Whether we consider Dallos a historical curiosity (the first straight-to-VHS anime aka OVA) or a foreshadowing of Oshii's cyberpunk magnum opus Ghost in the Shell, the four-part miniseries is an interesting exploration of human freedom, the alienation of the younger generation of colonists, and the colonial practices of humans spreading beyond planet Earth. The conception of the titular Dallos as an almost divine entity, representing an object of worship and a symbol of sanctuary, but also a weapon of mass destruction, signals a course of thought that Oshii explores in greater depth and brings to perfection in Ghost in the Shell. Here, too, the difference between the binaries of human-technological, conscious-unconscious, machine-deity is disrupted and blurred, which I find fascinating.
Whether we consider Dallos a historical curiosity (the first straight-to-VHS anime aka OVA) or a foreshadowing of Oshii's cyberpunk magnum opus Ghost in the Shell, the four-part miniseries is an interesting exploration of human freedom, the alienation of the younger generation of colonists, and the colonial practices of humans spreading beyond planet Earth. The conception of the titular Dallos as an almost divine entity, representing an object of worship and a symbol of sanctuary, but also a weapon of mass destruction, signals a course of thought that Oshii explores in greater depth and brings to perfection in Ghost in the Shell. Here, too, the difference between the binaries of human-technological, conscious-unconscious, machine-deity is disrupted and blurred, which I find fascinating.
