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Library Wars Review

November 25, 2013

Library Wars
Studio: Toho
Publisher: Toho
Format: Cinema (Japanese Film Festival 2013)
Release Date: 15th November, 2013

Overview

Sometimes a film doesn’t have to be all that logical, sometimes being fun is enough. Such is the case with Library Wars, a live-action adaptation of Hiiro Arakawa’s high concept action-romance novel of the same name (which has also spawned a manga and anime). The film strained credibility with its preposterous concept of a world where censorship has gone so far that libraries have taken up military retaliation against the government agencies that seek to burn the books they hold so dear. It is enough to raise an eyebrow or two, but what Library Wars succeeds with is its sense of playful fun that underpins the more ridiculous aspects of its story.

Story

While Library Wars’ setting tends to be looked at as the main through-line thematically for the film, the real story at the heart of things is protagonist Kasahara’s search for the supposed ‘prince’ who saved her and her cherished book from the villainous censors. It is heavily evident that Kasahara’s prince is none other than main man Dojo. The film doesn’t exactly try to hide this fact either, quickly revealing the identity of the prince in order to progress the character dynamic.

Dojo is a very interesting character to say the least. He is a hard as nails kind of cop (if you want to call him that) who describes himself as a loose cannon several times throughout the film. There is a lot of cliched moments with Dojo but Junichi Okada rises above the weak material he is given (throwing in his badge and going rogue) with superb commitment to the character, giving life to Dojo in a way that very few could have.

There is also Kasahara, the leading lady portrayed by Nana Eikura in a frenetic yet playfully adorable performance. Kasahara deeply believes in the cause of the Library Defense Force but is often sidetracked by silly things like finding the prince who saved her book on a certain fateful day. She quickly gains a reputation as a bit of a silly goose around the Library Defense Force, but ultimately proves her worth and earns the respect of Dojo.

The film explores themes of censorship and the way it can impair freedom of speech. As far as execution of these themes go, Library Wars is sloppy at best. The concept itself is preposterous in every regard. It is very difficult to believe such laws would ever be passed or that libraries would become military units. Because of the lack of believably in the concept, there are instances where the film is unintentionally funny when it is trying to ponder deeper themes. At times you get the feeling that the people working on the film are aware of the silliness of the plot and they play it out for all the humour it is worth. Because of this a lot of the messages about censorship and freedom of speech are lost in the shuffle.

One other issue with the film is how it stages all conflicts as a losing battle for the Library Defense Force. The members of the force are trained not to shoot to kill, but rather to shoot to preserve. Because of this, there is never any sense that the Library Defense Force will ever defeat the enemy, rather they are merely holding them off until both sides agree to cease fire. It makes all of the ‘wars’ fought in the movie simply besides the point. The Library Defense Force is almost always on the losing side and it makes for frustrating viewing at times.

At its core, Library Wars is a fun film that won’t provoke much thought but it will entertain you for better or for worse. The story is silly but sometimes silly can be fun and with Library Wars that much is true. Its a fun little romp of a film and is a pleasant way to spend an hour and a half.

Visuals and Audio

The aesthetics of Library Wars are impressive to say the very least. The film features extensive pyrotechnics as well as high-octane combat sequences that are well-captured and conveyed. The lighting changes throughout the film from darker to lighter signifying change from hopelessness to hopefulness. The visual style of the titular libraries is a mix between old and new in what comes off as a 70s meets now mix of browns and oranges, it works well for establishing the library as a tenet of a time now gone, but also as a place that holds hope for the future.

As for the soundtrack, Library Wars features a solid set of compositions that complement the action on screen quite nicely. Unfortunately however there are times where the music has little to presence, making some scenes fall flat. On the flip side of that however there are some tracks that elevate scenes to great heights. All in all it is a hit and miss musical effort for Library Wars.

Overall

Library Wars is a silly film at its worst but it is a lot of fun at its best. It is a mash up of high concept action and fluffy romantic comedy in what amounts to a sloppy haphazard story-telling effort. The film’s strong suit is its playful sensibility and is an enjoyable ride because of it.

