THE SYMBOLISM OF TOTSUGEKI ACOUSTIC LOVE HEART
Most Macross 7 Plus shorts are fairly straightforward and simple to understand, but Basara wouldn't be Basara if he didn't have an air of confusion around him.
DESCRIPTIONThe short starts off with Basara in what's more or less his regular attire, but he's not wearing glasses (which I personally believe he needs in order to be able to see - read theory here). It then goes on with Basara travelling what is clearly further and further away from home. Majority of this short takes place on a planet, not on a Macross-type space station.
Basara is interacting with the people he meets along the way, who seem to be very open to him, and he's open to them, which makes it very clear that this takes place after the core series - at the beginning of the show, Basara was not a very open person. Throughout the entire first half of the short, Basara seems to be very warm and happy, but about halfway through, when he leaves the wagon behind, his demeanour changes to a more sombre one, and the weather follows suit. There's a light he sees in the distance, he follows it, it leads him to his glasses. He finds them next to what seems like ancient ruins, picks them up while still wearing his poncho and puts them on. When the camera distances from him, he's back in his regular attire, now with glasses, and in a different place. SYMBOLISMIt feels like this short is more or less the train of thought that leads Basara to leaving at the start of Macross Dynamite 7.
Finding his glasses could symbolize him finally seeing what he needs to do in order to regain that something that seems to be missing - a feeling that, to quote the Dynamite opening, has been left "sometime somewhere somehow". Basara wants to be among the people, but it's entirely possible that the city folk are stifling to him. He might find more comfort among people who don't worry as much with putting up appearances, but just live their lives - which is why both in this short and in Dynamite, he seeks to spend time with simpler people, because he himself is much more like them. They make the time he spends with them feel much more personal. To accompany the positive feelings, these scenes take place during the day and evening, meaning they are bathed in warm, happy light. When he travels with the wagon it's already night, but the brightly coloured wagon takes up a lot of those scenes, making them look lighter even though it's dark. He gives the kid on the wagon his guitar and proceeds without it, which can easily be explained as symbolism for him wanting to share his music and inspire others. As he leaves the wagon, both his expression and the sky become darker, it might be due to the realization that what he wants to feel is not accessible to him where he currently is. He won't get that comfort if he stays there. In this dark moment of the short, he follows a light in the distance and with it comes morning. This could be the initial idea that he could literally just up and leave and actually experience all of this. There's also an odd scene in which Basara sees multiple versions of himself, growing further apart, and my personal interpretation is that this could simply be a thought of how open his future is, and that there are many directions he could take. What I find especially interesting is that he finds the glasses next to what seems like some kind of a ruined temple. The reason I find that curious is, because a LOT of Basara's songs reiterate the message of leaving the past behind and focusing on the future, yet these ruins are clearly a massive symbol of the past - yet laying next to it, he found his glasses, which help him see the future. Furthermore, when we first see the glasses there's a butterfly on them, an animal often used as a symbol of change and transformation. Basara is always on a path forwards and doesn't like looking back. He doesn't like clinging to the past, and maybe this is the moment when he realized that maybe it's time for everything that happened on Macross 7 to become the past he should leave behind next. Yet, he doesn't pick up the glasses right away. By the way this scene is set up, it's clear that he lingers at the temple before he picks up the glasses. He's sitting on the ruins, staring at the horizon, which could imply that the decision to leave Macross 7, Fire Bomber and everything else behind was not one he made lightly. When he finally picks up the glasses, the scene returns to him in his regular clothes, with his guitar beside him, further solidifying the idea that nothing in this short actually happened. The entire journey of this short was a daydream in his head, and by putting on his glasses and now being able to see literally and figuratively, he knows what's next for him in life. |
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