Sadayuki Murai Movies

Yuki Urushibara's long-running manga series comes to the screen in this live-action adaptation directed by Katsuhiro Otomo, creator of the groundbreaking manga and anime classic Akira. Mushi are an unusual life form that is neither animal nor vegetable, but is possessed of the elusive essential life force of the universe, and has special talents that approach those of supernatural beings. Very few human beings are able to see the mushi, but Ginko can. Ginko makes his living as a "Mushi-shi," a master who travels from town to town, meeting people who have had troubling experiences with the mushi and helping them sort out their problems while trying to maintain a respectful relationship with the creatures. Starring Joe Odagiri, Nao Omori and Makiko Esumi, Mushi-shi received its world premiere at the 2006 Venice Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Katsuhiro Otomo, director of the groundbreaking anime feature Akira (1988), returns with this visually striking fusion of the past and the future. It's the Industrial Age in England, reimagined, and various and sundry inventors and scientists are arriving in Britain to hawk their products while capitalism rears its ugly head. A gadget-happy British lad named Ray (voice of Anna Paquin) receives a mysterious package from his grandfather Lloyd Steam (Patrick Stewart) -- a tiny ball that turns out to be an engine toting immense power. As it happens, several of these little balls run the O'Hara pavilion, a massive, mobile fortress. Ray later discovers that his dad and grandfather are located inside of the pavilion; his dad, Eddie, has become mesmerized by O'Hara and subject to their whims, while Lloyd suspects that O'Hara may want to use the balls for nefarious purposes, and tries to put a definitive end to those plans. Indeed, the O'Hara people soon take over the Great Exhibition and turn it into a veritable circus for weapons dealers. Meanwhile, Ray starts to develop feelings for a young girl named Scarlett O'Hara. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Jet gets a mysterious email from his old friend, Pao, a feng-shui master. This leads him to Pao's gravestone, where he meets Meifa, Pao's daughter, who has developed her father's skill with feng-shui. Meifa and Jet team up against the Blue Snake Mobsters and search for the sun stone, which may give them some answers. Like other Jet-centered episodes, "Boogie Woogie Feng-Shui" is influenced by the detective genre and features voice-over narration. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

Part one of the two-part episode "Jupiter Jazz" starts with Faye apparently cleaning out the safe and taking off for a moon of Jupiter. She hangs out at a bar and meets a saxophonist named Gren. Meanwhile, Ed searches the web for her and one name keeps coming up: Julia. When Spike hears that, he takes off, after having an argument with Jet. Faye goes home with Gren and finds out he isn't what he appears to be. In his search for Julia, Spike ends up in some gun play with Vicious and his own former comrade, Lin. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

Titled after the Jean-Luc Godard film, "Pierrot Le Fou" is one of the more visually striking episodes. Spike is badly injured from a killing machine named Pierrot Le Fou. Jet's ISSP friend Bob lets the Bebop crew in on some of Pierrot's past, and Spike gets an invitation to a "party." In a fantastical theme park called Spaceland, Spike battles the bizarre villain. This episode features an homage to Pink Floyd's "On the Run" from Dark Side of the Moon, as well as various influences from Batman. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

In this episode, "Cowboy Funk," the crew is in search of the bounty for a terrorist called the Teddy Bomber, a serial bomber with a stuffed animal shtick. Just as he is about to blow up another building, Spike arrives and beats him up with his signature style. Suddenly, a self-styled outlaw named Cowboy Andy appears and messes everything up for Spike. On the Bebop, Jet and Faye don't believe the story, and Spike develops a growing animosity for Andy. Ed discovers his true identity as Andy Von de Oniyate, a bored rich kid who is heir to a ranch estate and indulges in his longing to be a bounty hunter with silly gimmicks. In a continued effort to find the Teddy Bomber, the Bebop crew goes to a masquerade party, only to meet up with Cowboy Andy once again. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

In part two of the two-part episode "Jupiter Jazz," Gren tells Faye about what happened to him during and after the war, and she unsuccessfully tries to apprehend him. Spike is still searching for Julia, leading him straight into the conflict between Vicious and Gren. Jet finally finds Faye and takes her back to the Bebop. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

With no bounty to hunt this time, Spike, Jet, Ed, and Faye are stuck on the ship with nothing to do. Gambling and trying to cook with a blow torch occupy them until a mysterious creature seems to wreck havoc on the ship. The monster bites each member of the crew leaving a purple mark and making them get sick. Ed is missing and even Ein gets bitten, leaving Spike to deal with the ominous presence alone. A particularly funny episode, this one makes references to Alien and 2001: A Space Odyssey. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

In this episode, "Wild Horses," Spike takes his ship, the Swordfish II, to Earth to get fixed by Doohan, the ship's original owner. Jet and Faye are after some Starship Pirates, who release a computer virus with harpoons. Jet shuts down the computer systems on the Bebop and resorts to an archaic radio communication system. Spike battles the Starship Pirates, while Doohan and his assistant overhear the communications on the radio. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

Titled after the song by Queen, "Bohemian Rhapsody" begins with Jet, Spike, and Faye each capturing a bounty. Each bounty hunter has the same clue to the main criminal of toll gate theft. Jet does some detective work and figures out that the mastermind is former Gate insider Chessmaster Hex. One of the funnier episodes, the crew searches a wayward scrap yard filled with stoned vagrants while Ed obsessively plays a chess game with the Chessmaster. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

The crew is heading to Ganymede, a fishing planet and Jet's home, to cash in on the bounty of thief Baker Panchorero. Jet talks to the authorities on Ganymede and Faye realizes he used to be a cop for ISSP. Jet goes into a bar to visit his ex-girlfriend, Alisa, and find out why she left him eight years ago. Alisa's shady boyfriend, Rhint, gets a bounty on his head and Jet chases after them in his ship, the Hammerhead. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

Originally broadcast in 1998 with 12 episodes on TV Tokyo, Cowboy Bebop also aired in 2001 as part of Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming with an excellent English-dubbed soundtrack and all 26 episodes. The action-packed and hyper-styled animé is a very human drama in a futuristic setting about crime-fighting adventurers. Set in the 21st century, the Earth is a wasteland and the solar system has been fitted with hyperspace gates -- sort of an expressway for spaceships -- where criminals and gangsters continue to proliferate. Enter the misfit bounty hunters of the rickety ship called Bebop. Spike Siegel is the ultra-cool Bruce Lee-style fighter, who harbors painful memories that he covers up with a cynical wit. Jet Black is a former cop and a decent mechanic, who carries around memories of his own troubled past along with his mechanical arm. Faye Valentine is a femme fatale and compulsive gambler with a massive debt, who yearns to discover her identity prior to her cryogenic freezing. Along with the self-styled computer hacker girl called Ed and the data dog, Ein, the bounty hunters try to earn their keep and get through the day. The visual style is unique in the animé genre, using inspiration from old pulp adventure stories, film noir, and Westerns. Along with the original jazz compositions from The Seatbelts, the soundtrack incorporates rock & roll and blues references. Style reigns in the world of these futuristic outlaws, but not at the sake of substance. The tragi-comic family of the Bebop crew deals with the realities of loneliness and isolation, as well as shoot-em-up action and bittersweet romance. Alternately poignant, destructive, and hilarious, Cowboy Bebop has become an exceptional science fiction series. The series would be followed by a feature-length adventure, Cowboy Bebop: The Movie in 2002. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide