The portrayal of UN featured in many Animes, or a UN Spacy??

[Saxtonite]

It seems that in many animes, especially space animes the UN has some sort of role. Often the UN has its military that keeps the constitutent nations from fighting each other and is drawn from those nations (I believe Evangelion is an example). Sometimes it's a U.N. Spacy-short for Space Army (Macross and Voices from a Distant Star are examples). Why is that in many animes, a UN ref? Or the term 'Spacy' used in many space animes.

It's not even used for semi-plausible examples that are a few years in the future or decades, the Earth Federation in Starship Operators (several hundred years in the future) had the UN emblem on their tanks, etc and their HQ/General Assembly was on Earth, in NYC based out of the UN building.

Do you have some info on the portrayal of a UN Space Army and why it is that way in Animes?

[Sea Skimmer]

Its really simple, the creators don’t want to be super controversial by portraying a future Japan as a fully armed aggressive military power. So to get around this they make up UN related absurdity and have 97% of the ‘UN’ characters appear as Japanese even when they are blatantly using real life weapons that Japan has never had and never would buy even if it was fully militarized.

[Uraniun235]

It's also possible, depending on the franchise, that the creators wanted to portray a united Earth and felt that the most audience-accessible symbol of such would be the UN.

[Vendetta]

A lot of it probably comes from the popularity of Macross making the terms easily understandable in that context, and inspiring not a few imitations.

(The UN in Macross is not the same as the UN in real life, they're an actual world government, the change from union of nations to world government caused a third world war, which the UN Government won, but which mostly fell off the rails with the crash of ASS-1)

[Adrian Laguna]

"Spacy" is just an extra branch of the military, like Army, Navy, or Air Force, but in charge of orbital and space-based assets.

Its really simple, the creators don’t want to be super controversial by portraying a future Japan as a fully armed aggressive military power.

There have been a few shows that depict Japan as an armed and aggressive power without much apparent controversy though. In Ghost in the Shell Japan apparently controls parts of China, and possibly Korea. I have doubts about this being the result of a popular referendum.

[Slacker]

This doesn't neccesarily have much related to anime, but in any near-future situation, anything that's going to force Earth together as a single, at least quasi-functional, entity is going to be built around two organs of international cooperation-NATO and the UN. I've got a FH where the UN sort of starts off as the clearing house for recovered alien technology (the US is pulling the strings, so the UN becomes a convienent clearing house for the stuff they feel comfortable sharing), and only over the space of about 250 years does it really resemble a monolithic human government. And even then, the various nation-states and colony worlds bicker internally when there's not a bigger threat looming.

[Cykeisme]

Its really simple, the creators don’t want to be super controversial by portraying a future Japan as a fully armed aggressive military power. So to get around this they make up UN related absurdity and have 97% of the ‘UN’ characters appear as Japanese even when they are blatantly using real life weapons that Japan has never had and never would buy even if it was fully militarized.

Perhaps you're referring to a particular Japanese animated series or movie that uses the "UN" trope?

From what I've seen of Macross (which isn't everything, so I may be wrong), many of the characters appear Caucasian, and have common Western first and last names.

I'm not really very familiar with many anime titles; this is a question, not a challenge.

[Saxtonite]

This doesn't neccesarily have much related to anime, but in any near-future situation, anything that's going to force Earth together as a single, at least quasi-functional, entity is going to be built around two organs of international cooperation-NATO and the UN.

What about the further out examples, like in Starship Operators where the Earth Federation, one of the main interstellar powers in the Galaxy set several hundred years in the future use the UN Logo and is still HQed in the UN building in New York City.

[Hawkwings]

Maybe the writers are just lazy?

[Nyrath]

"Spacy" is just an extra branch of the military, like Army, Navy, or Air Force, but in charge of orbital and space-based assets.

Yes, but that means the Air Force should be named "Airy".

There actually should be something called "Orbit Guard" which would be analogous to the Coast Guard.

[Hawkwings]

What's wrong with "Space Force?"

[Mutant Headcrab]

I had always thought that "spacy" was short for space navy, not space army. While the name is still nonsensical it makes a little more sense that way.

[VF5SS]

Other shows generally use "Space Force" or something to that effect. Spacy is more of a holdover from when Macross was planned to be a parody show. In Gundam they have the Earth Federal Space Force or EFSF.

[andrewgpaul]

"Spacy" is just an extra branch of the military, like Army, Navy, or Air Force, but in charge of orbital and space-based assets.

Yes, but that means the Air Force should be named "Airy".

There actually should be something called "Orbit Guard" which would be analogous to the Coast Guard.

Actually, now that you mention it, I'm tempted to make up an SF civilisation with "groundy", "watery", "airy" and "spacy" arms of their military ("fighty"?)

