[Categories: Editorials]
The huerrgh! factor: excessive manliness in anime
After the mecha-fest of the new Transformers live action movie and this short discussion the other day I started to wonder about the appeal of the copious quantities of testosterone that pervade certain anime series. Before you ask, 'Huerrgh!' is allegedly a slang term, also pronounced "Hooah!", among manly military types, to denote an affirmative or general show of, um, manliness. "Jump the fence, marine!" "Yessir, jumping fence, Huerrgh!" According to a former housemate of mine who served in the T.A., anyway. The division between 'shounen' and 'shoujo' is a blurry one these days and could warrant an editorial on its own but I was specifically interested in how both male and female audiences are swayed by the overwhelming exhibitions of gung-ho manliness on offer in the likes of Gurren Lagann and Moonlight Mile. Moonlight Mile: In space, no-one can hear you say "Huerrgh!"
Moonlight Mile: mountaineering is a very manly thing to do.
I only got one episode into Moonlight Mile; firstly, it's licenced now. Secondly, I couldn't really be arsed with it. Thirdly, the manliness reached unprecedented and nigh-on unwatchable levels. It's good to see two friends in what I'm guessing is the lead-up to an adventure in space, but sadly the manliness was cranked up to the point where even I felt put off - and I'm a twenty-something male who drinks beer and eats steak. Huerrgh!
The problem with this show is that the protagonists were so laddish that they pushed the audience away - when a character's emotions are hidden behind a facade of bravado and gratuitous scenes of sex and drunkenness, it's impossible to engage with them at any but the shallowest of levels. They're fearless, adventurous and want to go into space but that's it. Their deeper motives may have been explained in later episodes but as first impressions go, Moonlight Mile tried to impress the viewer with its adventurous manliness but from a distance, and failed.
Gurren Lagann: when manliness works
Gainax's Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann exudes similar levels of bare-chested, fist-clenched manliness but is the exact opposite: the over-the-top masculinity of its hero Kamina endears him to the viewer and is an absolute blast to watch.
"is that drill compensating for something?" Freud could have a field day with this...
The crucial difference with this show seems to be that excessive manliness can offer entertainment value if it doesn't take itself altogether seriously. Kamina wears shades and a grimace of fearless self-confidence and no shirt - but he couldn't care less about what other people thought of him. Although it proved to be his undoing in the end, his self-assured manliness made him The Man in every sense but also made for great entertainment: the mecha genre (in itself a very manly category, featuring as it does boys and big toys) is a crowded place and leaves itself open for shameless parodying and lampooning, of which Gainax are long-standing specialists.
Kamina shows us what it takes to be a man
however, writing off mecha as a manly genre isn't entirely accurate when you consider the likes of Gainax's earlier giant robot shows, Evanelion and Top o Nirae!. Sure, they have the giant robots, giant explosions and a 'hard work and guts' mantra but the majority of the central characters are female: only one out of the three Eva pilots is male (and a very un-manly one at that); Top o Nirae!'s Noriko wants to go into space and fight like her late father but her other role model is Kazumi Amano, an elite (and decidely female) mecha pilot. In both cases, the premise of humans fighting in giant shounen-friendly mecha doesn't require much manliness at all.
Is your 'Huerrgh!' really necessary?
For comic effect, the manliness of Gurren Lagann makes it pure 100% win but sometimes it can be too much for even male audiences if it's taken to an extreme. Really manly characters, by their very nature, only let you see sides of their personalities that they want you to see: manliness involves hiding your emotions away because a man is judged by his actions. Unfortunately this doesn't lend itself to very insightful characterisation: breaking down in an Shinji Ikari-esque show of unmanly emo-ness is more dramatic, and the outward gestures of sisterly companionship highlight what it takes to fight with hard work and guts when you're piloting a Buster Machine.
Although anime has a reputation among some for its portrayal of female characters being little more than eye candy, it also has its fair share of gutsy female protagonists who almost make the Manly Hero redundant. Mireille and Kirika from Noir, the Knight Sabers of bubblegum Crisis (how many times does Priss get one over on Leon?), any one of Miyazaki's movies...they all make the issue of gender relating to strength of character pretty irrelevant. So, when the likes of Moonlight Mile try to win over viewers with the 'Huerrgh!' factor, I ask myself "why bother?"
