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Alliances

The Salvation Alliance (救民連合, Kyūmin Rengō), sometimes translated to Salvation Union, is an organisation opposed to the use of Texhnolyzation.

Ideology[]

Before looking at the Salvation Alliance’s opposition to Texhnolyzation, it’s important to first acknowledge another key part of their ideology: the concept of the ideal above the individual. This is immediately conveyed to the viewer when Keigo Oonishi visits the Alliance headquarters. Other than the elevated stage on which Kimata is seated, the members of the Alliance are crowded together in the darkness. Unlike the Racan, very little individuality is given to the members in terms of character design, with little facial detail and minimalistic workers uniforms. Rallied by their senior, they chant in complete harmony. Even when the members notice Oonishi, they turn in unison like cogs in a machine. Kimata, addressing Oonishi, says that the Union are “are of one heart and one flesh”, they are ”blood brothers” – they are quite literally a union, as their name suggests. In addition, the dialogue “are we beings who shall live only for our own happiness?!” is suggestive of a sense of purpose which goes beyond the individual. Later, the second-in-command’s speech explicitly condemns “selfish hedonism”, again suggesting the ideals of the Alliance go beyond the happiness and pleasure of the individual. While this doesn’t yet explain what this ideal is, it’s important to recognise this negation of the individual in order to understand the mindset of the Alliance member.

Perhaps the Salvation Alliance’s most characteristic trait is their opposition to Texhnolyzation. Their opposition extends beyond simply being Luddites, towards a genuine critique of both the philosophical and socio-political aspects of transhumanism.

One of their key criticisms of Texhnolyzation is its effect on the soul, and even the personhood of the individual themselves. A key belief of the Union is their interactionist position of the body and spirit. A relationship between these two can be seen from the very moment we first encounter the Alliance through their motto, which places emphasis on the “soul” and the “body”. But this interactionism is more explicitly shown in episode 16, in the scene where Kimata is called out by his assistant for his hypocrisy. Kimata’s response is that it is through being Texhnolyzed that he is able to see its effect on not only the body, but also the fact that “it affects the mind, and eventually, it affects the person himself”. Furthermore, Kimata reiterates this in episode 17, saying that Texhnolyzation “erodes not only a man’s body, but also his soul”. While there is no explicit detail on the nature of this “erosion” which is believed to take place, we can at least derive this belief of its effect on the soul being negative.

Their emphasis on the soul is very important, as it leads us to question the nature of their opposition to Texhnolyzation. It gives us the impression that the focus of the Alliance perhaps isn’t inherently on the body after all, rather something which transcends that. The Union certainly object to the body being Texhnolyzed, but it’s not because of Texhnolyzation’s effect on the body itself but because of its effect on the soul (which importantly is a consequence of the interaction between these two entities). So to summarise this claim, the Alliance still objects to Texhnolyzation but its because of its causal relation to the effect on the soul, not because of anything inherent to Texhnolyzation.

A potential piece of evidence which would defend this claim is in the act of the betrayal of the group of Alliance members. These defectors, who at first glance were thought to be ideologically opposed to the act of Texhnolyzation inherently, choose to join Kano’s mass-Texhnolyzed army. It would be incorrect to say that these people are simply abandoning the ideology of the Alliance; this is clear from Kimata’s assistant’s speech about “ideological evolution”. We can choose to interpret these defectors as deluded – this is true of every character in Texhnolyze to some extent – but the most important thing is to recognise that these people are not intentionally betraying the ideal of the Alliance. What we can infer from this is that the ideal of the Alliance isn’t found in the body itself, but something beyond it.

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An important aspect of their logo is its use of communist imagery, highlighting their roots as a working-class revolutionary group. One example of this is the red background of their banner, drawing a connection to the flags of Communist parties around the globe (in fact, its use of yellow and red very consistent with the colour schemes of these flags). The logo itself is shaped like a cogwheel, a symbol representing industry and the industrial working class. This is notably a symbol used by the Japanese Communist Party as well as appearing on various national emblems around the world, including China and Angola.

The shape inside the cogwheel can be interpreted in various ways, but one way it can be viewed is as a flower-like shape, potentially alluding to the plant-like resource that is Raffia. Seeing as the Raffia miners are the industrial working class of Lux, the symbol of Raffia in this logo can be compared to the symbol of wheat, as found on the national emblem of nearly every historical communist state – wheat represents the peasantry and agriculture, so again this fits with the Alliance’s image as a working-class group.

It’s important to acknowledge that the use of communist imagery on its own isn’t necessarily suggesting that the Union are communist. After all, their logo may take inspiration from the Japanese Communist Party, but outside of that there aren’t many apparent links (the JCP’s opposition to militarism and concept of ‘democratic revolution’ don’t seem very similar to the Salvation Alliance at all). However, what’s clear when you combine this imagery with the context of the Alliance within the show is that they regard themselves as a revolutionary organisation representing the industrial working class of Lux.

Another important aspect is the spiritual symbolism found in the logo. The logo seems to contain the Hamsa symbol, a symbol important in various cultures and religions. In Buddhist tradition, the Hamsa symbolises the different senses, chakras and energies that flow within one’s body. Chakras, according to Buddhist teaching, are embedded in the body but originate in spiritual, non-physical fields. The specifics of chakras are not so relevant to the Salvation Alliance, but what is relevant is this union of the body and the spirit. The Alliance’s ideology can arguably be interpreted as interactionist (in the philosophical sense), which I’ll go into in more detail shortly, but the main thing to take away from this is that this relationship between body and spirit has some relevance to their ideology.

The logo perhaps also conveys a sense of irony. As mentioned previously, one way in which the logo can be interpreted is as a flower-shape. This is suggestive of an association with Raffia, a resource that they explicitly denounce. Additionally, the logo contains imagery which seems to be associated with the Obelisk, the network symbol emitting concentric waves. These links to Texhnolyzation could perhaps be hinting at Kimata’s Texhnolyzation, hence his intrinsic connection to the Obelisk.

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