[Slacker]

What about the further out examples, like in Starship Operators where the Earth Federation, one of the main interstellar powers in the Galaxy set several hundred years in the future use the UN Logo and is still HQed in the UN building in New York City.

New York, barring a nuclear attack, asteriod impact, or some other extinction-level disaster, will likely remain one of the world's major centers for centuries to come. The symbol and location could be, well, symbolic, hearkening back to the 'first' world 'government' in history.

[Patrick Degan]

The idea is not original. Joe Haldeman had the UN running Earth's millenial war against the Taureans in his book The Forever War.

[Setzer]

Keeping the symbol isn't really all that objectionable. Lots of symbols date back centuries. No one asks why Islamic nations have lots of green or crescent moons on their flags. Same for the Heraldry of Europe's remaining monarchies.

[Stark]

Yes, but that means the Air Force should be named "Airy".

There actually should be something called "Orbit Guard" which would be analogous to the Coast Guard.

Yeah, I hear inventing a new word is so wrong and silly in scifi, why would they do that? Combining two existing concepts into one word? GET OUT OF MY SCIENCE FICTION SIR!

[Ford Prefect]

Yeah, I hear inventing a new word is so wrong and silly in scifi, why would they do that? Combining two existing concepts into one word? GET OUT OF MY SCIENCE FICTION SIR!

I personally think it's a great word, especially if you don't want to use something like 'Space Force' or 'Aerospace Command'. It's concise and effective as it invokes pictures of doing shit in space.

[Stormbringer]

There have been a few shows that depict Japan as an armed and aggressive power without much apparent controversy though. In Ghost in the Shell Japan apparently controls parts of China, and possibly Korea. I have doubts about this being the result of a popular referendum.

Are you referring the original manga or of the various anime offspring? They all had some degree of a more militarily active Japan but it was only really in the SAC continuity that I they got heavily into it as I recall.

Of course, even SAC went to some length with absurd and insane geopolitics. Jungle Cruise and the episodes mentioning the "American Empire" being particularly filled with weirdness.

[Ford Prefect]

Are you referring the original manga or of the various anime offspring? They all had some degree of a more militarily active Japan but it was only really in the SAC continuity that I they got heavily into it as I recall.

Of course, even SAC went to some length with absurd and insane geopolitics. Jungle Cruise and the episodes mentioning the "American Empire" being particularly filled with weirdness.

The manga is more extreme in this regard - the American Empire existed there (and it is also present as one of two North American powers in Appleseed, though it usually goes by the name of Imperium Americanus). In the GitS manga, Japan is the leader of an Asia-Pacific power bloc and is much more powerful politically than how it appears in SAC, where it is merely enjoying economic growth because of the Japanese Miracle boosting it following nuclear war, while the American Empire's economy is in decline. The movies don't really deal with it at all, really.

[VF5SS]

I personally think it's a great word, especially if you don't want to use something like 'Space Force' or 'Aerospace Command'. It's concise and effective as it invokes pictures of doing shit in space.

Plus it's a typical Japanese pun. Someone who is always in space is a very "spacy" kind of guy. I remember some of the old Gundam stuff from the mid-80's and 90's used the moniker of U.N.T. Spacy or something. They quickly changed it back to EFSF and EFF though.

[Nyrath]

My favorite coined SF term is from Tyge Sjostrand

Tyge Sjostrand suggest the term Espatiers for space marines, since after all the term "marine" implies the ocean (French marine, from Latin marinus, derived from mare "sea"). Rick Robinson really likes Mr. Sjostrand suggestion: "Espatier" is a twofer. Its formation exactly parallels "Marine" (also French-derived, as are nearly all basic military terms), and it also parallels the English word "spacer," but with a nice shade of meaning - a spacer is anyone who lives/works in space; an espatier is a space soldier. "

[Ohma]

One would assume that it's pronounced rather like spacer.

Somewhat more on topic. In the comic and cartoon Planetes, there is a UN government-ish sort of thing (I don't have the comics or what I have of the cartoon handy at the moment so I may be slightly off about all this). In the comic this is mostly seen through the EDC which seems to be composed of representatives from the countries and (major) companies who have a vested interest in space development. In the cartoon there's also INTO which is like a sort of UN world police sort of organization. Unfortunately the comic's geopolitical stuff explodes when the US (whose main representative in the comic is in fact Colonel Sanders) goes to war with a country...or alliance of countries...with a really funky name for no adequately explained reason. I haven't watched the rest of the cartoon but I've been told to political stuff works much better...unfortunately the characters lack the subtlety they have in the comic so...

Also Larry Niven's Known Space universe has the ARM which is an explicitly UN organization, and I believe it exists well into the 3000s.

[Hawkwings]

if it's french, it's pronounced es-pah-tee-ay