ANIME REVIEW: TERROR IN RESONANCE (Season one)

Shinichiro Wantanabe… The only anime directly I specifically search for anime series from. Here’s my first review of one of his animes (first of many more to come, actually): Terror in Resonance.

Disclaimer at the end of the opening sequence states that this is a work of fiction, and is not based on any real life events.

Synopsis and spoiler free analysis section:

First, can I just say how interesting the title alone sounds? ANYWAY, Terror in Resonance (Japanese: 残響のテロル Zankyou no Terror) is an anime directed by Shinichiro Wantanabe (director of the highly acclaimed and super popular animes Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo), about two adolescent males, Nine and Twelve, who are genius terrorists. Honestly, after that sentence, how are you not already hooked? Throughout the series, Nine and Twelve set out a series of attacks – which can only be stopped if the puzzles they set out (displayed through YouTube). A former detective, Kenjiro Shibazaki, has been “resurrected” back into the police detective department to help solve these puzzles.

Nine (left) and Twelve (right).

Nine and Twelve (and the others):

At first, I didn’t feel very attached to the characters in this anime, but they slowly grow on you. At first, Nine seems like the stock, cold-hearted, super-cool and super-intelligent guy, and then Twelve seems like the stock character foil to that (sunny and bright and warm and fuzzy), but they later turn out to be so much more. I grew to really love them, despite them not having some qualities that I really like in a character (like wittiness, to name one.)

As for the others, Shibazaki’s character was interesting, but not the most interesting detective I’ve ever seen. They should have elaborated more on his scenes, but since it’s such a short anime, it makes sense that they didn’t drag it out. There was never any real “drama” that I felt during his scenes (I’d elaborate on that more, but you know, spoilers). But he’a good guy.

As for female characters… There aren’t really many. There are like… four or five in total, and maybe like three of them are important to the plot. I didn’t really like any of the female characters (I will elaborate more later) but they were involved in some of my favourite scenes in the anime. There was only one particularly strong female character… but no spoilers, sorry.

Shibazaki looking all detective-ish.

Awesome visuals (and then some not so awesome ones):

The “camera” style used for this anime is one of the most unique that I’ve seen. I kind of don’t even want to talk about it here because I just want you to notice it on your own. So go to the next paragraph if you do want to try to notice it on your own. It’s really subtle. The camera, when it is supposed to be shooting a still frame, moves ever so slightly. I wonder why they went in that direction with the camera. I really liked the effect it created, and it gave the anime a really realistic tone to it. Aside from that, the camera follows the characters fantastically when they run.

The scenery and backgrounds were the best part visually. They weren’t on the level of, say, Psycho Pass, with the super cool electronics and stunning scenery (that ending scene ahhhh…), but it looks really good still. There were some very stunning shots.

The details put on the scenery and smaller objects definitely took precedence over the detail and quality put into drawing the characters sometimes. When zoomed out, the characters don’t look nearly as polished as the background, so sometimes it doesn’t really match and looks kind of cheap in comparison to the BG. Up close, they look pretty good.

Some nice buildings behind Nine.

Actual shot from the hallway. What a pretty hallway. That’s Lisa btw.

Music (feature one of my favourite artists!!!!!):

Music, like in most of Wantanabe’s animes, was incredible. Yoko Kanno, who has also worked on the soundtrack for Cowboy Bebop (GREAT music), Darker than Black (which I have not watched) and many other great anime works. “Fugl” from the OST is one of my favourites. It’s a really peaceful and sad sounding piano piece, that integrates nicely with the scenes and stories of the characters.

ALSO! ALSO!! I’m excited for this. There’s this band I really like that not a lot of people have heard of (they have been in soundtracks for other things) and their song is used in one of my favourite scenes of the film. The song is called “Is” by POP ETC, formerly known as The Morning Benders (actually, I don’t like most of the songs under their new name; their sound changed after their name changed, but the name change was for another reason; anyway, check it out!!!!)

There were a couple of songs I didn’t like. I didn’t like the opening song very much (but that’s fine, I just skipped it after the first couple of times), and I didn’t like the song that they played during Nine’s flashbacks. Why was it so hardcore? I feel like some eerie electronic music or event no music would have given a better effect.

