Denno Coil: Kids, Cyberspace and Suprpsing Darkness

[Michael Hopcroft]

Although it got off to a bit of a late start, there's been a lot of buzz about the new anime Denno Coil and its potential for campaign fodder.

 

To describe the series isn't all that easy, but it's basically about children and the cyberspaces that exist alongside the real world and are accessed through special glasses that almost everyone wears (regardless of the state of their vision). when her virtual dog runs away chasing something weird, a new girl in town named Yuko becomes involved with the activities of a seeker-of-lost-pets who is a bit of a cybermage -- and the machinations of another girl who is even more gifted a hacker, is up to something and is arrogant and cutting to the bone. meanwhile, Yuko is seeing diary entires she doesn't remember and having dreams in which the brother she doesn't have tells her "Don't open the door".

 

Probably not coincidentally, opening a door of some sort is exactly what the rival hacker has in mind.

[Michael Hopcroft]

Re: Denno Coil: Kids, Cyberspace and Suprpsing Darkness

 

I'm running into some difficulty figuring out how the "megane" powers work (everyone interacts with the Net and the "spaces" that compose the virutal world through their eyeglasses, which could be corrective for bad vision or could simply be technical devices and fashionable accessories. You cannot affect the virtual world if your glasses aren't on, nor can the virtual world affect you (at least directly).

 

What you can do in the virutal world varies greatly depending on who you are and what you choose to pursue. Most people simply use it the way we use computers now; to send instant messages, do work, and play. "Digipets" are quite popular -- virtual animals who exist only in the spaces; you can't see your doggie without your glasses, but he's not quite so hard to take care of as a real dog. And of course a digipet can be anything its makers choose it to be -- although most commercial manufacturers prefer the old standby dogs and cats, there are some truly wild things out there.

 

On the next level are the metabug hackers. These are people who are able to obtain various illiict programs. These "metatags" change the functioning of virutal spaces and their interactions with real spaces. Fumie, a typical metabug hacker, carries her metatags in her bag in the form of strips of virutal paper. They look like ofuda, the traditional spirit wards of Eastern magic, and work in a similiar way -- slap the tag on whatever you want to affect and it does what you want. Fumie's tags (which are given to her through her association with the legendary hacker Mega-baa) can be used to create barriers in the virtual world, give her access to a virtual energy blast (the "Mega-be") that only affects virtual targets (and some more than others), and enables her to do little feats like make traffic lights change in her favor. Fumie's rival Daichi doesn't use Metatags, but is able to do some similar things with other types of meta-devices he obtains on the black market.

 

The ultimate level of power is the people who can do things in virtuality that defy even the remotest logic. Mega-baa is able to make Metatags, something only she can do, by taking "pieces of lost space" are turning them into useful programs. The old woman has used this ability to form a band of juvenile "detectives" to investigate things she sees as important. Although she clearly knows a great deal of what's going on, her dubious sanity makes her very dangerous to have as your patron.

 

And then there are the Encoders, people spoken of only in rumor and whisper who can do things with virutality nobody could imagine. Isako, an Encoder, can do things like cause unstable virtual energy to explode, draw "shrines" with chalk that keep the Saatchis out, and even more powerful things. If Fumie and Daichi are sorcerors, Isako is a virtual demigoddess. Unfortunately for everyone who must eal with her, she has the attitude to go with her power, with little or no concern for ordinary humanity.

 

Finally, there is the System itself. It was, after all, constructed by adults for profit, and those who built the system don't like seeing it tinkered with -- particularly by ignorant children. So far, the system has defended itself thought the Saatchis, enormous robots that exist only in virutality, sound friendly, but are utterly terrifying. They can send out "speheres" to spy out anyone attempting to do something to the system; one of the main tasks they have is to track down and destroy the "illegal" digipets that have viral qualities. But any breach in the structure of virtuality will attrach their attention.

 

And you don't want to attract their attention.. They can reformat any space they enounter, if they touch someone wearing a set of megane the megane are instantly rendered useless. And they have little interest in the difference between illegal digipets and legitimate ones, especially since illegals reproduce by infecting said digipets. The one upside -- if there is one -- is that although the Sattchi's can utterly destroy your virutal presence, Fumie has stated they can't harm you physically. "You can't die from data loss", she says. It remains to be seen whether this is correct, but the prospect of complete data loss does utterly terrify at least Fumie and Daichi.

[Clonus]

Re: Denno Coil: Kids, Cyberspace and Suprpsing Darkness

 

Denno Coil's version of cyberspace is suspiciously like other anime's vision of the spirit world. I also note of course that only children and the insane see it.

[Mad Fnorder]

Re: Denno Coil: Kids, Cyberspace and Suprpsing Darkness

 

It's worth noting that partial or complete damage to your Data Self results in the immediate automatic download of some extremely expensive auto-restore software- the more damage, the more expensive it is. And considering how nigh-universal cyber gear is, especially among children, you might WISH you were dead if your parents put a stop on your account because they can't afford to restore it.

 

If I were translating it into Hero, I would think the "Cyber Effect Only" limitation would probably cap at -1/4, maybe -1/2 tops, because literally, that is where the action is.

 

The tricky thing is determining what people's Cyber-durability is. Based on what they buy? A mental stat?

[Michael Hopcroft]

Re: Denno Coil: Kids, Cyberspace and Suprpsing Darkness

 

Denno Coil's version of cyberspace is suspiciously like other anime's vision of the spirit world. I also note of course that only children and the insane see it.

 

Not quite true. Adults use the Megane all the time for its intended applications (as a net appliance), many adults own Digipets, etc. Remember, the comapny didn't go to all the trouble of setting up these digital spaces just so Isako could play nasty games with reality.

 

Of course, when the Internet was established nobody anticipated porn sites, BitTorrent or World of Warcraft either.

[Michael Hopcroft]

Re: Denno Coil: Kids, Cyberspace and Suprpsing Darkness

 

The tricky thing is determining what people's Cyber-durability is. Based on what they buy? A mental stat?

 

In world, there are all sorts of ways to get "cyber-durability". Some involved money, some involve skill. But nobody has enough of it that encountering Saatchis isn't going to faze them.

 

Except that

Haruken, a cool, male rival of Fumie who may be a potential love interest for Yusako, seems to have a connection with the Saatchis that means they will obey his instructions for short periods in a limited fashion. He was able to touch one by the hand without any ill effects, partly to show off and partly to give a trapped Yusako and Fumie a chance to escape.

 

[Bloodstone]

Re: Denno Coil: Kids, Cyberspace and Suprpsing Darkness

 

Reminds me of Otaku/Children of the Matrix in Shadowrun