The Way Things Probably Are

The Way Things Probably Are


The following is an excerpt from the anime film Patlabor 2 the Movie, wherein one of the protagonists has a conversation with a Japanese Self Defense Force spook.

I felt this excerpt to be relevant, not only for Japan but for the whole world,  especially in light of the fact that this film was released in 1993.

In it, a "blame game" between various agencies of the Japanese government and military is started by a staged incident (Possibly by the U.S..) leading to an attempted coup de 'etat.

Even if one doesn't like anime, students of history and politics may find this flick an interesting watch. After all, it was made at a time when anime wasn't chiefly lolita and lesbo tropes saving the world.

The only "embellishment" I've done is at the end: Changing him to Him meaning God and not the master criminal the protagonists are after.

xxxxx

Arakawa: ... Have you ever thought about what it is exactly we are supposed to be safeguarding? ...

It's been fifty years since the last war ... and both of us have lived our lives without being touched by war ...

Peace ... This peace that we're supposed to be protecting ... What do we actually mean by peace in this country and in this city?

... The total war we fought and loss we suffered at its' hands ... the U.S. militarys' occupation and their policies ... and until recently the Cold War involving nuclear deterrents and proxy wars around the globe ... Even today half the world is engaged in civil war, ethnic clashes, armed conflicts ... These countless wars are what made up and sustained our economic prosperity.

It's bloodstained. That's the true nature of our peace. It's an unscrupulous peace based on fear of war. An unjust peace where we look away from foriegn wars in which others pay the price for our peace.


Goto: It may be a peace that reeks of gun powder but it's still our job to protect it. I'd much more settle for an unjust peace over a 'just war'


Arakawa: I can understand that you would loathe 'just wars' ... Proponents of just wars have mostly been scoundrels. History is filled to the brim with people who were taken in by them and then taken advantage of ...

But you also know this ... The line that separates a just war from an unjust peace isn't a very clear one ... Ever since hypocrites have made peace their 'just cause' ... we have lost faith in that peace.

Just as war brings about peace ... peace brings about war.

A peace that is empty and lacks substance will eventually be filled in by an actual state of war. Has that thought ever crossed your mind?

We reap the benefits of war but distance ourselves from it with a television screen ... forgetting that we're still in the same battleground ...

No ... We only pretend to forget ... Such denial invites great punishment in the end.


Goto: Punishment? Who's going to punish us? ... God?


Arakawa: In this city everyone is like a god. You don't have to move an inch to see images far removed or to touch things that aren't there and access other realities that are there ... It's just that these gods don't do anything ... If the gods won't do it ... then the people will.

Sooner or later we'll find out ... that is if we can't catch up to Him in time ...

xxxxx

Shinobu Nagumo fires off her criticism while being interrogated by government
stooges and flunkies just before the fit hits the shan in Patlabor 2 the Movie.

Check out the other two Patlabor movies as well.


Wikipedia article on Patlabor 2 the Movie here.

U.K. dub on the above here. Heavier on the U.S..

Original Japanese dub with subtitles and Bandai/U.S. dub here. The Bandai/U.S. dub (From which the above was taken.) is closer to the subtitled version.

Eisenhowers' warning of the "military/industrial complex" from his farewell address here.

Eisenhowers' full farewell address here.



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