Classic Anime of the Week: MD Geist II: Death Force (1996)

MD Geist is a trademark of US Manga Corps

Where MD Geist was senselessly violent (with a degree of detailed animation to match the singular quality of the storyline), its sequel is practically devoid of that spark that made its predecessor infamous.  MD Geist II: Death Force, picks up where MD Geist has left off: with killing machine Geist wandering the desolate planet of Jerra looking for his next kill.  The survivors of the cataclysmic events in the first film are rescued by a killing unit similar to Geist, called MD Krauser, who takes them back to the fortress sanctuary that he has created in the middle of the desert.  While Geist desires only to kill, Krauser has a desire for adulation from (and victory in the sight of) his human admirers.  The inevitable showdown occurs between Krauser, who wants to save their world so that he might be regarded as a hero, and Geist, who wants only to destroy humanity.  MD Geist II is certainly watchable (at least if you've seen really awful anime that the film can compare favorable to),  but it is rather a step in the wrong direction from MD Geist, because it almost attempts to vindicate the original film by being less violent and more sensible.  It falls into the trap of appearing amateurish by introducing characters and plot lines that it does not explore fully.

GIF of the Day

Lucky!

Classic Anime of the Week: Saint Seiya (1986)

Saint Seiya is a copyright of Toei Animation, Inc.

Like last week's Classic Anime of the Week Vampire Hunter D, Saint Seiya stylistically represents a transitional anime; it retains several aesthetic elements characteristic of early Japanese anime/manga, while also predicting the changes that lay ahead.  Saint Seiya is remarkable for the appearance of multiple androgynous male characters and almost looks like Sailor Moon, if Sailor Moon had an-all male cast and had sprung from the mind of Liberace.  Like many experiments in anime/manga, Saint Seiya borrows heavily from multiple historic and mythological traditions in the West and combines them to create something essentially unrecognizable from the source material.  The anime tells the story of children from Japan that are trained to become legendary warriors called "saints".  These saints compete in battles to win a powerful armor.  The primary knight around which the tale unfolds is called Seiya and he hopes that he may one day be able to find his sister from whom he was separated as a child.  Although the saints are under the command of the goddess Athena, there are also appearances from Norse gods like Odin and references to a place called Asgard (again: Japanese mythological syncretism, especially since the "gods" appear to a Westerner to be more similar to Japanese Shinto "kami").  In any event, Saint Seiya fascinates if only because of its stunning visuals and is recommended to the anime enthusiast!

Saint Seiya and Saint Shun of Andromeda

Classic Anime of the Week: Vampire Hunter D (1985)

Vampire Hunter D is a copypright of Urban Vision Entertainment

One of the most popular titles in anime history, Vampire Hunter D is based on a manga of the same name created by Hideyuki Kikuchi and Yoshitaka Amano in 1983.  It tells the tale of a vampire hunter called only 'D' who lives in a post-apocalyptic future inhabited by demons, werewolves, and most importantly: vampires.  D is enlisted by a young girl named Doris Lang to help her kill a five thousand year old vampire called Count Magnus Lee after she is bitten by him.  Shunned by her village, the only hope for Doris and her brother is to kill the vampire that bit her, so she finds D and he surprisingly agrees to help her.  One of the more curious aspects of D, besides his over-the-top appearance, is the sarcastic talking mouth on his back, who seemingly always has something witty and dry to say.  Vampire Hunter D spawned many other manga titles and videos, including the anime Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, released more than ten years later.  Visually, the anime still has some of the features of the earliest Japanese animation to reach our shores (like Galaxy Express 999) with the huge, almost misshaped heads of some of the characters and the enormous blue eyes, but the maturity of the subject matter and its handling hearken towards the anime of the future and the ubiquitous samurai-inspired anti-hero.  This anime is highly recommended to everyone.

