2019/02/11

Method of defamiliarization - SSSS.GRIDMAN

 In the anime "Sword Art Online(SAO) Alicization," we see a story of raising artificial intelligence from scratch and socializing it and letting it pass many generations in the electronic space. Each artificial intelligence is anthropomorphic, and there are the same creatures, society, and products as we see in human society. Even if the setting is medieval and an imaginary creature comes out, it is fundamentally a projection of real society. Otherwise, it will not be an easy-to-understand story. Personification is omnipotent (a good example is  "Cells at Work!").
  In this animation, the events of real human beings happen in a different world from this electronic space. The audience knew from the beginning that the hero traveled from the real world to the virtual one and encountered various events. In this world, magic is a system command. The highest power person is a system administrator. When a system command conflicts, it becomes a magic battle. Therefore, we will sympathize and watch the hero as the human being who is playing the virtual game.

  In 'SSSS.GRIDMAN', society and people in electronic space are drawn exclusively. But initially, it does not show us such a setting. There is a world like a real human's society. The lives of the main characters are similar to ours. "Kaiju"(monster) comes out as an abnormal event of their daily life to the last. Gridman appears when the main character jumps into the used PC (that is, by jumping into the electronic space of their world). We understand that the lives of this hero are real. However, in the middle of the story, we are told that a deputy main character (a classmate of the high school student who is the hero) is making this world comes out, and the story proceeds with that setting until the final round. The main characters accept the deputy main character is their creator, without much resistance. We can not follow it a little. The creator behaves selfishly against this world because it is made by herself. She deletes people who she does not like from this world by letting monsters rampage. The main characters understand that the sources of their creator's actions are due to psychological inconvenience (such as loneliness). They sympathize her and let her return to her world. Because I love you, please do not come back anymore. (Our world is created because this creator is lonely.)
  The last scene is a live-action image. We watch a person who seems to be this creator. Then we realize the world we watched is animation. Usually, we comprehend and watch animation as a reality. Regardless the eyes are big, the balance of head and body is unrealistic, or a movement is against the law of physics, we see them as the substitutes of reality. However, we see live action at the end of this anime, and this animation tells us, 'You were watching just an anime,' 'This is a fictitious world,' 'Didn't you know that?' This way of defamiliarization is excellent.

  As SAO cannot possibly do such a complete reversal, viewers can watch with confidence. These circumstances are one of the foundations of the SAO's popularity. Meanwhile, this excellent defamiliarization may be a cause of criticism on Gridman, unfortunately.