4/2/2007 1:07:59 AM
Erap and the Suzaku Warriors
The impeachment episode of the former President Joseph Estrada brought the nation to its thinking feet. At that time, even the most uneducated man could go on talking about constitutional chuvanes, political chorvas, economic cheverlyn and all that big words without really sounding stupid. Of course, one could not really hear what each side has to say. The objective of every discussion in every household was how to press one’s opinion onto others even if it takes stepping on the other party’s principles.
We, the children of that time, felt the heat of the moment pervading through the television screen as we watch lawyers object to irrelevant and immaterial questions, audience shatter moments with colloquy and senators dance in front of the mob’s anger. But we couldn’t yet fully comprehend what was happening to our country. Needless to say, we, the children of that time couldn’t care less of what was happening to the world. We were watching the impeachment proceeding because we were waiting for it to end. We were watching because we couldn’t wait to go back watching our favorite shows.
Because of the Impeachment, one thing stuck to my innocent mind: GMA network stopped airing the Japanese animated series Fushigi Yuugi. And because of that, I felt as if my lifeline, my escape from the reality of a crumbling nation, was cut off. What Marcos did to Voltes V three decades ago, they were doing again to Fushigi Yuugi during the Impeachment.
I heard the many reasons why GMA stopped showing Fushigi Yuugi. The most obvious reason was that the network didn’t have much air time to compensate what airing the impeachment proceeding has taken. I couldn’t blame the network for that. The Impeachment was an important national matter and the networks were just doing their job to let the people know what was happening. Even though it really didn’t matter, I blamed the senators, lawyers and the President for doing such crappy jobs running the country. They could have been effective leaders and saved the Philippines all the trouble.
What was nerve-wracking was that even after the Impeachment and the ousting of President Estrada from his post, GMA didn’t return Fushigi Yuugi to the air. My generation, like the generation of Voltes V, was too young and dumb to react and protest to anything.
Later, after forgetting what has happened during the Impeachment and finally getting on with life without Fushigi Yuugi, I heard the other reason why GMA has stopped airing the animated series was that Fushigi Yuugi was beginning to show violent and sexual contents that were not suitable to its young patrons during the time when it should have continued airing. The network could have simply cut those parts off but it would come out futile because some important conversations and events took place while the characters were slashing each other’s limbs and licking each other’s faces. I thought why would a commercial network tell us what is brutal and sexual? And when did an imperialist-thinking institution, like the media, care for the corruption of the youth’s mind when it didn’t do so much as eradicating its corruption to the thinking of its nation and its adult viewers?
A friend asked why such passions for an animé that was nothing but melodrama and full of corny scenes. I asked him, “What would you do if Dragon Ball and Ghost Fighter were suddenly cut off in the height of their conflicts?”
“I never really liked Dragon Ball,” he said. “The fight scenes were always too long and it seemed to never end. But Ghost Fighter? Probably, I’d feel bad but I won’t mope like you do.”
“How about Gundam Wing?” I asked.
“Whoa,” he stopped short. “That is different. Gundam doesn’t have…”
I really can’t blame him for having such sentiment. At the time, little boys’ entertainment was not wholly from Japanese cartoons. Boys back then went for computer games, Final Fantasy, Counter Strike and anything that has robots and guns like Gundam Wing. Girls, and “soft-hearted” boys, on the other hand, went for Japanese animation series, which have female characters that have colorful hairdos and legs longer than their bodies. What were guns to the boys were big sparkling eyes to the girls.
A while ago, I have just finished the last episode of Fushigi Yuugi. I felt blessed because in the present generation, when you miss an episode of your favorite television show, you go click YouTube.com or go buy the whole season in a pirated DVD. The Voltes V generation didn’t have that luxury. It took them decades to find out what happened at the ending. But in my part, it only took me six years to know what happened at the final episode of Fushigi Yuugi.
And so, after six years of being dormant in my heart, the fire of the beast-god Suzaku flared once more. It reached to the heavens to be called by its Priestess and her Seven Celestial Warriors, bound to protect her and the southern nation of Konan from the evil forces of the eastern nation Kotou, which was also protected by another beast-god called Seiryu. The Priestess must collect the Shinzaho of the northern beast-god Genbu and the western beast-god Byokko in order to defeat and seal the war beast-god Seiryu. I lost count of the times I clapped and mumbled “char” every time Hotohori would draw his holy sword or Tasuki would go chibi, fighting stupid things over Tamahome.
Watching the whole episode now made me realize that Fushigi Yuugi was really a crap. Hearing the dialogues, even in the English-dubbed version was really revolting. The “Universe of the Four Gods” was in great turmoil but all there was to be worried about is how the love of the Priestess Miaka and her warrior Tamahome could be consummated despite their duties.
But regardless of the awkwardness of some situations, Fushigi Yuugi has some qualities worth of a literary critic’s attention. Fushigi Yuugi showed the importance of literature on how it elevates its readers to other worlds. The story revolves around two Japanese middle school students who were taken into the world of a book called “The Universe of the Four Gods” and played the characters themselves.
I agree that animations nowadays are more complicated and have more ambiguous characters. But I wish there’ll be something exciting that will happen to the nation. Because the more chaotic our country, the more people want to escape reality. With this, only real good entertainment appears on TV. Then the government will ax it for teaching children violence and sex, swaying the nation from the real problem. The children of each generation will then revolt. This is when they learn the true lessons of watching animated series.
