Shoji Kawamori Movies

Mamoru Oshii's Tachiguishi Retsuden attempts to convey the entire dietary history of Japan via CG animation. ("Tachiguishi" refers to the Japanese concept of "stand and eat," and includes not only traditional hamburger joints, but indigenous beef-and-rice stands found only on Japanese soil.) The underlying concept of the motion picture rests on Oshii's endless quest for the "perfect fast food," and revolves around his conviction that one can shed light on lifestyle and culture by evaluating what individuals consume during a particular period of time. The director thus uses dietary intake as a lens into the Japanese culture, mindset, and way of life -- and as a context for interpreting Japanese history, from the post-WWII era through the late '80s. The "Fast Food Grifters" of the title (who appeared, fleetingly, in the director's previous works, such as Urusei Yatsura and The Red Spectacles) are those who devise crafty means for getting away without paying for "tachiguishi." They embody the heroes of Oshii's film and reflect his satirical view of Japanese society. Aesthetically, because Oshii found both live action and traditional animation incapable of fully exploiting the film's subject, he chose an alternate, third route. The director employs a highly unusual combination of elements that the press release refers to as "3D-CG recreation of a documentary drama of a fictional post-war history staged in a small theater and performed as a simple paper puppet show." In other words, Oshii (notorious as a visual maverick) grounds the motion picture in mockumentary stylistics and approach, but even the seemingly "authentic" archival film clips that he includes are in fact artificial, staged, and created for the sake of the film. He also employs a technique called "superlivemation," whereby real people were photographed, the photographs were digitally processed, and the images were then animated -- a process that took over 20 steps, but yielded a thoroughly unprecedented visual style. Oshii adapted the work from his own novel. It stars Kenji Kawai, Katsuya Terada, Shinji Higuchi, Shoji Kawamori, Toshio Suzuki, and Kenji Kamiyama. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

 

 

 

 

 

Hitomi Kanzaki has always had subtle psychic abilities and a way with tarot cards, but the most that she has ever used them for has been to provide readings for the other girls in her high school about boys. This all changes for Hitomi one night when she is practicing for the track team, hoping for a first kiss from her not-so-secret crush and teammate, Amano. While she's sprinting, she sees a vision of a young man battling a dragon which materializes right before her on the field. In a moment of confusion, Hitomi is transported with the young man back to the world he came from, Gaea. Upon arriving, Hitomi learns that despite his youth and simple attire, the man is Van Fanel, king of the country of Fanelia. Van swears to return Hitomi safely to her home somehow, but before that can happen, Hitomi finds herself involved in the war brewing on Gaea, as her powers are somehow linked to the huge mecha of the Fanalia kingdom called the Escaflowne. The Escaflowne is the key to defeating the hostile Zaibach Empire, where a madman is trying to create a machine to control destiny itself, at any expense. Hitomi must come to terms with her role in the salvation or destruction of a land, her own feelings about Van and for Allen Schezar, the gentile king of a neighboring country, and she will also have a chance to learn the truth about what destiny and her own abilities really are. The Vision of Escaflowne is a Shoujo anime, but with a very broad audience. It explores not only the perspective of Hitomi but battle sequences, intrigue, possible long-lost worlds, and the meaning of fate. ~ Cammila Collar, Rovi

This, the second collection of episodes from the Blue Submarine No. 6 anime series, follows the crew of No. 6 in their battles against the evil Zorndyke in a future world where flooding has covered most of the earth. While back at the base for maintenance, Tetsu's conflicts with Mayumi threaten to reach the breaking point, until Zorndyke's appearance on a televised conference on warfare leads informed observers (including the crew of No. 6) to expect him to mount a full-scale attack on the landlocked humans. The American release of Blue Submarine: Volume 2 - Pilots is available with the original Japanese soundtrack (accompanied by English subtitles) and with a dubbed English audio track.
~ Mark Deming, Rovi