Today the spotlight falls on CoMix Wave’s recent Japanese Blu-ray release of the 2007 animated film 5 Centimeters Per Second.

Although the film was first issued on Blu-ray back in 2008, this new so-called “Global Edition” – while still manufactured and sold in Japan by a Japanese label – features both English subtitles and an English dub (in addition to the original Japanese soundtrack), as well as subtitles in nine other languages, making it a version worth considering for overseas anime enthusiasts.

It’s been more than four years since the film was first released, and in that time scores of reviews have been written about it. With this in mind, I’ve decided against expending pixels on adding yet another opinion piece to their number. The main objective of this post will be to lay out bare information and some of my own thoughts about the physical product itself, in order to help those already familiar with the film decide whether this particular release is worth investing in. For those seeking information about the film itself, I’ve provided links to selected reviews and related references at the end of the post (note that these will almost certainly contain spoilers).

RELEASE DATE, AVAILABILITY AND COST

The Global Edition was officially released on 18 November 2011. It’s readily available through Amazon.co.jp and other online import retailers, as well as on the ground in Japan itself (I grabbed my own copy during a trip to Tokyo earlier this week). Discounts vary by retailer, but barring deep cuts the sticker should come up to around the list price of 6,825 yen.

PACKAGING AND PHYSICAL EXTRAS

The Global Edition comes in a standard plastic Blu-ray disc case, although the colour is hardly standard: a rich, deep pink (instead of the normal blue) that nicely complements the hue of the cherry blossoms featured on the cover illustration. The jacket is a regular single-sided affair with a (partially) bilingual descriptive back cover.

Inserted behind the front of the case is a small booklet, 8 pages in length (including both covers). The text is entirely in English except for director Shinkai Makoto’s introductory message, which is set out in the original Japanese followed by an English translation. The booklet’s other contents include partial synopses of all three chapters of the film, brief notes about the cast and music, and short biographies of key members of the production staff.

CONTENTS

In addition to the 63-minute main feature, the Global Edition’s single Blu-ray disc contains an interview with Shinkai Makoto and two of the director’s early films: Hoshi no Koe (2002, 25 minutes) and Kanojo to Kanojo no Neko (1999, 5 minutes).The main feature is presented in HD widescreen video (1920:1080p). Audio setup options consist of Japanese 4.0ch Surround and English 2.0ch Stereo. Subtitle options include Japanese, English, Korean, Chinese, Thai, Indonesian, Italian, Spanish, German, Portuguese, and Arabic.

All three extra features are in SD and feature Japanese 2.0 Stereo audio with optional Japanese and English subtitles, plus an additional English soundtrack for Hoshi no Koe.

A brief word regarding one of the extras. With its somewhat dated picture quality and 4:3 aspect ratio – not to mention the brevity of the work – Hoshi no Koe probably wouldn’t merit a stand-alone Blu-ray release. Nonetheless, I consider it a watershed in Shinkai’s career and I’m very pleased to find it paired together with Byōsoku 5 Centimeter in a single disc. Less than half an hour long, this short piece left a lasting impact on me when I first saw it some years ago, thanks to its engaging story and absolutely gorgeous visuals. From that time on I was convinced that Shinkai was a chap to watch – and true enough, here I am, still eagerly following his work and snapping up his creations as they come along.

REMARKS

5 Centimeters Per Second has seen several international releases, but until now none – to my knowledge – has featured a full HD version. (Japanese fans have had access to a domestic Blu-ray version for years.) Although still technically a Japanese release, priced in yen and normally available only through Japanese channels, the Global Edition’s inclusion of English subs for both main and special features (plus an English dub for the main feature) and subtitles in nine other foreign languages all mark this one out as a release geared towards satisfying overseas demand. With the earlier domestic Blu-ray release retailing for somewhat less (and, if one irate Amazon.co.jp commenter is correct, featuring better HD audio), there isn’t much of an incentive for a fluent Japanese speaker to snap up this version, except perhaps for the extra features.

Significantly, even the in-video menus are rendered in English – noteworthy given that other Japanese Blu-rays with English subs that I’ve seen still have their options laid out only or mostly in Japanese (not particularly helpful for those who can’t read in that language). All things considered, this release does appear to be genuinely user-friendly as far as Anglophone consumers are concerned, and the (rather steep) list price notwithstanding, I’d consider it a serious and sensible import option for those chasing after an HD release of this acclaimed Shinkai production.

Regarding the English subtitles: they are very well done, and for the most part hew closely to the original Japanese script, but there are nonetheless a few awkward constructions and errors scattered throughout. Tighter editorial control – or perhaps a beta screening with native English speakers involved, with corrections to follow – might have helped weed out these infelicities. Still, the end product is perfectly watchable and one needn’t fear being saddled with a Backstroke of the West fiasco.

