On I.R.B.M. - Jun Goto's Ideon, The P.L.O and Fujoshi Novels of the 1980s
I've done more than dabble in the foray of fanfiction within my time in all sorts of fandom spaces - if you aren't dreaming up esoteric head canons about your favorite fictional characters, are you truly doing it right? This, of course, is generally subjective to one's personalized fandom experience, however I find it ever prevalent to give some momentary credence as to how important these texts, digital or physical, actually are.
I acquired I.R.B.M. prior to my past deep dive on the P.L.O, or the Perfective Latent Organization, and their oft adult based fandom works during the Shōwa era. While taking a deviation from my usual cataloging of fan club zines, I was struck with a deeper yearning to see what adult otaku were up to once again.
Young adults, while already wrestling against the grain of cheap offset printing and crude drawings, didn't have the immediate vestiges or outwardly professional depth akin to the well vested mangaka and authors. College age otaku and fujoshi enjoyed a greater breadth of experience with printing, illustration and more thanks to the contents of their pockets. While often times no more wealthier than their contemporaries, production on these texts showed both aesthetic sensitivities and innate sexual freedoms that could not be openly expressed.
This notion of expression, however, pre-dates the existence of any sexual representations within anime themed parody works. The Shōwa era, especially during the 1920s through the 1940s, saw the rise of several key female novelists and poets. Women, long relegated to traditionalist roles in Japanese society, increasingly made their mark on the literary world through coterie magazines at local universities. While many will often cite the works of writes such as Shiga Naoya, Yoshimoto Banana, and Miyamoto Yuriko in their instrumentality in shaping Japanese literature, the latter half of the Shōwa era saw the emergence of a new wave of female authors who brought previously unspoken aspects of female identity, desire, and sexuality into focus. By the late 1960s to mid 1970s, many of the doujinshi and coterie magazines I own are often filled with nebulous, oftentimes melancholic, love poems and calls for correspondence with likeminded individuals.
Within the literary landscape, women began to explore more experimental forms of storytelling, offering a blend of modernism and psychological depth that had not been fully explored before, especially within the realm of SF. While shoujo works still reigned supreme in their own right, the ever changing landscape of the animation industry allowed for more exposure to beautiful males, villainesses and even sociopolitical elements within the Mecha genre.
One notable aspect of this particular Shōwa-era literature is the increasing visibility of women’s exploration of sexual desire and longing, which would tie hand in hand into fujoshi subculture. Many of these early female authors challenged traditional notions of gender and sexuality in Japan, providing the cultural groundwork for more explicit depictions of homoerotic themes, which began to gain mainstream traction by 1970s and 1980s.
Manga, often of the Aniparo variety, enjoyed its position in the forefront, though the existence of the fujo-driven light novel often times perplexed me. By perplexed, I often wondered just what the contents of these novels were given that I hardly was exposed to them, especially those of this particular time period.
Novels were often advertised in Comiket reports as well as in the back margins of fan club newsletters, though hardly in those produced by high school age girls. I don't doubt the existence of them, however, the prevalence of who drove these literary feats belonged to that of the college age fujoshi.
These works, often times featuring same-sex, homoerotic relationships between men, were created in the safe space of small groups and mutual friends. Many of these works were not sold at Comiket and are often seen as being sold at 'private events' and parties at designated meet up spots. For instance, the artistic snack bar, Zawa, was once such a meet up spot for college age fujoshi to host reads, gift exchanges, and novel sales.
Fujoshi novels were works created that, if anything, offered a uniquely safe space for women to explore fantasies outside the conventional bounds of heteronormative relationships. It was in this space that the modern concept of the fujoshi found its roots, as female fans and creators alike embraced narratives that allowed them to delve into male-male relationships, often elevating them as highly emotional and romantic. However, works such as I.R.B.M. focus on heteronormative relationships under the veil of Sunrise's Space Runaway Ideon.
I.R.B.M., an ancronym for Intermediate-Range Ballistic Missile, is an experimental work that follows the exploits between Sheryl Formosa and Gije Zaral. Published as one of the earliest works of the P.L.O's Jun Goto (後藤順), Jun situates both characters as personalized interpretations of their own merit, demonstrating the existence of the head canon for a wildly popular series at the time. Per Goto's words in I.R.B.M.'s forward, "Ide - When we finished watching episode 5 of Ideon - Infinite Power, The Legend of Ide - we saw a story. We thought that no one would understand it. Then, when we finished watching episode 24, we encountered it. As time passed, the story became real."
