaius]

i...need....SKYNET....AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHH! destroy the anime human race

[Xion Valkyrie]

Well, what about when there's secret organizations that have technologies far more advanced than those of major countries? That's pretty much the plot background for like, 99% of sci fi anime. It doesn't make ANY sense.

[amaius]

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm! secret organizations, like the MIB or the majestic 12, which i heard is above the CIA, and the US Military

[Xion Valkyrie]

Originally Posted by amaius

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm! secret organizations, like the MIB or the majestic 12, which i heard is above the CIA, and the US Military

MIB is still a government organization though. I'm talking about organizations like Mithril, whose technology somehow is LEAGUES better than the technology of countries like the US.

[Kamui4356]

Originally Posted by MitsubishiZero

Why do the anime world need to publicize how the US is strong in military power anyway. If American haven't stolen those German scientists after WWII you would still be using piston engines for planes.....

No, just no. The US had a jet fighter in 1943 like I had said in a post from oh so long ago, the P-59. It just sucked. The US would however have the P-80 by 1946, which was a decent though quickly obsolete fighter.

[Triple_R]

Most war animes (that I've seen anyway) aren't based in modern day Earth.

Or, if they are, they're in a very different AU Earth where America doesn't exist or is far less powerful (i.e. Code Geass; Britannia rules there).

That basically answers the question posed by the OP.


However, some war animes have portrayed American military might in a pretty fitting way, I think.

In Gundam Seed Destiny, the central capitol for the Earth forces is Washington DC. The US President is basically the most powerful man for those Earth forces (excluding the behind-the-scenes shadow 'Blue Cosmos' folks who basically use politicians as puppets).

[Ithekro]

How to describe Full Metal Panic's Mithril? It is more or less like the research and development firm of the new technologies formed their own military unit (a rather small one at that), both to defend "whispereds" from being abused, and to test the new technologies before it goes up for sale. Mithril sells Arm Slaves to the United States, who mass produce them. Mithril may be one step ahead of the United States in technology (maybe two steps with the Lambda Driver at the beginning), but the M9 Arm Slave is going to the US Army after Mithril's field testing. The Lambda Driver equipped units aren't for sale because the technology can't be duplicated by Mithril at this time, thus while Mithril has an edge in technology, it is in very limited forms (the Lambda Driver equipped mech and their high tech submarine...which is probably the biggest thing the US Navy would be pissed about...since they'd want one).

The Japanese SDF in Full Metal Panic mirrors more or less the real JSDF. They have not quite as modern and not quite as many Arm Slaves as the US, but are all based on US models. The Current Japanese Navy uses home built ships, with some based on modern American designs suited for Japan's purposes.

Of course Full Metal Panic is based on an alternate reality where the Cold War didn't end, partly due to the new technology. Thus the balance of power is still two super powers...the United States, and the Soviet Union. In fact the only thing in Full Metal Panic that bothers me is the American submarine captain. While I can understand his obsession with finding the "Toy Box", for the life of me can't understand the Pearl Harbor reference used in context...since the anime is suppose to take place around the year 2000, and the Attack on Pearl Harbor was at the end of 1941. That ship's captain didn't look old enough to have been alive to remember that attack, much less have it effect him personally.

Most other war animes of late take place in the future, or highly altered pasts (Strike Witches anyone?) where there has been alien invasions, or the timeline is really messed up. I can't think of any "real world" anime that have war as the topic.

[Zu Ra]

Ithekro summed up my thoughts on Mithril from FMP . Mithril is the closest thing I have encountered which has parallels to real world scenario . The world scenario is realistically presented in the second raid .

[Xion Valkyrie]

The thing is, in FMP's world, especially since the Cold War never ended, such a company would have never been allowed to form in the first place without heavy government oversight either from the Soviets or the US.

