Computer Kakumei: Saikyō x Saisoku no Zunō Tanjō (OVA)

Augmented Reality ~ a portable computing device accesses a layer of information that is super-imposed on reality.

Computer Kakumei: Saikyō x Saisoku no Zunō Tanjō is an OVA that by no means provides a complete story. Instead it is intended to help viewers imagine the impact that computing technology will have in the near future. Computer Kakumei was broadcast by NHK in June of 2012, and this is one of their overtly educational efforts. The short was animated by Production I.G., so even though it clearly had a limited budget, it is pretty competently done. In some ways the art style is shoujo-esque.

Computer Kakumei can’t really be evaluated on the basis of story or character, and it is only 10 minutes long, but it is interesting for what it sets out to do, which is to get the viewer thinking about the impact that technology will have on human lives in the near future.

Dennou Coil (final thoughts) ~ people are connected through narrow paths

Interesting color palette, striking use of framing elements ... Dennou Coil often exhibits an incredible sense of visual style.

There’s a rumor on the ‘Net about an anime called Dennou Coil (AKA Coil — A Circle of Children). In it children fight against cyber-lifeforms using the power of augmented reality glasses, metatags, and “codes”. Dennou Coil, which originally aired in 2007, can fairly be classified in the branch of Science Fiction called Cyberpunk. A common theme of Cyberpunk is the connection between computer technology (including networking) and what we call consciousness. Sometimes this can lead to a fusion of Science Fiction with Horror, after all, a common term for a disembodied consciousness is “ghost”. Dennou Coil follows this theme in Cyberpunk, and the horror aspects are specifically hinted at in the show’s OP, most obviously in the beginning.