During one of the few interludes in the otherwise non-stop action, Eva Braun, Bill Saguro and Taishi argue
about their moral duties regarding the new weapon technology under development. Saguro insists that the mecha
should be used only to defend humanity against the aliens, Eva has no qualms about selling it to individual
nations for each to use against the others, and Taishi disdains them both. He feels that only Maria uses science
ethically when she provides medical treatment to wounded orphans (a noble sentiment, and a convenient one for
an orphan and former patient to espouse).
Their argument very deliberately echoes the debates that raged in the real world scientific community after World
War II. Robert Oppenheimer, the American scientist who helped develop the A-bomb, argued that scientists had a
moral obligation to ensure that their work was not misused. Werner Heizenberg, a German physicist who had worked
for the Nazi's despite having no political sympathy for them, argued that a scientist's duty is to advance the cause
of knowledge without bearing responsibility for how engineers and politicians might use their work. Introducing
these moral and historical dimensions, however tangentially, poses a new challenge for director Ishiyama who must
balance this new thematic depth with the existing complexity of plot and style.
In terms of plot, "Geo-Armor" is an unabashed, unrelenting action series. Amidst the battles, though, Ishiyama
develops Taishi as a character. He grows from his early abandonment, through his struggles to fulfill his father's
mission, his humiliation and redemption, and finally his heroism. These themes are as familiar to the readers of
Robert Louis Stevenson as they are to viewers of "Evangelion," and Ishiyama executes them faithfully. Meanwhile he
contextualizes the violence occurring in an otherwise completely imaginary setting so that the conflict isn't merely
a passion play of good versus evil, but a multifaceted conflict in which certain characters embody ideologies
germane to the real history of the period. These ideas are kept very much in the background. Nevertheless the mere
presence of genuine historical and moral ideas in an aliens vs. Nazis vs. mecha action series breaks the mold.
In other ways "Geo-Armor" hews quite closely to the conventions of mecha-action anime; but small surprises that
strengthen the characters or sharpen the themes abound.
While exchanging mildly amusing insignificant banter about Taishi's devotion to Maria, Daisaku suddenly asks him,
"What about your friends back in Urajina Banke (the village they left behind in ruins)? Why aren't you worried about
them?" To which Taishi has no answer. Taishi had been a father figure to a group of small orphans, whom he abandons
to rescue the woman he considers a surrogate mother because she cared for him after he was himself abandoned. The
irony of his actions does not flatter Taishi at all. Taishi is an immature protagonist who, according to the formula,
will overcome his pride and youthful flaws as the story progresses. A flawed young hero doesn't break the
conventions of the genre, but the unexpected stark honesty with which Daisaku holds him accountable for his actions
does. This moment may not alter the course of the story but the surprise of it stuns the viewer into seeing the
protagonist with fresh eyes, as more flawed and irresponsible than he first appeared.
Another surprise that immediately improves the story is the ease with which Shinkai foresees the Kishin attack.
All too often in action films and TV shows villains are defeated because they are essentially too stupid to see the
obvious coming. The instant Shinkai demonstrates that he will not be a passive character but has the intelligence to
scuttle Kishin Corps strategies; "Geo-Armor" becomes a more interesting and less predictable series. Thematic depth
and an imaginative setting are well and good, but nothing keeps a viewer hooked as surely as the knowledge that in
this series the next surprise could pop up anytime amidst the nonstop battles.
And a host of gratuitous but enjoyable built-in devices assure that once any battle starts it quickly erupts beyond
anyone's plans. Whenever the alien control modules that power the Kishin mecha are activated, the aliens detect them
and, within minutes, fall out of the sky to aggravate the existing tumult. Furthermore the aliens are immune to
bullets but, conveniently, are susceptible to being cleaved open by a sword stroke. Thus every battle begins with the
Kanto army and Kishin battling with guns, tanks and mecha but quickly escalates to include at least three opposing
forces mixing katana, martial arts, alien blob-fu and lasers into the fray. The steady escalation and diversification
of each battle builds tension and chaos, which more than justifies a few obvious writers' constructs.