[Ithekro]

True. The methods of the whispereds seem to have been controlled at first (since both sides have a whole hell of a lot of advanced tech), but it seems Mithril is made up of ex-military personel from various Western Powers (America and the United Kingdom are clear, with Isreali, Italian, Australian, South Korean, German, Japanese, and Nationalist Chinese represented...also Vietnamese...I assume that with China split in two in Full Metal Panic, Vietnam is what use to be called South Vietnam rather than the current Vietnam, but that is speculation on my part.) thus there could be some oversite, but it seems to have either overstepped its bounds...or was let loose for a specific reason. That reason seems to have been a "minor" nuclear detonation in Iraq following what would have been this world's equivelent of the First Gulf War. It appears to be a sort of anti-terrorist orginization or a conflict stopper force. The specifics might be in the novels, but I don't know of it.

Speculation: Mithril is secretly funded and only known about by very high ranking military personel. It does not overtly choose sides, though seems western slanted. Its goal seems to be to stop a war before it starts (thus keeping the Cold War "cold"). Could it be a United Nations or NATO response to the use of a nuclear weapon? Thus a military outside the control of a country since the two superpowers failed to prevent the use of said weapon. This in combination with them having a number of whispereds allowing them to design and build at least limited numbers of high tech mechs, at least one submarine, and have access to some other Western Powers type equipment (advanced or alternate versions of real world machines such as the FAV-8 Super Harriers and turbofan equipped C-130 Hercules...things that were cancelled in the real world). Some of Mithril's finding comes from patients and sales of advanced technology to Western Powers.

An American cartoon model for this sort of thing would be G.I. Joe. Though they operate under the United States governement, they are outside the regular command structures (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard), are designed to fight terrorists, are full of specialists, and have advanced technology that the regular military does not have yet. Not that G.I. Joe is a realistic model, but it is a pattern. One could look at Mithril as some sort of international verions of G. I. Joe with mechs rather than supped up laser tanks.

Oddly I find Mithril more believable than G.I. Joe. Though Captain Testarossa might a long shot due to her age (rather than her intelligence...she did design the submarine she commands), but I like her anyway.

If I recall correctly, there is a series of episodes where Mithril is tasked to help the United States with a mission. The Americans have by this point have the advanced M9 Arm Slaves just like most of Mithril's pilots. The Soviet model Arm Slaves seem less advanced but rugged and easier to mass produce, much like the general impression of the Soviet Bloc nations was to the Western Powers.

Thus, at least in this one series, the United States is more or less shown at relative strength for the time period...as was its main rival...the Soviet Union with only the two secret orinizations having slightly superior technology (Lambda Drivers), but not in numbers. The Japanese Defense Force is even shown to be junior partner to the United States in terms of size and technology (Japan is using the previous generation down from the M9) in a realistic fashion.

[janipani]

As an European I find this topic funny.

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by janipani

As an European I find this topic funny.

As an American, I find it embarrassing that the topic question was even been asked.... but so it goes.

[Kafriel]

As a total outsider, I found this question stupid, and the entire thread pointless; being able to kill more people than another country isn't something people can take pride in. Still, to answer the question: anime is asian, you can't expect it to depict reality the way americans would want it, unless the fandom of military anime is american in its majority, in which case they would make something to satisfy that audience.

[Zu Ra]

If you take America out of the thread title, the topic generates quite an interesting discussion. The real Q though is was the OP being really innocent to the point naive or otherwise

A better title though would be Military Supremacy in War Animes

[Socke]

I think the thread starter should watch any Michael Bay movies instead.

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by Socke

I think the thread starter should watch any Michael Bay movies instead.

The thread starter made this thread SIX YEARS ago .... looking at their post history, they've grown up somewhat since then.

[amaius]

Originally Posted by Xion Valkyrie

MIB is still a government organization though. I'm talking about organizations like Mithril, whose technology somehow is LEAGUES better than the technology of countries like the US.

Mithril, never herd of them.

[Full Metal Coast]

Originally Posted by amaius

Mithril, never herd of them.

secret mercenary unit/army from Full Metal Panic.

[amaius]

Originally Posted by Full Metal Coast

secret mercenary unit/army from Full Metal Panic.

ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

[roriconfan]

Originally Posted by asaqe

I dont get it why they dont acknowledge america's military power in war animes like gundam I though america was damn powerful and that everone acknowledged its strengh so why not in anime as well?

That is a really silly remark. In most series, the local high school has more firepower teenagers than all of the world's armies put together.

(excuse me if this was mentioned already, didn't scroll through the other posts)