Char Aznable - Cultural Significance

Cultural Significance

Japanese pop culture holds Char Aznable in very much the same way western pop culture views science fiction icons Darth Vader and Spock. Char Aznable is not only a character, but has become a brand name.

Char, along with five other notable mecha and pilots from the various Gundam series, were recognized in the second set of "Anime Heroes and Heroines" stamps, released in Japan in 2005.

Char Aznable has routinely placed in the top 10 lists of popular characters in both Gundam-specific and general-oriented fan magazines in Japan, such as Gundam Ace and Animage, typically ranking higher than the main character and his rival, Amuro Ray. In Gundam Ace, Char is consistently in the top 3 of the list, and held the number 1 spot for long periods of time, despite the fact that Gundam Ace tallies votes for Char's alter-ego Quattro Bajina separately. In fact, Quattro also consistently ranks in the top 10. In both Gunpla and Figure magazines it is almost guaranteed to see Char's custom red mobile suit.

On the Japanese bulletin board 2channel, the Gundam forums are named Char custom (シャア専用), and the anonymous placeholder for the name is changed to "3 times more than the usual anonymous" (通常の名無しさんの３倍), a reference to the "3 times faster than the usual Zaku" line from the original series. Char Custom refers to Char's tendency to highly customized standard Mobile Suits to his exact specifications and generally making the said units far more potent than normal. This usually involves the character coloring his suits red, which led some people to go as far as to label anything red "Char-custom", and to make vague references to the "3 times more potent" line in the original Gundam series (e.g. A red pencil might write 3 times faster, or is 3 times more likely to break). This pinkish-red colour is actually not the idea of the director, but only because the excess pinkish red colour ink the animation company has at the time. It is, however, stated in the game Gireh's Greed that the colour is actually only the colour of an unpainted Zaku due to the grudge from him being the top graduate from military school.

Bandai has capitalized on the character's popularity by licensing out the name to various products. There has been a Char-custom laptop, Char-custom Nintendo Gamecube, and a Char-custom motorbike helmet. All these products have a red satin finish, and have the goldleaf Zeon insignia or the emblem of Char's Neo Zeon emblazoned on them. A Char-custom Game Boy Advance SP was also created in Japan (with many sources claiming its battery will last 3 times as long as the normal GBA, or even that it will crash 3 times as much). On July 25, 2006, GE Consumer Finance released a Char Custom credit card, which receives three times as many bonus points per 1000 yen spent compared to their other Gundam-related credit cards . Japanese cell phone company Soft Bank released a special Char Custom cell phone in late 2007, with a very large red Zaku head which serves as the charger base. Char related apparel and accessories span a wide range, from the ubiquitous Quattro sunglasses to Char lighters, neckties, wristbands, caps, wallets and a wide range of t-shirts. The creator of Char Aznable, Yoshiyuki Tomino, does not like the idea of making money this way. He feels that by sticking the term "Char's Custom" to the products culturally suggests the quality of the product is superior to other brands. However, most of them are only coloured red and are basically the same as the products on which they are based; ironically, some of these "Char Custom" products are even of lower quality than the baseline products. Creator Yoshiyuki Tomino believes that "having satisfication in such products just because they are popular and can earn money is a sin, since it cannot teach a correct social sense to the newer generation".

In a planned spaceflight for 2006, Soyuz TMA-9, a Japanese internet investor named Daisuke Enomoto had asked to dress up as Char Aznable. However, medical restrictions prevented him from participating in the flight.

In Code Geass, Lelouch's masked alter ego Zero was one of the earliest developed characters. Ichirō Ōkouchi wanted a mask to be included as a part of the series, because he felt that a mask was necessary for it to be a Sunrise show.