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Even with such a limited filmography, Satoshi Kon stands as a key figure, and one of the most important artists in anime. He's an example of quality exceeding quantity, or even length for that matter, as his films seems to be relatively short... Much like some of the other greats- Katsuhiro Otomo or Makoto Shinkai. All of these directors are able to entice their audience through mesmerizing artwork that is only able to be present in an animated form. TOKYO GODFATHERS is no exception. It illustrates many themes, among them, youth and naive rebellion during one's formative years, advocation to withhold judgement with a shallow ... assessment of an individual, etc. The film, like his others, both thrills and tickles the audience, through nail biting moments of panic and unique humor and wit, all blended and projected from characters not seen in any common work.

You know, GHOST IN THE SHELL earns a hefty check on its excellence, and I think GHOST IN THE SHELL 2: INNOCENCE does very well in trying to match its greatness, though it does fall short in some aspects. It proposes an interesting philosophical theory as its premiss based on transhumanism, which is actually pretty common in anime. We've seen it in NEON GENESIS EVANGELION and we've seen it in SERIAL EXPERIMENTS LAIN. What distinguishes this film though from those series, and sets it apart form the first movie is that it offers very unique examples and makes them concrete and easily graspable. A scientists ... uses dolls as an example to question what makes a human a human. She defines a human as one that is essentially aware and acting in conciseness for him or herself. She then goes on to say that children are what human parents shape in their image. Robots or dolls are created to mimic humans, much like children, but she says in this case children are not humans. The sentence could easily be turned around to sound something much like "Dolls or robots aren't necessarily not humans. They may be human if children fit the definition of a human and dolls and robots fit that description as well." To give an even more humanistic vibe to the AI, Batou has a pet dog that he loves very much. It initially shows the dog as just a dog, and then shows a machine dog. This is done, I believe to show that your first judgement of the dog was "this is just a dog." After showing robotics, one should ask himself, what makes it not a dog any longer? It still behaves the same as it did when I first saw it solely as a dog. It looks the same. Yet, however, it is a robot. They are the same. Visually, the film easily captures one's attention with clean animation, vibrant colors when necessary and unique camera angels. Walking through a hallway, the sun beats through old stained glass window with beautiful colors, painted up like a well renowned artists would have done. A camera view areal in a convenient store aides in the suspense of the rising action of the scene. The action now, is certainly present, but very compact in a few spots throughout the film, as this is where the film falls short. It is not a lack of action that spoils the film a bit, but the filler that supplements it. There are for sure interesting and wonderful philosophical traits within the film, as I have already said, but there is also an overabundance of quotes from past philosophers exchanged between characters. Like, literally. I think you would have to watch the movie to understand. About 90% of the script consists of philosophers' quotes. This does not diminish the film, and it still holds up as many sequels, especially in anime, do not. Would recommend.

Colorful begins cooler than possibly any anime I have ever seen. A young boy, who is an angel speaks to you, yes, you, the viewer. You, or I, when I watched it, have died and either of us must be placed into another body as a test and show our worth to get a second chance at life. The film is engrossed in gorgeous colors. The flowers on the trees pop and are just as memorable and the unique introduction to the film. The viewer is placed into the body of a young boy who has tried to commit suicide, but this confuses the occupying ... soul because the life seems wonderful and ideal with no obvious problems, but the suicide hints at an underlying problem. Since the viewer is given a body, the film doesn't take place through our eyes anymore and shifts to a third person where we observe rather than live the character first hand throughout the entire film. Being 100% interactive seems like it would be impossible to accomplish in film anyway... otherwise, it would be a first person video game. We need a plot. The boy that the soul is placed into is named Makoto, and the soul begins to discover himself through Makoto's body and at Makoto's expense, as there are no real consequences for the dead soul and only for the body he occupies. He has a set time though that he must prove himself or else both the boy dies and the soul gets no second chance at life. Nobody understands Makoto, and Makoto, as he exists in this current states sees this, but he is unempathetic to others that are misunderstood, like the "dorky girl" that tries to speak to him, with big dorky glasses. He doesn't know her life and what hardships she's faced, but he seems to be totally self involved and pushes her off, despite her approaching him. The occupant begins to take advantage and changes his appearance and