07-08-09, 5:35 PM
Genre Analysis : Virtual Reality, Artificial Intelligence - Cyberpunk?
Anime Relations: Ghost in the Shell, Akira, .hack//Sign, Hunter x Hunter: Greed Island, Hunter x Hunter: Greed Island Final, Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040, Bubblegum Crisis, Cyber City Oedo 808
The Merger of Man & Machine
There's a whole genre of animation devoted to this concept, a genre, we will, for lack of a better term, call Cyberpunk. Not because I think the word is descriptive of what the genre encompasses, but because it's a generally acceptable and well known word. Depending on who you ask, there is a different story about the origin and definition of cyberpunk. However they all agree on a few things
1. The term cyberpunk was coined by Bruce Sterling, But it is Gardner Dozois (editor of IASFM - Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction magazine) who was responsible for popularizing the term "cyberpunk". Gotta admit, it has a nice ring to it!
2. The literary definitive work is William Gibson's Neuromancer
3. The movie definitive work will always be Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (based on Philip K. Dick's novel "Do Androids Dream of Electronic Sheep)
Cyberpunk Defined
WordIQ has a nice definition. http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Cyberpunk
Cyberpunk (a portmanteau of cybernetics and punk) is a sub-genre of science fiction which focuses on computers or information technology. The plot of cyberpunk literature often revolves around the conflict between hackers, artificial intelligences, and megacorps. It is the result of a self-correction in the science fiction genre, which classically had ignored the importance of information technology.
The only thing it leaves out is the blending of man and machine! Which is THE most important part of cyberpunk. In Neuromancer the concept of cyberware (hardware) and cyberspace (like the Matrix, the machine's reality) was introduced. If you just get the hardware, you become a cyborg, i.e. artificial eyes, limbs. If you get the wetware (plug into brain) and dive into cyberspace/the Matrix etc. that's a whole other level of engagement, which may cause the blurring of individuality. If you die in the net, do you die in real life? What if your body dies, but your soul lives on in the net?
My definition of Cyberpunk is when there is true spiritual (more than just physical) blending of man and machine, resulting in (created?) sentience, in an era ruled by mega-corps..
Cyberpunk In Anime
Bubblegum Crisis
Classic - Yes, Masterpiece - No, Cyberpunk - Yes
The original Babes In Battle Armor Anime set to Epic 80s music generated a strong Yuri fandom. Soundtrack was good enough that each episode (8 total) generated it's own OST. Yes, embarrassingly enough I actually used to own one of them. I love "Konya Wa Hurricane" till today.
Although the action, music and concept are great this anime does not stand the test of time well. The animation (which was great for those days) is very dated and the soundtrack sounds very 80s (I still love it). Also production wars plauged the series so the plot felt kind of rushed and incomplete in places. I wish I could call this a masterpiece, but I can't.
Sadly, I have to agree with Orion. I looked at my definition and had to refresh my memory on whether there was "machine sentience" in story. There was with the boomers suddenly developing their own identity. So, evil megacorp? Check. Renegade mercs? Check. Cyber-hardware? Check. Machines developing sentience? Check.
Akira
Classic - Yes, Masterpiece - No, Cyberpunk - No
Akira is set in a post-nuclear war society where anarchy, nihilism and illegal human experimentation with ESPers was rife. It was so epic as to be responsible for a resurgence of interest in Anime, but isn't really cyberpunk since virtually all the elements (in my definition) are missing.
Ghost In the Shell GITS
Classic - Yes, Masterpiece - Close to Yes, Cyberpunk - Yes
What can I say, this is the definitive anime about artificial intelligence developing in cyberspace. When it came out it it caused a resurgence of interest in anime, and will always be one of the landmark anime classics that everyone should see. What made this excellent wasn't that it broke tremendous new ground (plot wise) but that as an anime, this was beautifully executed to generate maximum discussion thus fueling the interest of non-anime fans to watch it just to see what the fuss was about. And of course, let's not forget that Major Makoto is super-hot.
The other GITS sequels are all cyberpunk, some are masterpiece but none will ever be classic except for the original.
Cyber City Oedo 808
Classic - No, Masterpiece - No, Cyberpunk - Yes
Aah a blast from the past featuring future era criminals doing police work to lessen their sentences go against cyber organisms. Nothing very groundbreaking and animation isn't crash hot, story was average (predictable) but I wasn't bored. Cyberpunk elements were all there though.
The Animatrix
Classic - No, Masterpiece - No, Cyberpunk - Yes
Short stories based off "The Matrix" universe. Nothing groundbreaking that wasn't already done by the original Matrix Movie (which is a Classic).