This is certainly not a film for everyone, it is far from spectacular in actuality. In spite of that however Library Wars does succeed on some level as an entertaining film in its own right. If you’re looking for some silly fun, Library Wars will do the trick, just don’t expect anything thought-provoking because Library Wars is simply not up to task.

Ultimately the film adapts Hiiro Arakawa’s popular novel quite well and instills a sense of fun to proceedings making a worthwhile watch. If there is anything to take away from Library Wars it is a good laugh and a smile across your face.

Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.

Disney Infinity Wave 2 Launches this Week

Andrew Day

November 25, 2013

October 31 saw the beginning of Disney Infinity’s Second Wave, starting with the infamous Jack Skellington. Well later this week Disney are unleashing the rest of Wave 2 into the wild, ready to join the Pumpkin King in Disney Infinity’s Toy Box Mode. From November 28th, there are six new figures available;

Anna (Frozen)
Will use her grappling hook to get to hard-to-reach places and use her shovel to defeat enemies.

Elsa (Frozen)
Will utilize her magical ice abilities, such as using the Freeze Ball to stop opponents in their tracks.

Woody (Toy Story) – Also playable in the Toy Story in Space Play Set
Rustle up some action with the rootenest-tootenest cowboy in the Wild, Wild West as he uses his shoulder charge to knock villains clean off the range or into outer space.

Ralph (Wreck-It Ralph)
The classic 8-bit character is making an appearance in a new video game! Ralph uses his wrecking abilities and 8-bit Cherry Bombs to defeat enemies.

Vanellope Von Schweetz (Wreck-It Ralph)
The Sugar Rush racer brings her amazing Glitch ability that will allow her to teleport short distances and glitch out characters that come in contact with her.

Rapunzel (Tangled)
With her beautiful long locks, fierce determination and signature frying pan, “Tangled’s” Rapunzel is a powerful Princess, whose unique style of combat will add exciting new creative play options.

In addition to the single figures, the second wave of Power Discs will also be available. Like the original set, these will be purchasable in blind packs of two. There will be 20 new Power Discs in Wave 2, bringing the total number of unlockables and character upgrades to 40. Anna and Elsa are also available together in the Frozen Toy Box Pack. The pack includes both figures, and two Frozen themed power discs to change the appearance of your Toy Box.

These figures will work on all versions of the game, and bring some impressive girl-power to the Disney Infinity lineup. We managed to get our hands on the Wave 2 figures and will be posting our impressions over the next few days, but in the mean time, check out our gallery of the new figures in their packaging below. As always stay tuned to Capsule Computers for all the Disney Infinity news as it becomes available.

Star Quest 2: United Galaxies hits Kickstarter

Amelia Craigie

November 25, 2013

Virtual Adventures are an indie games developer and publisher and they have announce the development of a PC game Star Quest 2: United Galaxies. There are currently on Kickerstarter seeking development funds and it is an immersive and incredibly large genre-mixing game. It is the 3^rd game created by ‘Virtual Adventures’ and is the sequel to their first game which they created back in 1995.

This game is combines the very best of space combat, real-time strategy and racing in space with endless hours of game play. Gamers can guide their own gaming experience by choosing to play as deadly gunner, ace pilot or even fleet commander to explore unknown galaxies. You can even play multi-player and co-op missions in 1^st or 3^rd person perspective as you battle for your life.

With its massive universe, great graphics, and ‘out-of-this-world’ action, Star Quest 2: United Galaxies is envisioned to become a classic upon release.

Pledge your support to the Kickstarter campaign here.

Noucome Episode 7 Impressions

James Mapley

November 25, 2013

Ore no Nounai Sentakushi ga, Gakuen Love Comedy wo Zenryoku de Jama Shiteiru
Episode 7 – ① Seira Sortie! ② Seira, Don’t Make Me Take My Clothes Off!

The Reject Five: A group of beautiful students, ostracised for their abnormal behaviour. Perverted, inappropriate, and just downright strange; this band of outcasts was been challenged by a team of their polar opposites. Those with style, flair, and who are adored by all around them – the five most popular students in school threw down the gauntlet several episode ago and this week’s episode finally saw yin and yang face off in one of the most strange competitions I have ever seen. Who would win, the Popular Five or the Reject Five?

