MEPA-12X
MEPA-12X (めぱ12X in Bahasa Sokoku) is a dystopian sci-fi drama series made in Sokoku, broadcasted in a dozen countries around the globe. The series are set in an unnamed future, about 60-120 years from now, aboard an interplanetary vessel making its second journey between Gotha and Koth. The 15 person crew, mainly of Sokokan origin, battles against the unreliable nature of the experimental vessel and the internal tension among the crew members on a mission to rescue a stranded expedition attempting to set up a first Orderist colony on the distant planet. In this setting, Sokoku is an Orderist state partaking in an enterprise to colonise new worlds due to the overexploitation of Gotha by free market capitalists.
WORK IN PROGRESS
Plot, seasons and episodes
The series comprises of three seasons with 11 episodes of 55 minutes each. The first series covers the launch from Gothan orbit towards Tyr and ends when the commander explains the true purpose of the mission. The second series covers most of the journey towards Tyr, while season 3 mainly takes place on Koth. A season 4 was planned, but funding was cut which left a rather open end to the plot.
The series is mainly told from the perspective of the 8 person "night crew", which operates on a 12 hour shift opposite the "day crew". While the day crew is executing the mission, the night crew is only there as some sort of back-up. Which explains why the medic and the caretaker are on the night crew. The mission is not sanctioned by the Orderist Commonwealth at first, who had already given up on the nearly 200 colonizers on Koth. The dangerous journey was planned by an opposing faction within the Orderist military. This is one of the reasons the crew mainly consists of Sokokan members, it is considered too dangerous to risk an Anarian crew for.
A main motive throughout the series are the collisions in leadership style between Captain Anji and Commander Tsumugi. Where Anji is an Orderist military following a strict hierarchy, wanting to control every detail of operations, Tsumugi on the other hand is a senior project manager from the Orderist secretariat preparing the mission out of sight of the Orderist military, who operates more as a motivating and stimulating team manager leaving much responsibility to the specialists. These differences become evident and crucial when the vessel MEPA-12X needs a lot more maintenance and repairs en-route than planned, leading to serious malfunctions and life threatening incidents.
Music
The music score plays an important role in the series. The main theme "Tidak aman pada kecepatan berapa pun" (Unsafe at any speed) was written specifically for the TV-series by the Sokokan hard rock band Kumis. Instrumental parts of the song, including the trademark opening guitar riff, are recurring interludes during the episodes. Kumis has become a major entertainment group thanks to the domestic popularity of the series.
Each episode features one more musical interlude, often in the form of a hard rock or metal style song. These are usually existing releases used "on loan" for the TV series. After the success of season 1, many bands lined up wanting to deliver a song to the production. This led to the federal secretariat for cultural affairs getting involved in the production, synchronising the promotional efforts of the federally supported bands with the TV producers. Season 2 and 3 each got a different track used during the end credits as well, creating exposure to more bands. This type of cultural product placement became a main sponsor for the production of season 3. After each season, an album with all the songs was released.
Closing song for season 1 was "Jalan boloh" by Gatal-Gatal, an up-tempo garage rock type of song with satirical lyrics. For season 2, a special version of "Tidak ada waktu untuk mati" by Koki Gila was used, with one of the characters delivering the opening line of the song as some sort of cliffhanger. The version with Ana delivering the line was released as a single, while the Koki Gila album version had Kurumi as opening vocalist. This pop rock song had some metal elements due to the duelling guitars in it. On the TV-series album, Tsumugi was featured instead. Season 3's end title track was "Cermin Tergores" by Perpaduan Rasa. This rap metal track had a very gentle pre-chorus sung by an angelic voice contrasting the in-your-face lyrics of the chorus.
Characters
| Character | Role | Actor | S01 | S02 | S03 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anji | Male, early 50's | 1st command, captain. Autocratic, almost dogmatic leader with military background. Mostly eloquent and softly speaking. Father of two, but divorced so hardly seeing his teenage children. | Slamet Tahyadi | Recurring | Recurring | Recurring |
| Taisan | Male, late 40's | 3rd command, military pilot. Could be labeled as a womanizer, therefore notoriously single when it comes to long term relationships. Great multitasker when it comes to handling manoeuvering, navigating and communicating at the same time. | Hadian Tanudjaja | Guest | Guest | Recurring |
| Frank | Male, mid 50's | 5th, chief engineer from Helreich. Acts as if he is in charge, since he participated in designing and testing the vessel. It is his second journey, which makes him continuously make remarks how easily they fixed challenges on the first trip. Has therefore a problem with the chain of command on the ship and is gathering support for a change of hands. Insists on using Stoldic as main language on the ship, it being the main language of the Orderist Commonwealth. | Gerald Sumner | Recurring | Guest | Recurring |
| Geru | Male, early 50's | 10th, executive engineer. Kurumi's uncle, but thanks to his close relation to her functioning as a sort of uncle and informal mentor for all the younger crew members. Typical blue collar worker attitude despite his university degree. | Eohan Manuputty | Recurring | Guest | Guest |
| Alto | Male, early 40's | 7th, mission specialist with a background in exogothan geography and climate, originally from Mirapan. A bit of a lone wolf, both by nature but also by his ethnicity, being the only mainlander on board. Only an off-screen character in season 1. | Chayton Askii | - | Guest | Recurring |
| Kotono | Female, early 30's | 9th, energy and life systems engineer. Bit of a short tempered hothead who gets things fixed quickly anyway, but not much of a planner. Gets into conflict with her direct colleague Shinsuke from the night crew because of this. Her favorite passtime is watching rom-coms, just to swoon over the boys. | Djuliana Bulan Hardja | Guest | Recurring | Guest |