people begin to appreciate him, especially the "cool kids" and "hot girl." With this, he becomes superficial and gets caught up in trivial matters. He likes the "hot girl" based mostly on her looks, as the attention she has shown him thus far been incredibly shallow. He likes her, but she is terrible. She prostitutes herself for money, though nothing states that she must. In fact, she says it's because she wants this nice things that come from it. She isn't faced into it by any pimp or by poverty. Later, he counsels her through her wishing to die, and explains that everybody feels that way at some point or another, as by this point, he does understand, because he sees that Makoto's life was indeed, not so colorful and joyous. His mother cheated on his father, and the occupying soul treats her horribly. He fixes this when, on a fishing trip with his father, his father, without exposing that he knows of the affair, reveals that he has been at fault in somewhat abandoning the family and the mother, working far too often and too long. All of this instills a since of deeper understanding within Makoto, humbling him. He understands that everybody has some self-torment. The girl is very submissive into believing him after he tells her "everybody does that!" with a smile, letting her know that everybody can often feel so gleeful and gay one day, and other just wish nothing more than death. The scene is sort of genetic that she is so much like "okay, you're right, I won't argue with what you say. I'm fine" (this isn't exactly how it goes.) It is undramatic and lame. There has been an unfinished canvas that the original Makoto started throughout the whole film that the occupying soul has not touched, but he suddenly does once this depression and conflict sits in. He has had no reason to touch it, but now, he gets a compulsive spark to seek and create art, as it is therapy. The film comes full circle and it is revealed that the occupying soul was indeed the boy the entire time, and he had to be ignorant to this to make things right. Through his lack of knowledge, he has made a friend, which he never had before, has become more understanding of his parents and siblings, and he is more confident in his future. He decides which school he wants to attend and is respectful of his peers and empathetic.
The movie, if only visually, is worth the watch. Each body of water looks exceptionally realistic and gorgeous. The backdrops are all beautiful and colorful. Maybe the film is called colorful because the boy turns a grey life into one of color, or maybe the film is called colorful because the colors are something to marvel at, and can even distract from the characters themselves and plot. You may need to rewind a bit and pause for ravishing stills.

Humanity was destined to rule, and selfishly at that, it seems. If you're reading this, you're guilty of conquering. While it may not be on the scale of raiding and pillaging villages to gain land, you are indeed living on the natural habitat or animals, both big and small, and that is sort of what Summer Days with Coo illustrates. It gives human-like qualities to turtle-like creatures, called kappas, allowing us to see the consequences of our actions without discarding it as "they're only animals." It gives us a sense of sympathy. At the beginning of the film, a samurai kills a kappa as he ... pleads to keep some of his land. The kappa's son runs out, but the ground cracks, as a curse has happened due to the elder kappa's death and the younger falls through, becoming fossilized. Fast forward to modern times and a young boy find the fossilized kappa, assuming his name is Coo, as the kappa becomes reanimated after being drenched in water and says "coo." The kappa, by this time have become a legend and nobody has seen one, so when the boy calls his father and tell him of his finding, his father rushes home. The kappa is something special and the father advises the boy to "keep the kappa a secret." So far, as far as aesthetics go, as those are important, especially in anime, the film is fairly pretty color-wise. There are poppy umbrellas and jackets against a matte, dull environment in soft rain. The characters, I hate to say, are kind of shoddy. They look bad, aside from Coo and the other non-human creatures, and these are very limited. We only see a dog, Coo, his father, and another, at the end of the film, legendary creature.
The kappa is sure to experience a culture shock, and he does, sort of like EDWARD SCISSORHANDS, but not entirely. Yes, in that he is brought into an environment that he is unaccustomed to and everything is foreign to him. What he thinks he understands, initially, he really doesn't. For example, when his sister brings home a snail as a pet, Coo eats it, thinking it to be food, or escargot. Edward didn't understand that at the beauty salon, he was being seduced, as he reveals it to his caretakers without any hesitation or drama. No, in that the kappa is much more animated, hyper and excited, rather than dull, calm, and docile. When the boy's sister lunges at Coo, he assumes that she is challenging him to a sumo wrestling match, and plays along. He becomes incredibly hyper when he has some caffeine from a soft drink and he even ventures out by himself, which is very unlike Edward. Coo quickly realizes that he must find another place to live, as he cannot assimilate. It would more or less be impossible for him. This is also like Edward.
