Fahrenheit No.6

As an anime fan, each month I watch a great amount of anime. The anime that I watch tends to be of the dystopian genre. Some of the dystopian animes are very similar to one another and some generate new and different themes. Just recently I stumbled across an anime called No. 6, which can be purchased here. This anime tends to depict a different dystopian theme and has many similarities to Fahrenheit 451.

No. 6 shares several similarities with the novel Fahrenheit 451. The first major similarity is the type of government. In the anime we are introduced to the main character, Sion, who is a resident of the city called No.6. This city appears as if it is a utopia as services are provided such as food, shelter and housing. The people in the city do not have to worry about needs and have no struggles. Through Sion, we discover that the city is not a utopia but rather a dystopia. One element of dystopia that exists is the requirement to pledge your loyalty toward the city everyday. Books are not allowed in the city and information is controlled by a small government group.   In the anime this is all exposed to the viewer, through Sion, as he is rescued before the government can execute him. His rescuer, a guy name Rat, brings him to the West District, which is the opposite of the city No.6. Fahrenheit 451 follows a similar story line with a small group of elites controlling the government. In the novel, people do not have to pledge allegiance to the government but they are required to obey the rules that are in place. Furthermore, when initially reading the novel the setting appears to be similar to a utopia as the attitude is a semi Laissez-faire rule. Since the people obey the government, the government provides services, such as when the main character Montag’s wife had a procedure done in the middle of the night that saved her life. Another similarity between the novel and the anime is books are not allowed and are confiscated. In the novel books are burned and the only information that is allowed is government- approved information. Finally the character Montag is in a similar situation to Sion as his female neighbor forced Montag to think about society. As a result Montag took books illegally and eventually escaped the city due to this girl. After he escaped the city, the city was destroyed and Montag survived.

The two works are similar and their governments have what appears to be a utopia but in reality is a dystopia. The main characters are parallel to one another as Sion is like Montag and Rat is like the girl who makes Montag think. If you are a fan of the dystopian genre and enjoyed Fahrenheit 451, then No. 6 the anime would be an enjoyable watch.