2000s Futurism Aesthetic Thread - Transparent plastic and chrome bubbles underwater

[llllIllIllIIIIllI]

Someone please use AI or something or draw a fruitiger aero person killing a corporate memphis nigger

 

[Space Police]

I love that kind of aesthetic, especially when it applies to Anime.

This aesthetic was at its peak during the golden era of fansubbing, so you'll see it in how many old fansubs have cool fonts (the current consensus among fansubbers seems to be that the cool fonts are a relic of 2000s weeaboo cringe, which is stupid):

And then, of course, there's nothing like an obscure mid-2000s anime that hasn't been remastered yet (bonus points if it's only fansubbed). Fafner, Olynssis, SRW Divine Wars, Galaxy Railways S2, and Rouran are some anime that I know are like this. Webdiver and DT Eightron (the series itself, not the fansubs/masters) are based around this aesthetic too, and they have very cool screens.

 

[Lithuophile]

 

[ToroidalBoat]

The 21st century feels like a blur so far so the "retrofuturism" of the '00s seems recent. But turns out that the '00s are as far from now as the '80s are from the '00s.

And I sorta miss GUIs looking like glass and metal.

The women were hotter too.

Seems women being hot is "sexist" and "problematic" in Clown World.

 

[Zbk3VmLfujjzjxBd43tL]

I love that kind of aesthetic, especially when it applies to Anime.
View attachment 6238438

It's the aesthetic they used in all the cyberpunk anime from the 00s like Ghost in the Shell, Ergo Proxy, etc. Those also had the "hot girl shooting robots" thing that was big in the 00s too (except Texnolyze, that one was just cyborg Yakuza niggaz busting caps on each other). Sucks that nowadays you can't have that without the girl being black and quipping about feminism every five seconds.

This aesthetic was at its peak during the golden era of fansubbing, so you'll see it in how many old fansubs have cool fonts (the current consensus among fansubbers seems to be that the cool fonts are a relic of 2000s weeaboo cringe, which is stupid):
View attachment 6238556
View attachment 6238559
And then, of course, there's nothing like an obscure mid-2000s anime that hasn't been remastered yet (bonus points if it's only fansubbed). Fafner, Olynssis, SRW Divine Wars, Galaxy Railways S2, and Rouran are some anime that I know are like this. Webdiver and DT Eightron (the series itself, not the fansubs/masters) are based around this aesthetic too, and they have very cool screens.

View attachment 6238602
View attachment 6238603

It's interesting in all those 00s era shows because it's recent enough to look truly futuristic and doesn't fall into the blocky vectors of 80s/90s screens in anime. It's a great vision, and looks nicer than the minimalism we see in SF anime now.

Plus 00s character design and animation had such a great aesthetic and is my favorite era. I even like the dull color palette used.

 

[Space Police]

It's interesting in all those 00s era shows because it's recent enough to look truly futuristic and doesn't fall into the blocky vectors of 80s/90s screens in anime. It's a great vision, and looks nicer than the minimalism we see in SF anime now.

SEED was the peak of this aesthetic. The screens had all sorts of cool fonts, colours, and sophisticated shapes -- even the launch billboards had letters that seemed recessed-in. It wasn't all just a bunch of pixels; they had weight, and the weight is a big part of this aesthetic. I also think the bright colours of early digipaint were a big factor, as opposed to nowadays where everything looks washed out, so more monotone. It's a shame Freedom had more modernized screens; I'd love to see a new take on this aesthetic (Grendizer U sort of has it, but just because it has lots of screens everywhere for everything).

Even the cockpits have lots of cool buttons, mini-screens, and keypads -- nowadays, it would be one big screen with a couple of buttons at the side. All these things being so physical makes it truly futuristic since it feels more real and concrete.

Another 2000s anime like this is Divergence Eve. They have cool screens and a great control room, and they have lots of physical stuff like mice and keypads. They have a town square clock that's a screen with an Arial digital clock (can't find a screenshot of it at the moment though).

