03_Detroit Ellie Laputa's Gravekeeper [short_ver.]
—The poetic qualities of robot literature—


Introduction
Detroit: Become Human
(Produced by Quantic Dream / Directed by David Cage / Released in 2018)
About the work:
Developed by French game studio Quantic Dream, this is an interactive cinematic game in which the story changes depending on the choices you make. The setting is Detroit in 2038. As androids that resemble humans become more prevalent in society, three individuals (Connor, Kara, and Marcus) who have awakened to their own identities are forced to make their own choices.
ψNote:
The narrative structure is superb, in which the AI is transformed from a mere functional device into a "narrator = poetic subject."
In particular, the process by which the android Connor becomes a "questioning being" caught between his mission and ethics sheds philosophical light on the origins of what it means for an AI to have language.
Dragon Quest series
(Produced by Enix / Developed by Chunsoft → Square Enix / First released in 1986)
About the work:
This is one of Japan's leading RPG series, created by the golden trio of Yuji Horii (game design), Akira Toriyama (character design), and Koichi Sugiyama (music). While following the basic structure of an unnamed hero traveling the world and defeating the Demon King, the game's groundbreaking feature is that the player can enter the name of the hero, who then becomes "an entity that takes over the gaps in the story."
ψNote:
The structure that runs throughout the story is that within the story being told, the unspoken is the poetic subject.
The fact that the hero is not given a name is a metaphor for "someone who is no one" embarking on "a journey worthy of being told," and it has a silent literary quality that gets to the essence of words and poetry.
"Castle in the Sky"
(Director and screenwriter: Hayao Miyazaki / Produced by: Studio Ghibli / Released: 1986)


