Roaming Around Japan: The Evangelion Shinkansen

The next set of posts about my travels will be mostly anime related, which is fine I guess as this blog mostly deals with that. For my last trip to Japan, I started in Fukuoka because I hadn’t been there before. I was planning to see a couple things like Mount Aso and the Ultraman theme park, but volcanic eruptions and the closure of the park due to poor ticket sales put an end to that. I still did manage to see a bunch of other interesting stuff in Kyushu regardless. Before I left for Japan I heard about the 500 Type Evangelion Shinkansen. This was a specially pained and outfitted Shinkansen that would be in operation from November 2015 to March 2017. It was to celebrate two things; the 40th anniversary of the completion of the Sanyo Shinkansen line which runs from Hakata station in Fukuoka to Shin-Osaka station, and the 20th anniversary of the anime “Evangelion”.

This of course begs the question why, and the answer is I have no idea. You’ll have to ask Japan Rail (JR) and/or Hideaki Anno why. At any rate I figured out from the Japanese website that the Shinkansen left Hakata station around 6:36 am and got to my next port of call, Hiroshima, at 8:16 am (not exactly the fastest trip for a Shinkansen) and decided why not as I had a JR Rail Pass for three weeks. I got the ticket from the Midori-no-madoguchi at Hakata station on the first day I arrived in Fukuoka thinking that it’d be difficult to get on. It wasn’t. Amusingly when I asked the attended if that was indeed the time the Evangelion Shinkansen left and I had bought the right ticket, she feigned ignorance. Bloody gaijin otaku, stop bothering the staff! Even before you get on the train, JR’s hard sell begins with a gift shop;

There’s a lot of crap for sale here. I mean seriously does the world really need more Evangelion merchandise? I did actually buy something though… A travel card holder (i.e. to hold cards like Suica, Opal, myki etc);

The day finally came around to go to Hiroshima. I quickly took a photo of the front of the train and got on board;

The kid posing in the photo was put there by his father who was taking a photo of him next to the train. Actually there were quite a few people on the platform not getting on the train but instead taking photos. Though the crowd was small there was a lot of excitement in the air. People loved it. I should point out the outside of the train and the interior details were designed by Ikuto Yamashita who was the mecha designer for Evangelion. Hideaki Anno supervised the project. The train itself starts at Hakata station at 6:36 am stopping pretty much at all stations until it gets to Shin-Osaka at 11:14 am. Half an hour later it then turns around and heads back to Hakata station for the afternoon run. Except for two of the cars, all of them are your bog standard 500 series Shinkansen cars. Car one contains the "Full-size Cockpit Riding Experience” which is a kind of mock-up of the EVA-01 cockpit and is a sort of immersive game. You have to apply online at the JR West website in order to play. There are also displays and dioramas and whatnot, which I didn’t know about and didn’t actually go into unfortunately.

Car two is the non-reserved seat section and is actually done up in a Evangelion theme and colours;

There was only a couple of passengers in this section when I went on. Fans were constantly coming in and taking photos much to the disgust of a lone salary man in the front who just wanted to get to his destination for a business meeting. The second car also contains the smoking room;

As you can see one side of the enclosed glass smoking area has a picture of Ryouji Kaji and at the other Ritsuko Akagi, the two smokers from the show. There was a young woman in her 20’s (whom I would definitely not peg as an otaku type) with her boyfriend in the car while I was taking photos who kept pointing to the picture of Ritsuko and excitedly kept saying “Rit-chan! Rit-chan!”. At every station the Shinkansen stopped at there was a flurry of excited fans on the platform taking photos. This happened at every single station without fail. The fans loved it. I was really surprised at the ages of those had come. Some weren’t even born when the series was first broadcast. I can only assume that mixed in with the anime fans were a number of railway and train enthusiasts. In general the Japanese public just adore trains.

Bonus: Above is a JR West mascot character that you’ll see at every major train station in Kyushu; Kansenger (in cardboard cut-out form at least). He’s sort of like a metal hero type mascot for the Sanyo line Shinkansen who appears in a series poorly animated series where a mild mannered train attendant transforms into Kansenger to fight an evil organisation hell bent on making life hell for JR passengers. You can see the series on the JR West website here.

Next time in my travels I’ll be heading off to Utsunomiya in Tochigi prefecture.