The movie displays how humans will often forget about natural life if it will progress their own interests, as the press harasses the boy to snap a picture of Coo, the rare kappa. Around this time, we begin to take a liking to the mother. She is unfazed by the press and ignores them. She sees them for what they are and doesn't acknowledge them or feed them, as they never seem to be satisfied. They surround the home of the boy and the family finally submits, allowing Coo to appear on a talk show. On the talk show, a man that has studied kappa via books for a long time is featured. He reveals that he has always believed in kappa because a kappa arm has been passed down through his family for a long time. He shows the kappa arm and it is Coo's father's arm! Coo grabs the arm and escapes on the family that houses him's dog, as the two have made friends.. He is hunted down by cameras as weapons. The dog dies by a car in the chase. Coo is about to kill himself, but his father places into him a sense that he should continue to live. He listens and refrains from suicide. The family ultimately decides that Coo should pursue a letter that asked Coo to visit the address the letter was shipped from, as Coo trusts it. He says that the handwriting is not human. He goes and to his father, in the sky lets him know that some humans are ok and he has made friends with them. The creature is one that is the same as the creatures in A LETTER TO MOMO, which are in Japanese folklore and tale the form of humans. They will live together and in peace and safe, as the creature says he will teach Coo how to transform, and humans do not visit the location ever anyways.

Studio Ghibli keeps on stepping their game up and continue to impress me in their aesthetics in animation, and it is more and more versatile each time. Perhaps the prettiest Ghibli film is PONYO, but that is in the fantastical and imaginitive sense. The prettiest in antiquity in beauty, in the classic sense is maybe THE TALE OF THE PRINCESS KAGUYA... in a realistic sense, WHEN MARNIE WAS THERE takes the cake. At the beginning of the film, the viewer could be tricked into thinking this to be an insanely dark film... well, extreme for a Ghibli film, with the main character looking at others ... in dismay, setting an initially cynical tone, but really, it isn't too bad, and totally approachable for a "feel good" experience, I think. Anna, our main character, has an asthma attack, and awakens, sick in a bed at "Auntie's" house. This is her caretaker, and Anna expresses concern for having cost them money, but she also knows that "Auntie" isn't her mother, and in fact, receives money for taking care of Anna. This bothers Anna and sets an internal conflict. Anna is sent away to live with family in the country for better air and relaxation, away from the bad air and her troubles at home and school, and here we find an extremely cozy home. It is old and settled in, with surrounding trees almost hugging it and holding it down. If I were to go relax, this would be one of my considerations. She looks out onto the shallow water atop the marshes, and I got the flutter that is constant in Ghibli flicks, with that feeling where you're no longer looking at a screen or a film really, but that you're there in the picture itself and experiencing it in real time, with birds walking over the water and an overwhelming feeling of peace. What I appreciate about the animation in this film is the immense control and care to detail, both little and large, mostly in action and in visuals. Anna decides to walk to an old house she sees that she admires, and it somehow seems familiar, and while walking to it, she trips, as she is walking through the marshes and maybe she stepped on some loose land below the shallow water or maybe it was deeper where she stepped. This isn't anything we were supposed to pay too much attention to, but adding this in just adds that extra touch of control and will to make a film able to be experienced. When she crosses the marshes and reaches the home, an areal view, slightly cornered from the upper right, we see Anna walking up some stone steps, aged, and we see moss on the stone, and she walks up them and we see the rusted steel furniture with a few broken legs that have been there for years and years that may be familiar from our grandmothers' houses, and these, visually, are the attention catered details I admire. There is even a scene with a mirror in the background, and as somebody walks across the room, her reflection shows up in it. Theses are not crucial to the plot and are not crucial to make a pretty film pretty, but they are indeed extra, and extra in a fine way. There are many other great elements too. Where Anna is staying, the kitchen is very cozy and, like the house itself, settled in. Everything seems to have a place, even though it may not actually go there. For example, in my home, we have salt and pepper shakers on our stove. Salt and pepper shakers do not necessarily go on a stove, but in our home, if we need salt and pepper shakers, we go to the stove. They are settled in and are not moving from there any time soon.
