This one has been a long time coming. Some of you may know that I hold a special place in my heart for anime tech. Apparently, I may be a bit of a nerd…who knew… But the wondrous worlds of anime are so full of incredible inventions that I had to find a way to whittle down the competition. This is by no way a comprehensive list..
First I have eliminated all of the options that have an actual “magical” component. Arguably some of these could be so advanced as to seem magical but if the in universe canon treats them as purely scientific I will go with that. Second, I arbitrarily decided to leave out any modes of transportation. So, no spaceships, giant robots, flying bikes… (Yeah I counted mechs as modes of transportation, please don’t hurt me). Finally, I tried as best I could to take into account the potential drawbacks of technologies and stick with innovations that I think would yield a net positive in the world as I know it. I will be thrilled to argue with you over it in the comments. No really, no one wants to talk about that stuff with me ever!
- my microwave does that too
5 – Phone microwave (name subject to change) – Steins;Gate
Oh, you knew I had to. I’m an irredeemable Steins;Gate fangirl and we all know it. Since the dawn of time, we have been desperate to control, well time. The implication of something even as restrained as sending 36 bits of data back in time are almost limitless. It sets my imagination on fire. This is the type of advancement people dream of and chase after their entire lives. It may never come to pass but pushing the limits of possibility is what makes humans great. Well it what makes some of them interesting…
I’ve already made an entire DYI post on this so I’ll spare you my boring half understood technobabble on the subject. Suffice it to say, it’s completely improbable but it *sounds* almost possible which is nice. The only reason I did not put this higher is that pesky likelihood of unraveling the fabric of the universe sending all of us and our entire history into limbo but otherwise, cool gadget. Could help you not lose your keys and stuff!
4 – Persocons – Chobits
Realistic and even emotional androids have been a part of the sci fi genre forever and there are a great number of anime that make use of them. The reason I stuck with Chobits’ persocons rather than more gritty interpretations is that well, their really cute and also useful. The persocons are simply super advanced maids that make you feel less bad about owning slaves cause they’re not people. They also happen to be cute girl shaped smartphones. What more can you possibly want.
To tell you the truth I’m a little surprised we don’t have something similar to persocon technology already available, I’m pretty sure we soon will. And that will probably be then end of humanity as we know it because there’s no way we are ever talking to each other again after that! I’m seeing a pattern here, maybe I should pick something that won’t immediately doom the species?
3- The Dominators (Psycho Pass)
I have discussed Sybil often on this blog, and the down sides may be a bit too obvious for me to pick it. Besides – and enormous brain farm complex is stretching the definition of gadget a bit far. Thankfully, Psycho pass’ intricate near future universe is full of interesting gadgets. The Hologram technology with application in everything from fashion to interior décor to militia is certainly worth looking into. But for today, I’d like to focus on the Dominators.
A non-lethal weapon apparently capable of incapacitating individuals at long range without any long-term side effects, this would drastically change the face of law enforcement. Considering how common issues of unnecessary lethal force on the part of authorities, are around the world, it seems such an alternative is desperately needed.
I’m not entirely certain how these work (soundwaves maybe) and I doubt we currently have the technology, but I hope someone’s working on it. It instinctively feels like something that should be possible. This said, there are very few things that can shut down a body without leaving behind some sort of damage. Maybe we can beam picture of adorably puppies directly to the person’s mind until cuteness overload forces them to stop moving?
2 – Automail – Fullmetal Alchemist
Aside from time travel, the technological field that attracts me the most is biomechanics. The fully integrated automotive armored prostheses of Fullmetal alchemist are a work of art. Weight, wear and tear and materials are all discussed in the show. The prostheses are seamlessly fused to the patient’s nervous system allowing for full range of motion and although they can get a bit heavy, upgrades are constantly researched to make these parts lighter and more resistant.
We are currently actively researching these types of prosthesis and advances are made every day. For the most part they remain a little too expensive for general public use, but I expect that to change within my lifetime and I can’t wait. Repairing spinal damage would be the next step. The technology could also be adapted to smaller more precise uses, retinal microchips to repair sight, small microphones to cure deafness. It’s a brave new world.
1 – Wam – Kado the right answer
This is probably the closest thing I have to magic on this list. If you read my review you may know that KADO was a bit…disappointing for me. Just so so disappointing. Iy had so many great things going for it though. Point and case: WAM.
Wam is essentially a battery capable of providing infinite power. An inexhaustible source of clean energy. Yup – magic! This little treasure would have the most wide range applicability in every single aspect of daily life and revolutionize just about every single industry in the world. The economic, ecologic and technologic implications are to great and varied to predict but it would be the single greatest leap in our evolution to date.
What I always particularly loved about it, is that the energy is seemingly geometrical rather than chemical. That the simple shape of it, rather than the materials is what allows wam to form a bridge with higher dimension and this exchange of information from between them creates huge amounts of potential energy which can be harnessed for all our needs. Obviously, this technology is clearly of the fiction edge of science fiction but it remains one of the most interesting pieces of pseudo technology I had come across in a long time.
If only it had not been part of such a…disappointing anime.
As usual, I’ve missed a whole bunch here. I really love pseudo tech so please let me know what other cool gadgets are out there. I’m the type who would watch an entire series based on that only!
The Phone Microwave stands out here because it isn’t a polished futuristic device: it’s an ordinary appliance that the lab’s friends tinker with. That makes it part of their shared routine before its possibilities disrupt that routine. Your point about Automail’s weight, repairs, and materials has a similar appeal: limitations make an invention feel lived-in rather than merely powerful.
Disclosure: I’m posting on behalf of Otakuen’s anime journal, which is part of an anime merchandise store.
IS Steins Gate an Anime? i thought it was a game on PS3 only… I still need to further my Full Metal Alchemist watching. Wife and I started it a year ago and then everything got put on hold. Great post Irina
It is an anime. I beloved one. It’s also a visual novel on all types of platforms including mobile. I presonally prefer the visual novel by a lot.
Those Dominators rocked! Mind you, I did think at the time that, by the time they went through all their convoluted activation sequence and were ready to fire, the bad guy could easily have escaped/shot you/done various other nefarious activities….
Thankfully there are no guns in Psycho Pass Japan… for the most part
I’d love to have a Sumomo/Plum Persocon. Sure, the larger ones can be ordered to do chores and stuff, but I can’t resist the adorableness of Sumomo playing the tambourine. Besides, maybe she can ride a Roomba for more adorableness…and a clean floor for me, lol.
Gaw that sounds cute!
The problem with an infinite energy source, like a WAM, assuming we could make one, is that we will put them in more and more things, and the things we use them for will be inefficient. Put a WAM in your computer, and the chips will still heat up (a PC is just a 500watt space heater that does arithmetic). 500 or so years of growth will end up boiling the oceans, _not_ counting global warming.
I see your point. I’m a bit more of an optimist as I think a clean source of energy is going to have more advantages than disadvantages but it could definitely go the other way
Oh, there are _way_ more advantages to WAM — they pretty well kill CO2 emissions, for one thing — but we have here the typical technology question: Even if X works just as advertised, what _else_ has to work in order for X to be successful.
The dominators are so cool, but the idea of law enforcement, or really any one else, having access to ’em is so terrifying on so many levels.
It is, The again, they don’t do much normal guns can’t do.
I am not sure how I feel about the societal implications of owning one of these things….
But you love robots!
I just… You got me haha.
👀 Woooh ❤