*How hard could that be for them? Not hard at all.
(...)
Kenny: As for Japanese steampunk. that’s a tough one. Okay, these are not direct inspiration for Steam garden, but I should say examples of influences on “Japanese Steampunk†are—
[Note from Ay-leen: I added in the English translation when necessary and links to the titles Kenny recs]
“Tenkuu no Shiro no Laputa†天空ã®åŸŽãƒ©ãƒ”ュタ[Castle in the Sky] (19th Century Europe setting, an “industrial†setting, airships, adventure in the sky)
“Kurenai no Buta†紅ã®è±š [Porco Rosso] (story of the retired legendary pilot)
“Sakura Taisen†サクラ大戦 [Sakura Wars] (Mix of Victorian and gorgeous kimono, the characters fight using robots, Time line is Meiji and Taisho era)
“K-20†怪人20é¢ç›¸ (the story is similar to Mask of Zorro, showa era tokyo, but an alternative history: as if there was no WW2)
“FullMetal Alchemist†鋼ã®éŒ¬é‡‘術師 (combined fantasy + industrial adventure)
“Steam Boy†スãƒãƒ¼ãƒ ボーイ(inventors story with steam-gadgets)
Ay-leen: I think you won me over by mentioning FMA. That is one of my favorite animes, ever!
Luke: Obviously “Laputa.†If anyone hasn’t watched it, do so immediately! I saw a subtitled bootleg around 1995 or thereabouts: I’d heard Miyazaki was an animation genius but I was expecting it to be some kind of gentle story for kids. When I saw it I couldn’t believe how cool his mechanical designs were, and much overlap there was between his imaginary world and the so-called “steampunk†genre which was still almost entirely confined to literature at that time. I wish I could ask him how much, if any, proto-steampunk literature he had been reading or if it was serendipity. He certainly knows his aviation history, which informs his designs and animation.
I’ll come clean and say I have generally little clue about games or anime. I’ve never played Sakura Taisen even though the Meiji setting is very similar to our fundamental concept for “Steam Gardenâ€.
Recently I’ve seen some bits of games or other pop culture in Japan which seem to be half-assedly aiming for “steampunk†but don’t have anything in common with it beyond purely visual gimmicks. They add cogs for no apparent reason or feature “steam†somehow. That is completely missing the point.
Ay-leen: I see that the trend of people latching onto the aesthetics and not going any deeper is something that steampunks globally notice as the steampunk movement becomes more recognizable. Which is why I think Steam Garden is so impressive, because you guys like to explore steampunk as more than just a look, but a creative mindset. So, how did you find the other members of your crew?
Kenny: We have lots of friends in fashion, art, design etc, plus we met some talented people who attended SteamGarden episode 1 who liked the event and were very into steampunk. I think something about sharing an interest brings people together, it’s kind of fate....
