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Elsewhere on the Web
Shikoku (1999)
I like my Japanese horror. I like getting the bejeesus scared out of me by some master of total creepiness with a budget in two figures. I even, in a weird sort of way, like the inevitable aftermath of a good horror film: lying wide-eyed and quivering in bed, quilt pulled up to my chin, scanning the darkness for signs of ghosty activity. It’s surprising I’ve got any bejeesus left, in fact.
Shikoku, however, is no threat to anybody’s … (read more)
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Shaolin Hand Lock (1978)
David Chiang (who seems to have become rather a staple of my DVD viewing of late, for some reason) returns to the martial arts genre with this film, from rather prolific Shaws director Ho Meng-hua. Also in the mix are Lo Lieh, perennial Shaws actor, and Michael Chan (Chen Hui-min), who’s still acting today, most recently in Enter the Phoenix, The Spy Dad and You Shoot, I Shoot.
Our story follows (naturally) David Chiang’s character, a young man … (read more)
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Serial Experiments LAIN (1998)
“We’re all connected” – so goes the saying in LAIN. This oft repeated message is the mantra that the masses live by in Lain’s world and when you think about it, ours too – we have to be technically savvy, zooming on the information superhighway and most importantly we have to be connected.
Lain, the protagonist of the series is thirteen, a junior high-schooler and considered slightly strange among her compatriots – she’s computer illiterate. Compounded by her shy … (read more)
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Samsara (2002)
From the very first moment of this film, we are inducted into the rhythm of life at the top of the world: the pacing is glacially slow, and the filmmakers were extraordinarily successful in pulling us into the same calm world. The lives depicted are simple and unhurried: there is a time for everything, and everything takes its own time.
Now I’ve seen films that aspire to this slow beauty but fall short, and manage only to make the audience … (read more)
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Saiyuki Requiem (2001)
Today’s lesson: the pros and cons of the Original Animated Video, otherwise known as the OAV (or OVA – Original Video Animation – depending on your viewpoint), as exemplified by the Saiyuki movie, Requiem.
Originally, OAV was a term coined to describe the movie-length spin-offs that spawned from existing TV series. These days, they could be almost considered a rite of passage – you’re not a real series unless you’ve done a such-and-such-The-Movie. Well, maybe not, but from Cowboy … (read more)
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Saiyuki Reload (2003)
This is perhaps the second last time you’ll hear me harp on this subject, and actually, I’m sort of wondering what more I’ll be able to say about Saiyuki. With this new series – Reload – the Journey to the Max boys are back, mixing it up with a couple of story arcs from the manga (both Gensoumaden and the new, still on-going manga series, Reload) and a few anime-only episodes as per the standard manga-to-anime formula. The quality in … (read more)
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Saiyuki (2000)
This is a completely biased review. I’m not ashamed to admit it. Everyone’s got their little secrets, their weaknesses, right? Well, mine’s Saiyuki.
Sometimes known as Gensoumaden Saiyuki, the anime is based on a manga series by Kazuya Minekura that started serialisation around 1996 (and is now published in the US by Tokyopop). It was inspired by the famous Chinese story Journey to the West, better known to Western audiences as Monkey, and it’s everything … (read more)
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Rayearth (2000)
If there is one thing about anime, and in particular anime from the creative pool called Clamp (check out the X review for more info on the Clamp collective), it is that nothing ever happens on a mundane level. If you find yourself in a Clamp story, of indeterminate high-school age and Chosen (it doesn’t really matter what for) you can at least be sure the last thing you are going to be is bored. It’s the world at … (read more)
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