The Orbital Children Is A Complex, Thrilling Sci-Fi Adventure About Technology And Transhumanism
Mitsuo Iso already presented some fascinating and unusual uses of technology in his previous anime "Den-noh Coil," but Iso also takes advantage of the advancements of technology and the rise of social media these past 15 years to make "the Orbital Children" a painfully accurate portrayal of our relationship with technology. For one, there's the commercialization of space and the ton of sponsors seen on the space station. Like "Ad Astra" putting an Applebee's on the Moon, "The Orbital Children" features a McDonald's vending machine, a space station sponsored by Google, and space suits from Uniqlo.
Likewise, the show heavily explores how technology has become socially ingrained in our lives — one of the kids is an influencer with an obsession of reaching 100 million followers at any cost, even filming herself suffocating to death because it would be very exciting — and even physically ingrained in us, showing wearable smart technology that turns the palm of your hand into a phone, and microchip brain implants that help the moon-born kids survive in orbit.
While many anime and live-action shows and films deal with our dependence on technology, "The Orbital Children" stands out by not focusing on the toxicity of things like commercial space travel or the use of social media as an inherently bad thing. Rather, they are tools with both positive and negative sides to them. Likewise, the show makes an effort to gradually explore how these pieces of tech are still bound to human fallibility. No matter how cool or revolutionary, they are not without flaws, and a big part of what makes the show fun is seeing the kids have to deal with the limitations of the tech. Even the way the kids interact with social media and other technology (everyone has a personal drone in the future) feels natural and relatable without ever feeling the need to mock them. Even the protagonist, a little edgelord wannabe hacker, is relatable and easy to root for.
It is truly a joy to see the way "The Orbital Children" manages to encompass dozens of themes and plots into a tight six-episode narrative without ever feeling disjointed or overwhelming. It goes from being a disaster film about surviving in space and having to manually decompress space suits, to more sci-fi concepts like creating an AI superintelligence and even philosophical extradimensional ideology battles against AI about the difference between humans and humanity, all while still delivering a fun kids-centric adventure that offers legitimate thrills without feeling cheap or overwhelming. The result feels like a classic Spielberg adventure mixed with the philosophical science writing of Carl Sagan, aided by spectacular Zero-G movement animation, as well as a rousing score by Rei Ishizuka which feels evocative of John Williams.
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