— — — —— — —
×
— —— —
— — — —— — —
×
— —— —
— — — —— — —
×
— —— —
← darkroom
“Frankenstein” and Artificial Life in Anime/Manga
So, I’m currently in a class about literature and film inspired by (or at least with similar themes to) Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. The main connecting thread is animated (not as in animation) life and the considerations about what makes a human a human.
I’m looking for examples from anime/manga of either organic (like Frankenstein’s monster) or mechanical (like robots and cyborgs, but not unembodied AI) creations being brought to life. Any and all examples welcome!
Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex
^The Tachikomas are a great example of what you're looking for. In general the show (as well as the original movie) explores a few different ideas on what makes humanity unique (if it's unique at all) when compared to AI and machines. The Tachikomas are the most clear example of these themes, being machines who constantly and explicitly explore what it means to be human and to exist at all.
^A very recent example. It focuses on robots trying to figure out what it means to be human and if it's something they should even desire. It covers the good and bad of humanity, exploring if achieving it should be a goal for the machines or if they should aim to surpass their creators. It also pays close attention to how the robots try to emulate human behaviour, both in big emotional acts and in small mundane habits.
Ghost in the Shell (the original film) was recommended by the professor as supplementary material (sadly she said it just couldn't fit into the syllabus). I was somewhat aware that there was a show, but I don't know much about the story as a whole, I'll have to look into it.
Pluto was something that came into my mind before making this thread. I read the manga years ago and I keep telling myself I'll start the anime, maybe this is the push I need!
As you know, I like to take any opportunity I can to write about anime in my classes, hopefully I'll be able to keep that trend going lol.
As you know, I like to take any opportunity I can to write about anime in my classes, hopefully I'll be able to keep that trend going lol
ngl I kinda envy you lol, it always sounds really interesting. Tho I imagine you also have to read a lot of theory for these assignments, which I'm not sure I'd love to do.
Ghost in the Shell (the original film) was recommended by the professor as supplementary material (sadly she said it just couldn't fit into the syllabus). I was somewhat aware that there was a show, but I don't know much about the story as a whole, I'll have to look into it.
Oh goo to know I was in the right direction lol. I recommended the series over the movie because it has a lot more time to go deeper into these themes and I also because I just prefer it in general. Just to be clear tho, the series isn't a retelling of the movie, it's a completely different story, but explores similar ideas. The plot itself is a detective mystery about murders related to a quite realistic corruption scandal. In addition to the whole nature of humanity thing, it also explores ideas around private interests in politics and class divides.
Well anyway, good luck with the assignment! Also if you don't mind please let me know which works you end up using as your basis.
This is, in short, about sentient crystals and its main plot revolves a lot about what maketh human
One of the characters is also a man-made cyborgPost apocalyptic story with an artificially made protagonist and also sentient or somewhat sentient robots here and there with their own short side plots revolving around their identities and purpose
This one is about weird aristocrats of unknown specimen that use "living dolls" as their countenance because they don't have their own faces. It might not be exactly what you're looking for though because
(a bit of a spoiler)
the living dolls are, actually, mind controlled humans who at the beginning of the story don't yet realize they're not objects. So, in a sense it is kind of a reverse of being brought to life and they're made believe they're not alive insteadThis has one Frankenstein inspired story with a girl made from corpses
huh, never even heard of this one. but Clamp did the character design, so that intrigues me! thanks for brining it to my attention
One of the main heroines is a Frankenstein's Monster sort of deal outright, and the latter parts of the story delve into her identity and tragic backstory related to being "born" like that.
Kaibutsu Maid no Karei naru Oshigoto
It's just a comedic slice of life thing, but there's plenty of undead and, much to my surprise, it actually has a few cutely philosophical plotpoints about being undead/a mix of different body parts thanks to one of the supporting characters and her sister both being Frankenstein's Monsters (literally, it's listed as their species iirc lol)
Whole story delves heavily into cyborgization and how it affects both our humanity and society as a whole.
This whole movie deals with what makes things real in general, one of them is a debate on whether a really advanced algorhythm that developed a personality can be considered human.
Rakuen Tsuihou Expelled From Paradise
The main character gets a new lease on life after a really passionate engineer gives him an engine for a heart.
Metropolis
I think is the most promising of all. I overall think the manga was more about the topic of what draws the line between human and robot so I would recommend checking it out along with the movie. The original movie (1927) was more about the class conflict so I am not sure if watching it would be necessary, and even Tezuka himself says he wrote the story before watching the movie (he just saw the cover at the time).
Talking about Tezuka some of his astroboy stories delves into the same topic too, including pluto chs. Grand doll was decent too but I think it was a bit surface level.Mirai no Futatsu no Kao
While the unembodied AI is not included in topics I think this really gives an interesting setting about ai creations. In a minor way, one ai simulates a human body in a black box though.Franken Fran
I mean...
Shisha no Teikoku
As far as I know, this one is inspired by Frankenstein. I haven't read nor watch it though.My personnal recommandations:
Hagane no Renkinjutsushi
GUNNM Kasei Senki
Dorohedoro
Tetsuwan Atom
Atom The Beginning
PLUTO
