Tag Archives: feature film

The Wings of Honneamise: still reaching for the stars after twenty-three years

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I guess films are like the studios that create them: some are still going strong year after year, some enjoy a resurgence in popularity long after their big break, some fade into obscurity while others try to last out on reputation alone. Although I’m a Gainax fanboy I wondered how the their debut production, Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honneamise, had stood the test of time.

Is its reputation deserved? Old-school fans can be fiercely loyal to the stuff they hold dear after all, especially when it’s seen through the soft-focus rose tint of nostalgia. Some titles are popular for popularity’s sake but others, such as this one, are enduring simply because they’re good.

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Reading stats: 1004 words, 4 images; estimated reading time 4:01 mins

A feelgood hit for the summer

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The Girl Who Leapt Through Time came pretty much out of nowhere. I had no idea who Mamoru Hosoda was and I’m unfamiliar with Yasutaka Tsutsui’s ‘Timeleap’ franchise so didn’t know what to expect from it at all. It’s not a luxury that Summer Wars enjoys though because the fans, me included, were impressed with this newbie director and were expecting more wonderful things from him and his team. Summer Wars is indeed a wonderful thing: not as personal or introspective as its predecessor but makes up for this on the fun factor and sheer spectacle.

I can’t bring myself to say it’s ‘better’ or ‘worse’ than Tokikake because they’re quite different in themes and storytelling approach so I probably shouldn’t place much value on direct comparisons. And yeah, this is The Post I promised I’d write (thanks in no small part to the excellent pieces from Gaguri, Chaostangent and Ghostlightning); now the high-def version is online I hope there are finally enough people to share my thoughts with.

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Reading stats: 1272 words, 5 images; estimated reading time 5:05 mins

How Shinkai reminded me that the earth is not a cold dead place

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A few days off work have eased a bit of the writer’s block but I must admit that my K-On! post stubbornly refuses to leave Draft Rewrite Hell. Anyway. A little late given that Global Shinkai Day was last weekend, I feel the need to hammer out more strings of words to mark the event. It’s pretty neat to have a special time set aside to raise awareness for a filmmaker…we should have a Global Kon or Oshii day sometime in the year too.


Given the context, “What she said.”

I’ve rewatched the various bits of the Shinkai back catalogue but it was nice to have an excuse to marathon them all in one go (She and Her Cat, Voices of a Distant Star, Place Promised in our Early Days, 5cm Per Second and Neko no Shuukai, in that order). This time the anchor point for my scattered thoughts was a truly stellar AMV (link after the jump).

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Reading stats: 1293 words, 5 images; estimated reading time 5:10 mins

Kara no Kyoukai: Satsujin Kousatsu (part 2)

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I found myself staring dumbly at a blank screen for quite some time before being able to type a single word about this film. My feelings mirrored the closing phrase of Takami’s Battle Royale, “…but of course they’re part of you now.” I followed the characters through thick and thin; I felt stunned, drained and somewhat overwhelmed. Rewatching the series in its entirety didn’t lead me to believe this instalment is flawless but I was able to view it as the final(?) component part of the greater whole.


Not many of the scenes were brightly-lit enough to give decent screencaps

I believe it’s unfair to judge the Kara no Kyoukai adaptations against the other Type Moon productions when its source material pre-dates them all, but the fact remains that in terms of storytelling, presentation and character dynamics it’s a classic in the making. I’m not using that term lightly either: I’m choosing my words carefully here, even though I’m using so bloody many.

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Reading stats: 1759 words, 6 images; estimated reading time 7:02 mins

Anime at the Leeds Film Festival 2009

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Ah, that time of year again…as much as I’d have liked to have taken time off work for the full duration of the festival and watch as much as time allowed my finances wouldn’t stretch (especially since it’s an hour away by train). It became more of a social occasion what with the screenings of First Squad: Moment of Truth, Ponyo and Summer Wars forming the perfect excuse to meet up with friends and discuss the movies over a meal and a drink or two.

For some reason I prefer to watch episodic anime and the more headscratch-inducing stuff on my own at home but the feature-length efforts are more enjoyable when the experience is shared with friends and on the big screen. I’m certainly expecting these three to wind up licenced; assuming legal red tape doesn’t get in the way I see no reason why they won’t. I hope.

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Reading stats: 1187 words, 3 images; estimated reading time 4:45 mins

Eureka Seven: Pocketful of Rainbows

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I often wonder if the problem I have with alternate retelling-type stories is shared by other people: that of my difficulty in holding onto and drawing meaning from what’s retained in case it’s indended to be taken in a different context, while at the same time trying to ‘un-learn’ what I knew in order to accept the new material. This is especially true for a complex and powerful story such as that of Eureka Seven: the attachment I had for the characters and conclusions I drew were deeply embedded in my mind. Perhaps that’s why I find the mixture of new and familiar disorientating.

