Reading Radar

I grew up on Japanese anime and manga. I don’t mean like kids in the US do now. I mean, before any of you snot nosed punks even knew what it was. I was there, beyatch. So things like Uchu Senkan Yamato and (my favorite) Ginga Tetsudo Suri Nain (Galaxy Express 999) were manga I enjoyed as a kid for a glimpse into Japanese sci-fi.

So when Zoe Connolly did a short video on Insilico, I knew it was someplace I wanted to see.

Teleporting in, you’ll see a futuristic, upward, space city environment crowding around you. If you don’t like claustrophobic locations, this might not be for you. That’s pretty much how any major Japanese cities are, so it’s understandable that it translates into their futuristic sci-fi works.

Any British amongst you will be right at home with the ever present monitors and cameras vigilantly guarding the streets of the city.

Note, some mature themes are present, such as at the place on the right here. There’s also a dance club with some graphic anime videos looping, so just be aware it’s present. For me, several years of observing Japanese businessmen reading that shit on buses and trains on a near daily basis skewed my view heavily towards the “no thank you” side of the spectrum.

There’s several levels of shops, mainly them consistent for those looking for gear along the lines of space and sci-fi.

There’s a bar called the Blue Ant and also a control/monitoring area which are both typical of the well done, futuristic feel of the place.

I think I pulled a Keeme and broke and entered into someone’s space. Oh well. I meditated on the severity of my crimes on moved on.

Hungry from my travels, I found a restaurant that appeared submerged in some blue liquid of some kind, or maybe the humidity was cranked to 11. Not sure, but the service blew chunks. I waited for what seemed like 15 whole seconds before shaking their dust off my sandals.

The train diner’s more my thing, and hey, maybe I can actually sit in a Japanese train car without having to spot anyone reading any dirty manga! Yay! I’ve altered the past into a more pleasant … hey.. what’s that puddle of puke on the floor? Ewww… these noodle are tasting a little rubbery, dude. Gimme some shochu to flush that taste out!

Here’s Zoe’s video for a short taste of the atmosphere of Insilico.