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| Maou 2791th Post
  
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|  "Final Fantasy VI: the dream lives on!" , posted Thu 14 May 03:03:  
Double Art-Eater Bros. appearance, all in one week! Su-su-super combo! 
First and best thought: Final Fantasy VI, post-apocalypse. It's the same world map from before, but with muddied seas, damaged towns, and shredded land masses. This is genius both in terms of design and dramatic effect. Design-wise, it's fun to explore a familiar but radically altered world and to track down your old allies who have been scattered, and it's a more sophisticated take on the "multiple world maps" trend in RPG's at the time. In terms of scenario design, it's rare in post-apocalyptic settings for the viewer or player to have really seen the world before, and thus to have an acute personal sense of what has been lost. The Onion (Knight?) AV Club also had a fine take on this last year.
VI has a rare post-apocalyptic world that isn't merely hellish but is actually hopeful, in the realistic way that humans persevere. While I didn't realize it twenty years ago, my favorite scene in the game is actually when airship pilot Setzer unearths his dead girlfriend's airship, the Falcon, from her underwater tomb so that the party can fly to defeat the source of the world's destruction. Uematsu's perfect second world map theme, which surges as the airship rises out of the seas, is the best mix of sorrow and hope I have ever heard in a game:
Daryl's Tomb sequence
Setzer: I repaired the Falcon [after Daryl died] and put it to sleep beneath the earth...
Edgar: This is the Falcon?
Setzer: [Nods] I can't be the fastest man in the world without my wings. Falcon...it's time for you to get us dreaming again.
Edgar: This time, it's our dream.
Celes: Let's head to the Ruin Tower and defeat Cefca.
Edgar: With the Falcon, we can raid the tower from the skies overhead!
Setzer: Yeah, and let's find our friends, too.
Edgar: Right. We still have our dream. No, we'll make it ourselves!
人間はいつも私を驚かせてくれる。不思議なものだな、人間という存在は．．．
[this message was edited by Maou on Thu 14 May 03:03] |
| Maese 764th Post
Red Carpet Regular Member+
| "Re(4):What's your favorite post-apocalypse se" , posted Thu 14 May 11:54
quote:
I like all the ones mentioned above, so I won't reiterate them.
Instead I'll throw in the counterpoint to the post-apocalyptic setting put forth by Mad Max that came to dominate the genre, and mention Yokohama Kaidashi Kiko. The world following an apocalyptic event is presented not as a violent scramble for resources made of ramshackle and brutal societies, but a quiet retirement, because there are just so many resources and so few people left that nobody bothers to fight each other for them.
You, sir, are a scholar and a gentleman. If mankind's twilight actually turns out the way is depicted on Ashinano's works, I for one wouldn't mind living in a post-apocalyptic world at all.
Other than that, I agree with everybody's suggestions, so I won't bother repeating them. Of course, FFVI's approach must get a special mention. That must be the classiest demise a world could ever hope for.
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| nobinobita 1406th Post
Red Carpet Executive Member
| "Re(2):What's your favorite post-apocalypse se" , posted Fri 15 May 23:33:
quote:
Battle Angel Alita (Gunnm) is also near and dear to my heart with everything it does.
Even if it's been mentioned already, I'm going with Gunnm too, in part because of how it handles the concept - the story starts out in a mostly degraded urban cyberpunk setting, but it takes a few volumes to leave that, after which the mess that the world outside the starter city has become becomes apparent - but at the same time we get a glimpse at a refuse of civilization that has managed to escape the mess practically by design, but which has messed-up issues of its own.
More relevant to the post-apocalyptic setting are those two whole volumes in Last Order where the story takes the bold attitude of making us follow a completely different protagonist who has lived long enough to see, if not civilization's fall (it's been a while since I last read it), the very deliberate efforts to preserve knowledge from civilization as it once was, and to rebuild it into something that could outlast a crisis like the one the survivors endured.
It was a pretty forgivable reason to include vampires in a setting that's been mostly draped in sci-fi - the long-lived perspective was an asset there.
