Customer Reviews

Essays On Japanese Science Fiction, Past And Present - By: Dave_42, 17 Dec 2008
"Robot Ghosts & Wired Dreams" is a collection of essays written about Japanese Science Fiction edited by Christopher Bolton, Istvan Csicsery-Ronay Jr., & Takayuki Tatsumi. These essays are split into two sections, the first one is "Prose Science Fiction", & the second section is "Science Fiction Animation". These essays discuss Japanese Science Fiction from its origins (oddly enoughin detective fiction) to the anime of today, which has produced some extraordinary innovative storylines. The editors provide an interesting introduction to the book which discusses the organization & provides a good overview. Most of the essays were published elsewhere first. Only Chapter five appears to be original, but that doesn't mean that this book is not worthwhile.

The first section of this book covers the written form of Japanese Science Fiction, though the essays don't necessarily fit completely into the categories where they are placed. The first essay is by Miri Nakamura & is titled "Horror & Machinesin Prewar Japan: The Mechanical Uncannyin Yumeno Kyusaku's `Dogura Magura'". This is an interesting chapter & provides insight into the use of machinesin the fiction of the era. She has a wonderful discussion of how science fiction developed from detective fictionin Japan. This chapter is extremely importantin seeing the origins of the genrein Japan, & one can easily see how key themes, such as the man-machine type stories have always played an important rolein Japanese Science Fiction.

Chapter two is "Has the Empire Sunk Yet? The Pacificin Japanese Science Fiction" by Thomas Schnellbacher. This chapter helps build on the first chapter, & discusses the important theme of identity of the Japanese peoplein the storylinesin Japanese science fiction. This chapter is a good example of how the essays don't really fit into the sections of the book, as it discusses prose, movies, & anime & how this theme has appearedin many important worksin all three. The link between this era & the loss of prestige due to the war is significant, & importantin the discussion.

Chapter three is "Alien Spaces & Alien Bodiesin Japanese Women's Science Fiction" by Kotani Mari. This essay includes an interesting discussion on the rise of women's science fictionin Japan & how it differed from the women's movementin the west. Kotani Mari uses the transformation of the physical self as a running themein this area of science fiction. Discussed are works like Kurimoto Kaoru's "Guin Saaga", Sato Aki's Barutazaaru No Henreki", & Takano Fumio's "Vasurafu".

Chapter four is "SF as Hamlet: Science Fiction & Philosophy" by Azuma Hiroki is an unusual choice for this book, as a good portion of this essay is looking at western works bothin the SF arena as well as philosophy. However, Azuma Hiroki does bring the discussion back to Japanese science fiction & the shifts which took placein the genrein Japan during that time such as the shift from literature to anime & manga.

Chapter five is "Tsutsui Yasutaka & the Multimedia Performance of Authorship" by William O. Gardner. This is my personal favorite of the essays. I found the discussion of the innovative use of multimediain the telling of a science fiction story to be incredibly interesting. Tsutsui's "Gaspard of the Morning was a newspaper-serialized novel, which incorporating feedback from the readers into the text, altering the story as it went, or so it appeared.

Chapter six is "When the Machines Stop: Fantasy, Reality, & Terminal Identityin "neon Genesis Evangelion" & "Serial Experiments: Lain" by Susan J. Napier. This chapter opens the second section of the book on anime, & it is anime which is the focus of the majority of the book, including several examplesin the first section. While clearly anime is the dominant form of Japanese science fiction, I would have thought there would have been more to say about the movies & manga as well. Susan Napier takes anin depth look at the anime films mentionedin the title of the essay, & it is interesting to see how they fitin with the themes which have developed over timein the genre.

Chapter seven is "The Mecha's Blind Spot: "Patlabor 2" & the Phenomenology of Anime" by Christopher Bolton. This is another outstanding essay. Christopher Bolton clearly knows anime as well as "Patlabor", "Ghostin the Shell", & other works which he takes a deep dive look at some of the techniques used by the creators of these films.

Chapter eight is "Words of Alienation, Words of Flight: Loanwordsin Science Fiction Anime" by Naoki Chiba & Hiroko Chiba. Yet again, a wonderful look at an entirely different view of techniques usedin anime, that is to say the language & what the sub-context is that goes along with the choice of words. Not being someone who speaks Japanese or has been exposed to Japanese culture to any great extent, I am not sure I would ever have picked up on this aspect by watching the anime films, & that makes this chapter one of the best for me personally.

Chapter nine is "Sex & the Single Cyborg: Japanese Popular Culture Experimentsin Subjectivity" by Sharalyn Orbaugh. This is another good chapter, as it takes a broader look at the subject, including providing references to Star Wars, Frankenstein, etc., which help the reader understand the topic & the comparisons being drawn. Sharalyn Orbaugh also looks at "Neon Genesis Evangelion" & "Ghostin the Shell" to help illustrate the discussion of sexuality & singularity which are importantin these films.

Chapter 10 is "Invasion of the Woman Snatchers: The Problem of A-Life & the Uncannyin "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within" by Livia Monnet. This essay takes anin depth look at the first fully computer-animated "photorealistic" feature film, & presents the view that it represents a turning pointin the industry. It is an interesting discussion, though I am not sure I buy into the premise.

The last chapter is titled "Otaku Sexuality" by Saito Tamaki. This chapter looks at a type of fan which is unique to Japan & Japanese Science Fiction, & so it isn't directly about Anime even though it is placedin that section of the book. The otaku are shunned by some Japanese, for some reasons which Saito Tamaki discusses, & also discussedin great detail is the reality behind this group & myths are laid to rest. This is an interesting psychological analysis of a type of Science Fiction fan (though not all otaku are fans of science fiction), but I am not sure it tells us much about the genre any more than a study of types of fansin the U.S. would tell us about American Science Fiction. At the same time, it does provide a different perspective from which to view the genre.

Takayuki Tatsumi provides a nice afterword titled "A Very Soft Time Machine: From Translation to Transfiguration"in which he discusses the essays & how they relate as well as his own personal reflections on the subject.

Ultimately this is a very good book, & I am rounding up to five stars for the rating. I would have liked to see a few more essays, taking a look at some additional areas, such as manga & the non-anime moviesin particular. However, what information is provided is excellent, & it is nice that they were able to bring this series of essays from different sources togetherin one place.