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What is it with Studio Bones and magical flowers?!

If I understand A Pocketful of Rainbows correctly, these events take place in a parallel universe after those of the series so it’s both a sequel and an alternative timeline. The progression of Eureka’s and Renton’s relationship still forms the core of the story but otherwise the original plot is completely reshuffled with familiar faces taking on different roles. This I think is where I fell out with the movie’s approach: a lot of what made the series special for me was lost on the cutting-room floor but what’s left for existing fans to get a handle on is barely recognisable. Even when it remembers love.

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Reading stats: 1010 words, 4 images; estimated reading time 4:02 mins

Cencoroll

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A theory of mine is that advances in digital technology and the Internet can really help independently-produced films from the smaller animation studios. Viral marketing, fansites and blogs have produced some surprising success stories in recent years; similarly the mind-boggling leaps in hardware and software mean that small groups or even individuals can further their careers on realistic budgets in ways that were inconceivable a decade ago.

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Atsuya Uki’s debut feature Cencoroll fits into this trend in that he’s produced a short film based on his award-winning manga short Amon Game with minimal outside assistance. While he’s hardly the first one to take this route it has its own quirky charm that really grew on me; it’s one of those one-shot home-grown oddities whose indie roots are not necessarily detrimental to their quality, and benefit greatly from online fan exposure for their success. Granted, it’s not *quite* what I expected it to be but even aside from the ‘one bloke made this’ angle, it shows a hell of a lot of promise.

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Reading stats: 974 words, 5 images; estimated reading time 3:54 mins

Cutie Honey live-action is the best kind of bad

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At last: a live-action anime adaptation that doesn’t suck! I picked up Cutie Honey purely for the lulz and on the grounds of being a Hideaki Anno completist, but wasn’t surprised at the hour and a half of over-the-top campness. What was surprising was how entertaining it all was; I haven’t seen any of the old adaptations or the original manga but thanks to those mind-boggling trailers that were going around I only had a vague idea of what to expect.

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Good job!

I find the Anno-isms to be a bit wearing in live-action format for some reason but given the old Gainax manifesto in terms of comedy, it’s a fitting choice of director in a roundabout kind of way. The packaging lists the director as he always is (i.e. as a ‘legend’ and the maker of Evangelion) but ominously Eriko Sato is introduced proudly as ‘Japan’s top swimsuit model’ and it raises no defence whatsoever against any accusations of being superficial, mindless fluff. It’s reputed to be one of MVM’s biggest sellers over here, too. No kidding.

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Reading stats: 952 words, 4 images; estimated reading time 3:48 mins

Mushishi (live-action)

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I was extremely interested in the Mushishi live action film right from the first rumours and announcements; not only is it one of my all-time favourite animated TV shows (I really ought to read the graphic novels sometime), the fact that Katsuhiro Otomo was in charge as director made me preorder a copy without a second thought. Unfortunately it didn’t impress me as much as I’d hoped; if anything the end result was actually quite lacklustre. Considering the quality of the source material and the collective talent on board, I have to wonder how it didn’t manage to realise its potential.

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The TV show (and the graphic novel series, from what I’ve heard) was strictly episodic in structure, so any feature-length version has to splice a number of the individual stories together and smooth out the screenplay to make a coherent narrative. This is one thing that the movie does reasonably well: it features several story arcs that fans are familiar with but emphasises the background to Ginko’s childhood and its relevance to his present life in an over-arcing theme throughout the film. The cinematography is also excellent, but beyond that…I’m far from convinced.

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Reading stats: 1088 words, 5 images; estimated reading time 4:21 mins

High on the Ether of Lily Chou-Chou

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All about Lily Chou-Chou is an odd film. I find two types of oddness that run through the Japanese live-action movies in my collection: there’s the energetic, mad type of odd that drives the likes of Survive Style 5+ and the back catalogue of Takashi Miike and there’s the gentle, whimsical oddness of, say, Tony Takitani. Lily Chou-Chou falls in the second category. It’s not frenetic and off-the-wall, but its narrative has a shuffled chronology that jumps back and forth and there are some scenes that are quite shocking; it takes on some familiar issues but the execution is both beautiful and highly unconventional.

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I mentioned the film to Bateszi absolutely ages ago; I recommended it to him by reputation before I’d seen it for myself (the same approach has given me a couple of other titles, namely Tokyo Sonata and Audition that are on the ‘to watch’ shelf, and two more in the form of Funky Forest: First Contact and Taste of Tea that I’m planning on picking up). I wish I hadn’t left it so long.

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Reading stats: 1102 words, 5 images; estimated reading time 4:24 mins