UlasanAnime.com – The conclusion of Star Driver has left me satisfied, and here’s why.
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To begin with, Star Drivers is quite meta. It’s almost redundant to state that this isn’t a typical Mecha show. While the lead creators have mentioned in various interviews that they didn’t possess extensive knowledge in that genre, it’s hard to overlook the Utena-esque flair present in many aspects of the series, especially if you followed those insightful behind-the-scenes notes from Igarashi and Enokido. The narrative often felt more like a standard high school intrigue with random battles interspersed for effect. In this regard, it also resembles Utena: did anyone watch that primarily as a Samurai flick? The setup isn’t entirely dissimilar to a typical story where an outsider arrives in town and causes disruption. And I’m referring to Utena, not Star Driver…
The mecha battles themselves are enjoyable to watch on their own, but they lack a certain grittiness. It’s as if it wasn’t overtly apparent that they served merely as vehicles [/zing] to facilitate character development, resolve conflicts, or provide catharsis. However, all that glitter and fabulousness won’t deceive me! Perhaps this is where some viewers find the show disappointing, much like the reused footage in Utena or its lackluster sword fights.
My second point, returning to Utena, concerns the structural similarity between Utena and Star Driver. I believe that if you understand one show, you should be able to grasp the other. This isn’t to imply they are similar in other ways, but rather that different themes are being conveyed through the same underlying mechanisms. To use an analogy, it’s akin to understanding one story told in gibberish, which likely means you can comprehend another, different story told in the same language. However, that analogy also highlights how familiarity with a subject matter can sometimes lead to understanding, even if the communication is imperfect, much like a weeaboo conversing with a Japanese fan of the same series, despite a language barrier.
Then we encounter the meta-of-meta problem. I’ve previously discussed the concept of a “play within a play,” which encapsulates both what makes Star Driver work and, arguably, its most significant flaw. It should come as no surprise that the series concluded in a manner mirroring how the play itself ended. Wako poured her heart out during that battle scene, and that’s as close as we’ll get to a concession (despite the thought, “hey, isn’t that voice-over gimmick something done in a play?”). And isn’t that a (relatively) radical message in itself? It didn’t evoke a feeling of “woah, that’s pretty awesome” like, for instance, the ending of the Canvas 2 anime (a spoiler), but this is a far superior approach compared to, say, Asobi ni Ikuyo. The issue with meta is simply that audiences tend to get caught up in it and miss the underlying point, even though the meta serves as an illustrative device for overall thematic ideas.
I’ve framed it as a problem, but the meta functions as a guidepost to comprehend the show’s true meaning; it’s an intended feature, not a bug. Perhaps you might think Star Driver could have been more effective by attempting to express things, you know, normally? I suppose that’s up for debate.
Lastly, what begins well often ends well. Regardless of our opinions on epic bromances, the final duel between Takuto and Sugata was something, wasn’t it? It serves as a fitting note to conclude on.
