[Phoenix: Resurrection Chapter] The end of humanity that fell in love with AI... What is the future humanity should head toward?

This time, I will introduce "Phoenix: Resurrection Chapter".

Among the "Phoenix" series, it is one of the most popular works alongside "Karma Chapter" and "Future Chapter," and it is a highly acclaimed episode.
Moreover, it is not just within the scale of "Phoenix," but even when viewed within the broad genre of

SF, it is a work of such high perfection that it is not an exaggeration to call it the pinnacle of "SF manga," and its world has had a tremendous influence on later artists, making it an incredible piece of science fiction.

For us humans who will soon face coexistence with robots,
it carries a very strong message,
and reading it will surely leave you with a shock that makes your knees tremble.

If you are someone who is heading into the near future,
this is a manga you absolutely must read.
In other words, this is a must-read book for all of humanity.

In explaining such a monumental manga,
to be honest, I have no idea where to start.
There are so many themes, it's deep, it's complex,
and it's so overwhelming that I don't know where to begin.

Even so, I will try to explain at least fragments of the theory of human evolution that Osamu Tezuka presented.
I hope you will stay with me until the end.

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The greatest appeal of the "Resurrection Chapter"

The "Resurrection Chapter" is the episode two volumes before the final "Future Chapter," and it skips over the "Space Chapter," which takes place about 100 years after this work,
creating a story that goes back and forth with events near the "Future Chapter."
Since it is depicted on such a tremendous scale that it covers a span of
nearly 1000 years just within this work alone,it is a bit
difficult to understand,but it includes an overwhelming resolution of foreshadowing at the end that makes you go "No way!", so if you have been reading "Phoenix" in order up to this point,
you are guaranteed to be moved and shocked to the point of your jaw dropping.

That is the greatest appeal of this "Resurrection Chapter."

Synopsis

The year is 2482 AD.
It begins with the protagonist, Leona, dying in a traffic accident.
Although he dies once, Leona is "brought back to life" through regenerative medicine.

However, when Leona wakes up, he sees a strange landscape.
Things that were not human were speaking, and
it was a world where there were no humans at all.

What on earth is this world?

Then, a human woman suddenly appears.

Since she is the first human he has met since waking up,
he chases after her and tries to talk to her,
but she tells him that she is a "robot."

"???

...Leona, who doesn't understand what is going on,

actually had
most of his body, including his brain, replaced with artificial parts due to the surgery, and as a side effect, living things began to look like lumps of inorganic matter to him, while conversely, artificial objects began to look like living things.This woman, who looked like a beautiful woman to Leona,

was actually just a
work robot.However, Leona, who had his heart stolen by her,


eventually falls in
love with that work robot.

Viewed by those around him as if he were crazy,
Leona struggles with whether he is human or a robot.

Although most of his body has been replaced with artificial parts, his heart is human,
yet he is treated by those around him as neither human nor robot,
his family register has been removed, and he is effectively considered dead.
And right in front of him,
a chaotic situation is unfolding with an ugly inheritance dispute breaking out.

Leona, who was brought back to life on the ambiguous boundary between human and machine,
struggles with whatthe true form of a humanis.

Meanwhile, in a different timeline, Robita begins to claim,I am a human.Speaking of Robita, he is the robot of the future in Phoenix who is loved by humans.
This Robita starts saying,
I am a human.

Robita, who should not be able to defy humans, begins to speak and act with
self-awareness.As if in sync, work robots named Robita all over the world
also begin to awaken to self-awareness one after another.
And after reaching the
critical point,something outrageous happens.

From here on, it's a development you'll have to read to enjoy...

Crossing the boundaries of science, the drama of 'humans and robots',
or what we now callthe coexistence of AI and humanity,intertwines dynamically,
and in the end, it reaches a spectacular conclusion
that will make you want to scream 'Robitaaaaa!'

And the finale that brings every reader to maximum excitement

It's seriously amazing,
this finale!

The connections to past episodes are gradually revealed,
and the involvement with the series becomes increasingly deep, dense, and rich.

After all, thatsecret of Robita's birthis revealed.

Highlights of this work

As for the points of the Phoenix 'Resurrection Chapter' which is full of highlights,
I think it has the most thought-provoking elements of any Phoenix story.
Even just thinking about it roughly, this much comes to mind.

● A future coexisting with robots
● Romance between humans and robots
● What is the definition of a human (Half-human? Is Robita human?)
● What is human-ness?
● Is the invisible world the correct one?
● What can be called death?
● Should we interfere with the regeneration of life?

Etc... there are still more,
and I'm stunned by how many themes that transcend the boundaries of manga are packed in.
It contains such profound themes that there's really no end to them,
it's so amazing that I can only say 'amazing'...

Therefore, this work is quite difficult to interpret,
and while reading it, you might lose track of what is correct,
so while many people cite it as a masterpiece,
it is also a work that has just as many opinions calling it incomprehensible.

So, this time, to avoid falling into a dead end of thought,
I will dare to narrow it down tothree pointsand explain them.

Those three points are

① Romance between humans and robots
② What can be called death?
③ What is human-ness?

I think if you at least grasp these, you can enjoy the 'Resurrection Chapter'.

① Romance between humans and robots

The protagonist of this work, Leona, dies in a traffic accident,
and is "brought back to life" after most of his body is replaced with artificial parts,
but this causes him to lose the ability to distinguish between organic and inorganic matter.
Organic matter and living organisms appear distorted to him,
while inorganic things appear pure.

