The Ubiquitous Society, Viewed from an Imaginative and Scientific Perspective

There are limits to what a person can do by himself or herself. Even Nobunaga, as great as he was, probably would not have been able to accomplish everything without the help of others. Also, Einstein, who discovered the theory of relativity, had the assistance of his friend and fellow mathematician, Marcel Grossman.

As it is, humans are social animals by nature, and everybody can be considered a reed on a stalk. And it is for this reason that humans work with each other and create"organizations" to achieve greater things as a whole.

In the Anime and Sci-Fi worlds, this situation is no different. There are various types of organizations and each has their own unique motive. In many cases, the motives are extreme. For example, there are the so-called"bad guys," who aim to rule the world and/or try to invade the entire galaxy. Then there are the"good guys," who try to keep things at peace against the bad guys, and most of the time are left to protect everything by themselves, which is a real burden...

Given the many fictional organizations that exist in the dream science world, perhaps we can gain some insights by studying the rules and relationships within the various structures. Let's take an in-depth look at some of them.

First off is the Gamilas from Space battleship Yamato, an organization that complies with strict military regulation. Lord Desslar, the leader of the Gamilas, typifies the militaristic approach of this organization. On one occasion when Yamato is able to break through a territory filled with mines, he jokingly informs his ordinate to send a congratulatory telegram to the Yamato crew. To this sarcastic discourse, one subordinate laughs and replies,"Lord, that's a good one (joke)!" The next second, the floor disappears and the subordinate vanishes into thin air. Everybody around is shocked at what had happened. Then Desslar states,"We don't need any classless people here."

This scene illustrates how Desslar himself is the only one who could freely make jokes, while those under him are not allowed to do so. Or who knows, maybe only classy jokes are allowed in the Gamilas. Another possibility is perhaps the laughing by the subordinate was what triggered Desslar's wrath ― the reason is unknown. But what is clear is that the Gamilas have a very strict internal system when it comes to discipline.

In contrast, the Keroro Platoon from Sgt. Frog is regulated in a very loose and flat manner, despite also being military team/unit. The platoon comprises of five members; Sergeant Major Kururu, Sergeant Keroro, Corporal Giroro, Lance Corporal Dororo, and Private Second Class Tamama. In the anime, Keroro, who is technically second in rank, is for some reason the leader of the platoon. Even more interesting is how the lower ranking Giroro would speak to Keroro in an unmilitary-like casual manner. For example, he once said,"It was a mistake to let you be the leader!" Tamama is even more extreme, because he often becomes violent to his superiors, due to his moody personality. Before embarking on their goal of invading the Earth, the Keroro Platoon may want to rethink what discipline and order is in a military unit.

Speaking of discipline and order, the Science Patrol from Ultraman also has its share of problems. On one occasion when General Muramatsu is drinking coffee in Ginza, it starts to rain. At that point, Muramatsu orders Hayata to drive back and bring him an umbrella immediately. This is simply a classic example of power abuse.

Doctor Tenma from Astro Boy should also do some soul-searching of his own. Inventing Astro Boy during his days as the Japanese Minister of Science after losing his son is no doubt a heartwarming story. However, on closer look, there is a problem. The issue is that he recruited an abnormal amount of scientists and spent a whopping 10 trillion yen to just invent Astro Boy. Needless to say, that is an abominable act, especially for someone who is the Minister of Science.

For some organizations, discipline is secondary, as there are more severe problems to worry about. Take for example any of the superhero squadrons. They usually only contain three to five members, yet they have the burden of trying to protect the world all by themselves. Considering that there are 150,000 policemen in Japan alone, the pressure placed on each individual in the superhero squadron must be quite overwhelming with respect to numbers.

To this note, the five members of Dekaranger may have the biggest"workload." Protecting the Earth against the Space Criminals Alienizer is tough enough, but in addition, they also have daily patrolling and deskwork chores. To ease the workload of each Dekaranger, it would be nice if they could have 2 days off a week in a rotating flex system (between 3 people, 8 hours a day). In such a system, there would be 21 total shifts in a week (7 days x 3 people), so the five Dekarangers could cover a maximum of 25 shifts in a week (5 people x 5 days) together. With this in mind, two Dekarangers could handle four of the shifts at the same time. However, the remaining 17 shifts would have to be done by a single Dekaranger, and as we all know, the Dekarangers bring out their best when they are all together... Therefore, this work-shift system would bring safety and security concerns to the world.

In the topic of personnel, Destron, the evil organization and nemesis of Kamen Rider V3, is well equipped. In total, they have 100,000 soldiers and staff members worldwide, and 12% of this total (12,000) is deployed in Japan alone. Note, though, that the total number of those who directly fought against V3 was only about 20 people, including soldiers and top officials. If we correlate the 80/20 principle that states that 20% of the total manpower can account for 80% of the group's productivity, then that would mean that Destron only utilizes 0.017% of their personnel. If they use could more of them, perhaps at least 20% of their workforce, they would be able to outnumber V3, Rider 1 and 2 considerably: by 2400 to 3! Needless to say, they would have a significant advantage during combat.

In any organization, orders and principles are crucial and should be affirmed as necessary. The Ultra family is fully aware of this concept. As a result, they formed the Science Patrol to help them in their goal of protecting the universe. Ultraman and Ultra Seven also reside as actual members of the Science Patrol despite being far away.

The Ultra family had one big hurdle, though: Protecting the entire universe was not an easy thing, since the universe is quite big, and they are far away from the Earth. Indeed, the radius of the universe is said to be around 137 light years, so it would take 137 light years likewise to transmit a message from the outer reaches of space to the Ultra Star. To solve this problem, the Ultra sign was developed, making it possible to transmit letters in an instant. Theoretically speaking, nothing can be faster than the speed of light... So I imagine something related with quantum computers and quantum states (where that speed limit doesn't exist) was applied to make the Ultra Sign possible.

Even with the Ultra Sign in place, a basic problem remains. Many times when Ultraman Ace would fall in danger during combat; the Ultra Star would send an order stating"Get up! Fire! Fight!" This problem is that this is really not an order, but simply just an encouragement...

In contrast to the efficient Ultra family, consider Spectreman, who fought against Space Apeman Gori. Being a cyborg, Spectreman has an innate problem dealing with orders, because he could not transform to his cyborg state unless requested to and approved by the Nebula 71, the place of his birth.

In his battle against the monster Neo Hedoron, Spectreman could not transform at first because Neo Hedoron had blocked the Nebula 71 from being visible using a smog. To counter this, Spectreman jumped on a plane that was about to land and attempted to receive transformation from above the smog. But this plan was foiled by Neo Hedoron, and the plane was subsequently shot down. Fortunately for the world, Spectreman managed to transform before crashing and defeated Neo Hedoron thereafter. Yet had the transformation been just one step slower, Spectreman would have been killed. Moreover, if Spectreman had not recklessly jumped on the plane in the first place, the plane might not have been shot down.

Clearly, the transformation process isn't efficient. Spectreman himself knows best when to transform or not. Therefore, the Nebula 71 should simply give Spectreman the freedom to transform whenever he wants to do so.

Considering all that has been discussed, it appears that the heroes in the dream science world would have a hard time working inside a typical organization. I, myself, being a writer, can relate to this, since I work in an"organization" involving publishing companies, bookstores, and others. Still, let's all work together, work hard, and strive to save the world ourselves!