juan
October 28th, 2004, 03:43 AM
Red Bamboo, COBRA and the New Era.
In the Toho film, “Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster,” we see that the main villains are not the title monster and its cohorts but a ruthless paramilitary group called Red Bamboo that seeks to build nuclear weapons. Along with having captured our heroes, we see that they have enslaved the poor people of Infant Island and have pressed them into slavery; the Red Bamboo is cruel and vicious and very well funded with island bases and a fleet of aircraft. In the end, Godzilla awakens and goes on the rampage, destroying their armed forces and their Letchi Island base. The island itself is destroyed when their scientists program the nuclear reactor to self destruct.
Years later, in the Hanna-Barbara Godzilla cartoon, we see an episode called “Island of Doom” where our heroes come across COBRA*. Captain Majors calls them “an international band of thugs.” Such a description seems accurate with how they seek to build nuclear weapons for the purpose of world domination. Dressed in dark blue and led by General Zador and his right hand woman, Colonel Varna, they capture our heroes. However Godzilla comes to the rescue destroying their armed forces. The island is almost destroyed but Godzilla throws the nuclear reactor into the ocean before it blows up.
We see similarities in them and Godzilla Saga notes it in their episode guide for the cartoon. In C.L. Werner’s New Era Godzilla fan fiction, the Red Bamboo makes two appearances, with potentially a third in the wings. The first time is in Godzilla vs. Frankenstein where Red Bamboo teams with Dr. Frankenstein; there they recount a slightly modified version of the events in “Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster.” Their second appearance was in “Godzilla vs. King Kong;” there, they seek to command the monster Gigan and use it to “free” Japan from the shackles of capitalism.
Here we see something. In the New Era, the Red Bamboo is portrayed as being made up of Japanese communists. Author C.L. Werner justifies this on grounds that they are the Red Bamboo and that they may have been stand ins for the Red Chinese who were doing questionable things at the time that this film was made, such as the Cultural Revolution. (In the story, they are also said to have received financial help from the Soviet Union. A neat way of explaining how they could finance an air force.) This also brings into play something else.
Despite similarities in implementation, communism, being on the political left, and fascism, being on the political right, are ideological opposites. This is seen in the New Era when the ex Nazi Dr. Frankenstein heard Red Bamboo’s plea for help and laughed at a communist asking help from his ideological arch enemy. In fact, in pre-WWII Germany, Hitler--the ultimate in terms of the right wing--partially built his regime in vows of destroying communism. (That was part of the reason that he and Stalin--the ultimate in terms of the left wing--hated each other so much.)
This is seen in Japan also. Japan’s militaristic World War II government hated communism and that was the reason that it signed the Anti-Comintern Pact with Nazi Germany. After the war, General MacArthur released Japan’s political prisoners; among them were Japanese communists who regarded the Blue Eyed Shogun** as a liberator. It is worth saying that today, one of Japan’s political parties is the Japan Communist Party.***
This can be applied to the New Era. We already know that the Red Bamboo, as seen in the New Era is communist. Perhaps it can be revealed that it initially began as a legitimate group that protested Hideki Tojo’s ruthless expansionism and that when it was persecuted, the Red Bamboo took up arms to free Japan from the Evil Empire. (Pun intended.) After WWII, Red Bamboo was appalled to see Japan turn capitalist and side with Moscow’s new arch enemy, the US. Then and there, it vowed to free Japan once more by any means necessary--of course they’d later apologize for collateral damage.
Here we can ask a very interesting thing: what’s worse, communism or fascism? Once on Discovery Times channel, there was an episode of “In their own words” where one man said he’d rather be fascist than a communist because at least a fascist is allowed to believe in God. (However, considering what fascist #1 did, if the Nazis did worship anything, it was the Devil himself.*4) Well, at least communism tries to do good and in the New Era, Red Bamboo is not completely evil. This is seen in how its leader was appalled when Gigan went on the rampage and caused many civilian deaths.