GaoGaiGar also had this aesthetic, despite being 90s, because everything is so detailed and colourful and there are lots of buttons to touch.

 

[Zbk3VmLfujjzjxBd43tL]

I also think the bright colours of early digipaint were a big factor, as opposed to nowadays where everything looks washed out, so more monotone.

I think it's because the color palette in 00s anime was "unbalanced" where you'd get super bright parts like the screens and the rest would be fairly dull and washed out. Just like a lot of vidya of that era like Halo and Gears of War. Like you mentioned Gundam Seed, but Gundam 00 always felt way more colorful to me and feels like it's a 2010s show despite being from like 2007 (and feels transitional from the aesthetic mentioned here to the more minimalistic one of 2010s futurism). They smoothed out the colors but lost that early digital animation aesthetic in the process.

 

[Prokhor Zakharov]

I miss Frutiger Aero. Corporate Memphis makes me want to stab myself in the face.

 

[Neodanthril]

The op is confusing two distinct aesthetics, Y2K and fruitier aero. It's understandable though since one came after the other so there are overlaps during the transition from one to the other. The tell is fruitiger aero stuff either looks or is wet

https://aesthetics.fandom.com/wiki/Y2K

https://aesthetics.fandom.com/wiki/Frutiger_Aero

 

[Mayor Cody Travers]

Apparently, "Frutiger Aero" as it has been retroactively named was considered corporate slop when it was contemporary if you go back and look at people complaining how 'childish' the design of XP and 7's aesthetic were on forums. I like it enough but I wonder how people would feel about this aesthetic without nostalgia.

As a person old enough to NOT be a young child during that decade, this is correct.

I remember at the time any futurism from this time period felt, well, artificial versus how the then-cyberpunk future as the 80s and 90s portrayed it. People called it cheap-looking and photoshopped. Because, well, it was. Corporate-influenced if not outright manufactured by them, possibly in reaction to cyberpunk portraying corporations as corrupt and evil in their control of everything. A large inspiration for the aesthetic at the time was the iMac:

Notice how its visuals translates well to the initial pics posted in the thread with its "Bondi Blue" (I still remember the name after all these decades!) color scheme and round, smooth look. A lot of those very images from back in the day would have been photoshopped on this machine, if anything.

An even bigger culprit was the iPod:

THIS defined the aesthetic even more, flat-out going for pure white sleekness. Apple products defined the decade much like arcade machines were a staple machine of the 80s and Playstation that of the 90s, complete with the graphics they produced. If you didn't like it, it felt like everything was becoming.... sanitized. Artificial. Uncanny valley. The world wide web becoming the cornerstone of society....

Some things never change, eh?

I do, however, confess that with the passage of time and nostalgia this look does now give me a sort-of wistfulness. Even with 9/11 heralding the end of the 90s optimism and jolting America out of its post-Cold War delirium, it felt like we could HOPEFULLY get back on track to how things should be, and a lot of youth-oriented media was still colorful and fun (think the Dreamcast! Jet Set Radio, Space Channel 5, Sonic Adventure...) versus the more serious media that became popular like LOST and 24. Believe it or not, at the time it felt like the millennials would grow up and would make things work out....

 

[BABANGUIDE64]

Frutiger Aero is a bullshit term made up by illiterate underaged reddit faggots to describe mid-2000's vibes

 

[fuckingIncredable]

Frutiger Aero is a based term made up by lliterate 18+ 4chan straights to describe mid-2000's vibes

 

[SoleniyKraut]

"Frutiger Aero" as it has been retroactively named was considered corporate slop

It just is. It was the corporate aesthetic back then. I admit that it can be nice to look at if done properly, I myself miss Win-7; But it nonetheless was the visual direction mostly large companies used. I think if it ever resurfaces, it again will get oversaturated; Unless it becomes a niche sphere in advertising and graphic design, with some share of overall market value.

 

[NvII iS 8ulLt f0R 88C]

X is a bullshit term made up by illiterate underaged Y faggots to describe Z vibes

Isn't that the meaning of the word "term"?