Video Backlog: “The Next Generation - Patlabor -: Tokyo War”

Publisher: Panorama (Hong Kong)
Format: Region A Blu-ray, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional Cantonese Dub and English and Chinese (Traditional and Simplified) Subtitles
Length: 94 minutes
Production Date: 2015
Currently in Print (as of writing): Yes

The year is 2015. While the members of SV2 take a well-earned break, a missile is fired into the Rainbow Bridge in Tokyo, echoing the attack on Yokohama Bay Bridge in 2002 (as seen in “Patlabor 2 the movie”). The SV2 are recalled to duty and are visited again by Kei Takahata (played by Reiko Takashima) of Public Security. She plays them a video of the attack she has obtained from a private film company. It shows an actual missile being launched towards the bridge and the explosion. An analysis of the video also shows a previously unseen helicopter. Yuma Shiobara (Seiji Fukushi) who is a military otaku recognises the silhouette of the helicopter; a AH-88J2 Hellhound, the Grey Ghost, a stealth attack helicopter from the Japanese Self Defence Force (JSDF). Later in a private meeting with the SV2’s Captain Keiji Gotoda (Toshio Kakei), Takahata provides him with a wealth of information regarding the case. She tells him that a group people sympathetic to the ideals of Yukihito Tsuge (currently in prison for the attempted coup d'etat on Tokyo in 2002) stole the helicopter and preparing to wage war on Tokyo. A JSDF pilot Rei Haibara (Kanna Mori) apparently defected to the group and killed her co-pilot. Strangely all data relating to her was deleted from JSDF computers.

Gotoda and SV2 covertly take on the terrorists at their hide out with the two Labor crews storming their stronghold and the mechanics using the Revolver Cannon by itself to fire on the building. Despite their efforts and Takahata and members of Public Security belatedly proving support, Haibara and the Grey Ghost escape. Later Gotoda is contacted by his former senior, Shinobu Nagumo (Yoshiko Sakakibara), who has returned to Japan in secret from her overseas stint with the UNHCR in the Middle East. She explains why her and Captain Gotoh's disappeared after Tsuge's failed coup d'etat and how they left a “time bomb” at the SV2 in the form of the potential for this new terrorist attack.

Arriving back at the SV2, head mechanic Shige (Shigeru Chiba) is ropeable at the captain’s disappearance. He explains to Gotoda that while he was away Security Bureau came in an effectively shut down the SV2. Gotoda orders the SV2 to salvage as much material they can to prepare for an attack by the Grey Ghost. Gotoda is later called in to explain himself to the police chiefs at headquarters. They seem to be more concerned with his actions than those of the terrorists that stole the Grey Ghost. Eventually he can’t take anymore and asks them to dismiss him from his post. But before officers can take him away; the Grey Ghost attacks the building, shooting a hail of bullets into the conference room. Gotoda escapes and heads back to the SV2 where the SV2 hanger has previously been taken out and destroyed. Luckily the mechanics and Labor teams had hidden the Ingrams and their carriers under camouflage nets away from the hanger. Shige is still devastated at the loss of his “home”. Meanwhile the Grey Ghost shoots up various buildings around Tokyo including the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Offices. JSDF helicopters and F-16s try to take out the Grey Ghost but have no luck. Gotoda leads his team to defeat the terrorists as his seniors had done so previously.

This is the concluding chapter in Mamoru Oshii’s "The Next Generation - Patlabor -" project. In the original press material before the film was shot, the public were promised that while the movie series (which I reviewed a while back) would be comedy, the film would be a dead serious affair. The reality was that the statement wasn’t exactly true. Certainly in the first quarter hour it has moments which are just as silly as those found in the series. The remainder of the film is essentially a complete remake of “Patlabor 2 the movie”, occasionally shot for shot, sometimes with dialogue taken directly from that film. This is the major problem with this film. I mean, why in god’s name would Oshii do this? It immediately draws comparisons between the two films and “Tokyo War” does not come off well in that comparison.

First and foremost the story of “Patlabor 2 the movie” does not slide easily into the world of "The Next Generation - Patlabor -". You may remember from that film that the key reason Shigeki Arakawa chose to use the SV2 was the fact Shinobu Nagumo was formerly Yukihito Tsuge’s lover. Here that link is not present. There really isn’t a valid reason that Gotoda would accept Takahata’s request to storm the terrorist’s hideout. Nor does it make sense that Gotoda would order the Labor teams to take on the Grey Ghost when both the JSDF attack helicopters and F-16s had no effect at all on it. What the hell are two outdated, broken down, Labors supposed to do? The terrorist’s motivations are obscured as well. It is never really spelled out what they want, if anything. Other than that are sympathisers of Tsuge’s ideas, we are told nothing.

