New(ish) Releases: Your Name (2017); A Ghost Story (2017)

Your Name (2017)

Original Japanese Title: Kimi no na wa

Director: Makoto Shinkai

A moving and magical tale, only slightly marred by a touch of hokum and a handful of laughably bad soundtrack tunes.

The movie begins when a high school girl, Mitsuha, seems to have some sort of mental lapse. One morning, she wakes up not acting at all like herself, much to the confusion of her family, friends, and classmates in her small, picturesque town near a dead volcano in Japan. The next day, she is back to herself, but with no idea of what had happened the day before. We eventually realize that, for some mysterious reason, she is swapping bodies with a young high school boy in Tokyo, Taki. At first, they each think that they are simply dreaming, but they eventually come to learn of each others' existence. It is then that the story only deepens, as an already strange situation only grows stranger and more mysterious, as the more the two find out about one another.

The story of Your Name is phenomenal, and it is told with amazing deftness. In the first ten or fifteen minutes, I thought I was merely watching a farcical "body swap" tale which has already been told dozens of times, across dozens of cultures. And the gender swap was nothing fresh, either, not even in Japan, where popular manga and anime character Ranma 1/2 had covered that territory thoroughly back in the 1980s and 1990s. But as Your Name moves beyond the introductory, almost obligatory pratfalls and humorous situations of a gender swap, you realize that there is much more going on with the tale. When Mitsuha and Taki start to try and meet one another, serious and baffling complications arise, leading one of them on an obsessive pursuit of answers - answers which confirm a truly surprising and brutal tragedy.

Despite some of the grimmer aspects, the movie is a romance at heart, even if a bittersweet one at times. And the supernatural elements at work are handled exceptionally well. Often, anime films can be overly flashy, masking narrative and creative shortcomings with an onslaught of chic style and frenetic action. Such is far from the case with Your Name, which is much more about quieter observation of characters and their deepening connection to each other. When one remembers that most of the truly great, classic romances involve supernatural elements and love transcending known realities and boundaries, then Your Name has its place among the classics.

I must note the one obvious blemish on this mostly masterful film. The soundtrack can be downright laughable at times. For whatever reason, those in charge of the music decided to hand the reins over to a Japanese group known as Radwimps. Radwimps is, as far as I can tell, a pop rock group who had some massive hits in Japan between 2006 and 2011. For Your Name, they put together a handful of what I (and my wife) found to be extremely sappy tunes, with lyrics that simply do not translate well into English. One example:

And when I dozed off into a lukewarm can of soda, I

dreamed of a world so far from here that's not on the map

Searching outside of the classroom window

Or in a summer morning that's brought from a commuter train

Maybe not the worst lyrics in the world, but certainly not good. They are downright distracting with the way that they are mixed into the film, and would have been better of sung in Japanese. Blessedly, there are only four of these songs with lyrics in the movie, but it was hard to ignore them when they turned up. 

Lame pop song music aside, this was a great movie. Those who scoff at anime may not exactly be won over by this one, but I would suggest it to anyone with a mind open to such things. It is a rather touching, if in some ways melancholy, love story very much its own. 

A Ghost Story (2017)

Director: David Lowery

A wonderfully poetic and measured tale of the supernatural, which takes an old and almost silly convention and spins a beautifully melancholy story around it.

Part of this movie's magic is not really knowing where it is headed, so I will offer only a simply introduction to the plot: a young couple, played by Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara, experience a horrible tragedy. The result of the tragedy is that a sheet-enshrouded ghost, a la Casper, now quietly hovers within the couple's home. The ghost merely watches the living, though no living person can see it.

This movie really is unlike any other that I've ever seen. The first ten or fifteen minutes are quite slow. So slow at one point, in fact, that my patience started to wear a bit thin. However, once the story starts to move along at a slightly faster pace, my fascination only grew with every new scene. Along with that fascination comes a steadily-increasing sense of sadness, but it is a sadness of the beautifully poetic variety.