Regrettably, I cannot comment on the accuracy of the nine other foreign subtitle sets as I am fluent in none of those languages. (On this point I gladly defer to those who are, and invite them to post a comment on what they think of the other language options.) My hope is that these were professionally translated and edited out of a genuine desire to meet the needs of those who require them, and not merely regurgitated out of an automatic translator for the sake of superficially enhancing the “international” theme of this release.

TO CAP THINGS OFF…
THE GOOD: English subtitles AND menus (very helpful for Anglophone viewers). Inclusion of earlier films – particularly Hoshi no Koe – a real plus, even if only in SD quality. Good HD picture quality. Region free.
THE BAD: Rather expensive. Purchasers may need to import from Japan, which will jack up costs even more (shipping and customs duties for a start). No physical extras to help justify the cost, apart from the standard info booklet. English subtitles could be better. Audio quality decent but doesn’t seem quite up to HD standards.
THE UGLY: None. Nothing that I’d call a dealbreaker, at any rate.
OVERALL: Not perfect, but a decent release for overseas (more specifically Anglophone) viewers looking to add an HD copy of this film to their collection.

LINKS
NB: The reviews listed below were based on earlier DVD releases of this film, so the technical aspects are generally not relevant to the Blu-ray release reviewed here. They were selected mainly for the opinions expressed by their authors about the film itself, rather than about the physical product available to them at the time. Beware of spoilers.
- Basic information on Wikipedia
- Product listing on Amazon Japan
- Review by Chris Beveridge on Mania.com
- Review by Theron Martin on Anime News Network
- Review by Bamboo Dong on Anime News Network
- Review by Ronnie Scheib on Variety

Today the spotlight falls on Funimation’s recent U.S. Blu-ray release of the 2009 anime film Summer Wars.

RELEASE DATE, AVAILABILITY AND COST

The U.S. Blu-ray release of Summer Wars hit store shelves on 15 February 2011. It’s now available via most of the major online anime retailers (Anime News Network has a handy list here), with prices starting from US$19.99.

PACKAGING

My copy of Summer Wars arrived in an ordinary plastic Blu-ray case, with no outer sleeve/slipcase. (All discs were meant to ship with a decorative sleeve, but production delays meant that some customers – myself included – received their copies without one; more details on Anime News Network here.) It’s a pretty bare-bones release consisting of just one Blu-ray disc; there are no physical extras to speak of. The cover art – featuring Natsuki and her family – is the same as that used in the standard Japanese Blu-ray release.

Images of the disc case and jacket (front and back).

The inside of the case, showing the Blu-ray disc and the art printed on the inner side of the jacket.

CONTENTS

The 115-minute main feature is accompanied by about 40 minutes of extra content, consisting of:
- Interviews with 5 members of the Japanese cast, in Japanese with English subtitles.
- An interview with director Hosoda Mamoru, in Japanese with English subtitles.
- Teaser trailers.
- Teaser TV spot.
- Original trailer.
- TV spots.
- Trailers for upcoming Funimation releases.

Audio setup options consist of Dolby TrueHD English 5.1 and Dolby TrueHD Japanese 5.1 soundtracks. There is one set of subtitles (English) that can be turned on or off.

INTRODUCTORY SUMMARY

Summer Wars begins by taking you through a quick walk-through of OZ, the online virtual universe around which much of the film’s plot revolves. To call it Facebook on steroids would be a gross understatement: it’s more like what Second Life would be if it had the power of Microsoft, the ambitions of Google, and the inescapable reach of McDonald’s (and even that sounds like a decidedly inadequate description). In this world, the tentacles of OZ have acquired a pervasive grip on nearly every sphere of life, from social networking and shopping to finance and government services. Whether you’re looking to chat with people from across the globe (made possible by a built-in universal translator) or file your income tax returns, OZ provides the infrastructure you need to get things done.

Kenji is an ordinary high-school student, etc. etc. – a stock character in many ways, but I digress. In brief, he’s a mathematically gifted but socially inept lad who works for OZ as a low-low-low-level administrator. Plying his part-time trade in a cramped computer room at school with friend and fellow OZ underling Sakuma, the day seems just like any other when . . .

. . . fanfare please . . .

