Japanese cyberpunk: Difference between revisions

Japanese cyberpunk [[Film industry|cinema]], also referred to as Extreme Japanese Cyberpunk, refers to a sub-genre of [[underground film]] produced in [[Japan]], starting in the 1980s. It bears some resemblance to the 'low-life high-tech' [[cyberpunk]], as understood in the West, however it differs in its representation of industrial and metallic imagery and an incomprehensible narrative. The main directors associated with the Japanese cyberpunk movement are [[Shinya Tsukamoto]], [[Shozin Fukui]], and [[Gakuryū Ishii|Sogo Ishii]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Dazed|date=2020-05-08|title=A guide to Japanese cyberpunk cinema with three of its visionary directors|url=https://www.dazeddigital.com/film-tv/article/49153/1/japanese-cyberpunk-cinema-guide-sogo-ishii-shinya-tsukamoto-shozin-fukui-akira|access-date=2020-11-27|website=Dazed|language=en}}</ref> The origins of the genre can be traced back to the 1982 film ''[[Burst City]]'', before the genre was primarily defined by the 1989 film ''[[Tetsuo: The Iron Man]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.cyberpunkreview.com/japanese-cyberpunk/ |title=ArchivedExtreme copyJapanese Cyberpunk |access-date=2008-09-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080901122559/http://www.cyberpunkreview.com/japanese-cyberpunk/ |archive-date=2008-09-01 |url-status=dead }}</ref> It has roots in the Japanese [[punk subculture]], that arose from the [[Japanese punk]] music scene in the 1970s, with [[Sogo Ishii]]'s [[punk film]]s of the late 1970s to early 1980s introducing this subculture to [[Japanese cinema]] and paving the way for Japanese cyberpunk.

<blockquote>Modern Japan simply was cyberpunk. The [[Japanese people|Japanese]] themselves knew it and delighted in it. I remember my first glimpse of [[Shibuya, Tokyo|Shibuya]], when one of the young [[Tokyo]] journalists who had taken me there, his face drenched with the light of a thousand media-suns—all that towering, animated crawl of commercial information—said, "You see? You see? It is ''Blade Runner'' town." And it was. It so evidently was.<ref name="cyberpunk1">{{cite webmagazine|url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1956774,00.html|title=The Future Perfect|first=William|last=Gibson|date=30 April 2001|workmagazine=Time}}</ref></blockquote>

