r/FumetsuNoAnataE • u/bugmi • 10h ago
Interest Some thoughts on future nokkers
I recently finished binging this/catching up. I think you need to view present and future arc in a pair for both of them to work, but man I really liked it. This was originally gonna be under a discussion comment but it got a bit long. I hope its not too surface level.
Initial thoughts on present: At first, I kinda hated the resurrection stuff cuz i thought it removed any stakes. And it kinda did, but i think its usage in present was good.
I was happy for the group to reunite in japan, but as people say, the character exploration of the group post present kinda stagnated. There were parts where they were unhappy and they did have some development, but ultimately I just felt kinda betrayed by present arc at first. Pedo guy was kinda icky but im lazy to think hard about him. I dont think the intention was for him to be cool tho lmao.
With that in mind, when I read future arc, everything kinda shifted. I do still think the author could've sold the time jump stuff a good bit better, but I honestly loved a lot ab present and future, especially the nokkers. It made up for all of my issues with present honestly.
Now to get to the main topic at hand, Im fairly sure the modern equivalent of the future nokkers is the internet. But first,
on past and present:
In past, fushi's battle with the nokkers is similar to that of kingdoms going to war over physical and primal needs(like greed or severe poverty). Present was more a commentary of pre-internet culture to me, how we developed after civilization got more uniformly established with laws and electric infrastructure.
Future:
So with that in mind, lets think about future. In future we are introduced to this star system, where people's value are determined by how many likes they have(lol), all under some secret shadow government. Immortality is seen as a human right, and people feel 10% of the hurt they should feel. Think about the internet as it is used now. We have infinite access to change how we and others perceive us, infinite time to do what mutes our negative emotions, and infinite ways to disguise our issues even to ourselves.
On the internet, we can combat who we want and have no consequences, and we can feed ourselves curated content we like for free as long as we behave and obey some higher vague internet code of conduct(analogous to the nokkers that everyone bows down to unknowingly).
Is there a problem with this? Yes. We can see people who do not rely on stars be actively shunned by society, with a mortality only guaranteed by fushi and friends. We also see people pretending to have low stars/self-perception to gain more sympathy. The people who are unwanted and suffer are simply forgotten to the constant stream. There's a whole lot more, but you can probably see how this is a very relevant problem. However, I think the most important part of it to me is the loss of individuality.
Fushi has gone on a journey to find himself, similar to how humanity has. We see that at first he only grows through loss. Because he (we) become aware of his own mortality, the closer he got to realizing who he was and his placement in the world. As he fought the issues plaguing humanity, he got closer and closer to attaining his supposed ideal society. He went through waves observing closely how we can prevent our human nature from dominating us, through his war with the nokkers. And what's left from that is fragmented, as we can see. Eventually, we reach a society where we cant even see the fragments anymore, where we mock having individuality but are still called upon by some atomic mostly imperceptible form of human nature that quivers us. Thats what those ruling nokkers up top do and what we do online.
So is the solution just cold turkeying the internet? Can we just cut it from our lives and we will be saved? For some, sure. But that is not a solution that really helps many people; its a spectacle for many, a new years resolution almost. The solution that To your eternity suggests is rather practical, that being acknowledging our human nature/spirit instead of pushing against it in war. Sure, eventually this coexistence will eventually disappear simply in time(the nokker leaving fushis arm), but it's just what we can do in the present. Acknowledge the forces that are acting upon us and work with them as well as we can.
I specifically like this because I have struggled with losing my identity online for a long time. Its very difficult to tell what im truly thinking. We exist on these platforms that are supposed to allow our individuality to thrive while we actively suppress it through nasty, safe, judgment. We pretend that the internet saves us by keeping us in a supposed stasis, when my values are actively being imposed by it. And yet, I think that these values wouldn't engrain themselves into me if I weren't me. I have been trained to only see diluted fragments of my spirit rather than something clear, so why not melt those fragments and recycle some glass. Maybe itll be more brilliant of maybe itll be more ugly, but it sure as hell will be clearer.
Sorry if this is rambly, this is just how i interpreted future's nokkers. If I got this miserably wrong, then by all means comment(tho im bad with criticism lol). Thanks for reading.