. . . their uber-popular high-school senpai Natsuki bursts into the room and offers them a part-time job. One of them anyway. In the end, Kenji is picked and rushes off to Ueda (in Nagano Prefecture) together with Natsuki for her great-grandmother’s upcoming 90th birthday bash. The nature of the job disclosed right in the most awkward of moments – I shall leave you to discover that for yourself – young Kenji is introduced to Natsuki’s legion of rambunctious relatives, a huge family descended of Sengoku-era warlords who struck it rich during the Meiji Restoration but have since descended into genteel poverty (whilst retaining their sprawling, castle-like estate). In firm command of the Jinnouchi clan’s affairs is their formidable matriarch, Great-Grandmum Sakae, a woman with the poise of an empress and the mind of a warrior.

That night, Kenji is roused from bed by an email containing a long string of numbers and the subject heading “Solve Me”. Never mind that it comes from an unknown sender – Kenji’s mathematical curiosity overpowers any misgivings and he rises to the challenge. Working out a solution in the course of the night, he emails the cracked code back to the source and retires to bed.

The next day, all heck breaks loose.

The morning news reports are ablaze with the story that someone has broken through OZ’s supposedly impervious security system. Using Kenji’s avatar, the unknown party starts by taking over other user accounts and wreaking havoc on the virtual plane. Soon it triggers catastrophic real-world problems by tampering with everything from traffic lights and GPS navigation to train schedules and emergency help lines. The hapless Kenji becomes the prime suspect, but with the help of Sakuma and Natsuki’s OZ-savvy cousin Kazuma, he fires the first return shots in what eventually becomes a war to take back the Internet – and save the world.

REVIEW

It’s been a while – a very long while – since I enjoyed a film as much as I did this one. Thinking of my anime favourites from the last five years or so, I don’t remember according any of them the honour of being rewatched in their entirety so soon after seeing them the first time. (Replaying pivotal scenes, yes; viewing them end-to-end a second time, no.) I’ve seen Summer Wars twice now, omitting nothing save for a few seconds of end credits, and even then I’m still thinking of giving it another go tomorrow.

On the one hand, perfection is not something it can lay claim to. The story isn’t overly complex but may be convoluted enough to bar children from enjoying the experience (not that the film was meant for them though). It generally fits the mould of a family-friendly film but I wouldn’t promote it as such: mostly squeaky-clean, there are nonetheless a few brief suggestive moments that prevent me from recommending it for a younger audience. There are times when it descends into needless melodrama – parts of the climactic hanafuda battle, for one. And the film does seem rather slow in places, mainly in the first half.

On the other hand, it gets so many things right that any flaws seem almost imperceptible. (I had to think long and hard to complete the brief, obligatory con-side paragraph above.)

Let’s start with the visuals. Animation studio Madhouse are known for top-rate work – director Hosoda Mamoru’s previous film Toki o Kakeru Shoujo comes to mind – and their well-established prowess explodes on screen for Summer Wars. The virtual world of OZ, rich in colour and sharp-edged complexity, is built mostly out of flashy computer-aided animation, with the softer and cleaner tones of the real world rendered in a more traditional hand-drawn style. The characters’ movements are very fluid, from the main fight/chase scenes to simple hand gestures; full attention is lavished on even something as peripheral as a child tipping over when a bus rounds a corner. And then there are the innumerable, seemingly inconsequential details that contribute little to the story but add so much to the atmosphere – the station signs, the architectural details of the Jinnouchi mansion, the aged tile-work in the family bath.

Character designs for the real-world side are flat and simple, without sacrificing naturalness – very similar to the overall style Hosoda employed in TokiKake. The virtual world of OZ required another set of designs, in this case for the characters’ online avatars. Just as one would expect in reality, each avatar is a reflection of its owner, whether in terms of their personality or occupation or interests and so on. Some are impressively slick and original, evidently put together with great care; others look as if their owners couldn’t be bothered to go much further than the website’s default options.

The story is wonderfully engaging, striking a good balance between light humour and solid action (with a few key moments of nearly-tear-jerking drama thrown in for good measure). Much of the humour rides on the family dynamics within the Jinnouchi clan, which has a profusion of ages, career paths and personalities as varied as any real-life extended household (together with interactions and clashes to match). Overprotective second cousins? Grandfathers who proudly recount tales of past military glories? Kids who leave destruction in their wake? You name it, they’ve probably got it. The House of Jinnouchi is more of a tossed salad than a melting pot, and the film benefits greatly from this fact.