''[[Akira (manga)|Akira]]'' (1982 manga) and its [[Akira (1988 film)|1988 anime film adaptation]] have influenced numerous works in animation, comics, film, music, television and video games.<ref name="vice">{{cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/kwk55w/how-akira-has-influenced-modern-culture|title=How 'Akira' Has Influenced All Your Favourite TV, Film and Music|work=[[Vice (magazine)|VICE]]|date=September 21, 2016}}</ref><ref name="filmschoolrejects">{{cite web |title='Akira' Is Frequently Cited as Influential. Why Is That? |url=https://filmschoolrejects.com/akira-influence-12cb6d84c0bc/ |website=[[Film School Rejects]] |date=April 3, 2017}}</ref> ''Akira'' has been cited as a major influence on [[Hollywood films]] such as ''[[The Matrix]]'',<ref name="gaeta-empire">{{cite journal|date=February 2006|title=200 Things That Rocked Our World: Bullet Time|journal=[[Empire (magazine)|Empire]]|issue=200|page=136|publisher=[[EMAP]]}}</ref> ''[[Dark City (1998 film)|Dark City]]'',<ref>[[Alex Proyas|Proyas, Alex]]. {{cite web |url=http://mysteryclock.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1647 |title=Dark City DC: Original Ending !? |access-date=2008-08-29 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071014191637/http://mysteryclock.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1647 |archive-date=October 14, 2007 }}. Mystery Clock Forum. Retrieved 2006-07-29.</ref> ''[[Chronicle (film)|Chronicle]]'',<ref>{{cite web|last=Woerner|first=Meredith|title=Chronicle captures every teen's fantasy of fighting back, say film's creators|url=http://io9.com/5881852/chronicle-is-a-movie-about-every-teens-fantasy-of-fighting-back|publisher=[[io9]]|access-date=25 May 2012|date=2 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140226195315/http://io9.com/5881852/chronicle-is-a-movie-about-every-teens-fantasy-of-fighting-back|archive-date=26 February 2014}}</ref> ''[[Looper (film)|Looper]]'',<ref>{{cite web|title=Rian Johnson Talks Working with Joseph Gordon-Levitt on LOOPER, Hollywood's Lack of Originality, Future Projects and More|work=[[Collider (website)|Collider]]|url=http://collider.com/rian-johnson-reddit-ama/}}</ref> ''[[Midnight Special (film)|Midnight Special]]'', and ''[[Inception]]'',<ref name="vice"/> television shows such as ''[[Stranger Things]]'',<ref>[http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/08/07/inside-stranger-things-the-duffer-bros-on-how-they-made-the-tv-hit-of-the-summer.html Inside ‘Stranger Things’: The Duffer Bros. on How They Made the TV Hit of the Summer], ''[[The Daily Beast]]'', August 7, 2016</ref> and video games such as [[Hideo Kojima]]'s ''[[Snatcher (video game)|Snatcher]]''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gamecritics.com/great-games-snatcher|title=Great Games Snatcher|work=GameCritics.com|first=Ben|last=Hopper|date=February 20, 2001|access-date=2011-08-24}}</ref> and ''[[Metal Gear (series)|Metal Gear Solid]]'',<ref name="polygon"/> [[Valve Corporation|Valve]]'s ''[[Half-Life (series)|Half-Life]]'' series<ref>{{cite news |title=Half-Life tiene varias referencias a Akira |url=https://as.com/meristation/2018/08/29/noticias/1535543681_545901.html |work=[[:es:MeriStation|MeriStation]] |publisher=[[Diario AS]] |date=August 29, 2018 |language=es}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=The most impressive PC mods ever made |url=https://www.techradar.com/news/the-most-impressive-pc-mods-ever-made |work=[[TechRadar]] |date=June 14, 2018 |language=en}}</ref> and [[Dontnod Entertainment]]'s ''[[Remember Me (video game)|Remember Me]]''.<ref>{{cite news |title=FEATURE: "Life is Strange" Interview and Hands-on Impressions |url=https://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-feature/2015/01/28/feature-life-is-strange-interview-and-hands-on-impressions |work=[[Crunchyroll]] |date=January 28, 2015}}</ref> [[John Gaeta]] cited ''Akira'' as artistic inspiration for the [[bullet time]] effect in [[The Matrix (franchise)|''The Matrix'' films]].<ref name="gaeta-empire"/> ''Akira'' has also been credited with influencing the ''[[Star Wars]]'' franchise, including the [[Star Wars prequels|prequel film trilogy]] and the ''[[Clone Wars (Star Wars)|Clone Wars]]'' film and television series.<ref>{{cite web|title=THE CINEMA BEHIND STAR WARS: AKIRA|work=[[Star Wars|StarWars.com]]|url=https://www.starwars.com/news/cinema-behind-star-wars-akira}}</ref> ''Akira'' has also influenced the work of musicians such as [[Kanye West]], who paid homage to ''Akira'' in the "[[Stronger (Kanye West song)|Stronger]]" music video,<ref name="vice"/> and [[Lupe Fiasco]], whose album ''[[Tetsuo & Youth]]'' is named after Tetsuo Shima.<ref>{{cite webmagazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/lupe-fiasco-is-avoiding-politics-on-tetsuo-youth-20131025|title=Lupe Fiasco's 'Tetsuo & Youth' Avoiding Politics – Rolling Stone|workmagazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=2 December 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141117113659/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/lupe-fiasco-is-avoiding-politics-on-tetsuo-youth-20131025|archive-date=17 November 2014}}</ref> The popular bike from the film, Kaneda's Motorbike, appears in ''[[Steven Spielberg]]'''s film ''[[Ready Player One (film)|Ready Player One]]'',<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.inverse.com/article/42981-ready-player-one-anime-easter-eggs-gundam|title= 'Ready Player One' Anime Easter Eggs Include Gundam, Voltron and Much More|work= inverse.com|first=Eric|last=Francisco}}</ref> and [[CD Projekt]]'s video game ''[[Cyberpunk 2077]]''.<ref>{{cite news |title=Cyberpunk 2077 devs "will be significantly more open" |url=https://www.pcgamesn.com/cyberpunk-2077/cyberpunk-2077-announcement-future |work=[[PCGamesN]] |date=June 12, 2018}}</ref> ''[[Deus Ex: Mankind Divided]]'' video game developer [[Eidos Montréal]] also paid homage to the film's poster.<ref>{{cite news |title=Here's Some Spiffy Unused Deus Ex: Mankind Divided Art, Inspired by Akira |url=http://www.kotaku.co.uk/2017/07/17/heres-some-spiffy-unused-deus-ex-mankind-art-inspired-by-akira |work=[[Kotaku]] |date=July 17, 2017}}</ref>