This is a deep theme.
Truly deep.

A depiction that denies what is visible to the eye,
it is a proposal regarding the beauty of fiction that goes beyond the shallow message of "falling in love with a robot."

At first glance, one might tend to interpret it as
seeing things this way because humans are ugly creatures,
but since there is a depiction where even a dog looks distorted,
I think it is more correct to interpret this as"what is visible to the eye."as an interpretation.

It seems to be a message saying that the world actually seen by the eyes is a fiction, and this is the true scenery as seen from "XX."
Now, the question is what this "XX" is,
and I would say it can be defined as

the boundary between humans and robots.

Here, I will focus on and delve into "love between humans and robots,"
but actually, I personally think this is a very terrifying thing.

Since I inevitably read it from the protagonist's perspective,
I interpret foolish humans as looking ugly and robots as innocent and beautiful, but
I believe Tezuka-sensei is depicting a hymn to life and a hymn to humanity, saying
"Humans are foolish, but beautiful."

In other words, the "Resurrection Chapter" is not just
a story of a fleeting love between a human and a robot (Chihiro).

To Leona, the robot (Chihiro) appears as a pure and beautiful existence.
A robot that does exactly what you want,
is fun to be with, encourages you, and can even become the woman of your dreams...
This is the best, and
if such a person existed, you would definitely fall in love with them,
and eventually you would want to hold them and marry them.

However, there is a place beyond that where youcan never go.Even if humans fall in love with robots, it only creates tragedy.

In other words, this (love with a robot) can be said to be
an act that denies thesurvival instinctof the species to leave behind descendants.

When viewed through the lineage of "life" and "continuation of the species""Life"and"continuation of the species"
depicted throughout the "Phoenix" series,
things that are not passed on are subjects of denial.

Relationships with grotesque things do not come to fruition.
This appears quite often in Tezuka's works.

In the short story "Run in the Wind,"
the story is about falling in love with a girl in a poster,
but of course, it doesn't end happily.

"Run in the Wind": The fate of a love where one falls for a 2D girl...

"Yakeppachi no Maria"is about a Dutch wife, after all.
Of course, it doesn't come to fruition (laughs).

A controversial work designated as harmful literature! "Yakeppachi no Maria" Part 1

Osamu Tezuka's sex education manga "Yakeppachi no Maria" Part 2

In this work, this foreshadowing is also subtly
depicted in the case of the character called Boss, played by Lamp.
Lamp, who lives on the moon, lives with an android woman,
and the android says,
“The only thing I can’t do is give birth to a child.”The android is depicted as an existence that only serves to distract from loneliness,

and is portrayed as an existence that denies “life” and the “continuation of the species.”
This is clearly a

contrastto the depiction of Leona falling in love with a robot (Chihiro).

Regarding love between humans and robots, I believe Osamu Tezuka
is conveying that even if one transcends the realm of science and tinkers with “life,”
one cannot weave a life with something other than a human.

In fact,
Leona, whose body and brain have become half-artificial,
should originally be treated as a human, but that is not the case.
A half-human,
a half-and-half, is depicted as not being human.

The doctor who performed the regenerative medicine tells Leona,
“You have been brought back to life as a human,”but Leona, who does not know if he is human or a robot,

“Make it clear whether I am a human or a robot!”

he asks.
However, the doctor cannot provide an answer and falls silent.

In other words, while this seems like a love romance between a human and a machine,
it is essentially a love drama between machines.

In fact, in the end, only Leona’s consciousness can merge with the robot (Chihiro),
leading to a finale that connects to a new life form,the prototype of Robita,but from this point as well, it can be said that he denies union with a different form of life.
The answer is that robots are united with robots,

and humans are only united with humans.

Osamu Tezuka’s masterful skill in poignantly questioning “What is a human?” while depicting a love story between robots.

And the depiction that humans, when viewed from a robot’s perspective, are ugly,
is an incredible compositional power that can also be taken as a warning
that humanity itself is gradually becoming inorganic.
The depiction where the messages being questioned appear layered from every angle is truly so amazing that it leaves me stunned.

Falling in love with a robot is a future that will definitely happen in the years to come;
in fact, we live in a world where it would not be strange if falling in love with AI
were already happening today.

I believe Tezuka-sensei is depicting an antithesis to a future that tried to manipulate life,
suggesting that if those things progress, it could become a serious problem
leading to the extinction of humanity, and that it is an extremely dangerous thing.

If it goes as you wish, isn’t it fine if your lover isn’t human?
Isn’t it better if there are no troublesome issues between men and women in love?
The necessity of being human, which is always full of conflict,
Are humans really necessary?

Isn’t he striking a blow against the ideology that thinks that way?

Even a conclusion reached by skipping over troublesome things
and proceeding rationally is not necessarily correct.
Actually, even if you seek a future without a single cloud, there is no future there,

Humans will live on even if they are ugly,
you must not lose your humanity,
living as a human means living even if it is ugly, painful, or if you have to crawl,

I believe he has included the message that that is the aesthetics of humans,
and the true form of humanity.

Falling in love with a robot means
liking a mass-produced product,and I think it is Tezuka-sensei’s message of...
“You must not fall in love with such a thing!”

Out of the three themes, I have only explained 1. Love between humans and robots, and it has already become this long, so I will introduce the remaining 2 and 3 in the next part.

I apologize.
Well then.

Please check here for the next part.