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Post-Human Nightmares – The World of Japanese Cyberpunk Cinema (2011)
- keiferski 6y agoOne of the films mentioned (Tetsuo: The Iron Man) is available to watch for free on archive.org. Probably not safe to watch at work. https://archive.org/details/TetsuoTheIronMan https://archive.org/details/TetsuoTheIronMan
- dfxm12 6y ago...and if you subscribe to Shudder, this was on a recent-ish episode of The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs. He also goes into some history of Japanese cyberpunk as he introduces the film.
- twic 6y agoI file that film firmly under Not Safe For Anywhere!
- b0rsuk 6y agoIt's a great film. It's getting tiresome for me towards the end, but for most part it's a movie that pulls me in based on visuals alone and that's rare.
- alexfromapex 6y agoWell that was some terrible mental images
- Minor49er 6y agoWhat a great article. For anyone interested who hasn't seen it before, Texhnolyze is an anime that explores more of a dystopian cybernetic futurescape and its possible outcome for humanity. It was co-created by ABe, one of the main creators of Serial Experiments: Lain.
- Der_Einzige 6y agoWhat's weird to me is that Serial Experiments Lain is my favorite anime of all time - but I did not find Texhnolyze enjoyable at all!
- bluedays 6y agoSorta hits you like a punch in the gut. I'm not sure it's suppose to be "enjoyable". Then again, I'm not sure that all art has to be enjoyable.
- dfxm12 6y agoI don't think that's so weird. Sure, they had the same writer and character designer, but the themes were somewhat different. I mean, even though the movies shared the same director, not everyone who likes the Terminator also likes Avatar, etc.
- livueta 6y agoI don't think I _enjoyed_ Tex either, per se, but it definitely left an impression. I'll never look at an Edward Hopper painting the same way again.
- anotherman554 6y agoI should probably rewatch Tex at some point. I remember enjoying it in general but finding the ending to be disappointing.
- dfxm12 6y agoI know they're referred to as Japanese cyberpunk, but it's almost like a different genre or subgenre, akin to body horror, with an over-emphasis on melding flesh and machinery, to the point where we have to question if the characters are human anymore. I feel like I heard a more specific name for this genre (or sub genre) a while back, but have since forgotten it. Or maybe "Japanese cyberpunk" is a distinct genre from "cyberpunk". I really enjoyed some of these, especially Electric Dragon 80000 V. My first exposure to something influenced by Japanese cyberpunk is probably Billy Idol's Shock to the System music video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lx2fZU5USus https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lx2fZU5USus.
- wodenokoto 6y agoWikipedia calls it “cyberpunk body horror” > Tetsuo: The Iron Man (鉄男, Tetsuo) is a 1989 Japanese cyberpunk body horror film.
- ousta 6y agoTsukamoto is one of the most underappreciated / unpopular great japanese director overseas. I never understood why he was never famous especially when Hideo Nakata, Kyoshi Kurosawa, Kitano, Koreeda (and Miike for audition) are super popular. His movie Kotoko is probably one the greatest modern horror movies.
- twic 6y agoWould be nice to have an update on what's happened in the almost ten years since this article was written.
- khimaros 6y agosite appears down. internet archive to the rescue: https://web.archive.org/web/20210125133431/https://www.midnighteye.com/features/post-human-nightmares-the-world-of-japanese-cyberpunk-cinema/ https://web.archive.org/web/20210125133431/https://www.midni...
- xiaolingxiao 6y agoIs there anyone here who is familiar with Japanese culture? The country's ability to express truly psychologically horrific "stuff" is unmatched by what's seen here in the U.S. Is it because the movie industry there is more permissive towards such genere? Is there something in the culture that prompt people to be inspired in this direction.
- jephson 6y agoYour questions make me realise I've long held the presumption this is a cultural response to events like Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
- dfxm12 6y agoThat's probably part of it and Godzilla is a direct response to it, but Japanese horror goes back further than that. If you're interested, it's worth exploring Japanese folklore. Something Wicked from Japan is an interesting collection of ukiyo prints about this: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/something-wicked-from-japan-ei-nakau/1125409341 https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/something-wicked-from-japan...
- jephson 6y agoIt does feel there's something of a line between the older folklore and the urban, technology-infused tales, but overall it is a great connection to make. Takashi Miike's The Great Yokai War is a nice little take on the old and new sensibilities: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Yokai_War https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Yokai_War
- buzzert 6y agoMy personal theory: Article IX of their constitution[0]. During WWII, the Japanese were absolutely brutal and persistent. Having your constitution rewritten to forbid a society like that from having a military could lead to some… extremely creative outlets in art. [0]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_9_of_the_Japanese_Constitution https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_9_of_the_Japanese_Co...
- ExcavateGrandMa 6y agoWTF how the story starts :D
- FalconSensei 6y agoIt would help if the images were big enough to actually be seen, or if at least I could click on it to expand.
- Cthulhu_ 6y agoI was wondering about that, maybe they're trying to avoid any kind of copyright claim? Even though the images would fall under fair use.