I like what you said but currently, it still looks a long way off. People in the PH are not yet that technologically oriented to really understand what CyberPunk means. Also, we are lagging behind in almost everything and even if you write a Pinoy Cyberpunk novel or story today, I doubt it would have the appeal to mainstream PH media. I can say this though since I did write Project Pawai (Pinoy Cyberpunk) way back 1990's and it remains more of a computer based classic known to only a few die-hard Pinoy computer fans. Nevertheless, keep on dreaming and hoping Kabayans as the Filipino is not only resilient but creative and talented as well. Sooner or later, We will get there. Thanks
This was such an interesting piece diving deep into the cyberpunk genre and the implications of the perspective of the West have on Asians, especially post WW2 as we see more and more Asian countries rising as economic and cultural powerhouses!
the whole asian/japanese narrative in cyberpunk goes back, where asian dominated the electornics market and every japanese product seemed futuristic and way ahead. thats why they have a dominant presence in the genre. also the chinese dense hive housing contributed to the dark dystopian aesthetics.
(Paraphrasing) "A modern cyberpunk city in the west takes the apperance of an american city and blends it with asian cities/culture." By that definition, a fictional city I created for a novel I'm writing fits that mold. Although my story isn't cyberpunk per se. Just a sci-fi action adventure with a hint of fantasy. Though I will admit, the city from the original Mirror's Edge served as an inspiration for my city - clean and utopian from a distance, grungy and corupt on the streets. Not the point of the plot but rather a back drop of what my characters have to live with while they deal with things.
Thank you for putting a massive smile on my face this morning my man. Right back at your with this quality take on Cyberpunk's appropriation. Great Stuff.
Did you notice that Bubblegum Crisis is the oldest anime listed in the credits. First time I saw episode one was from a VHS tape in Japanese and no subtitles. Still I was blown away.
clicked on with an expectation of just hearing the explanation of the genre...after watching I'm left with rich historical insights and even more love for the genre. So aestheticcccc
We are already in the early stages of Cyberpunk, we will be farther away from getting where 2077 was in that game but we are here. Just none of us will be alive to see what we see in games and movies.
Awesome vid. I wanna throw in that the Japanese even have a special word 過労死 (karoshi) which means "death caused by overwork" (lit. exceeding - labor - death). It's a real thing and I always wonder when the companies here are ever gonna make amends to their systems to prevent it.
Hm. I see what you're saying and find it fascinating, your point of view, I will say however for me personally I definitely never viewed cyberpunk as a fear of Japan rather, the "mystery" is being they've been able to hold on to century old traditions and values while skyrocketing in technological advances. I think that dichotomy is what's represented in cyberpunk. Just an example, like how in the Matrix it has a lot of martial arts yet they are in a futuristic place. But yeah anyway that's a small example, just my take on it.
Surprised you didn't reference Big Bang when it comes to Korea. I always felt like their outfits were quite cyberpunk looking. Like just look at fantastic baby and bang bang bang, I feel like non of them would look out of place in a cyberpunk world
I mean, the “evil Asian” trope isn’t actually anything to do with the war or racism. Cyberpunk was really created in the 1980s, which as Marty McFly said “all the best things are from Japan” just like you described. However it wasn’t really anything to do with a fear, it mainly came from the idea that “if they’re slowly making their way into the west with technology that seemed so far ahead of the USA that it was like it’s from another world. Thus they assumed that it would simply continue, however following the end of the Cold War all the smart Americans stopped working on weapons and such and moved onto making other stuff. Thus the idea that Japan would be the primary supplier of technology faded as American companies began to math and in some cases outpace them. It was never fear, it was a prediction based on the sociopolitical climate, a climate that has since ended and been replaced.
I'm sorry, but isn't Final Fantasy VII more Dieselpunk than Cyberpunk? Or maybe even it's own genre, Makopunk lmao. I'm open for discussion. But nonetheless, great video as usual! Keep it up.
Probably because FF7 lacks color, neons and holograms. Everything's dark and dull when you're in Midgard but nonetheless it is still futuristic especially Shinra buildings.
@@jmgonzales7701 think of like ww1 or ww2 but with giant mechs and technologies ahead of our time. Wolfenstein and Iron Harvest are good examples of dieselpunk
You missed Tetsuo. Cyberpunk in Japan was an organic step from the Steampunk thy Japanese media was already exploring form both of Japan’s cultural leaps during the Boshin War(Meiji Restoration) and the aftermath of WW2(the Japanese Post War miracle had the Korean Civil War to fuel it since the UN forces wanted war production close to the front without disrupting the transition to civilian production back home) also the Vietnam War kickstarted the 4 Asian Tiger economies a generation later.