And lest you think that the movie is just a depressing slog into a tragedy which befalls two people, know that this movie goes far, far beyond that. The tale eventually incorporates supernatural elements beyond the obvious ghost, many of which are left open to various interpretations.

I will readily watch this movie again, which is the highest praise I can offer nearly any film. 

Retro Duo, anime edition: Akira (1988); Ninja Scroll (1993)

Akira (1988)

Director: Katsuhiro Otomo

One of the granddaddies of modern anime, and this one still holds up quite well.

Like Fist of the North Star and Vampire Hunter D, Akira was one of the titans of anime film that I watched many times back in the early 1990s. Not having seen it in over two decades, though, I wasn't sure how it would feel. I needn't have worried.

Based on director Katsuhiro's Otomo's equally-lauded, massive manga work of the same name, the story is a science-fiction action tale that takes place in Tokyo in 2030, now "Neo-Tokyo," nearly four decades after a mysterious and immensely powerful weapon had destroyed much of 1992 Tokyo and triggered World War III. The main story follows a few adolescent biker gang members, led by Kaneda, who become enmeshed in a bizarre and terrifying confluence of events and powerful figures. At its center is a long-buried, secretive science program that had, several decades earlier, been experimenting on children in order to harness energies no less powerful than the Big Bang itself. Kaneda's best friend, Tetsuo, is accidentally imbued with similar powers, but he has no training or assistance in controlling them. The result is a devastating variety of psychokinetic abilities which, though at first granting Tetsuo immense power, eventually overwhelm and threaten to consume not only him, but also the entire city of Neo-Tokyo.

At its heart, Akira is a cautionary tale about mankind meddling with the forces of nature. The way that it tells this story, though, is truly a sight to behold. The film melds several conventions of speculative fiction, horror, and action extremely well, and it does it on as epic a scale as one could imagine. When Tetsuo is first afflicted by the side effects on his newly-acquired powers, we get several nightmarish hallucination scenes that are as creepy as some of the best shows in the horror genre. As his abilities rapidly crescendo, the military and science groups who try to rein in Tetsuo find themselves hopelessly outmatched. But as they try ever-more powerful methods of stopping the young man, the scenes of destruction grow larger, more devastating, and more captivating for us viewers. What starts as a few soldiers and doctors being carelessly dismembered eventually escalates into Tetsuo destroying entire tank regiments, city blocks, and even a massive laser satellite in space, all with mental powers that have been unleashed.

Freaky, handsy teddy bears are just the beginning of Tetsuo's
problems. The eerie music that accompanies these scenes just
makes them that much more horrifying.

Scale is one thing, but it isn't everything (I site every Michael Bay Transformers movie as evidence). What makes the movie enthralling much of the time is the aesthetic. Katsuhiro Otomo was actually trained as an architect, and it shows in both in manga and animation. He had an excellent sense of how to use negative space and scale to create sequences which, even if chaotic and packed with action, make an impression beyond objects and people simply flying around the screen. To put it simply, there are a ton of gripping action scenes that are a blast to watch.

The story has always felt rushed, even if mostly compelling. This isn't really a big surprise, given that Otomo's original, serialized manga was a sprawling, 2,000-plus page tale that delved into multiple storylines involving Tokyo society, political corruption, and several other grand themes, along with the gradual erosion of Tetsuo's sanity and his friendship with anti-hero Kaneda. Otomo did a commendable job in condensing many of the main points of his larger story into a 2-hour movie, but the pace can often seem too brisk, not offering us enough time to know or care much about the main characters.

I would be remiss if I did not mention one of the movie's greatest strengths - the soundtrack. I had forgotten just how haunting and evocative it is. This movie is very nearly three decades old, but the score has not aged a day. It is still an amazingly slick fusion of electronica and traditional Japanese sounds, including driving taiko drums and even deep-throat Buddhist chanting. Like any great soundtrack does, it immensely enhances every scene during which it is played, from the motorcycle street races, to Tetsuo's earliest nightmares about the toys, to the finale during which the titular Akira emerges to try and stop the seemingly unstoppable, cosmic and destructive forces exploding from within Tetsuo. The music always hits just the right notes and tones demanded.

I was glad to fire this one up again. Far more than just bringing me back in time nearly three decades, it proved to still be an impressive work of film making.

Ninja Scroll (1993)

Original Japanese Title: Jubei Ninpucho

Director: Yoshiaki Kawajiri

Back in the mid-1990s, MTV would occasionally air brief, one- to two-minute clips of animation from fringe artists or foreign countries. I recall being stricken by a phenomenal clip of a quiet samurai crossing a bridge, only to be assaulted by a trio of thieves whom he dispatches with lightning-fast sword work and a few slick one-liners. I was dazzled, but also frustrated by not knowing what it was or where I could get more of it. Luckily, not long after that initial exposure, I discovered the source to be Ninja Scroll, a feature-length samurai/fantasy film. After watching the full movie, I was borderline obsessed. I bought the VHS tape and watched it at least once every year through the rest of the decade. My viewing rate slowed down after that, so familiar was I with the film, but this recent viewing renewed my appreciation for this anime masterpiece.

The story follows Jubei Kibagami, a drifter samurai/ninja for hire in the mold of classic lone gunmen/samurai in the films of Sergio Leone or Akira Kurosawa. Jubei is a master swordsman with a keen wit and a soft spot for the little guy. Through little fault of his own, Jubei becomes embroiled in a sinister power play to overthrow the local government by the "Eight Devils of Kimon," an octet of villains possessed of bizarre, supernatural powers. Jubei teams up with a female ninja, Kagero, and a crafty old government spy, Dakuan. As the trio try to fend off the lethal Devils and their otherworldly abilities, Jubei discovers that their leader is an old nemesis whom he had thought dead. This turns a mission of survival into one of revenge.

Jubei's duel in a quiet bamboo forest with the blind sword
master Mujuro is my favorite stand-off against one of the
lesser Eight Devils. It's relatively short, but has a fantastic
atmosphere and one of several clever turns in the film. 

To this day, this is my favorite anime film. As a viewer in his early forties now, I still appreciate the clever little turns in the plot and the overall tight storytelling. In my experience, most anime puts more emphasis on aesthetic, at the expense of thoughtful or mature plotting or character development. Ninja Scroll is a rare exception. I won't suggest that it can stand up to high-quality live-action movies, but there is still something genuinely moving and engaging to be found in this period tale. Jubei is well-constructed character, and when he finally loses his cool in the final sequences, his rage is fully palpable.

Of course, great ninja/samurai anime shouldn't just be solid story and characters. We came to see some sword-swinging action striking visuals, right? Right. Well, Ninja Scroll is tough to top in this department. The concept of having a set of villains with abilities like rock-hard skin, being able to literally melt into shadows, or unleash a horde of deadly wasps from a hive built into one's back is a great start. Couple such bizarre attributes with hyper-slick, dynamic animation, and you have an action movie that is simply a blast to watch. The duels and fights are thrilling, and there are even some trippy visual sequences that make for a nice change of tone. Director (and chief animator) Kawajiri's semi-rough style may not be for those who enjoy the more pleasing, smoother animation of legends like Hayao Miyazaki or Katsuhiro Otomo, but I think his style is the perfect representation for his brand of adult-oriented violence and action.

Speaking of violence, Ninja Scroll has it in spades. Without going into detail, this one is absolutely not for kids. On top of that, there are a couple of sexual assault scenes that unfortunately bear the stamp of misogyny all-too often found in anime. It is only this latter blemish that I can criticize in this movie. Fortunately, the scenes do pass rather quickly, minimizing the discomfort they are likely to cause any thoughtful viewer.

