In Tynan Brook’s excellent essay, “The First Idol Anime Was Actually About State Power”, they bring up an incredible point about the Macross franchise: the giant humanoid robots represent some possession of the body as apparatus of the state. I would extend the argument a little further in saying the majority of major real robot anime, if not anime representing mechanization of otherwise analogue functions, will often bring in some aspect of possession, whether my the state or larger forces. Giant robots, especially as extension of robots, while often presented as power fantasy, are still descendants of the word robot: slave.
Within the reality of Macross, the main giant robots, Variable Fighters, present this possessive relationship with the state as something that demands any given pilot bonds themselves as humanoid bodies with the weaponry they operate. This is made more poignant by the fact that VFs transform between plane, humanoid robot, and literally something in between. As a pilot, your humanity is something at whim of the state, and the ideal soldier is able to mould it perfectly into whatever weapon is required of the moment. In OVA(Original Video Animation) Macross Plus, this relationship is extended by the experimental VF-21. Unlike previous units, the pilot has to mentally link with the unit, operating the mecha in all forms as if it were an extension of the pilot’s limbs, breaking down the metaphorical barrier entirely. As perfect soldier of the state, Guld has to graft his own perceptions of his body onto that of the VF-21, no matter what shape it currently assumes. Instead of simply needing the skill to operate both humanoid and vehicle, Guld has to become a vehicle of the state.
Gundam, especially in its Universal Century iterations, absolutely conforms to these standards. Mobile suits across the franchise represent an extension of each of their pilots, a simultaneous personalization of vehicular combat that strips away the personality of individuality by way of mass produced body, perfectly tuned for the state’s needs. Individual expression, whether in the form of custom colors or specialized mobile suits, are only granted to the pilots who best serve the state. Gundams, each often unique prototypes, represent the ultimate expression of individual unit, but also the ultimate divorce from individual pilot, as one no longer represents themselves: they represent the pinnacle of the EFSF state’s might. Amuro Ray may be the White Devil to Zeon’s forces, but any Gundam following him represents the shadow of the Federation’s might. In Gundam Thunderbolt, ace pilot Io Flemming, no matter how uniquely insidious a fighter he may be, was exclusively known as “the Gundam pilot” by the Zeon remnants he fought against. Your operation of a Gundam may distinguish you from the average grunt, but that just means you’re under further scrutiny, and policing, by the state, as you not only pilot a body belonging to them, you operate a body representing them.
This body problem is exacerbated by the unique mutations of Gundam, specifically newtypes, and their combat uses. As essentially psychic empaths, technology developed to the point of allowing them to operate their suits as their bodies. Their personalization within state body is exacerbated by the fact that they can psychically link with other newtypes, namely, enemy newtypes. For a newtype, they aren’t a humanoid vehicle fighting alien humanoid vehicle. They are person fighting person, and no amount of steel can stop them from experiencing that. Some have it even worse. Gundam Thunderbolt‘s Daryl Lorenz has his remaining uninjured limb amputated amputated by his unit’s medical department in order to allow him to interface with the Psycho Zaku II, a unit that directly connects its systems to his nervous system. In a heartbreaking scene, while testing the unit, one realizes that piloting the Zaku II is the closest to human that Daryl has felt in a very long time, given his clumsier prosthetics have otherwise hindered him to the point that operating a standard suit is far more difficult to operate. Like many of his peers, outside of the horrific carriage made to represent his leaders, Daryl’s meat and blood body has been claimed, directly and indirectly, by the state.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0ReyyMEreg
Other properties have pushed this to its absolute limit. In Hideaki Anno’s seminal work Neon Genesis Evangelion, the namesake Evangelions are early on revealed to be less metallic vehicle as opposed to massive, unstable organic creature used as a vehicle of the main organization NERV. They’re piloted by a small group of troubled teenagers who synchronize their nervous systems with the mecha in order to operate them, entering the units through a cockpit called and entry plug, which inserts itself into the spine of the Eva. These units are then used to combat similarly large alien creatures called Angels, that have been invading Earth. Late into the series, the horrifying truth is revealed: the Evas are mutated humans who’ve been constructed with the soul/essence of each pilot’s deceased mother, restrained by a combination of their binding armor and the fact that without an entry plug, their nervous systems are non-functional. In this framework, Eva displays the wider familial effects of a complete consumption of body by state, and an exploitation of shared trauma somewhat inherent to the current military structure.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A89blUjT7z8
A broader spectrum of these examples exist, even outside of the real robot genre (such as Megalobox and Ghost in the Shell), but I’ll reserve further analysis for my manifesto.