Father Geek here with a report that should please fans of anime on the big screen, yes that's right, this isn't a review of a video or dvd, this is a motion picture that MAY be coming to a theater near you...
Your faithful black-clad servant from San Francisco, Ninja Star, reporting in. I am well aware of your distaste towards Pokemon and all the other sugar-coated mass consumeristic anime that's out there right now. And, to be frank, I can't blame you. It's been a while since the last great destruction-on-a-grand-scale anime had hit the shores on the big screen here in the United States -- namely, Akira. Well, luckily, I got a chance to check out the contender to the apocalyptic anime throne earlier today, in the form of a film called "X". Does it deliver? Uh... let's say it's hard to decide.
The plot of the film is as follows. Teenager Kamui Shiro returns to Tokyo to visit his friends, Fuma and Kotori, but when Kotori is kidnapped by a gang of mystics calling themselves "The Dragons Of The Earth", he realizes he is part of a prophecy. The Dragons Of The Earth pride themselves on killing, on destroying all of humanity to restore natural order to the earth, and Kamui is the key to saving Tokyo, and ultimately, the human race itself from destruction. He chooses to become one of the "Dragons Of The Heavens", the counterparts to the aforementioned group, and fights to protect his newfound friends, as well as Kotori and Fuma. However, things go horribly wrong when the Dragons Of The Heaven begin to be slaughtered one by one... and another Kamui appears on the side of the Dragons Of The Earth.
Now, this movie has many good things going for it. The animation itself is dazzling. Directed by Rin Taro, also responsible for many other classic anime movies as "Galaxy Express 999" and "Neo-Tokyo" as well as the old "Captain Harlock" TV series you may have seen back in the 1970s, he manages to paint a picture of a Tokyo so dreamlike and bleak that certain images become indelible from your mind. His dirty decaying view of Tokyo is much like a Scorcese view of NYC, yet more stylized because of the animation medium. In addition to the Scorcese comparison, while the previous release from Manga to make the rounds, "Perfect Blue", had been compared to a Dario Argento film, this one is much more in the vein of Lucio Fulci, almost reminiscent of "City Of The Living Dead / Gates Of Hell", covered from end to end in shocking gore and yet captivating. A woman bathing in fire, reaching inside her stomach and pulling a bloodied sword out. A young girl tied to a cross with piano wire. Drops of rain falling down upon Kamui's head as cherry blossoms blow in the wind, only to turn into razors, cutting the petals in half. And many more that won't be easily removed from your mind for many weeks after seeing this. The musical score, composed by Harumitsu Shimizu, is eerie and creates a constant uneasy tension throughout the entire film -- a score worthy of the end of the world. And for those of you that like your anime as eye candy, well, the action scenes are breathtaking: you couldn't take your eyes off of the battles between the two Dragon factions even if you wanted to for only a second.
However, this film is not without its flaws, both in the original form and in the English version. The most obvious flaw is it suffers from Akira syndrome -- the trouble of condensing an epic manga story of multiple volumes down into a palatable 100 minute movie. Many characters are introduced so rapid-fire, it's hard to truly get a feel for them or even begin to care about them, especially when many of them are only there for a few minutes before getting offed. And the reasons for several of the major characters' actions are never explained at all, which is very disturbing as one character suddenly changes sides from good to evil with no excuse given.
I, as many others, prefer to see my anime subtitled, but can appreciate a good dub when we hear one. Unfortunately, this isn't it. A lot of the reason for that is because of the dialogue itself. Much of it appears to be lost in the translation, and ends up sounding stilted and forced. For example, I haven't heard the word "farcically" twice in a year, much less twice in two minutes! If better care had been taken to adapt the language to sound a bit more natural instead of sounding high-school-playish, perhaps the voice actors wouldn't have tried to sound so bombastic and exaggerated. That just wasn't the case, however. With the exception of Kamui himself and Sorata, the hotheaded wanna be playboy who ends up showing the most heart in the movie, the majority of the cast sounds like they're phoning the roles in. The worst case of this is the voice actress for Yuzuriha, the junior high school girl with a phantom dog protector. Her fake British accent sounds really out of place, and her constant whining grates upon the ears. Most of the Dragons Of The Earth come off sounding as if they're getting paid by the evil-oozing pound that they forget to have a little bit of fun with their characters -- which is surprising when Shogo, the water master for the Dragons Of The Earth, actually returns a wisecrack every now and again.
The only other problem I had with the film was not of itself, but of the audience. Several members of the audience felt the need to laugh hysterically every time anything violent came on screen -- even if that violence was emotionally severe. It seems that some people still can't distinguish between animation produced for adults and a Wile E. Coyote cartoon, and as such, missed a lot of the impact of the story.
So, the final verdict on X? Even with its problems, it's still a worthwhile film to see, if only to marvel at the beautiful drawings. Just don't go in expecting to understand the story without multiple viewings due to the short time frame. Luckily, it appears that a TV series based on the original story is now in production in Japan, and is slated to be directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri, better known for his work on "Ninja Scroll / Jubei Ninpucho", so hopefully that will go into more detail than this movie did.
Oh, by the way, please allow me to remind you that this film is DEFINITELY not for children. With mass murders, gratuitous violence, nudity, and the occasional swear word... don't make the mistake of thinking it's Pokemon and taking your kids along to 'catch them all'. Gyah.
Slipping back into the shadows,
- Ninja Star