If you enjoy any form of mature anime but haven't yet seen this movie, you owe it to yourself to give it a shot. It is simply tough to top. 

Retro Duo, Classic Anime Edition: The Ghost in the Shell (1995); The Castle in the Sky (1986)

For whatever reason, I found myself watching several old anime classic films in the last few weeks. Like many, I went through an anime phase in my younger days, but I haven't watched much of it in the last fifteen or so years. But forces converged recently, leading me to watch a few of the titans of the genre from two to three decades ago:

The Ghost in the Shell (1995)

Director: Mamoru Oshii

A brilliant anime classic that not only still holds up, but can now be seen as amazingly prescient with its science-fiction elements.

I only saw this movie once, over two decades ago when it was still quite new. However, I was in a rather altered mental state at the time (use your imagination); this led me to be blown away at the movie while simultaneously rendering me incapable of remembering a single thing about it beyond a few indelible visuals. With the critically panned live-action movie's release a few months ago, my desire to finally rewatch the original was stoked. It was worth it.

The movie focuses on Major Motoko Kasunago, who is a mostly cybernetic organism that works for the government as a living weapon imbued with technologically enhanced strength, speed, and abilities to communicate through Internet channels. Suddenly, a rather strange case opens up - a hacker known only as "the Puppet Master" emerges and shows the ability to hack into and take over not only electronic systems but also certain other cybernetically-enhanced humans. After shaking down a few leads, the Major and her partners Batou and Togusa are sent to where their department heads have tracked down the Puppet Master, which they have discovered is actually an Artificial Intelligence program, known as Project 2501. This rogue A.I. has escaped from a security company and is now requesting asylum as a sentient, living being. The Major and 2501 eventually come together, after an intense shootout, and 2501 convinces the Major to bond with him so that they can become greater than the sum of their parts and free themselves from being "non-entities," in the eyes of those who created them.

As that summary indicates, there's more going on in this movie than just a cool sci-fi shoot-'em-up. This movie still actually holds up quite well as a work of speculative fiction, even these 22 years after its release as a film. Artificial intelligence has only become a more relevant topic, and this movie melds some of the futurist concepts of genre titans William Gibson and Philip K. Dick, along with more recent themes seen in HBO's brilliant Westworld and others of its ilk. Sure, Ghost in the Shell has some pretty awesome visuals and action sequences (it is anime, after all), but there is much more going on than the rousing visual dynamics. It honestly requires close attention if one wants to get as much as possible out of it, but the effort is worth it. It also doesn't hurt that the music score contains a haunting blend of electronics and traditional Japanese sounds.

I didn't bother with the recent live-action remake of the movie, based on trailers that didn't attract me and the lackluster reviews, and I probably won't ever bother. Not when the original still has plenty of the juice that made it an instant classic back in '95. Highly recommended for anyone who has enjoyed more sophisticated anime or science-fiction.

Flying cities. Massive sky craft. Cunning air pirates.
Giant, eco-friendly robots. This one has plenty of elements
to satisfy one's appetite for the fantastic.

The Castle in the Sky (1986)

Director: Hayao Miyazaki

One of legendary anime director Hayao Miyazaki's (Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke) earlier feature films, this one bears all of his hallmarks, which are mostly good.

The movie tells the tale of Sheeta, a young girl in possession of a small crystal coveted by a band of pirates and a mysterious group of government agents. Sheeta escapes the agents and is rescued by a village where she is discovered by Pazu, a young boy skilled in mechanics. The two flee Pazu's village and go in search of a legendary city in the sky, which has some connection to Sheeta's crystal.

The movie's strengths lie in its most fantastic elements - the dazzling, proto-steam-punk world, the various flying machines, and the cliff-hanger pursuits and escapes. Taking in the details to Pazu's home town, with its criss-crossing railroad tracks and houses built up in tiers along the sides of mountains is just as stunning as some of the beautifully crafted, large-scale scenes from the Lord of the Rings films or similarly grand movies. And the titular castle in the sky, the flying city of Laputa, is equally wondrous. Such simply invite one to wish that they could live in those places, if even for a short while.

