Quote:
Originally Posted by Terizent
I thought that was a reference to Plato though. You know, the ideal "idea" thing.
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It was. I'm suggesting that the references to different philosophers and concepts are pointing towards a larger theme. I'm not sure yet what that larger theme is, and I hope that it isn't a case of random name dropping to make the anime seem "cool", sort of like how
Evangelion used random religious symbols just to add to its apocalyptic setting.
One thing that's easily missed in this episode: Masatake Mido expected to be caught. He wasn't trying very hard to hide. When told that some "hunting dogs got caught" in his trap, he merely grunted, "Finally", adding that he'd continue with his plan even though he seemed to have an option to escape, saying only that he "had a duty" to fulfil.
What would be that duty be? I suspect that Mido, like many terrorists, wanted to make a very public statement of intention. And Kougami had very possibly stumbled on that statement unwittingly:
"These avatars are idols on the Net. In other words, icons. Icons cannot exist solely through their own will. Neither Hayama nor Sugawara established their status on their own. They were able to become Talisman and Spooky Boogie only because their fans idolised them based on their own distorted perceptions. The idols' true felings and their true colours are not the same as the ideals represented by their characters."
To me, the above seemed like a vague reference to
Arthur Schopenhauer's
The World as Will and Representation, which is itself an extension of Immanuel Kant's idea of
transcendental idealism. The basic idea is that Schopenhauer believed that it's possible to discover and "know" otherwise abstract concepts through human will. Which is to say, reality is what human will — our consciousness — makes of it.
Contrast Kougami's words against those of Tsunemori in this episode:
"Isn't using the Net just like using knives for cooking or using paper to write things down? It has nothing to do with good or bad. It's like, it's there, so we accept it and use it."
Tsunemori echoes some of the earlier comments we've covered in the general discussion thread, that technology is not good or bad, it depends on how you use it. More importantly, she reveals that, by and large, she passively accepts the reality around her and uses it without question.
In other words, Tsunemori passively accepts what society imposes on her, while Makishima's terrorist cell is attempting to do the opposite, to impose their will on society, and to shape it according to their vision.
These are the ideological poles that drive the conflict and drama of this show, I believe.