Cyberpunk, a combination between the noir and science-fiction genres. If you ever see Blade Runner or even Netflix’s Altered Carbon, you should be aware of the many tropes. This including dehumanizing advancement, mega corporations and corruption, and the divide between the wealthy and the privileged. Japan is no stranger to these concepts, especially with its cities being the inspirations for the neon-lit settings. Two of its most influential manga series also brings new and inherently different light onto the subjects.
Ghost in the Shell: The Philosophy of Cyberpunk
Ghost in the Shell usually follows military cyborg Motoko Kusanagi. Unlike her later depictions influenced by her portrayal in Mamoru Oshii’s films, Kusanagi is originally sarcastic and flaunts her body. This seems odd considering this does not appear to make Motoko all that compelling. However after a closer look into the world that she lives in, it is apparent that Motoko feels isolated. Contrasting Motoko is a world that sees cyborgs as a class of disposable sub-humans do people’s dirty work. This is especially relevant as Motoko believes her consciousness is merely an AI replicant of her original mind.
Battle Angel Alita: The Battle of Cyberpunk
In Battle Angel Alita, the title character is a cyborg from a war centuries in the past. For her first friend and surrogate family Dr. Ido, Alita brought on a hopeful light on the bleakness of his home. In fact Alita is like that for a few other people as well including her first crush Hugo. Yet, she never gets a break from the violence and cruelty that surrounds her. Alita possesses fighting skills and memories from her past that make her one of the strongest in the series. But rather than relentlessly pursue an identity she’s lost Alita chooses to forge an identity that belongs only to her.
The Analysis
Ghost in the Shell is a military noir story that goes into the depths that shows humanity at its worst. By the time Motoko’s activities become too public, she fuses with the Puppeteer amalgam program. Unlike Oshii’s move though this isn’t just an escape from persecution for government dirty work; but also to expand her own abilities to the point of growing with new identities.
Alita meanwhile has to deal with her own self-worth through love and loss over the course of her life. It certainly doesn’t help that Alita’s original life as Yoko starts to come back to her; ultimately it is apparent that she is a catalyst for the events of the series. As a result, Alita needs people in her life to even try and find some self-worth. Even great skills and an invincible cybernetic body that can dominate the cruel world around her can’t fight loneliness. Most people that Alita meets are so indifferent to all of the violence surrounding them that almost no one is willing give a helping hand.
The ones that did though, left a lasting impression on her. Alita wasn’t the only one looking to live though. Many of the characters that Alita meets have their own reasons to live and prosper by aspiring to high heights. The loss of those people are effectively shared with the reader as much as Alita. But even though those people are either dead or forget about Alita; their memory encourages Alita to keep moving forward and tie up loose ends with her old life as Yoko.
Conclusion
Both of these franchises deal with the philosophy of what it means to be human with different approaches. Ghost in Shell is about using your unique traits to break out of the confines placed on a person. But for Battle Angel Alita, it’s about personal acceptance. The overall message being that no matter how or when you were born; you are ultimately the one who chooses how to live. That right there is the truest feeling of Cyberpunk.
Thanks for coming and as always remember to look between the panels.