In the Philippines we literally have people in the slums or informal settlers priorotizing to have expensive appliances and gadgets than upping their living condition. that's peak cyberpunk. high tech low life.
I’m pretty sure it’s because of Tokyo’s aesthetic with hyper modern skyscrapers next to ancient temples;everything laced with cables, neon, and flyers, the reason cyberpunk uses asians is because night city is essentially Hong Kong in the us, with the Tokyo aesthetic Aaaand you just raised my point
A little bit of Tokyo A bit of Heung Kong Sprinkle some Seoul Two tblsp of Shanghai Then bine it with lil bit of La, San Fran, Vegas, Niu York depending on taste = King of all AESTHETIC, light, fluffy, delicious, yummy. Cyberpunk cities
Nice vid. I was really hoping with the hype and release of Cyberpunk 2077 that cyberpunk as a niche culture and aesthetic would become a lot more prevalent and mainstream. Asian culture, neon lighting, tech and techwear, and of course, anti-capitalism. I guess we still aren't there yet. Lol
No matter what the cyberpunk genre is my favorite genre EVER!, not just cyberpunk 2077 literally ever game,movie,art, hell everything!!! Its all amazing! XD 🙌
Seeing the Community reference brought me life. Very good Video man, I didn't realize the anti-Japanese Propaganda that plagues the genre. You deserve more views my friend.
Mass Effect, directly inspired by all that is Cyberpunk. Shepard has enough cybernetics implants to rival all but the most cyber enhanced characters in cyberpunk genre.
Cyberpunk style made me think "wow the future would be really cool if it was like this" instead of "look at this mess the world would become if japan ruled the world" because I love futuristic stuff and hightech and maybe it's because I'm younger but dystopia they're talking about was pretty much the world I live in now so it triggered an amazement inside me rather than fear. Of course now it strikes a little bit fear but I still think it looks really cool.
Mumbai is perfect for this..,.,.,.,.,the police,the corruption,high buildings, small area and high population, colourful building..,..,.,.,I guess by *2030* the slums might disappear and the population will boom.....so the Mumbai government might give easier permission to build skycrappers in mumbai..as of now because the airport is middle in the city the airport authority dont give permission to build skycrappers which comes in its route....but when the navi Mumbai will start the mumbai airport might ne less busy and it will be start of skycrappers boom....,.,..,.,.,.,.,.,. As of now i see hongkong as night city just need more lights like shenzen , Shanghai
If there is a country that is basically ground zero for cyberpunk IRL it's going to be south korea. South Korea is practically Samsung. If Samsung fails South Korea suffers.
I wish you’d do a text overlay in one corner giving the sources of the various video clips you use so that if we see something that sparks our interest or just something we haven’t seen before we could go to the source for more. What was the clip @ 1:53, 2:01, 2:20 & 5:10 from?
this poster has no idea what they are talking about, The reason why the Chinese and Japanese are depicted the way they are in cyberpunk is because in the 80s japan was so far a head technology wise that early cyberpunk writers thought one day japan would take over the world through tech domination with the Chinese stealing IP and making alot of knock offs. Nothing to do with yellow fear of the post world war 2. The evil group is whoever is a head technology thats why cyberpunk after the 90s featured more American villains. Like why the main story of Shadowrun takes place in Seattle .Also in most cyberpunk settings food and drug corpos are way more dangerous and evil than big tech corpos.
I'm pretty sure you're digging way to deep into the Asian connection. The aesthetic arose out of the 70s and 80s. At that time high-tech was rapidly being developed in Japan and knock offs were being sold in Hong Kong. This is where the majority of the aesthetic comes from, rainy (both areas with high precipitation), very high density (Hong Kong is king here and cities like Tokyo aren't far behind), neon lights (neon signs used to be all over the streets of Hong Kong and big lit up billboards are all over the place in downtown Tokyo), wealth inequality (Hong Kong had slums like Kowloon and the penthouses of the ultra rich in the same skyline), and of course, Asians/Asian aesthetics/street food (idk lots of noodle stands and other street food vendors in cyberpunk works, and they exist in both Hong Kong and Japan)
Wellll... if you compare Cyberpunk 2077 to Star Wars, Night City is a pinch of Coruscant and the Bad Lands are a dash of Tatooine! Plus, there's all of the robots and cybernetically-enhanced individuals ala Vader and Grievous...🤓
Nah, an evil megacorporation, some seriously advanced technology, and a pretty shitty quality of life for a significant swath of the population (high tech, low life - genre staple). That screems cyberpunk Steampunk is more akin to Victorian England
