Jin-Roh

Released 1998
Animated
Voices Michael Dobson, Mike Kopsa, Paul Dobson, Scott McNeil
Directed by Hiroyuki Okiura

If you didn't know that Japan was rocked by social upheaval in the 60's as a lasting legacy of World War 2 then you will probably lose out on the significance of Jin-Roh. The back story of protests against new economic policies, a backlash against a crumbling economy and culture and the demoralizing echo of article 9 of the US sponsored Japanese constitution which reads: "the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as a means of settling international dispute." are far more interesting and gives Jin-Roh its proper place as a response to the Japan that Writer, Mamoru Oshii was born into. Without that visceral connection to the story as part of your own history, the story itself doesn't grab. And Jin-Roh is long on story. When you strip off its context and plunge into the more universal themes of the film, it is at times monstrously compelling and at times achingly compressed.

Summary by Thom Fowler

Other than article 9 I don't know much about Japan's post-WWII history, which made this film somewhat inaccessible to me. The story is actually fictional and features a fascist Japan. I don't remember the prologue, but it looks like Germany had won the war and possibly occupied Japan. Although fictional, the story still draws elements from Japan's actual post-WWII history. There are four major groups involved in the story, and it's very difficult to tell the three police groups apart. I didn't worry too much about trying to make sense of the story, though. I just sat back and watched the dark, highly detailed animation, which was full of vivid imagery. I found the muted emotions and dreary backdrops hypnotic, especially when they narrated the gruesome original version of Little Red Riding Hood. I don't want to give away the ending, but I was very happy the story didn't progress as I expected. After the girl detonated the bomb, I expected Fuse to be racked with guilt and to eventually join the Sect. Fortunately, that story arc was too straight-forward for this movie. I was concerned initially, because I thought we were going to be given a sympathetic story of suicide bombers and terrorists. This movie was made in 1998, and they certainly couldn't have foreseen the events of September 11, 2001 or the Palestinian's war of suicide bombers (many of them girls) against the Israelis. The filmmakers couldn't have foreseen this, but it would have been difficult for me to sit through a sympathetic story along those lines.

I think I would have to watch this movie again if I wanted to get a better feel for the plot, but I don't think the plot is very important. I think the animation and social commentary are the film's points, but it's difficult for me to grasp social commentary about a culture that I only know from a distance. Still, this is a hypnotic feast for the eyes and ears, and I recommend it to anyone interested in anime or animation in general. Wait, I should qualify that. This is extremely violent and not for kids.  --Bill Alward, April 27, 2002