Mushi-Shi Anime Review

Mushi-Shi
Funimation
Complete Collection - 4 discs
625 mins. - 26 episodes
$69.98 (2008)
$49.98 (2009) Viridian
$39.98 (2010)
$29.98 (2011) S.A.V.E.
ISBN 704400051104
Japanese/English Audio - English Subtitles
Director - Hiroshi Nagahama
Studio - Artland

Synopsis: All around us exist simple creatures called Mushi, they are in touch with the basic essence of life and are all but invisible to the naked eye.  Only people with special sensitivity to the lifestream can see them.  The Mushi come in an almost infinite variety and often have spectacular attributes which normal people would consider supernatural.  Sometimes Mushi can cause problems for humans depending on the nature of the Mushi, especially if the Mushi have a certain attribute which is adverse to humans and are in a location where they can breed [uncontrollably].  The Mushi are not consciously trying to harm people, but just following their natures (similar to insects, animals, or plants).

Ginko with Mushi scrolls and the tools of his trade

Mushi masters (called Mushi-shi) are professional tradespeople who help deal with problems arising from Mushi and also sell artifacts/remedies derived from them.  Ginko is a traveling Mushi master who spends his time investigating and treating occurrences of Mushi.  He is one of the best masters and has seen many different types of Mushi over the course of his life.  Being a Mushi master is very dangerous due to the many different types of Mushi and their strange abilities.

A young boy can see Mushi around his house

The bizarre phenomena Mushi create range from the mundane to the astonishing.  Cases Ginko investigates include a boy whose drawings come to life, a girl who cannot bear sunlight due to the Mushi living in her eyes, a man who dreams the future (but is helpless to stop it), a living swamp which moves from place to place, a village with unusually good harvests coming at the price of a villager's life, a man trapped in a bamboo forest with his family, a girl who disappeared into the sky, a family with strange children who are turning green, and the list goes on.

"Hey! Don't touch those Mushi! They're dangerous!"

Ginko himself is an odd person.  He has preternaturally white hair and a green eye due to contact with an especially dangerous Mushi.  The Mushi are drawn to him and if he stays in one place for too long they gather to potentially cause trouble.  He must constantly travel.  Throughout his adventures, Ginko treats the Mushi with respect and understanding toward their fantastic nature.

Ginko sits next to the lifestream

Pros: Great animation quality - opening sequence is particularly artful, elegantly-paced compared to other hyper-active action-based shows, soothing quality to the stories, Ginko's character and visual design is really cool, fun opening theme song (it's in English which is somewhat uncommon), slightly creepy stories and background music, Mushi are a cool idea

Mushi-Shi is filled with beautiful landscapes and scenes of nature

Cons: Episodic - no actual story conclusion, very slow-paced and languid at times, not a lot of explanations for different happenings - the annual Mushi meeting or Ginko's style of dress

"Hey! Don't swallow that Mushi! It's dangerous!"

Mike Tells It Straight: Mushi-Shi is a very soothing and mellow piece of work.  It's highly atmospheric and just the slightest bit creepy.  I found it to be entertaining and very relaxing - a good contrast to many in-your-face, action-oriented, or highly plot-driven series (I would say the direct opposite of Mushi-Shi would be Blassreiter with its confusing plot, complicated characters designs, and even-more-complicated CG enhanced fights scenes). 

Ginko encounters a town where everything is rusting,
including the people

Everything in this show was well put together and planned - from Ginko's slightly modern/outlandish (for the era) clothing, the pacing of the stories, and giving the bare minimum of explanations to keep it mysterious.  It worked to create an interesting landscape of unknown happenings related to weird creatures called Mushi.  We get snippets of Ginko's origin and plenty of room for a sequel.

The infamous "Mushi eyes" episode. Brrrrr!

While I enjoyed the series as a standalone break from the ever-churning sea of information we currently live in, many people may not share the same outlook.  Mushi-Shi is nothing if not slow-paced and episodic.  It's a bit boring if you're trying to finish the series quickly and kind of forces you to watch at its pre-designated pace.  Quite charming if you're into this sort of pacing, but agonizing if you want a faster-paced show with a definitive ending to the series.

Ginko loves telling stories about Mushi

Mushi-Shi was very well-received, winning awards in 2006 from the Tokyo Anime Awards and Tokyo International Anime Fair.  A live-action film was produced and directed by Katsuhiro Otomo (famed creator/director of Akira).  I give this series high marks for creativity and hope it gets a sequel in the near future.  Check it out if you want a nice change of pace.

