5 Anime Worlds Overtaken By Technology

One of the most prevalent and relevant themes in science-fiction is the rise of science and its oftentimes inevitable domination of the human experience, and sci-fi anime of all stripes have explored this idea in countless ways.

 

Where some futuristic anime envisioned a future where machinery was the physical and digital realization of mankind's boundless knowledge, others sought to warn audiences of a technologically-driven future that dehumanizes all.

 
1. Astro Boy - Man & Machine Try To Improve Society For All

Osamu Tezuka's signature work, Astro Boy, is a pioneer in countless ways. One of this classic's biggest impacts was codifying many of the aesthetics and themes present in sci-fi anime, especially through its robotic utopia. In the then-distant future of 2001, man achieved creating lifelike robots but now struggles to live with robots peacefully.

Atom, the extremist Dr. Tenma's greatest creation and later the kindly Prof. Ochanomizu's adopted son, stood between man and machine, as he embodied the best of both. Unlike the anime it inspired, Astro Boy notably viewed science and technology idealistically, depicting it as the extension of mankind's progress that just needs some guidance.

 
2. A Certain Magical Index  - Academy City Is A Testament To Science's Best & Worst Excesses

At face value, Academy City is a monument to mankind's scientific achievements and progress. In truth, the city was a giant laboratory, where citizens were knowingly and unknowingly experimented on by a secret cabal of scientists who wanted to create the mythical Level 6 Esper. As a result, they dehumanized everyone.

In fact, technology's dominance over the city's populace was the cause of many conflicts. If Kamijou Touma, Misaka Mikoto, and their friends fought against the amoral scientists' deadly projects, extremists from the magic side like God's Right Seat of the Roman Catholic Church sought to eradicate all science in the name of their faith.

 
3. Cowboy Bebop - Industry & Technology Reached The Furthest Regions Of Space
Simply put, the rustic future of Cowboy Bebop is the logical endpoint of limitless and unchecked capitalism. After achieving galactic travel, mankind was able to reach even the furthest recesses of space, colonize new worlds, and expand mankind's presence. The trade-off, however, was that human life was valued less than ever before.
A world where corporate interest and industrial expansion took priority left many people behind and embittered them, which directly led to Cowboy Bebop's bleak setting. Some examples of these negative effects include the Astral Gate accident that killed the Earth and the very existence of the Space Warriors and Teddy Bomber.

4. Deca-Dence  - The Earth Is Just An MMORPG For Cyborgs

 

At first glance, Deca-Dence looked like a post-apocalyptic riff on Attack On Titan. The truth, however, was that the Gadoll-infested wastelands that Natsume and those aboard the mobile fortress Deca-Dence were forced to survive in was just a game to cyborgs living atop the Earth. Basically, the humans were just NPCs.

"Deca-Dence" doesn't refer to Natsume's home, but the mindless MMORPG that the corporation Solid Quake promotes to cyborgs, or people who uploaded their consciousnesses online before evacuating the planet. Solid Quake was the system itself, and the ex-ace player Kaburagi and the clueless Natsume were tiny but consequential cogs in its game.

5. Digimon  - The Digital World Is An Entirely New Dimension

Something even the most dedicated Digimon fan can forget is that the franchise is basically an isekai story. Here, the chosen children enter a new world known as The Digital World, which is where the Digimon (short for "Digital Monsters") live. That being said, The Digital World is more than just a fantasy realm to explore - it's the physical manifestation of all of the human world's data.

The Digital World only came to be because of mankind's computers, and it's even canonically stated to have been born around the time that the first computer was turned on in 1942. As computers grew more advanced, The Digital World expanded in size and complexity, so much so that its most powerful denizens could affect or even cross into the physical world.