Anna is advised by her family, light heartedly, of course, to stay away from the home. It is haunted, apparently. She is also advised to participate in a festival to make some friends. She does and while there, she has a dispute when a more heavyset girl calls her special and comments that her eyes are so blue that they almost seem foreign, and Anna backlashes. She runs off and says that she looks "just like she is" to herself, and that, she thinks, is unpleasant, ugly, hated, etc. This is why she "hates herself," she says. She meets her friend, Marnie who supposedly lives in the home, and they talk at night and become close friends. Marnie's parents are usually away, but when they are home, they throw wonderful parties, one of which Anna attends. At one point, when Anna is supposed to visit Marnie, she "nearly forgets" and then does not see her for awhile. She worries that Marnie might be mad at her and Marnie actually moves away and a new family moves into the house. She soon does get the chance to see her again though, and while talking to her, we discover that Marnie wishes she were Anna and Anna wishes she were Marnie. Marnie has neglectful parents and mean maids. We know Anna's problems. The two profess to love each other more than they love anybody else. A young girl lives in Marnie's old house now and saves Anna who is almost passed out in the rain from a journey that she and Marnie went on. Marnie left Anna. Anna says that she resents Marnie and will never forgive her, although she does. Shortly after, an older woman painting, that said she knew Marnie, reveals everything. She says that Marnie was her friend as a child, and she would brag about her rich parents, but they were neglectful, and the maids were mean, and she grew up and gave birth, but her husband, Kazuhiko, died, and she was sent to a sanatorium, which left her child alone. The child ran off when Marnie was released and tried to become involved in her life again, and married, and had a child and died. Marnie raised the grandchild. We learn that the grandchild was actually Anna. This is why the house seemed and the ghost is Marnie. It is haunted, but not negatively. While this is all being revealed, Anna is looking in on the scenes described, kind of like we see in MILLENNIUM ACTRESS or A CHRISTMAS CAROL. This adds for a more emotional attachment to the plot. The film is a little more complex than most Ghibli films, but totally getable for the average viewer, as it wraps it up in the end almost entirely, kind of like FIGHT CLUB does. Who knows, maybe upon a rewatch, we could catch things not noticed the first time around, being ignorant to all of the details.

There is an excerpt from The Picture of Dorian Gray by the renowned author, Oscar Wilde, that I am incredibly fond of. The quote reads:

"No, you don't feel it now. Some day, when you are old and wrinkled and ugly, when thought has seared your forehead with its lines, and passion branded your lips with its hideous fires, you will feel it, you will feel it terribly. Now, wherever you go, you charm the world. Will it always be so?... You have a wonderfully beautiful face, Mr. Gray. Don't frown. You have. And beauty is a form of genius-- is higher, indeed, than genius, as ... it needs no explanation. It is of the great facts of the world, like sunlight, or spring-time, or the reflection in dark waters of that silver shell we call the moon. It cannot be questioned. It has its divine right of sovereignty. It makes princes of those who have it. You smile? Ah! when you have lost it you won't smile.... People say sometimes that beauty is only superficial. That may be so, but at least it is not so superficial as thought is. To me, beauty is the wonder of wonders. It is only shallow people who do not judge by appearances. The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible.... Yes, Mr. Gray, the gods have been good to you. But what the gods give they quickly take away. You have only a few years in which to live really, perfectly, and fully. When your youth goes, your beauty will go with it, and then you will suddenly discover that there are no triumphs left for you, or have to content yourself with those mean triumphs that the memory of your past will make more bitter than defeats. Every month as it wanes brings you nearer to something dreadful. Time is jealous of you, and wars against your lilies and your roses. You will become sallow, and hollow-cheeked, and dull-eyed. You will suffer horribly.... Ah! realize your youth while you have it. Don't squander the gold of your days, listening to the tedious, trying to improve the hopeless failure, or giving away your life to the ignorant, the common, and the vulgar. These are the sickly aims, the false ideals, of our age. Live! Live the wonderful life that is in you! Let nothing be lost upon you. Be always searching for new sensations. Be afraid of nothing.... A new Hedonism-- that is what our century wants. You might be its visible symbol. With your personality there is nothing you could not do. The world belongs to you for a season.... The moment I met you I saw that you were quite unconscious of what you really are, of what you really might be. There was so much in you that charmed me that I felt I must tell you something about yourself. I thought how tragic it would be if you were wasted. For there is such a little time that your youth will last--such a little time. The common hill-flowers wither, but they blossom again. The laburnum will be as yellow next June as it is now. In a month there will be purple stars on the clematis, and year after year the green night of its leaves will hold its purple stars. But we never get back our youth. The pulse of joy that beats in us at twenty becomes sluggish. Our limbs fail, our senses rot. We degenerate into hideous puppets, haunted by the memory of the passions of which we were too much afraid, and the exquisite temptations that we had not the courage to yield to. Youth! Youth! There is absolutely nothing in the world but youth!"