TO BUY and Recommendations:
 

Akira Anime Movie Review

Akira

Pioneer (Geneon)

Movie - 125 mins. - 1 disc

$19.98 (2001)

$39.98 (2001) 2-disc w/tin

$24.98 (2002)

$19.98 (2004) Geneon Sig. Series

$49.98 (2009) Blu-Ray

$19.98 (2012)

ISBN 013023153899

Japanese/English Audio - English Subtitles

Director - Katsuhiro Otomo

Studio - TMS Entertainment

Synopsis: Neo Tokyo in the year 2019 is a sprawling metropolis built on the ashes of the original Tokyo which was destroyed in a massive explosion 31 years earlier.  On street level beneath the ultra-modern skyscrapers the city is experiencing a rash of civil unrest.  Protests and are happening more frequently in a class struggle by the disenfranchised masses. Covert revolutionary organizations with dubious political backers have appeared along with a strange cult worshiping an entity called Akira, who is expected to return and save the world.

Police move to stop a demonstration by the 'Akira' cult

Kaneda and Tetsuo grew up together as orphans and are in the same teen biker gang.  They mobilize for a brutal high-speed skirmish through the streets of Neo Tokyo against their rivals, the Clowns. Meanwhile a strange little boy is being led by a revolutionary agent on an attempted escape from government forces.  The boy appears advanced in age and possesses psychic abilities, but is completely terrified in the outside world.  Near the end of the motorcycle chase, Tetsuo crashes into the boy and is injured.

Tetsuo races after Kaneda to face off with the Clowns

Kaneda and the rest of the gang catch up to Tetsuo, but military forces descend upon them to snatch up both the boy and Tetsuo.   Taken back to the lab Tetsuo manifests powerful psychic abilities of his own and is compared to a previous test subject - Akira.  The little boy picked up with Tetsuo was part of a trio of espers who knew Akira and are still being held by the government.  Akira was part of a series of experiments to develop psychic abilities in humans, but his powers grew out of control and he was the cause of Tokyo's destruction 31 years ago.

Kaneda screeches to a halt in his iconic bike 

Now Tetsuo's powers rage out of control and he lashes out at the world.  First towards his former friends who are now nothing but ants to a burgeoning god and then across Neo Tokyo sparking massive revolution in the streets.  Meanwhile Kaneda has fallen for a young revolutionary girl named Kei and helps her infiltrate the government facility where the espers are located.  They join forces as the crisis of Tetsuo's powers escalates.

Tetsuo has a very bad dream in the hospital

Tetsuo wants to find and confront Akira about his growing powers.  All he knows is Akira is kept underneath the construction site of the upcoming Olympic stadium.  Tetsuo cuts through the military forces and Kaneda, armed with a handheld laser cannon, gives chase.  What is the secret of Akira that caused Tokyo's destruction many years ago and will Tetsuo's uncontrollable powers cause a second explosion?  Can Kaneda help his friend or will he be forced to end his life to save the city?  Is Tetsuo too powerful to be stopped and will the entire planet be consumed this time?  

Will this happen to Tokyo again?

Pros: Great hand-drawn animation (made in 1988 and still holds up pretty well) with legendary production values at the time, intensely detailed backgrounds, exciting story, mature themes, genre-defining cyberpunk adventure, epic scope, cool/horrific portrayal of psychic powers, brutal at times and heartwarming in others, a true classic/masterpiece of its time, Blu-Ray version is packed with extras/improvements (visual and sound)

Kei is spotted by a searchlight.  Run, Kei

Cons: Updated dub from the old VHS version from '90s (am I the only one who loved the old voices for the characters?), events differ considerably from the original manga (which was finished after the movie was made - huh?), the original manga is 2000+ pages and it gets distilled down into two hours of screen time

Kaneda takes aim at his best friend with a pilfered military laser weapon

Mike Tells It Straight: "Neo Tokyo is about to explode!" - I love that tag line from the Akira dvd promotions.  Needless to say, Akira is a classic anime film which defined the genre for a generation of Japanese and then Americans when it was introduced in the early '90s by Streamline Pictures.  It has remained a staple of every anime fan's dvd collection since then and is the example most often used to prove anime was not kid cartoons, but mature stuff to the uninitiated.  

