As is the case with all of these documentary style videos, we barely scratched the surface, hopefully this will inspire you to seek out more for yourselves. May i recommend a great podcast called Read Japanese Literature, they have a few videos on KZread, this one is about Science Fiction - kzread.info/dash/bejne/dWeTlNWehNSzqZc.html Outlaw Bookseller also has a video about Yukio Mishima and Japanese SF in general - kzread.info/dash/bejne/dKxmztOghMbIebw.html

@thehound9638

10 ай бұрын

Did you read "Upgrade" by Blake Crouch yet?

@outlawbookselleroriginal

10 ай бұрын

Thanks again for the mention, willdrop you an email soon.

Ghost in the Shell, Ergo Proxy, Battle Angel Alita, Evangelion, Psycho Pass, Blame, Paranoia Agent, Gantz, Steins Gate, Serial Experiments Lain, so many great stories.

@2Worlds_and_InBetween

4 ай бұрын

yeah.... agreed I had to go back and add, Darker than Black

The rise of Manga in the US speaks volumes about the failure of modern US comics to connect with the general audience, and much about the vast quality and quantity of excellent Manga stories. Japan's tradition of adults reading Manga, and treating it a another form of artistic storytelling, is more 'European mainland' in outlook, where comics are not just snobbishly dismissed as 'kiddies picture books', as they often still are in the US and UK.

@nightmarishcompositions4536

10 ай бұрын

The sad thing is, only the mainstream Marvel and DC comics are terrible. There’s tons of indie comics that are just as good as most manga.

@lorcannagle

10 ай бұрын

@@nightmarishcompositions4536 Even then Marvel and DC put out a lot of good stuff - it's just that eventually it'll get retconned or watered down or otherwise messed with in favour of maintaining the giant, unwieldly shared universe where characters barely change.

@lorcannagle

10 ай бұрын

@@thisspaceforrent5737 Absolutely, and you can still get comics in the equivalent stores of other countries. I see cheap, kid-oriented comics in supermarkets in Ireland all the time. 2000AD and locally repackaged superhero stuff is a little harder to get unless you go to a dedicated newsagents/magazine store but still more accessible than just specialist stores. Most towns and larger settlements have at least one place you can get some sort of comics.

@aclark903

4 ай бұрын

You say that but let’s face it, there are excellent manga but probably at least 70% is trash not fit for the over 15s.

Thanks for mentioning Polish sci-fi literature. Maybe someday you'll do something similar about it. I'm pretty sure you'll like not only Lem's books, but also Zajdel's (in my opinion the best) and Huberath's.

@MediaDeathCult

10 ай бұрын

I would like to somehow cover the whole world in practical slices

Blame is best sci-fi manga written ever. You must read it.

@MediaDeathCult

10 ай бұрын

Thank you, I will check it out

@cavidqilinc

10 ай бұрын

@@MediaDeathCult awesome

@HabeeShirzad

10 ай бұрын

Yeah, and the author Tsutomu Nihei's background in Construction and architectural engineering can really be seen in his mangas, some of the pages are just breathtaking.

@tr5676

10 ай бұрын

Blame is definitely a must read manga! Love it to death

Great script and well presented, but too short... I could have happily listened to you talk about Japanese SF for a lot longer. Great stuff.

@MediaDeathCult

10 ай бұрын

Thanks Alan, this is a debate we are always having behind the scenes. Would the video be better if it was 40 minutes long? Maybe. Will the audience disappear after 10 minutes? Probably

@alans3023

10 ай бұрын

@@MediaDeathCult I think your audience really appreciate what you do now and would stay with you for the ride. But I accept that’s a personal view and that I might be wrong. Excellent programme though. You and the Secret Sauce of Storytelling have really got me engaged with SF again. Thank you.

@mirage2101

10 ай бұрын

@@MediaDeathCultmaybe, but in this case you left me wanting more. Besides the obvious common recommendations like Akira, GitS and evangelion, what should we be seeking out? What books are there? What isn’t in the top 100 general manga and anime lists that is really cool? What is really different from the western material we’re used to?

This is an amazing channel. I tried watching other book tube science fiction channels and this is the best. The others no offense seem lame and kinda amateurish. Your videos are just cooler and also have real substance about the genre. Not just cool to be cool but cool because it's so good.

@MediaDeathCult

10 ай бұрын

Thank you so much, i agree with everything you said

They made one of the better "alternate history" sci-fi movies out of a Japanese short called "Never Let Me Go." Another "alt history" sci-fi effort is Philip K. Dick's "The Man in the High Castle."

I must say that this type of videos is the best on your channel

This was worth it just for the Compton Acres tour. Lovely. Great job Moid and Charlie.

@papanomidokoro

10 ай бұрын

I was wondering if the Media Death Cult had grown large enough to subsidize a junket to Japan. ;)

Outstanding content and visuals. Thank you, Moid and Sir Charlie!

Japan has my favorite sci-fi stories of all time, that to me, vastly outshine any western sci-fi story I’ve ever consumed. My personal favs are Gintama, Aria, Texhnolyze, 20th Century Boys, Pluto, Blame, and Psycho Pass. Though these stories are not at all heavy scifi and don’t really get into grand scifi concepts either(except maybe blame, Pluto, and psycho pass). Instead the scifi is more just a backdrop. It’s the themes and characters that make these stories incredible to me.

I would suggest on one end, Haruka Yakachiho's Crusher Joe and Dirty Pair, which both interesting takes on space opera (the latter had some amazing western adaptations from Adam Warren and Dark Horse), and on the the other end, Yukinobu Hoshino's 2001 Nights and Two Faces of Tomorrow. (The latter being an adaptation of some of James P. Hogan's works). Hoshino's style is more realistic, but is compelling all the same. They were also translated by Studio Proteus and published by Dark Horse Comics in the 90s.

The Media Death Cult videos on the history of science fiction from England to America, and now re: Japan, are amazing to zappy! I'm looking forward to MDC videos on the history of SF from China and Russia and every other country that has produced work from my favorite genre. And while I don't think I'll be around to see it, I hope one day Moid releases a video about the history of science fiction from Mars and beings from other planets, other galaxies. Good job, Moid!

GITS pretty much the best SciFi I ever read and watched

You're a genius Moid. Fantastic stuff. (And the other guys too of course).

Another excellent episode Moid . You should be on the bbc mate very educational 👍🏻

In recent years, the connections between manga and anime have actually connected up to prose literature as well. Light Novels, prose books with frequent illustrations in a manga style are incredibly popular, and making inroads in the west thanks to e-publishing are as often a source of an anime series as manga these days, and usually once it's adapted in one medium the other follows suit. There's an insanely popular genre right now that came first from light novels called Isekai - a character from the normal world - usually someone with a boring life, limited or niche skills and interests - finds themself in another world where it turns out that they're very special for some reason, like their niche interest is exactly what is needed to save the day. They're a prime example of what starts out as prose fiction and rapidly gets adapted to manga and anime.

Beautiful production. Top notch!

Another superb review. Why do you not have more subscribers? Are there so few reading Scifi any more? Thanks for this historical review.

Beautiful video, Moid, LOVED the location and great to see my old faves Abe and Mishima gettting a mention-thanks for the shout out, too. Decades ago I read a book called 'Japanese Science Fiction: A View of a Changing Society' which was given to me by its publisher- it's still in print but very expensive- I've been meaning to revisit it. Although 'Inter Ice Age 4' is hard to obtain, Penguin issued 'The Ark Sakura' about 18 months ago-worth a look! Maybe one day we'll get to sip some draft Kirin together in Chiba City with Case of 'Neormancer'. Take care now.

Outstanding content as usual! Thanks🤘🏼

Loved this. I would like to see a part two, maybe that would deal with the issue of how long to make the vids. Good luck with the move, look forward to seeing the fab newe library.

I really do like these new topic specific exposé pieces.

Great episode. My earliest introduction to SciFi was watching Star Blazers on WUTV (Fox Buffalo) in the 70s early mornings at the babysitters waiting for school to start (my Mom started work early)

Haters will say that you just use a screen background to pretend you were in Japan (just joking!!) Excellent content, I mean... you say Japan and I will immediately watch it. And the edition was great.

For a survey of Japanese SF, I would strongly recommend Kurodahan Press's "Speculative Japan" anthologies (full disclosure: I did some translation for this series' later volumes). The first of these traces its history all the way back to the 1970s, when Judith Merril got involved with a project to translate Japanese SF into English. Unfortunately, a finished anthology didn't see the light of day until 2007, but we've got it now, and Kurodahan went on to produce 3 additional volumes. Most of volume 1's stories are from the 60s and 70s, with two from the 80s and one from 2002. It has something from most of the major figures of early Japanese SF. Volumes 2 and up include more recent works, though there are some older ones as well.

@MediaDeathCult

10 ай бұрын

Thank you

So, here I was, reading Absolution Gap (yes, I am a bit late to the party) here in Japan, when I got this notification. It is like the whole universe was in phase for a blip of second. These new videos are sensational (even though I am wondering how many cans of beans remain under the stairs).

Gosh, you've really up your game from the old days... ;-) You know what I mean. Great work.

@MediaDeathCult

6 ай бұрын

Thank You

I think it's rather rtant to highlight the diference between "super robot" and "real robot", because it points towards one of the most important aspects of Japanese science fiction: the pushing of boundaries. Super robot is the initial popular genere where giant almost magical robots fight impossible threats in heroic, but basic stories. They were mainly aimed at children. With Gundam, in 1979, things changed. It was the start of the "real robot" genere, where the robots and the worlds are expected to be plausible, complex and even hostile; and the character deep and far from heroic power fantasies. The horror of war and its efects on the human mind and spirit were at the forefront. Of course Gundam initially failed because they marketed it in the same way and to the same audience as the super robot stuff... but then it came back like a typhoon thanks to the cult following it had developed among adult audiences eager for narratives that gave them something to think about, that offered them characters that felt real and relatable in a society struggling to (re)find its identity and navigating heavy political tensions.

