Welcome to Astral Animations, where we'll examine the imports of Japanese animation currently available in the United States.
This review does not represent the opinions of the general public. It reflects my personal thoughts and opinions on the movie.
That said, on to the review!
Ranmaru Samejima was on his way to becoming the fencing champion of the world when an accident ruined his hopes of continuing a sports career. The attack was originally aimed at his best friend and lover, Enjoji, who just happened to be the illegitimate son of the mafia don of Osaka. Having endured the long struggle of rehabilitation with Enjoji's loving help and support, Ranmaru has restored his life to a semblance of normalcy. No more fencing for him, unfortunately, but he has what's important to him: his life, and Enjoji. And that's really all he really wants or needs to be happy. Now he lives with Enjoji in Tokyo and they go to the same college.
To their surprise, Enjoji's half-brother, Sagano, appears on their doorstep and asks to stay there with them. A little reluctantly (on Ranmaru's part, Enjoji was very reluctant), they agree. Sagano ends up on the couch. It proves a blessing and a bane for all three young men. Even though Sagano knows about their relationship, his presence proves a barrier to the typical intimacy that goes on between Ranmaru and Enjoji, both feeling slightly inhibited with a third party in the apartment. Sagano, too, has problems of his own, knowing that Ranmaru is in the next room and being unable to do anything about it. He vows to come between Ranmaru and Enjoji, but finds his resolve waning when he sees just how much they care for each other.
The brothers set aside their differences, however, when Ranmaru goes to Yokohama to meet a girl. Both are shocked when they see him buy flowers for her, but Enjoji is just disgusted with his brother when he realizes the girl is actually Ranmaru's sister. Surprised and a bit disgruntled, Sagano wanders around for a bit, reminiscing about his childhood and--when the rain triggers the memories--about the person who figured so greatly within it. Meanwhile, back in Tokyo, Enjoji and Ranmaru have a visitor from Osaka: Masanori Araki, who practically raised Sagano after the young boy's mother died. They send the man out to Asakasa, where he encounters Sagano. Surprised by his beloved substitute father's presence, Sagano opens up to the other man about how he feels about Ranmaru. The only question now is whether or not the junior boss of the Sagano family will drag Sagano back to Osaka with him or help him achieve his heart's desire: Ranmaru!
Kizuna Volume 2 is, like its predecessor, a 30-minute anime feature that weaves a compelling tale about love, lust, and friendship. Again I have no idea what part of the manga this anime follows, but again I really don't care. What appears in the anime through both Sagano's and Araki's flashbacks is enough to make everything clear. In my tradition of being "obstinately open-minded" I'm naturally going to give this anime a fair treatment, so here goes.
This anime reminds me a lot of Fake...or vice-versa since this one came before that one did. There are a couple of intimate scenes involving two males--most notably Ranmaru and Enjoji, but also one with Ranmaru and Sagano--but nothing that was really alarming. As with Fake, Enjoji starts something with Ranmaru just as Dee did with Ryo, but he collapses from drunkness before anything results from it. This is just slightly different from what happened with Ryo, but the parallels are very plainly visible. As a point in fact, there was nothing really controversial at all in this anime. If anything, it was even tamer than the first volume, which was rather tame itself. But on the whole, the anime didn't suffer because of a lack of racy scenes. Being able to follow Sagano's progression from deliberate interference in to reluctant (but not total) acceptance of Ranmaru and Enjoji's relationship was a joy in itself, because we also got to see that Sagano isn't quite so hopeless and self-centered as you might think. And seeing him as a child at his open house...well, even I can say "totemo kawaii!"
Fake was a punishment that backfired on my friend, but Kizuna and Kizuna Volume 2 were deliberate choices on my part. What could I do after all the requests, comments, and questions about Kizuna that followed the review of Fake? In all honesty this was an enjoyable anime. There was nothing graphic involved, and the story itself was very touching and interesting. If anything, aside from the obvious relationship between Ranmaru and Enjoji and the near kiss between Sagano and Ranmaru, the whole anime is a network of unvoiced feelings and quiet acceptance of unrequited (or unnoticed) emotions.
If there was anything I didn't like, it was how Sagano somehow seemed much younger than he did in the previous volume. In Volume One he was working in what amounted to a high-class host club for men (as Ranmaru put it, "homo club"), seemed nearly as tall as Enjoji, and as casually violent as you might expect of the son of a mafia don. But in this volume he seems more childish, more innocent. Maybe its because he's now wearing shorts or ripped jeans, long-sleeved shirts or sweaters, and a cap (backwards, of course) instead of a tuxedo (his work uniform) or tight pants and leather jacket (regular clothes). Or maybe it's the way he was mostly walking around instead of riding his motorcycle. Or maybe it was the way he was acting in Osaka: like a young child who needed to be told what to do. Then again, judging by the way his father reacted, maybe his behavior in Osaka was all a scheme to irritate his father. But the behavior continued--for a time--even in Tokyo. It lasted about as long as it took to kick Enjoji out of his bed (no, they were not sharing it...not that you'd want to share a bed with a half-drunk half-brother who happens to be your biggest rival), which didn't take very long at all. All the same, I think I'd have preferred a slightly more mature and worldly Sagano (who's in college after all) to the more naive and innocent one that appeared here. Of course, maybe that was all a ploy, too, to get on Ranmaru's good side (which he more or less already was) and irritate Enjoji to no end (which he was already doing just by being there, but now to a greater degree). Either way, it made for amusing moments throughout the anime.
If you've seen Fake or read the manga, then you know about JJ. Well, don't make the mistake of comparing Sagano to JJ. Both may be junior to their respective seniors, but Sagano isn't quite so blatant about expressing his interest in Ranmaru...at least, he doesn't throw himself at him anywhere and everywhere. On the whole, though, Sagano, Ranmaru, and Enjoji make a nice threesome (and don't read more into that, if you please) who could probably be very happy together, if Sagano wasn't so jealous of Enjoji (both for being with Ranmaru and having the same father). And if Enjoji wasn't so irritated by Sagano. And if Enjoji didn't go out with women and get drunk. And if Sagano weren't so determined to "protect" Ranmaru from Enjoji. And if...well, never mind. Maybe they wouldn't be so happy together after all. Anyway, this is still a terrific anime, just like Fake, only without the messy murders to interrupt. So sit back, turn on the VCR, and enjoy!
You should be able to purchase Kizuna on videotape at any video store that sells Japanese anime. Otherwise, you can also order it at the Right Stuf International website.
Interested in buying this video? You can! Just follow the link to order the English subtitled VHS version. You can also visit the Stellar Video Store for other titles.
Back Home Sign Guestbook View Guestbook
Get your own Free Home Page