The story also includes elements familiar to one who has seen several Miyazaki movies: wonder, thrills, and a solid dash of sadness. The story of Sheeta and Laputa is mysterious and compelling enough, and when she, Pazu, and her pursuers all arrive, it is a sight to behold. However, it is one where tragedy has unfolded, leaving it eerily quiet. I can appreciate how Miyazaki's films often take this route, as it separates it from the overly saccharine fare that one typically finds in animated family films.

I will say that the movie felt overly long. Clocking in at over two hours, there are several passages that seemed to drag, and they sometimes were made to feel longer by the silly gags and jokes that are meant more for children under the age of 12. Honestly, though, I expect that children will still appreciate this epic story, though they would likely be around age 10; I can't imagine a 6- or seven-year-old sitting through this entire movie, and the only viewers over the age of 12 who would stick with it would be those who simply enjoy animation or animein particular. 

Idiot Boxing: Supernatural, season 12 (2016-2017); One-Punch Man, season 1 (2015)

The boys get their mammy back in this season. Mary
Winchester's return met some mixed response from fans of
the show, but I thought she was fine, if not exactly the
strongest secondary character we've ever seen on the show.

Supernatural, season 12 (2016-2017)

In its dozenth (I just made that a word) season, Supernatural maintains a steady pace, if not exactly reaching the heights of its peak years in seasons 2 through 5.

At the end of season 11, Sam and Dean had once again thwarted Earth's destruction, this time by reuniting God with his long-lost sister, The Darkness. This sent the sibling deities off into the sunset, also leaving behind Sam and Dean's mother, whom God had resurrected as thanks.

Season 12 sets things up fairly quickly. Lucifer has managed to get out of his cage once again. However, being rather weak, he is hopping from one human vessel to the next, wreaking any havoc that he can in a rage against not having his father, God, around to torment any more. As Sam and Dean try to track down Satan, they also meet members of the British Men of Letters, who combat monsters using much more calculating and unforgiving methods. As the Winchesters first deal with the Men of Letters, Lucifer manages to impregnate a woman with what is known as a "Nephilim" - a half-angel/half-human abomination which has the potential to destroy everything on Earth. These two primary plot points converge when the British Men of Letters decide to exterminate all American hunters just as Lucifer escapes his bonds and attempts to oversee the birth of his unholy son.

This season was a decent one that is among the stronger batch of the post-season 5 bunch. That said, my enthusiasm for the show has waned enough that I'm not completely sure that I'll go out of my way for next season. Perhaps only now, after a full seven seasons which have failed to fully return to the excitement that I had during the show's outstanding first five, I think I'm ready to turn the page and leave it behind. Part of this is because this season was actually solid, by its own standards, but still wasn't enough to stoke complete enthusiasm in me.

Having Lucifer as one of the primary villains this season was
not the most inspired choice. It also didn't help that he was
written a bit more for comedy than the power and menace
that made him such a strong force back in earlier seasons
of the show. 

This season saw the return, utilization, and even unfortunate deaths of some strong side characters. There were a few hunters whom we've seen before, including the banshee-hunter Eileen and the witches Alicia and Max Banes. Seeing such capable and fun characters show up is reminiscent of early seasons when we had great characters like Rufus and Gordon. This season also featured a handful of gutsy, unexpected turns in the plot, in which characters were killed or perhaps simply didn't play the roles which one might have expected. And as always, there was a decent amount of humor sprinkled throughout.