The film MAI MAI MIRACLE seems to embody this quote, as it celebrates youth and advocates relishing it while it is there and we are in our primes. At the beginning of the film, we meet Shinko Aoiki, a young, nine year old girl with an extravagant imagination in this gorgeous animated atmosphere that Katabuchi has created, with clean and popping colors. The sky and a train and the title even, when it is shown, all looks like something from a storybook, and in fact, reminded me much of the illustrations from the book The Polar Express. Shinko lives through the tales that her grandfather has told her of the land's past that they live on, as she states that the right angels of the stream are the way they are because a city capital used to rest there thousands of years before, where a princess named Nagiko used to live. As she imagines things, they appear on screen as she sees them in her mind, with a cartoony wagon and constructing of houses, all looking as if they were colored by a five year old in the most humble of way in an elementary school art project... quite beautifully and elegantly. This film's environment is, in many degrees, summed up as 'playful.' She sits amongst a vast ocean with deep, never-ending blues.
We then come across Kiiko Shimazu, and she arrives from Tokyo, on a dull train, immersed in dull colors, in a dull environment, where the imagination seems to be long far off. We see a stark contrast from before between the two worlds. Kiiko is a new girl from Tokyo, and this isn't modern day, bright and booming Tokyo, but post WWII business Tokyo, and she begins to attend the same school as Shinko. The colors with a box full of colored pencils, and the other students crowd around in awe, cherishing the sight of them, and all of the different shades and variety that is so foreign to them. The colors stand out when stained onto boring cream paper against a boring brown wooden desk, weathered. After class, Kiiko and Shinko walk home together, leaving school into the sanctuary of nature, and we get this vibe as we return to the sky embodying a blue that only a perfect sky could, and green grass that could not be greener on any other day or in any other film, it seems. I used to claim that PONYO was the most aesthetically pleasing animated films on some days, and others, I would give credit to a Makoto Shinkai film, but now, with every release, and with this plethora of new young talents, the definite claim is becoming less and less easy to make. While walking home, Kiiko takes Shinko into her home, and Kiiko is scared of the dog they pass, but Shinko embraces it with open arms. You see, to Kiiko, nature is foreign, as she has belonged to the chains of the business world her entire, short upbringing. Kiiko has a home very technologically up-to-date, complete with an electric refrigerator, stairs, and she has even seen a TV a couple of times. This world, to Shinko, is fascinating, but it is quickly forgotten about. These pleasures as ultimate pleasures are a lie, and we dismiss them as the two girls walk to Shinko's home, not surrounded by other homes and architecture, but open with fields and land. The entire film thus far, Kiiko's had a depression hanging on her eyes, and we are unsure why. Is it because she left her friends in Tokyo? Well, Skinko breaks out some chocolates that her, her younger sister, and Kiiko all eat, and it turns out that they are filled with whiskey, and we get Kiiko's first smile, and she reveals that her mother died. Drunk, and smiling, this was the directors careful approach to spill this morbid secret in a way that is not too dark. After this, the two girls sit on a swing overlooking a stream, and Shinko tells Kiiko that she has a "mai mai," or a twist in the front of her hair, and when she closes her eyes, it moves, and her imagination runs wild. There is so much more fun, we see in this imagination, where an excess of technology doesn't serve as a distraction, especially in the most young and youthful years of these girls' lives.
We next get multiple scenes of the two girls playing, and now, Kiiko happy and smiling. They build dams, and this brought me back, as my friends and I would build dams, although it was in my suburban neighborhood in the ditch behind my house, we would build them while I was growing up. We flashback to Nagiko-chan, and she is dismissed from playing or having friends. She seems to constantly play by herself... games for two and all. She later reveals that she feels others discourage her from having any friends.
Back to the kids, they do things that I would do a kid, again. They sneak into an American movie. They then, in a picture-perfect scene, play around a stream. The water is blue and clean, with the soil below it visible, and green, tall grass surrounding them, enclosing them into a secret club of sorts. On the water, a boy sails his toy boat, as a beautiful, tomato-red fish swims below it. Kids of all different ages are all here, unaware in their variety of maturity, because, well, in this, they are all still children. It is not like today where a five year old is the age for THE RUGRATS MOVIE, and eight is appropriate for STAR WARS, and then, upon reaching thirteen, the child gets to see, let's say, CASINO ROYALE. They are all kids and there is one uniform title for them all. It is like their age can simply be described as "child."
The kids go into a cave next, seeking some scary fun, like Scout, Jem, and Dill do in the film TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD when they stalk the "spooky" house. They see big, frightening eyes, which only turn out to be those of a cat. Shinko's younger sister comes out with the cat after the other kids have all run off, scared. They temporarily lose her, and this gives us a small thrill, and a very mild sense of rising action, and it is quickly gone after they find her shortly after. The film is mild in this in a wonderful way, as the film is innocent and playful, and in this way, in many respects, similar to THE MANY ADVENTURES OF WINNIE THE POOH.