One character in particular stands out, and all the more because she isn’t a central figure. (Come to think of it, in a manner of speaking she is a central figure, indeed the central figure.) Great-Grandmum Sakae is more than the Jinnouchi family’s ramrod-straight matron: she is a leader through and through, one who in a different day and age might have given the Tokugawas a sound thwacking. She is the first to call the film’s central conflict a “war”, and like any good commander doesn’t give in to panic and speculation. Her family’s wealth depleted long ago, Great-Grandmum Sakae nonetheless has something more powerful at her beck and call: a social network of her own. Politicians, government officials, business leaders, ordinary men on the ground – a vast web of contacts in all rungs of society built up over the course of her long lifetime. As the first effects of the OZ break-in spread out to sow chaos in the real world, she rallies the troops all over Japan using nothing more than an old rotary-dial phone and her contact book (a scene that ranks among the highest points in the entire film). She admits that she doesn’t completely understand what’s going on – the Internet doesn’t figure much in her world after all – but she calmly appreciates the scale of the danger, puts a name to it (“It’s like a war”) and gets the job done. All throughout the film, all the way to the end, it is Great-Grandmum Sakae’s banner that the family unites under to defend all they know and love from the threat that faces them.

It’s certainly possible to force out the usual commentary on modern man’s technological dependence and whatnot, though a closer inspection doesn’t support this as the central theme. I’d lean more towards identifying family and one’s social network (not in Facebook terms but in a broader sociological context) as lying nearer to the heart of the film. We’ve already spoken of Great-Grandmum Sakae’s taking command of homeland defence in the war’s early stages, using her vast network of relatives and acquaintances. Later on, we have various members of the family pitching in to set the stage for the final battle, contributing everything from a fishing boat to a university-grade supercomputer. And then there’s the central figure of Kenji, a stranger, to some even an interloper, an outsider who gets roped into the Jinnouchi network (along with Sakuma) and does his part to see them through to victory. The tag line emblazoned on the back of the Blu-ray case – “ALWAYS PROTECT YOUR NETWORK!” – may not have made much sense at the start, but after watching the film I am now struck by how appropriate it is.

In one of the interviews included on the disc, Hosoda-sensei himself traces the genesis of the film to his own post-TokiKake marriage. After his wedding, his wife’s family – up to that point little more than strangers to him – were suddenly his family as well. The theme is chosen, the seed is planted, and a few years later we are reaping the exceptionally sweet fruit.

People love spoiling the best parts whether it’s face to face, on IM, message boards, or the 4ch. No matter how hard you try to avoid spoilers, the spoiler monster will always rear its ugly head around sooner or later. The only way to avoid all the spoilers would be to go into self imposed isolation, but that’s just crazy… Crazy enough to work. To conclude, spoilers are a bitch and if anyone spoils the Dark Knight for me, I’ll fudgin’ go Higurashi on ya.

PS: There are a few pending articles from the crew. That about sums up this pointless rant. I’ll be hiding in a bomb shelter until I see the movie. Adieu. Adieu.

So the plan was to go see Kung Fu Panda as everyone has been telling me how great it was. I get to the theater and the showing I was planning on seeing was sold out. And it’s been out for three weeks? I was stunned. As I held up the line trying to decide on waiting an hour for the next showing or going home, the nice cashier guy suggested that maybe I’d like to go see Wall-E instead. Well it was Sunday and I was bored so I figured why not? Boy am I glad he made that suggestion.

Summary:
Wall-E is the story of Wall-E (obviously). He’s a small little robot who bears more than a passing resemblance to E.T. or Johnny 5 of Short Circuit fame. From what we can gather, he’s been basically alone on Earth for several hundred years. Turns out that the planet was overly commercialized by Buy N’ Large, a Wal-Mart type corporation that seemed to own just about everything. Somewhere down the line, consumption just got totally out of control to the point where there was so much garbage that BNL decided to ship humans off in spaceships while they created robots to clean up the mess.

Enter our unassuming hero as what appears to be the final, functioning Wall-E (Waste Allocation Lift Loader – Earth Class) left. He still goes about his job diligently with his only friend being a rather spunky cockroach who is basically the dog from I Am Legend. All these years of desolation seems to have done something to Wall-E. While he still performs his duties without fail, he’s also developed a bit of a quirk as he enjoys finding certain pieces of trash that catches his eye and collects them for himself. He also seems to have taken a liking to musicals as he frequently watches an old tape of Hello Dolly as well as listening to recordings of the songs while out doing his job. But it’s by watching these tapes that he realizes something. He’s alone. And while his job and his little “pet” is nice, all he really wants is a companion.

Of course, his wish is granted as one day a giant spaceship shows up and delivers a strange package. Another robot by the name of EVE. She’s modern, sleek, and sexy compared to Wall-E’s humble appearance but despite their obvious differences, Wall-E’s determined to make friends with this new visitor. His attempts don’t go quite as planned as EVE proves to be more dangerous that appearances would allow, but he slowly but surely makes progress.

