Basara Nekki

Basara Nekki (熱気バサラ, Nekki Basara) is a fictional character in the Macross universe, the lead singer and guitarist of the band Fire Bomber. He first appears in Macross 7, and also appears in the movie Macross 7: The Galaxy is Calling Me and the OVAs Macross 7 Encore and Macross Dynamite 7. He is voiced by Nobutoshi Canna (under the name Nobutoshi Hayashi). His singing voice and guitar work are provided by Yoshiki Fukuyama. His family name Nekki, as written in Japanese kanji, means "hot air" or "enthusiasm".

Fictional Biography

Basara is an enigmatic character. He is an orphan who grew up in the mountains of Japan, owning only the clothes on his back and his trusty acoustic guitar, which dwarfed him. His hobby was roaming the wilderness, playing and singing; so strong was his faith in music that he believed he could move a mountain, and would sing to it in the midst of a typhoon. He encountered an alcoholic ex-U.N. Spacy pilot, Ray Lovelock, and his talent and determination convinced Ray to form the rock band Fire Bomber with him. As guitarist and main vocalist Basara now fronts the band, with Ray playing keyboards, young girl Mylene Flare Jenius as bassist, and a quiet full-blooded Zentradi woman, Veffidas Feaze, as drummer.

Valkyrie Pilot

In addition to being a good rock singer, Basara also seems to be an exceptionally talented pilot, though the origin of his skill is unknown. He pilots a customized VF-19 Fire Valkyrie, its control system modified to resemble an electric guitar, and its gun firing remote speaker pods which transmit his singing to his targets. Basara disdains weaponry and is annoyed at Ray's desire to fit missiles to his VF-19, though occasionally he uses them in blind anger. In the Dynamite 7 OVA, he has also been shown to be able to pilot a Valkyrie outfitted with a regular control interface, indirectly through the physical manipulation of his regular acoustic guitar while still being able to pull off impressive feats of piloting, a testament to his ability as a pilot.

Musician and Pacifist

Basara is a very emotionally driven pacifist who fanatically believes in the power of music and emotion over physical might. He cares little for anything other than his music, and seems oblivious to events around him; in particular he does not notice the feelings women have for him, including Mylene and female biker Rex. The only emotions he ever expresses to any degree are wild enthusiasm for his concerts and angry frustration at those who fail to "understand" his songs; the rest of the time he maintains a nonchalant, almost contemptuous air, addressing everyone in casual Japanese language. A free spirit, he goes wherever he pleases and frequently arrives late at Fire Bomber's concerts (often making his entrance by parachute), believing they cannot start without him. However, when alone he sings songs expressive of his moods, the only way he can cope with his emotions.

Sound Force

In the early episodes of the series, every time the mysterious apparently human enemies attack, Basara drops whatever he is doing and flies into the midst of the fighting, believing that the power of his songs will reach into their hearts and make them stop their assault. At first his music has no effect and his skill in dodging enemy fire is the only thing that keeps him alive, and moreover his interference on the battlefield annoys Macross 7 pilots, especially the highly disciplined Gamlin Kizaki. However, his music—and that of Fire Bomber—causes humans to regenerate their spiritual energy (spiritia) after it has been drained by the enemy. When his methods thus begin to show an effect, he is invited by Captain Maximilian Jenius to join a special civilian squadron called Sound Force, though his complete lack of respect for military rules vexes those who would command him.

Anima Spiritia

Later in the series it is revealed that Basara and the rest of Sound Force (Fire Bomber) are the new "Anima Spiritia", the only force capable of defeating the Protodeviln and their Varauta army. However, Basara regards the real enemy, the alien beings known as the Protodeviln, in the same way he regards everyone else: rather than destroying them, he wants to win them over.

At first his singing appears to hurt the renegade Sivil, a female humanoid Protodeviln in whom he recognises his own free-spiritedness, and when she kisses him she is overwhelmed and driven into a comatose state. He continues to sing for her in an effort to reanimate her, inspiring Gigile, another Protodeviln in temporary human form, to do the same. The two become unlikely allies against the other Protodeviln, and Gigile begins to admire Basara, who through the power of music awakens Gigile's true form. However, Gigile self-destructs to protect Sivil afterwards.

In the end, it is Basara's singing what helps the Protodeviln evolve into a Spiritia self-generating race with no need to steal it from humanoids any more.

References