From here, the film takes a deeper dip, and a goldfish that the community of children loved has died. Also, a young boy, friends with the children, his father hanged himself from pressure from the Yakuza. Shinko denounces her imaginative ways and apologizes via a letter that she ever put them into Kiiko's head. She forces herself to grow up, and the color fades from her world and nighttime is the scene that caresses her role in the film. She and the boy make off to Tokyo to enact revenge. Kiiko on the other hand assumes the role of Nagiko, waking up in her shoes. In this role, she teaches the world around her, full of kids starving and dying, of fun and how to play with puppets and with bright elementary-like colors, like the ones we saw at the beginning of the film. Back to Shinko, we see another contrast from her past world, as she now walks to corrupt streets of the city, surrounded by drunks and lowlives. After meeting the Yakuza, they run off and escape back to their former lives, their sanctuary. Earlier in the film, Skinko told Kiiko, as they swung, that life was all around them, and it always is. As they meet again, and sit again, at night, we see lightening bugs, and hear crickets. This is what I think she means as she says it again, but even when the winter comes and if these creatures are gone, life will always be around them, as Shinko tells Kiiko of all of the imaginary creatures she has made up around them, laughing in a playful and cute way. Her dad shows up for the first time, as he has been away from work, and he is jolly and smiling, leading up to a happy ending, correcting the mild dip. She tells Kiiko that "he is nice, everybody's nice." That was my favorite line... "everybody's nice." We know it is untrue, but while viewing this film for me, and all of the time for a child, it is true, and I can believe it, temporary dismissing all of the corruptness and burden of the world, for a good hour and a half, as it seems that is what this film's aim is, and it accomplishes it very well. It ends on a very positive, optimistic, and happy note, as Sing a Song plays, sang by a children's chorus, as the picture onscreen returns to the bright colors that were brightest at the beginning of the film.

To see PAPRIKA once would be a grave mistake, as it must be experienced twice, once to watch and admire its visuals that are so over the top and brought and encapsulating that it can only make sense it dreams. It outshines the dreamlike worlds of any other great animator, whether it be Walt Disney's FANTASIA or Hayao Miyazaki's SPIRITED AWAY. The second time one watches PAPRIKA, the visuals, though it may be difficult to do, must be downplayed and placed in our peripherals so that the film can be correctly understood, or understood as much as it can possibly be.
The 2006 film, by acclaimed ... anime director, Satoshi Kon, begins with a bang, colors flashing and clean animation that is poppy and mind-stirring. A circus scene happens which cannot be understood in a first viewing, where detective Toshimi Konakawa is rescued by young female Paprika, after being trapped in a cage in the middle of the circus, and then escaping through a series of labyrinths and scenes, including jungle and pulp film scenes... it ends with him viewing a man getting shot down and making his escape, unidentified. He is distraught and we find out that this lack of identifying the perp hangs as a heavy burden on Konakawa's shoulders. He also hates the movies.
To begin to backtrack a bit and provide some background on the events our eyes first witness, Doctor Atsuko Chiba, Doctor Toratarō Shima, and Doctor Kōsaku Tokita. Chiba is the occupier of alter ego, Paprika, while Doctor Shima is an elderly chief doctor, and Kōsaku Tokia belongs to the genius mind who invented the DC mini, a machine allowing the user of the device to observe dreams, and absorb others into them and enter others'. The machine was unfinished and stolen.
Later, upon investigation and upon viewing the dream of Shima, after he goes loopy and almost kills himself by falling off of a ledge, with his mindset out of whack with his dreams causing it, Kei Himuro is spotted, who worked on the DC mini with Tokita. It is suspected he stole the machine, and it seems that he is attempting to off anybody who threatens him. Himuro is found to be an empty shell of a body, however, and the chairman is the true perpetrator. He, along with Doctor Osanai, have stolen the machine, and the absorb others into their dream, combining all, and allowing for the chairman to be a dod of the dreams, of sorts. He is able to do so because, with the machine unfinished, there is no passcode-type system to protect individuals, and they can be overtaken easily. It is similar to, if nobody had a password protected wifi, one could absorb and take any one he or she wants. The chairman can absorb and take in any dream he desires.
