WEBVTT

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- [Man] I just can't
understand this avatar stuff.

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What's the point of a virtual world?

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- Its Isaiah Colbert, the Otaku of Kotaku.

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The metaverse.

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Maybe you've heard this
word thrown around recently.

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Peer Research Center defines the metaverse

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alongside three tracks.

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As an embodiment of
virtual reality experience,

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a Web3 framework for economic exchange,

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and a creative platform for
experiences, like "Roblox."

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Mark Zuckerberg would have us believe

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that the metaverse is the future.

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So much so, he renamed
his company after it.

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- Our company is now Meta.

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(girl speaking Japanese)

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- What Zuck may not have realized

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is that the metaverse
has been done by anime,

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who have a much better
vision than his for it.

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Here are our picks for anime

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with better metaverses than Meta itself.

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Alongside having the best soundtrack

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and storylines in anime,
"Ghost in the Shell:

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Stand Alone Complex" also has
some provocative depictions

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of a futuristic metaverse.

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In one episode, the man who
dwells in the shadow of the net,

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Major Motoko Kusanagi enters
a virtual online chat room

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in hopes of finding a
lead on The Laughing Man,

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the series main antagonist.

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While her prying leads to a
swift kick out of the chat room,

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her dive into the fantastical cyber brain

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of a lost technician leads
to a virtual film screening

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that moves her to tears.

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Chances are she wasn't watching "Morbius."

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- I have to admit, for
a movie, it wasn't bad.

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- Remember that episode of
"Black Mirror," "Nosedive,"

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where Bryce Dallas Howard went gaba mode

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after she received negative reviews

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for her social media interactions?

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Well, animation studio
Science Saru's new anime,

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"Yurei Deco," takes that concept,

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and weaves in a Mark Twain
homage for good measure.

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In "Yurei Deco's" cyber city, Tom Sawyer,

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the social media likes folks
dole out, known as love,

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do double duty as currency.

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Thanks to government run eye implants,

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the people of Tom Sawyer exchange love

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for goods and services.

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Most notably upgrading
their avatar's appearance.

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However, there's a mysterious criminal

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named Phantom Zero running amok

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with the ability to turn
everyone's love to zero.

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The show follows a girl named Berry

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as she hunts down Phantom,

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and unearths Tom Sawyer's shady secrets.

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Before there was "Sword Art Online,"

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there was a sci-fi fantasy
series, ".hack//SIGN."

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In it, a young gamer
named Tsukasa wakes up

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inside the world of an
MMORPG called "The World."

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No relation to Dio, of course.

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(men speaking Japanese)

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Throughout this series,

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Tsukasa searches for a way
out of the virtual world,

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while being hunted under
suspicion of being a hacker.

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Luckily for Tsukasa,

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he meets some cool friendos along the way.

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Unlike Zuckerberg's shoddy metaverse,

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".hack//SIGN" takes the concept
of a virtual space to task

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by exploring how
relationships, social anxiety,

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and escapism manifest
in the virtual world.

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While "Psycho-Pass" mostly concerns itself

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with how dangerous "Minority
Report"-esque technologies

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and authoritarian police
states don't mix well,

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it's also got a pretty
underrated metaverse world.

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Much like "Ghost in the Shell's" Kusanagi,

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Akane Tsunemori enters the virtual world

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to solve cyber crimes.

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In episode four, "Nobody Knows Your Mask,"

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Akane enters the anime's
virtual world, CommuField.

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CommuField kinda works like Twitch

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in that avatars must keep up
the steady stream of content

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so they can keep sponsorships
and maintain viewers.

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Akane is there to solve a murder

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of a popular avatar named Taliman,

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who she believes is now being
controlled by his killer.

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A good reminder to make sure

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you're using two factor authentication,

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lest you become a victim
of digital necromancy.

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Those were our picks for
superior anime metaverses.

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Did we miss any?

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Let us know in the comment section below.

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(smooth electronic music)