Classic Anime of the Week: Ninja Scroll (1993)

Ninja Scroll was distributed by Manga Entertainment in the United States

If there were cult classics of anime, then Ninja Scroll would easily make the list.  The plot of the anime is not groundbreaking by any means, but the high quality of the animation, the great detail directed toward the creation of the characters, even the quality of the English voice actors for the American dub are more than enough to garner the work a place among the pantheon of greats of Japanese animation.  Ninja Scroll is the tale of a rogue samurai named Jubei who finds himself caught up in fighting a group of demons called the Devils of Kimon.  His partner in crime is Kagero, the stunning poison taster for the local warlord and a member of the Koga Ninja Team.  Jubei discovers that the leader of the Devils of Kimon is his old adversary Lord Gemma; Kagero dies in fighting Gemma and his henchmen, but Jubei manages to save the day, allowing him to return to his lifestyle of wandering.  Ninja Scroll follows the stereotypic ronin template that is often seen in, for example, Akira Kurosawa films like Sanjuro and Yojimbo: a samurai, minding own business, finds himself required to aid the hapless people around him, either for honor's sake, out of pity, or for personal gain.  Almost twenty years after its initial release, Ninja Scroll remains a favorite among fans and it is the sort of film that can easily be watched again and again.

Classic Anime of the Week: Ronin Warriors (1988)

Ronin Warriors was distributed in the USA by Bandai Entertainment

Known in Japan as Samurai Troopers, Ronin Warriors was originally aired in Japan on Nagoya Television from 1988 to 1989 and was based on a manga about warriors facing an evil dynasty from the Netherworld. The show was introduced into the United States a few years later and I clearly remember being late to school in the mid-90s because I would stick around and watch this show, which I think aired on local TV in NY at 7AM.  Ronin Warriors was the tale of Ryo, his tiger White Blaze, and his friends who used their samurai armor and special powers to prevent the conquest of Earth by the demon lord Talpa and his henchmen from a dark netherworld.  Ronin Warriors combined high quality animation with exciting fight sequences and characters that it was easy to become attached to.  This was the time when Japanese anime was just beginning to become mainstream and recognizable to American audiences and Ronin Warriors is an excellent representative of the strongest of the series that emerged from this era.  Honestly, it is almost akin to a Sailor Moon for boys.  There are DVDs of the 39 episodes of the series floating around and this anime is highly, highly recommended.

Classic Anime of the Week: MD Geist (1986)

MD Geist is a trademark of US Manga Corps

Possibly the most maligned film in the history of anime, MD Geist is certainly one of the more bloody productions to ever make it to our shores and, frankly, I would not be surprised if the perception of the film is based primarily on the reaction of the 80s viewer to its seemingly senseless violence.  As far as creativity goes, one might argue that MD Geist belongs to the genre of anime that was directly inspired by the Road Warrior/Mad Max franchise of films.  The film essentially follows a human clone named MD Geist (or Most Dangerous Geist) who has come to the distant planet of Jerra to defeat the Nexrum, who are attempting to free the outlying colonies from the control of the government of Earth.  In his attempt to infiltrate and defeat the Nexum, Geist comes across the girlfriend of an evil warlord, whom he kills.  The woman immediately attaches herself to Geist with the pronouncement "He's different from other men.  He may be strong enough to protect me from death itself."  Lots of death and gore ensue.  Honestly, this anime is not for everyone.  It really lacks a well thought out plot, but the characters have a flair to them which renders them just interesting enough to make the film not only interesting, but memorable and even gratifying.  Maybe that makes me a maniac, who knows.  I really interpret these types of films as a reaction to the apparent meaningless existence that we all lead and the more over-the-top the anime is the more poignant is the message.  Am I grasping for straws?  Of course, I am!

You Know You Want To Look: The X-Men Anime Trailer

Against your better judgment, you really want to look.  It's the third Marvel Comics Anime released by Madhouse, a Japanese animation studio.  Fans weren't too thrilled with the Wolverine Anime that began airing in January, but it looks like this one may be a little better.  See for yourself.



