Metropolis, also known as Osamu Tezuka's Metropolis is a manga by Osamu Tezuka and an anime movie based off of the manga.
Despite some similarities, this work was not at all influenced by Fritz Lang's pre-World War II epic Metropolis. In fact, Tezuka Osamu had not seen the film at the time when he was working on this story. However, his creation of the character Mitchi was based on the only still picture of the movie that he had seen, which depicted the birth of a female robot.
The manga is published in English by Dark Horse Comics.
The anime movie, released in 2001 in Japan and in 2002 in the U.S., was directed by Rintaro, and written by Katsuhiro Otomo.
Plot
Template:Spoiler The movie opens with the celebration of the completion of the Ziggurat when a robot who was outside its zone tried to crash the party, but was shot down by Rock.
A Japanese private detective and his nephew, Ken'ichi, arrive in the giant, grand city-state of Metropolis. Metropolis itself lies in an unmentioned republic and it can best be described as a plutocracy where a man named Duke Red is the most influential citizen besides President Boone. In Metropolis' heavily industrialised world, artificial intelligence has evolved a lot and robots are seen everywhere performing all sorts of tasks. Despite their intelligence robots do not have any of the rights that are granted to human beings. In order not to infringe upon human rights they are not allowed to have human names nor to travel between the four Zones which Metropolis is divided in between without a special permission. Thus they live under Apartheid-like conditions.
In order to protect humans from mischievous-minded robots a vigilante organisation called the Marduk patrol the streets of Metropolis. Heavily armed men dressed in red destroy robots as they please. The Marduk is a vigilante group who has formed a political party. It's a public secret that their founder is Duke Red.
The private detective and his nephew are looking for a person named Dr Laughton who is among else suspected of trading human organs. Little do they know that Duke Red has hired Dr Laughton to manufacture an extremely intelligent robot in the shape of Duke Red's deceased daughter. The robot is to sit on her customised eternal throne supercomputer at the top of the newly built Ziggurat; a mountainous palace that Duke Red has constructed for military purposes. Duke Red tested a solar weapon of mass destruction that alarms the government.
Dr Laughton plans to flee Metropolis once the robot, named Tima after Duke Red's daughter, is finished. Although Duke Red's adoptive son and Marduk, Rock discovers Dr Laughton's treacherous intentions and proceeds to kill him in cold blood, whereas after he sets fire to the building containing Dr Laughton's laboratory intending to destroy all traces including the robot Tima which is in suspended animation at the time.
However Tima wakes up during the fire and is saved by Ken'ichi. Dr Laughton dies before the detective manages to drag him out of there but manages to utter a few words regarding a precious notebook of his which the detective saves from the flames. During their escape from the burning building Ken'ichi and Tima falls down a sewage drain and become separated from the detective.
Thus a search for his nephew begins for the detective. Ken'ichi and Tima are at the same being time chased by Rock who is monomanical about destroying Tima. Rock's determination to do so lies in his belief that his father, Duke Red, should be the one whom sits on the throne at the top of the Ziggurat and not a robot.
Escaping from Rock, Tima and Ken'ichi stumble upon Atlas who is the leader of a group of unemployed labourers whom live in poverty below the Metropolis' glistering surface. The labourers demand better living conditions having lost their jobs due to mechanisation, i.e. robots and with the recent building of the Ziggurat having the food distributions discontinued. They are planning to take up arms and launch a coup d'état against the government and bring down the Ziggurat like God's wrath once brought down the tower of Babel.
President Boone and other political and military leaders are discussing the strategy about the protests against Duke Red. The protests were later suppressed and after a fight between Rock and Ken'ichi, Tima had fallen back into the hands of Duke Red who exiled Rock for trying to kill Tima. At the Ziggurat, she wrote Ken'ichi's name all over her room, much to the shock of one the maids. She was briefly taken captive by a patrolling Marduk trooper who was knocked unconscious by the detective. He had Tima locate Ken'ichi in the Ziggurat and proceeds her to infiltrate it when Duke Red recaptures her.
Ken'ichi was reunited with his uncle and Tima who was shot by Rock, disguised as a maid who in turn, was wounded by one of the guards. Tima finds out that she is a robot and argues with Duke Red over morality and her love for Ken'ichi vs. her true destiny: rule the entire Earth. She is eventually forced to sit on her eternal throne in which she fell to the dark side and the throne gives her complete control over the robots.
Robots launch a revolution against humanity and when Ken'ichi pulls Tima from her eternal throne (at the cost of tearing half of her skin apart), he is unwillingly forced to duel against her when she pushes and throws him to the ground. The robots kill Duke Red and many scientists before Rock presses a button that self-destructs the Ziggurat.
Ken'ichi tries to save the now "redeemed" Tima, but fails and she fell to her death as Metropolis is completely destroyed by the nuclear meltdown and explosive destruction of the Ziggurat. The next morning, Metropolis laid in ruins and a few robots survived while the human survivors and Ken'ichi's uncle evacuate in an airship. Ken'ichi stays in Metropolis and recovers Tima's shoes and a few of her parts from the robot survivors. After a radio finishes playing the music, it records Tima's voice and she said: "Who am I?"
External link
- Metropolis at IMDb
External link
- Metropolis at IMDb