Den-noh Coil
| Den-noh Coil | |
| File:DennouCoil-Logo.png Dennō Coil logo | |
| Genre | Science fiction |
|---|---|
| Anime | |
| Directed by | Mitsuo Iso |
| Studio | Madhouse |
| Manga | |
| Written by | Yuko Miyamura |
| Published by | Tokuma Shoten |
| Manga | |
| Dennō Coil THE COMICS | |
| Written by | Mitsuo Iso (original story) Kuze Mizuki (art) |
| Published by | Shogakukan |
Dennō Coil (電脳コイル, Dennō Koiru, lit. Computer Coil or Electric Brain Coil), Coil - A Circle of Children, is a Japanese animation science fiction series depicting a near future where Augmented Reality (AR) technology has just begun to enter the mainstream. The series takes place in the fictional city of Daikoku, a hotbed of AR development with an emerging city-wide virtual infrastructure. It follows a group of children as they use AR visors to unravel the mysteries of the half real, half Internet city, using a variety of illegal software tools, techniques, and virtual pets to manipulate the digital landscape.
Dennō Coil, in development for over a decade, is the series director debut of Japanese animator Mitsuo Iso. It premiered on NHK Educational on May 12 2007. Due to the animators involved in its production and its unusually high-profile television broadcast time slot, Dennō Coil is highly anticipated by fans of animation production quality.[1]
Story
In 202x, eleven years after the introduction of internet-connected augmented reality eyeglasses and visors, Yūko Okonogi moves with her family to the city of Daikoku, the technological center of the emerging half-virtual world. Yūko joins her grandmother's "investigation agency" comprised of children equipped with virtual tools and powerful metatags. She quickly crosses paths with Yūko Amasawa, an expert hacker of the virtual environment, as Amasawa relentlessly seeks gain the powers of a mysterious cyber entity known as Michiko. The protagonists are driven to unravel the mysteries of the virtual world in the shadow of a powerful hacker that came before them.
Setting and themes
- Dennō is the word used in the series to differentiate between virtual and real, e.g. "dennō cat". Dennō, literally translating to "electric brain", is a Chinese phrase for computer.
- The children access the virtual world through Internet-connected visors called dennō eyeglasses. This allows them to see virtual reality overlayed on objective reality. To visually confirm something as virtual, the children often lift their glasses from their eyes. The visors also work in conjunction with futuristic ear monitors placed behind the ear, which allows them to hear sounds from the virtual environment.
Yasako uses her augmented reality eyeglasses and ear monitors.
- Interaction with the virtual world is handled in a similar fashion to contemporary video games. Software tools are visually represented as tactile tools (e.g. a fishing rod) which occupy 3D virtual space and must be manipulated by hand. Metatags, which can be used to label or enhance virtual objects with certain properties, are visually represented as actual sticky-note paper tags. Virtual objects such as pets cannot be recalled or reset. When a pet runs away, it must be chased and caught in 3D space. Virtual objects and pets are also susceptible to a form of "death" by data corruption or deletion. For a virtual object or pet to be deleted from cyberspace, it can be attacked by a virtual weapon, such as Searchmaton's beam weapons. While users of dennō eyeglasses cannot be physically harmed by virtual weapons, their costly personal data and possessions can be damaged.
Densuke explores an abandoned space.
- Searchmaton, the maintenance & antivirus bot of Daikoku, is constantly on the lookout for illegal objects and damaged space, which includes corrupted or obsolete space, computer viruses, and the very pets and tools that the protagonists own. The virtual side of Daikoku is shown as an emerging space, requiring constant maintenance. In the first episode, the virtual dog Densuke falls into an obsolete virtual space outside of the spacial reality of Daikoku. Due to a version mismatch between the dog and the space, Densuke finds himself glitching and destabilizing in the environment. Eventually Searchmaton reformats the obsolete space. It is also shown that the virtual space represented in Daikoku is tied to the city's electronic infrastructure. In one scene, Fumie Hashimoto uses a metatag to control a traffic light.