Enjoyed this! I completely forgot about the Japanese Megacorp social phenomenon but you're totally right. Corps like Mitsubishi were so incredibly dominant back then. I've also never thought to compare Britain with Japan for some reason - interesting thought experiment there. You didn't mention Ghost in the Shell but glad you showed it - what a bullet that was into the American psyche.

Great video thank you!

Great video!! I new to the fairly new to the channel, been binging on your videos ever since, and I just love the ever increasing quality of your work. Most recently, there seems to be a rise in Chinese science fiction. I'm wondering if you have anything planned for that??

@MediaDeathCult

10 ай бұрын

Thanks, indeed we do, similar video about Chinese Science Fiction coming soon

Good stuff.

Another top notch video.

@MediaDeathCult

10 ай бұрын

Thank You

What Japanese SF have you read in novel form? I'd be interested in hearing more about those. The Haikasoru line of books translates a number of SFF classics from the 60s to the present, from space opera to very hard sf, some very odd indeed. I love your recognition that our exploration of SF through their eyes is akin to seeing an alien culture. It's one reason I've loved exploring their culture, because if we can't understand them, what hope have we of understanding aliens?

Fantastic video. Would love to see one of your indepth videos on Russian scifi history. Not as globally impactful but how authors used it to mask their opinions on life under Soviet rule is incredible.

@MediaDeathCult

10 ай бұрын

Thanks, a similar Russian/Soviet video will happen soon

Thanks!

@MediaDeathCult

10 ай бұрын

Thank you

どうもありがとう、モイド.。

Talking about Manga I was wondering if you would touch on the erotic part of it and yep you did 👍🏼 Now Of course the Western World has had its Barbarella and co but the feeling is not the same. I ‘ve read some interesting South Korean SF recently and Chinese . Although they are 3 different cultures there is also a big connection between them. Nice video and nice Japanese Cherry flowers themed Hawaii shirt 🤗 Love the idea of looking at the history of SF starting from different cultures 🤗 You can cover the World like this …. Wearing the appropriate Hawaiian shirt ofcourse 🤗

@tarico4436

10 ай бұрын

AMONG the three, not BETWEEN the three. Also, we shouldn't mention that his Hawaiian shirt is 🔥

@ilselauwers6009

10 ай бұрын

@@tarico4436 ha thank you . Yep English is not my mother language so always nice to get some corrections 🤗 Well his shirts are 🔥 and part of the fun so 🤗

@tarico4436

10 ай бұрын

@@ilselauwers6009 I was saying a bad joke about the Hawaiian fires currently still smoldering. Sorry. And I do wish the survivors well. Also, thank you for not blowing up at me for my helping with your English. You wouldn't believe how much 💩I get for merely helping!

Godzilla and sheet

Bring on the sex robots!!! Oh wait, the frisky japanese have coin-operated machines for that?

I think you are missing Doraemon.

@SlapstickGenius23

10 ай бұрын

Doraemon is more of a semi-educational comedy series, but it does have some elements of science fiction.

Why didn't you talked about Japanese light novels😢?

I have a nearly lifelong history with both Japan and with science fiction, though not always Japanese sci-fi. In the early 80s our national broadcaster seemed to show nothing but Japanese cartoons (also Monkey), and British stuff from that guy in the blue box, the Goodies, and so on. I think maybe the ABC got a bulk discount on Japanese shows or something :D Whatever the reason, Japanese "soft power" was already getting hooks in my young brain even in my earliest school years. We used to watch fansubs on VHS long before anime was even a word here, and then Akira punched my generation square in the nuts and really brought Japanese animation into the broader consciousness here. I''m all grown-up now, so my dislike of anime is at a similar level as my dislike of most all media. Thank goodness for weird corners of KZread! And thanks for the vid MDC.

Say it with me #Meiji (MayG)

My girlfriend just came in the room and asked me what I was doing. I said I was watching a video on the history of Japanese science fiction. Now I don't have a girlfriend anymore.

Neon Genesis Evangelion is a pretty good Japanese sci fi, it has some good characters with some interesting flaws and a mysterious story. It takes a while to get good (13ish episodes in) But the movie End of Evangelion is worth it. There's also a manga adaptation that was made after the show.

@nightmarishcompositions4536

10 ай бұрын

I actually liked the manga a little more. It did a better job of developing some of the characters, especially Shinji.

LOL weeaboos.

then ww2 happened and depiction of Japanese people appeared correct

Thanks!

@MediaDeathCult

10 ай бұрын

Thank You Hugh