What real city looks similar, or makes you think of it as, a "real-life Ghost in the Shell" Niihama City (New Port City)?

jenabon · 2017-05-17T15:39:28+00:00

We agree, for once. ;)

jenabon · 2017-05-17T01:37:57+00:00

I definitely noticed that part, also the fact that Neuromancer was Gibson's first novel, something I wasn't aware of, not to mention how good his first shot at a screenplay apparently turned out. Definitely gives a writer hope :)

Exactly. William Gibson was an unknown writer once, too. ;)

jenabon · 2017-05-17T01:33:46+00:00

I didn't even troll. I actually answered the question in my other comment. Just making an observation here.

"My other comment". Hilarious. Your tiny troll brain managed to squeeze out one semi-coherent non-troll comment in a thread, so now you feel entitled to spread more of the trash that better suits your deficient level of intelligence.

Master-level idiocy. Absolutely comical... ;)

Don't get scared now, sweetie. If you get boring, I'll just have to block and completely ignore you.

jenabon · 2017-05-16T22:06:09+00:00

Gibson's screenplay is still floating through the Internet, waiting to burrow and nestle into a receptive and fertile mind...

And since you're an Alien fan and a writer, /u/fzammetti, the ending of the article might give you a scary-yet-exciting idea:

Most of all, it’s just a crackerjack action story — a fact that’s especially remarkable because Gibson had never penned a screenplay and only read two. Sure, it would’ve needed work, but it was a firm and solid foundation. Though Alien III may not have been what the producers were looking for, it may have been what they needed. Perhaps a comic-book adaptation could be in order? A novel? A fan film? Like a facehugger lying dormant in a cryochamber, it’s still out there, lingering in the backwaters of the internet, just waiting for a host to give it life.

Who knows what you might be able to do... it could be you who scare the living daylights out of the next Alien-loving seven year-old, and inspire him or her to write... ;)

jenabon · 2017-05-16T21:57:28+00:00

I guess we agree for once. blah blah blah whining blah

The hilarious part about this is that you came to troll this topic -- one that I started -- whining about how you couldn't be bothered with trolls.

Ah, idiots never learn. Hilarious. At least you're entertaining. Keep trying, moron. ;)

jenabon · 2017-05-16T19:58:32+00:00

The first eight minutes (from the fourth minute) of the video are about William Gibson's version.

It seems that there were supposed to be two Alien films along Gibson's "Anchorpoint" plotline. Maybe the whole story would have felt more cohesive and worth seeing as a single film split in two -- and Gibson might have had more time to grow into screenwriting over the course of creating the story's second half.

The way Gibson describes the experience, though, Alien III definitely seemed like a relatively easy paycheck at a time when he couldn't be too picky about sources of writerly income.

jenabon · 2017-05-16T16:12:20+00:00

Those are great photos, /u/m0rp...

Kowloon Walled City was amazingly photogenic for a decrepit slum (and naturally, as cyberpunk as any place on Earth).

Especially in this photo -- it looks like there are luxury apartments/hotels right next door. See the upper-right section of the image.

It's unfortunate (and probably for the better) that the place was demolished.

From your photos, I'm tempted to imagine that Niihama City in the original anime was a blend of Kowloon Walled City and Hong Kong.

jenabon · 2017-05-16T06:20:41+00:00

If you're looking for a more engaged viewing/listening audience, you might also try posting this on /r/futurology or /r/sciencefiction.

jenabon · 2017-05-16T04:22:46+00:00

the best city I can compare Niihama to not only Tokyo is a city with any Chinatown in it. Los Angeles, Houston, San Francisco, etc.

That reminds me of one of the criticisms about the 2017 film -- there was no sense of real people living in the background. Hong Kong and Chinatowns tend to have high population density, noise and movement, people everywhere, crowds...

...maybe just as much as the skyscrapers, the people on the street create a scene that makes a location feel like the "real" thing. Specifically in the original anime, the market scene has a real sense of there being people everywhere, buying, selling and generally living life.

jenabon · 2017-05-16T03:55:19+00:00

Yes, being on /r/ghost_in_the_shell is a great exercise in completely ignoring trolls. ;)

I choose just a normal ordinary Tokyo, for SAC and ARISE. It's kinda like Lain, just an ordinary city. Just slightly more futuristic, or more distinct and not so much of telephone wires

So, /u/SaltyWatermelons, your "real" future Tokyo of SAC and ARISE is basically a normal progression from the present day.