He eventually gets her back to his place (smooth moves, pal) and shows EVE his treasures. After a few clumsy attempts at dancing, something really catches EVE’s eye and a sudden visit eventually turns into an adventure as Wall-E eventually ends up leaving the desolate landscape of Earth for the reaches of space and the search for a friend turns into a struggle for the future of the planet.

Thoughts:
I’ve seen a lot of talk about Wall-E since it came out. Many people proclaim it’s Oscar caliber and deserves a place in the big show for the biggest prize of Best Picture, a spot not seen for an animated feature since Beauty and the Beast. Others claim that while the movie is visually stunning, the film is overly preachy and incredibly heavy-handed with its message as the liberal Hollywood elite once again tries to force-feed their agenda to an unsuspecting viewing audience.

I won’t take either side of that debate. Because the heart of this movie belongs with Wall-E. There hasn’t been a more lovable character on the movie screen in who knows how long. And while there is a message to be learned with the movie (and an obvious one at that), that’s all secondary to Wall-E and hopefully for the viewer as well. Wall-E wants one thing and one thing only. A friend. And he’ll do anything it takes to prove that to her, even if it means traveling to the stars themselves.

For me, any flaws about the overbearing message or lack of a long, involved story is washed away as the little robot that could earnestly makes his way through the film and slowly changes the lives of everything and everyone he meets. An amazing feat for an overgrown trash compactor who can’t even really talk. It’s simply incredible the amount of emotion that little Wall-E and eventually his co-star EVE can convey on the screen. They’ll make you laugh, gasp, cheer, and cry by the end of the film.

With all the loud summer blockbusters, overly kinetic anime, and deep, convoluted video games out there, the things that Pixar has managed to do with a “block” and an “egg” are nothing short of miraculous as they come off as more “human” than most anything I’ve seen in a long time. You want to see a comedy, romance, or sci-fi epic this summer? Do yourself a favor and check out Wall-E. If not for me, for the little guy himself. He deserves it.

BONUS: If you go check out Wall-E, do yourself another favor and make sure you get there on time. Pixar has a habit of showing short cartoons before their main features and Wall-E is no exception. The name of this one is “Presto” and features a magician, his magic hat, and a white rabbit that wants nothing more than a carrot. It’s HILARIOUS and makes me long for the days of the old Tex Avery cartoons that we so easily neglect these days. Don’t miss a second of it.

When I heard that BONES had actually done a movie, I was like, how on earth did I miss this? And after watching it, I must say, did I miss the hype for this movie or something? Because I hardly heard anything about it, but as a wise man would put it: Sword of the Stranger is nothing short of a masterpiece.

So here’s a quick review.

Everyone knows that BONES has awesome animation. In this movie, BONES gives us pretty much awesome -everything-. In terms of production value they pulled out all the stops and took no prisoners. Character design is great and realistic for the most part, as well as their accompanying movement oftentimes being so fluid it’s surreal.

Not to mention the brilliant background scenery that is on a constant high throughout the movie. Very rarely is something truly static unless it’s supposed to be so. With the accompanying music score being of the classical Japanese drums and strings, it all adds up to something special.

Lots of blood and gore though. It’d have been a great family movie otherwise, I guess.

Obviously the above picture is not a representation of the movie as a whole. We see limbs and stuff flying like a couple minutes into the movie.

Story is fairly simple stuff. Kid has a bounty on head for reasons revealed later, he meets amnesiac samurai whom he manages to convince to look after him, epic adventures and hijinks commence. And the kid isn’t terribly annoying. I’m serious. The dog is just epic awesome.

But I love the character development going on between the two. Wish we could have seen more from the rest of the cast, but being an hour and fifty minutes long (Including the credits) would put a damper on that, I surmise.

So what did I think of the movie? I liked it a good deal. It was pretty, and the simple plot had quite a lot of nuances to it to make it something special. Plus, the action scenes are simply the main highlight of the movie, and there’s plenty of it.

My rating: 98 Samurai out of 131 approve of this movie. We shall have the naysayers incarcerated shortly.

Hot on the heels of KyoAni’s Clannad TV adaptation, Toei brings us their version of the Clannad story. Toei’s adaptation of Clannad is an abridged Nagisa arc with all the needless filler secondary girls’ arcs removed. Liberties are taken here and there with the story, but unlike the Air movie, the Clannad movie remains much more faithful to the original story. Toei and KyoAni can’t seem to agree on who should voice Key male leads, because the movie has a different seiyuu voicing Okazaki while everyone else retains their original voice. Obvious spoilers and lots of pictures after the jump.