Serial Experiments Lain
Classic - No, Masterpiece - No, Cyberpunk - Yes
Lain didn't generate enough controversy or interest to be a classic. I found the concept exciting but the execution was horribly done. Although the art is still good this got very boring very fast. There was the appropriate amount of philosophizing about merging with the Wired but 7 episodes of the same old stuff got a little tiring. I still finished it but couldn't call this a masterpiece. I guess this is one of the love them or hate them anime. It does have all the cyberpunk elements though.
Hunter x Hunter: Greed Island, Greed Island Final
Classic - No, Masterpiece - Yes, Cyberpunk - No
Boy(s) go inside a game and will not be able to log out until they win (or die). No cyberware, or evil corporations so not Cyberpunk. However, the virtual world created was very well done, story was engaging and art style will be ok to stand the test of time. Entertaining enough to be a Masterpiece, but lacking enough originality to be a classic.
.hack//SIGN series
Classic - No, Masterpiece - No, Cyberpunk - Yes
Story about a roleplayer(s) stuck inside the cyberworld of a game isn't original. First few episodes were good then it got really boring. Many other series released of which only 2 were ok, the rest weren't that great. Yes I'm a completionist, I actually watched all 11 of them and reviewed two. If only they could have executed this as well as Hunter x Hunter. Hack differs because in "The World" (you have to pronounce it as "DUH WHIIRRLD" like they do in the anime) it is obvious that something in there is becoming sentient.
Yet to see - will edit blog when watched
Ergo Proxy, Vexille any others you want to suggest?
There's a whole genre of animation devoted to this concept, a genre, we will, for lack of a better term, call Cyberpunk. Not because I think the word is descriptive of what the genre encompasses, but because it's a generally acceptable and well known word. Depending on who you ask, there is a different story about the origin and definition of cyberpunk. However they all agree on a few things
1. The term cyberpunk was coined by Bruce Sterling, But it is Gardner Dozois (editor of IASFM - Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction magazine) who was responsible for popularizing the term "cyberpunk". Gotta admit, it has a nice ring to it!
2. The literary definitive work is William Gibson's Neuromancer
3. The movie definitive work will always be Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (based on Philip K. Dick's novel "Do Androids Dream of Electronic Sheep)
Cyberpunk Defined
WordIQ has a nice definition. http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Cyberpunk
Cyberpunk (a portmanteau of cybernetics and punk) is a sub-genre of science fiction which focuses on computers or information technology. The plot of cyberpunk literature often revolves around the conflict between hackers, artificial intelligences, and megacorps. It is the result of a self-correction in the science fiction genre, which classically had ignored the importance of information technology.
The only thing it leaves out is the blending of man and machine! Which is THE most important part of cyberpunk. In Neuromancer the concept of cyberware (hardware) and cyberspace (like the Matrix, the machine's reality) was introduced. If you just get the hardware, you become a cyborg, i.e. artificial eyes, limbs. If you get the wetware (plug into brain) and dive into cyberspace/the Matrix etc. that's a whole other level of engagement, which may cause the blurring of individuality. If you die in the net, do you die in real life? What if your body dies, but your soul lives on in the net?
My definition of Cyberpunk is when there is true spiritual (more than just physical) blending of man and machine, resulting in (created?) sentience, in an era ruled by mega-corps..
Cyberpunk In Anime
Bubblegum Crisis
Classic - Yes, Masterpiece - No, Cyberpunk - Yes
The original Babes In Battle Armor Anime set to Epic 80s music generated a strong Yuri fandom. Soundtrack was good enough that each episode (8 total) generated it's own OST. Yes, embarrassingly enough I actually used to own one of them. I love "Konya Wa Hurricane" till today.
Although the action, music and concept are great this anime does not stand the test of time well. The animation (which was great for those days) is very dated and the soundtrack sounds very 80s (I still love it). Also production wars plauged the series so the plot felt kind of rushed and incomplete in places. I wish I could call this a masterpiece, but I can't.
Sadly, I have to agree with Orion. I looked at my definition and had to refresh my memory on whether there was "machine sentience" in story. There was with the boomers suddenly developing their own identity. So, evil megacorp? Check. Renegade mercs? Check. Cyber-hardware? Check. Machines developing sentience? Check.
Akira
Classic - Yes, Masterpiece - No, Cyberpunk - No
Akira is set in a post-nuclear war society where anarchy, nihilism and illegal human experimentation with ESPers was rife. It was so epic as to be responsible for a resurgence of interest in Anime, but isn't really cyberpunk since virtually all the elements (in my definition) are missing.