Gotoda’s involvement in all of this is clouded and not explained well either. In the final episode of the series, he visits Tsuge in gaol and later receives Captain Gotoh’s old mobile phone in the mail and a mysterious phone call on that mobile. In some of the translated promotional material it suggests that Gotoda was helping plot a coup d'etat before he joined the police force, but none of this information seems to have made its way into the series or the film. Nagumo’s (played by her original voice actor Yoshiko Sakakibara, continually in silhouette, her back to the camera or off screen)  return is meant to fill in the blanks but just adds more confusion. For example we’re told that the former SV2 captains left a “time bomb” for the current SV2 which turned into the current terrorist actions, but it is never articulated how or why the captains did this. The other major question mark is Rei Haibara. Mystery surrounds her, but in the end nothing is really revealed, at all. It’s truly bizarre. I mean why devote so much time to her and leave the audience hanging. The final frustrating scene in the film suggests that she might appear in a sequel of some sort.

A lot of these gaps in this film may be due to the fact that the production company released a director’s cut five months after the original release which contained an additional 27 minutes of footage . This seems to be a deliberate ploy by the company to make fans come back to cinema a second time. However when the original 94 minute cut (which is the version on the Blu-ray I'm reviewing) was released, it was pretty much a box office bomb. So there really isn’t any logical reason why they would release a director’s cut of a failed film unless they already had the film made and the theatres already booked and couldn't get out of it. It’s kind of baffling why they stuck to this plan. Why didn’t they just cut their losses and go direct to video? To be honest there are a couple of redeeming features to the film. The most obvious one is the cinematography which is gorgeous. I particularly like the sequence where Takahata is investigating a former landing site of the Grey Ghost and the crime scene with the terrorists “appear” around her in her mind’s eye. The external shots of the F-16s while in flight are really well done too. The action sequences including the SV2’s attack on the terrorist’s hide out and the finale with the Labors versus the Grey Ghost are really well choreographed, though the latter comes off as a bit implausible. The music by Kenji Kawaii is as per usual fantastic, though he does refer back to “Patlabor 2 the movie”, which is to be expected.

But having said that the main problem with the film is it’s a pale imitation of the original anime. It cuts out a lot of elements which made “Patlabor 2 the movie” a fantastic movie such as the reasoning behind Tsuge’s actions, the sense of confusion inside Tokyo due to the radio jamming and the blimps full of potentially lethal gas, the occupation of the city by the military and the substantial connection between the main culprit and the captain of SV2. All of these elements contributed greatly to “Patlabor 2 the movie” and here they are sorely missed. Why Oshii thought this would be a great idea is beyond me. The whole project feels like a missed opportunity. Maybe if the budget was larger, maybe if the project was given to a creative team other than Oshii we’d have something far more entertaining than this cynical rehash. I really haven’t like any of Oshii’s works since 2001 (“Sky Crawlers” being the sole exception). I note that it was around the time that long-time collaborator Kazunori Ito stopped writing screenplays for him.

As with the movie series Blu-rays, there aren’t any on disc extras. It does come with a 16 page explanation booklet, in Chinese. I assume this was culled from the Japanese standard edition DVD and Blu-ray sets. The subtitles are maybe a little better than the ones on the movie series BDs. I still think they could have been better. They’re not up to snuff when compared with US anime releases. In conclusion, it’s a rather disappointing film. I really have no desire to seek out the director's cut version (which isn't available commercially in English at this stage). I don’t understand why Oshii felt the need to make this series and film, nor understand why the financial backers decided to fund it. I’m guessing they made a loss on their investment. 5.5 out of 10.

Remaining Backlog: 10 movies, 6 OVAs/specials, 13 TV series, also waiting for second parts for four shows to be released before viewing them.

Roaming Around Japan: Shinjuku

Of course the first place I visited on my first trip to Japan was Tokyo. It’s impossible to believe that any tourist that has been to Japan hasn’t been there. When I was planning my first trip I was trying to figure out where to stay. I wanted somewhere central to all the places I was going to. I eventually decided on Shinjuku as it ticked a lot of boxes including lots of transport and dining options. This turned out to be a great decision. I ended up really loving Shinjuku. While it is a business district, there’s tons of shopping and restaurants in the area. I also decided to I wanted at least a microwave in my hotel room, so I ended up choosing Hundred Stay in Hyakunin-cho (Hyaku is hundred in Japanese, hence the reason why the hotel is called Hundred Stay).  This was a pretty good idea in retrospect as the hotel is really close to Okubo station (on the Chuo-Sobu line) and not far from Shin-Okubo station (on the Yamanote line). Both these lines can take you pretty much anywhere in the city. And Okubo station is only two stops south of Nakano as well.

