Idoru (Literature)

Idoru is a Cyberpunk/Post Cyber Punk Speculative Fiction story written by William Gibson. Set in Tokyo, it is the second book of the Bridge Trilogy.

Rez of the Lo/Rez band has announced he is going to marry Rei Toei, an Idoru/a digital celebrity. Chia visits Tokyo to find out the truth. Laney, an ex-analyst, is hired to find out what’s wrong with Rez. However, the Russian Kombinat is not letting these two people know what is really going on behind the scenes.

In 2006, an anime film version was announced.

---

Tropes used in Idoru (Literature) include:

• An Offer You Can't Refuse: Blackwell to Kathy Torrance
• Author Avatar: Colin Laney to William Gibson, in a way. Laney's talent for identifying nodal points was meant to be a metaphor for Gibson's own perceived ability to identify bits of the future in present-day.
• Beige Prose: Like other William Gibson novels, played straight. Sentence fragments. Everywhere.
• Berserk Button: When Zona Rosa realizes Chia is in danger, she freaks out. Big time. In the end, she saves them by accident. She hacks the central fan community and told Rez died at the love hotel. The fans went there, stopping any more damage.
• City Noir: Tokyo
• Crapsack World: Tokyo’s Western World.
• Cyberpunk
• Cyberpunk with a Chance of Rain
• Cyberspace: Chia’s chapters with her Sandbender computer loves this trope.
• Darker and Edgier
• Defictionalization: Virtual celebrity singer? Just give Vocaloid a few years...
• Do Androids Dream?: Rei Toei. In fact, her dreams are literally the music videos.
• Everything Is Online: Laney uses information online, including music likes, to track down and analyze specific aspects of the person he’s tracking.
• Fan Girl: Chia, Mitsuko, Hiromi and tons of other unnamed girls.
• Fat Bastard: Chia believes Hiromi is one.
• Femme Fatale: Rei Toei
• Flash Back: Mostly in Laney’s chapters. He often remembers his old work while analyzing the nodal points.
• Gratuitous English: Intentionally put. Found in descriptions of advertizements, clothing, drinks, and instruction labels.
• Hikikomori: Masahiko
• Hologram: Rei Toei, the idoru herself.
• Idol Singer: Lo/Rez and Rei Toei
• Industrial Ghetto: Tokyo’s Western World. It is basically Tokyo’s old remains left untouched after the earthquake.
• Japan Takes Over the World
• Jerkass: Hiromi Ogama
• Le Film Artistique: The first of the two documentaries for Lo/Rez. Lampshaded when Laney thought it was hard to follow at times. However, the documentary shows the band being disconnected to the world through stress and travel, a major reason why Rez is marrying the idoru
• I Am Legion: Rei Toei is not just one, but many idorus.
• The Mafiya: In Japan, the Russian Kombinat or Combine acts their businesses there.
• Matrix Raining Code: Laney sometimes sees this while he is analyzing nodal points. So does Chia when she is using her sandbender program.
• Meaningful Name:
  • Chia Pets are toys
  • The Walled City, the hacker community, is named after the Kowloon Walled City
  • Slitscan is an animation that’s created by image by image.
  • Zona Rosa is a neighbourhood in Mexico City
  • Rei Toei’s name and personality are inspired by the Toei company which includes Toei Animation
• The New Russia: Part of the history behind the Bridge Trilogy
• Otaku: Masahiko is a computer otaku.
• Playful Hacker: Zona Rosa
• Post Cyber Punk
• Product Placement: Pocari Sweat of all things, though obscure references like this are one of Gibson's trademarks.
• Projected Man: Rei Toei, the idoru.
• Recursive Reality: The Walled City is basically Tokyo itself managed on the style of Second Life
• Revenge: Kathy Torrance hates Laney a lot.
• Ridiculously Human Robot: Rei Toei
• Robotic Spouse: The premise.
• Robosexual: The premise.
• Scenery Porn: It perfectly describes Tokyo especially to anyone who has visited or lived there
• Scenery Gorn: When it isn’t Scenery Porn.
• Speculative Fiction
• Techno Babble
• Tokyo Is the Center of the Universe
• Translator Microbes: Computers and earphones seem to do the job.
• Twenty Minutes Into the Future
• The Verse: Part of the Bridge Trilogy
• Viewers Are Geniuses: Not only do readers need to contend with Beige Prose, they need to understand some of the Tokyoite and hacking culture.
• Weapon for Intimidation: Maryalice uses her handgun-shaped cigarette lighter for this near the end of the book. The illusion collapses when, in a drunken haze, she forgets it's not real and tries to shoot someone with it.