Ramba Ral is an antagonist in the anime “Mobile Suit Gundam”. Unlike Amuro’s rival, Char, he is visually an uncle and not the type that children like.
However, many people who watched First Gundam as children must have been curious about this uncle, if not fond of him.
And when you grow up and go out into the world, don’t you think that many men have at least once had the desire to have a boss like Ramba Ral, or to become an austere and cool adult like Ramba Ral?
Why is it that when we grow up, we are attracted to Ramba Ral? It seems to me that the answer to this question lies in the theme of the story “Mobile Suit Gundam”.
Mobile Suit Gundam”. Mobile Suit Gundam” is a well-known milestone in robot animation, and the series has been running for 40 years.
When most people think of Gundam, they think of the mobile suits and the realistic depiction of war.
However, the theme of this story is not “robots” or “war” but “how people can understand each other.
And when I review the very first story called “First” now, I realize that there is a vivid depiction of human relationships that is still relevant today.
The story is often told focusing on the relationship between the main character, Amuro, and his rival, Char, but the story is basically told focusing on the human relationships of the space battleship White Base, which Amuro boards.
The story begins with the fact that the most advanced space battleship, White Base, has been taken over by a group of apprentice officers and refugees, who are forced to flee from the enemy. The story begins, but as it goes through the death zone, it focuses more and more on how people in a limited space and harsh environment create relationships, both good and bad.
And unlike other stories, the amazing thing about this story is that it doesn’t make it easy for us to understand each other, but rather it expresses the dark side of human nature that we cannot understand or come to terms with even if we are on the same side.
In other words, it is not so easy for people to understand each other, and there are many real problems to overcome.
This is a theme that is also discussed in “The Legend of Ideon”, so it is a basic theme for Tomino, who wrote the original story.
As the people aboard the White Base go through the extraordinary experience of war, their relationships become more and more complex. This is a story that can happen in any community, except for the unique situation of war.
In a company or a school, there are those who are capable, those who are not, those who only complain, and those who try to do something by force to bring everyone together. The reason why Gundam has gained the support of so many people is because it realistically depicts the situations that everyone hits and worries about in various places.
In fact, the clash between people reaches its peak in the middle of the story.
It all starts when Amuro, who has handled the Gundam and saved everyone time and again, escapes. Amuro is just doing what he has to do because there is no one else who can do it, but he feels so strongly that no one understands his feelings that he retreats into his own shell and gets stuck in a rut.
On the other hand, Captain Bright, who is young but a soldier and in a position to organize everyone, is naturally hard on Amuro, thinking that if he doesn’t do his best, everyone will die, and that he has to organize everyone.
Naturally, there are some crew members who are angry at Amuro’s selfish behavior, and others who simply envy his extraordinary talent.
One of the people who is trying his best to bring everyone together is Ryu Hosei, who, like Captain Bright, is one of the few professional soldiers. From the very beginning, he has been in the middle of the relationship between Captain Bright and the rest of the crew, acting as a sort of big brother to them as they struggle to somehow improve the situation.
He’s a rather unassuming presence, but up until this point, Ryu Hosei has been able to maintain a good balance in the White Base and keep the relationships intact.
And just before they are about to fall apart, the troops led by that charming uncle, Ramba Ral, attack White Base.
What I think is very clever here is that Ramba Ral’s troops are not just villains, but are portrayed as opponents to the situation of White Base.
In other words, unlike White Base, where human relations are a mess, the troops led by the charismatic Ramba Ral, who is trusted by his subordinates, have a strong sense of unity and good human relations, and it’s the kind of environment that makes you want to work there if you were a subordinate.
In White Base, where justice is supposed to be served, there are poor human relations, while in Ramba Ral’s unit, which is supposed to be the villain, there is trust and bonding. The way this reversal is depicted makes the theme more profound.
Yes, it does. In other words, Ramba Ral appears at the perfect time as a model case of a “good adult” or a “cool adult.
Unlike the White Base, where human relationships are immature, he embodies the strength, tolerance, and conviction that this is what it means for a person to get along with others as a human being. And that’s why he is loved by his subordinates. He is also loved by Mｓ. Hammon. Just looking at their mourning battle after Lal’s death, it shows how attractive Lal is as a person.
In the end, White Base evades Ramba Ral’s troops, but they lose someone important here. Yes, it’s that Ryu Hosei who somehow managed to keep everyone together.
This time, he makes them lose the perfect person at the perfect time.
Naturally, the death of Ryu, who had been holding everyone together, further destroys the relationships that were just barely holding them together.
Captain Bright collapses from heartache, Mirai, the substitute, becomes a manual operator, and Seira starts to move on her own. There is dissatisfaction, suspicion, and negative emotions.
It’s real. With the person who had been keeping the balance gone, the contradictions are exposed and the relationship deteriorates further. It’s the kind of scene you see in any workplace. I’m sure there are many people who have had similar experiences. In such a situation, the people watching the situation on TV subconsciously feel it. Oh, if only these people’s boss was Ramba Ral. Or rather, how nice it would be if the boss of their workplace was Lamba Lal.
But in reality, there is no Lal. On the other hand, the feeling of longing remains strong.
The people at White Base, especially Amuro and Seira, know that Lal was an attractive boss, but they don’t have time to imagine it. But we don’t have time to imagine that, because they are the ones who killed him, and no matter how attractive he was, he was still just an enemy.
My boss is young and collapsed. Everyone is doing their own thing. What is the first thing people think when they are put in such a situation? They are dissatisfied with their superiors.
In the first place, the human relations at White Base are deteriorating because the Earth Federation Forces are not properly supplying personnel and supplies, nor are they sending reinforcements. It makes me want to get angry and ask myself what the hell are the great uncles doing when the younger generation is doing their best. This is also a very real story. They are in trouble and are desperately asking for supplies. As expected, the big guys send a supply team, but it’s led by Lieutenant Matilda Ajan. She’s the older woman that Amuro admired when they met before.
However, Matilda’s unit is attacked by the Black Triple Star, and although Amuro and the others go to rescue them, Matilda also dies in the battle to protect White Base.
After losing Ryu and Matilda in succession, the White Base crew is devastated by their inexperience.
At this point in the story, there is no absolute evil or absolute justice, but they face themselves in their own way and become adults. Becoming an adult is not a good thing. In fact, we know that most of the adults we’ve seen are contradictory, cunning, and want to dominate others.
Coming from the episode with Ramba Ral, this flow is brilliant as a story.
First we have the White Base Squadron as a group of people who are immature but don’t know who they are just because they are immature, and then we have the Ramba Ral Squadron who are doing well as a group in contrast to them.
Then, as the group crumbles further after the loss of their precious comrades, the protagonists are forced to think about what to do.
As you can see, the Ramba Ral in the middle of the story is very effective. It works very well.
And it’s not just for the people of White Base, but also for the people who have been following the story for a long time, the impact of Ral is subconsciously heightened on its own. There were only a few episodes in which Ral actually appeared, but he was in the flow of this story, and furthermore, his presence was raised by his positioning. And this subconsciously enlarged sense of presence will remain in the minds of the viewers for a long time. Ral, you’re so cool.
From this point on, the White Base Squadron, in their own clumsy way, starts to interact with each other, and even though they clash with each other, they become friends. This is how they reach the catharsis of the second half of the story, and the foreshadowing of the theme of “people understanding each other” has already been sprinkled throughout the episodes surrounding Ral.
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