He’s not listening to any of the songs I mentioned above… but the song he is listening to is beautiful too.

Recommended for:

I really like this anime. Because it is about such a controversial subject, I can’t say I would recommend it for everyone… at least not without giving it away to much. But if you’re looking for an anime series that will make you think deeply about things, that also looks beautiful and sounds beautiful, this might be good for you. I will say that there are no female characters who I found to be incredibly likeable in this.

Jump down to TLDR; to skip the spoilers!!!

Specific scene analyses (spoiler section!):

HERE WE GO!

Female characters and their roles:

As I said before, I didn’t really feel much for the female characters. I didn’t really like Lisa at first, because it was obvious that she was going to be one of those characters that drag down the rest of the team, gets taken hostage at some point, and then has to get rescued and part of the plan is ruined because of that (which is what happened). SO you know – those characters always get hated on. BUT, I can’t completely dislike her. She gave Twelve, in his really short life, someone to really cherish. His feelings for her, like his sense of family with Nine, made him human. It proved that he was more than just a failed experiment. Also, she was a good character for offsetting the two boys; she was just “ordinary”. If we only got to see scenes with the super geniuses Nine and Twelve, and the brainiacs Five and Shibazaki, I think it would get a little tiring and tense. We would never get to see the “humanity” in the two boys.

It was adorable and very heartwarming watching Twelve act like a normal boy : )

Five, on the other hand, is a lot more capable than Lisa; I still didn’t find her very likeable, as she was trying to destroy Nine and Twelve’s plans (well, she was really just out to get Nine). I found it a little cliche having a super obsessive enemy who is hell-bent on catching the main character at all costs, even by doing things that are extremely unprofessional. Another thing that pissed me off was how she suicided after she kissed him! But you know what? It could all be rationalized to some degree. She is the object of the experiment. She, like Nine and Twelve, is damaged psychologically. Nine and Twelve are the only thing that resembles a family to her. She clearly resents the Japanese government for doing what they did to her, so she completely disregards the safety of the citizens in the country to win her “game”. But of course, she realizes that they are just fighting against the same system that she hates so much. I still think that part was cheesy, but I think he character is somewhat justifiable. That being said, I’m still not a fan of hers, and I think her character is the biggest flaw in the show – for me, at least. The only value I think that she added to the show was that she gave a further insight into their past, but that’s where they should have left her – in the past.

She looks cool though. Her character design is completely different from the rest. Much less realistic.

The puzzles:

I thought the riddles were pretty clever – though they, in total, only had two or three. My favourite was the one where they set off the “invisible bomb” – where they released all the information about the investigation. I did not expect that to be the “bomb” at all.

One problem I did have with the puzzles was that there seemed to be a… lack of intensity. I never really did feel that Shibazaki struggled that much with them… and some of them were kind of easy if you’ve read anything about mythology. Like, Shibazaki just had to go to the book room and take out a book about mythology and then he would have an easy lead. They did state that they were somewhat trying to get caught. I learned some cool things to add to my own knowledge of mythology, so that was a plus.

Sphinx!

My favourite scenes:

Although I don’t really like Lisa as a character, a lot of my favourite scenes included her in it – and would not have been possible without her. I think a lot of people’s favourite, and my own, is the scene inside the Ferris wheel where Lisa was held captive, and Twelve had to try to disarm the bombs. It’s an impossible task to do in the time he was given – but you can see Twelve struggling to retain his composure and to reassure Lisa that everything would be okay. Though I think a lot of people complained that he shouldn’t have betrayed Nine, he really didn’t have a choice – Lisa would die and so would he. I argue that it would have been much worse for Nine to have to more deaths on his hands.

This is like… the biggest freakin’ Ferris wheel I’ve ever seen. Look at all those carts!! How long would it take to load the whole thing?!

I actually really loved all the scenes with Twelve and Lisa, despite Lisa’s character flaws. Like I said before, her existence in the show was necessary to show that the boys were indeed human. They weren’t random terrorists who completely disregards society – they didn’t want anyone to die from what they were doing. You could really see that from Twelve’s repeated rescuing of Lisa. Lisa was a choice that Twelve made for himself.