| Rina | Female, mid 30's | 13th, payload specialist trying to leave an abusive relationship behind her, sees this journey as a possibility for a new start. Only an off-screen character in season 1, introduced in season 2 to add to the emotional mix of the crew. | Tandubuana Ya | - | Guest | Guest |
| Character | Role | Actor | S01 | S02 | S03 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tsumugi | female, late 30's | 2nd in command, team commander, Kakuri. Originally the planner of the mission, but when the intended #2 fell ill before lift-off, she was the only logical replacement. Punching way above her weight, creating authority issues with staff seniors, which is about half the crew. Adored and respected by the night crew, but frowned down upon by the day crew. | Sakamoto Miho | Main | Main | Main |
| Endo | male, early 40's | 4th, military pilot. (Spoiler ahead:) Killed in S2 due to decompression caused by a micro meteorite. | Nahum Lumbanbatu | Recurring | Recurring | - |
| Kohei | male, late 50's | 6th later demoted to 16th, mission specialist with a background in microbiology and agriculture. His tensions with Alto, his colleague from the day crew, become a focal point in season 3. | Kuwat Lumbantungkup | Recurring | Recurring | Main |
| Shinsuke | male, early 30's | 8th, mission specialist for vessel maintenance and repairs. Engineer who always wants to do things by the book, finding out the hard way that he can work together very effectively with the always improvising Kotono from the day crew. There's always a hint of romantics between the two happening. | Tjokro Shi | Recurring | Recurring | Guest |
| Kurumi | female, mid 20's | 12th, master's student in propulsion engineering, technically more like an intern to her uncle Geru on the day crew. Most junior in the crew, but still outranking both payload specialists. Loves the louder rock varieties of music from the late 77th century. | Susanti Patawala | Main | Main | Main |
| Toru | male, early 30's | 14th, payload specialist, later also trained as pilot. Usually comes up with some unexpected supplies or tools from what he considers his private property aboard the vessel. A bit of a hussler who manages to get as he wants, using the all-around corruption within orderist society. | Nahan Daparik | Main | Main | Main |
| Kei | female, early 40's | 11th, medical doctor providing mental assessments and individual training programs for every crew member. Executing a lot of soft power by her ability to take anyone out of his or her function due to medical reasons, even the commanders. | Dian Lesmana | Main | Main | Main |
| Ana | female, late 20's | 15th, caretaker. Originally from Anisora but traveling incognito, on the run for authorities. She is seen as ballast on this mission, since the commanders didn't see a reason to take someone along who can grow vegetables and prepare meals. Last minute addition to the crew under a false identity, has difficulties using Bahaso and no knowledge of Stoldic at all. | Vanessa Selano | Main | Main | Main |
| Character | Role | Actor | S01 | S02 | S03 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taka | male, late 30's | Sokokan settler | Wiraatmadja Banjarkasi | - | - | Recurring |
| Kai Tönderbua | male, late 40's | Aedelish settler | Pål Jonasson Fisk | - | - | Recurring |
| Adam Seltzer | male, mid 30's | Settler from Helreich, married to | Jimi Hargraves | - | - | Recurring |
| Helga Seltzer-Adenauer | female, mid 30's | Settler from Helreich, married to | Rua Schleck | - | - | Recurring |
| Mimmi Seltzer | female, 8 | Settler from Helreich, daughter of | Ava Caldera | - | - | Recurring |
| Zander von Funkhausen | male, early 50's | Colony commander from Helreich | Erin Wolds | - | Guest | Recurring |
| Aiyana | female, late 30's | Settler from Mirapan, the first person able to let Alto open up a little bit | Chooli Elu | - | - | Recurring |
Reception, reviews and rewards
The series was not an immediate hit among the Sokokan audience. Viewer numbers were in the single digits during the first episodes, but with the numbers rising after each showing. When S1.E06 reached an audience rating of 10.0 (indicating that 10% of the population above 16 years old was watching) the previous episoded were put on repeat on regional and state channels so that people could catch up before E07. Main reason for the slow success of the series was the dark setting and rather unpopular setting of Sokoku as a future Orderist nation. However, the compelling story arch and the relatable characters for a wider audience had a captivating effect, making the TV series much talked about on the work floor. During season 1 it became obvious that the series presented a highly negative image of both orderist and capitalist systems. The writers clearly included some häverist elements in order to create worse circumstances for the main characters in the series. The season finale of season 1 was the best watched episode in TV drama of 7686 in Sokoku.
The series was presented at the annual Fjärran festival in Talpå, Vittmark that same year. Both the anti-orderist and anti-capitalist tendencies attracted an underground audience at the pilot's showing, resulting in the series being bought by the the public broadcaster Länken, affiliated with the Unity Connect political party. It became a viewer success despite the odd airing times on Vittmark's third public service channel. This led to more progressive and counter culture orientated networks and broadcasters acquiring the television rights. The income of the foreign franchise were invested in season 2.
The music featured in the series meant a boost for many of the artists and bands involved. The opening song is a Sokokan classic, still on heavy rotation at radio stations all over the country. The closing credits tracks all reached the #1 position in the sales charts. One of the more unexpected hits was the Stoldic language song called "Helreich" that was used in the season 2 final episode of the first landing of a part of the crew on Koth. It was the first and so far only occassion a song in this language made it into the Top 10 in Sokoku. The domestic success of the music affiliated with the series led to a special release after season 3 with a selection of re-recorded songs with parts being sung in languages like Kamuran, Hallish, Livarian and Wortsproke. "Tidak ada waktu untuk mati" got completely new lyrics in the unusual combination of Hallish and Kakuri, with actress XX (playing Tsumugi in the series) standing for this vocal part.