Gepetto – Revolutionary, No Strings Cyberpunk

Gepetto, a highly rated but overlooked bit of Webtoon. Created by Jewon Yeon with a full english translation, now’s a good time to talk about it. While the translated story ended in 2017, there will be spoilers for the uninitiated. So before reading this, feel free to read the Webtoon.

Gepetto? Is This About Pinocchio?

Alright then, Gepetto is about the “inheritance” of its title character. Think of it like the treasure of a certain manga about pirates. But unlike that thousand-plus issue series, this MacGuffin can end a hundred year war between humans and the androids this scientist created. This would allow Androids to live beyond their limited lifespans or destroy them. But the only way to find it is through a gynoid named Whale. Well her and a boy named Colodi.

Also for some reason people have Italian names presented like they’re Korean. That might explain why the spellings don’t always match up.

In any case, this story takes inspiration from the Italian classic The Adventures of Pinocchio. I mean there are two Pinocchios… and I already cover this somewhere else. The point is this series explores something crucial to the source material. That being how lies even with good intentions have consequences.

The Doppelganger

This isn’t just about people telling lies but living a lie. Let’s look at the two Pinocchios; the older one was built to help the doctor get his late son back. But the brain data sync failed and he had none of the memories of the original. Instead he lied to try and make the doctor feel better. As for the other Pinocchio who became the androids’ leader, he has selfish streak. He beat his older counterpart down and took off his human-like face to be the real Pinocchio. But all these really did was convince their creator just how uncanny they were.

Also In Fleshy Form

As for identity crises, they’re not exclusive to the androids. One major character, Cornelio Nero, comes back to life through clones and brain syncing. While this allows him to serve humanity’s last shelter and be a threatening antagonist, it also fills him with dread. The backups aren’t perfect and there are gaps in his memories. Worse when other clones are used for elite troops, this causes Nero some concern. Why? Well because the brain sync backups collect data and experience from these clones, he worries he’ll become a lie. What? Do you think having somebody else’s memories will make you that person? He does.

Which is all the more tragic as it’s revealed that Nero never had an original. He and the strongest of these elite Hunting Dogs, Alidoro, are clones of the overarching villain. The backup and sync flaws merely caused Nero to develop his own personality. When Nero learns this, he questions his worth. As for Alidoro, he’s more or less a perfect copy of their source. He’s gets off on tormenting others and is only out for himself, despite his job.

The Villain Is Gepetto?

Which brings us to Nero and Alidoro’s source, Antonio. He runs the entire shelter from the shadows, not unlike a lobbyist. No I’m not kidding, he fixed an election to have one his lackeys be his figurehead. He also keeps a lot of secrets from the shelter under the banner of the “greater good”. One of which is the fact that Antonio occupies the cloned body of Dr. Gepetto. Gepetto was actually his business partner with Antonio providing funding. Only Antonio didn’t share the doctor’s passions, influencing a culture where the androids were disposable products.

Now here’s where things start to get very dicey. When Antonio found out about the Inheritance, he killed Gepetto and cloned his new body. Why? To get the androids other than the hidden Whale to go to war with humanity. By impersonating their father, Antonio scapegoated the androids into being humanity’s immortal enemies. Layman’s terms, all of the death and devastation done to the planet was all because Antonio found a way to seize power from it.

Pants On Fire

One thing that the webtoon didn’t address is how much Antonio believed in his own lies. He genuinely believed that with android’s advanced capabilities they would be a threat to humanity. But putting aside those logistics, he gambled the fate of humanity on uncertain variables like anti-android defenses. Not only that, he practically takes the credit for the work of others who sacrificed so much. The worst part is, anyone who deviates from his vision is branded a traitor, often to make his forces look good. This is especially relevant with his company, Antonio’s puppet politician was a career criminal just as ready to sell out others to secure his comfort. All in all, Antonio’s entire empire was based on lies and theft.

Gepetto: Why Free Will Needs Guidance

It’s not odd to see similarities with the real world with how often narcissists come into power. Which is why Gepetto goes into how the only way to combat liars is with free will and transparency. Lies take a lot of effort, especially to keep them secret, and all it takes is one mistake to unravel it all. When Antonio’s entire scheme is exposed via the Inheritance, most of his supporters turn against him. Even the androids decide to sacrifice their lives to stop Antonio’s petty kamikaze. With this, Antonio is karmically imprisoned in a virtual simulation and is completely aware of it.

A Better Example Always Helps

As for the Inheritance and its effects for the final ending, it’s a subversion of living a lie. The Inheritance was actually a way for all of Gepetto’s technology to come together to make Androids into humans. Colodi himself is actually the original Pinocchio, Dr. Gepetto’s late son revived without his memories but his kindly personality intact. In itself, Colodi serves as the model for the androids’ conversion.

A similar thing can be said about Nero. Despite his origins, his experiences and loved ones gave him a life without Antonio.

But doesn’t this defeat the fight for coexistence? Not quite.

As Whale notes near the end, her time with Colodi and her free will allowed her to live a full life. This applied to the other androids after breaking off the code that drove them for so long. In this case, the conversion to organic bodies isn’t joining a side, people like Colodi and Nero reveal there isn’t a side. The androids just had to embrace their humanity.

Why Is Nobody Else Speaking About Gepetto?

This was definitely a good time to go back into a Webtoon. My last one was a long…… time ago. The only reason I did this piece is because for all of the great storytelling, nobody’s talking about it!

Even the Fandom site has next to nothing! And no, I’m not going to waste my time making pages on there. I’m already an admin on a few of those things and I burned myself out of those. I might not make money on this site, but at least I can!

Sorry, sorry, had to get some stress off. Anyway, the only other place I could find anything on Gepetto was some college thesis. Maybe I’ll do another Webtoon, already got one idea from AWA anyway. Meanwhile if any of you want to incentivize the next post, visit my Substack and Patreon. Buying a Ko-Fi’s nice too.

Until then thanks for coming and as always, remember to look between the panels.