Osanai turns out to be the perp, and this is all found out after a chase sequence, enlaced in wonderful pulp-fashion, and it is artsy and fun. Konakawa shoots Osanai dead and, and the action ends on a generic and purposely cheesy line, like an old film, and typical spy flick music plays and he stands with a girl in his arms, like an old JAMES BOND movie. It is very stylish. Osanai dies in real life, and it disheartens the chairman, as he has prepared to overtake his body, using him. He then manipulates the dream of Tokita and uses the best man as a counteractive weapon, and Paprika must save the day. She loves Tokita, despite her resisting the admitting of this, and this acts as her motivation. She is very much a superhero, and that adds even more of a delightful touch into this film that is already such a wonderful example of post modernism, blending in every Hollywood cliche yet. She swoops in and absorbs the chairman's body and swallows him whole, voiding this dream world, and dissolving all dream elements from the streets. She saves the day, and all is well. Later, a message from Paprika arrives on Konakawa's computer, and she suggests a film to him to see, as before his killing an discovering of Osanai as the true criminal plaguing his incurring and repeating dream, movies have been his enemy and something he despised. He is now healed of this. He walks to the theater, and the posters provide a couple of easter eggs for us Kon fans. We see, on his way, movie posters for TOKYO GODFATHERS and MILLENNIUM ACTRESS, both films also directed by the talented animator. Like it for the thriller of a story, mixed in with psychological candy, or enjoy and admire it solely for the visuals in themselves, all while not wholly understanding the film, like I was in my first viewing of MEMENTO, you are in for a good time.

This past week I was fortunate enough to see a midnight theatrical screening of an anime and manga dear to my heart, AKIRA, by the renowned Katsuhiro Otomo, creator of METROPOLIS, STEAMBOY, MEMORIES, ROUJIN Z, ROBOT CARNIVAL, etc. It was in the original Japanese language too, subtitled. He has in no doubt made a name for himself, and this is his masterpiece, as 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY is to Kubrick and STAR WARS is to Lucas.
The movie begins with that famous opening scene where the cyberpunk is presented visually in its purest state, years after the trend had already begun in earlier Japanese films ... such as BURST CITY, and DEATH POWDER, but it took until 1988 to perfect it and complete it into its final transformation and most solid state. It is presented in Neo Tokyo in 2019 after a first bomb. The night sky is black and the teenage biker gangs, the Capsules and the Clowns, are out, as if the Government has lent over the keys to the city at these hours and the streets belong to them. The film takes a chance to scan and admire the city, and bustling futuristic advancement with 3 dimensional holographic billboards and neon signs atop business, and tall skyscrapers and neon lighting everywhere. The kids chase each other over nothing too rational, or at least we get no reason other than that they are rival street gangs... probably territory. The music score is as iconic as the score in PATTON during Patton's speech, or in THE GODFATHER at the dinner table, or PSYCHO, RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARC, JAWS or STAR WARS. They bust members of the opposing gangs off of their bikes into restaurant glass windows and beat each other from their rides with lead pipes and run over arms and bodies, and the Capsules seem to have a closer kinship and concern and sense of 'family,' than the clowns who attribute their gangsters to just a number.
Tetsuo when we first meet him makes it obvious that he has an adamant desire to prove himself, admiring his friend Kaneda's bike, custom made and unable to drive than any other that Kaneda himself. "I could drive it," says Tetsuo. During the ride, Tetsuo runs into an elderly looking kid who has escaped from a man earlier in the film trying to help him escape, but a governmental authority shot the guardian dead, and the boy ran off. Now faced with Tetsuo almost running into him, he uses some force to push him away, and his friends quickly show up. The authorities show up as well, and they bring each boy in, but Tetsuo under separate circumstances. The other boys are put into an alternative school, but Tetsuo is experimented on, and only regroups after escaping from the hospital, noticing a difference in his mental state, and the film so effectively paints this psychological alternation without overdoing it, making it believable. He envisions his guts spilling out from beneath his stomach, and we see it, and afterwards, the camera pans from a point of view of everybody else, seeing nothing but Tetsuo putting his invisible guts back into his belly. We know it is from their viewpoint, but it does not tell us. It is very well done. The authorities come and take him back.