In the end the hotel became increasingly too expensive. It wasn’t really value for money by my third trip. However there are quite a number of Airbnb options in the area. The area around both stations is colloquially known as Korea town (specifically around Shin-Okubo station). There’s plenty of Korean restaurants and the latest K-Pop blaring out of the shops. It’s a surprisingly racially diverse area when compared to the rest of Japan with Mandarin, Thai, Hindi and other languages being heard on the street. There are a ton of restaurants in the area including Indian, Italian and lots of other options. Plus all the major chain family restaurants, lots of fast food restaurants (if you’re into that stuff), convenience stores galore and bars and pubs everywhere. You’re not going to starve. As a result the area is pretty popular, so be warned, the sidewalks can be really crowed during the peak hours around the two stations. So crowded in fact it’s really hard to move around.

A little east of Shin-Okubo station is a branch of the discount chain Don Quijote (or Donki as the locals have nicknamed it). It’s an amazing store with tons of crap you never thought you needed, everything from airguns to weird novelties to groceries. Last time I was there I grabbed a beanie for my trip out to Sendai in very late November. Across the road further south is Kabukicho. This is the neon filled red light district of Shinjuku. It’s utterly bizarre place at times. Spruikers will come up and harass you (“Japanese girl? Sex?”), however once you say no, they won’t bother you anymore which shocked me. I thought I was going be harassed for ages. The risks of going into one of the many bars in the area are reasonably high, especially if the establishment advertises it accepts credits cards. Essentially this is a trap for tourists. There have been a number of cases where patrons have had their drinks spiked by the owners and had their credit cards cleaned out. You can also be hit with absurd charges even if they don’t drug you. Proceed with extreme caution if you do go to these places.

Even if you’re not interested in these places or sex tourism (which has a lot of risks anyway), it is quite an interesting place to walk through and for the most part is reasonably safe. What got me is the amazing amount of Host Bars aimed at women. A couple of the buildings I went past seem to have nothing but floors and floors filled with Host Bars with pictures of “hot looking” but quite effeminate men at their entrances. The two other main attractions in this area are the utterly insane Robot Restaurant and the Shinjuku Toho Building which contains Hotel Gracery Shinjuku and Toho Cinemas as well as a full sized Godzilla head coming out of the building. I’ll be looking at these two places in future posts.

A little further east of Kabukicho is Golden Gai which is an amazing alleyway of small bars (around a couple hundred). Most have regular customers and may get a bit narky if you try to sit down. However a few cater to tourists have menus in English. Getting into the main part of the city (in and around the massive Shinjuku station), the shopping choices are pretty amazing. First is branches of Japan’s major department stores; Isetan, Takashimaya (which also hosts a branch of Tokyu Hands and another branch of Books Kinokuniya, I’ve already talked about the head office and annex in Shinjuku here), Odakyu, Keio, Lumine (including Lumine Est which used to be called My City) and Mylord. Admittedly these places are expensive, the basement floors, known as depachika, have an amazing array of food and even some “omiyage” (souvenirs). The cakes are bloody amazing which you can buy by the slice. Some of these department stores have viewing platforms on their roofs which also have playground equipment for kids.

Japan’s main electronics store chains are also dotted around the station including Yodobashi Camera, Bic Camera (which also includes a branch of Uniqlo inside) and Yamada Denki. I have previously written about Yodobashi and Bic Camera here. Personally I think the best branches for this chain in Tokyo are Akihabara for Yodobashi Camera and Ikebukuro for Bic Camera, but the Shinjuku branches do have a wide selection of merchandise. There is a number of record stores (both chains and independents) dotted throughout Shinjuku. I have previously written about them here. As for anime shops, it’s pretty thin on the ground. There is a good Animate branch near the Forrest Annex of Books Kinokuniya. There’s also a branch of Gamers, but it’s really out of the way and a branch of the doujin shop Comic Zin. Lammtarra (noisiest video shop on the planet) also has a branch not far from the station. A number of Book Off shops are situated all around Shinjuku, several of them within walking distance of the station. There a number of record shops around the station and in Kitashinjuku. I’ve previously written about them here.

Shinjuku station itself is practically a labyrinth and deserves it infamous reputation. However if you know which line you’re going to be travelling on and the platform number (very helpful if you’re on a Japan Rail line) then it’s reasonably easily to navigate. Exiting from the station is another kettle of fish altogether…

West and south east of the station are a number of mostly free (or near free) underappreciated tourist spots. First up is the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) Offices to the west. Now you may want to go to Tokyo Tower or Skytree, but look, the lines are long, it’s expensive and also pretty frustrating. Even worse Tokyo Tower has been recently refurbished and lost its kitsch flavour.  The TMG office on the other hand is free, no long lines and on a clear day (try to go the day after it rains) you can clearly see Mount Fuji. I think the view is just as good as the one you see from Tokyo Tower. The observation deck of the TMG offices opens at 9:30am to the public, security staff check any bags you might have and you’re ushered to the escalator to go to floor where the observatory is. Right outside the TMG offices is Shinjuku Central Park. I read in my Lonely Planet guide that it was worth the visit. When I got there I saw clothes hanging up and assumed it was some sort of art project as I had seen something similar in another park. However as I ventured in further I realised a large section of the park was a tent city of homeless people. There must have been about 60 or so living there. While Japan is sort of portrayed as some sort of technological wonderland (which it isn’t really) there is a lot of poverty there. Regardless, the park is still quite beautiful. It also has a nice water fountain towards the TMG office end and a medium sized Shinto shrine at the other end.