Another good scene, where Twelve comes swooping in to save Lisa from the police. This scene also features the song “Is” by POP ETC.

The ending (and my perfect ending):

Oh man. So close to crying after Twelve died. Nine’s scream was so heart wrenching. Though I really don’t see why they didn’t kill Nine first – he was the one holding the trigger. Or if they didn’t want Twelve and Nine to talk, I feel like they could have negotiated with them. Sphinx had kept all of their promises regarding their attacks the entire time – they were as trustworthy as a couple of terrorists get.

I think my perfect ending would have been if Nine, Twelve, and Lisa ran away together to some rural area. They would lead a peaceful life for a year or two, until Nine and Twelve could no longer survive, and die “naturally” as a result of the experiment. Kind of cheesy, but I think they deserve that peaceful ending.

But although I say all of these things, I was satisfied with the ending. I really wanted them to have a happy ending though. Their entire lives were filled with such horror – I really just wanted them to live a happy life, even if their lives were going to end shortly after (you could already see signs of Nine deteriorating earlier on). I would have been so happy if the anime had ended in the tone that it did at around 15 minutes into the finale. But the reality is, they were terrorists, and an anime like this would not have made sense without some kind of retribution for their actions. So I think the ending was good – they had some real happiness before dying.

😥

Their deaths were inevitable – Nine showed signs of mental deterioration, the same way that Five did.

A few things that bugged me:

I mean, they’re pretty minor things – I can live with them and still enjoy the anime.

First off: Five’s English. Oh man. I don’t usually like to mention it, because it’s rude and it’s fine for people who aren’t native English speakers to have trouble speaking it… but oh man. I have never cringed at someone’s English in a show so badly. I wish they had done the entire thing in Japanese instead, but I guess they just wanted to show the contrast between Five working with her team of American agents and the Japanese detectives. Voice over would have worked really nicely in their favour for this…

Second: Five’s character in general. I talked about it above already. She just wasn’t a very realistic character in a show that leaned more towards reality – it made her scenes seem kind of off.

A lot of her scenes were cringey for me.

Third: Twelve’s condition of having synesthesia. Like, it was cool that they kept showing how he could see feathers in the air and stuff… and him telling Lisa was the first time that he opened up about himself… but that was it. It seemed kind of pointless. I thought that he would be able to use it to eventually rescue Lisa (ie: like in the Ferris wheel scene, I thought they would have a fake Lisa strapped there, and he would be able to tell it wasn’t her because of the colour of her voice). But nope – all it was was an interesting fact about him.

Pretty pretty. But that’s all it really had to offer.

TLDR;

Recommended for: People looking for a unique psychological anime, people looking for an anime with good cliffhangers, people looking for something serious
Not recommended for: It’s a touchy subject that not everyone would be cool with. Also, don’t watch it if you’re looking for an anime with some lols.

Visuals: 9/10 – It really was a beautiful anime, with unique “camera” shots and amazing scenery. They sometimes went a little cheap on drawing the characters though, which is pretty noticeable when everything else looks so beautiful and realistic.
Music (new!): 9/10 – Adding this new section! I really should have been talking about this anyway – there were some great scores in my previous reviews. The music in this was amazing. There were some songs that I didn’t really care for, but overall the score matched the anime very well. I loved it.
Story: 8-8.5/10 – I do love the story. I bought into it completely, though I think a lot of people may find some of it to be unrealistic. It’s really different from other animes that I have seen, and they had some great cliffhangers (I finished this within a 22 hour time frame). But I had some problems with the side characters and some missing information that I couldn’t ignore.
Overall enjoyment: 8-8.5/10 – This was a solid anime. I’m going to be thinking about it for awhile. Everything put together just made it really awesome – some real quality work here.

 

MOVIE REVIEW: Wong Kar-wai’s CHUNGKING EXPRESS (1994)

Another Wong Kar-wai film review… there will be many to come. I believe this is the first Wong Kar-wai film I’ve ever watched. Here’s my review:

“You gonna eat that?”

