An interesting thing about anime is, compared to a lot of other SF/F, the way it represents robots and machines. In most western SF that I know of, robots are either the enemy (representing the threat of technology to anything remotely warm and fuzzy) or Pinocchio, wanting to become human (or, as a subset, robots represent the disenfranchised who need to 1) recognize their own humanity and/or 2) get the humans to recognize it (or, as a crossover with the first possibility, rise up and destroy their human masters with the difference that it's justified and the humans were already dehumanized - see The Web for details).
In anime, somebody can be a robot and that's just one of those things.
So, what would happen if B7 were anime?
Travis would turn out to be Avon's older brother who was trying to get him to betray Blake and join the Dark Side or else who just wanted to kill Avon.
Avon would have found suit of robotic body armor to wear early on in the series.
There would be far more romantic plot twists.
There would be an evil female who would fall in love with Blake instead of Avon for a change (and she would then change sides, defying her evil father in the process).
There'd be a lot more fight scenes that looked like they were copied from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
Any other ideas?
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On Thu, Aug 09, 2001 at 11:11:42PM -0600, Ellynne G. wrote:
An interesting thing about anime is, compared to a lot of other SF/F, the way it represents robots and machines. In most western SF that I know
[snip]
Any other ideas?
(I'm sorry, I can't help it...)
The Liberator would transform from a spaceship into a giant robot...
Kathryn Andersen -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- "Normally when somebody dies, people stand up. They were all sitting down." -- Nathan Spring (Star Cops: In Warm Blood)
Ellynne wrote:
An interesting thing about anime is, compared to a lot of other SF/F, the way it represents robots and machines. In most western SF that I know of, robots are either the enemy (representing the threat of technology to anything remotely warm and fuzzy) or Pinocchio, wanting to become human (or, as a subset, robots represent the disenfranchised who need to 1) recognize their own humanity and/or 2) get the humans to recognize it (or, as a crossover with the first possibility, rise up and destroy their human masters with the difference that it's justified and the humans were already dehumanized - see The Web for details).
In anime, somebody can be a robot and that's just one of those things.
Just read "Look to Windward" by Iain M. Banks where a simillar situation exists. Heartily recommend it.
So, what would happen if B7 were anime?
There'd be a lot more fight scenes that looked like they were copied from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
Wow ! One of the few things that would improve on the original where the fight scenes were taken from Starsky and Hutch (except during Hostage where the fight scenes came from Monty Python).
Stephen.
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"Ellynne" == Ellynne G rilliara@juno.com writes:
An interesting thing about anime is, compared to a lot of other SF/F, the way it represents robots and machines.
Pet peeve: Anime is just animated movies from Japan, it varies wildly in style, content and genre.
B7 by Masamune Shirow (creator of _Ghost in the Shell_ and _Appleseed_, among other things): It turns out that Avon is the product of a Federation biotech project, and that Orac's programming is a downloaded copy of Ensor's mind. There is much speculation about if either of them can be regarded as human, and if not, _why_.
B7 by Hayao Miyazaki (_Mononoke-Hime_ and _My Neighbour Totoro_): For the most part slow and poetic, giving great insight into the personalities of _all_ the characters. At the end, you still feel that Servalan is a deeply evil person, but you can now understand why she is that way and why she thinks she's doing the right thing.
B7 by Rumiko Takahashi (_Ranma 1/2_ and _Maison Ikkoku_): Life on the Liberator as a romantic comedy soap opera. Blake and Avon are both deeply in love with Jenna, who can't choose between them. They all spend _dozens_ of episodes on the verge of actually telling each other how they feel, but never actually do so. Every other episode, someone from one of the three's past appears and stays on. By season nine or so, the relationships are so many and complex that new viewers are hopelessly lost.
B7 by the people who make _Tenchi Muyo_: The only male on the crew is Vila, and *everybody* is in love with him. Most of the characters have more or less strange powers, often of an explosive or otherwise destructive nature. The Liberator's autorepair system gets used a lot.
B7 by the people who make _Sailor Moon_: All the female characters can transform into scantily clad alter egos with magical powers. All of the men are useless, but Blake vanishes off the scene as soon as the going gets tough and a handsome masked stranger appears at the last minute and saves the day. Servalan is a reptiloid monster with vast magical powers, which she uses to send Travis to be killed over and over again by the heroes.
B7 by the people who made _Urotsukidoji_: Er... No.
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Calle Dybedahl -
Ellynne G. -
Kathryn Andersen -
Stephen Date