Previously, we discovered that Kanade’s homeroom teacher was also a victim of ‘Absolute Choice’, but today’s introduction hinted that maybe others know about the god-given phenomenon. Seira, the school council president and the last girl that Kanade needed to say, “I like you,” mysteriously knew what he needed her to say and instead of helping him, decided to raise the stakes of the competition that we have been waiting weeks for. In the event that the Reject Five lost, she would refuse to say, “I like you,” dooming Kanade to a life of insane choices and everlasting social suicide. So, their only option was to win the competition and as the rounds rapidly rolled in showering us with a ludicrous display of yandere lolis, breast fondling, and oil wrestling, the Reject Five somehow narrowly came out victorious, preserving Kanade’s sanity for another challenge.

This big competition is what Noucome had been leading up to for 6 episodes and to be honest, for all the waiting, the payoff was really quite poor. A fine example of a main event done well is the school festival in the most thought-invoking highschool romcom of the year, Oregairu (Another series with a hideously obnoxious title). When watched together, it is plain to see that the substance and execution behind Noucome’s competition is barely even comparable. Not only was Noucome’s build-up much less profound, being mostly swept under the carpet in favour of rushed character introductions, but the actual event itself had absolutely no impact at all. Oregairu may have had some of its own issues involving character’s feelings not being addressed in the end, but its showpiece episode really struck home and exhibited its character’s motivations and flaws perfectly. Even Oreshura (Yep, there have been some killer names this year) which was essentially just a harem like Noucome had real emotional substance behind its big showcase episode because it spent a lot of time letting the viewer know why each of the girls involved loved the main character.

This is Noucome’s main fault that dooms it to be an average series at best. It uses its cast to great comical effect, but as far as the rom half of romcom goes, it has fallen flatter than Yukihira’s chest. Some might put this down to the fact that it was given a short run and had to rush through its source material, but then again I could give a strong argument for why Mondaiji was the best anime of 2013 and that was given the same number of episodes by the same animation company so that’s really no excuse.

At its core, Noucome is a harem that is heavily inspired by To LOVE-Ru, and that is made painfully apparent by its rampant use of stock characters and its alien-like lead female. However, To LOVE-Ru has had 3 separate series and over six years of weekly manga releases in Shōnen Jump to flesh out its gigantic cast of females. Noucome, on the other hand, has tried to cram eight love interests into seven episodes and thus far it has only given us reason to care for one and she barely even featured in this episode. Not only that, but the reasons for loving her were only given last week! I’d be willing to bet a small fortune that there will be no continuation to Noucome, so this leaves it underdeveloped, rushed, and painfully lacking half of what it needs to stand its ground in an obscenely oversaturated genre.

On the contrary, Noucome’s comedy focus means that it excels wherever jokes are involved. The scene in which ‘The World’s Little Sister’, Yuragi, had to show off her acting skills and chose to become a terrifying yandere, stabbing ‘Lion-sempai’ in the heart was brilliant and made me both burst out laughing and fear all little girls from now on. Yukihira’s slur match with ‘Silicone Inside’ was fantastic as well even though Yukihira went too far and managed to make herself lose by provoking Ayame too much. Admittedly, not every joke hit home and I still have yet to find a single word said or action taken by Ouka to be funny despite how hard it is pushed. I guess that is bound to happen when the anime is aiming for all types of otaku with its mix of archetypal girls, but even so it is unfortunate.

Next week it appears that we will be given a Chocolat based episode at long last, so maybe by the end of the series we will have more than one scene involving the ‘lead girl’ that has more emotion to it than that of eating sweets. Well… We can hope at least. If a scene addressing Yukihira’s reaction to the school council president and Chocolat confessing their love for Kanade is thrown in then hopefully next week’s review will be a lot more positive than this week’s. Don’t get your hopes up though; I am pretty cynical. Until next week.

For more reviews of this season’s best and worst anime head over to our Anime Impressions page and check them out!