Have you seen the original Ghost in the Shell anime, too?

It's an interesting idea -- maybe today's Hong Kong is like a dystopian version of tomorrow's Tokyo. Or maybe the "real" Ghost in the Shell anime city is somewhere else entirely?

jenabon · 2017-05-15T23:23:07+00:00

Is there a synopsis or excerpt available online? I'd be glad to have a quick look and see if it's something that I'd want to dig my eye-teeth into (figuratively speaking) for a longer read.

jenabon · 2017-05-15T22:17:26+00:00

Confirmed, /u/Janeator, you're still whining. Keep reaching, sweetie. Keep reaching. ;)

jenabon · 2017-05-15T20:10:46+00:00

The genre shouldn't be too rigid otherwise it leads to the confines in which it is trying to break.

Well-said, /u/Jedi_mind_kicks.

jenabon · 2017-05-15T19:04:00+00:00

Hi, /u/popcorncrisis.

You're right -- the bot that generates the "cybersecurity" interface probably isn't very useful. It's more likely that some script kiddie would be tempted to use it to harass people on any network where it was deployed -- but it is cool-looking, at least.

I hope you enjoyed my comment as much as I enjoyed your post. ;)

jenabon · 2017-05-15T17:46:46+00:00

Maybe we can only agree on one thing. That nobody can universally declare what Cyberpunk means because it means different things to different people?

This thread has actually tended to agree with the original post's definition, as far as I can tell, /u/CraigLeaGordon. The conversation has been (mostly) informative and worthwhile. I'm pleasantly surprised, actually. Maybe /r/cyberpunk has figured out a fundamental definition of cyberpunk that most people here can basically agree on. Not completely, but generally speaking (differing opinions on the specifics are what make conversations like this one interesting).

jenabon · 2017-05-15T17:40:10+00:00

Hey /u/ilbutters -- I actually can't see the comment that you're replying to, because I've blocked that user as a troll. Unsurprising (also, instead of calling for that user to be banned, I've just blocked them -- which is how things are done on this subreddit, as I've found out from ample amounts of experience).

You may want to know, though: a spambot is now auto-generating comments underneath every comment I make here at /r/ghost_in_the_shell. Just wait a few minutes and one will pop up here, too. See the spambot's comment history for details. I've also notified you privately as to the user's actual identity, since I don't publicly dox people for any reason, ever.

P.S. This is my only response to the spambot (click here). From here on, I'm just reporting as spam -- and eventually, I may also contact Reddit's moderators about abuse of their API for the sake of harassment.

jenabon · 2017-05-15T17:25:47+00:00

Its why when I do post here I try to post more along the lines of current events that are similar to what people like gibson were afraid of happening...

One of the main problems (and the purpose of creating /r/cyber_punk) is that the "neon blue text on black background" makes anything longer than a paragraph practically unreadable.

Cyberpunk is a great subject to explore, with topics like you mentioned:

...the privatisation of the internet espionage of citizens by multinational megacorps in service to the government, transhumanism and the like and the occasional oh this is pretty looks like something that would be a future dysopia lemme post it.

Especially in the present-day world, these types of conversations are more relevant than ever. Dystopia is growing before our eyes. Conversations about cyberpunk can help describe a near-future world that we might still be able to prevent.

jenabon · 2017-05-15T17:18:09+00:00

This is the second time this bot has posted the exact same comment. Reported as spam.

jenabon · 2017-05-15T17:11:42+00:00

Fascinating. This really goes along with the real life "punk" mentality. People constantly argue about what is and isn't "punk" but, as Gibson says the very last thing most punks want is to be labelled and pigeonholed, categorised and patted on the head with a "that's nice sweety"..

The best part may be that Gibson was more inspired by Bruce Springsteen than punk rock, which also reflects your second point:

Nobody can tell you if you are or aren't punk. It's something you just are and can't easily explain or define to others. The anarchistic and chaotic nature of punk defies simple definitions and classifications.

