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EPISODE 72: THE LAKE SCENE
The lake scene on Earth in ep72 has rightfully caused infinite discussions between fans during 25 years (Gerdha's note: my analysis was written in 2003), and it is moreover the reason behind the first gracious soap bubble 1 polluted in this Forum a long time ago  . After all, this is the introduction scene of the “good” characters in the episode, so it is somehow crucial. My personal opinion is that this particular scene has the purpose to let us understand the psychological situation of the “earthling” characters – and particularly Daisuke - before the storm named Rubina arrives to upset their lives. Very few words and an incredible list of visual hints and symbols are what the Authors give to the viewers in this scene. As I remarked more than once in various posts, visual aspects are strategic in a cartoon: if a scene appears on the screen, if a visual hint is gifted to the viewer, it must have a meaning 2. Especially in an episode like ep72.
At the end of ep71, Daisuke finds himself without a childhood friend, but definitely cured from the poisoning injury. An incredible, unexpected event, that, surely, starts a complete reassessment process on him from a psychological point of view, and it leads him to reconsider all his life and his priorities. Now that he has a whole new life potentially available ahead of him, he can think to his own goals with a different perspective. As ep72 is clearly located after some months respect to ep71, it’s very likely that Daisuke’s spirit has undertaken the reassessment process from a while and he has already reached some conclusions.
The first lake scene seems to confirm this idea. Daisuke is playing guitar, while his sister is jumping in the lake, and he observes smiling a file of ants walking on a branch.
 
 
My personal interpretation of this scene (which must have a particular meaning, otherwise it would have not been designed) is that Daisuke is happily reflecting (see the smile on his face: he does not change expression, even when Maria Grace is passing in front of him: Joe7's note)
 
about the fact that, just as those ants are walking in ordered file, he has succeeded in finally putting in order all the issues and problems of his personal life, which is going on now in a certain direction, without any obstacles: he is young, healthy and… yes, now he can plan a loving future with Hikaru. The black shadow of death has disappeared, and, even if the war has still to finish and he can be killed in a battle, anyway, he knows that, provided he survives to the fights, he can have a future. I think that the ants are the symbol of his life: from a psychological point of view, Daisuke has spent the whole last year 3 (ep30 is dated April 1976) with only one goal: surviving to his injury, in order to survive to the next battle, while, instead, after ep71, he has found himself in the need to identify further perspectives for spending his life. It’s likely that it was not easy for him to cope with this new reassessment process, and that he had some difficulties from a psychological point of view. The prince had to change in a farmer, four years before, and then he had to become a fighter: now, what could the fighter become? I think that the image of the ants, and, particularly, the fact that Daisuke looks at them smiling means that he has found the answer, and he has put in order his ideas and feelings, and he can see better his own life-direction. Yes, that lake is so similar to the one where he probably decided the sort of his planet with a certain speech to Rubina, but… that was the past, a past that cannot return, and he must concentrate now on his future without regrets.
Well, it could seem I am digressing: this analysis should be dedicated to Hikaru, so why am I wasting time with Daisuke? Sorry, I could not avoid this part, because to understand ep72 and, consequently, Hikaru’s behaviour there, it is necessary to understand Daisuke too. If really ep72 is located in the Grendizer timeline a couple of months after ep71, we should suppose that Daisuke discussed his future with Hikaru “out of screen”. Considering the level of communication they had in ep70 (about the King of Fleed and Daisuke's confidence with Hikaru, Joe7's note), I find unlikely that he never talked with her about his feelings in the psychological reassessment process. But I think that also Maria Grace and Koji have been influenced by the situation. Particularly Maria Grace, who, in the latest episodes, has shown a terrible anguish, and, instead, at the lake she is a happy teen, like if the renovated perspective of life for her brother has gifted her of a positive stamina. Yeah, she talks about Fleed with Daisuke, but, for the first time, they both have a peaceful expression recalling their homeland, like if they both knew that a changed perspective for this crucial topic has recently born.
 
 
It’s true, Daisuke is Duke Fleed, he knows that survivors from his native planet are still alive and that, if he defeats Vega, he should reprise his role of king. Before ep71, he could not think about this scenario, due to the death sentence from the injury, but now everything has changed. Yet, he is a king without a land as Planet Fleed is unfortunately destroyed; even if he would likes to return there, he must find a different solution in order to give a new chance to fleedians. So... he could stay on Earth and possibly gather here his population. I think this was his original plan: to remain on Earth together with Hikaru and govern his population from his adoptive homeland. I believe also that he discussed this topic with her, and she agreed with him. Because, otherwise, it would be hard to find a proper explanation to the scene soon following in ep72.
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1 soap bubble: In the "judicial terms" of Gerdha's forum, it is a hint from which a very wide discussion begins.
2 "it must have a meaning": I would like to point out here, as I did many times at the French forum, the extreme importance of this point. An anime is not only a creative work, but it is also a business, subject to normal economic laws. The production of any cartoon is expensive, it takes time and resources in terms of men and means. In Ufo Robot Grendizer, even the best production teams available on the market worked, so, each frame would have certainly had a significant unit cost. From the point of view of Dynamic and Toei, no picture could be wasted, because, for the two production houses, it would mean a loss of money (this is one of the reasons why some scenes in the anime were recycled in various episodes). But those same frames were also the vehicle for the Authors to express their art, and they could not afford to waste any of them either. Verifying what is drawn in the anime, therefore, takes on a strategic importance in an analysis of Grendizer in general, and, especially, as far as the "crucial" episodes are concerned. Ep72 has employed the best production team, which will certainly not have worked for free, so it is legitimate to assume that it was a very expensive episode to produce. Therefore, I think it is correct to assume that no scene in ep72 is the result of the case, or of mistakes, or superficiality, but, on the contrary, it has been carefully selected from the production team, chosen and designed with well-defined goals.
3 "Daisuke has spent the whole last year": Ep30, in which his wound appeared for the first time, is dated April 1976; this episode (ep72) is dated February 1977, although its temporal representation, as mentioned earlier, is a few months later.
Edited by joe 7 - 24/11/2019, 16:56
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