Golden Time Episode 8 Impressions

James Mapley

November 25, 2013

Golden Time
Episode 8 – Reset

Another week, another sensational episode of my favourite romance of the year, Golden Time. This week’s episode served mainly as a fascinating insight into our main character, Tada Banri and the first thing that I noticed that I had never paid much attention to before is his weird habit of running away whenever he doesn’t want to confront something. Not just mentally running away, but literally running away. Last episode he ran from Linda when she wanted to talk to him and in the intro of this episode we saw him do the exact same thing in a flashback. We have yet to see any straightforward signs of affection from Linda towards the current Banri, but through flashbacks we are seeing more and more suggesting that even if she doesn’t love him now, she definitely loved him in the past. One thing is for certain though – that even as a ghost the old Tada Banri hasn’t forgotten his feelings for Linda, but as he says, “that has nothing to do with the current Banri.” For now at least.

Another thing that surprised me was the revelation that Banri had such a funny, on-the-spot sense of humour. When he pretended to be Mitsuo’s boyfriend I lost it. His impression of Kouko was spot-on and it was a nice touch pointing out that he is entirely conscious of Kouko’s flamboyant nature despite loving her. He showed another side to himself as well when he went out of his way to help Mitsuo when we’ve really only seen him help Kouko in the past. Linda’s advice must have really cheered him up and lifted a considerable weight. How dramatically it affected his behaviour though clearly showed how important Linda is to him, even if the reason is not entirely apparent to him yet.

On a side note, I am happy that Mitsuo, 2D-kun, and Chinami aren’t being reduced to simple background characters. Some of the best romance series remain vividly engraved in my mind because of the sub-plots as much as the bulk of the anime. For example, Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun has a brilliant main arc and the relationship is really sweet, but the sub-plots involving the love rival, Kenji, and the suggested love between Asako and Mitsuyoshi keep the plot from becoming stale and make the whole series feel more dynamic.

In a world where most of an anime’s plot can be guessed from the outset, something that I treasure is unpredictability. When writers have the guts to stand at a crossroad and head down the path less travelled it inspires me personally as a writer and that is something that Golden Time does masterfully and surprisingly frequently. When Banri asked Linda what she was going to reply to his confession before the accident I was muttering, “Oh, don’t say yes! what are you doing Banri?” I fully expected her to say yes and the resulting feeling of guilt would be enough to tear Banri apart at the seams. Instead, she said no and it actually took Banri ‘falling asleep for a second’ and saying something unexpected to give a lesser sense of guilt without making you hate Linda which I fear would have happened had she said yes. However, I don’t believe that it was simply Banri’s brain lapsing for a second. The spirit of Tada Banri was standing right beside him and although we haven’t seen himactively do anything yet, off camera I think he might have exerted his influence on his current self, forcing him to ask Linda if she wanted to go back. He is forced to walk in Banri’s shadow forever; it makes sense that he wants answers… comfort.

My overall feelings on Banri still remain fairly jumbled and unresolved at this point which I put down to extremely intricate narrative. In a story where a character has amnesia it makes sense that you would find it hard to confirm their emotions because who knows if they even understand them themselves? One second I am surprised by his kindness towards his friends and then the next he is going behind his adoring girlfriend’s back and speaking to Linda which Kouko defined as cheating a little earlier in the episode. Originally, I thought that Kouko was the emotionally unstable one that would tear apart their relationship, but while that still holds to an extent, Banri is the one actively going out of his way to ‘cheat’ on her and in all honesty I am beginning to get the impression that underneath his front of kindness there is a confused and selfish person that doesn’t really know what to do.

Next episode’s preview looked foreboding and left me with a million questions. The episode’s title, “With You Again,” could mean so many things! Is Banri going to get back with Linda? Or is the glimpse of Banri wearing a bandage on his head a hint that he is going to have another accident and the ghost of Tada Banri will become one with him again? Is this small run of love-filled, happy episodes like last week finally coming to an end in a tragic way? I don’t think my heart can take this kind of abuse! I guess we’ll just have to wait anxiously until next week to have our questions answered.

For more awesome reviews of this season’s best and worst anime, head over to our Anime Impressions page.

Check out more Golden Time impressions HERE.