Posted on August 10th, 2007 @ 10:02 pm
Yay, you really published this article! *highfives*
Suddenly I had to think of francobelgian and especially american (superman) comics when I saw the screenshot of Moonlight Mile. Generally, older manga as well as those kinds of comics have much more generic and stereotypical body types and (probably) also more manly characters. So I thought it might be that Moonlight Mile is so manly because it’s leaning towards comics?
Posted on August 11th, 2007 @ 2:53 am
I managed to finish Moonlight Mile and although yes the two main characters are oozing testosterone, it never really turned me off. (Though yes I had to minimize the window because of those Not-Safe for Kids/Family scenes hehehe.)
The two things that keeps me watching MM are the good CG and the promise of mech sightings. That’s all LOL
Posted on August 11th, 2007 @ 6:26 pm
I gave up on Moonlight Mile after three episodes myself mainly because the whole “shallow manliness” of the two leads got to me by then. It’s unfortunate to me, because I know that “shounen manliness” and shallowness doesn’t necessarily go together; Berserk is an example of a testosterone-filled series that takes itself seriously, and yet has spawned essays (warning, spoilers there) about the main characters.
I haven’t seen Gurren Lagann, but I should put that on the “to watch” list that I’m slowly trying to tackle…
Posted on August 12th, 2007 @ 12:09 pm
@Sasa: I’m not sure when the manga for Moonlight Mile dates back to - it could well be either an old title or inspired by the gung-ho American efforts but the question still remains as to why the writers of the animated adaptation still retained the manliness thing. Credit to them for making an effort with the realism in regards to the space travel though. In case you’re wondering, the Pillows tune used in the show is on their new ‘Wake Up! Wake Up! Wake Up!’ album. I want!
@Hayase: Congrats on finishing the series! I don’t know how many people are following it now, but a second season is already being planned. Maybe it was more popular than I thought.
@Nick: I recommend Gurren Lagann for the sheer over-the-top fun of it all. Berserk on the other hand I haven’t seen, but I’ve heard a lot of good things and can’t wait for the UK DVD release!
Posted on August 13th, 2007 @ 2:17 am
If ever anime blogging needed a new meme, Huerrgh! is it.
And yeah, manliness in GAINAX anime has always been laced with cynicism. Their manly characters seem to share a fairly tragic, unfulfilled fates. Gendo is probably the best example of traditional manliness in Evangelion and we all know how fucked over he gets as a consequence of his internal/external deceptions.
Kamina, while not as damaging on his associates as Gendo, never really amounts to much more than a martyr who dies in the eighth episode. No doubt his manliness has an explosive affect on others in life and death, and he leaves a great impression on the audience, but as a person he doesn’t last. I always saw his death as GAINAX admitting Kamina could only take the show so far. I can you could say the same for manliness, in a grander sense.
Posted on August 13th, 2007 @ 11:24 pm
@Hige: For some reason, I’ve always seen Gainax as showing a ‘pro feminist’ approach to their central characters, what with the strong and almost Miyazaki-esque butt-kicking nature of the heroines. That said, the likes of This Ugly Yet Beautiful World kinda undo that (but then TUYBW undid a lot of my hopes surrounding the studio). I’ve not seen Gurren Lagann past ep 10 so sadly can’t comment on how Kamina’s influence is diminished when placed next to the show overall.
I didn’t really consider the possibility of a new blogging meme! TBH it would be a bit scary to see manly ‘Huerrgh!’s flying across the blogosphere but kinda cool at the same time…actually, this post has already reached the top of the Google search for the word ‘huerrgh‘!
Posted on August 17th, 2007 @ 9:31 pm
moonlight mile i didnt think was excessive manliness. if anything it was very realistic of guys. c’mon dont we all just want to bust our ass working and get some ass too… seriously man. we all want to get paid and get laid. and it doesnt hurt that the anime had some great science fiction. i liked it.
Posted on August 17th, 2007 @ 10:15 pm
@Kauldron26: Good to see you here!
Yeah, liked the way that Moolnlight Mile made an effort to be realistic. Shame it was so deadly dull though. 
It just makes me look forward to the PlanetES box set even more!
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