Actually, I wanted to watch "Steamboy" for a long time. It is always Otomo Katsuyo's work, but I haven't bought a DVD, so I haven't watched it either. But I found out by accident that there was "Steamboy" in the Broadway Film Center, so I bought the tickets without saying a word.
The Japanese animation industry was very hot last year. The three major animation giants all have works: Oshii Mamoru's "Innocence", Miyazaki's "Howl's Moving Castle" and Otomo Katsuhiro's "Steamboy". "Innocence" implements Oshii Mamoru's questions about life, technology, and life. The theme is more serious, and the addition of many reference sentences from classics makes it even more difficult to understand. "Howl's Moving Castle" is a relatively simple magic theme, but it is also considered unclear in the plot. Therefore, relatively speaking, "Steamboy" should be the easiest set of these three.
The story of "Steamboy" is quite simple. It is caused by a series of conflicts between science and reality and politics caused by the (close to) infinite power of the steam ball. The city of London was almost destroyed in the big bang. Is the researcher of this steam ball. This steam ball realizes a small and powerful energy source, breaks through the mechanical volume limit of the steam age, and is a major scientific breakthrough. However, the scientific concepts of grandpa and father were not the same. Coupled with the interference of other forces such as consortia, government, etc., grandpa secretly sent one of the steam balls back to his hometown, causing all parties to "catch" the ball. The protagonist Ray is also involved in this technological battle.
After eight years of production under Otomo Katsuyo’s work, "Steamboy" does not appear outdated on the screen because of the current advanced technology. The delicate pictures, detailed details, and smooth movements are really perfect. People are pleasing to the eyes, especially on the big screen. For the description of this steam age, various mechanical movements and gears run into each other, bringing nostalgia and humanity under the hand-painted technique, which also coincides with the background of the times. While the development of 3D animation is booming, "Steamboy" can still show the technical advantages of traditional 2D animation, and the effect is breathtaking. Although "Steamboy" itself has 3D skills, it can be perfectly integrated into 2D paintings.
In the first half of the story, there are more literary dramas to explain the relationship between the characters, and the relationship is not too tight. It is only in the second half that the "technological demonstration" really becomes tense. The launch of the Steam City brings the story to a real climax. So some people feel that the tension of the story is not enough and the coherence is not strong enough. However, I cut into the word technology from different angles and described different persistence and understanding, which brought catastrophic consequences, and I saw it with gusto.
Without the gloomy and world-destroying mood of "Akira", although there are still complaints about the out-of-control development of science and technology, the story still has a glimmer of hope for the future. My father's view on technology is that technology should be developed first, and then people's minds will change accordingly. Grandpa believes that the development of science and technology should be based on human morality and should not be allowed to rise arbitrarily. Therefore, there is nothing wrong with the development of steam balls, but it should not be used to develop weapons with steam balls. However, there is no conclusion in the story, and the protagonist Ray, holding the steam ball in his hand, also did not support any party, but just did what he wanted. In the story, many questions were raised about the contradiction between technological development and morality.
There is no doubt that science and technology should be people-oriented, but traditional morality often contradicts the development of science and technology. There are countless practical examples. For example, replication technology can produce organs that are more suitable for transplantation, but there are various moral and philosophical problems brought about by replicators. BT technology allows everyone to share files more conveniently and quickly, but it also promotes copyright infringement activities. Technology is often just a neutral tool. Whether it is good or bad is actually a matter of people's hearts. If our morals are corrupt, then even if we use morality as a guide for scientific and technological development, the result will only be destructive.
Someone complained that the protagonist of the story, Ray, was relatively passive. It was just that Grandpa ran errands and didn't have much assertiveness, which is actually not the case. He is just seeking his own answer on the question of "what should technology development be for?" He once agreed with his father that Steam City could bring about the concept of a Utopia that everyone was equal, but he also understood the devastation brought about by military technology, so he finally decided to follow his own heart and grew a lot.
Another thing to mention is the actress Scarlet, who is very different from other animated actresses, she is not pleased at all, she only cares about her own interests. But she is not a typical traitor, but she is ignorant of the world. She has the same innocence as Ray, so she dared to break into the enemy's position single-handedly under the rain of bullets. In this incident, she gradually understood that money and power are everything.
If you are interested but haven't watched it, just go see it when you have time to watch it in the cinema! Those who like this animation should not miss the opportunity to watch it on the big screen.
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