Synopsis and spoiler-free review portion:

Wong kar-wai’s Chungking Express (Chinese: 重慶森林 chung hing sam lam) follows two storylines, both revolving around heartbroken policemen. The first one, starring Takeshi Kaneshiro as the happy-go-lucky He Qi-wu, and also known as Cop 223. Qi-wu’s girlfriend, named May, recently broke up with him, a month before his birthday (May 1st). He resolves to eat a can of pineapples everyday before his birthday – and if he is able to complete this task, he will take it as a sign that he will be able to get over his ex. During his month of heartbreak, by chance, he encounters the unnamed “Woman in the Blonde Wig” (played by Brigitte Lin). We get to see her own story, which includes a run-in with the law.

The second story in Chungking Express follows our protagonists Faye (played by Faye Wong) and Cop 663 (played by Tony Leung Chiu-wai). After 663’s recent breakup, he finds himself frequenting a fast-food Chinese food stand, “Chungking Express”, where Faye has been newly hired. Because of their reoccurring encounters, they eventually form an unlikely friendship.

Brigitte Lin as “the woman in the blonde wig”, from story one.

“Cop 663” played by Tony Leung Chiu-wai (left) and “Faye” played by Faye Wong (right) from the second story.

Why I love this movie so much and why you should watch it even though I know you won’t:

Yeah so this review is going to be a little bias. Very bias. I love how a lot of HK films have this really indie feel to it – but a lot of them that I’ve watched aren’t really… that good. A lot of them have good things about them, but overall, the majority of HK films that I have seen weren’t “good” in my eyes. Maybe I’ve just been looking in the wrong place (feel free to leave suggestions). But a good place to look is in this film.

First off, I loved every single main character in this film. They all had these very endearing quirks about them that made me love them a lot. I felt that there was a lot of attention to details about the characters’ personalities that really stuck with me after the film, and a lot of small things that just makes you really remember a film. This includes the pineapple eating thing that Qi-wu does, as mentioned above, why Lin’s character wears the blonde wig, etc.

I love the dialogue in this film. Whether it’s narration or conversation (to other people, to themselves), the conversations were often really interesting and really funny. I don’t really know how to describe the type of funny I think it is though – it’s definitely not a really outrageous, shocking type of funny. It’s more like a chuckling type of funny. I don’t know – they warm my heart and they’re interesting. The chemistry between the characters are really good as well. Were they ever not friends? Who knows?

One of my favourite conversations in the film – 663 talking to his stuffed animals (Garfield in this one).

Recommended for:

I really love this movie, but I don’t think it’s for everyone. It’s similar to American indie films, in how some people just won’t like it because they don’t see the point in it. My brother’s friend described indie films to be like “two people pointing guns at each other for an hour and a half until someone finally pulls the trigger in the last two minutes of the film.” That’s fine – it’s not for everyone. But I think because it’s split into to halves, even people who struggle to see the point in indie films might be able to get into this. I would still say that it’s “exciting”, but not in the traditional way that American films are exciting if you get what I mean. There’s action – but this is by no means an action movie. There’s romance – but your heart isn’t going to be beating for the characters to fall in love and make out and such. It’s a very unconventional romance film, but I’d consider the characters to be quite “romantic”.

It’s an interesting film with intriguing characters, but don’t expect any really overwhelming emotions to bubble up as you watch it. I’d recommend it for anyone who can really fall in love with characters, and for anyone who can get sucked into interesting dialogues (maybe think Tarantino for the type of dialogues?) I wouldn’t recommend it to someone who only enjoys really epic movies. A lot of the things that are great about it are also really understated.

These scenes with Faye kinda weirded me out the first time I watched it, but I loved it nonetheless.

Specific scene analyses (spoiler alert!):

Just go watch the movie so that you can read this section already! Scroll down to the bottom for TLDR;

Which did I like better? Story one or story two?

Well, it’s hard to choose.

I thought storyline one was more original. I really, really, REALLY love the pineapple thing that Qi-wu was doing to get over his heartbreak. It was just really… adorable, being fixated on pineapples as a cure for heartbreak, of all things. Qi-wu was my favourite character in this film too – I’m sure he’s a lot of people’s favourite though, for those who have watched it. He’s always smiling, despite being so hurt. His phone calls to his other ex-girlfriends were hilarious as well. He has a lot of great quirks.