South east of Shinjuku station is a far better public park called Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden. It will cost you ¥200 yen to enter, but it’s more than worth it. There’s just over 58 hectares of gardens. It blends in three types of gardens; Japanese, British and French, rather seamlessly. There is also a greenhouse, however I didn’t have time to go through it. Even in early spring when I went it’s still a fantastic place to visit. Also because of the fee to get into the gardens, it can be a very quiet place. It’s great place to get away from the hustle and bustle that is Tokyo.

I admit that Shinjuku is probably not everyone’s cup of tea. It can be horribly busy and crowded. However I love it. There is a lot to do and see here, it’s really central to just about everything in Tokyo. The only real issue I have with the place is that labyrinth of a station. Though if you stay in Okubo you can pretty much avoid the station by using Okubo and Shin-Okubo stations. If you’re using the shinkansen for day trips you’ll have to go to Ueno or Tokyo station which can be a bit of a pain, but I can live with that. You can’t have everything. Next time I’ll be having a look at the Evangelion Shinkansen.

Video Backlog: “The Next Generation - Patlabor -”

Publisher: Panorama (Hong Kong)
Format: Region A Blu-ray, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional Cantonese Dub and English and Chinese (Traditional and Simplified) Subtitles
Length: 15 minutes (Episode 0), 48 minutes (Episodes 1 to 11), 32 minutes (Episode 12)
Production Date: 2014 - 2015
Currently in Print (as of writing): Yes

Eleven years have passed since the events of “Patlabor 2 the movie”. The construction of the Babylon Project is a long distant memory and a deep and long recession has hung over Japan. As a result Labors are far scarcer and so is Labor crime. Special Vehicles Unit 2 (SV2) therefore was halved with Division 1 being made redundant. Only two AV-98 Ingrams remain and have been remodelled endlessly with little help from the manufacturer. All of the original SV2 staff have left with only Shigeo Shiba (known as Shige within the SV2) remains and is now the head mechanic. Shige recounts the changes in the SV2. While he was indifferent to replacements for the original staff, he sympathises with the current SV2. The SV2 are under the constant threat of being dissolved by their parent group the Security Bureau.

But the current members of the SV2 are just as odd as the original members were; Akira Izumino (played by Erina Mano) is the video game loving first Labor pilot, Yuma Shiobara (Seiji Fukushi) the back up for the first Labor and military otaku who is constantly making plastic models, Ekaterina Krachevna Kankaeva aka Kasha (Rina Ohta) the chain smoking, back talking back up for the second Labor on loan from the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation, Isamu Ohtawara (Yoshinori Horimoto) the second Labor pilot who is a trigger happy maniac cop and an alcoholic to boot, Hiromichi Yamazaki (Shigekazu Tajiri) the first Labor team’s carrier driver who is way too soft to be in the SV2 and cares for chickens in his spare time, and Shinji Mikiya (Kohei Shiotsuka) the second Labor team’s carrier driver who is recently divorced and uses his Pachinko addiction to pay his child support. Presiding over this ragtag group is Keiji Gotoda (Toshio Kakei), the rather easy going captain.

Most days at the SV2 are filled with boredom as the mechanics and Labor teams try to get through the long days by bickering with each other, playing video games, watching TV and other pastimes. With the manpower essentially halved since the dissolution of Division 1, the two Labor teams are constantly on standby and are forced to take turns in doing eight hour shifts around the clock. This leaves with no personal life at all. Food is an issue with the only local restaurant, the Shanghai finally getting sick of 15 years of orders from the SV2 and just delivering large vats of fried rice and noodles. The only other option for food is a poorly stocked convenience store several kilometres away. Occasionally there will be a Labor incident, but this is rare. More likely the real threats come from the harassment from Security Bureau wanted to shut them down as well as members of Public Security trying to force them to take on missions out of their scope, due to their history under the former two captains. Worst is the fact that with no support from the manufacturer, the Labors barely work for more than a five minute at a stretch and constantly break down when they do.

