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Notes -
After binge-reading the Astro Boy-derived manga Pluto, I have to say it fits the bill. It’s not a subtle story, but it’s a good one.
Cyberpunk aesthetics: Near-human robotics. Robot racism. High technology in every part of daily life. Huge institutional power. Surveillance states. A population struggling with the radical pace of technological change. 39 wars in the Middle East.
Heroic corporations: I don’t know if there’s a specific corp named, but it’s basically a Stark Industries situation. Most of the main characters either personally invented or are actually made of setting-defining technology. It’s like if Bill Gates personally solved the need for fossil fuels. New inventions don’t get hoarded or exploited; they’re immediately rolled out to the general public.
Police are treated as an unabashed positive. Criminals try to exploit the robot inability to kill—but technology is so good that the law can win anyway. There’s a Minority Report level of data available to the state, and it’s basically only used for good. This isn’t a story about authoritarian overreach or crumbling institutions, but about personal growth and the limits of humanity.
Also, wow, the Great War on Terror was a hell of a drug.
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