A story is a method with which one separates things into good and evil via their imagination. It is a system needed for people to keep themselves sane and deal with the unreasoning chaos of reality. Religion offers the story of salvation, for example. Likewise, morals and ethics could be defined as the most popular story of the people of the age. But while these stories are harmless as long as they're used to keep individuals calm, this changes when they're used as tools for a country or race. Stories like "jews are an inferior race that have to be purged" and "capitalists are devils and if you suicide bomb them you can go to heaven" brought about tragedies due to their popularity. For an example on a smaller scale, it's not uncommon that a story that one person regards as a "small love story" turns out to be to the world at large a kidnapping of a minor. At times, stories are a poison that can drive a person mad. This presents a dilemma to us creators: If there are infinite possibilities in writing, is it possible to write a story about the potential danger of stories? A story that renounces stories? Yes it is. Reconguista of G did it.

The villains of G-Reco are the people who take the simple event of "the Crescent Moon Ship is coming from Venus" and add their own interpretations to twist it into a story with which they can move the world. The exact same thing that dictators and cult leaders have done throughout history. Belri stops them by going along with the flow and doing his best to handle only what's in front of him. That's why there's no intentional dramaturgy to be found in the story which is shown from his viewpoint, and instead it's like reading a replay of a tabletop RPG or watching a documentary on the Discovery Channel where you're left in a vagueness free of undulations with no clear rhythm. The easiest example of someone fooled by the danger of stories is Mask. As a passionate revolutionary who seeks to free the oppressed caste of the Kuntala, he at first seems to be more of a hero than Belri, who just wanders around with no clear goal. However, in the show itself, discrimination against the Kuntala is only mentioned, and not once seen. In other words, in the world of G-Reco, discrmination against the Kuntala exists only in Mask's imagination, and this is his "story". And in order to complete said story, he forces onto Belri the roleplaying of the villain. This is solely because Belri's lineage and surroundings contain elements that would make him a good villain for Mask. That Belri doesn't respond by arguing with his old friend dramatically is what makes G-Reco amazing. In the end, Belri doesn't commit himself to a greater good or fate or anything above his personal level, and at each point in time only does what he thinks he ought to do at the moment. No matter how much his ex-friend runs around going crazy, Aida's more important to him. And at the end of this one-sided game of tag completely out of place between a robot anime's protagonist and his rival, the final episode concludes with the unthinkable, in which he just abandons the fight and runs off in his core fighter. All that's left are people who are strong enough to live without the lies of stories. They are freed from the boring curses known as "catharsis" or "conclusions" and head towards the future. When I saw the end credits I was just moved, and exlaimed " they did it!". I had been worried about the limits of storytelling, and was just thankful for this slap from a veteran creator to me. Reconguista of G made me genki.