As the series progresses, the SV2 are forces to deal with some very strange situations from batteling giant Kappa monsters, terrorists holding convenience stores for ransom, game centre battles, fighting rouge Russian Labors, mad bombers, assassins and being chased by raptors under the labyrinth of sewers beneath the SV2. It’s pretty much as per normal when compared with their predecessors.

This is the infamous recent movie series (released in cinemas first in seven parts, broadcast on satellite TV a few weeks later, then on home video. Much like the “Yamato 2199” series) helmed by Mamoru Oshii based upon the late 1980’s and early 1990’s anime. Believe it or not, since the late 1990’s there have been a couple of attempts to make the franchise into a live action film. First Christophe Gans (“Brotherhood of the Wolf”, “Silent Hill”), had a go but couldn’t get past the script stage. A pilot film directed by Oshii mysteriously appeared in 1998, however it was never revealed as to why it was made. In 2013 we finally found out that this was a film project that Oshii was determined to make. The promotional material for the series certainly made it quite an anticipated project; it was given a two billion yen budget (which included a full length theatrical feature to conclude the series) and two eight metre Ingram Labor props were built for the series and were later used in promotional events.

The reality turned out to be quite different. This series seems to be despised by fans of the anime. Online Japanese retailers are filled with one star reviews for the series. Most of the reviews average out to barely two and a half stars out of five. The main complaints are that it’s quite hammy (it’s mostly a comedy) and the Labors don’t get much use at all. And there’s also the use of an idol as the lead character (Erina Mano is a graduate of the Hello! Project, most famous for giving the world the idol group Morning Musume). Having finally seen the series in its entirety, some of these criticisms are quite valid, others not so much. The original “Patlabor” OVAs and TV series were comedies, absurd, even farcical at times, and many episodes didn’t feature the Labors at all (it’s a work place sitcom essentially), so I think it’s a bit rich to complain about “The Next Generation - Patlabor -” being a comedy which hardly features the titular robots. However as it is very much a series based in reality and a fair wack of the comedy, especially the parts mimicking manga-like elements, comes off as a bit cringe worthy. However these are mostly confined to the early parts of the series. As the series progresses it uses these elements sparingly, and the episodes become more dramatic and serious, though there is always a farcical element in each episode.

Oshii certainly knows how to frame a great shot. A lot of the footage is utterly gorgeous, especially of Tokyo. Even the pollution filled waterways look beautiful. The scripts, mostly co-written by Oshii himself, can be quite funny at times, though his usual self-indulgent philosophical moments do crop up. The action is also surprisingly well choreographed. A gun battle inside a convenience store and a short battle between an Ingram and a Russian Labor are two of the highlights in the series. Oshii has quite a lot of interesting things to say in the series such as highlighting the absurdity of Japanese corporate and public servant culture and the way the SV2 obsess about their hobbies over work because of that soul crushing culture. But the major problem with the series was the blatant recycling of material from the anime. The main cast are facsimiles of the original characters with minor tweaks to their personalities (I will give Oshii points for recasting the original voice actor as Shigeo Shiba). Great swathes of dialogue from the anime are reused, word for word in some scenes. And bizarrely two episodes are practically remakes of two anime episodes, with only minimal changes to names and dialogue. I don’t understand why he has done this. Perhaps to parody or satirise the original?

The CG elements of the show are quite reasonable when you consider the budget of the show. The Ingrams in motion aren’t spectacular, but get the job done. Certainly the setup of the show was a work around so there would be as little Labor action as possible. The acting is also not brilliant but more than passable. It’s certainly not as hammy or silly as I was expecting. A lot of it is played straight (with the exception of a few characters) and comes off as quite natural in the more serious parts of the series. Kenji Kawaii supplies the music again. As per usual it’s brilliant. The series got an English subbed release from Hong Kong distributors Panorama last month. I thought the concluding film would get a subbed Hong Kong release, but to get the series subbed as well is quite unexpected. There aren’t any extras as such (except for an unlisted 10 minute recap). The subtitles are a little on the mediocre side. A lot of it reads very in a stilted manner, possibly a little too literal in its translation. Towards the middle there are a lot of typos and little of the on screen text is translated. Overall it’s passable. The show itself fairs the same; it has flashes of brilliance and can be quite entertaining for much of its length. But yet again Oshii is terribly self-indulgent and goes over the top with farcical elements (luckily the philosophical elements aren’t quite as prominent in this work). The series finale is a short prologue to the feature film, which should really have been tacked on to the start of the film itself. On balance the series deserves a 6.5 out of 10, but it really isn’t a patch on the any of the anime versions.

Remaining Backlog: 11 movies, 6 OVAs/specials, 13 TV series, also waiting for second parts for four shows to be released before viewing them.

