How games and animes of the past predicted our present and future: life mimics fiction

Pop culture as a whole has the property of being prophetic. In May 2000, “The simpsons”Managed to predict that Donald trump will become president (and not only that). Shortly before September 11 “Family Guy”Joked that Osama bin Laden made a terrorist attack with the help of airplanes, but this is beyond the scope of comedy. Even classical literature sometimes predicted the future. For example, Jules Verne. In some of his novels, he not only foresaw the flight of humanity to the moon, but also gave a partial idea of ​​how this will happen (Hint: not in the studio of the Hollywood pavilion).

Of course, not only Americans and classics predicted the future in a strange way, but also Japanese through anime, manga and video games. There are many unique parallels to how things are now. This is what this material is about.

Anime predicted crisis

“Ghost in armor”Predicted the Internet almost ten years before the world wide web became available. In turn “Akira”Was able to predict the holding of the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2023 more than 35 years ago.

Unfortunately, the Olympics was postponed until 2023 due to a pandemic COVID-19. In the original anime, someone demanded to cancel the event by painting the announcing billboards with a countdown timer with a spray can with the corresponding message. It was this phrase that became the trending hashtag on Japanese Twitter in February this year. Although the original anime and manga do not explicitly state that the government is canceling or delaying the Olympics because of what is happening in that story, viewers can easily draw their own conclusions.

Problems of the Japanese government

“Akira” raises many topical issues, especially about the failures of the government in protecting the population. There are those who criticized Trump’s anti-crisis decisions at the start of the pandemic, but the Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe in general, he did not officially declare any state of emergency until the end of March, subsequently justifying himself that he had to carefully consult with experts.

Many scolded Abe and the Japanese government for not wanting to lose the Olympics and the money that the entire event guaranteed, so they hesitated to declare a pandemic in the country. All this resulted in an increase in the number of infected in the territory.

Some politicians have used the crisis for profit. So, a senator from North Carolina Richard Burr He began selling his shares in various companies shortly before the market crash, obviously knowing in advance about the impending pandemic. Like the anime “Ghost in the Shell: Loner Syndrome”, There are elites who have used disease for profit.

Effect on children

Akira also explores the topic of children at risk. Kaneda and his friends attend school for difficult teens and are repeatedly subjected to corporal punishment. In the original manga, you see some students who are forced to take drugs by analogy with Ritalin, which was widely used in the treatment of ADHD during initial serialization. This drug, as it turned out, has serious side effects and was subsequently banned in many countries.

In connection with the crisis, the closure of schools further highlighted some problems. Many children from low-income families receive good nutrition only at school, where they are fed for free. In addition, many parents who still go to work are forced to leave their homes alone. UNESCO expressed concern that this could adversely affect their behavior. Characters of Akira without proper parental guidance ultimately become criminals.

Draconian methods

Akira also predicted the possible consequences of repealing article 9 of Japan’s post-war constitution, which forces the country to condemn the war and does not allow it to officially have an army.

In recent years, Shinzo Abe and the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party have wanted to reform the amendment due to growing tensions with China and North Korea. Some countries have taken decisive steps to enforce their quarantines. President of the Philippines Rodrigo Dutertefor example, ordered law enforcement to shoot those who violate quarantine.

Japan in its current form cannot legally impose strict quarantine, but only encourage people to stay at home, but not force them to do so.

As for the role of the US military, they are deployed as humanitarian aid (for example, in New York), and not for law enforcement purposes. Even before that, some state governors, such as Doug Dewey from Arizona, revitalized the National Guard to help keep store shelves full. Fortunately, not a single country in the first world used the military as a means of oppression.

While the Japanese government can not be strict in its actions under the Constitution, Japanese corporations, notorious for having to work long hours, are a completely different story. Although some companies allow their employees to work at home, the number of passengers on some branches in Tokyo fell by only 30%. This may seem sufficient for those who do not live in Japan, but during normal peak hours some branches are 180% full. In this sense, 30% is very small. Many companies still lay off employees if they do not come to work.

However, some branches really became almost empty, and people sit in their seats through two seats from each other. The working hours of almost all public institutions have been reduced. Even fast food, like restaurants. ”Mcdonalds”, Works only takeaway after 8 pm, and many cafes are completely closed. Shibuya is like a ghost town because all shopping centers and entertainment venues are closed.

Valuable personnel

The game also looks prophetic Hideo Kojima Death stranding for Ps4. Although the “explosion to end it all” has not yet happened (and we hope that this will not happen), there are some noticeable similarities between last year’s game and our modern reality.

First baboutmost of the world of Death Stranding is not just in quarantine, but in total isolation, so as not to suffer from an incident that caused a series of dystopian events in the game.

Thanks to Sam’s journey, which delivers packages from one node to another, and what the world is experiencing now, we are beginning to understand the value of couriers. Since shops and restaurants in many countries are now switching to home delivery while people are sitting in four walls and are afraid to go outside (the residents of Yarnama from Bloodborne), we see that postal workers and food suppliers are really necessary to maintain our society.

Ecological consequences of quarantine

If you played Death Stranding, then you know that, despite what is happening, almost the whole world of the game is clean – nature has conquered territory from human civilization. And in reality, everything happens in about the same way – while we are sitting at home, the air is cleared, and the animals return to where, until recently, people had noisy picnics and fun festivities.

In Venice, the waters of famous canals became transparent for the first time in 60 years and dolphins returned there! In Los Angeles, he disappeared, and now the air is cleaner than ever. And in some cities in India, people can finally see the Himalayas again! There, for the first time in 30 years, a rare animal, civet, was noticed in the city.

In France, flocks of ducks walk around the streets. In Wales, mountain goats descended into the cities and eagerly eat flower beds. Coyotes walk in the parks in San Francisco, and foxes run in Moscow.

Economic impact

While pop culture mainly focuses on certain pandemic factors that can affect the world in a more radical way, it has very little impact on the economic consequences that are happening now. The number of unemployed is growing all over the world, and there are fears that this could potentially lead to depression. In Japan, there are people who are not able to afford exorbitant rental prices in Tokyo, and they usually live in Internet cafes. These are centers with numerous mini-rooms where there are computers and Internet access (you could see them, for example, in the game Judgment for Ps4) The media call these people “Internet refugees.”

Governor of Tokyo Yuriko Koike called for the closure of such facilities to prevent the spread of infection. As a result, many people who use the alternative housing network become homeless. Fortunately, the authorities are trying to provide them with housing. So in Yokohama, the government uses martial arts schools as shelters for the homeless.

Moreover, the government will give all residents a one-time payment of 100,000 yen – even to foreigners and students who live in Japan on a long-term visa. Prior to this, they distributed 300,000 yen to families who lost income due to coronavirus.

Anime and game industry

As some of you may already know, the crisis has also affected the anime and game industry. While remakes Final Fantasy VII and Resident evil 3 managed to get an earlier release in some countries, organization CERO (Japanese counterpart ESRB and Pegi to award a rating to games) has now ceased operations. As a result, many releases in Japan may be delayed. And, of course, numerous series, anime and manga were postponed.

Finally “Akira” Death stranding and other projects have predicted certain things that we see now. The situation is serious, and we can only hope that quarantine and medicine will eventually do their job, the pandemic will decline, and the economy will be able to recover from the global crisis. We want to thank those readers who work in delivery, supermarkets, food processing and healthcare, for their continued service. We express our respect to those who risk their lives every day.

See also: What to watch in May: 10 series that have not yet been canceled

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