- The underground virtual currency of Daikoku is known as a Metabug. Within the series, the current market value of a metabug is equivalent to one Japanese yen. However the market value of a metabug can change according to its supply and demand. It is explained that a metabug represents a special kind of software bug, and from their unique properties they can be refined into tools or metatags by skilled craftsmen. Metabugs, which are especially abundant in the city of Daikoku, can only be unearthed in damaged or corrupted spaces. Metabugs are also a target of deletion for Searchmaton.
- Despite being a computer environment, the virtual side of Dennō Coil has a tangible and sometimes organic design, with much of the interaction requiring physical effort in 3D space. In order to hack into a corrupted virtual space in Daikoku, Fumie Hashimoto handles a software spray can loaded with so-called "bug spray". A virus on the run from Searchmaton leaves behind a (virtually) tangible, evaporating black trail of raw "dennō substance". The virtual dog Densuke uses his nose to follow the trail. However, dennō eyeglasses do not grant the user the ability to "feel" the virtual world. Therefore using software tools and playing with virtual pets requires some degree of active make-believe from the user.
- A special type of rogue virtual organism populates the damaged and obsolete spaces of Daikoku City. Known as "illegals", their original purpose was to collect and refine metabugs into kirabugs within their bodies, a legendarily powerful and valuable form of metabug. The protagonists sometimes hunt illegals in the hope of collecting metabugs and kirabugs. However, some illegals collect assets other than metabugs from the virtual environment.
- In order to spatially synchronize virtual space and real space, users of internet-connected dennō eyeglasses constantly upload the status of physical space to the virtual infrastructure. In the fifth episode, the protagonists encounter a sparsely visited junkyard of buses on the fringes of wireless internet connectivity. Due to obsolete AR data, the buses are depicted by dennō eyeglasses as being in far better condition than they actually are. The characters sometimes exploit the discrepancies of desynchronization when dealing with metabugs and illegals.
- Episode three opens with the monologue, "According to rumors in the industry, there are hidden functions in the [dennō] glasses that are better left unmentioned". In addition to Isako's unlocked brain-computer interface, characters often report headaches in unstable spaces. Haraken, in episode ten, passes out after a powerful vision induced by an illegal causes his avatar to lose sync with his body. Only after this glitch is repaired does he regain consciousness.
- It is shown that the virtual side of Daikoku is heavily regulated and restricted by the Searchmaton software, therefore the children of Dennō Coil are circumventing those regulations through their mischievous adventures and their trade of "illegal" software tools and pets. Fumie Hashimoto describes Searchmaton as a powerful piece of software that, despite its blunt strength, is easily fooled due to its predictable behavior and unbalanced priorities. She also laments how it shows no leeway by destroying even the most harmless of virtual toys and pets. Beginning with episode six, the show often highlights the lack nuance and the divide of understanding between the overprotective adult administrators and the child protagonists regarding the regulation of the emerging digital frontier.
- According to the series director, Mitsuo Iso, a major theme in Dennō Coil is the distance between the characters, such as Yūko's inability to feel the fur of her own virtual pet, in addition to all the relational tensions and divides of understanding between the characters in the series. In Iso's translated words, it conveys how "there will always be a distance between people, and even between things that seem within ones' reach. And that one must walk down a long, thin and winding road before they reach one's heart. There's tons of obstacles. It's in fact like the roads in towns of old."[2]
Characters
- Yūko Okonogi (小此木 優子, Okanogi Yūko)
- Nicknamed Yasako, which is another reading of 優子 meaning "gentle girl". With her sister Kyōko and her two parents, Yasako moves to the city of Daikoku to live with her grandmother, Megabā. Yasako is a sweet and passive girl who follows the lead of Fumie, who eventually initiates her into Megabā's Coil Dennō Investigation Agency as its eighth member. Yasako has been to the city of Daikoku seven years ago for her grandfather's funeral. A pair of dennō eyeglasses and the virtual pet Densuke was donated to her as a memento. During her time in Daikoku, she befriended a hacker with the codename 4423. After Yasako returns to live in Daikoku, her hazy memories of that enigmatic friendship gradually return to haunt her. Her father Ichirō works at a Dennou technology company, Megamas, which deploys Searchmaton in Daikoku.