Video Backlog: “Samurai Flamenco”

Publisher: All the Anime/@Anime (Anime Limited, UK/France)
Format: Region B Blu-ray, PAL, Japanese Dialogue with optional French Dub and English and French Subtitles
Length: 22 episodes x 23 minutes
Production Date: 2013 - 2014
Currently in Print (as of writing): Yes

Off duty police officer Hidenori Goto is returning home from the convenience store when he notices a young man squatting in an alleyway apparently naked. The young man, Masayoshi Hazama, tells Goto that he isn’t a suspicious character and in fact he is a hero. Goto isn’t having any of that and flicks his lit cigarette him and tells him off. Unfortunately Goto’s cigarette sets Hazama’s hero uniform (lying in the ground) on fire. Goto is forced to lend Hazama clothes and decides to walk him back to his apartment. There Hazama explains that he was a fan of tokusatsu TV heroes as a child (as evidenced by his huge collection of figures and videos of series on multiple formats) and decided to emulate them as the hero Samurai Flamenco. Hazama’s real job is a male model. His manager, Sumi Ishihara, is a bit of a tyrant and refuses to let him have a hobby, which forces him to hide all of his figures and videos. At any rate the hero business isn’t going too well for Hazama. Prior to him meeting Goto he tried to stop a drunken salary man from littering and ended up getting punched. Even though Goto had previously warned him not commit vigilante acts, he ends up deciding to help him, or at least cover up his actions. An unlikely friendship grows between the two.

Goto’s job as a police officer becomes increasingly difficult as Samurai Flamenco seemingly targets minor crimes and insignificant rule braking such as smoking in non-smoking zones, littering and putting trash out to be collected at the wrong times. Complaints are coming in thick and fast from residents. Add in Samurai Flamenco’s run in with a group of delinquent teens who bash him. Goto eventually saves him from the teens, but it’s quite clear that Hazama really isn’t much of a hero. One night as a restaurant, Goto’s beloved umbrella (owned by his girlfriend whom he says is having a long distance relation with) is stolen and Hazama vows to get it back which he does as Samurai Flamenco. This incident and the previous run in with the delinquent teens were filmed on phones and uploaded to the internet. This causes Samurai Flamenco to become a bit of celebrity. Ishihara soon suspects Hazama is Samurai Flamenco but he flatly denies it. Later on a variety show where Hazama is a on a panel, the hosts announce they are going to reveal who Samurai Flamenco is. Hazuma is sweating bullets, but the host instead bring out tokusastu hero actor Joji Kaname and reveal him as the person behind the masked vigilante Samurai Flamenco. Hazuma is both shocked and pleased at this as he is a big fan of “Red Axe”, the show and title character Kaname stared in.

While it initially it seems that Kaname is only doing this to restart his flagging acting career, a challenge for them to both duel each other reveals that Kaname wants to become Hazama’s master and train him to become a better hero. Naturally Hazama agrees to this. The training eventually leads to some wins in crime fighting for Samurai Flamenco. In the meantime Akira Konno of the tabloid news website “High Rollers Hi!” offers a substantial cash reward for anyone who unmasks Samurai Flamenco. The sudden fame and the reward means that Hazuma can’t really go out as Samurai Flamenco anymore without being harassed ion one form or another. This eventually leads him to be kidnapped by a gang of thugs who threaten to reveal his identity. He is saved a by a young woman in a magical girl-like outfit who calls herself Flamenco Girl. More violent (stomping on her opponent’s genitals is her finishing move) and vengeance based that Samurai Flamenco, Hazuma disagrees with her tactics. Her real identity is Mari Maya of the idol group Mineral Miracle Muse (MMM).  After coming to loggerheads with Hazuma, she ropes in her two fellow band members to dispense her own brand of justice as the Flamenco Girls. Along the way Hazuma does end up joining forces with them, but feels he is playing second fiddle to them.

Due to the amount of crime fighting by Samurai Flamenco and the Flamenco Girls, the police force decides to set up a team to help collect reports and complaints of the vigilante’s actions. Goto ends up being part of that two man team and he fells uneasy doing his job as well as partially cleaning up after Hazuma. Konno soon ups the reward money and includes the Flamenco Girls in the deal to unmask them as well. This causes major problems for our heroes. However Hazuma is courted by a scientist named Jun Harazuka who offers him a range of stationery themed weapons to use in his fight against criminals. The weapons help Hazuma immensely in his crime fighting duties. Due to his success in crime fighting, Samurai Flamenco is finally recognised by the police force. He is made the police chief for a day by the public relations section of the police force. While it is a PR stunt for the most part, Hazuma is taken out to the scene of a clandestine drug lab bust in the middle of the city. Everything seems to be going well until the police try to corner one of the suspects who seems to be high on drugs. The suspect runs into another room and takes out and swallows capsules from a draw. He begins to transform into an ape-like monster with a guillotine in place of his stomach. Bizarrely Hazuma’s dream of becoming of tokusatsu TV hero fighting an evil organisation full of monsters is becoming a reality.

