Forum - View topicAnime set in the distant future of today.
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Mushi-Man
 Posts: 1537 Location: KCMO |
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The other day I was mindlessly jumping from page to page of the ANN encyclopedia, looking for some new titles. After a while I was looking over Yousuke Kuroda's credits when I found that he worked on a long forgotten series called Android Ana Maico 2010. This is a 1998 series about a radio studio that highers an android to be their new host of a radio show to get attention. And yes, as the title suggests, this is set in 2010. I thought this was amusing to see an older sci-fi title with a recent date and seeing how wrong they got it. Now 2010 is not over yet, but as of yet I haven't seen a realistic looking android that has the ability to host a radio program. And this got me wondering if there are other anime sci-fi titles from the past which have had the same misfortune with trying to predict the future.
I have managed to think of another anime series with a similar mistake and that would be the classic Gigantor which is set in the year 2000. now of course we still, sadly, don't have giant fighting robots which we can control with a remote control. So I'd say that they were off on this guess. But I have a strong feeling that there are allot of other titles with a similar problem. P.S. I'm not insulting the creators of these titles, I'm just trying to point out an amusing aspect of anime sci-fi history. Also I did find an older thread which had a similar topic but it seemed really watered down with comments that weren't quite relevant and people getting upset at the topic itself. I'd like to try to keep this a fun topic about older sci-fi anime that got the early 21st century wrong. |
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Mister V
 Posts: 1000 |
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Any science fiction ages badly. Well, almost. The best then becomes vintage, classic, and therefore enjoyable on its own.
I think Astro Boy would be the first thing that comes to mind, more or less. |
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dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
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I don't really blame Science Fiction for so often getting it wrong. That's because most of the time they are not trying to predict the future but instead tell a fictional story based in a fictional future. Will we have warp drives in the 24th century? Almost certainly not. But that doesn't stop Star Trek from being enjoyable, nor should it stop people in general (and Sci-Fi writers in particular) from dreaming.
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walw6pK4Alo
 Posts: 9322 |
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Blue Comet SPT Layzner (Sunrise 1985) had set up that the futuristic tomorrow of 1996 would center around the colonization of Mars while the Cold War continues, so the States and the Soviets both have separate operations.
It's just what Sci-Fi does. The only way to get around it is to set the events so far in the future and almost anything cannot be ruled out. |
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Mushi-Man
Posts: 1537 Location: KCMO |
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Mister V: I was considering Astro Boy too but I had forgotten what year it was set in. Does anyone remember the dates of the Astro Boy setting?
walw6pK4Alo: I had heard about this series before but I haven't yet watched it. But this sounds interesting thanks for the suggestion. I'd like to, once again, say that I'm not trying to "blame science fiction". I'm just trying to point out an amusing aspect of older sci-fi series. So I'd like to again ask that we keep the discussion on the topic. And lets try to avoid the argumentation of if we should hold writers accountable for failing to predict the future. This is a joking conversation meant for entertainment. |
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Beltane70
 Posts: 3972 |
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One of my favorite shows, the original Macross series. comes to mind one it comes to things that are quite different, technologically speaking.
Taking place in 2009-2012, Macross has us regularly still using things such as pay phones and record players. Cell phones, mp3 players, and laptops aren't anywhere to be found. Interestingly enough, Macross character designer Haruhiko Mikimoto is currently working on a manga adaption of the first Macross series. While still taking place in the same time period, Macross The First now has our current communication technology along with the advanced space technology that the series is known for. |
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zawa113
 Posts: 7358 |
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I'm pretty sure it's 2003, the 2003 series aired on April 7th, 2003 in Japan, which is Astro's fictional birthday. I'm assuming it's perpetually 2003 because at one point in the manga Astro mentions he's 18 now. Not that anyone around him has aged of course... Tezuka has this tendency a lot actually, the future half of the Sun manga takes place in 2008. The Metropolis movie, however, wasn't given a specific date, which I think is fine. I do find the whole "took place in the future, which is now a past date" thing ironic, it makes me giggle. Also, while Gigantor may have taken place in the year 2000, the series it came off of, Tetsujin 28-go takes place about 10 years after WW2. I dunno, did everyone think the future was just too cool to pass up in 1963 and so modify the series to be more appealing? The 2004 remake takes place about 10 years after WW2 too. |
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miloarkielove
Posts: 14 |
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well,my sister picked me up a marvel comic at the swap meet about us going to mars in 2010,but it wasnt manga.i think it was colled "solar planet 2010,"or something like that.
