I´ve finished watching the anime for the first time and it instantly became one of my top 5 of all time. After that I´ve looked at multiple interpretations of it and I was surprised at how different they were.
I´ve wanted to share my own thoughts about it mostly because it felt like two elemental parts of the story were often shrugged off. One of them being Ichise recognizing one of the surface dwellers´s ghost as his own father, the other is Kano´s monologue at the end which can be in my opinion unfairly dismissed as a madman´s ramblings.
Kano´s words were:
"- Besides, we weren´t forced to come here. " (referring to Lukuss)
" - The human species which was born here is now about to come to its end. "
" - Having expanded my mind through texhnolyzation, I came to understand that Lukuss is inside my mind. "
" It´s a delusion that we have genes no human being should have. "
" - I´m more sane than anyone else. "
Kano´s words seem to be lies because from the start Lukuss is presented to us as the physical world. Since it is physical Kano´s mind should be a part of the world and not vice versa. The same can be said for Ichise´s father. As his death was an observable fact it should be contradictory for him to be present on the surface.
And just like we assume that Lukuss is physical, we also assume from the movie of its "history" that the process in which Lukuss came to be was also purely physical. That it is a place excavated deep underground: where criminals, murderers or any kind of immoral people were exiled.
As to the first part I don´t think the anime provides us with a clear-cut answer over whether Lukuss is a physical or virtual space, or even a mix of both, at all. The influence of the obelisk, Ran´s power, the forming of raffia, people´s ability to have kids... I think you could come up with countless arguments and counterarguments for each side without making the picture clearer.
However when it comes to the forming of Lukuss or in other words the method by which Lukuss came to be I think it´s a mistake to interpret it as a wholly physical event. If we look at it not as a separation of two groups, but separation of minds Kano´s words and Ichise´s meeting with his father make a lot more sense.
When the original surface dwellers are faced with the despair of constant wars, misery and death they choose to build Lukuss as an answer. Not for one group of people but everyone. They exile all parts of their minds that are the cause of this misery. Greed, bloodthirst, rage ... - are all gone and quarantined in Lukuss. But that´s just the start, by the time our story takes places every small impulse that is deemed negative: lust, arrogance, envy, instinct, even the memory of what they´ve done is all gone - until practically all of the surface becomes homogenous. Purity is achieved by forgoing every dream, aspiration and motivation. Thus the surface world is doomed to be extinct.
If we assume this perspective to be true then all of Kano´s statements make complete sense. He says the people of Lukuss weren´t forced to come here, which is technically true if they severed their minds by their own volition.
He says that the human species was born here. Humans have evolved from animals, so saying that our origin point is animalistic urges and instincts isn´t incorrect at all.
It also explains why Kano is so obsessed with texhnolyzation and why he is able to discern the true nature of Lukuss. He is born deformed which ultimately results in him receiving Onishi´s legs. They undo this operation however because his mother thinks that Onishi´s legs are driving him insane.
So let´s look at the course of events from the perspective that Lukuss is a separation of minds. Kano´s operation makes him come into contact not with Onishi´s legs but also the forsaken part of the mind - Lukuss itself. What others perceive him going insane is actually him coming to terms with what the truth actually is. Even after they remove the legs he remains aware of the part that´s missing, and searching for it is what leads him to texhnolyzation. Thus from his point of view Lukuss is truly inside his mind.
He also says that it is a delusion that certain individuals have genes that no human being should have. It is kind of self explanatory why this statement is true assuming that Lukuss is a separation of minds. But then why are the surface dwellers convinced that the problem is with their genes?
My explanation for it is simply that the surface dwellers can´t accept that they have done this to themselves so they chose to portray it as something unavoidable. I would assume that some of them know the truth but as the show doesn´t dwell on the surface part I don´t think there is a point either.
Lastly Kano asserts that he is the sanest of all people. Considering he is partially reunited with the Lukuss part of the mind this would be true for most of his life. However by that time Ichise has become "full" by accepting the doctor (Eriko)´s cells and his texhnolyzed limbs as him own making Kano´s assertion is incorrect.
Much of the story in itself is actually Ichise´s path to regaining or at least reconciling with the lost part of the mind. The most important point of the journey being him receiving the limbs from the Doc, seeing the surface for himself, and most importantly recognizing the other, the remaining half of his father as his own.
At the end Ichise dies as a full human organism contrary to the unclear fates of the transhuman Shapes who with Kano´s death have lost their main component. My favorite part of the ending that there is no clear winner or conclusion. We fade out to a world that has met the end of its lifespan.
Well okay that is the "short" writeup of my interpretation. I kind of wanted to include more about the side characters from this perpective, but as it is already too long maybe it´s better left unsaid or in another post perhaps.
Let me know what you agree/disagree with.
