Tag Archive for 'anime'

Akira

Published
by
James McNally
on June 20, 2007
in DVD
. Closed

Akira

Akira (Director: Katsuhiro Ôtomo, Japan, 1988): Ok, I know I’m not going to be able to do this film justice. It’s tough when you put something into the DVD player at 10:00pm. Sometimes a long movie just feels longer when it’s after midnight and you’re lying horizontally on the couch. Like many Japanese anime, Akira was based on a longer manga series, which may explain why there seemed to be a lot of plot jumps that force you to fill things in on your own. When the film was released in 1988, the animation was considered cutting-edge, and although there has been a lot of innovation in the almost twenty years since, the film’s visuals still have the ability to amaze.

Set in 2019, more than thirty years after World War III has destroyed the old city of Tokyo, the film tells a complicated story of a secret government project designed to develop powerful psychic powers in children. When Tetsuo, a young member of a biker gang, stumbles across one of the escaped children, he is abducted by shadowy military forces and subjected to experiments which unleash his latent psychic powers. His friend Kaneda becomes involved when he tries to rescue Tetsuo and by the end of the film’s 124 minutes, there is a lot of carnage and general mayhem.

I’ll have to admit that I found the plot confusing, and the film overlong. In general, I’ve found anime’s plots fairly predictable (while at the same time maddeningly vague), and Akira may have set the standard. Having recently reviewed Paprika, though, I found that a few of Akira’s scenes were just as spectacular, and I suspect that most anime have borrowed from Akira in some way or another over the years. For a film that’s almost twenty years old, the animation still feels fresh and in a world of CGI and twenty years of copycat films, that’s quite an accomplishment.

I know this film has a lot of dedicated fans, so I’m hoping some of you will chime in with some insights in the comments.

8/10(8/10)

Death Note

Published
by
James McNally
on June 5, 2007
in DVD
. 4 Comments

Death Note (Desu nôto)

Death Note (Desu nôto) (Director: Shusuke Kaneko, Japan, 2006): Based upon a very popular manga, Death Note has since been made into an anime television series, but this live-action version, along with its sequel, Death Note: The Last Name, ruled the Japanese box-office last year. The concept seemed interesting: Light Yagami is a law student and son of a local police investigator, hoping to follow his father into a career involving the law. One night he finds an empty notebook that promises “The human whose name is written in this note shall die.” Pretty soon, criminals all over Japan are dropping like flies, and the police are trying to track down the vigilante responsible for these mysterious deaths. They call in the elusive “L” (described ludicrously as “the world’s top detective”) to help them crack the case. Later, we find out “L” is just a sullen teenager with a sweet tooth, but that makes about as much as sense as the rest of the movie.

I’ve previously mentioned my interest in Japanese anime, but I’ve never really gotten into manga in a big way, mostly because this type of fiction generally sacrifices character and believable plots in the interest of keeping the action going and appealing to their chosen demographic. All these flaws are present in this film adaptation of the manga. The very fact that both protagonists are teenaged boys living in Japan seemed funny, but that was nothing compared to some of the plot holes and stunning coincidences necessary to move this story along to its conclusion. Death Note makes Japan look like a nation bursting at the seams with violent and unremorseful psychopaths, when in reality the crime rate is quite low. And there are really no sympathetic characters at all, since Light, who started by trying to rid the world of crime, ends up killing anyone who gets too close to finding out who he is.

The film is slickly made, for the most part (well, except that the “Reaper” who originally dropped the notebook for Light to find looks like a giant grinning marionette). But it’s unbearably silly. Death Note is obviously entertaining for many people, judging by its commercial success; just not people like me, I guess.

Official site for the film

5/10(5/10)

Paprika

Published
by
James McNally
on June 4, 2007
in Theatrical Release
. 5 Comments

Paprika

Paprika (Director: Satoshi Kon, Japan, 2006): I’m not really a genuine otaku nor do I aspire to be, but I do have a little bit of experience with Japanese anime, including the films of Hiyao Miyazaki (Spirited Away, My Neighbour Totoro) and the excellent sci-fi series Ergo Proxy. So I don’t claim to know or understand all of the conventions of Japanese animation. With that disclaimer out of the way, I can honestly say that Paprika (or “Papurika” which is the Japanese title) is quite a trip. Like many anime, the plot is tricky, but the visuals are absolutely eye-popping. The fact that the film is based on a well-known and popular novel by Japanese sci-fi master Yasutaka Tsutsui led to high expectations among Japanese audiences, who have received the film enthusiastically.

