Steamboy (スチームボーイ, Suchīmubōi) is a 2004 steampunk anime film. Due to its particular elements, Steamboy is a prime example of quintessential, pure steampunk.
Plot[]
Ray is a young inventor born in 1853 and living in Great Britain in the middle of the 19th century. Shortly before the first ever World Expo, a marvelous invention called the "Steam Ball", behind which a menacing power is hidden, arrives at his door from his grandfather Lloyd in Russian Alaska. Meanwhile the nefarious O'Hara Foundation has sent men to acquire the Steam Ball so that they can use its power towards their own illicit ends.
Steampunk elements[]
- Setting
- Steamboy is set in Victorian England at the height of a new wave of anachronistic advancement.
- Characters
- Most characters are dressed in typical Victorian-England fashion with the occasional pair of pilot's goggles due to the more-commonplace profession of pilots. Ray's father, Dr. Eddie Steam, wears a steampunk-style face covering to hide a bad burn. The focus is on the high-class side of society, particularly on master scientists and their goals for humanity. These goals also conflict and make for a grand, high-stakes adventure.
- Technology
- Steam power is prevalent, with many types of custom vehicles running on steam. Airships are commonplace, and Ray, in particular, creates his own clever gadgetry to make his daily life easier. There is some ornate weaponry, but one of the high points in Steamboy's steampunk qualities is that of the steam ball and the corresponding purpose behind it - the steam castle. After discovering a stable, pure fluid capable of being incredibly highly-pressurized, Eddie and Lloyd Steam crafted three steam balls to power the steam castle, which was an enormous building capable of flight. Harnessing the steam balls in other steam-powered equipment would also yield much more stable, powerful results.
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