Cyberpunk

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What is Cyberpunk?

Cyberpunk is a science-fiction sub-genre dealing with the integration of society and technology in dystopian settings. Often referred to as “low-life and high tech,” Cyberpunk stories deal with outsiders (punks) who fight against the oppressors in society (usually mega corporations that control everything) via technological means (cyber). If the punks aren’t actively fighting against a megacorp, they’re still dealing with living in a world completely dependent on high technology.

Cyberpunk characteristics include:

Dystopian city setting where mega-corporations rule
Full integration of technology into society, featuring cybernetic implants
Outsider protagonists (punks) who often are very familiar with the technology around them
Hard boiled detective and film noir vibes and influence
Themes dabbling in trans-humanism, existentialism, and what it means to be human.

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What do you like about Ergo Proxy? (lemmy.zip)

submitted 3 days ago by Hammerjack@lemmy.zip to c/cyberpunk@lemmy.zip

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Ergo Proxy has been a popular cyberpunk anime since it came out. I've watched it twice now and I just... don't like it. It isn't bad, but I don't see the appeal. And I feel like maybe I'm missing something.

The first episode is amazing and sets up a really interesting world that I can't wait to see more of. It makes me think the series will be about hunting down a serial killer in a cyberpunk world, which could be really cool. But then they go out into the wasteland and I lose all interest. And then there's the game show episode and the "lost in an abandoned grocery store" episode and I start to question why I'm even watching it. By the time I get to the end of the series I'm just waiting for it to end. However, I'll accept the fact that maybe the issue is with me. Maybe there's some deeper meaning or symbolism that's going over my head and there's actually a deeper story I'm missing out on.

So for those of you who liked Ergo Proxy, what do you like about it? What do you think the story is trying to say beyond the surface-level plot?

Here's a trailer for anyone who hasn't seen it. You can watch the entire series on Crunchyroll.

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[–] Canadian_anarchist@lemmy.ca 3 points 3 days ago

Ergo proxy is best described as existentialism depicted in animation. Aside from the first few episodes and the last one, it spends the bulk of the series discussing philosophy of existence and one's raison d'etre. The point of the show is to get the viewer to question reality and that assigning moral value to existence is pointless. It's not everyone's cup of tea.

I liked the fact it was different and effectively adapted the ideas of existentialism into a palatable format for most people. The cyberpunk aspects add more entertainment value, unlike other literature on the subject (ie: Camus' The Outsider).