Space Runaway Ideon is a Lovecraftian Horror Anime

This video contains pretty significant spoilers for Space Runaway Ideon, but not only would I argue hearing the spoilers will make you interested in the show, I've left out specifics like when and how characters die, so you can still be surprised when you watch it. This video is sponsored by my ever-so-tranquil patrons, including A Tree Outside, Beam Burst, Cam, Lars Soufflé, Rikifag, Seaweed Ambassador, and Tenguun. Hope you enjoy it, and thank you for stopping by. You might know Space Runaway Ideon from- oh, who the hell am I kidding? I need to stop expecting people to know what the **** I'm talking about. This show is about a giant robot and a ship that are unearthed from an ancient civilization by a race of humans. They are attacked by another race of humans called the Buff Clan- no, I'm not making that up- who want to use the giant robot to take over the galaxy, because they know this robot is really, really powerful. Like, has a black hole in its chest and can slice planets in half powerful. This thing has a gun that can shoot through other dimensions and hit ships that are in the middle of interdimensional travel. Thus, conflict ensues with the humans and the Buff Clan fighting for control of the robot known as the Ideon. Only catch is, the Ideon is not actually under anyone's control. They may be piloting it, but there's a third, neutral party. The robot is possessed by a cosmic spiritual energy called the Ide, a self-preserving consciousness that, if invoked, is compelled to restart humanity. So it indirectly coerces both pilots and enemies alike into fighting one another until there's absolutely nothing left. So yeah, imagine something like Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, except you don't actually have any control over that robot and it just wants to end humanity by inadvertently causing mutual self-destruction. It's a horror anime, a Lovecraftian one at that, and I'm concerned that I seem to be the first person to suggest this. It's very clear to me that Space Runaway Ideon is a work of cosmic horror, but considering I haven't seen this take from anybody and it's been almost 40 years since it came out, I'm pretty sure nobody believes me. Let's start with defining what Lovecraftian or cosmic horror is, and then look at how Ideon fits that criteria. Lovecraftian horror is essentially about depicting the horror of an abstract, all-powerful force that is beyond the limits of human understanding. This isn't about some monster or demonic artifact. We're talking omnipotent, godlike nightmares. The vast emptiness of space, a shapeless being inconceivable to one's imagination, the personification of the unknown. But it's not evil, exactly. Like I said, it's beyond human comprehension. These things just happen to be kind of terrifying because it makes humans look powerless and insignificant in comparison. So judging by that metric, Ideon fits the bill almost perfectly. The Ide is simultaneously conscious, invisible, infinitely powerful, and a complete mystery to everybody. The moment they think they understand it, the 300-something-foot-tall robot suddenly moves on its own and causes unimaginable destruction. While the crew does eventually come to assume Ide's motives, it's not like they can do anything to stop it. The Buff Clan and the Ideon fight this grudge match from planet to planet, leaving a trail of annihilation in its wake. And even with the planets the conflict doesn't make a tour out of, the ship that carries the Ide condenses its energy and sends it towards the home planet of both sides. Yes, this thing farts out meteors that wipe out both Earth and Buff Clan Earth. They try running away, they can't. They try destroying it themselves, it doesn't work. They try to negotiate with the other side, they won't budge. They can only fight, and the conflict can only escalate until both parties inevitably doom themselves. The Ide dictates who dies and who dies sooner. Losing control to an all-powerful, mysterious being is Lovecraftian horror. Now let's talk about why nobody seems to have caught on to that. For one thing, the production and overall look of the show does not scream horror anime at all. It's super colorful, but while there's several super colorful horror anime out there, Ideon doesn't harbor any of the contrasting, spooky, uneasy atmosphere of those shows either. There is blood and can be kind of graphic, but not only is it still a low quotient by horror standards, there's even less in the way of scary imagery. It's not like this firetruck red antenna dorky-ass robot is gonna spook anyone out. Evangelion has more horrifying imagery than this show, and that show is basically Ideon Jr. I mean, come on, it's not like there's tentacle monsters all over the place. Oh, oh wait, there's a couple. Attached to the end-game space colony that's actually just a giant laser cannon. What Ideon does scream, and it screams by the way, is mecha anime, with many of the standards that come with that genre. It's got an angsty boy protagonist with a ******* afro that throws knives at people, holy ----, and a couple of potential love interests. Surrounded by an expanded cast of wacky or cool characters, fighting a big bad evil colony or faction that seeks some form of world domination, piloting a powerful kick-ass robot. And just like any genre, it can be used to tell all sorts of different stories. It has similar plot points to many horror series. Characters uncover a mysterious, intimidating, powerful object. They think they have control of it at first, but soon realize they don't. It starts causing havoc and madness and even kills people in its wake. And, at least like a few horror series, at the end, everyone dies. But I think what best disguises Ideon from most horror anime is also what best identifies it as horror. It's about war. Real, honest-to-god war is horrific. It's hell on earth. There's danger at every moment, comrades are dying all around you, and there's no end to it in sight. But that's almost never how war is depicted in anime. In fact, it seems to be many mecha anime's job to make war look cool. When we watch Gundam, at least most of Gundam, it's like we aren't supposed to be appalled at these atrocities. It's more about exciting fights and emotional character arcs. And that's really great. I eat that ---- up. But it's not horror at all. And yet, Yoshiyuki Tomino, the creator of Mobile Suit Gundam, which was the first series to take giant robots and turn it into a war drama, is also the creator of Ideon. It was the very next show he made. So it makes sense to me that someone who is responsible for introducing giant robots to such horrific environments would also be responsible for creating, arguably, the first horror-themed mecha anime. And at least this time, the conflict is never depicted as fun or cool. The fight is never glorified on either side. Everybody is bitter and angry and sick of it. And while that might not sound like a fun vibe for a show, it does make for a harrowing ride. This is a bit of a side note, but one of the first and only things I ever heard about Ideon was that Tomino is nicknamed Kill-Em-All Tomino. Because yeah, he kills everyone. Not just in Ideon, but he's got a pretty high body count in his other works too. But while I can't speak for those other shows yet, it's been kind of a while since I've seen Zeta, it frustrates me that there are so many people that just love pointing that out, and that he kills so many characters off, and how over-the-top that is, but never bring up the context. Why does he kill everyone off? It's not just because he felt like it, or because the show was cancelled prematurely and Tomino got real upset and killed everyone. You ******* idiots! Colossal dumbass! Colossal moron! No, they were all gonna die from the beginning. The characters keep asking themselves, if the Ideon is so indestructible and powerful, then how come the civilization that supposedly built it went extinct? Because it's implied that this has all happened before. It's not Cthulhu or anything, but how is that not Lovecraftian? Perhaps because it's not exactly scary like Lovecraft. Fans always complain that most horror anime aren't scary enough, and I'm one of them. I don't find really any horror anime scary, though I'll be the first to admit that I haven't seen all the classics that everyone points to yet. For the most part, I actually just find most horror anime gross. All the gore and the graphic violence in these shows produce more yuck than yikes from me, but that's okay. Feeling gross and feeling scared are just that, feelings. Finding horror anime scary is subjective, just like how we find comedy anime funny, and plenty of people judge the merits of these shows by whether they successfully elicit these feelings or not. And they're fully justified in doing that, but at least for definition's sake, I don't think we should consider scariness as much of a defining factor. Gakugurashi is an excellent horror anime, but not because of how scary it is. Sorry, that's all I'm going to say on it. But I wouldn't call Inisima A much of a horror anime, even though I genuinely felt scared during that show. And jeez, talk about people thinking there's no good horror anime, Berserk 97 is an absolute classic. And it's absolutely a horror anime. Maybe even Lovecraftian 2. Probably not. The God Hand is pretty evil, but nobody seems to remember that because it's not spooky scary all the time. Audiences are capable of laughing, crying, getting scared, and getting excited at anything. And don't get me wrong, I think that's worth valuing when discussing why we enjoy something. But to me, when a show has action, it's an action anime, regardless of how entertaining I found that action to be. Magical Girl anime are magical girl anime when girls with magic are the main subject, and Ideon is a cosmic horror anime when it ticks off all the boxes of a cosmic horror. Even when, by all appearances, it's not a very scary show. But it does elicit other feelings from me that I could associate with a good horror anime. I felt shocked at the developments and twists in the story. I felt a little disgusted at what the circumstances drove certain characters to do. I felt bewildered and intimidated when the robot did something nobody knew it was capable of. And while I was personally spoiled to in advance that everybody was going to die in the end, I was held in suspense as to when and how they would die, much like horror stories where you know no one is safe. While it wasn't scary exactly, it still felt like a horror anime. For the record, just because I'm drawing this comparison doesn't mean I'm saying it's among the greatest of Lovecraft's stories, or even among the greatest horror anime. Ideon is already a classic. I don't need to hoist it onto this pedestal to try and signal boost it, though it probably doesn't hurt. I think there's much more that can be said about Ideon, so let me know if you've seen it and what you thought of it. I just loved how much of a genuine horror anime this was for me, and that even 40 years later we can still find things to say about one of the most landmark giant robots of all time.