Publisher: Siren Visual (Australia)Format: Region 4 DVD, PAL, Japanese Dialogue with optional English Subtitles
Length: 81 minutes
Production Date: 2008
Currently in Print (as of writing): Yes
Studio 4°C’s second omnibus film is probably better overall than its predecessor. However this time there are only five shorts instead of seven. However most of them are more involved and a touch longer. This first film is “Gala" by Mahiro Maeda. It’s set in what is seemingly a fantasy world where a giant rock-like thing drops out of the sky. The oni-like creatures which inhabit the world attack the rock, but a small group with the help of their master plays giant musical instruments to reveal it’s true nature. This one is probably the most commercial of the five films here. It’s rather magical and probably a little too fluffy in terms of substance. Still, I thought it was a great looking film with very nice twist at the end. A great way to start the movie. Kazuto Nakazawa’s "Moondrive" tells the story of a bunch of inept and fun loving criminals who live on the moon which is inhabited by a large population. The gang come across a map that supposedly shows a vast fortune. Unfortunately their attempts to reach the treasure are unsuccessful and expensive. This short was a little mediocre I thought. The script felt like it was almost like a rather conservative outtake from “FLCL”. Unfortunately the art style, while really interesting, was a bit too much for Siren’s authoring team with tight lines looking a complete mess. The use of animation layout paper for the backgrounds. Overall fun, but not all that brilliant.
Things go from mediocre to just plain annoying with “Wanwa (The Doggy)" by Shinya Ohira. The film peers though into the imagination of a small child, who is being chanced by Oni (traditional Japanese demons) while his mother ill. Apparently a dog helps him, but I couldn’t see that in the film all. Technicolour cutesy headache is how I’d describe the film. Things look up with "Toujin Kit" by Tatsuyuki Tanaka. In a dystopian big brother style world, a young woman uses some sort of creature and a special process to give some sort of life to her collection of soft toys. That is until the secret police show up at her door. This one is very Film Noir, almost “Blade Runner” like in its use of 1930’s style clothes and set design colliding with futuristic elements. Very downbeat and a washed out looking film, but highly interesting as well. The final piece is Koji Morimoto’s "Dimension Bomb". I think this is probably the best film out of the 12 films. The majority of it has no real story. The core story is supposedly about a boy in pupa who meets a girl, and you can probably decipher that from the film. However it’s mostly a montage of rather hypnotic music video like scenes around a town. Very surreal and enjoyable.
The video on this set is actually significantly worse than the first film. This is most obvious in "Moondrive”. I’m really unsure if this is Siren’s fault though. Other sections of the film look brilliant. This film comes with a bonus disc like the first, but again I haven’t watched it. Think I’ll watch both on the weekend. Overall, quite a good film, perhaps a bit better than the first. 7.5 out of 10.
Remaining Backlog: 24 months (it's much easier this way than listing the number of discs).
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