The army brings out the big guns - orbital satellite laser cannons

The production values on Akira were record-setting in 1988 and produced an anime film showcasing the pinnacle of hand-drawn animation's capabilities.  An inspiration for countless creators and their works after its release, this film distills down Katsuhiro Otomo's massive epic manga.  Interestingly enough, Otomo directed the film prior to ending the manga series and the two differ considerably.  The manga is truly incredible in its own right and I highly recommend for fans of the movie to check out the trade paperback set released by Dark Horse Comics a few years back.

Tetsuo in psychic battle

My only major gripe is the dvd version's new dub track (the subs are different too) compared to the original version from Streamline.  I originally watched this film on VHS back in the '90s and can't warm up to the new dub.  All I remember is Kaneda sounding like the biggest punk in the world and an endless stream of shouting "Kaaaneeeddaaa!!!" Teeetttssuuuooooooo!" throughout the movie.  So bad it was good and I would chomp a handful of capsules to get my hands on a dvd version with that dub.  The Pioneer dub is probably more accurate, but it's the pure nostalgia factor for that Streamline version (depending on how I first watch an anime I typically prefer that version to all others, i.e. dub vs. sub).

Tetsuo seeks to release Akira (test subject #28) from his slumber

If you're an anime fan you must watch Akira.  Simple as that.  Over the years it has been reissued over a dozen times and you can pick up a version for a decent price.  The latest Blu-Ray version is utterly spectacular and the visuals are perfectly clean-and-crisp.  You'll never see the original Streamline dub on an official digital version, but if you haven't heard it before then you won't know what you're missing (don't know if that's quite good or bad).  Maybe there are some digital bootlegs available out there via HK dvd or torrent file.  If you want it bad enough you can find it.  Regardless, the film is a classic and any mature movie aficionado will benefit from seeing it.

TO BUY and Recommendations:
  

Spriggan Anime Review

Spriggan
ADV Films
Movie - 1 disc
90 min.
$29.98 (2002)
$29.98 (2005) Special Edition
ISBN 702727021527
Japanese/English Audio - English Subtitles
Director - Hirotsugu Kawasaki
Studio - Studio 4⁰C

Synopsis: An ancient artifact is discovered and thought to be Noah's Ark.  Two clandestine groups battle over its possession and the world will never be the same!  On one side is ARCAM, an organization charged with recovering and guarding powerful ancient objects to ensure they never fall into the wrong hands.  On the other is the U.S. Machine Corps - a rogue division of powerful cyborgs funded by the Pentagon.

ARCAM employs hyper-skilled agents called Spriggan in every country across the globe.  One of their most capable Spriggan is Yu Ominae from Japan.  He rushes to investigate the Ark and stumbles upon a secret more terrifying than anyone could imagine.  Along the way he will face his greatest childhood tormentor recreated in a horrific cyborg body. 

The world faces annihilation as Colonel McDougal, a psychically augmented boy with nihilistic dreams, takes possession of the Ark and unleashes is terrible power on the populace.  Can one Spriggan hope to defeat a god? 

Will you be my Valentine?


Pros: Excellent action sequences, good character designs, great background music, nice CG elements, some interesting sci-fi concepts using old testament mythology

Cons: Some stiff 'action movie' one-liners, too few explanations for many of the characters (like how does Yu or any of the other Spriggan have powers?, what's up with McDougal's brain fluid thing?, are Fatman and Little Boy really gay and who is the bottom?, etc), zero character development

Mike Tells It Straight: Spriggan is an action movie first and foremost.  It gives us a non-stop adrenaline rush of violence and killing for the first half of the movie.  The action scenes are pretty amazing and some of the best in anime (particularly when it debuted in 2002).  The plot comes a distant third with little to no real setup for the histories or motivations of the characters.  When we meet Yu, he's in high school and suddenly he's a badass special agent.  No setup, but we're whisked along for the ride and it's a fun one. 

Yeah, it's funny when someone gets kicked in the nuts

The second half of the movie drags as we're forced to somewhat pay attention to the plot and there's a lot more talking.  You can tell Katsuhiro Otomo had a big hand in developing the story and character designs - McDougal could easily have walked straight out of Akira. 

If you're looking for a good action anime with some killer battles and a paper thin plot then you'll get your fix with Spriggan.  There's no romance, tons of things blow up, the heroes are invincible, and no one ever reloads.  It really hit my nostalgia bone with Otomo-influenced character designs and screenplay.  Turn off your brain and enjoy the ride.

TO BUY and Recommendations: