#though idc if it's really analysis its mostly speculation ig

[vdrawsrobots]

Fighting Communication and Gundam Science in G-Fighter

I originally posted this on twitter, but I figured it would be easier to read here--- and I'd love to know anybody's thoughts about my rambles/speculation :) Edited/expanded a little because I don't have to worry about word count hehe

A possible interpretation of how "fighting communication" could be interpreted as a more literal phenomenon instead of Martial Arts Magic when considering the way Fighter-Gundam connections are described in the G-Fighter entertainment bible. Warning for spoilers under the read more!

Gundams in G-Fighter are (to an extent) powered by the emotions of the pilot. That emotional state has an influence on how well they can pilot/communicate their intentions to their Gundam, and in some cases, on the behavior of the Gundam itself.

This is alluded to a few times in the show--- the most direct acknowledgment I can find would be Dr. Kasshu referring to Shining’s “Emotional Energy System” being primarily powered by anger. It's also explored in the training that Schwarz Bruder gives to Domon in order to control Shining's super mode--- in order to properly communicate the pilot's intentions, their emotions must be calm and regulated, easier to translate into data that the Gundam can understand. Therefore, his techniques focus on getting Domon to see past just striking out in blind anger. It's about intention and clarity of communication.

This is more explicitly stated in the Entertainment Bible (which does a better job explaining it than I ever could):

This emotional data is then translated into something that the Gundam’s system can understand— therefore, the clearer/more controlled the emotional input, the more accurate the translation, and the better the pilot’s intentions can be “understood” by their machine. The Gundam understands the pilot on a level that no other human can, a pure knowing of the pilot's consciousness (or "soul").

As stated, mental training is also just as important as physical. After all, when this communication is unclear, it can have disastrous consequences. Master Asia encourages Domon to just get mindlessly mad in their fight in order to weaken him. Kyoji’s extreme emotional state when crashing to Earth, combined with the physical damage to Ultimate’s computer system, accidentally teaches the Devil Gundam to hate humanity.

No wonder the technique Schwarz teaches Domon is about clarity, control and inward understanding of emotion and intent.

Given this translation of emotional feedback into transferrable data, the concept of “Fighting Communication” and Gundam Fighters understanding each other through combat could be interpreted literally.

Battles in G-Fighter involve a lot of physical contact--- obviously, as they are battles, but there are a lot of scenes of the Gundams joining hands when struggling against each other, or otherwise maintaining prolonged physical connection at high-intensity moments of combat.

Often it is during these scenes when characters refer to fighting communication, or what the fists of their opponent are trying to tell them (all the references to the soul of a fighter being expressed through their fists, etc). Another important thing to notice here is that both pilots are in a heightened emotional state. They're also in as close to perfect connection with their Gundams as they can--- they're putting everything on the line, going all-out to win, and so is their machine. Gundam and pilot are one--- implying a very high flow of emotional data and neural input from Gundam to pilot in these moments.

Could it be then that this physical contact accidentally allows for some accidental crossover of emotional feedback? Is there an unintentional spillover caused by the Gundam reaching its limits to handle so much raw emotion, or possible crossover in the same way that electricity jumps between conductors? It's not impossible to imagine that the “understanding of the soul” the Fighter experiences is being caused by the accidental crossover of emotional feedback between the Gundams in these moments of prolonged physical contact— therefore literally allowing fighters to see into and understand each other’s true feelings in the heat of high-intensity combat.

And since the way emotion/thought is translated into something understandable to the machine in a way that goes beyond human comprehension, it could also be speculated that this could occur for the pilots, as well. That the high-intensity causes the literal blurring of the lines between the minds of two pilots (think of something similar to the Drift in Pacific Rim). Maybe for a Gundam Fighter, a battle with your opponent really does allow you to understand them on a deeper level than just words can allow. Maybe a fighter really can communicate with their fists in a way they don't know how to with words.

Or maybe I'm reaching and reading too much into it :) either way, let me know your thoughts if you have any!! I love writing about g-fighter, both fic and analysis (??? i guess???) stuff like this, and tumblr lets me be as long-winded as I want >:) I have a lot of Thoughts about each pilot's specific relationship with their Gundam, and I'd like to write more about them sometime soon...