Inu-oh(犬王) Japanese Animated Film Thoughts

 

   Inu-oh is a musical Japanese film that was produced by studio Science Saru and directed by Masaaki Yuasa(The Night Is Long, Walk On Girl, Ride Your Wave). The film received great praise for it's blend of history and modern day rock music. 

   A blind musician and a dancer with physical defects, plan to become the greatest entertainment in a society that shun them for their differences. 

   I don't have a ton of thoughts on Inu-oh, to be honest. It's kinda a film that I watched on the fly. The trailer convinced me to stop ignoring this film. So, the dive into the plot was beautifully animated in sequences that happen during the performance scenes. A ton of the musically numbers are just rock and roll music with 14th century traditional Japanese music. J-band Queen Bee's lead singer Ayu Chan, does the singing as well as the lyrics for the film. Their vocals give a punk pop sound to the music, which makes the songs feel even more like current day rock anthems. I'm just not sure if the artsy showcase is what is supposed to distract from the fact that the music starts to sound the same after a couple of songs. Maybe the same song was just being sung over and over again.....? In terms of plot, Inu-oh has a lot of heart in the strange antics of the events that happen. I was interested in the two characters because a good under dog story can never not inspire someone. Not everyone will enjoy some of the weirdness though. Some of it was a little annoying to me as well. 

     Character designs in Inu-oh are very sketch like. Similar to if you take a character outline that you draw and stick it into a film project without making the finishing touches. These overall looks do give the characters a feudal era look though. 

Drawings by Tayo Matsumoto

   Inu-oh is an enervative film that will wow some audiences while turning off others. There's qualities there that everyone can appreciate. Even if this isn't my favorite anime feature film.  

The Sadness(哭悲) Chinese Film Thoughts(2021)

 

    The Sadness is a Chinese film that was directed and written by Rob Jabbaz. The film was based off a comic book called The Crossed and stars Berant Zhu, Regina Lei, Wang Ziqiang, and Emerson Tsai. Many reviews for the film have been positive while, Film festivals have awarded the film for the intense emotional content. 

   A couple tries to reunite with each other during a sudden virus outbreak where the victims turn into blood thirsty murders. This will be a day like no other they've ever seen. 

    First off, The Sadness is not a Zombie film. A lot of people say that this film is a zombie film when it's not. The infected do not eat people. There's not even any proof that a bite is how the virus was transferred. One of the most interesting qualities about this film is the mystery of what this virus really is. How it came to do or how you can become infected. I'm not going to give anything away however, when you take in how the virus works, it's movements make you think more than the main plot itself. Most of the main plot is very simple like many other apocalyptic stories dealing with sickness. A couple tries to survive during terrifying events that they know nothing about. Something that the viewer also doesn't anything about. You're given clues among the blood shed, rape acts, as well as torture scenes to solve what is going on. I have my own theories about the virus and the heart pounding ending too. Still, The Sadness may not be for people who can't handle violence as the people become slaves to their own evil desires.  

   I give props to the whole entire cast for the hard work/time put into all the productions. Man... the performances will make your skin breakout into goosebumps. Who knows if they could see out of those black contacts.....

    The Sadness is a film that takes what similar horror is known and gives a brand new history. There's many different viewpoints you could see the story from. What is your view after watching the film? 

Goodbye, Don Glees!(グッバイ、ドン・グリーズ!) Japanese Anime Film Thoughts

 

 

   Goodbye, Don Glees is a 2022 film created by studio Madhouse and directed by Atsuko Ishizuka. The film wasn't a huge success in Japan but many critics worldwide have given the film rave reviews for the story of youth. 

 A group of friends set out to find proof that they didn't start the forest fire they's accused of....  What will the trip reveal about the boys. Life always forever changing. 

    This whole film felt like a hippie trip on acid. There's a very deep message about how nature connects to the human soul. Then, there's also the trip that the three main characters go on where it didn't amount to much. Instead, the trip was more like a vessel for the characters to get to learn more about each other in a hectic situation. a lot of the issues that present themselves are growing pains of getting older. Some people don't know how to find out where they fit in so, they just drift along in life until they find meaning. A new guy joining two friends's Don Glee club was all the meaning the two didn't know they needed. The emotional bits of the film feel to hit the heart good enough however, I wasn't a fan of the emotional scenes that happened before the midway point of the story. They were a little forced to me or maybe it was the overdub performances. I also never say anything about a film's soundtrack but the actual songs in the film are sooo annoying to me. I'm not sure why these track got on my nerves... I'm a fan of Alexandros though. Rock The World fit this film perfectly outside of the other badly chosen songs. 

    The landscapes are drawn better than anything else in the film. Who knows if that's a bad or good thing. I'll let you decide that. The last scene's animation was done amazingly. 

      Don Glees's mystery might have you doing a double take. I know I did. What you find is still a solid story with a lot of relatability. You might even want to go see the world outside your town after watching this film.