by Are the mecha depictions also ambitious?
“Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross,” which began airing in April 1984, is a unique presence in the history of Showa robot anime. This work, which appeared as the third installment of the “Super Dimension Series,” was scheduled to have a total of 39 episodes, but was canceled after 23 episodes, and was almost a “sealed work” due to subsequent copyright issues. However, looking back now, it was an ambitious work filled with elements that were ahead of their time.
The story is set on the colony planet Gloria, where humanity, having abandoned the war-polluted Earth at the end of the 21st century, is working to develop a new world. On this planet, which has finally become self-sufficient, a large fleet of mysterious aliens called “Zol” suddenly appears and demands the surrender of the Earth. In a situation where they cannot expect support from their home planet, the colonization planetary army, the “Southern Cross Army,” takes on the unknown enemy.
The protagonist is Lieutenant Jeanne Française, a squad leader of the Strategic Armored Division. Despite her free-spirited personality, she throws herself into a battle for the survival of humanity with her natural drive. The Zollians are depicted as a “trinity” of people who always act in groups of three, all with the same appearance. Many mysteries are presented, such as their true identities and their relationship with the “Flower of Life,” but due to the series being canceled, the core of the story was never revealed until the end.
Innovative female protagonist and pioneering mechanical setting. The most prominent feature of this work is that the protagonist is a female regular soldier. Although female protagonists are not uncommon these days, this setting was an ambitious one for a robot anime at the time. The mechanical design is also original, and the protagonist’s armored suit, the “Arming Doublet,” is designed with a powered suit-like concept, unlike conventional giant robots.
The “Bioroids” controlled by the enemy Zollians are set as “artificial biological material engineering structures” and have an impressive biological form. However, in the plastic model development, the enemy bioroids were commercialized, but the giant robot of the protagonist was not commercialized at all, which was an unusual situation. Instead, a 1/12 scale Arming Doublet was made in detail, which became a pioneering attempt that led to the current figure culture.
Almost “sealed” due to rights issues, popular overseas. The reason why “Southern Cross” is called “an unfortunate work” is due to a rights dispute between the production company Tatsunoko Productions and the advertising agency Big West. Due to this issue, it was hardly rebroadcast on terrestrial television.
Meanwhile, overseas, it was modified and re-edited as the “Robotech ” series, which includes “Super Dimension Fortress Macross” and “Armored Trooper Vs. MOSPEADA”, and has gained even more popularity than in Japan. Although it was canceled due to low viewership, it was full of ambitious elements such as a female protagonist, powered suit-like mecha, biomechanical machines, and first contact science fiction. It may be understandable that many fans say, “Southern Cross was too early.”
