Precisely. You wouldn’t be surprised to see an armored tank shrug off a frag grenade while it completely obliterated a human, right? It’s just that this tank looks like a human. And even then, there are limits, like when the Major shreds herself (both in the first film and one of the SAC series… episodes) attempting to rip the top off a smart-tank. They’re not invincible, but in comparison to a natural human, they are a tank in human form.
Humans are, how do you say? Squishy?
Bah, Infantry can defeat tanks with the proper equipment an tactics.
Yes, but the proper equipment and tactics are paramount here.
Watched the whole series, it was great. This is a must see for fellow Futurist philosophers.
The series is great, but it really reaches a peak in Innocence.
I like all quality Cyberpunk across all types of media i.e. Literature, Anime, Film, Music, and Video Games. As far as literature is concerned I read William Gibson, Bruce Sterling, Neal Stephenson, Bruce Bethke, Rudy Rucker, and Ken MacLeod. Neuromancer, Schismatrix, Snow Crash, Headcrash, The Ware Trilogy, and the Star Fraction are all quality examples of these authors. With anime I’m into Ghost in the Shell and Akira. Film would have to be Blade Runner, Johnny Mnemonic, the Lawnmower Man, Hackers, Tron, and the Matrix. I listen to most Cyberpunk and find Front Line Assembly to be conceptually stimulating. For Video Games Deus Ex Machina and System Shock are excellent interactive renditions of the genre.
Cyberpunk is as relevant as any mainstream genre to academia. As Hard postmodern SF which lies more on the ‘extrapolative’ than the ‘speculative’ side it is a rich genre for study in Literary Studies, Literary Theory, Media Studies, Cultural Studies, and various combinations. My interest in Philosophy is rooted in taking a theoretical approach to examining Cyberpunk especially as intersects with Postmodern theory. The thinkers that I find relevant come from many different backgrounds but I focus a lot on both the Marxist and Postmodern traditions, their roots and implications. Some relevant critics are Brian McHale, Frederic Jameson, and Linda Hutcheon.
For me Ghost in the Shell is as much about identity as it is about hacking, noir, dystopia, or cyberspace. The focus on the philosophical implications of the human-automaton interface are what makes it really interesting and useful. Ghost in the Shell goes further than other on-screen Cyberpunk. Further than the replicants in Blade Runner, the techno-slaves of The Matrix or the robot in Artifical Intelligence. The cyborg post-hero does not seek to refind a “missing” human nature. Nature is created. In Ghost we are talking about a brave new post-human world. Individual self integrated into a larger being. Echoes of Overman, will-to-power, and the Buddha.
Just because Cyberpunk is postmodern doesn’t mean it is dead.
Time to spray-bomb another slogan.
cyphe
For anime series, Texhnolyze is decent, while Ergo Proxy and Serial Experiments Lain are phenomenal (Ergo Proxy is one of my all-time favorites). Last Exile is amazing for a steampunk (with hints of non-steam tech) series. Blame! is an insane manga…a must read if there ever was one (also Biomega and Noise by Nihei). If you haven’t checked those out, I would do so as soon as possible.
I will definitely check those out. Thanks.
Ergo Proxy storyline is horrible, imo. I quit watching after episode 4 or 5, due to the “outside city” plotline. They should have kept the story in the city and focused on the proxy.
If you quit at 5, you have no criteria to judge the entire show by. You have no idea what a proxy is or their relationship to the cities for quite a while. Horrible place to stop, in my opinion. But to each his own, I guess.
The facetious side narrative of the ghetto outside the city, and the convoluted premises they offered in terms of returning the main character female girl, was too unrealistic for my patience. If the series later had any redeeming qualities, then so be it. To each his own. 
The city council idols was a pretty interesting concept though.
