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Trying to be like Batman isn’t a good idea. Because like the Batman Begins movie, amid the splendid lighting effects the martial arts moves and action is all lost. The swords are very pretty. It at once does look like it was drawn and lit expertly by the same creators as Ghost in the Shell. The music selections that are executed for the sound track by the Prague Symphony are overly grandiose and pompous. It better be an awfully dramatic a story for all the pomp and circumstance that this anime has backing it up.
I am sick of planes. Unfortunately this week my animé viewing included Miyazaki’s Nausica, Castle in the Sky and two episodes 5 and 6 of Area 88. I have had enough of planes. Even glow-y brilliantly surreal and glitter lit ones.
Karas arrived in an equally glitzy black and gunmetal blue DVD sleeve. Inside was a mini Manga. It reads Americanishly left to right, and it is drawn more like an American comic book than a Manga. it isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The colors in it are garish and the drawing is fairly well detailed. Clearly a lot of effort went into marketing this new franchise. I think American viewers enjoy anime so much because it is so different and fresh. It would be a mistake to try and Americanize the art.
It can be over done though. Looking at recent example of a Japanimé / American fusion gone wrong is the garish HI Hi Puffy Ami Youmi cartoons which would have been better done like Super Gals or other fun anime for girls. Then there was the whole Aeon Flux movie debacle which flopped like a rock.
Following the success and rabid worship of the Ghost in the Shell series, naturally the developers would seek to try and repeat their success.
The movie rolls out in front of me. I haven’t caught the plot yet. I will have to re-watch it to know what is going on. Apparently they are trying to make me think and arouse my curiosity, rather than regarding the movie as so much pleasant wallpaper.
I notice the familiar Ghost in the Shell style in the backgrounds which include the bright billboards, the blurred TV screens. The sword fight at the beginning has been carefully choreographed to get the maximum amount of flashy lights on screen. I still wait for them to impress me with something.
I recognize the voice actors whom I have heard on other projects. All voices that I enjoy too. Big wide camera angles pan back and forth over the cityscapes as the characters who seem to be wearing black mecha suits are falling and stabbing each other with those lit up swords. I’m not exactly sure what is going on. This is the fourth time I have looked at this battle. I’d love to know what the heck the chorus is chanting during the pretentious “background” music. This DVD is over the top. I think it will have wide appeal to a young male audience.
I hate bugs. The screen is filled with ants …
The art-style changes from highly colored computer animated graphics to black and white sumi- ee water colors for a moment to express a brief mood. It was lovely and fleeting. I sense some sensitivity in the artistry. In Karas there is a white fluffy pom - pom haired girl wearing a visor on her head with eyes painted on it.
Then the cowboy, the cop, the masked wrestler and the Indian guy show up as characters. Is this the Village People? Then they lead me back in with special effects with water and mist that are just spectacular. They cut back and forth from beauty to violence over and over.
Fish. Glowing fish. Why? A water demon perhaps? Ok the town is infested by murdering water goblins. And not the Village people either, it’s wrestlers and off beat cops. The main character I am guessing - takes out his pocket watch, does some Tai Chi with it and then transforms into a - transformer. He looks like he is wearing a black armored crow - suit. Now I understand what the feathers were for in the sparkly mandala. Clearly I needed to read more of the back-story before watching this. It is deep. The kill scene is amazing. The Crow and his enemy soar out into the atmosphere and fight before a full moon. Then he plummets again to an earth that is dark and backlit by the ever present city lights. The contrast in the old world of demons and oni and the high rise bustle of the neon city is repeated over and over. Farms good technology bad. I get that.
Urinals pour out over flowing with sand to a sweet melody. My mouth opens, no words come out. I’ve Never Seen That Before. A point for that.
The death scenes are impressive.
This movie is splendid, bizarre eye candy that reminds me ina way of X. I am used to being more apprised of what is going on in an anime series than I was when I watched this movie. Not for lack of research either. I went to the website, read the Manga and all the promo materials. The movie was good. It needs a TV series and subsequent movies to back it up. I asked their people about the possiblilty of a console game and I am waiting to hear back from them. This franchise has lots of potential. Give me more. I give Karas an expectant 8 out of 10
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