Dragon Ball Z: Battle Of Gods Review

Frank Inglese

November 25, 2013

Dragon Ball Z: Battle Of Gods
Studio: Toei Animation
Publisher: Madman
Format: Cinema
Release Date: 24th November 2013 (Japan Film Festival 2013)

Overview

Dragon Ball Z has been around since the mid 80s and to this day I can’t honestly say it has dropped in popularity, it has only ever gotten bigger and better and, despite what some fans say, it really can do no wrong. While many things inspired Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball Z has inspired many other Manga and Anime series’ and without the work of Akira Toriyama (the creator of DBZ) a great deal of these newer titles wouldn’t be what they are. Dragon Ball Z: Battle Of Gods is the Eighteenth movie in the DBZ movie series and would have to be one of the most intense and aesthetically beautiful films I have seen in quite some time, all your favourite characters return, there’s a new threat to face and, thanks to the 2013 Japanese Film Festival, us here at Capsule Computers got to see it in all it’s silver screen glory.

Story

Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods is, through and through, a very typical Dragon Ball Z movie; there’s an infinitely powerful bad guy, the world is in peril, there’s talk of an explosive power that can be obtained and the only person who stands even a fraction of a chance is our hero Goku. At first this concept of Goku always having to be the saviour would have been one that would get audiences sighing and scoffing but the fact that Dragon Ball Z has always been like this for many years makes it so that audiences wait for Goku’s appearance instead of dreading when the inevitable happens.

After a great number of years the God of Destruction, Bills, awakens from a slumber wherein which he dreamt of a power that threatens to match that of his, after talking with his “carer”, Whis, they come to the conclusion that this power, the “Super Saiyan God” lies dormant somewhere on earth within a Saiyan. Goku, who is training with King Kai on his minuscule planet, catches wind of the awakening of Bills and his incredible power and, in typical Goku style, itches to battle the God. Before heading off to earth, Bills and Whis stop off to see Goku and King Kai and, after a bout between Goku and Bills, they head off to Earth hoping that a Saiyan more powerful than Goku waits somewhere there, did I mention Goku lost against Bills? Yeah…he lost.

On Earth the usual team are celebrating Bulma’s birthday with a huge party, Vegeta is off training somewhere when he gets a “call” from King Kai explaining the situation; Bills has the power to destroy planets without breaking a sweat and, much like a child, if he doesn’t get what he wants he throws a tantrum the likes of which you’ve never seen before. Bills and Whis end up joining the little party after a conversation with Vegeta, who seems to be acting extremely out of character due to sheer fear of Bills. This part of the movie is actually extremely humorous and the humour leads onto the cinematic and epic fights.

Without giving too much away, what sets Bills off is not the fact that the “Super Saiyan God” isn’t on Earth, it is because our old friend Buu would not share any pudding with him, do recall me comparing Bills to a child? That’s exactly what he is. Now there’s a great deal more that happens in the movie and there’s even a little side story that melds into the bulk of the story which just so happens to feature Emperor Pilaf and his two-man crew but for this review what’s above is sufficient, the rest HAS to be seen rather than read.

What I liked about this movie is that it hasn’t strayed from the typical Dragon Ball Z layout, which after all these years has become its own thing entirely and without the silly humour and the incredible fights between Goku and an enemy the series wouldn’t be the same. The in-story humour was very present, moreso than any other Dragon Ball Z film I’ve ever seen and the fact that Bills, the antagonist of the film, decided to rampage over something as simple as pudding was a little bit off-putting and while it worked out by the end to be more than just a pudding rage it was still very much there in the back of my mind, it almost jumped straight from humour to action but I can understand why.

Pride played a big part as a theme in this film; Vegeta set aside his pride when he sung and danced to defuse a situation between Bills and the others at the party and Goku set aside his pride when he obtained the “Super Saiyan God” power, unfortunately I can’t explain it without spoiling the movie so I’ll be leaving you a little out of the loop. I liked the theme of pride because the Saiyan race pride themselves on pride, it is present in almost every Saiyan being from Raditz to Vegeta and in most cases they can never put it aside, save for this one where they are basically forced to. The ending was both expected yet unexpected and, while I can’t go into details, you’ll be very pleased with the way it turns out, it’s fresh yet it sticks to typical DBZ traditions and it works very well.