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Mushi-Man
Posts: 1537 Location: KCMO |
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Haha that's great, its really weird when you see futuristic sci-fi series using now out of date technology. I recall a scene from 2001 A Space Odyssey (hands down my favorite sci-fi movie ever) where Dr. Floyd is making a call back home to talk to his daughter. Instead of pulling out a fancy cell phone he goes to a video pay phone like device to do it.
Yeah I always found that to be a weird change to make. I guess when adapting it to an American audience they thought futuristic sci-fi sold better. But I always found the plot of the newer remake to be very interesting. How they're taking it back to the original idea and making it darker. Also thanks for the date on Astro Boy, for the like of me I couldn't remember it. |
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ninetynineproblems
 Posts: 20 |
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I read awhile ago that Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex takes place in 2030. I know that it isn't 2030 yet, but some of the things that take place in this series aren't very likely going to appear within the next twenty years.
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Mister V
Posts: 1000 |
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Actually it's safe to say that maybe after a nuclear war, with the help of a wise alien civilisation we might be able to build a near utopia. Now, if you count the "ifs"...  But I completely agree with your point.
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hakojo
 Posts: 208 Location: NE Ohio. |
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Especially when you take into account that spoiler[the Major was born around 2001 (in the TV series canon at least - if I remember correctly, the manga canon puts her date of birth closer to 1986, which is even more fantastical) and she would have gotten her initial prosthetic surgery about three years ago.] Although really, aside from the two world wars (which honestly could conceivably still happen), one of the real draws, for me, at least, to GitS in general is how believable a future it is - instead of going off to colonize other planets or make transforming fighter jets or whatever, you've got a focus on nanotechnology and AI development, and of course integrating computers ever further into human existance, to the point of making them a component of the body. That just seems so much more pragmatic to me than a lot of other sci-fi stories, even if the time frame has been proven to be a bit off. Ultimately I agree with what dtm42 said a few posts up; science fiction isn't necessarily about accurately predicting the future, it's about telling an enjoyable, fantastical story. |
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Maryohki
 Posts: 526 |
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It's not a sci fi title, but I think the classic example of anime failing to predict the future is CLAMP's X/1999. Of course I doubt they were trying to be accurate at all, obviously, but it's still funny since 1999 was kind of a while ago now and the world's still here.
But yeah, pretty much any sci fi title that doesn't put their set date off past the year 3000, leave the date unspecified, or create a new calendar system is going to end up being a failed prediction. |
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Zin5ki
 Posts: 6680 Location: London, UK |
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As a nod to the style of both Tezuka and Lang, I believe such a film was deliberately set within a retro-future. I, for one, consider this decision to add to the work's longevity. |
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Mushi-Man
Posts: 1537 Location: KCMO |
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Ghost in the Shell was another one that popped into my head too but I dismissed it when I remembered that it was set in 2030-ish (as ninetynineproblems said). But I had forgotten that the Major was suppose to have been born recently. This does bring up the interesting time line conflict seeing as the Major spoiler[was suppose to have undergone cyberization at the age of 6 after a plane crash. This would make the theorized date to be 2007 (if she was born in 2001).] So in the end even Ghost in the Shell suffers from this situation. That said I agree hakojo in that Ghost in the Shell portrays what I think is the most realistic vision of the future.
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