Wait, let me get this straight. That was what struck you as unrealistic? The premise that a woman raised from birth in a veritable hypoallergenic Petri dish would be somewhat susceptible to harsh outside conditions that her body has never experienced before? Or that someone as important as her would be retrieved, especially considering her genius brother’s attachment to her? Oh wait, episode 5? Lil hasn’t even gotten sick yet. I feel you’d be making a mistake not to give the rest a chance, but you have my express permission to skip #15. You haven’t even experienced any of the other domes. You haven’t even seen the land-sail boat thing.
Funny isn’t it?
I may give Ergo Proxy another shot if I get bored enough.
In other related news, Code Geass was fucking awesome! I wish it had more futuristic elements in it. And it was a little childish than my tastes, but the adult concepts really dominated the series.
Code Geass was okay, but Evangelion, especially with the new tetralogy, towers over all other mecha or quasi-mecha series. Gasaraki had interesting concepts, Gunparade March was okay, Blue Gender was awful most of the time, MSG is classic as were most of the UC series, Eureka 7 blew from what I saw…but yeah, Evangelion takes the cake.
I’ll check it out, is it series or movie?
[-o<
Neon Genesis: Evangelion is a series (as well as a manga) with two original movies (Death and Rebirth, and The End of Evangelion) to make up for the last episode or two where they ran out of budget. It is now being made into Rebuild of Evangelion, a tetralogy to Hideki Anno’s liking, “as [he] wanted it to be”, (as he was disappointed in how the series and movies turned out) " with the first three films providing new scenes, settings, and characters as well as newly available 3D CG technology and the fourth presenting a completely new conclusion to the story. Another stated intention of the series is for it to be more accessible to non-fans than the original TV series and films were."
The first two are out, the final two are expected fall of 2012. I have watched quite a bit of anime and Evangelion has been in my top 5 since I first saw it, but when I saw the first two installments of the Rebuild, I flipped. It is jaw dropping. I would suggest watching the series and two end movies (you have to watch Death and Rebirth and The End of Evangelion regardless) first in order to provide yourself a familiarity and to be able to appreciate the Rebuild more, but it’s not entirely necessary. It’s almost entirely necessary. Yeah, scratch that, it’s definitely necessary.
So long as you give it a chance (watch at least the first five episodes and you’ll watch the whole series), it will lovingly remove your brain from your skull and promptly fuck it six ways to Sunday…in a good way.
My proposed procedure is:
I)Rent or otherwise procure the 26 episode series, Death and Rebirth, The End of Evangelion, Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone and Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance.
II)Call in sick and otherwise cancel all prior engagements.
III)Watch the material in the order presented in step “I)”, taking breaks where necessary to have a friend talk you down.
Notes:
Do not attempt to move for at least 30 minutes after The End of Evangelion as your brain needs time to recover.
Allow one day between The End of Evangelion and the Rebuild.
Let me know when/if you undertake this procedure so I can lend moral support.
Woah. SAC Episode 7 (Idolater), when Togusa is staking out the Newport Hotel (when the Chief and whatnot are heading over there) you see a fancy white car pull up to the entrance. The first guy who leaves the car (gray hair, mustache) is identical to the guy with the active camouflage cloak and the machine gun with HV bullets in the first movie. Lazy, lazy.
This week-end, stand by for moral support.
Though I have to say, I started watching one of the movies once and the story line was so corny that I dropped it. (the kid who was abandoned by his father finds out he’s the only one who can pilot the gunda… er… Adam-thing? anyway, didn’t get too far into it.). I can take some corny, sometimes its even good in manga/anime, but this time I remember thinking that they were laying it too pretty thick.
Hell, just delve into a anime suggestion forum, I got plenty.
Yeah, Shinji is super lame in the beginning. Once you get past that, it’s all good. Honestly, just go for the movies. Do Death and Rebirth and then End of Evangelion, then you can go for the rebuild.
Edit: But that’s the thing. David Wallace points out how high art (as opposed to generic consumer art) is supposed to challenge the audience, to make them uncomfortable. You have to work for the pay-off and Evangelion, in my opinion, has a substantial pay-off.