Changes

Snake -> a spy for China?</ref> His anti-Americanism was such that he even had the identity for Ishmael in ''Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain'' changed from Huey to Big Boss (and by extension, create a different "Snake" as the player character to act as a decoy) specifically to avoid a pro-American bias in terms of morality as well as showcase the perceived ridiculousness of American concepts of morality akin to ''[[Moby Dick]]''.<ref>http://www.metalgearinformer.com/?p=25955

Snake -> a spy for China?</ref> His anti-Americanism was such that he even had the identity for Ishmael in ''Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain'' changed from Huey to Big Boss (and by extension, create a different "Snake" as the player character to act as a decoy) specifically to avoid a pro-American bias in terms of morality as well as showcase the perceived ridiculousness of American concepts of morality akin to ''[[Moby Dick]]''.<ref>http://www.metalgearinformer.com/?p=25955

Yano says that Kojima explained the structure of MGSV to him as early as 2011, and all the different elements were already in place: from the themes (such as phantom pain and retaliation) to the motif of Moby Dick. “However, at that point Ishmael was actually Huey. Snake was Ahab, and Diamond Dogs’ enemy was America. It was set up so that the story, being told by Huey (Ishmael) as an American citizen, would be biased toward the American perspective, showing America as being right the whole time.” According to Yano, the Moby Dick connection is also meant as an allegory for the powers that drive the world, as whales used to be more than just a source of food. “Of course their oil was prized, but also other parts such as the bones and baleen played an important role in people’s lifestyles. […] World maps are thought to have come about thanks to the whaling trade. In short, whaling was inseparable from people’s lives at the time. You could even say it had “infiltrated” their lives.” With MGSV, Kojima brought this theme to a new century: “What’s important is that Kojima-san didn’t just transplant the motif from Moby-Dick. I think it’s more a case of these two creators, Melville and Kojima, relentlessly thinking through the way that the world works, and arriving at the same answer.” This connects to the setting of the game: “if we look at the game from the energy perspective, it’s obvious that Afghanistan and Africa would be the settings for the events in MGSV. Each produces oil, and each is a source of rare metals and other mined resources.” Of course, both Moby Dick and MGSV share the theme of revenge. “As Skull Face stated in MGSV, the world is an endless loop of action and reaction. It’s always an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. […] Like Moby-Dick, MGSV is also a tale of revenge.” Why was Ishmael changed from Huey to Big Boss? Yano believes the answer to that lies in what Ahab represents: “Although Ahab has only his personal revenge, when the character is superimposed onto American righteousness, he serves as an analogy for how justification for revenge based on instinctive national memory is converted into a just cause.” He continues: “But in MGSV, it’s actually America that’s the overarching Moby Dick. Big Boss is Ahab in the sense that he’s been maimed by America in the past. Big Boss turns his yearning for revenge into bonds that bind him together with comrades who share his wish to retaliate against America (or its self-righteous justifications). However, from America’s point of view it’s Big Boss that’s Moby Dick. So what we can see in MGSV is actually an attempt to depict battle between Ahab and Ahab, or perhaps Moby Dick and Moby Dick.” This, according to Yano, explains why Kojima chose to switch the role of Ahab from Huey to Big Boss. “To be more precise, the aim is to reveal that the system the world runs on defines Big Boss’s existence as “evil.” That’s why MGSV tells you distinctly that Ahab is you, the player. It says, now you have to experience first-hand the absurdity of being branded a villain by the manipulating ways of the global status quo. […] For that message to be put across, it can’t be Huey telling it, since he’s on the American side. It has to be Big Boss himself that delivers the message.”</ref> Agness Kaku, the former localizer for ''Metal Gear Solid 2'', has also noted the hypocrisy of Kojima commenting on and condemning American soldiers and not even bothering to look back at his own home country of Japan, even citing several Japanese mercenaries' then-recent involvement in the Lod Airport Massacre in Israel, as well as the death of a Japanese mercenary during the War of Iraq.<ref>http://www.eatchain.com/garbage/METALGEAR%3F%3F%3F/Metal%20Gear%20Solid%202%20Agness%20Kaku%20Intereview/Page%202/Hardcore%20Gaming%20101%20%20Agness%20Kaku%20Interview.htm<br />'''AMERICAN MILITARISM AND JAPANESE SOLDIERS'''<br />