OK, I have just revealed an important spoiler to the show in the previous paragraph. Be warned there’s a few more coming up. It’s really hard to talk about the show without mentioning some of them. “Samurai Flamenco” has been a really polarising show for many anime fans. Fandom generally has come down hard on the show, unjustifiably so in my opinion. This show was part of Fuji TV's noitaminA block in 2013 with production by the now defunct Manglobe (“Samurai Champloo”, “Ergo Proxy”, “Michiko to Hatchin” etc.) and direction by Takahiro Omori (“Koi Kaze”, “Hell Girl”, “Baccano!”, “Durarara!!”). Apart from really average animation (lots of off model stuff with some really substandard CG as well) the thing a lot of fans have a problem with is the way the show changes tact from the end of episode 7. Personally I don’t have a problem with this at all. Watching the show from start to finish you can see the progression and how it’s building up to what happens latter.

The show lulls you into thinking you're watching one type of show (about a tokusastu fanboy who wants to be a hero), then you're plunged into some sort of satire or deconstruction on tokusatsu hero TV shows, then on to sentai shows and finally Ultraman shows. Then it switches gears again in the last few episodes. I think the problem for most western fans is they aren't that familiar with the genre and are utterly baffled by what is going on. I think if you don't know much about the tropes of TV tokusatsu, you're not going to find it interesting. However if you are familiar the clichés of tokusastu hero TV series and sentai shows and the like, it's got a lot of really thoughtful and intriguing stuff to say about the genre and the fandom surrounding it. It does this also while walking a fine line balancing absurd humour and drama. At around the half way mark just as the From Beyond organisation is being defeated, the show even seems to suggest the world (or the universe) is bending to Hazama’s will or fantasies about becoming a tokusatsu TV hero. It’s truly strange and quite an intriguing story line.

With the subject matter there is a ton of references and nods to various tokusastu. For example Hazama’s favourite hero, Harakiri Sunshine (who as his name suggests performs a seppuku-like action when transforming), is blatantly referencing Kamen Rider. The Flamengers use every Toei sentai show cliché in the book and Joji Kaname does feel a bit like real life actor Daisuke Ban (“Kikaider”, “Inazuman”, “Battle Fever J”). In one episode Harazuka amusingly question why the monsters they’re fighting explode when they die, in reference to the same thing happening in sentai shows. The characters are quite interesting too. The idol Maya may have a uniform fetish (which irks Goto who isn’t interested in her at all) but is also a tortured musical genius with a lot of issues. Goto is probably the most interesting of the lot. While he fades into the background a bit from the middle of the series onwards, the writers really give the audience an emotional punch to the gut in the last arc of the show in regard to his character. While this kind of writing could be seen as blatant emotional manipulation and come off as mawkish, for some reason it doesn’t. It’s handled pretty well.

Due to its lack of popularity in the west, this show hasn’t had a smooth ride to home video. It did get a sub only DVD release from Madman Entertainment this year, but I really wasn’t interested in that version. All the Anime in the UK released a BD box set of the first half of the series in December, but they never solicited the second half. I noticed that their set had the French dub and subtitles included as well as English subtitles. All the Anime have a French video distribution arm called @Anime and have obviously licenced the series for both territories and have sensibly created a version that can be sold in both. So I took the chance of ordering the second BD box set from Amazon.fr thinking it would mimic the first. As I suspected it does indeed have English subs on it. So the only difference with the “Samurai Flamenco” All the Anime/@Anime BD sets is the removable info sheet on the back. Both sets are really well done with hardcover slips which hold two BDs each on a foldout digipak and a 20 page booklet with reference sheet are and designs. Bafflingly the UK division of All the Anime still haven’t solicited the second set, and I doubt they will at this stage.

Overall, “Samurai Flamenco” is a really intriguing and clever take on tokusatsu TV shows and fandom surrounding it. The humour which can be silly and absurd at times is offset very nicely by the drama. Some of it does get a bit too melodramatic and silly, but it’s rare when it happens. The biggest disappointment is the animation which is woeful at times and decent at its best. It really seems the budget was pretty low for this show. Fandom in the west didn't seem to take to this series at all, so getting the UK and French BD sets are the only way you’re going to get it on this format in English. 7.5 out of 10.

Remaining Backlog: 11 movies, three OVAs/specials, three TV series, also waiting for second parts for four shows to be released before viewing them.