Goto's origins, at least for me, are nebulous. Based on additional bylines, the author was involved in fujo subculture, though its not for certain as to how deep. Given that I.R.B.M. is Goto's breakout novel within this sphere of influence, the text is devoid of any experimental or otherwise male-on-male relationships. All the same, Goto explores highly charged themes of Xenophobia, war, sexual relationships and the toxic, destructive aspects of masculinity. These dysfunctional relationships serve as an artistic means of psychological exploration, providing a contrast as well as a special sensitivity to Yoshiyuki Tomino's highly emotional series.
Space Runaway Ideon, the titular anime series produced by Yoshiyuki Tomino in 1980, became a significant cultural touchstone in animation history thanks to its highly emotional overtones. It would be these overtones and undertones alike that would also have a profound influence, per Goto's statement, on inspiring a manner of literary art. While Goto contributed a few graphite drawings of her own, Goto notes that her illustrations are neither professional or important, but that her text served as a means to communicate the deepness of longing. Ideon, though not initially successful in terms of viewership, became a cult classic over time, particularly for its bold approach to themes of human nature, war, and power.
While Ideon is often considered darker than its Mecha predecessor Mobile Suit Gundam in terms of its examination of the consequences of war, the dark, emotional storytelling was a indicative to the depth of emotionality displayed by the characters. The series’ focus on complex characters and their psychological struggles, especially in the face of interstellar war, resonated with the growing youth subculture that was deeply invested in animated series and fan-created content.
(Sheryl sighed. "It's always like this. There's nothing I can do about it. I wonder if it was all in vain." The pile of documents that were left as they were when she escaped from the Solo planet were constantly growing and saying the same thing over and over again. Reluctantly, Sheryl grabbed the slightly destroyed materials and left the room. - Sheryl Formosa laments about not being able to decipher information about the Ideon due to a prior attack. Goto often depicts Sheryl as being constantly frustrated and emotionally drained.)
One of the key elements that linked Space Runaway Ideon to the otaku and fujoshi cultures was its intense focus said relationships. The show featured a central character, the protagonist Cosmo, who was involved in several unique, pressing relationships aboard the Solo Ship. Cosmo's series of deeply emotional and complex dynamics with other male characters, from Bes to slaying Daram Zuba, seemed of little interest to an author like Goto.
In particular terms of rivalry, shared trauma, and mutual dependence, the interactions between these characters showcased an emotional intimacy and vulnerability that was uncommon for anime at the time. These nuanced relationships come into full focus within the pages of I.R.B.M. - Sheryl Formosa and Gije Zaral's already controversial, if not unorthodox relationship, is shown to be full of secret strains and toxicity.
Often marked by tension and unresolved emotions, Sheryl and Gije in Goto's eyes are a couple on the edge, one that is caught in the frays of an intimacy that is all consuming yet dubious at best. In Goto's afterward, she notes that by the time she was finished writing the novel, she had personally moved on from Gije in his usual characterization - "I didn't want to write a manuscript like this. I would feel like I would be intimidated by actually working on TV. I don't really know anything about Ideon, so I feel sometimes. I don't really like him anymore, but I drew Gije completely as if he were my own character. I'm sure there are a lot of people who are dissatisfied with this, but this is not going to change! I'm not going to die if I'm afraid of being caught up by something like that."
Ideon also reflected the broader cultural shift of the early 1980s, where increasingly complex characters and narrative arcs were becoming a hallmark of anime, reflecting the growing sophistication of the otaku fanbase. The characters in Ideon were portrayed as multi-faceted individuals who struggled with their inner conflicts, which made them more relatable and complex, and by extension, more open to interpretation and reimagination in fan works. For fujoshi, the series' portrayal of toxic masculinity—particularly the emotional turmoil and power struggles between male characters—was fertile ground for reimagining these relationships as romantic or even erotic.
Goto, while fujoshi aligned, chooses to depict heteronormative relationships and tackles what Sheryl's death ultimately means to Gije in the very end. As Gije removes Sheryl's soul from her body as she dies, Sheryl experiences an extant form of life as a spirit and witnesses the deaths of her comrades. While unable to help or support them in their fall, Sheryl often speaks in 1st person at times within Goto's novel, explaining her 'visions' as she calls them, many of which are filled with violence and pain.
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