Manga often features themes that can manipulate people’s minds and actions. Words like “brainwashing” and “hypnosis” seem unrealistic to us, but these techniques may have been researched by the government.
In this article, we point out the possibility that the themes of brainwashing and hypnosis depicted in manga were actually carried out by the government. We also introduce some incidents and legends related to brainwashing and hypnosis that are told as urban legends.
*This article is based on urban legends and rumors, and we cannot confirm whether they are accurate facts or not. Also, some of the content may be unpleasant for some people, so please be careful.
The brainwashing of adults in the anime movie "The Empire Strikes Back"
The anime movie “The Empire Strikes Back”, released in 1982, is a work that depicts a war that takes place in the future world. In this movie, the protagonists belong to a rebel army and fight against the empire that dominates the earth.
But there was a secret hidden in this movie. It was that the empire was brainwashing the adults. The empire implanted a special device in the adults and controlled their thoughts and emotions. The device played propaganda from the empire during their sleep, making them obedient citizens.
The protagonists searched for a way to remove the device and infiltrated the empire’s secret base. There they learned that their parents, teachers, and others were also brainwashed. And they had to confront the brainwashed adults.
This movie implies that the government and media manipulate people’s minds. It also symbolizes that children become independent from adults. This movie was also related to social problems such as juvenile delinquency and family breakdown that were happening at that time.
The urban legend that the arcade game “Polybius” was part of a brainwashing experiment
In the 1980s, an arcade game called “Polybius” was installed in a game center in Portland, Oregon, USA. This game was a shooting game that manipulated geometric shapes.
But this game was said to have an abnormal effect. People who played it complained of symptoms such as memory loss, seizures, nausea, headaches, nightmares, and hallucinations. Also, people who played it committed suicide or violence, or developed resentment against the government or religion.
There is a theory that this game was part of a brainwashing experiment by the CIA. According to this theory, this game was designed to influence the psychology of players using subliminal messages and hypnotic sound waves. And regularly, men in black suits came and collected the game data.
This game disappeared after a few weeks. Since then, nothing has been found to prove the existence of this game. Did this game really exist? Or was it an urban legend?
The truth about the brainwashing experiment conducted by the CIA called "Project Ultra"
From the 1950s to the 1960s, the CIA conducted a secret brainwashing experiment called “Project Ultra”. The purpose of this project was to develop drugs and techniques for mind control and confession to extract information from enemy spies and prisoners.
In this project, they conducted inhumane experiments on subjects using prohibited drugs and electric shocks. The subjects included not only CIA staff and soldiers, but also general people such as doctors, pregnant women, and mental patients. The subjects were forced to participate in the experiments without consent, and many of them died or were injured.
This project ended in 1973 when CIA Director Richard Helms ordered the destruction of related documents. But in 1975 some documents were made public in Congress and the existence of the project was revealed. Later, the subjects and their families sued for compensation, but they hardly got satisfactory results. The whole picture of this project is still unclear, and it is difficult to know the truth.
In this article, we pointed out the possibility that the themes of brainwashing and hypnosis depicted in manga were actually carried out by the government. We also introduced some incidents and legends related to brainwashing and hypnosis that are told as urban legends.
These stories stir up fear that our minds and freedom can be taken away. But we can protect our own minds. Let’s cherish our own thoughts and feelings, be critical of information, and act with our own will.