Visuals

This movie is absolutely brilliant visually, there’s an almost perfect mix of CGI Animation and Traditional Animation to the point where I believe for the very first time this mix was done perfectly. The CGI Animation only became present during intense situations where a majority of the screen was populated by the flashing of energy or the swift attacks of the fighters and while there was some noticeable CGI scenes they were done well enough for it not to look corny and for people in the audience to not make a big deal about it. The animation in general was fluid and done well, it would have to be the most well-animated Dragon Ball Z movie to date and it makes sense to be because it is the latest of the series.

The environments throughout were almost breathtaking, I’ve never seen the Dragon Ball Z world in this way and to see it both animated well and on the big screen just blew me right away. There was never a dip in animation quality, it kept it’s integrity the whole way through and it’s safe to say that my mind wasn’t the only one that was blown away by its aesthetics of it all. You could take a screenshot of many parts of the movie and, chances are, it would look not only epic but incredibly cinematic, and that’s just from a glance. The two warriors actually fought in many different environments from the city to the mountains and even under the soft soil that lies beneath the ocean, there was so much to see and I just couldn’t get enough of it.

Audio

This is where I’d have to take off points and I hate doing it but I just have to, I cannot be biased because of my love for the franchise. The Japanese voice acting was sub-par to say the least, Goku is no longer a child yet he has the voice of a pre-pubescent boy, his voice not only doesn’t suit the character, it is also incredibly annoying and while you learn to live with it so that the movie can be enjoyed it is still there at all times and still to the very last minute it does not suit. Now I’m going to admit that I just wasn’t used to it because I had always followed the English Dubbed Anime but, from hearing murmurs around the cinema, I could tell that people weren’t all that impressed with what our hero sounded like.

King Kai was also a weird case, it seems as though his voice didn’t entirely match the actions of the character and, once again, it was a little off putting, fortunately for the film the rest of the voice actors were one hundred percent on the ball and sounded fantastic. The music througout the movie was absolutely brilliant, they used a cover version of the original Dragon Ball Z theme, “Cha-La Head Cha-La”, alongside some brand-new music, I’ll say that it made up for the terror that is Goku’s Japanese voice.

Overall

Dragon Ball Z fans will love this movie and if they don’t I think they’re just looking at it the wrong way. The animation is perfect, the music and sound effects are great, Goku and Gohan’s Japanese voices don’t suit the characters at all and the idea of Bills getting upset over pudding is very silly but they are just minor things, in a way, get brushed off when the true action kicks in and you start to understand the undertones of pride and power. I absolutely loved this movie, it brought me back to my childhood and it, I believe, has made audiences around the world feel the same. Dragon Ball Z is an incredible series and this movie is just another incredible part of it. Perfect for all ages, perfect for all fans of Anime, even those NOT into Dragon Ball Z, and going into it with a slightly more opened mind will allow you to have a brilliant movie experience.

Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.

CC Impact! Presents World of Warplanes

Jamie Laike Tsui

November 25, 2013

This episode of CC Impact! features WarGaming’s new MMO flight sim World of Warplanes. The free to play game takes players into the sky in over a hundred different planes from the US, UK, USSR, Germany, and Japan. The planes span from WWI to the Korean War. The game has been in testing for over two years, with the game finally reaching official release on November 12th and 13th, 2013.

Senior Editor Jamie Laike Tsui demonstrates the how to navigate the tech tree and upgrades menu of World of Warplanes. Then, hop into the cockpit for some intense dog fighting in the skies over Harbor and El Halluf.

Shield Of Straw Review

Frank Inglese

November 25, 2013

Shield Of Straw
Studio: NTV/OLM, Inc.
Publisher: Warner Bros. (Japan)
Format: Cinema
Release Date: 23rd November 2013 (Japan Film Festival 2013)

Overview

Japanese cinema is a wonderful and sometimes beautiful thing that, although similar to the Western style of film making, can be something entirely different and in some cases infinitely better but, like all forms of media, there is the good and the bad and you really can never have one without the other. Takashi Miike is a very popular Japanese film director who is famous for a great deal of movies like Crows Zero One and Two, the Ace Attorney movie, Ichi The Killer, and many more. His latest movie, Shield Of Straw, is a film full of action, thrills and a great deal of symbolism and conflicting standpoints that, while long and oddly paced, makes for an incredible ride that really screams “Takashi Miike!”.

