Of all the absurdities in the Gundam World, Oz has got to be the biggest. Considering the competition, that is quite an accomplishment. I never really was able to figure out what exactly Oz is. The best I can do is this. It is an organization consisting of people three hundred years behind the fashion curve (and this on the assumption we abandon the Gregorian calendar for this “After Colony” B.S. by ... yesterday) who run around shooting people. Oz is also associated with the Romafeller foundation and the wicked witch of the west.
If you think that’s bad, wait’ll you hear what Romafeller is. According to the show’s insufferable narrator, it is “an organization of European Royalty and aristocrats who use their wealth, power, and personal connections to build mobile suits.” They do all of this out of a deep nostalgia for the 16th century.
Now think about that. We can only guess that the writers of this abomination dropped out of school before history class got beyond the nineteenth century. Unbeknownst to them, the intervening years have been a bit rough on European monarchs.
In England, they serve primarily as fodder for tabloids. The Queen doesn’t even have her own plane anymore. (Damn budget cuts! Curse you, Tony Blair!)
In France... well, we all know what happened in France. I think we can safely assume Louis won’t be writing any checks. Charles won’t be much help either. Maybe Louis Philipe has a fourth cousin five times removed still breathing.
Italy isn’t much better. The crown prince lives in an apartment in Corsica. If he sets foot in Italy he will be thrown in jail. (Ya gotta love those Italians. They mean business.)
The last King of Albania, King Zog, was executed by communist partisans. Not much help in the mobile suit business there. (Even if he still were in control he wouldn’t be much help.)
And then there’s Russia. To all you deluded Gundam nuts out there, Anastasia was not a documentary. She’s dead. They’re all dead.
In all of Europe, only two monarchies endure with all their power. They are, presumably, the bedrock of Romafeller. These honorable nations are Monaco and Liechtenstein, both of which could fit within the confines of Yankee Stadium.
We can only assume that the Monaco police force (one hundred strong) overpowers the rest of Europe. Maybe the Swiss guards pitch in too.