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| JAPANIME
02 : Day 2
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My afternoon marathon started with Blue Submarine No.
6 and I have to say it met my expecatations and then some.
The crowd turn out was surprisingly good for 2.30 on a Friday
afternoon, and by the looks of the people around me, they
might have been drawn for the technical aspects. Personally,
I have no idea if they found the film disappointing in that
regard, but if they had been expecting a Big Show of battles
and blowups, they ended up getting a lot more than they bargained
for I think.
And if Range Murata isn't one of
the coolest character designers in the business, I'll
eat my hat (yes the Cowboy hat). He somehow manages to
make the characters look like the story feels, gives
the action expression in faces and body language that speaks
as much, if not more than any amount of 3D effects could possibly
make up for. Yes the animation was nice and the action was cool,
and yes the 3D was fairly rad (once I got used to it) but without
that backbone, the depth and maturity of the story and characters
and Murata's ability to express that, it would have merely been
another apocalyptic future action adventure. I for one was so
very glad it wasn't.
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Next up, and much anticipated by yours truly, Tale of
Genji. Again, there was a much larger turn-out than I
had expected, which was just quietly very nice to see. Later,
and even more privately, I felt for those people who might
have been completely unfamiliar with the story, because Tale
of Genji bordered on Art House Anime. It was long, sedately
paced and understated approaching Zen, much like the book
- its studied beauty found in the contemplation of details
and the brevity of life, happiness and love. The sakura featured
heavily as a symbol of this (as it often does), a source both
of Genji's happiness and tragic desperation, he himself as
much as the women he loved a picture of delicate and ultimately
doomed perfection.
Or at least, that's the idea. At times however it was a little
hard to ignore the amusement generated by outdated gender
stereotypes; stereotypes not native to Western culture admittedly
but both similar enough to be recognisable and dissimilar
enough to seem laughable. It was a bit of a shame. Approaching
Tale of Genji and expecting the usual conventions of
anime film, even the dramatic, character driven films, just
did not work. Looking at the film in terms of what it was
trying to symbolise might have helped those who felt a little
lost find their way to a slightly more satisfying conclusion.
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| Next on the list (and
after 4 hours sleep I'm doing pretty well at this point) was
a quick sushi lunchbox (or in by case dinnerbox) and the last
minute replacement for the cancelled Princess Arete.
I will now state for the record I would have much rathered see
FLCL and Hellsing, but as it is Petshop of
Horrors and Reign were acceptable fillers..
Petshop of Horrors was everything
you'd expect from your average anime TV series - not brilliant
but not that bad for a single episode, twenty minute apertif.
Reign was a bit of a visual shock to the system, being
so remarkably different in style and execution to pretty much
everything else so far, and I was tempted for the first ten
minutes to entitle it Buns of War, because the costumes
were fairly skimpy all round (until I recalled so was Aeon
Flux). There's something really horny about Peter Chung's
style, even if admitting it makes one feel a little uncomfortable,
and the main character of Alexander was becoming rather magnetic
by the end of the second episode. I was getting caught up in
the story enough to be a little disappointed that there wasn't
more.
However, if I was forced to make
a choice between more Reign and Knocking on Heaven's
Door, you all know what would have happened right? So you
know I'm going to say it, so I should just get it out of the
way.
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| COWBOY BEBOP ROCKED!!!
Yup. Surprise, surprise. But I suppose
you want hear me say more than just that (providing you can
still hear at all of course). Alright then, after all I'm the
last person to want to complain about dedicating just
a few more bytes to the subject of the unfailingly brilliant Cowboy Bebop. However keep in mind words just aren't
adequate enough to do this justice (although when the DVD comes
out I'm going to damn well try!).
Fact 1: Capacity crowd and every single person
expecting a good time.
Fact 2: Don't think anyone left disappointed. How
on Earth could they?
Fact 3: Everything about Knocking on Heaven's
Door was Just Right - animation, characterisation, music
(Kanno's a genius) and action to the power of TEN.
Fact 4: This film is not, under any circumstances,
to be missed. Ever.
That's all, except for a tip.
All those people who bailed when the credits started to roll
missed the cool, post-credits scene at the end. Nya!
What reality are you living in?
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Deni Stoner reporting
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H E R O I C * C I N E M A
http://www.heroic-cinema.com
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