What was happening with Lin’s character as a part of story one was really compelling as well. It offset nicely with Qi-wu’s happy-go-lucky personality. It’s also funny that he’s hanging out with her since he’s a cop. Her story alone fulfills the “action” part of the film very well. I found myself really fixated on her part of the story as well as Qi-wu’s, though I liked Qi-wu as a character more. Her part of the story added the most “uniqueness” in terms of visuals for the film, with the shaky camera movements trailing her. It’s a great opening to the film, as it really draws you into it, following her through such a shady area.

But I also really loved story two, because I loved the chemistry between 663 and Faye. It’s kind of a weird chemistry though. No one gets quirkier than Faye – she breaks into his apartment to clean. Who does that? And poor 663 is so heartbroken, he doesn’t even notice. Their whole relationship is just odd. I don’t know why 663 was just cool with it after – he’s a cop and someone broke into his home.

As I said before, I really loved the whole bit where 663 talks to his stuffed animals and other non-living objects. My “chuckles” turned really obnoxious while I was watching these parts. Aside from the pineapples, this was my favourite bit from the movie.

So which do I like more? It’s so hard to choose. Through the first time watching it, I was more excited for the first story, but I think I liked the second story more, because I just loved the chemistry between the protagonists, and I loved the romantic quality of it nearing the end. Objectively though, I think the first one is better because it’s more compelling as a story. Qi-wu wins as the best character.

My favourite bit from the movie.

Much yearning from my heart while watching this scene.

Visual style (and also the score which I never really talk about):

Stylistically, I felt this film was really strong for creating a clear image of what Wong Kar-wai’s films are kind of like to me – both with the visuals and with the score. The song which they first play as Lin’s character rushes through the alleyways of Hong Kong creates a great sense urgency at the beginning, that really captivates you right off the bat. The reoccurring playing of “California Dreaming” by The Mamas and the Papas as Faye danced to it in the second story helped cement Faye’s character really well.  In addition, I just like the whole colour tone of this film.

Faye loves to dance!

TLDR;

Recommended for: People looking for an unconventional romance movie, people who like indie films, people looking for a movie with great characters and memorable quirks
Not recommended for: People who like really epic or lovey dovey romances, people who really, really, really can’t survive without COMPLETE closure.

Visuals: 8/10 – The visuals of this film wasn’t anything too crazy, but they were really good at creating a style unique to Wong Kar-wai. The visuals matched really perfectly with the score.
Story: 9/10 – They were just absolutely compelling to me. I can’t really explain them here without giving too much away though.
Overall enjoyment: 9.5/10 – Yeah this probably seems too high to most people, but I LOVE Chungking Express. It’s my second favourite Wong Kar-wai film, or possibly my first (don’t make me get into this argument with myself right now please). The characters and all of their quirks made this film so loveable to me.

Also, for those of you who have watched the movie but haven’t seen this, Quentin Taratino gives a great talk about Chungking Express.

 

MOVIE REVIEW: Tetsuya Nakashima’s CONFESSIONS (2010)

I do love a good thriller – I don’t like horror movies (with the scary looking ghosts and shit), but I LOVE thrillers. I watched this film because a friend from my film class suggested it to me, and it seems interesting. Here’s what I thought.

The main character, Yuko Moriguchi, played by Takako Matsu.

Synopsis and spoiler-free review portion:

Confessions (Japanese: 告白 kokuhaku) is a psychological-thriller about a disenchanted middle-school teacher, named Yuko Moriguchi (pictured above), of a class of misbehaved students. The events of this movie takes place after Ms. Moriguchi’s daughter had been murdered – by two students in her class (“Student A” and “Student B”). She proceeds to take revenge on these two students to avenge her daughter’s death. Confessions is directed by Tetsuya Nakashima, and has won several awards for that year.

Lots of talking:

Well, the film’s name is Confessions, so it probably makes sense that there is a lot of talking. But at some point it gets to be a lot, and then I find myself checking my phone. I don’t know why. I need to read subtitles, so it makes no sense that I should check my phone while watching this movie. I also really rarely check my phone while watching things. BUT THERE WAS SO MUCH TALKING. Thankfully, not the whole film is like this – I think it happens the most during the first 20 or so minutes. Just letting you know what you’re getting into.