What if then, COBRA made an appearance in the New Era? It would not only offer Red Bamboo competition but it would also serve as an ideological comparison. Red Bamboo is plotting its next scheme when COBRA makes an appearance. We see that it is a group that broke away from Red Bamboo after the Kong incident on grounds that it was too soft. Led by General Zador and his right hand woman, Colonel Varna, it is a ruthless terrorist organization more aligned with Nazism than anything else. Hunted by Interpol, COBRA seeks to propagate Aryan ideals against lesser races, the ideals of rule by fear and of the strong ruling the weak. It also HATES Red Bamboo for all its communism.
After freeing Dr. Frankenstein from prison, they seek to destroy their old enemy and make sure that the new Reich last a thousand years. On claiming a giant monster--a snake monster perhaps provided by the not so good Dr.--and with arms from the war mongering MARS Corporation*5, COBRA means business. For no other reason than that it wants to live, Red Bamboo turns to our heroes for help. On seeing that that they’ll need Red Bamboo to fight Zador’s COBRA, they accept their pleas for help.
And so, our story begins…
*Oddly enough, the COBRA of Godzilla’s “Island of Doom” episode has no connection to GI Joe’s arch-enemy, “A ruthless terrorist organization determined to rule the world.”
**A name given to General MacArthur. In the past, the Japanese had been ruled by military dictators that governed in the Emperor’s name so the occupation wasn’t anything new. The last Shogunate was the Tokugawa Shogunate; it was abolished in the mid 1800s when the Meiji Emperor, Hirohito the Showa Emperor’s grandfather, took power. (Each emperor takes a name; the late Hirohito was the Showa Emperor, his son Akihito is the Hesei Emperor. The names of their rule have also given us a convenient way of classifying Godzilla movies by which film was made in which emperor’s reign.
***Just because a country isn’t ruled by a communist party, doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have a communist party. Japan has a communist party. Italy has a communist party. Established in 1919, the United States of America has a communist party--but nobody ever votes for it.
*4 Heinrich Himmler, Hitler’s right hand man in evil, was a firm believer in the occult. Hitler himself hated Christianity for its goodness and its Jewish roots.
*5 According to C.L. Werner, he gave the MARS Corporation its name in honor of a MARS Corporation owned by Destro, a member of GI Joe’s Cobra. Neat how these things can work out.
In the Toho film, “Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster,” we see that the main villains are not the title monster and its cohorts but a ruthless paramilitary group called Red Bamboo that seeks to build nuclear weapons. Along with having captured our heroes, we see that they have enslaved the poor people of Infant Island and have pressed them into slavery; the Red Bamboo is cruel and vicious and very well funded with island bases and a fleet of aircraft. In the end, Godzilla awakens and goes on the rampage, destroying their armed forces and their Letchi Island base. The island itself is destroyed when their scientists program the nuclear reactor to self destruct.
Years later, in the Hanna-Barbara Godzilla cartoon, we see an episode called “Island of Doom” where our heroes come across COBRA*. Captain Majors calls them “an international band of thugs.” Such a description seems accurate with how they seek to build nuclear weapons for the purpose of world domination. Dressed in dark blue and led by General Zador and his right hand woman, Colonel Varna, they capture our heroes. However Godzilla comes to the rescue destroying their armed forces. The island is almost destroyed but Godzilla throws the nuclear reactor into the ocean before it blows up.
We see similarities in them and Godzilla Saga notes it in their episode guide for the cartoon. In C.L. Werner’s New Era Godzilla fan fiction, the Red Bamboo makes two appearances, with potentially a third in the wings. The first time is in Godzilla vs. Frankenstein where Red Bamboo teams with Dr. Frankenstein; there they recount a slightly modified version of the events in “Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster.” Their second appearance was in “Godzilla vs. King Kong;” there, they seek to command the monster Gigan and use it to “free” Japan from the shackles of capitalism.
Here we see something. In the New Era, the Red Bamboo is portrayed as being made up of Japanese communists. Author C.L. Werner justifies this on grounds that they are the Red Bamboo and that they may have been stand ins for the Red Chinese who were doing questionable things at the time that this film was made, such as the Cultural Revolution. (In the story, they are also said to have received financial help from the Soviet Union. A neat way of explaining how they could finance an air force.) This also brings into play something else.
