NAIDA AND RUBINA: WHAT'S BEHIND THE MASK - 42
By Gerdha & Joe7
(first article: here; previous article: here)

Copyright Š 2014 Gerdha & Joe7, All Rights Reserved

Article by Gerdha, based on her posts on the french forum originally owned by DJInspace (now disappeared) and on her own analysis.
Notes, images and added considerations by Joe7. I assume any responsibility towards the Authors and I am available to modify the article upon their demand.

All the references to the original content of Ufo Robot Grendizer’s Roman Album are related to its translation in italian language by Stella Di Fleed, which was originally published on www.nagaifans.it (as of today 12/31/2021 no longer active). The analysis / interpretation of the content of Roman Album are the exclusive work by the authors of this article.

INSIGHTS: HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI IN GRENDIZER: THE MEANING OF THE NANOHANA FLOWERS AND THE BAMBOO BOAT

In episode 72 there is a scene where Duke and Rubina meet in a meadow full of yellow flowers. This scene has very deep symbolic meanings.

These flowers, in fact, are rapeseed or rapeseed flowers (Brassica napus), "nanohana" in Japanese (菜の花), a word that means "beginning of spring" (spring in Japan lasts in our calendar from February 5 to May 6) .

Why do they matter? The fact is that nanohana flowers (and also sunflower - "himawari" - among other things) absorb a lot of radiation. And it is interesting to note that, despite the fact that it absorbs radiation, the seeds of the nanohana flower are not contaminated. So much so that these flowers were used to help clean up radioactive soil, and were also planted in the prefecture of Fukushima, in the areas most affected by the earthquake that hit the nuclear power plant on 11 March 2011.

I think this is the reason why the meeting between Duke Fleed and Rubina takes place in a nanohana meadow: in fact, we are talking about the planet Fleed that comes back to life after the destruction by the Vegatron. It is one of the many examples of hidden meanings and symbolism found in the anime.

Every year, in May, in Yokohama there is the Nanohana Matsuri, the festival of these flowers. The detail of the Yokohama festival confirms that ep72 cannot be set on February 13, 1977 (the release date of the episode in Japan), but weeks later. The Nanohanas bloom in the way described by the anime immediately after the full bloom of the cherry trees, which in Tokyo area normally happens in late March. So ep72 is probably set in mid-April.

Another reference to Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the series is in the bamboo boat scene that Hikaru puts into the water in ep72 (the scene was described in the analysis on Daisuke and Hikaru here ).

In fact, it is a reference to a typical traditional Japanese gesture to remember the dead ones (equivalent to the western tradition of carrying chrysanthemums on tombs). Maria and Daisuke in that scene were talking about Fleed, so the explanation for Hikaru's gesture is, in my opinion, that she wants to pay homage to the dead population of her man's home planet. She closes his eyes in silent prayer for all the innocents killed there by Vega, and Daisuke does the same, because he knows the meaning of what Hikaru did.

In fact, it is a Buddhist tradition in Japan that - normally at the beginning of August - Japanese families bring bamboo boats to the river, placing a burning candle on them and then letting them flow in the current to the sea, in memory of their dead; since the post-war period, the ritual has also taken on a special significance as a reminder of the victims of the atomic attacks in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

In various episodes of Ufo Robot Grendizer there are explicit references to the fact that both Umon and the Makiba family (that of Hikaru) are very tied to the Japanese cultural traditions, therefore it can be safely assumed that they have regularly performed this traditional gesture, even if the the event is not shown in any episode. It is therefore legitimate to assume that Daisuke, at the time of ep72, was aware of this anniversary and it is therefore normal that he understands the meaning of the gesture of Hikaru. Please also note the particular physiognomy of the bamboo boat built by Hikaru, which exactly resembles a candle carried by the boat itself, confirming the reference in the scene to the traditional gesture and its interpretative context.

(End)

HERE ALL THE ENGLISH LINKS ABOUT GRENDIZER

Edited by joe 7 - 9/1/2022, 23:10