Analysis: Robotics;Notes

It’s not often that one is pleasantly surprised by a no-name anime series, but it does indeed happen, and Robotics;Notes falls precisely into this forlorn sub-category. What begins as a typical high school club drama develops not only into an intriguing mystery, but philosophical discussion piece and pretty solid action thriller as well. It probably won’t surprise you, however, that I will be focusing on the philosophical part of the piece, but I nevertheless feel inclined to recommend the series despite its slow start. Robotics;Notes certainly isn’t perfect, but it does bring out an enjoyable plotline as it continues along. Just don’t make the mistake of discarding the show early on.

The world is a complex network of eyes, ears, thoughts, and messages. Wires connect just about everything in modern society as one, and individuals spend debatably more time watching generated electronic images than physical realities. Fiction? Nope, it’s called the 21st century. If you don’t have internet in your house, you’re a caveman. If you don’t have TV, you’re living behind the times. It’s the truth, and there’s not much direction for it to go rather than forward. This is where Robotics;Notes starts it’s tale. The world hasn’t changed that much besides growing more technologically advanced. Virtual Reality Overlays, advanced AIs, and robots are all commonplace. The question then, is what this all does to our lazy Sunday afternoons.

It’s an old story with a new twist. Man makes machine, machine gains sentience, machine tries to rule man. In Robotics;Notes, there’s only one difference: man is the machine. The fact that the homicidal AI wreaking havoc is in fact the template of the human mind is debatably inconsequential. After all, if the machine is a machine, does it matter if it sounds and looks like a human being? For Robotics;Notes, the answer is absolutely yes. It is not the machine’s sophisticated hacking abilities that give it power. It’s not the ability to launch missiles, or lock doors; that only creates more destruction. No, the ability of antagonist is this anime is the power of perception, and this turns out to be a formidable power indeed.

Imagine if your sins were always around you. Those things, not necessarily “bad” as the world would define it, but anything that creates a resonance of guilt in your soul. These images would quickly become a torment, and then unbearable shackles that one might do anything to be relieved from. Such is how madness is often created. So, when the antagonist of this show does just that to the woman who ‘killed’ his body, the mental assault does just that. It drives the female character to utter madness, a hell which can only be relieved by listening to the voices which command her. By utilizing the image of not his newly digital mind, but his physical one, the antagonist takes control of the woman’s mind, to the point of utter subservience. It’s a spin on the ‘meeting your worst nightmare’ motif, but a potent interpretation none the less.

Still, the world cannot be rules by controlling a single woman, no matter how influential she is. So what does the evil do in Robitics;Notes? He creates a machine which ‘literally’ changes people’s perceptions. Because the world is so reliant on digital knowledge, it is child play to convince the masses that a fictional world is true. This brings him further control in a media-conspiracy -esque fashion, again through controlling the way people interpret the world around them. See how perception can be used to such an extent?

Technology does indeed play a major part of this piece, as it is the basis of the antagonist’s abilities. Nevertheless, the underlying methods and motivations which forward the plot are not mechanical, but rather psychological, and furthermore visual. In the end, the world would have likely ended if the protagonist and his friends had simply let the villain control what they thought and saw. Yet instead, they resist the temptations of complacency, and decide to explore and even reject the world that another man would have them believe. This is something which we can all take to heart. Life can be an extremely scary thing for us. There are countless choices, paths, and dangers always ahead. It can be much easier to let someone else carry the burden of responsibility and let others tell us who we are. They can tell us what is right, who to judge, what type of punishment is fitting, everything. In the end, by following we could always say that we were just helpless pawns. Sounds nice huh? Unfortunately though, our accountability doesn’t change the consequences of our actions. In the end, even if you listen to someone else, your actions still have reactions. Blindly following others can makes us feel secure, but it takes true courage to explore the world as your own rather than relying on someone else’s interpretations. Truly seeing, not just accepting, can mean the difference between allowing travesties and standing up for what you know is right.