Yano says that Kojima explained the structure of MGSV to him as early as 2011, and all the different elements were already in place: from the themes (such as phantom pain and retaliation) to the motif of Moby Dick. “However, at that point Ishmael was actually Huey. Snake was Ahab, and Diamond Dogs’ enemy was America. It was set up so that the story, being told by Huey (Ishmael) as an American citizen, would be biased toward the American perspective, showing America as being right the whole time.” According to Yano, the Moby Dick connection is also meant as an allegory for the powers that drive the world, as whales used to be more than just a source of food. “Of course their oil was prized, but also other parts such as the bones and baleen played an important role in people’s lifestyles. […] World maps are thought to have come about thanks to the whaling trade. In short, whaling was inseparable from people’s lives at the time. You could even say it had “infiltrated” their lives.” With MGSV, Kojima brought this theme to a new century: “What’s important is that Kojima-san didn’t just transplant the motif from Moby-Dick. I think it’s more a case of these two creators, Melville and Kojima, relentlessly thinking through the way that the world works, and arriving at the same answer.” This connects to the setting of the game: “if we look at the game from the energy perspective, it’s obvious that Afghanistan and Africa would be the settings for the events in MGSV. Each produces oil, and each is a source of rare metals and other mined resources.” Of course, both Moby Dick and MGSV share the theme of revenge. “As Skull Face stated in MGSV, the world is an endless loop of action and reaction. It’s always an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. […] Like Moby-Dick, MGSV is also a tale of revenge.” Why was Ishmael changed from Huey to Big Boss? Yano believes the answer to that lies in what Ahab represents: “Although Ahab has only his personal revenge, when the character is superimposed onto American righteousness, he serves as an analogy for how justification for revenge based on instinctive national memory is converted into a just cause.” He continues: “But in MGSV, it’s actually America that’s the overarching Moby Dick. Big Boss is Ahab in the sense that he’s been maimed by America in the past. Big Boss turns his yearning for revenge into bonds that bind him together with comrades who share his wish to retaliate against America (or its self-righteous justifications). However, from America’s point of view it’s Big Boss that’s Moby Dick. So what we can see in MGSV is actually an attempt to depict battle between Ahab and Ahab, or perhaps Moby Dick and Moby Dick.” This, according to Yano, explains why Kojima chose to switch the role of Ahab from Huey to Big Boss. “To be more precise, the aim is to reveal that the system the world runs on defines Big Boss’s existence as “evil.” That’s why MGSV tells you distinctly that Ahab is you, the player. It says, now you have to experience first-hand the absurdity of being branded a villain by the manipulating ways of the global status quo. […] For that message to be put across, it can’t be Huey telling it, since he’s on the American side. It has to be Big Boss himself that delivers the message.”</ref> Agness Kaku, the former localizer for ''Metal Gear Solid 2'', has also noted the hypocrisy of Kojima commenting on and condemning American soldiers and not even bothering to look back at his own home country of Japan, even citing the Japanese Red Army's involvement in the Lod Airport Massacre in Israel in 1972, as well as the death of a Japanese mercenary during the War of Iraq.<ref>http://www.eatchain.com/garbage/METALGEAR%3F%3F%3F/Metal%20Gear%20Solid%202%20Agness%20Kaku%20Intereview/Page%202/Hardcore%20Gaming%20101%20%20Agness%20Kaku%20Interview.htm<br />'''AMERICAN MILITARISM AND JAPANESE SOLDIERS'''<br />

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Raising the subject of Japanese nationals who could have been a source of information for Kojima lead us on to an even more interesting discussion, the slight obsession Kojima has with American militarism. AsAgness succinctly put it, "Why is Mr Kojima writing about a country he's not a part of, and frankly doesn't know that much about? Watching abunch of Michael Bay movies does not... I mean, it teaches you about America, in that we let a guy like this direct a lot of movies, but why doesn't he write a Japanese game? You know, same kind of action, same kind of stealth. There is darkness in Japan as well, and there's of course the potential for a lot more in the future, in any country which happens to be peaceful. There are a lot Japanese mercenaries. If you remember there was one killed in Iraq a few years ago."<br />

Raising the subject of Japanese nationals who could have been a source of information for Kojima lead us on to an even more interesting discussion, the slight obsession Kojima has with American militarism. AsAgness succinctly put it, "Why is Mr Kojima writing about a country he's not a part of, and frankly doesn't know that much about? Watching abunch of Michael Bay movies does not... I mean, it teaches you about America, in that we let a guy like this direct a lot of movies, but why doesn't he write a Japanese game? You know, same kind of action, same kind of stealth. There is darkness in Japan as well, and there's of course the potential for a lot more in the future, in any country which happens to be peaceful. There are a lot Japanese mercenaries. If you remember there was one killed in Iraq a few years ago."<br />