Masamune Shirow: How To See Philosophies Beneath the Glamour

After seeing videos of Cyberpunk 2077, I remind myself about how technology becomes civilization. A master of this sci-fi genre is mangaka Masanori Ota, better known by his pen name Masamune Shirow. But while things can certainly look bleak there is more than just attractive cyborgs that shine.

Most people today know Shirow’s works because of the movies directed by Mamoru Oshii. Oshii brings out more atmospheric thrills that Shirow lacks in his original manga. But for Masamune Shirow, technology isn’t just a part of our everyday lives, it’s quite literally a part of us. It’s one of the reasons many characters in his works are cyborgs.

…Okay, kind of an oversaturated theme nowadays, but this is where most inspirations come back to.

Masamune Shirow: Classic Model Specs

Shirow’s first official manga, Black Magic shows how relying on technology and the powers who control them leads to catastrophe. In a civilization on Venus millions of years before any of Shirow’s other works, a supercomputer controls a utopia while biologically augmented Executors act as its limbs. But many of the Executors strike out for control of the computer leading to conflicts. One of these “bioroids” Typhon tries to solve conflicts. Unfortunately the manga focuses more on the battles; the conflicts essentially go nowhere with Venus’ destruction all but assured.

Version 2.0

The manga is practically a trial run for his later works. It seems Shirow recognized his limitations in Black Magic and tries again with an OVA. Rather than adapt however, he takes the opportunity to create a better knit story from the name. Not willing to let the manga days go though, leftover programming from the original story serves as the conflict. It’s a meta commentary of how past mistakes can haunt people in the present.

Discontinued Prototype

Now for a series that has a similar presence, Appleseed. After several World Wars, Earth is practically barren. Two partners of the former LAPD, full human Deunan Knute and cyborg Briareos Hecantoncries, immigrate to Olympus as defenders. Olympus is described as “a utopia for the utopian”, with everything under control by a supercomputer called Gaia. Politics meanwhile are lead by bioroids who lack the drive for aggression to make too drastic of decisions.

Life in Olympus comes pretty easy since work is purely voluntary and there are hardly any bills to pay. But is a perfect society really all there is? Having almost everything automated and aggressive-free politics might sound good. But there are never ending debates and feelings of unease. Some bioroids even want to expand their behavior controls to regular humans. Not to control them mind you; it’s to make them grow more as individuals instead of relying on base instincts. But how can anyone lead their lives without conflict?

As such, the debates can’t be solved and everything is stuck at a depressing impasse. Thus, Gaia itself decides to destroy everything to protect humanity from dealing with these issues. Until it stops by a bullet containing the titular apple seed payload. This is actually the philosophy of Authenticity in action. Without the pressures of stakes to make decisions or sacrifices, people become complacent.

Masamune Shirow: Rogue Element Series

After an earthquake destroys Shirow’s Appleseed notes, he decides to go on from the campiness of his other series into a more mature setting in Ghost in the Shell. Ghost in the Shell deals with the philosophical look at how cyborgs live. Issues like the Grandfather’s Axe paradox and the state of the human soul permeate critical moments. But unlike Oshii’s more noir vision, Shirow uses his sense of humor to contrast with the overwhelming world.

In the manga, cyborgs make up a significant proportion of the population. However, there are methods of living with cyber bodies that are completely foreign to regular humans. This includes exchanging pleasurable feeling with only the same sex. These are times when technology starts to create barriers from emotional connection. Being able to hear voices when linking up feels schizophrenic to people like Detective Togusa.

Consciousness is not even unique to humans anymore. Since it is just data, all a person has to do is move from one body to another. Other times consciousness can develop from unlikely sources.

Model 1

Shirow’s outlook on this topic is best seen through the primary character, Major Motoko Kusanagi. Kusanagi is a full body cyborg and a wisecracking maverick soldier who hates her job. She’s also not shy about showing herself off, especially when it makes her money. It becomes apparent that Kusanagi’s attitude comes from being uncertain if she is even a “traditional” person. At certain parts of the manga, she believes her mind to just be a backup copy of her dead human self.

Pretty soon, Kusanagi comes across the Puppet Master, an amalgam of co-opted programs to spy on political figures. But after collecting data from corporate servers and a game, it gains sentience.

Anyway after becoming self-aware it tries to flee from its creators to secure its independence. Unlike its movie counterpart, it’s an anomaly that wasn’t built to be an AI. This lines with the idea of René Descartes that consciousness can’t be understood by any physical way. By all accounts, there’s no rhyme or reason to Puppet Master’s consciousness forming since it doesn’t even need a cyberbrain.

Model 2.1-6

When Kusanagi is wanted for manslaughter, Puppet Master offers her a way out of the limitations of the imposing world by merging together. While still retaining her memories and abilities, Kusanagi becomes a new entity. Kusanagi survives through a series of bodies she refers to as her “children”. Meaning they share the same mind, but each have their own quirks unique to them. Because Kusanagi’s going to need all the perspectives she can get to keep digital landscapes out of the hands of abusers. Oh man, has this already happened in today’s world? In that case; where’s our Kusanagi?

The Other Factors of Masamune Shirow

The rest of Shirow’s other manga deal with post-apocalyptic scenarios like global warming and nuclear situations. Police forces often need tanks for these situations. Then there’s the idea of trying to eliminate humanity’s worst traits. In all of these situations, Masamune Shirow rants on about how technology that advances mankind is prone to being taken over. Not just by ambitious figures, but the idea of humanity giving up its identity in order to further progress.

Does this mean scientific advancement will ruin the human race as long as it ties closely to religion and politics? It doesn’t have to be. For Masamune Shirow there is a beauty in this future lifetime. Pandora in the Crimson Shell: Ghost Urn displays this.

Despite its similar name and presence to Ghost in the Shell, it takes a more positive look at the concept. The full body conversion was necessary for primary character Nene to survive her illness and become like a smartphone that can help her handle situations with her partner Clarion. The world at large is a very bleak place. But that doesn’t mean the main characters don’t waste their time enjoying it.

Conclusions

Science and technology marches on regardless of what people have a say for or against it. As other series like Black Mirror shows, advancing technology have upsides and downsides people have to learn to live with. The important thing is that they are tools and need the right guiding hands for proper use.

Thanks for coming and as always remember to look between the panels.