The Mecha's Blind Spot: Patlabor 2 and the Phenomenology of Anime

'''Bolton, Christopher. "The Mecha's Blind Spot: Patlabor 2 and the Phenomenology of Anime."' Science Fiction Studies'' #88 = 29.3 (November 2002): 453-74.

Abstract (hardcopy p. 474) The giant "labors" (robots) and their human pilots featured in Oshii Mamoru's "mecha" anime Patlabor 2 (1993) are split figures that reflect technology's power to magnify or enhance the human while simultaneously threatening dehumanization. In Patlabor 2, these machines enhance perception while simultaneously creating new blind spots for the humans inside. Through his focus on vision (and its blind spots), Oshii's labors become figures that critique the related technology of mass media and what Vivian Sobchack's phenomenology of film defines as the electronic (as distinguished from cinematic) phase of visual culture. While some might contend that anime is itself part of this electronic milieu and therefore unable to mount such a critique, I argue that Patlabor 2 makes its point by an oscillation between the electronic and the cinematic.

On vision, see also Garrett Stewart on "Videology."

From the opening of the essay: "The bodies in the Patlabor series belong to a [...] tradition of mechanical bodies in anime, the 'mecha' or 'mobile suits.' These towering humanoid robots piloted by human operators have occupied a place in anime for over thirty years, from Majingaa Z [...] in the 1970s and later staples like Gandamu (1979- [...]) and Makurosu (1982-, Macross) to the recent commercial and critical phenomenon Shin seiki Evangelion (1995-98, Neon Genesis Evangelion) [...]" (p. 454). Cf. and contrast the tradition of fighting suits going back to at least Starship Troopers and The Forever War, discussed in Leonard Heldreth's "In Search of the Ultimate Weapon: The Fighting Machine in Science Fiction Novels and Films" in Dunn and Erlich, eds. The Mechanical God: Machines in Science Fiction. ___________________

Bolton's essay is collected in his Interpreting Anime from The University of Minnesota Press (Minneapolis, MN), apparently re-issued in 2018. There is a reprint in Robot Ghosts and Wired Dreams: Japanese Science Fiction from Origins to Anime (U of MN, 2008). From the news release on the article, available in large part on line from The Berkshire Eagle (where it appears the release was used, supplemented, perhaps, with an interview with the author [this is standard practice: media releases are designed to be printed or "ripped and read" on radio or TV]). The collection of essays [....] focuses particularly on the past decade, which has brought an influx of Japanese science fiction to global culture. Despite the primarily visual nature of Japanese science fiction commonly seen in the West, particularly the comic books known as manga and the film and television media known as anime, the authors also highlight a vibrant tradition of prose with rich explorations of the genre. Bolton's contributions in particular confront the conflict and interdependence between man and machine. He argues that "the increasing mediation of electronics in our experience, with images of screens that get between the characters and the world," is a common theme in Japanese science fiction.

Bolton's chapter, "The Mecha's Blind Spot [...]" explores the nature of the intersection between humanity and technology: "A body that is both enhanced and invaded by technology is a staple in anime," he said.

RDE, Initial Compiler, 2June19