Summary:
The story is told eight years after the initial meeting between Tomoya Okazaki and Nagisa Furukawa. Okazaki is much darker and somber than his TV personality and is severely depressed as he recounts his journey with Nagisa that explains the first 2/3 of the movie. He slowly opens his closed heart as he, at first reluctantly, helps her re-establish the disbanded Theater club. However with the time constraints of a movie, the club only consists of himself, Nagisa, and Sunohara. The trio have their share of struggles as Tomoyo and the student council put up resistance to the club’s formation because of a deadline technicality. Kouko Ibuki eventually decides to advise the club activities after seeing Nagisa’s strong determination.

Unbeknownst to Okazaki and Nagisa, they both share the same dream of a world of nothingness since their childhoods. Both have been looking for their missing half in the desolate dream world. Their dream is finally realized when Nagisa performs her monologue based on the dream at the school festival. The audience is enamored with the story, and as the narrative goes on all of it begins to sound very familiar to him. He finally realizes that they are soulmates as he watches her dazzling performance come to and end.

After high school the two get married and live together. During this span, it is revealed that Nagisa’s body is too fragile to give birth to a child. Akio, Sanae, and Okazaki try to persuade her to not go through with the birth, but Nagisa’s mind is resolved and has even picked out a name for the baby. Their happiness doesn’t last long as Nagisa dies shortly after giving birth to their daughter whom she names Ushio.

Return to a flashback. Nagisa had repeat her senior year because of illness, so she graduated a year after Okazaki. Then I believe Okazaki and Nagisa were married for a year before she died. So the story picks back up six years after her death. Everyone is living their lives while Okazaki still mourns Nagisa’s passing and has reverted to his former self as he wallows in despair.

Okazaki is stuck in the past as he continues to think about the brief happiness he shared with Nagisa. To distance himself from his daughter, Ushio has been left in the care of Nagisa’s parents, Akio and Sanae Furukawa, during this time. After a surprise visit from his father, Okazaki realizes that he has become just like his father. The senior Okazaki, now wanting his son to repeat his mistake, asks for Yusuke and Kouko to reunite Tomoya with Ushio so the cycle doesn’t repeat itself. At the train station, Ushio bears no grudge against her father and the two are lovingly reunited as they also see Nagisa’s spirit with them.

Thoughts:
Sorry in advance to the Kotomi, Starfish, and Ryou fans out there. Kotomi has a couple cameos with no speaking lines, but Fuko and Ryou got completely snubbed. Most other minor characters were cut for time and story convenience.

Sunohara remains intact and plays the comic relief early in the movie. Tomoyo and Kyou show up in lesser, somewhat antagonistic roles at the beginning. The entire dynamic between Sunohara-Tomoyo/Kyou is gone but don’t worry. You’ll be surprised when he finally does get his ass whooped by one of the most unsuspecting characters.

While these roles were heavily cut, it’s odd that other minor characters received much bigger roles; Namely Kouko Ibuki, Yusuke Yoshino, and the Furukawa parents. All of these characters play the adult foils to the story by portraying the stark contrast between mature relationships and high school love. Though on the surface level Akio’s juvenile behavior sure could have fooled me…

The characterization was a strong point in the movie. The core characters were the main attraction as the story heavily revolved around their interactions. I really thought that Okazaki and Sunohara came alive and had good showings. Sunohara in particular showed more of his caring side towards Okazaki and Nagisa.

The Clannad movie’s world of nothingness was pulled off to reasonable success. Instead of the “nameless girl” and junk robot we have a masked puppet to portray Okazaki and Nagisa portrays herself in the dream world. The story was paced well enough at the beginning but felt horribly rushed in the final ten minutes.

All in all, the Clannad movie was good. It’s pretty much an abridged Nagisa Arc with a very rushed after-story modified to portray a happy ending. The movie did hit on the basic points with embellishments for the sake of time constraints. You’ll either love or hate the waterstyle scene cuts that were also present in the Air movie. While Clannad movie was good but not great. You must like Nagisa to fully enjoy the movie. It’s worth a watch if you want to see Toei’s take on the story.

Rating: 7.5/10

I apologize for the delayed writeup, but please, read on and find pearls of wisdom.

Like I said, The Host had been high on my to-see list for some time now, but every time I had a chance to see it something came up. So, when I had a chance to show it at my double-feature…I was nearly foiled again. It turned out the one place I had hoped to rent a copy from was out, and it was only thanks to a last minute run to Best Buy by a friend of mine who wanted to own the movie himself that I was able to show it.

I was thrilled, and by the end of the film, I was also satisfied.

The Host is nothing like Cloverfield, really. It doesn’t try and use any fancy cinematography, and it’s not a one trick pony, more of a jack of all trades. The Host has a bit of comedy, a bit of thrills, some action, some drama, and a balanced mix of happy moments and sad ones which sum up to give the viewer a good deal of empathy for the characters. The one other big difference is that there’s no real suspense about what the monster is or what it can do–it starts eating people in broad daylight about fifteen minutes in to the film.