Kaneda begins to involve himself with Kei, a girl he met earlier in the film, and within the movie, her involvement can be a bit puzzling. It really takes the manga to completely understand her role in the plot and story. Within the sole spectrum of the film, she is best used by the elderly children to explain Akira and Tetsuo, stating also that the universe has many particles of energy compressed, old, and stored. Tetsuo is like giving an ameba an abundance of power, consuming all around it. The elderly children speak through Kei and explain this to Kaneda. Tetsuo enjoys a newfound power he receives, and escapes the hospital he's held in and wrecks havoc after a fantastically animated scene in which he halucinates and sees the childhood toys around him, a bit demonic, but never stated that way. The genius is that it is so subtly implied. He kills those that stand in his way, including an old member of his gang and the bartender and drug dealer at their old hangout. Kaneda is warned and goes to approach Tetsuo, who finally feels as if he's on top, or above. He isn't below Kaneda anymore. Kaneda always saved him. He had the cool bike and was the ladies man. Tetsuo battles Kaneda and mocks him, asking him if he feels frustrated. The military is also in full swing, shooting from space at Tetsuo with satellites, as his power is far more expanse than anything before ever. It is a massive scene, and he is scene as a 'god' with followers, but his empathy is dead and he is past the point of controlling himself, not caring whether they die or not, killing them. He even travels into space to destroy the satellites that attack him. It doesn't look overdone and silly either, or outrageous and unbelievable. Sure, there are no explosions in space because a flame cannot ignite without oxygen, but we are able to gloss over this fact as sounds leaves the scene. Otomo included this detail, and it sort of cancels out the fictive element. It even expands more, the scene that is. Tetsuo literally expands and his control goes beyond his grasp. The elderly kids use Akira to kill him, sort of. He's brought into an area out of reality and condensed, like the particles storing energy. The film ends on a hopeful note. If you wish to know the style of anime, think GHOST IN THE SHELL.

As DRAGON BALL Z: BATTLE OF THE GODS proved nostalgic, so too did DRAGON BALL Z: RESURRECTION OF F, and even more so for us that grew up watching Frieza fight Goku and then again another battle including future Trunks. The film does employ comedy and a sense of homeliness like the prequel, as it includes each of the characters we're all so familiar, all cozied up and assimilated into everyday life, right where we left them in Dragon Ball Z. Gohan has grown up and made himself comfortable as a family man and a geek. He's unsure if he can even still turn super ... saiyan, as has been focusing on being a father and a husband. Master Roshi returns to the platform in his Dragon Ball skin, with skill and a functioning role beyond just being funny, though he is still hilarious. Do you think we can beat them? he asks. When no is the answer, he says, 'good, I just wanted ot be sure I wasn't being a chicken.' He even throws in a kamehame wave. Krillin becomes a cop, and it is funnier than anything, as it is perfect for him. With the Z fighters, he is bottom of the best. As a cop, he is a top dog.
The film has a bit more plot than DRAGON BALL Z: BATTLE OF THE GODS, considering that film was just sort of there to set up a premiss for Dragon Ball Super and this sequel film. Frieza comes back, and he has been reconstructed. Brought back by the dragon balls, and put together again (he was cut into pieces by future Trunks in Dragon Ball Z) with a new machine constructed by the Frieza Force. He's cocky, upset that it took so long, and he had to sit and wait, tormented in Earth's hell. He wants to enact his revenge against Goku, but know that Goku has trained, and he must too train, for his first time even. He had never trained a day in his life, and was still so powerful... imagine what he could become and what would happen to his strength and ability if he were to actually work at it? He trains for a few months and jets himself to Earth, destroying a city as his 'hello.' Bulma calls for Goku and Vegeta to return to Earth after being informed by Jaco, a cute little space cop with a contagious voice. Goku and Vegeta have been training at Beerus' place and do not hear of the Frieza attack until Gohan, Piccalo, Krillin, having shaved his head... wonderful, really! hah, Jaco, Master Roshi, and Tien are deep in battle fighting members of the Frieza force. Once they do hear, Goku has the fighters power up, he locks on, and uses instant transmission, bringing Vegeta along with him.
They fight, and overall, the fighting is great, and it is not sloppy and just 'fighting,' but they actually employ actual martial arts. They use wing chun, and block punches and kicks and blows. The only complain I have here is the obvious CGI. Maybe it was necessary. I don't know. I think though, it wsa quicker, and it was cheaper too, so that is why the CGI was put into place, but it looks bad, and it looks out of place and awkward.
The end of the movie, Goku looks beat. He's turned super saiyan god, like in the first, and so too has Vegeta. The ending is a bit cheap. I don't want to say too much, though you'll probably see it from a m ile away, as did I , and everybody else, but it involve time travel, and everybody ends up A-OK. It is by no means a great movie, but fun and well made for any fan of Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, or maybe even Dragon Ball GT.