I've come to the conclusion that I can no longer think of anime -or Japanese Animaton- as a cult thing. When I first started watching these things back in 1990 there was hardly any commerical support avaliable. Nowadays, you can just stroll into Blockbuster and rent a tape. Just recently I even received an ad from Columbia House asking if I wanted to join their "Anime Club." Even Disney has cut a deal with Hayao Miyazaki to distribute his movies outside Japan. Since anime fandom outside Japan has grown from a cult fandom to a full-blown niche market, I figured I should include a few quick reviews. All these titles are avaliable at your local video store for rental or purchase. Just move those Jerry Springer videos to one side and you'll find them.
First, a very quick primer for those who aren't familiar with this genre. Anime is often based off manga -Japanese term for comic book- or other source material, be it video game, old mythology, what have you. This can create a problem in that it is sometimes assumed that the viewer is familiar with the source material. Also, since the process of animation is expensive, a lot of things that are produced have plenty of action in the hopes of appealing to that young male demographic. [All that is doubly true for anime that gets imported for an English speaking audience.] This also means that innovation often has to take a back seat to cliche. While a lot of anime seems innovative at first, the more you watch, the more you begin to recognize the same characterizations and plot hooks. It's the same as any other genre, actually. Plus, the major video chains seem to have ecclectic tastes when it comes to picking titles, so you're getting a rather skewed view of anime if your only source is the local mini-mall.
Enough of that, on with the reviews! I picked these particular titles in a pretty random manner. Either I figured I could make a joke or two at their expense, or they were short enough that I could watch enough of them to form a comprehensive opinion. I skipped discussing things like Ranma 1/2 and Neon Genesis Evangelion since either the video library is so vast that the quality varies wildly or because I haven't seen them all. [If anyone has copies of Evangelion they wouldn't mind lending me, let me know. ^_^ ]
Remember, I may discuss plot developments in these reviews, so consider this a blanket [Spoiler Warning] for the rest of the page.
Loosely based on the video game series from CAPCOM
This multi-tape series [culled from a television series] follows the adventures of a young Ryu and Ken, two aspiring martial artists, as they set out to make their mark in the world. The series starts out with Ken inviting Ryu out for a night on the town in San Francisco then the two of them take off for an extended vacation together. Along the way they meet a lanky Spaniard, study Eastern philosophy, and go shopping. Throughout it all they prove that nothing can beat the two of them when they're together. Even an older man in uniform can't seperate these two! There are female characters in the story, but they're secondary. You'd be better off spending your money on the video games this story draws inspiration from, unlike the show the games are entertaining.
Based off the manga by Tomoko Saito
While the character is sometimes dubbed "the James Bond of Japan" that's a bit of a misnomer. In the manga Golgo 13 is a paid assasin with nothing in the way of emotions or personality. Since the main character is a cypher, the stories focus on action, politics, ballistics and other fun nonsense. When he makes the jump to animation, however, the producers decide that the story needs to have the violence and sex cranked up a level. Exactly why Golgo, a character with the personality of a stump who wears suits that are twenty years out of date, is irresistable to women is never explained.
Anyhoo, on Golgo's latest case he accepts the job of assasinating a member of a South American drug cartel named "Queen Bee." While muddling his way through the case, Golgo discovers a wildly complicated plot that includes the revelation that Queen Bee actually hails from Utah! Exactly how the hell she ended up somewhere in South America is never fully explained. Plus, she somehow managed to become the second-in-command of a drug cartel while popping out nearly a dozen kids. Quite a woman.
While it's nice to see that the creators of this anime were ambitious, in several spots they overdid it. A majority of the story could of been avoided if Golgo had simply bothered to do a background check before he accepted the case. Do your homework Golgo! Plus, the directing style is overdone at times. At one point Queen Bee's lips are shown on the screen against a background of stars. All this represents... what? A cosmic moment of love? Celestial dental work? Whatever it was, the lips reminded me so much of The Rocky Horror Picture Show that I was tempted to throw toast at the screen. Golgo deserves better. [Note: At least this tape is better than The Professional: Golgo 13. That anime left a very bad taste in my mouth.]
Based off the equally idiotic manga by Buronson and Tetsuo Hara.
Where to begin on this one? In this post-apoclyptic world, there's this martial artist by the name of Kenshiro, or Ken for short. It's seems his old training partner/drinking buddy kicks the crap of Ken and wisks off his girlfriend. Ken then plods around what appears to be Australia looking for them. There's also some bigass guy on a bigass horse running around along with Ken's partner [who's actually cooler than Ken.] Honestly, the plot is secondary. There may be an epic story buried somewhere in there, but darned if I can find it. The main appeal of the story is the hyper-violence. Everyone is such an incredible fighter that they know all these ludicrious tricks. Ken, for instance, can make people explode just by touching them. For the bigger guys he uses some over the top move like punching them 100 times in a second, then standing back and watching them explode. Subtle, it's not. As long as you remember that this thing is nonsense, and you don't mind wild levels of gore, this tape is a hoot. Invite your friends over, get drunk, and fast-forward through the dull narrative parts. You'll have a blast.
Directed by Hayao Miyazaki.
The first anime movie that had it's foreign distribution handled by Disney. It's quite good. Watch it.
Based on the manga by somebody or other.
The story of a hormonally charged guy who gets a job at an adult magazine "field testing" the upcoming photo layouts. I'm not making this up. Chock full of juvenile adult humor until the end when the main character proves he can act like a mature man and not like Jerry Lewis on Viagra. Sell out!
Okay, I've gone on long enough, and I haven't even covered flicks like Kei Kusonoki's Ogre Slayer. I should do something to wrap this pup up though. Umm... anime. Some of it's not too bad. There!
Questions? Complaints? Cool jpg's of Captain Harlock you want to send me? Just drop me a line at gleep9@hotmail.com. Blast on out of here to either the movie page or the main page.
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