For what it’s worth, the creature is phenomenally weird. It swims, it climbs, it stumbles when it runs a whole bunch…you wouldn’t think it would be a particularly effective or terrifying beast, and frankly, it isn’t to a viewer. There’s not much awe because it’s just the size of a school bus. But still, for the characters–and more importantly, the government–the beast is a force to be reckoned with. And because of that same government, the woe begins.

A strong environmentalist theme is prominent in The Host, along with some anti-American sentiment (basically, the Americans are responsible for the whole thing and then bungle their management of it). The most wrenching part of the film is seeing an ordinary family–an out-of-college drunk uncle, the industrious grandfather, the olympic medalist archer sister, and the somewhat brain-dead father–trying to rescue the daughter who ties them together and having to do everything they possibly can just to get a shot at finding her. Discomfort is yet another one of the emotions the film brings to bear, and it proves over its course that it can bring them back again and again for increasing effect.

If you like monsters, films about families against the odds, or films that have universal appeal strictly by being dabblers in moods, The Host is worth a look.

A Tale of Two Sisters is a horror film which really does need to be experienced twice. When I first saw it, I didn’t see the ending twist coming, and then with the revelation that gives I simply had to watch it again to understand everything that was going on.
It’s a horror film that’s light on gore and big on mystery, or at least big on weirded-out sections. It was, simply put, right up my alley.

The plot’s a little on the simple side–two girls move back to their country residence with their father and stepmother, and pretty quickly things start getting weird. The film is tightly written, tightly acted, and keeps tipping just enough of its hand to keep you watching until the end. The first big revelation hits probably half an hour or forty five minutes from the end, and even after that things only keep getting stranger.

If you’re looking for hugely terrifying things, this is also probably not a film to rely on. There are a couple of chilling moments in the film that are never really explained in whole, but they probably won’t cater to a real thrill seeker. The pacing is mostly what does it–there’s a lot of points in the film where the dialog’s pretty light, and much of the rest of the time it doesn’t make sense to the viewer (and not in a bad way, but more of a spooky way).

I’m rather surprised I don’t have more to say about A Tale of Two Sisters other than to give it my recommendation. I’m not big on horror films–I despise most of the franchises in that genre put out from Hollywood today–but this film really struck a chord with me. It’s about psychology, loss, and fraternal bonds.

Next This week: Elvis! Showing Bubba Ho-Tep and Six-String Samurai.

Maybe.

Or possibly I’ve just started a little tradition for myself: a tradition of a Friday-night double-feature! That’s right, years old films or at least nothing recent, rented on DVD (or, heaven forbid, VHS) and viewed with a company of comrades. Each week will purportedly have a theme, and this past one was “robots run amok.”

The films for this week were 2001: A Space Odyssey and the lesser-known Westworld. Who’d have thought that before Jurassic Park, the directorial claim-to-fame of Michael Crichton would be a movie about a cowboy robot Yul Brynner?

Spoilers follow for Westworld but not for 2001.

I had never seen 2001 before and was perhaps expecting a slightly less artsy film. This isn’t a slam, but I think the problem is that it’s been parodied so many times (I didn’t keep count but I think it approached half a dozen major scenes) that going into it someone like me has no clue what it’s actually about.

2001 is about sweeping shots, taking its good time with storytelling, being scientifically correct to a level that’s refreshing and beautiful, and having positively haunting scoring, almost to the point of discomfort. It’s got long stretches with no dialogue that still held the attention of a room of rowdy individuals fairly well, and when there is dialogue it’s tightly written by necessity. If you’re in a contemplative mood, want to have a glass or two of your favorite beverage, and watch something that’s challenging but entertaining nonetheless, 2001 would be a good choice. Granted, I can’t really think of the last time I was in a mood like that, and there is something weird about going, “hm, I’m in a contemplative mood, Kubrick would be good!”

Seriously, though, for someone born way after the film came out, I wasn’t disappointed in its quality–2001 has withstood the test of time admirably. If you’re like me and you’ve never seen it, it’s aged extremely well and if you like sci-fi it’s worth seeing just to note how it’s influenced the genre.

Westworld is a little more of an oddity; I first heard of it through some dudes I worked with. My original plan was to also view Spartacus (as in the internet meme) but it was sadly unavailable. After some hunting to try and go for a sci-fi double feature, I admitted Westworld with a smile.

The basic premise of Westworld is there’s a futuristic tourist resort with a lot of sexbots who don’t mind when the patrons shoot them and/or sex them up. And everything peachy until everything breaks down simultaneously. This has several predictable responses and several not so predictable ones.