Despite similarities in implementation, communism, being on the political left, and fascism, being on the political right, are ideological opposites. This is seen in the New Era when the ex Nazi Dr. Frankenstein heard Red Bamboo’s plea for help and laughed at a communist asking help from his ideological arch enemy. In fact, in pre-WWII Germany, Hitler--the ultimate in terms of the right wing--partially built his regime in vows of destroying communism. (That was part of the reason that he and Stalin--the ultimate in terms of the left wing--hated each other so much.)
This is seen in Japan also. Japan’s militaristic World War II government hated communism and that was the reason that it signed the Anti-Comintern Pact with Nazi Germany. After the war, General MacArthur released Japan’s political prisoners; among them were Japanese communists who regarded the Blue Eyed Shogun** as a liberator. It is worth saying that today, one of Japan’s political parties is the Japan Communist Party.***
This can be applied to the New Era. We already know that the Red Bamboo, as seen in the New Era is communist. Perhaps it can be revealed that it initially began as a legitimate group that protested Hideki Tojo’s ruthless expansionism and that when it was persecuted, the Red Bamboo took up arms to free Japan from the Evil Empire. (Pun intended.) After WWII, Red Bamboo was appalled to see Japan turn capitalist and side with Moscow’s new arch enemy, the US. Then and there, it vowed to free Japan once more by any means necessary--of course they’d later apologize for collateral damage.
Here we can ask a very interesting thing: what’s worse, communism or fascism? Once on Discovery Times channel, there was an episode of “In their own words” where one man said he’d rather be fascist than a communist because at least a fascist is allowed to believe in God. (However, considering what fascist #1 did, if the Nazis did worship anything, it was the Devil himself.*4) Well, at least communism tries to do good and in the New Era, Red Bamboo is not completely evil. This is seen in how its leader was appalled when Gigan went on the rampage and caused many civilian deaths.
What if then, COBRA made an appearance in the New Era? It would not only offer Red Bamboo competition but it would also serve as an ideological comparison. Red Bamboo is plotting its next scheme when COBRA makes an appearance. We see that it is a group that broke away from Red Bamboo after the Kong incident on grounds that it was too soft. Led by General Zador and his right hand woman, Colonel Varna, it is a ruthless terrorist organization more aligned with Nazism than anything else. Hunted by Interpol, COBRA seeks to propagate Aryan ideals against lesser races, the ideals of rule by fear and of the strong ruling the weak. It also HATES Red Bamboo for all its communism.
After freeing Dr. Frankenstein from prison, they seek to destroy their old enemy and make sure that the new Reich last a thousand years. On claiming a giant monster--a snake monster perhaps provided by the not so good Dr.--and with arms from the war mongering MARS Corporation*5, COBRA means business. For no other reason than that it wants to live, Red Bamboo turns to our heroes for help. On seeing that that they’ll need Red Bamboo to fight Zador’s COBRA, they accept their pleas for help.
And so, our story begins…
*Oddly enough, the COBRA of Godzilla’s “Island of Doom” episode has no connection to GI Joe’s arch-enemy, “A ruthless terrorist organization determined to rule the world.”
**A name given to General MacArthur. In the past, the Japanese had been ruled by military dictators that governed in the Emperor’s name so the occupation wasn’t anything new. The last Shogunate was the Tokugawa Shogunate; it was abolished in the mid 1800s when the Meiji Emperor, Hirohito the Showa Emperor’s grandfather, took power. (Each emperor takes a name; the late Hirohito was the Showa Emperor, his son Akihito is the Hesei Emperor. The names of their rule have also given us a convenient way of classifying Godzilla movies by which film was made in which emperor’s reign.
***Just because a country isn’t ruled by a communist party, doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have a communist party. Japan has a communist party. Italy has a communist party. Established in 1919, the United States of America has a communist party--but nobody ever votes for it.
*4 Heinrich Himmler, Hitler’s right hand man in evil, was a firm believer in the occult. Hitler himself hated Christianity for its goodness and its Jewish roots.
*5 According to C.L. Werner, he gave the MARS Corporation its name in honor of a MARS Corporation owned by Destro, a member of GI Joe’s Cobra. Neat how these things can work out.