And still, some quintessential elements continue to be lacking. Using Lucifer as a primary nemesis again simply feels like treading water and going over old ground. And not doing it particularly well. The original incarnation of Lucifer was such a fantastic, slow-burn over the course of nearly three seasons, and it had no small amount of menace and tragedy surrounding it. And when the Morning Star was finally able to appear in his full glory, there was a terrifying power to it. Now, however, Lucifer is often not much more than a sarcastic counter-point to Crowley. Sam Pellegrino can certainly play snarky and sarcastic very well, but I've never felt that it was the best fit for the original vision that this show had of Lucifer - one of the most calculating, powerful, and awesome figures in the entire mythology. This season simply uses him mostly as another comedy piece, for the most part.

This is one of a few signals to me that the show-runners are spinning their wheels a bit. Yes, they are doing it well in ways that are usually true to the main characters and that are often satisfying to long-time fans. But the show doesn't seem to be willing to push any more boundaries or really shake anything up anymore. Because Misha Collins and Mark A. Shepperd are attractive presences, they are simply never going to be killed off (even when their characters have deserved it time and time again). These and some other aspects of the show have become, in my view, just stale enough that I may just leave it alone from this point.

He's not exactly the most intimidating hero, but Saitama's
domination has bored him into an apathy usually reserved
for teenagers and French philosophers.

One-Punch Man, season 1 (2015)

I haven't watched a Japanese anime series in ages. Back in my high school and college days, I absolutely loved the classic movies like Akira, Fist of the North Star, Vampire Hunter D, and several others. And when I lived and worked in Japan for a couple of years, I used the popular kids' show One Piece to improve my Japanese language skills to an extent. That was nearly 15 years ago now, and I haven't watched an anime TV series since. So imagine my surprise when the ol' Netlflix algorithm kept suggesting this unknown mini-series from the Land of the Rising Sun.

Less than two minutes into the first episode, my attention was firmly grasped. By the end of the 23-minute pilot, I was chomping at the bit to convince my wife, who enjoys the odd anime show here and there, to watch it with me the next day. She did, and we were both fairly well hooked.

The show follows Saitama, a virtually unstoppable force of heroism. Thanks to rigorous training, Saitama has acquired strength and speed that allow him to fell the mightiest of evil foes with literally no more than a single blow. Sounds great, right? Well, Saitama's problem is that his domination over the forces of evil has done nothing to assuage the deep depression and apathy which he feels. For him, defeating a 500-foot tall, city-destroying monster is no more satisfying than eating a bowl of tepid ramen for breakfast. Herein lies more than a little of the show's humor. As he effortlessly crushes immensely powerful enemies, Saitama is often mentally checked out and lost in existential musings about the purpose of it all. He sometimes even spends these short, one-sided battles lamenting the fact that he has missed a sale at his local grocery store, or pondering some other mundane daily task.

This aspect of the humor runs through other elements of the show, as well. One-Punch Man relishes the opportunity to parody and mock the many silly tropes of fantasy superhero (and especially anime) stories. Whether it's the exhausting expositional monologues, the tired origin stories, or characters calling out the names of their signature "super moves" while in the middle of combat, the barely-engaged Saitama has no time for any of it. His effortless and apathetic domination of foes who are putting in maximum effort to both fight and posture only frustrates his enemies all the more, providing yet more solid humor.  Series creator and writer, known only as "One," uses the show to perfectly balance his love of anime tropes with wonderfully lampooning the silly names, costumes, and braggadocio almost always found in the genre.

Saitama, with just a few of the oddball and even sometimes
cool heroes he baffles with his inexplicable strength and
utter lack of posturing.

Much to my delight, there is actually a really entertaining, rollicking arc to the show. It's not completely tight or serialized, but there is continuity from one episode to the next, and it culminates in a three-episode multi-parter that builds towards some really fun fights between heroes and monsters of various freakish abilities. It actually gave me flashbacks to when I would watch those aforementioned classic anime movies from the '80s and '90s and really enjoy the epic battle scenes between fantastically powered beings.

This was a great find, and one I'd recommend to anyone who's ever enjoyed anime. I'm not completely sure of how the second season (already announced) could live up to this first one, but I'm more than willing to tune in and find out.