Predictable responses:

1. Vacation becomes less fun.
2. People die en masse.
3. Things don’t get put back in order by the end of the film.
4. Similarities to Jurassic Park come out of the woodwork.

Not-so predictable reponses:

1. The scientists shut off power to try and deactivate the robots and are stunned that they have batteries.
2. Furthermore, the scientists cannot get the power back on, the doors to the rooms cannot be opened, and are apparently airtight. They all suffocate.
3. COWBOY ROBOT YUL BRYNNER INEXORABLY PURSUES THE PROTAGONIST AND TRIES TO KILL HIM.

This last one should be stressed as the highlight of the film and the reason to continue watching. Yul Brynner stalks the unnamed main-character vacationer like a cowboy Pepe Le Peu, to positively comic ends. Unfortunately, the film also doesn’t have much to go on other than this hence my decision to spoil almost the entire thing.

It was enjoyable, I’ll say that much. But I can’t really endorse renting Westworld unless you’re a big fan of strange sci-fi or you really like the thought of a maniac cowboy robot Yul Brynner.

Next week: I move forward past 1973 and away from America to South Korean, with The Host and A Tale of Two Sisters.

First, let it be known that there’s a pretty lengthy list of things you should and shouldn’t expect going in to see Cloverfield, and that may strike you as a bit unfair, but honestly it’s for your enjoyment, or to save you your money. If you get motion sick easily, or even not so easily, your experience will be quickly compromised. Cloverfield is filmed in a first-person perspective that rivals the worst home movies. The action is in-your-face, intense, and similar to a theme park ride. Your seat may not be moving, but the in-theater experience is one that is worthwhile but only if your stomach can handle it.

You also shouldn’t expect the film to break character for your sake as a viewer. Cloverfield is immersive, and you’ll never get an explanation as to why exactly there’s a monster attacking New York or where it came from. You know what the characters know and see what the characters see in real time. That’s not to say you don’t get to see the monster itself, on the contrary, there’s plenty of it and it’s quite impressive. Cloverfield is a film with plenty of intense action and solidly paced storytelling, but it’s short on answers.

Perhaps the weakest point of Cloverfield is its characters. They do their job effectively enough, but don’t expect to see any names from the cast turning up at major awards ceremonies. To be frank I had trouble telling some of the characters apart or remembering the familial and romantic relationships between them, and even when I could finally tell who was who more often than not they weren’t terribly likable. Still, the characters react like you might expect people in their situation to under pressure–they stave off panic with humor (some actually quite well-received in my own theater) and just keep moving.

I should perhaps note that the premise, while it works great for the film, is sufficient for its length, but in my opinion doesn’t have much juice after that. With Cloverfield just having finished its first weekend, and discussion of a sequel already bouncing around, I have to admit I loved the concept and execution for one film but would be even more skeptical of a second film than I was of the first. The cast travels all over Manhattan over the course of the film, in a manner reminiscent of a number of zombie horror films, and though they do have a purpose and the wandering isn’t just random it does seem like the writers asked, “how would the characters be affected in a subway/street/military quarantine zone?” and then strung them together.

The driving force behind the film is the monster itself, and as I’ve said before, it’s very impressive. You only get glimpses of it at the beginning, but by the end of the film will have seen it both up close and in its entirety. It’s plausible and frightening looking, and the senselessness of the film–both the monster and the military trying to kill it–only make it scarier. After the first rumbling of the monster, you truly have no real idea when and where it’s going to show up, so when the camera pans and you see it off in the distance and headed towards you–or, towards the characters, but for me, it was very much a sinking feeling whenever I saw it headed towards the camera–it’s a kick it the gut.

Perhaps my review doesn’t get at my actual feelings about the film–I thought it was spectacular. The presentation thrives off of a story that’s never explained in whole, that jumps minutes ahead at a time, that’s populated by characters who don’t truly know what’s going on and that has danger lurking around every corner. A couple of stock scares can’t mar the fact that Cloverfield as a whole is fresh and tightly presented, and is a true thrill ride for almost its entire duration. At times funny, at times sad, and harrowing for almost the full hour and a half, my expectations were exceeded and I truly enjoyed the ride. Many of those around me also did, as I think they entered with similar expectations–be prepared to hold on to your seat, be prepared to get more questions than answers, and don’t eat a large meal right beforehand.

Maybe when it finally comes out on DVD I’ll talk spoilers, but honestly, the in-theater experience of Cloverfield is one that can’t be replicated, so if you do want to see the film I’d advise going now while it’s in theaters.

I give it four out of five Meultima units.