Oh man, so glad to see so much love for Gunm and Donyatsu and FF6 and Appleseed and everything else that's been mentioned. I'll have to check out Yokohama Kaidashi Kiko too! I'm not familiar with it.
I would like to add Bastard!! to the mix. Although it's primarily known as a fantasy comic, it's actually got several post Apocalyptic scenarios stacked on top of one another.
The initial setting takes place after the mad god Anthrax ruined this medieval fantasy setting. Later it's heavily implied that Bastard!! takes place on earth after a disaster so epic that the world was somehow reformatted into a fantasy world. Then that world comes to an end during the Angel arc (which I've been reading since I was in middle school and it still hasn't ended!).
Volume 19 of Bastard!! has some particularly beautifully executed passages detailing a ruined world.
LOOK AT THESE PAGES
SO BEAUTIFUL
Just a hunch, but there's a good chance these guys inspired the design of the Amgydalas in Bloodbourne.
How can you resist an arch-demon based off of Dudley who drinks tea made from human bile and bathes in the ether of slain angels?
www.art-eater.com
[this message was edited by nobinobita on Fri 15 May 23:36] |
| neo0r0chiaku
31th Post
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Rare Customer
| "Re(2):What's your favorite post-apocalypse se" , posted Fri 15 May 23:55
quote:
Battle Angel Alita (Gunnm) is also near and dear to my heart with everything it does.
Even if it's been mentioned already, I'm going with Gunnm too, in part because of how it handles the concept - the story starts out in a mostly degraded urban cyberpunk setting, but it takes a few volumes to leave that, after which the mess that the world outside the starter city has become becomes apparent - but at the same time we get a glimpse at a refuse of civilization that has managed to escape the mess practically by design, but which has messed-up issues of its own.
More relevant to the post-apocalyptic setting are those two whole volumes in Last Order where the story takes the bold attitude of making us follow a completely different protagonist who has lived long enough to see, if not civilization's fall (it's been a while since I last read it), the very deliberate efforts to preserve knowledge from civilization as it once was, and to rebuild it into something that could outlast a crisis like the one the survivors endured.
It was a pretty forgivable reason to include vampires in a setting that's been mostly draped in sci-fi - the long-lived perspective was an asset there.
They said a live action movie is in the talks with James Cameron directing. Would or could that be successful and worth watching?
Another one I forgot to mention and should have been on the top of my list is "Now and then, here and there" (Ima, Soko ni Iru Boku). Too many words to describe this masterpiece of a post-apocalypse setting!
Long Live!
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| nobinobita 1407th Post
Red Carpet Executive Member
| "Re(4):What's your favorite post-apocalypse se" , posted Sat 16 May 15:32:
quote:
They said a live action movie is in the talks with James Cameron directing. Would or could that be successful and worth watching?
Last I heard, Cameron was still focused on his Avatar sequels, so I worry if he'll live long enough to release all of them, get tired of the things, and refocus on working on and completing that Gunnm project... it's been what, well over a decade since he got the rights? After all that time, I wonder if he'll still look at it with the same mindset that got him interested in the first place...
James Cameron has been talking about doing a Gunm movie for years. He's always been a vocal fan of certain anime and manga creators (Mamoru Oshii, Yukito Kishiro, Kow Yokoyama--he has good taste!). At one point, he even said in an interview that Avatar was just a precursor to Battle Angel Alita. He claimed that he couldn't do the series justice until 48fps 3d movie screens were standard around the world.
I personally don't like how high frame rate movies look so I think that's a weird excuse. Also I'm pretty sure if the movie ever happens Yukito Kishirow won't be on board because Japanese creators always be like "I don't understand America--you guys do your crazy thing" so I don't have much hope for it if it ever happens.
That is unless George Miller somehow ends up directing it. Just a pipe dream, but after Fury Road I'm convinced he's the only director that could pull it off.
www.art-eater.com
[this message was edited by nobinobita on Sat 16 May 15:34] |
| Olivier Hague
183th Post
Regular Customer
| "Re(4):What's your favorite post-apocalypse se" , posted Sun 17 May 14:44:
quote:
Last I heard, Cameron was still focused on his Avatar sequels, so I worry if he'll live long enough to release all of them, get tired of the things, and refocus on working on and completing that Gunnm project... it's been what, well over a decade since he got the rights? After all that time, I wonder if he'll still look at it with the same mindset that got him interested in the first place...
