Broken Blade (or in Engrish Break Blade) was a series of 6 fifty minute films that have been adapted into 12 episode long TV Series. They are basically the same with one added scene to the TV Series and the pace generally sped up in the newest adaption too. The plot is centered around a boy named Rygart. He lives in the continent of Cruzon, where people are magically able to use quartz for whatever purpose they desire. However, he cannot do this; he is a rare one in a thousand years “un-sorcerer”. With war impending between his homeland Krisna and that of an invading nation Athens, Rygart, who has lived in seclusion because of his lack of magic, is asked to come to the capital by his old friend King Hodr to investigate an ancient golem (mech). The reason being that Rygart is unable to use quartz, however, this golem seemingly doesn’t require it and this allows him, and him alone, to pilot this piece of old yet more advanced and stronger machinery. The story then revolves around his struggles to end the war in his new golem. On the head of this golem (named Delphine) is a broken blade, hence the name of the title. This broken blade becomes a symbol for one of the messages of the film, namely that we should fight destiny.
The Broken Blade is very symbolic of both Rygart and the golem he pilots. Both are underestimated for their abilities or rather lack thereof. Just as a broken blade is considered non-functional anymore (or at least inferior) so too Rygart and Delphine are considered inferior to the point of nonfunctional in their surroundings. Rygart is underestimated because he un-sorcerer and thus cannot active any normal machinery, like the normal golems or the other forms of transportation. He cannot even fire a gun. Likewise Delphine is also underestimated because of the fact it is such an ancient piece of machine. It is thought of as obsolete as it is an ancient machine, being over 1000 years old and known as the Under-Golem. It requires long cool-down times after it is used for a certain time and like Rygart cannot use weapons like pressure-guns. However, when it is examined further its true strength becomes apparent. Most notably when its armor is examined by Queen Sigyn an inscription is found and this says to “resist your fate”, which can of course be phrased in many ways. In fact this idea becomes very important to the message and is displayed in many ways throughout the films (or TV Series).
First and foremost this is applied to Rygart and his golem, the broken blades themselves. At the same time as being dysfunctional they are unique and this uniqueness allows them to arise above their obstacles. Rygart’s uniqueness allows him to be recognized as human by Delphine, and not as some unspecified living thing (like quartz users). Rygart is underestimated by his allies who learn of his origins by all the enemies he fights because of his fighting style. However, both his allies and enemies come to realize that he is really a force to be reckoned with because he is willing to resist his fate. He trains hard and impresses his kinsmen. The enemies that thought he was useless at fighting realize his strength too. Notably the general of Athens, Borcuse, mocks Rygart for his fighting style at first but then in the final battle he realises there is something more, something unique and unpredictable about the pilot, and that this leads to his victory. Of course Rygart wins and he thus conquers his fate. Likewise Delphine is at first underestimated. Its exterior armor is said to be very poor, when examined by Sigyn. However, when she looks at its inner frame she realises how truly strong and advanced it is, saying they cannot dissemble it but only destroy it if they tried. Also despite its thin figure it can carry the heaviest armour and weapons of every golem and jump higher than any other golem. It’s frame tells us how we should not be judged by our exterior but our interior should be measured. If that interior is willing to challenge destiny then you are strong.
The polar opposite of this is Girghe, the near mad son of General Baldr. He has all the natural ability in the world when it comes to fighting. He easily mastered the extremely tricky Artemis very quickly and then uses it to pick off enemies at will. However, unlike Rygart, he doesn’t seem to try hard at all. When he fights Rygart in the fifth movie, he sees all weak people as useless and disposable, saying they deserve to die. He is cocky and overconfident and all because he is so naturally talented. In their final showdown Rygart confronts him on this issue, saying it’s sickening how Girghe doesn’t try. Rygart makes a bet if he beats Girghe in a fight he doesn’t want him to die or capture Sigyn for him, Rygart wanted Girghe to apply himself, to be a general and surpass his father. The two skirmish and after Girghe is knocked down he takes the words to heart. He saves Rygart from Nike, the officer who has a very powerful mech she used to kill General True, and kills her. Added to the TV series (but not in the films) Girghe then takes on the Athenian General Bades and his elite Spartan squad. He dispatches the squad, taking a lot of damage in the process and then kills General Bades, living up to his potential of General. However, he is then gunned down by reinforcements. Girghe showed that in order to fight our fate we must act, we cannot be lazy and overconfident.
Another opposite is Zess himself. Zess can only see the reality in front of him. He can’t really see the possibility of fighting your destiny. In a flashback Zess says that Rygart should not help the baby Gram to overcome his predator, the cat, because it is the natural order of things, it is destiny in other words. Zess is always described as a very rational and calculating individual. However, it seems Rygart changed him too, whilst they were in school, as Zess does want to fight against the possibility of war (which I will look at later). Zess on the other hand shows us that we cannot fight destiny if we accept things for what they are, we must act to change them.