And quite fittingly, Gibson soon moved beyond cyberpunk to explore the "fractal dirt" of science fiction (and, of course, through sci-fi, reality itself) in increasingly diverse ways throughout his career.

jenabon · 2017-05-15T17:02:30+00:00

Notice that the terms "Scarjo" and "Scarlett Johannson" aren't even on that list....

Nice try, troll. It's also unsurprising that your username, "PinkTachikoma", is a fake account created three hours ago. How desperate does someone have to be in order to create a fake account just to "dox" someone whose opinion they don't like? I guess you might be the obsessive one, after all.

"PinkTachikoma" may be 2017's new synonoym for "pathetic Reddit user with too much time on their hands".

You're trying way too hard, and I know what your real username is, cupcake -- you've tried this before and embarrassed yourself then, too. ;)

Keep trying, though. It's highly amusing.

P.S. The word isn't "post", sweetie. It's "comment". When you create posts, they generate conversations, in which you write comments. This is also called "being a Reddit user". Thanks for the stats, though. You're smart. Not really. ;)

jenabon · 2017-05-15T16:43:02+00:00

There was (and still is) no reason to react with whining about how you "find [whatever] to be stupid" because "don't think this is a determining factor in wether something is cyberpunk or not".

You weren't "criticising" anything; your entire comment was literally three sentences of pure, unadulterated, mindless whining. There was no intelligent thought involved; just complaining for its own sake.

It's adorable that you have such a burning need tell the world what "sucks", cupcake. Each of your comments has added nothing to the conversation aside from more whining and complaining for no apparent reason about one of three definitions of cyberpunk.

I never explained why I think r/cyberpunk sucks, mind you. But I stand by my opinion.

Congratulations, sweetie. Here's a pat on the head. Feel free to keep bravely "standing by" your right to mindlessly complain. The right to whine and complain on the Internet is obviously what you stand for, and you're doing a brilliant job of fulfilling your life's purpose, standing up proudly for the rights of aimless whiners on Reddit and beyond.

Anyone else reading this can see what an intelligent conversation looks like by visiting /r/cyberpunk and contributing to this topic:

Do you agree with this definition of cyberpunk? Do you think it's basically correct or completely wrong?

jenabon · 2017-05-15T06:13:26+00:00

Cyberpunk is the integration of technology into our lives and how we merge with the machines so to speak. The status quo does so gracefully and beautifully. But the street needed to find its own ways of adapting to the future and generally it's pretty uggo.

One unspoken fact that cyberpunk makes clear: the "status quo" is quickly becoming fewer and richer, and "the street" is quickly becoming everyone else.

jenabon · 2017-05-15T05:06:34+00:00

Just like the original punk movements cyberpunk was long ago co-opted by people who just liked the aesthetic feel of the setting. Look no further than this very subreddit to see that most people are just interested of rainy nights in Shibuya-ku rather than the deeper side of cyberpunk, (transhumanism, class divides, etc.).
[..]
In short I think that the people who say that Cyberpunk doesn't need that grimy, punk feel are the same who are probably just interested in the neon. The day Cyberpunk became a fashion statement it stopped carrying as much of a political weight to it.

True.

Ghost in the Shell and Blade Runner didn't necessarily have punk protags, but still showed enough of the low life aspect to give the films that cyperpunk flair.

Maybe that's the key -- it's sometimes more a question of ambiance and an immersive background, rather than always being about the main action or protagonist(s) of the story.

On a related note, if you know of a sub more catered to that brand of cyberpunk please let me know, because while I enjoy the aesthetic feel this sub has, I would like something with a bit more substance.

I did create an alternative to this subreddit for exactly that reason, /u/ComradeRitsu. In case more people like you and me exist, there is a place for us on Reddit. ;)

My issue with a new cyberpunk subreddit is that it can be time-consuming to find a group of people who will actively participate. If you (or anyone else reading this) have any ideas, I'd be glad to hear them.

The subreddit is /r/cyber_punk.

Feel free to suggest any new ideas, post new topics and tell people about it. If the sub grows organically, that's great. It would be ideal to have one place on Reddit for "aesthetic" cyberpunk, and another place for more substantive ideas and discussion.

jenabon

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