Ghost In the Shell GITS
Classic - Yes, Masterpiece - Close to Yes, Cyberpunk - Yes
What can I say, this is the definitive anime about artificial intelligence developing in cyberspace. When it came out it it caused a resurgence of interest in anime, and will always be one of the landmark anime classics that everyone should see. What made this excellent wasn't that it broke tremendous new ground (plot wise) but that as an anime, this was beautifully executed to generate maximum discussion thus fueling the interest of non-anime fans to watch it just to see what the fuss was about. And of course, let's not forget that Major Makoto is super-hot.
The other GITS sequels are all cyberpunk, some are masterpiece but none will ever be classic except for the original.
Cyber City Oedo 808
Classic - No, Masterpiece - No, Cyberpunk - Yes
Aah a blast from the past featuring future era criminals doing police work to lessen their sentences go against cyber organisms. Nothing very groundbreaking and animation isn't crash hot, story was average (predictable) but I wasn't bored. Cyberpunk elements were all there though.
The Animatrix
Classic - No, Masterpiece - No, Cyberpunk - Yes
Short stories based off "The Matrix" universe. Nothing groundbreaking that wasn't already done by the original Matrix Movie (which is a Classic).
Serial Experiments Lain
Classic - No, Masterpiece - No, Cyberpunk - Yes
Lain didn't generate enough controversy or interest to be a classic. I found the concept exciting but the execution was horribly done. Although the art is still good this got very boring very fast. There was the appropriate amount of philosophizing about merging with the Wired but 7 episodes of the same old stuff got a little tiring. I still finished it but couldn't call this a masterpiece. I guess this is one of the love them or hate them anime. It does have all the cyberpunk elements though.
Hunter x Hunter: Greed Island, Greed Island Final
Classic - No, Masterpiece - Yes, Cyberpunk - No
Boy(s) go inside a game and will not be able to log out until they win (or die). No cyberware, or evil corporations so not Cyberpunk. However, the virtual world created was very well done, story was engaging and art style will be ok to stand the test of time. Entertaining enough to be a Masterpiece, but lacking enough originality to be a classic.
.hack//SIGN series
Classic - No, Masterpiece - No, Cyberpunk - Yes
Story about a roleplayer(s) stuck inside the cyberworld of a game isn't original. First few episodes were good then it got really boring. Many other series released of which only 2 were ok, the rest weren't that great. Yes I'm a completionist, I actually watched all 11 of them and reviewed two. If only they could have executed this as well as Hunter x Hunter. Hack differs because in "The World" (you have to pronounce it as "DUH WHIIRRLD" like they do in the anime) it is obvious that something in there is becoming sentient.
Yet to see - will edit blog when watched
Ergo Proxy, Vexille any others you want to suggest?
Posted by Stormy_77 | 07-08-09, 5:35 PM | 2 comments
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Captain-Z | 09-09-10, 2:36 PM
i hate cyber punk in fact it is my least favorite genre even lower than than heram
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Orion1 | 07-10-09, 4:15 AM
So first lets discuss the last blog that was posted on masterpieces vs.classics,were I stated that Akira was in fact a cyberpunk classic. I still stand by that statement. Why? On another note Stormy you pointed out the "Law of Large Numbers" of which my 'why' link should help in showing that there is a consensus in the idea of Akira being a cyberpunk work. While your definition of Cyberpunk, as it stands, is true to one literary interpretation of the word, it is not true in all other interpretations. (source) I would particularly like to point out the interpretation by Lawrence Person, editor of Nova Express."Cyberpunk characters were marginalized, alienated loners who lived on the edge of society in generally dystopic futures where daily life was impacted by rapid technological change, an ubiquitous datasphere of computerized information, and invasive modification of the human body." In this interpretation Akira is clearly cyberpunk. To support my claim even further I would steer you toward any list that I've seen thus far on the net that has animated cyberpunk titles. Besides Wikipedia, you may also look on answers.com for more cyberpunk animated titles. Click Here As for whether or not Bruce Bethke has claim to the word Cyberpunk; in his own words he expressed that, had he known that his short story was going to spark off an entirely new sub-genre in sci/fi, he would have trademarked it. (Source). The petty intellectual battling over it's origin should be seen as just that, petty. It is stated on answers.com that "After" Bethke's short story was published in Amazing Science Fiction Stories, the term was then applied to the works of William Gibson, Bruce Sterling, Pat Cadigan and others. While Gardner Dozois is pointed to as popularizing the term, Bethke is credited with coining the term. (Source). |