Another opposite is Zess himself. Zess can only see the reality in front of him. He can’t really see the possibility of fighting your destiny. In a flashback Zess says that Rygart should not help the baby Gram to overcome his predator, the cat, because it is the natural order of things, it is destiny in other words. Zess is always described as a very rational and calculating individual. However, it seems Rygart changed him too, whilst they were in school, as Zess does want to fight against the possibility of war (which I will look at later). Zess on the other hand shows us that we cannot fight destiny if we accept things for what they are, we must act to change them.
This idea of resisting destiny is not only applied to characters and their personal struggles, it is of course applied to bigger things. The first of these is the whole war effort of the nation of Krisna and how they are trying to survive. This is explicit when Hodr and his war room wonder if they can resist their fate in the last movie. We are told it is a soldier’s job to die fro his king and country, however, they are trying to fight their destiny. King Hodr often muses whether or not he should surrender and give into his fate. He wonders if his nation can avoid the dark cloud, the dark fate that threatens to engulf his beloved country and its inhabitants. We are constantly told of Athens’ large numbers, over 200 golems, and how General Borcuse is a master of war. The whole reason Zess invaded because he wanted to have Hodr and Krisna to avoid their inevitable defeat and death if General Borcuse invaded. Everyone was sure Krisna would fall, but they fought successfully to challenge their fate. After the many deaths they suffered the army of Athens retreated after Borcuse’s death.
Even more than this fighting one’s fate even applies to wanting to follow one’s ideals and not giving into the reality of the situation. More than just winning the war, Rygart wants to stop the war before it happens. He wants to persuade Zess to stop the invasion before anything bad happens, just as Zess wants to get Hodr to surrender before Borcuse gets involved. Likewise Rygart wants to save everyone, even his enemies, from death. He wants to apply his ideals over the reality he is facing. We are told by Baldr how it takes three times the effort and three times the risk to do this. We are shown a flashback of him in the second movie of how he resists fighting back against a group of bullies because no one needed to die. He is said to be the one that could always stop a fight. This comes to a head when he stops Dan (a soldier from Krisna sent to rescue Rygart) killing Lee (part of Zess’ unit). However, this ultimately fails despite Rygart’s efforts as he cannot avoid the death of Lee as she commits suicide, but not before she actually kills Dan. Rygart blames himself for both deaths and wants to quit but does come back. However, now he seems changed, he realises he cannot change the reality of the situation, he cannot turn war into a peaceful struggle, he can only fight the destiny that is defeat, not the reality of war. He immediately turns into a murdering machine as when he next encounters Zess’ unit he kills Argas almost instantly. Moments later he is able to take down Zess but stops his swing before killing him. He then (in the fourth film) convinces himself to become a killer, saying he must do it. This all culminates when Rygart defeats Borcuse who steps out of his golem, much like Girghe. Rygart has the choice, to let him live or kill him. Rygart chooses the latter demolishing him with his large swinging weapon. He cannot escape the reality that he must kill in war. Likewise Cleo who doesn’t want to kill either, but she too loses her temper and would have shot Rygart if her gun had bullets.
Thus underneath all this challenging of fate, however, there still is the idea that we can’t truly beat it, we can’t really escape reality. In the end someone had to die, either the soldiers in war or Hodr and Sigyn in surrendering. So too Rygart and his father challenged their fate and were ultimately unsuccessful, despite fighting valiantly. Throughout their flashbacks of school Rygart is depicted fighting his destiny. He helps the owl, Gram, as a baby fight its fate by stopping a cat picking on it, despite Zess saying its only natural because a cat is its predator. The whole reason Rygart was at school was because he and his initially disappointed father were trying to fight the fact that Rygart was an un-sorcerer. Hodr mentions that he found this struggle very admirable when they have their reunion. However, at the same time they could not escape their fate. Rygart had to drop out of school much to the distress of his friends. Despite this we admire those who try with some success. Even if we even if we cannot escape our reality we should admire those who try. Rygart is somewhat successful in overcoming all those who fight him, but even though he cannot escape his emotions, we still like him. Sigyn cannot escape the reality she is weak (she is easily overpowered by Cleo) but she fights her destiny by applying her mental strength to the war effort and she is very admirable. Hodr admires Rygart and his father and so should we. In the fifth movie we get a flashback of Rygart and Hodr trying to enter the girls dormitory. Although they fail they do give what is a very nice message. This is that men creates legends. Real men climb the mountain, not for glory, but because it is there. We should admirably fight fate just because we can.
In conclusion, the title Broken Blade is a symbol, a symbol for challenging your fate. It stands for doing your best and not succumbing to the situation around you. It symbolizes both Rygart and his golem and how they fight their perception of uselessness. It also represents messages for both winning war and stopping war. However, at the same time it still shows that reality and fate cannot ultimately be stopped. A broken blade can kill someone with a long sword, it can overcome its obstacles, however, it cannot escape the fact it was made for killing, made for fighting. The films tell us how we can overcome many obstacles but we shouldn’t be disappointed if we can’t overcome the reality we live within, it is admirable for trying.
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