Paprika

The press kit synopsis: “Dr. Atsuko Chiba is a genius scientist by day, and a kick-ass dream warrior named PAPRIKA by night. In this psychedelic sci-fi adventure, it will take the skills of both women to save the world. In the near future, a revolutionary new psychotherapy treatment called PT has been invented. Through a device called the “DC Mini” it is able to act as a “dream detective” to enter into people’s dreams and explore their unconscious thoughts. Before the government can pass a bill authorizing the use of such advanced psychiatric technology, one of the prototypes is stolen, sending the research facility into an uproar. In the wrong hands, the potential misuse of the device could be devastating, allowing the user to completely annihilate a dreamer’s personality while they are asleep. Renowned scientist, Dr. Atsuko Chiba, enters the dream world under her exotic alter-ego, code name “PAPRIKA,” in an attempt to discover who is behind the plot to undermine the new invention.”

Paprika is like Dr. Chiba’s subconscious self, or her id, flirty and pixieish, but she is able to do things the uptight Dr. Chiba can’t do. It’s funny that later in the film, Paprika refers to herself as “the missing spice.” With the help of police detective Konakawa and the device’s inventor, the food-loving Dr. Tokita, this Spice Girl will make the world safe again.

Though the plot is almost ridiculously complex, it’s a very fun ride, just to see what the animators can come up with next. Some of the film’s most memorable images wouldn’t be out of place in the off-kilter world of videogame Katamari Damacy. Along with the visuals, the jaunty electronic score adds to the cool factor, making Paprika a sort of Spirited Away for grownups.

The film opens in limited release in Toronto on June 15th.

Official site for the film

8/10(8/10)

Brave Story

Published
by
James McNally
on April 14, 2007
in Film Festivals, Sprockets and TIFF
. 2 Comments

Brave Story

Brave Story (Director: Kôichi Chigira, Japan, 2006): Wataru is a normal eleven-year-old boy. When Ashikawa, the new kid at school, tells him about a doorway to a magical world where wishes are granted, he’s curious. Then his father tells him he’s leaving the family, and a few days later, his mother collapses and has to be rushed to hospital. With his family coming apart, Wataru finds his way to the portal, hoping to restore his family to the way it used to be.

What starts off as a fairly standard “quest” film becomes much deeper as the story unfolds. Wataru discovers that Ashikawa is also in the magical world called Vision and that both of them are searching for five gemstones which will allow them to meet the Goddess of Fortune, who will grant only one wish. On his journey, he makes friends and acquires a sort of gang. When he finds out that Ashikawa is destroying parts of the world and causing the deaths of creatures in his single-minded pursuit of the gemstones, Wataru begins to re-evaluate how important his wish is.

By the time the two friends end up confronting each other, Wataru has changed. His experience in the world of Vision has helped him to see that there are more important things than self-interest. He decides to use his wish another way. But first, he has to stop Ashikawa from destroying the world completely. I liked the implication that Ashikawa was treating the magical world much like a game, and that he didn’t care about any of the creatures in it.

Some very big themes are addressed in a film aimed at such a young audience, and it was strangely moving in one scene to watch Wataru literally “battle” another version of himself who wanted only to have his family back. I was touched by the way he was able to integrate all of his anger, sadness, selfishness, bitterness, and as he puts it, immaturity into the more heroic person he’s been while on his quest. Though the film was unabashedly sentimental, it certainly didn’t seem shallow.

I’m always curious about the way Japanese films about children always feature missing parents. There were thematic elements shared with films like My Neighbour Totoro and Spirited Away, and I suppose the lesson is that we only really grow up when our parents aren’t there to take care of us.

Technically, the film was beautiful to look at. There were some anime staples, and also some visual borrowings from the Miyazaki films, but there was also some really eye-popping use of CGI blended with the traditional two-dimensional animation.

My only real criticism is that the linear quest structure of the narrative made the film run about 15 minutes too long. At 111 minutes, I think it’s pushing the limit, especially for younger viewers. That being said, I really thought the theme was an important one, and not just for children. Life is full of sadness as well as happiness. Instead of trying to change things that are out of our control, we need to accept our lives and create our own destinies.

Trailer at Apple Japan site

8/10(8/10)