- Yūko Amasawa (天沢 勇子, Amasawa Yūko)
- Nicknamed Isako, which is another reading of 勇子 meaning "brave girl", Yūko Amasawa is a powerful type of hacker known as an "encoder" who is able to manipulate the electronic infrastructure through sophisticated chalk patterns. Rumored to have familial ties to an AR technology company, Isako uses a Brain-Computer Interface to interact with the virtual world -- a function supposedly hidden inside the hardware of AR visors and eyeglasses. Isako is, on the surface, extremely arrogant and nonsocial, perceiving human relationships strictly as hierarchies of power. Isako relentlessly chases special illegals in order to collect kirabugs. She is secretly driven to this task in the hopes of finding her brother and is also in communication with an unknown party that appear to be aiding her.
- Kyōko Okonogi (小此木 京子, Okongi Kyōko)
- She is the little sister of Yasako. She is young and childish and often gets in the way of danger. She has a fixation with the word "poop", often pointing at people and other items of interest while exclaiming it.
- Fumie Hashimoto (橋本 文恵, Hashimoto Fumie)
- Fumie is the seventh member of the Coil Dennō Investigation Agency. She befriends Yasako almost immediately, and has a quick-witted, playful nature. She is an experienced hacker and an adept user of metatags, and makes use of her digital pet, Oyaji, in her investigations.
- Ken-ichi Harakawa (原川 研一, Harakawa Kenichi)
- Nicknamed Haraken. He is the president of the Biology Club, and is the Coil Dennō Investigation Agency's fifth member. The polar opposite of Fumie, he is shy, reserved, and secretive, especially of his personal connection to Searchmaton. Haraken is personally vested in researching internet viruses and illegals on behalf of Kanna, his childhood friend, who had died by traffic accident under mysterious circumstances in the previous year. Yasako and Fumie eventually join Haraken in his research.
- Tamako Harakawa (原川 玉子, Harakawa Tamako)
- Tamako is Haraken's aunt. As a consultant for Daikoku's Cyberspace Administration, she holds authority over the programming of Searchmaton and is responsible for its highly aggressive behavior. Her over-protectiveness of Haraken and her subsequent monitoring of his classmates' "dangerous" online behavior earns her the nickname "Stalker". She is especially intent on preventing Yūko Amasawa from accomplishing her objectives. However Tamako herself is well-versed in hacking and the crafting of metatags, and she often oversteps her authority in investigating the protagonists' activities. Tamako is also the "Number Two" member of the Coil Dennō Investigation Agency, yet she holds a sour relationship with Megabā.
- Daichi Sawaguchi (沢口 ダイチ, Sawaguchi Daichi)
- Daichi is the founder and leader of a group of pranksters at school called the Daikoku Hackers' Club. Hot-headed and quick to take offense, he holds an on-going love/hate rivalry with Fumie stemming from early childhood. With the appearance of Isako, Daichi quickly finds himself defeated and cast out of his own group after challenging her. While often perceived as a troublemaker, Daichi is tagged by his awkward friend, Denpa, who holds him in high regard for befriending him in the face of school harassment. Daichi is, somewhat ironically, a constant target of Kyōko's antics.
- Megabā
- Megabā, whose nickname stems from the Japanese words for メガネ = megane, lit.eyeglasses and ばあちゃん = bāchan, lit.grandma, is the owner of the candy store Megasi-ya. Megasi-ya also sells software and metatags. Megabā is the primary craftsman of metatags in Daikoku, and is an expert software programmer. She is also Yasako's grandmother, and the head of the Coil Dennō Investigation Agency. Her cunning frugality terrifies Yasako among other characters. She often appears to forget people or events, but this may only be a cover to keep others off guard.
