My SF Roots as Seen Through Mental Conversion
My SF Roots
Even at this age, I still quite enjoy science fiction novels.
The fun part of SF novels is that they let you experience worlds that go beyond your own imagination, and recently I've been having a great time with Greg Egan, Ted Chiang, and Ken Liu, among others.
Up until now, I had mostly read works from overseas, so starting last year, I began challenging myself with domestic Japanese SF as well.
Once I started reading them, I found that domestic SF is also interesting, and I am currently reading novels by Sayuri Ueda, Tobihirou, and Issui Ogawa.
However, there is one thing I noticed while reading works by domestic authors.
That is—and I think this is the same for everyone—when you read a novel, you do so while imagining the scenes being depicted, don't you?
At such times, for some reason, when it comes to overseas SF novels, I imagine scenes like live-action special effects films, while for domestic SF novels, I imagine anime-style scenes.
It's a bit strange, but in my case, it's quite clearly categorized, and this mental conversion phenomenon happens naturally.
This probably has something to do with my own history with SF, so I'd like to look back on my own SF roots.
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When I trace my own SF roots, there is no doubt that movies and anime are there, so I will recall them from elementary school through high school...
My SF Roots (1) "Space Battleship Yamato"
(Japanese Anime) General Director/Producer: Yoshinobu Nishizaki
The year is 2199. Earth was on the brink of extinction after being attacked by the mysterious interstellar nation of Gamilas. In search of the radiation removal device that is humanity's last hope, the space battleship Yamato departs for the planet Iscandar, 148,000 light-years away.
Perhaps the very first one is this sci-fi anime.
What captured a young boy's heart was the superluminal tachyon particles used by the wave-motion engine in "Space Battleship Yamato," and the concept of warp navigation made possible by it.
Yamato had only one year left. During that time, it had to make a round trip to the planet Iscandar, 148,000 light-years away.
What made that possible was warp navigation, which was truly sci-fi and got me excited.
<Meeting regarding "warp navigation" for the crew>
My Sci-Fi Roots ② "Star Wars"
(Foreign Film) Director: George Lucas et al.
Luke Skywalker, as if guided by his own destiny, joins his companions in throwing himself into the rescue of Princess Leia and the destruction of the Empire by the Rebel Alliance.
The order of these is a bit fuzzy, but I am certain that "Star Wars" came after "Space Battleship Yamato."
I was thrilled by the Jedi Knights' lightsabers and the power of the Force, but what really captured a young boy's heart were the stars floating in that pitch-black space, and the sight of spaceships illuminated by high-contrast light.
There is something great about this sense of scale.
My Sci-Fi Roots ③ "Mobile Suit Gundam"
(Japanese Anime) Director: Yoshiyuki Tomino
Universal Century 0079. Space Colony Side 3 declares itself the Principality of Zeon and launches an independence war against the Earth Federation Forces. Amuro, a 15-year-old boy living on Side 7, accidentally boards the mobile suit Gundam during a Zeon assault and repels the enemy mobile suit Zaku.
Basically, I consider myself part of the (first) Gundam generation.
This original Gundam depicts a war between humanity that has moved into space and humanity that has remained on Earth, and the space side has moved into space colonies. These are massive structures, and I was moved by this sense of scale.
I even dream that it might become a reality while I am still alive.
The Gundam world felt like a direct continuation of the modern day.
And the opening narration by Ichiro Nagai was so cool that the concept of a space colony was firmly etched into my young heart.
(Opening narration)
Half a century had already passed since humanity began migrating into space to accommodate its overpopulation. The giant artificial cities orbiting Earth became humanity's second home, where people were born, raised, and eventually died.
My SF Roots ④ "2001: A Space Odyssey"
(Foreign Film) Director: Stanley Kubrick
In the dawn of humanity 4 million years ago, after coming into contact with a mysterious black slab called a "monolith," apes made a dramatic evolution into humans and developed to the point of space exploration. Then, in 2001, a mission sets off on the first manned Jupiter expedition to investigate the mystery of the "monolith."
It was produced in 1968, but I didn't watch it until much later, when I was in junior high school and starting to get interested in science fiction.
I was expecting more of an action-adventure like Star Wars, but it was somewhat understated, and at the time, I didn't quite understand the story.
However, what captured my heart was the fact that
space is weightless and silent.
Compared to other movies, the movement is very slow, but that actually makes you feel the weightlessness of space.
The space station that appears early on rotates slowly, and I was moved by that sight.
Also, the extravehicular activity scenes of the Discovery One proceed in silence, which made it feel suffocating and conveyed that there is no air in space.
This is definitely the work that made me feel that space is something unknown and profound.
My SF Roots ⑤ "Blade Runner"
(Foreign Film) Director: Ridley Scott
The setting is 2019. It is a near future where humanity has advanced into space, and exploration and migration are being promoted. To perform dangerous work on undeveloped planets, androids called replicants were created and used like slaves in harsh environments. Eventually, individuals who rebelled against humanity appeared among the replicants...
This film is science fiction, but space doesn't appear in it.
However, the way it depicts the "near-future worldview" is amazing.
The setting is a future Los Angeles, where it is always raining acid rain, and the city is overcrowded and cluttered; it doesn't look like the future at all... but that is what made it feel like the near future.
The other "gadgets" were also fascinating, and the scene midway through where the computer analyzes photos while receiving instructions one after another in Harrison Ford's voice was quietly cool.
My SF Roots ⑥ "AKIRA"
(Japanese Anime) Original Work/Director: Katsuhiro Otomo
On July 16, 1988, a "new type of bomb" exploded in the Kanto region, triggering World War III. Thirty-one years later, in the new capital of "Neo-Tokyo" in 2019, clashes between anti-government guerrillas and the military continued.
I was following the manga, so I think I was in high school when I saw the movie.
This one doesn't feature space either, but like "Blade Runner," it was a work that drew me in with its "near-future worldview".
The "Kaneda's bike" that appeared in Spielberg's "Ready Player One" was so cool that I wanted one, and recently, there are even products that are close to the real thing.
<From "Ready Player One">
What about the mental conversion of that work?
Looking back at my SF roots, overseas was only movies and no anime, and domestic was only anime and no live-action movies.
The reason for my mental conversion phenomenon lies here, but looking at the lineup, I feel like there are others who have similar roots.
So, if you have similar symptoms, please feel free to contact me.
Tracing my roots, "2001: A Space Odyssey" is set in 2001, while "Blade Runner" and "AKIRA" are set in 2019, so reality has already overtaken those "futures of the past".
It's a strange feeling.
By the way, regarding the Chinese SF novel "The Three-Body Problem", which has recently had its second volume published, for some reason my mental visualization of it is "anime".
Even though it's an overseas work... this is also a strange feeling.
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