Robot Movie of the Week: Akira (February 20 - 26)

Akira is a copyright of Toho Entertainment

Many film enthusiasts consider Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira to be the greatest Japanese anime ever created; the film surpassed American critics' perceptions of what was possible in an animated feature film, and defied expectations of the marketability of such a film to an adult audience.  Written and directed by Otomo, Akira was based on a manga of the same name and was a sharp departure from the anime that preceded it.  Anime, unlike American animated feature films, often is targeted towards an adult audience and Akira is even more mature than the more prosaic forms that are encountered in the genre.  With the prospect of an American-produced live action adaptation of the anime a virtual certainty at this point, now would be a good time to discuss the film and delve into some of the reasons why the American version is certain to fail.  There are no robots in Akira, but the ability of the film to address non-human forms of life and the concept of human evolution away from time 0, the present, give this film a relevance in the genre of robots in film.

Akira is the tale of a group of young people that live in the city of Neo-Tokyo in the near future.  Japanese anime has a lingering obsession with depictions of the mega-city of Tokyo as both endearing to the Japanese psyche, but also dangerous, toxic, and parasitic to mankind.  The original city of Tokyo was destroyed in 1988 during World War III and the modern Japanese erected a replacement on an island near the site of the former city.  The story revolves around two characters called Tetsuo and Kaneda that grew up in the same orphanage. and operate within the same youth gang.  Early on in the film, Tetsuo is kidnapped by government operatives that perform biological testing on children with special powers, "psionics".  While the government is attempting to recapture a psionic that has fled their base, they find Tetsuo and soon realize that he is the most powerful child that they have encountered.  Tetsuo's friend Kaneda attempts to find him and free him and join forces with one of the rebel groups that fight against the government.  Meanwhile, Tetsuo's powers begin to evolve very rapidly and he begins having many strange visions.

Eventually, Tetsuo learns about "Akira", who was another psionic of incredible power that was killed many years before; Akira has developed an iconic reputation: a rallying point for rebels that wish to destroy the government.  Tetsuo wants to become as powerful as Akira, he essentially wants to become this super-being Akira, but the other psionic children attempt to stop him.  Tetsuo escapes from the base where he is held and the army wages a war in the city of Neo-Tokyo in attempt to bring Tetsuo back.  Tetsuo has a showdown with the army and Kaneda meets him as well.  Akira is awakened by the psionic children in order to stop Akira from destroying Neo-Tokyo.  Much of the city ends up being destroyed anyway.  Akira takes Tetsuo and the psionic children "back with him", but it is not clear if any of them are alive or dead.


Akira is not merely a depiction of a bleak future in which human beings are even smaller and more insignificant than they appear to be at present, but it is a tale of human evolution and the process of adolescent development in such a meaningless time.  Interestingly, the only ones that appear to evolve are the disfigured psionic children in the film, who almost seem to evolve by forced evolution at the hands of the adults around them through their scientific testing to hone their powers.  This inadvertently hearkens back to an interesting concept in human biology: humans have detached themselves from the pure evolutionary pressures from the past, so the future of human evolution may be conscious and not merely at the hands of nature.  Again, there are no robots in the film, but the concept of human evolution in the future is not dissimilar to the musings on the human-robot co-evolution that is certain to occur.  Akira is probably most notable to American audiences for its violence, which I believe is not only something that is telling about Japanese youth culture of the era (the film was released in 1988), but also indicative of the adult-type concerns that young people of the future (i.e. right now) will be likely to be dealing with.  Akira is an incredible film and is recommended to everyone not just as an action film, but also as a thought provoking piece of cinema.

Warner Brothers Taps James Franco For Akira Adaptation

No, I don't mean "taps" in a sexual way although seeing a movie studio molest a professional actor in a non-symbolic way might be pretty interesting.  It turns out that Warner Bros. is attempting to remake Anime classic Akira and execs have approached James Franco with the opportunity to star in the lead role.  No word yet if Franco has accepted, but frankly, I doubt he will be turning this down.  More info to come!