Huynh - Ghost in the Shell

Personal and social identities are things that can be changed or become corrupted, and this is shown in the anime films Akira, Perfect Blue, and Ghost in the Shell. Each film contains a character, a main character, which loses sight of who they are and take on a completely different persona because of advancements made in technology.
                In Akira, Tetsuo is experimented on, and ends up receiving these unnatural super abilities, and begins to gain power. Before this happened he was just a typical guy in a motorcycle gang and was the quiet one always being taken care of. Once he gains these powers, he instantly starts to change and go mad with power. He is no longer Tetsuo, because he is now some power hungry man on the loose. This power causes him to lose control of himself, and thus, loses his identity.

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 Mima in Perfect Blue is an example of how technology did not affect her physically, but mentally. She is an actor who lets the media and the internet change her life, and she no longer knows what is real or fake. It’s very interesting because technology we have today, like the internet, can mess up someone mentally and really make them question who they are, which is exactly what it did to Mima.

Ghost in the Shell is a film where the main character, Kusanagi, is a cyborg and loses the feeling of what it really means to be human. She has been changed so much that she is almost completely robotic and because of this, she no longer remembers what it feels like to be human and questions whether or not she even is one. It is another example of how technology can affect the way somebody sees themselves and how it changes ones view of their own identity. Here, Kusanagi doesn’t necessarily change her view of herself, but questions if it is even the same anymore.

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 Each of these films shows that the relationship between humans and technology has a very thin line. Once this line has been crossed, it can really affect ones identity and they way someone sees their identity as well. Where is the line crossed? When does becoming too tuned in with technology turn into becoming one with it? Or even becoming a part of technology entirely?

Huynh - Perfect Blue

                The film Perfect Blue was a very different anime film from the others that we have watched. Mima was the main character, and she started off as a pop singer, who decided that she wanted to become an actress and make it in the film industry. Unfortunately, a combination of her conscience and other people’s influence on her drove her mad and she got lost in the illusions created by her own mind and what is reality. The movie showed a lot about how Japanese society see women in media, and also shows the kind of effects it can have on these female celebrities. Mima, had to make some decisions she wasn’t happy about, that were against her moral rights, and allowed for herself to be raped and became an object in pornography so that she could make it as an actress. This is a serious problem, because it turns women into objects of lust and turns them into these things that mainly appeal to men, instead of all people. Being controlled by men, these female actresses like Mima, are likely to lose who they are as a person, and no longer know who they are. They do what it takes to make it in that world, and it changes them. This is seen very well in Perfect Blue with Mima. She starts off by doing things that she normally wouldn’t, in order to make it big, and then she begins to lose sight of who she really is.

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This messes with both you as a viewer, and with her as a character in the film. She starts off as this pop singer who knows who she is and then slowly, things start to change. Mima gets exposed to some of her crazy fans who manipulate her internet life, and she starts to believe that she really has done these things. As she finds herself in this confusing place, she starts getting manipulated more by people like Rumi and Uchida, and thinks that she turns into a killer. All this coincidentally happens and is very similar to the show she is a part of, and she begins to mix up what is reality, and what is just an illusion. All of this makes for a very complex, yet, interesting film.

P.S. - Have you seen House of Wax? Uchida looks awfully similar to Vincent...

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Huynh - Cowboy Bebop

In the film Cowboy Bebop, there is a bounty hunter named Spike who is the main character. He is a very interesting character because he used to be part of a gang, and now stays under the radar and does work as a bounty hunter. Spike has a unique personality and there were a couple of scenes that really showed a lot about who he is as a person. One of these scenes was in the beginning of the movie when Spike deals with the criminals in the convenient store. He puts an old lady’s life at risk in the process, and doesn’t care at all. It shows that he will do whatever it takes to get the job done. At this point in the film, you are not quite sure as to why he works so hard, but know that he does. The second scene that shows a lot about Spike’s personality comes very soon afterwards, when he is sitting with Jet in their “hideout”. He talks about how he is sick and tired of not having money and is tired of eating instant noodles. They then hear about a reward for catching a criminal, Vincent, for 300 million woo long and instantly react to it and know the need to do this job.

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This part of the movie is a rather important one in showing what kind of a person Spike is. It shows that even though he is doing work, he is in desperate need for money, and that could very well be one of the incentives that pushes him to do whatever it takes to get the job done. Another thing this scene reveals is that by him having a hideout, and doing his work very discretely, and solo, that he is trying to stay quiet. He knows that he has left the syndicate and that they are out to get him, so he is alone in this world, trying to make a living as a bounty hunter. These scenes show very well what kind of a person Spike is, and as the movie goes on you start to learn more and more about who is he… and who he was.

Huynh - Ninja Scroll

                Ninja Scroll was a very interesting anime film that showed a very different type of entertainment from Akira. This movie showed a lot of supernatural abilities in people, and dealt with the idea of demons and saviors. These ideas can be taken in two different ways, either as part of a religion, like the Shinto belief, or as indications of different traits/qualities of people. In the film, there are eight devils, or demons, that begin to wreck havoc on the world, and are looking to change it in their favor, and as the film goes on, you begin to notice that each demon has their own specific and unique trait. Tessai, is the first demon in the film, and he is one that represents physical strength.

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He is not very smart, nor is he very obedient, which is very noticeable in the film, but he surely is the strongest. The next demon to be revealed is Benisato, who happens to have a seductive trait, and uses that as a part of her ability to control people. Mushizo, the next demon, turns out to be the messenger of the story. He does not have many specific unique traits to him aside from his ability to control wasps, but he provides the watcher with a very important piece of information, the information that Gemma has the ability to reincarnate himself, which is how he is still alive today. Majuro Utsutsu is a swordsman demon who happens to be blind. He shows the trait of pride. Every character in the story has some unique trait to them, and all show how it isn’t a good thing to have one good trait, but is important to have a combination of them all.

                The whole idea of the eight demons and the Shogun of the Dark also show some corruption in the government. A bad or evil source is attempting to overthrow the government, and make it all for them. There are also examples of this corruption in the film whenever you see the chamberlain. His focus is also to gain power, even though he isn’t willing to go to the extremes as the Shogun of the Dark to do so.

                All in all, the film Ninja Scroll had many messages, or ideas, in them that can be seen in many different ways by different people, and how you interpret is up to you.