Nippon ex Machina: Japanese Postwar Identity in Robot Anime and the Case of UFO Robo Grendizer

Abstract

What seems like a radical contradiction—that a Japanese anime with giant robots as alien characters might represent both the totalitarian invaders and the good old American defenders of freedom and justice—is actually evident in more than one anime series of the 1970s. In this essay I will analyze Japanese postwar identity in the 1970s, especially as it emerged in the context of Japan’s complex relationship with the United States, through anime dealing with adventure, technology, and war. I focus on one representative series, UFO Robo Grendizer, which features a giant robot who is a defender of humanity and within which we can see a symbol of Japan’s relationship to the United States and to other countries.1 I will not address the formal elements of the anime but only focus on the structural, narrative, and symbolic elements.2