- Searchmaton
- Searchmaton, nicknamed Satchii, is a bot and antivirus software deployed by the Cyberspace Administration of Daikoku. Its task is to debug and maintain the virtual side of the city. Its secondary function is to seek out and disable illegal AR devices, software, and viruses, making it a menace to the characters of the series. Searchmaton can deploy up to four spherical drones to aid in its task. While Searchmaton can patrol the city streets freely, it is prohibited to enter private property such as houses, and other spaces such as temple grounds and schools, because they lie outside of the responsibility of Daikoku's Cyberspace Administration. The protagonists utilize this and other predictable aspects of Searchmaton's behavior to escape its grasp. Searchmaton, striking terror into the hearts of children, is ironically painted with a smiley face and punctuates its violent attacks with the cute catch phrase "I'm Satchii!" which Yasako's father had a part in developing.
- Michiko
- A mysterious person rumored to have departed the physical world for the virtual. The child protagonists often whisper of her ghostly ability to pull people to "the other side". Michiko, who is possibly a species of illegal, is sought by Yūko Amasawa for her powerful kirabugs.
- 4423
- 4423, whose final two digits are read as "nii-san" (a Japanese homophone of "elder brother"), is a powerful but now seemingly absent encoder. He is connected to several of the protagonists, Yasako in particular who holds childhood memories of him.
Production
Planning and design
Staff
- Original creator, director, and screenplay: Mitsuo Iso
- Assistant directors: Masaru Yasukawa, Tomoya Takahashi
- Character design: Takeshi Honda
- Chief animation directors: Toshiyuki Inoue, Takeshi Honda
- Art director: Hiroshi Gōroku (Ogura Kōbō)
- Art settings: Takaaki Yamashita, Mitsuo Iso (episode 2)
- Color design: Terumi Nakauchi
- Director of photography: Naoyuki Ōba (Rhetoric)
- CG works: Hirofumi Araki
- Editing: Takeshi Sadamatsu
- Music: Tsuneyoshi Saitō
- Sound director: Keeichi Momose
- Sound production: Mediarte
- Associate producers: Kengo Makita, Jun'ichirō Ishida, Tomohiko Iwase, Mikako Ochiai, Hisanori Kunisaki, Yūichiro Matsuka, Yūichi Shiōra
- Animation producers: Masao Maruyama, Satoshi Yoshimoto (Madhouse)
- Animation production: Madhouse
- Producers: Sanae Mitsugi (Tokuma Shoten), Shigeru Watanabe (Bandai Visual), Hisako Matsumoto (NHK Enterprise)
- Production: Dennō Coil Production Committee (Tokuma Shoten, Bandai Visual, NHK Enterprises)
Media
Episodes
| # | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|
Theme songs
- Opening theme
- "Prism" (プリズム, Purizumu)
- Composed and performed by Ayako Ikeda; arranged by Tatoo.
- Ending theme
- "Pieces of The Sky" (空の欠片, Sora no Kakera)
- Composed and performed by Ayako Ikeda; arranged by Tatoo.
Reception
The Mainichi newspaper suggested the technology shown in the series would have a great influence on the future, comparing it to the way Snow Crash influenced the development of Second Life. It also praised the series for showing technology that was very Japanese, and concentrating on how the children grow. [3]
See also
- ARQuake, an augmented reality implementation of the game Quake.
- Beyond, a short animated film in the Animatrix anthology, about children playing with Matrix anomalies.
- Serial Experiments Lain, another series featuring augmented reality and virtual reality
- "The Children's Night", Mitsuo Iso's episode director debut
References
- ^ "Anipages". Retrieved 2007-05-18.
- ^ Template:Ja icon "Mitsuo Iso interview", Animage, vol. Volume 333, no. March 2007
{{citation}}:|volume=has extra text (help) - ^ "Mainichi Review of Dennō Coil" (in Japanese). Retrieved 2007-08-21.
External links
- Official website Template:Ja icon
- Dennō Coil at NHK website Template:Ja icon
- Den-noh Coil ({{{type}}}) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia