Katsuhiro Otomo Movies
- 2011
Katsuhiro Otomo's famed Japanese manga Akira takes the leap into live-action territory with this production from Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures. Leonardo DiCaprio produces the film, with Ruairi Robinson (Fifty Percent Grey) directing from a Gary Whitta script. Adapted into a successful anime in 1987, the story revolves around a neo-nuclear motorcycle gang that gets caught up in a genetic experiment run amuck, bringing on heat from the police state that controls their expansive city, New Manhattan. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- 2006
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
- Starring:
- Jô Odagiri, Nao Omori, (more)
Legendary anime director Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira, Steamboy) makes his second foray into the world of live-action with this fantasy film based on a manga by Yuki Urushibara. Mushi-Shi (which was also made into an anime television series) follows a shaman named Ginko (Jo Odagiri) as he wanders feudal Japan healing people afflicted with "mushi," insect-like creatures that burrow their way into human bodies and cause mysterious illnesses. Otomo underscores the film's supernatural elements -- which borrow heavily from traditional Asian mythology -- with a slow, contemplative tone and cinematography of the lush Japanese countryside. ~ 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
- Starring:
- Anne Suzuki, Manami Konishi, (more)
Playing like a candy-colored hybrid of Fritz Lang's film of the same name and Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, Osamu Tezuka's Metropolis borrows its plot liberally from numerous legendary sci-fi sources (despite the fact that the original manga was released in 1945, certain cinematic aspects can't help but appearing overly familiar), all the while dazzling viewers on the same cutting-edge visual level as such anime classics as Akira and Ghost in the Shell. The common anime practice of combining amazingly rendered backdrops and more traditionally hand-drawn characters continues here, though with such nuances as beautifully flowing hair and soulfully expressive faces, it becomes obvious that painstaking detail was paid to making the characters both visually and emotionally involving. However, as expressive as some of the central characters may be, it's the elaborate tri-level industrial labyrinth that encompasses the world of Metropolis that forms the film's central character, and it is a kalidescopic animated marvel to behold. Director Rintaro's beautifully composed visual design is so awe-inspiringly colorful and complex that, from the opening frames, the viewer is fully absorbed in the environment, with plot and characterization almost coming as an afterthought. And that is precisely where the film's ultimately forgivable main weakness lies. In between scenes of wide-eyed, jaw-dropping visuals, the story of human and android tension set against the backdrop of a futuristic city borrows from so many sources that it borders on cliché. Thankfully, writer Tezuka's characters are given a depth and sense of purpose that, while not altogether unconvincing or original, consistently connect with the viewer's sense of recognition and sympathy. Viewers will no doubt attest that Metropolis works almost flawlessly on a purely visual and asthetic level within the opening frames of the film. Thankfully, Tezuka's storytelling skills compliment that on a level which, while not entirely new or original, is at the very least genuinely sincere and thoughtful. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Animator of the groundbreaking animé classic Akira, Katsuhiro Otomo was the executive producer for this two-fisted Raiders of the Lost Ark-like animated action-adventure flick, based on a manga by Hiroshi Takashige and Ryoji Minagawa. The film opens with members of the secret organization Arkam rooting around on Mt. Ararat -- the supposed landing spot of Noah's Arc. They not only find the Arc, they also discover death in the guise of a powerful magnetic beam that blasts them to nothing and takes out three U.S. satellites along the way. Six months later, Arkam member and high school student Yu Ominae almost gets blown up himself when a classmate wired with explosives goes off in the schoolyard. He also gets the cryptic message that "Noah will be your grave." Someone is out for Yu's head, and he wants to know why. After venturing to Turkey, he braves dangerous trap after bloody ambush. When he finally does reach Mt. Ararat, he learns that his organization Arkam has a rival in its effort to learn the secrets of the Arc, and that group is a U.S. government-sponsored special force which includes a massive powerhouse of a man called Fightman, and a whey-faced trickster named Little Boy. While Arkam is devoted to protecting humanity from the terrible power of the Arc, Fightman and his cronies are bent on using the ancient object for their own twisted ends. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
Katsuhiro Otomo garnered worldwide attention in 1988 for his cyberpunk classic Akira, featuring a fully realized dystopian future that rivaled Blade Runner. In this animated triptych, all written by Otomo, he once again gazes darkly into the future. The first segment, called "Magnetic Rose" and directed by Koji Morimoto, is set in the year 2092 and centers on a quartet of futuristic losers on a orbiting garbage ship, collecting junked satellites. While trolling about the heavens, they encounter a massive rose-shaped structure. Venturing into one of its petals, the two crew members suddenly find themselves in a European-style opera house adjoining a sun-dabbled garden. They hear the sound of a soprano diva in mid aria. As the section progresses, the crew members learn that this idyllic though bizarre satellite was the refuge of an early 21st century opera singer whose ghost still haunts its metallic halls. The second segment, titled "Stink Bomb," is directed by Tensai Okamura. A nerdy research assistant finds himself the unwitting center of a civic chaos and panic when he accidentally swallows a chemical that renders him a human stink bomb. Unable to smell the stench himself, he is baffled as to why humans and animals alike keel over at the very sight of him. Trying to meet a deadline of delivering vital info to government organ, he blithely causes a national incident when he hops and his scooter and heads to the downtown Tokyo. The final segment, directed by Otomo, is titled "Cannon Fodder." Set in a bleak Orwellian future in which a forest of massive cannons fire at an unseen enemy, this section focuses on a man who crew of cannon number 17 and his son who worships his dad and his grim profession. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
In this Japanese animated science fiction adventure, an elderly man is chosen to be the recipient of a special robot, the Z-001, which will act as his caregiver. The Z-001 displays greater efficiency and skill than any human nurse. But while the robot does fine at first, there's one catch -- the Z-001 began as a military project, so when the old man's violent impulses rise to the surface, the machine begins to mirror them, and soon the machine is a danger to all around it ... including the man the machine is supposed to serve. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 1990
Neo-Tokyo consists of three fast-paced tales set in a surreal cyberpunk landscape. Most of the tales center around either cops pursuing criminals or criminals running from the cops -- none of the stories has a great deal of psychological depth. What makes this film an essential part of the animae canon is its particularly wonderful and inventive envisioning of the Tokyo of the future (which, in America, always seems like the Tokyo of today). As the late twentieth century counterpart to early modernist city symphonies and mid-century noirs, Neo-Tokyo has a good deal to say about 21st century metropolitan life and its effects on the human condition. It's merely icing on the cake that it does so with a fabulous blend of humor and technological terror. ~ Brian Whitener, All Movie Guide
One of the most influential examples of anime, Akira is based on the manga (comic book) by Katsuhiro Otomo. The story is set in the post-apocalyptic community of Neo-Tokyo. Tetsuo is a fiercely individualistic member of a scroungy motorcycle gang. The despotic authorities, the robot-like police, and even the cycle gang pursue Tetsuo when he's bombarded with a new, insidious energy source that has rendered him telekinetic. Budgeted at eight million dollars, Akira has become a cult favorite in the States thanks to generous midnight-movie exposure and its availibilty on video and cable TV. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cameron Clarke, Mitsuo Iwara, (more)
- 1987
This anthology contains eight short animated films from top Japanese animators, all concerned with robotics. The range is broad, from comedy to suspense to love stories. Not every segment is completely successful, but the overall quality is high. Dedicated anime fans should be pleased. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
