The Science of Anime: Mecha-Noids and AI-Super-Bots [Paperback]

An invaluable resource for an historical revelation of the background and comparisons of Anime (Japanese Science Fiction graphic novels and films) and our own Comics (US Superhero & Sci-Fi graphics novels and films), but revealing the depths of Japanese Sci-Fi Anime and their influence on Japanese culture with historical and fantasy references.

I enjoyed reading this book, as I am very interested in Anime, and have been since I was small. Outlining AstroBoy, Gigantor, and others, this book timelines the entire robot anime genre and the books, films and tv shows that have influenced our own culture.

A great find at any price.

The first chapter discusses the origins of anime. During the chapter, the authors talk about the birth of comics and anime, Osamu Tezuka, the history of anime from the beginning to current time.

The second chapter delves into mecha, and it covers giant robots, the history and evolution of mecha in anime, some of the shows that use mecha, as well as some of the other elements associated with mecha. Chapter three goes into artificial intelligence, talking about the shows and the science of artificial intelligence. The fourth chapter goes into colonies in space, and it focuses very heavily on the Gundam universe. The chapter also delves into the science and theories surrounding space colonies.

Chapter five talks about cyberpunk and cyber-terrorism. The sixth chapter talks about evolution and how it is featured in anime. It focuses heavily on Neon Genesis Evangelion and Akira, and then goes into a discussion of evolution and creationism. This is then followed by a discussion about Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind and Gaia theory.

Chapter seven goes into a discussion about parallel universes, and it goes into an in-depth analysis of the science that goes into parallel universes. The eighth chapter talks about virtual reality. It focuses on .hack//SIGN, and talks about some of the uses for virtual reality in the real world. The final chapter discusses how the science in anime is plausible but illogical.

The concept behind The Science of Anime is an interesting one, but the execution isn't quite what I was anticipating. The authors obviously have a lot of scientific knowledge, but unfortunately, they really didn't seem to try hard to write a little more in "layman's terms." One of the best examples of this issue appears in the chapter about the space colonies. In one section of the chapter, the authors go into great detail about the math involved, and even break down the math equations and the steps of the equations. While someone with a genuine interest in math and science might find this interesting, I found it to be rather dry reading.

The Science of Anime isn't a bad book, but it's not a book I can recommend to be in a basic reference library of an anime fan. Personally, I think you would have to have a genuine interest in science in order to get the most out of this book.

In order to write this review, I checked out a copy of this book through the King County Library System.

Like another reviewer, I bought this text on a lark. I also think, after researching the authors, that this book was written on a lark. I have read less than a third of The Science of Anime and I am already getting tired to being perpetually irritated with the authors for their half-witted research. This book does entertain and inform and, in a sense, their research is sound. However, for some of the mega franchises reviewed, like Mobile Suit Gundam and Macross, there are enormous amounts of previously printed and web-based material readily available for a teenage fan, let alone two professional authors trying to write a scientific guide.

Gundam: The Official Guide

On a completely different level, the writing style of the authors is so dismal and uninspired that the hugely controversial intellectual propery lawsuits between the Japanese studios (created Macross, Mospeda, and Southern Cross) and Harmony Gold (which took said products and fused them into the continuity nightmare that is Robotech) is described:

"The American version of 'Macross' somehow got merged with two other anime series, 'Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross' and 'Genesis Climber Mospeda.' Literally merged. Scenese were actually spliced together from the original three series. This new 'Macross' transformed itself into a phenomenon called 'Robotech.'"

I get that this book is purely fan service, designed to garner sales by people who think it would be very cool to have a "scientific text" that legitimizes the Minovski Particle, O'Neill cylinders, and transforming mecha, but, COME ON! Even the most uninformed person, fan of anime or no, would find it slightly odd that in a book about Japanese cartoons, hardly any of the characters are referred to by their Japanese names, but intead their Americanized names created by ignorant studio execs who are importing a product.

The American anime industry changed dramatically five years before publication of this book. A dynamic shift occurred, offering to maintain a certain level of originality in imported anime and manga simply because nobody wanted to hear about a giant robot pilot named Jack Slash (or whatever cheap name you can think of). It's too bad to see that the writers of this book, who are clearly oblivious to anime in America as it is, didn't do a litte more research.

Do yourself a favor here. If you're going to buy the book, fine. But don't be surprised if you're posting it on the Amazon Marketplace within a weekend. You'd be better off buying directly from the Amazon Marketplace, that way the authors won't get a cut for the resale of their garbage text.

We don't want to encourage them, after all.

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