In attempts to profit from popular rumors and beliefs, the entertainment industry have tried their best to create concoctions to satiate the public’s thirst for excitement. No other genre serves best than works with an apocalyptic overtone. However it is interesting to note that while some works are capable of stretching the limit more than others, the fundamental values and ideals presented in these visions of apocalypse transcends national origin. Despite the massive cultural rifts between Western and Eastern civilization, both American and Japanese imagination can create apocalyptic scenery in which there is an abundance of similarities and minor differences.
In terms of realism, American and Japanese writers are equally capable of depicting plausible scenarios in which life as we know it today is threatened with extinction. With the rise in fear of a recurring astronomic phenomenon, the American film Deep Impact showed an entire world grappled in fear and hysteria when a large comet was confirmed on a collision course with Earth. On the other hand, the Japanese animation Spriggan delved into the religious aspect of the human race by resurrecting Noah’s Ark in their version of a cyberpunk-like apocalypse. For the first half of the film in Deep Impact¸ the audience is pulled from a reporter’s suspicion of an affair involving a congressman to the full revelation (after an attempted government cover up) that an “Extinction Level Event” was about to take place. Conversely in Spriggan, the beginning of the film does not directly address what the motives of the Akham Corporation, yet it is clear that everything is being kept as best as possible from the public’s eye. Just by comparing the this small difference one can see that American society is more apt to dig into a neighbor’s dirty secrets “in the public’s interest” whereas the Japanese culture demands privacy and the need to “keep face”.
As the film progresses in Deep Impact, it showed the world launching a desperate attempt to destroy the meteor, whereas the top Spriggan operatives for Akham feverishly fights off any attempt to infiltrate the research compound. It is interesting to see that in both cases the protagonist(s) fail as a suspense builder, where the Messiah space mission in Deep Impact was unable to divert the comet’s path (actually breaking the comet into two smaller pieces, both bound for Earth), and even though Yu Ominae and his comrade were able to fight off Fat Man and Little Boy (an intentional linkage I think to the two historical atomic bombs, since both the bombs and the antagonists in the film were sent by the US), they could not fend off the following attack by the child progeny who led the infiltration effort against Akham. While in both cases the development served as a disappointment to the audience, the survival of the protagonists provide hope that another resolution can be found to disarm the situation.
After protracted scenes of emotional agony and suspense, the Messiah mission was able to destroy the larger twin of the inbound comet, but the Earth suffered catastrophic damage from the impact of the smaller comet fragment, resulting in tremendous tidal waves and widespread destruction. Nonetheless the movie ends on a lighter tone, with the President of the United States addressing a battered nation, with a promise of rebuilding and redemption, whose words were reinforced by the images of the Capitol being rebuilt after the flood receded. The subtle references to religion and the bible in Deep Impact‘s presidential speech was dwarfed by the ending of Spriggan, where even though the main antagonist was able to initiate the worldwide destruction necessary to create a new world in his image, the devious plan was ultimately stopped with the cataclysmic destruction of Noah’s Ark. So, while American media still show respect to the bible (in fear of retaliation from more conservative groups) by delaying the holy writ, Japanese writers were more than willing to explore beyond the boundary by destroying a religious relic in order to save humanity. Despite such a difference in views of audience reaction, there exists another theme in both movies that are strikingly similar. In Deep Impact, it was Fish’s determination to complete the mission that allowed for the world to be saved, even though Earth was already gravely wounded, and the cost for the final task meant sacrificing everyone aboard the Messiah spacecraft to destroy the Biedermann Comet. For Yu in Spriggan, his sheer defiance of inferiority allowed for him to challenge the far more powerful white child in the interior of the Ark, with the future of humanity and the control the most technologically advanced device in mankind’s history as the spoil for the victor. It does seem that in both films it attributes the human spirit to be the most effective motive for controlling mankind’s destiny, whereas technology only serves as a means to achieve that overriding goal.
A quick comparison between other works show that Deep Impact and Spriggan aren’t the only films to exhibit such similarities. In the movie The Fifth Element, one can draw a lot of themes that are related to certain elements in the El Hazard: The Magnificent World series. Both works of art depict a society that are heavily influenced by historical/religious factors, from the Elemental worshippers that served as keepers of the Elements (to defend against Evil) with the aid of benevolent aliens in the Fifth to the priestesses of elements that guarded the world against the terrible weapon “Ifirita” in El Hazard. Likewise, the premise to both the film and the series reside in the awakening of a awesome mystical being/power that threatens to destroy the Earth/world. The arrival of the Evil thwarts any attempt of human intervention on its course to Earth, furthermore the Evil was even able to subvert a resourceful (and power hungry) human to do its bidding by trying to prevent the Elements from reaching Earth. Meanwhile in the Magnificent World, a misplaced high school student tries to lead the Bugrom Empire to victory by attempting to awaken the Great Destroyer Ifirita. El Hazard goes even further by introducing the Shadow Clans, who planned to reactivate the Eye of God for their own gain. Nonetheless the end result is the same, with objects from the past threatening the well being of the future. Yet it is peculiar to note that in both movies, love plays an important part in diffusing the situation. For in the Fifth Element, even with the four basic elements gathered and assembled, the final element required to defeat Evil was love. This was reciprocated in El Hazard, when Ifirita willingly sacrificed herself to destroy the Eye of God so that Mokoto, whom she fell in love with, can live on (he eventually finds her again, as shown at the end of the first OVA).
With the above examples, it shows that despite differences in the two cultures, Japanese and American writers, while perfectly capable of creating hypothetical apocalypse scenarios, share a lot of common traits in their works of art. The underlying themes of human spirit and the quintessential proverb of “love conquers all” can be found in both western and eastern works, and the situations in which the stories take place. Apocalyptic works demand the utmost attention and emotional commitment, but to do so requires the use of elements with which the audience can be moved by, regardless whether the work/audience is of western or eastern origin.