I'm pretty sure the main reason he was interested in that adaptation was the technical aspect (human head + CG body) and that's no longer relevant, so...
Besides, based on the few things he and his collaborators have said, it doesn't look like they know/understand much about Gunnm anyway. And Verhoeven, for example, probably would have been a better fit.
Speaking of, Kishiro's first artbook and the first volume of Gunnm March Chronicle will be released in a few days.
Spoiler (Highlight to view) -
(it looks like Gunnm Mars Chronicle is going to alternate between past (Yôko) and present (Gally) each volume?)
End of Spoiler
[this message was edited by Olivier Hague on Sun 17 May 14:50] |
| HAYATO 1201th Post
PSN: Lord-Hayato
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| "Re(5):What's your favorite post-apocalypse se" , posted Mon 18 May 00:28
To me , there'll never be a better apocalypse aftermath than Hokuto no Ken but, given the fact it probably would have never happened if not for George Miller's creation, Mad Max 2 and 3 are also very close to my heart. In fact, given the different settings, both could very well happen in the same universe, just some thousands of miles apart!
Another interesting take on the same trope I love is Stephen King's "The Stand", not so much for the underlying good versus evil story, but for the character's motivations that show a wide gamut of human traits that could very well define and shape the different attitudes of the inhabitants of this decadent, post-flu world (or pretty much any of us under extreme situations, for that matter).
On a similar vein, another psychological take on the ravages of nuclear war I loved as a teen was "On the Beach", a US-Australian remake of the late-50s film of the same name. The story takes place on a (by then) near future in 200x, when a nuclear war starts an unstoppable radiactive cloud which slowly, but inexorably is taking over the world. How would you choose to face your final days on earth when a horrible death by nuclear poisoning awaits you? The multiple answers that may arise after such a question and the way the film tackled them is what engraved "On the Beach" on my memory.
On the manga side, I'd pick korean artist Boichi's "Hotel" short story as one of the most fascinating pieces on the subject I'v ever read. It tells us about an AI-controlled bunker in Antarctica, built to preserve Earth's DNA after humanity knows of its own inevitable demise (a new Noah's Ark of sorts)and the struggles and tribulations this AI has to endure over thousands of years.
And last, but not least Shirow Masamune's "Cherry Mountain High" and "Shimban" chapters in his Exon Depot series. Those stories present us with events occurring in post-apocalyptic scenarios that, given its lack of actual worded narrative (no speech bubbles, no narrator, no text at all), are left open to subjective interpretation. I'm a devoted Shirow fan, but these stories, along with Neurohard (wich, in many aspects,could be considered their opposite) remain my favourite Shirow works to date.
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| karasu 1496th Post
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| "Re(6):What's your favorite post-apocalypse se" , posted Mon 18 May 07:26
It's funny, Hayato, that you mention the Stand. I hadn't thought of it in quite a while.
I'm not good at favorites, but I'll suggest a few weirdo post-apolcalyptic settings, the relatively well known and mainstream "I Am Legend" (the book, not the half-assed movie), Philip K. Dick's crazy "Second Variety", and the more recent work by William Gibson, "The Peripheral", which I can't talk too much about without risking spoilers, but is a really interesting exploration of what the whole post-apocalyptic thing is, from a modern viewpoint. Movie-wise I've always been partial to "Logan's Run". Anyone looking for interesting perspectives on the subject might want to look into some works pre-1975, since they can seem pretty strange to modern sensibilities.
In terms of manga and anime, I can't really add much to what already been said except for mentioning ギョ which is extremely gross and worrisome. Having read it once I was so bothered by it and the rest of Ito's work that I never even want to see the tankoban again, let alone read them.
I think it's a weird thing that 25 years or so after the end of the cold war the idea of global apocalypse is such a draw for us that movies continue to be made of the subject.
You have to carefully reproduce the world of "Castlevania" in the solemn atmosphere.
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