List Price: $19.98 Our Price: $17.98YOU SAVE $2!
Buy it
DVD Perfect Blue
One of the most ambitious animated films to come out of Japan (or anywhere, for that matter), Perfect Blue is an adult psycho-thriller that uses the freedom of the animated image to create the subjective reality of a young actress haunted by the ghost of her past identity. Mima is a singer who leaves her teeny-bop trio to become an actress in a violent television series, a career move that angers her fans, who prefer to see her as the pert, squeaky-clean pop idol. Plagued by self-doubt and tormented by humiliating compromises, she begins to be stalked, in her waking and sleeping moments, by an accusing alter ego who claims to be "the real Mima," until she collapses into madness as her coworkers are brutally slain around her. Director Satoshi Kon, adapting the novel by Yoshikazu Takeuchi, shows us the world from her schizophrenic perspective: days blur, dreams cross over into the waking world, the TV show blends into her real life, until her life merges with her part and she can't separate the ghosts from the real-life stalkers. Though the pat ending sweeps the psychosis and anxiety away with nary an emotional scar, it remains a smart, stylish thriller and one of the most intelligent and compelling uses of animation in recent years. Though tame by the extreme standards of "adult anime," there is nudity and a few sexually provocative scenes, and the animation is detailed and stylized (if somewhat stiff and jerky by Disney standards). --Sean Axmaker
Lost in translation is all I can say for this. Few of us were ever actors, few of us were ever pop stars, and few of us are beautiful enough to pose nude in magazines. And if you're reading this, chances are you're not Japanese. To me, this film fails in its American translation. It's one of those true-life animes. Yet it's very hard to get into, and when you do finally slip into the storyline, you're jarred back out by one of the violent images that come along (a rape scene, a couple of murder scenes, and a woman cutting herself wide open when she slips and falls onto broken glass). If you must have this, I'd recommend watching it in the Sub version, as reading it takes you more into the story than simply watching it. And attempt to have an unbiased look at the true-life storyline. In the end, however, this movie would have been better as a live-action film.
GOOD movie
I thought that Satoshi Kon's Perfect Blue was seriously good. I bought it sheerly from hearsay and had no real idea of what it was about. I watched it through with little interruptions and came to the conclusion that, as I said before, this movie is seriously good. But not great. It was a little jumpy, if you ask me. I know, I know, it was probably meant to be that way and maybe my intelligence isn't high enough, but I thought it could be more fluid. Definitely worth the purchase, anyhow.
a worthwhile intoduction to some of what is possible in anime
While I wouldn't go as far as some, who have compared this to some of the greatest anime (and some of the greatest films of any genre -- this is not Hitchcock by any stretch), I found it to be a strong and well-told thriller. Be warned that the animation is not up to contemporary anime standards (in that sense this film has not aged as well as, say, Miyazaki's early work or even of films like Akira or Ghost in the Shell) -- and that the initial impression of a "teeny bopper" type film is misleading -- and you'll be prepared for an enjoyable and mind-bending thriller of confused identity.
The skillful blending of drawn animation and computer-generated imagery excited anime fans when this science fiction mystery was released in 1995: many enthusiasts believe Ghost suggests what the future of anime will be, at least in the short term. The film is set in the not-too-distant future, when an unnamed government uses lifelike cyborgs or "enhanced" humans for undercover work. One of the key cyborgs is The Major, Motoko Kusanagi, who resembles a cross between The Terminator and a Playboy centerfold. She finds herself caught up in a tangled web of espionage and counterespionage as she searches for the mysterious superhacker known as "The Puppet Master."
Mamoru Oshii directs with a staccato rhythm, alternating sequences of rapid-fire action (car chases, gun battles,... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Atsuko Tanaka - Iemasa Kayumi Director(s): Mamoru Oshii DVD Release Date: Released the 31 March 1998 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $19.98 Your Price: $14.99YOU SAVE $4.99!
Buy it
The second film by director Satoshi Kon and screenwriter Sadayuki Murai recalls Perfect Blue, but Millennium Actress is a more complex, subtle, and sophisticated work that evokes the history of Japanese cinema. After nearly 30 years of living in strict seclusion, the aged film star Chioyoko Fujiwara grants an interview to journalist Genya Tachibana. As their conversation begins, Kan intercuts scenes from Chioyoko's films with her memories of pursuing the mysterious artist she met as a young girl. Accompanied by his blasé cameraman, Tashibana finds himself within Chioyoko's memories and films, alternately observing and aiding the woman he adores. Kon's skillful direction and subtle use of color strengthen the intriguing story: Chioyoko's memories are rendered... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Miyoko Shôji - Shôzô Îzuka Director(s): Satoshi Kon DVD Release Date: Released the 28 October 2003 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $14.99 Your Price: $13.49YOU SAVE $1.5!
Buy it
Artist-writer Katsuhiro Ôtomo began telling the story of Akira as a comic book series in 1982 but took a break from 1986 to 1988 to write, direct, supervise, and design this animated film version. Set in 2019, the film richly imagines the new metropolis of Neo-Tokyo, which is designed from huge buildings down to the smallest details of passing vehicles or police uniforms. Two disaffected orphan teenagers--slight, resentful Tetsuo and confident, breezy Kanada--run with a biker gang, but trouble grows when Tetsuo start to resent the way Kanada always has to rescue him. Meanwhile, a group of scientists, military men, and politicians wonder what to do with a collection of withered children who possess enormous psychic powers, especially the mysterious, rarely seen Akira, whose awakening... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Mitsuo Iwata - Nozomu Sasaki - Mami Koyama Director(s): Katsuhiro Ôtomo DVD Release Date: Released the 24 July 2001 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $39.98 Your Price: $31.98YOU SAVE $8!
Buy it
A peak achievement of Japanese anime, Ninja Scroll is a propulsive mix of samurai action adventure and supernatural fantasy from writer-director Yoshiaki Kawajiri (Supernatural Best City). This is defiantly animation for grown-ups, complete with fountains of blood, plenty of naked flesh, and (in both the subtitled and dubbed versions) some decidedly strong language. (Students of Japanese language could pick up some useful expressions.) The plot sounds like a 16th century variation on the X-Files: An entire village has been wiped out by a mysterious plague and an anti-government conspiracy of invulnerable demons seems to be responsible. A wandering ninja, Jubei, and his female counterpart, Kagero, team up to defeat the plotters. Jubei is a classic reluctant hero,... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Kevin Seymour - Yoshiaki Kawajiri DVD Release Date: Released the 19 May 1998 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $29.95 Your Price: $23.96YOU SAVE $5.99!
Buy it
Mamoru Oshii's landmark Ghost in the Shell (1995) largely defined the cyberpunk genre and influenced the Matrix films in the U.S. The long-awaited sequel continues the adventures of Batou, Major Kusanagi's former assistant, who was left behind when she disappeared into the cyber-realm of the Net. With his new human partner, Togusa, Batou investigates a series of bloody murders involving gynoids, robots with sexual functions. The case leads them to the headquarters of the Locus Solus company, where Batou uncovers the evil secret behind the creation of the gynoids. Innocence includes some staggeringly beautiful CG images, especially a parade depicting characters from Chinese mythology. Oshii contrasts this glittering beauty with a Blade... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Akio Ôtsuka - Atsuko Tanaka - Tamio Ôki Director(s): Mamoru Oshii DVD Release Date: Released the 28 December 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $29.99 Your Price: $23.99YOU SAVE $6!
Buy it
