UlasanAnime.com – This post contains minor spoilers for Madoka Magica and Vandread, but its primary focus is on speculating about Vividred Operation.
Let’s first consider Vandread. In this series, the male characters, referred to as “potato-kuns,” would “gattai” with female characters (typically three at a time) to form powerful spaceships capable of defeating enemies. However, it was the ships themselves that combined, with the pilots merely sharing a seat. This concept was highly symbolic and suggestive. If not for the abundance of starchy potato-kuns, it could have evolved into a profound and sensual space spin-off of FLCL. Ultimately, Vandread felt like it fell short of its full potential.
Fast forward to 2013 and the anime Vividred Operation. Here, girls with seemingly magical abilities transform into figures resembling marching band members, though they fly like those in Strike Witches and wield weapons reminiscent of those found in the Nanoha universe (albeit without dialogue). The most striking aspect is their “DOCKING” maneuver during climactic battles. Two girls combine to form a “Vivid[insert color],” effectively becoming a single entity. This new persona appears to possess the combined consciousness and minds of her predecessors. Symbolically, this fused being represents an adult version of the two teenagers, possessing significantly enhanced combat capabilities compared to either individual or even their combined strength as separate entities.
The comparisons drawn between Vividred and Vandread, as I’ve encountered them, primarily revolve around their mechanics: two units merging into one, sharing a vortex of emotions, will, and consciousness when the process is successful. However, a more profound mechanical aspect lies in the philosophy of body and soul. Vividred Operation’s framework, established in the first episode, clearly distinguishes between the two. (What happened to Grandpa Isshiki’s body, by the way? Is it peacefully coexisting with Momo’s groceries?) The badger-like entity that now embodies Kenjiro Isshiki is indeed Kenjiro Isshiki, correct? Similarly, Vividgreen’s appearance, resembling Miku in a stylish 21st-century kimono, suggests more about her true form than Wakaba and Akane piloting their new bodies in a skirmish against the Alone.
How does one pilot their own flesh? Does this logic mirror Kyubey’s explanation in Madoka Magica after a dramatic egg drop? In Strike Witches, young girls with magical powers are the sole hope in a war. In Vividred Operation, these same girls fight battles that only they can win because they are the only ones capable of piloting the effective “weapons” against their adversaries. It makes one wonder if, upon dissecting Vividblue, we would find young Akane and Aoi-chan in miniature cockpits, much like Noriko. Piloting one’s own body seems to be the most natural state.
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Given the science-fiction setting of Vividred Operation, there’s much to explain. The manifestation engine technology is understandable, but Miss Black Ranger and her crow-like overlord introduce an ever-present complication to an otherwise cohesive universe that celebrates technology’s positive impact on life. What philosophical insights will next week’s transhumanist magical-sentai anime offer? We shall have to wait and see.
