ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that two of the most important Japanese animated films, Katsuhiro Ōtomo’s Akira and Mamoru Oshii’s Ghost in the Shell (Kōkaku Kidōtai), marked the mainstream introduction and critical consolidation of cyberpunk anime as a respected and acclaimed visual form in the west and constitute an important contribution to cyberpunk culture. At the same time, they aren’t prototypical of cyberpunk; instead, each of the films adjusts the cyberpunk formula to one side of the spectrum, highlighting their respective unique contributions: Akira veers toward anarchy, dissent, ‘punk,’ and body horror, while Ghost in the Shell foregrounds cybertechnology and cyborgian constructions of life. In Akira, these tendencies are evident in elements such as bōsōzoku (biker gangs), protagonist Kaneda’s iconic red motorcycle, and his street-use appropriation of technology. In Ghost in the Shell, the very status of protagonist Major Motoko Kusanagi as a cyborg with an almost entirely artificial body decouples cyborg subjectivity from embodiment. In the end, this chapter concludes that both are important cyberpunk interventions into posthuman discourse and should be seen as Japanese key contributions to the mode.
