ABSTRACT
The technology in manga is often where most of the detail and time is spent. In contrast to real-world technology, which trends toward miniaturization, streamlines, and smooth edges, manga technology tends to be big, bulky and full of moving parts, as if the technology of the past ran into that of the future. In contrast, technology is meant to be foreign, to stand apart, and to have little or no humanity. The combination of a simple human being and a complicated mecha in the same panel evokes many themes, such as nature’s design versus man’s design; humanity and its reliance on technology; and artificial intelligence versus human intelligence. A manga character will often pilot a mecha or other big piece of technology by sitting inside it, as one would a tank. This leads to a striking image of the cockpit, where the simplified character is surrounded on all sides by tubes and wires.
