Your Effort to Remain What You Are is What Limits You: Transhumanism in the Films of Mamoru Oshii

The purpose of this graduate thesis is to analyze the animated films of director Mamoru Oshii in order to examine the director’s use of the concept of transhumanism (the belief that the human race can evolve beyond its current physical and mental limitations, especially by means of science and technology) and how it informs both the subject matter of his films, as well as the director’s own signature directorial style and themes. The goal is to demonstrate that all of his films are informed in some way by an analysis of the transhuman, though the difference between them is that some analyze the subject from a cynical angle, others tackle the subject directly in a more optimistic and speculative fashion, while others still use it as an allegory for the director’s own political and social views.