Me nearing the end of Ms. Moriguchi’s first soliloquy.

Multiple storylines:

I liked that Confessions followed multiple storylines from different POVs – not only that of Ms. Moriguchi’s, but also that of the two culprits, and other side characters. It made the film a lot more interesting (maybe because I’m a really big fan of this type of storytelling), because partway through, I was really wondering where this movie was headed if it was only going to follow Ms. Moriguchi. I don’t think that would have been a very good movie. Don’t get me wrong – overall, I liked Ms. Moriguchi’s character, as she was probably the most interesting character (to me anyway); there just didn’t seem to be enough material to just follow her around the whole time.

I wonder what he’s thinking about.

Moody visuals:

If you could tell from the pictures I’ve selected for this post, pretty much the whole film is filtered by a… I want to say rainy? type of filter. I think it looks nice and artsy, and goes well with the serious tone of the film. There are also a lot of symbolism that they use throughout the film to evoke mood (like the popping of bubbles, etc). I liked that they used these two devices to enhance the overall aesthetics of the film.

Buttahfllly! “But what does it MEAN?”

Problems I had with the film:

The lots of talking thing… I could deal with. For the purpose of what they were trying to do, I think it worked and accomplished what they needed to. But there were a few other problems – like the fact that it was kind of predictable at times (which is the worst in a thriller!!!) and some of the cheesy special effects. They went a little overboard with the visual effects sometimes (that I mentioned in the previous section) and that came off as a little corny to me.

Recommended for:

I still think it’s a good watch, despite some of its shortcomings. It still has its twists and turns that I didn’t see coming (though not as many as I would have liked and not some of the more important ones), which kept it interesting. I guess it’s recommended for people who like psychological-thrillers because that’s all I can really consider it. It’s also a pretty interesting insight into the deranged minds of pre-teens. If you’re not good with seeing bloodshed though, this one might not be for you.

Middle school is this much fun apparently. Weird kids.

Specific scene analyses (spoilers ahead!):

Scroll down to TLDR; for ratings and to skip the spoilers! There’s actually not a lot left I need to say in this section anyway, but you know, spoilers.

The ending bit:

I have mixed feelings about the ending, but I think I mostly liked it. It definitely wasn’t an ending that I felt was unsatisfying – it was – but there were a few things I didn’t really like about it. The fact that Shuya’s plan was going to fail – and the way that it was going to fail – was so obvious. The prospect of a kid blowing up a room full of preteens and teachers is pretty far-fetched… even for a movie. It wasn’t just obvious to me right? It was obvious right? Of course Ms. Moriguchi’s going to intercept his plan! However, I didn’t expect Ms. Moriguchi to blow up his mom’s office. I liked the plan, didn’t like the special effects for this part or the dramatic reenactment of the event inside Shuya’s head. It was a little over the top for me. When I was talking about cheesy special effects before, I was referring to this. This was my biggest problem with the movie. It seems like it’s not that big of a deal, but it really ruined the whole tone of the ending for me. Ms. Moriguchi’s last lines were pretty badass though. I’m still wondering why no teachers stepped in to say anything.

IN-SYNCED GASPS!!!

TLDR;

Recommended for: People who like psychological-thrillers (duh), people who like movies told from multiple point of views, people looking for a good plot twist
Not recommended for: People who are squeamish with blood, people who don’t like watching movies with a bunch of kids (this is a thing right?), people who don’t like to watch movies with a lot of talking (I feel like this isn’t a thing to worry about if you speak the native language, but be prepared to be reading the subtitles a lot.)

Ratings:

Visuals: 8/10 – They were pretty good; I liked that the movie used a lot of artful imagery. A lot of the visuals had to do with building the mood of the movie. I just couldn’t get over some of the cheesy special effects.
Story: 7.5/10 – The story was good too, but I felt some of it was over-dramatic and parts of it were predictable. Still interesting to watch though.
Overall enjoyment: 7.5/10 – Overall, I did enjoy the movie, but I didn’t love it. It felt a little long to me at times, and I didn’t like that some parts felt cheesy or predictable to me. I don’t think I’d watch it again though.