Story

Shield Of Straw follows the story of a small group of highly-trained police officers who must escort and protect a child-molester and murderer named Kunihide Kiyomaru who is played by Tatsuya Fujiwara which you may know from films like Battle Royale or the live-action Death Note movies. Kiyomaru was a repeat offender, a sick man who never learned his lesson and really never made any attempt to repent or repay for the crimes he had committed. The granddaughter of a well-known billionaire, Ninagawa, was unfortunately a victim of Kiyomaru, thankfully he was convicted and sent to prison for many years but this just wasn’t enough for the grieving grandfather, he wanted Kiyomaru to suffer, suffer like his granddaughter did.

Skip ahead many years to the day Kiyomaru is released from prison, the newspaper goes out all around Tokyo with the mans face printed over every front page, the paper reads something along the lines of “The person who finds and kills Kiyomaru will be rewarded with One Billion Yen”, that isn’t verbatim but I’m going to assume you get the idea. Now despite Ninagawa giving a distinct rule that Kiyomaru must only be killed legally, the only two legal ways of killing people are if done through acts of war or the death penalty is given out by a governing legal entity, most characters totally disregard these two rules and it really only makes an appearance closest to the end.

All of Japan are after this man and the small task force must protect him since he is a Japanese citizen and for all intents and purposes he has done his time and is now an active member of society, the police officers lead by Lieutenant Kazuki Mekari must now transport this man to Tokyo where he will be taken into custody and ultimately into safety considering what they assume is about to go down, whatever it is the higher ups assumed would happen ends up being a great deal worse now that all of Japan is out to kill Kiyomaru. The film deals with deception a lot throughout the movie, every person that comes into contact with Kiyomaru has a motive to kill him whether it be strictly for the money or the hate they have for this man in general.

Shield Of Straw revolves around the theme of backstabbing alongside the conflict between ideals and decisions, the main crew are constantly questioning each other both about their dedication to the job and on whether or not protecting this man will ultimately do any good, they’re great questions to ask in-film because I can imagine the audience asking themselves the same thing. While the pacing of the story does drag on near the end it is still a very good one indeed and deserves merit for what it put forth to the audience and the way that, in end, it actually kept us in our seats. While there is a great deal of action, it’s spread throughout the film nicely and I feel as though it didn’t need much more because it was a movie will of questions and answers which cannot be put across through simple fighting.

I have to admit; it DOES get a little convoluted at times which did put a little pressure on me to be fully sucked into the film, luckily the characters have really in-depth and very good back stories that make you feel for them as well as making you understand why it is they say certain things and why it is they do certain things. Shielf Of Straw is basically a series of mistakes and fixing those mistakes only to make more mistakes. I’m still speaking of the story here, not the movie in general.

Mekari will do anything to complete his mission despite the fact that it goes against everything he stands for, through death, destruction and carnage he carries on, with a broken spirit he fights through because, in end, he knows that his conscience will be clean and that, despite what the majority believe, he has done the right thing. He also happens to have the best and most in-depth back story out of all the main cast and it is very interesting to witness throughout the film. If it was paced a little bit better and maybe a few key aspects were fleshed out more, the story would have been absolutely perfect.

Visuals

Shield Of Straw was developed by a masterful director so as you can imagine it was full of beautiful shots and haunting angles that really allow you to get a feel for the situations you’re viewing. Slow, panning shots and hard cuts were incredibly present throughout the whole film and they were used incredibly well. Despite only really having six main cast members all together at one the movie had a lot of these panning shots and they were done very well because the six were constantly battling the masses, whether it be a small army of SWAT officers or a panicked crowd scurrying for their lives, the main team were always battling something bigger than them, that’s where this panning and sweeping shots really made their mark, going from six scared faces to a deadly crowd of emotionless helmets and battle gear is truly a terrifying thing to witness and it was done perfectly.

Having hard cuts in intense and epic situations make for an incredible cliffhanger most of the time but in Shield Of Straw I found that it did something different, something almost Reservoir Dogs-like, the way they cut and the scenes in which they did led you to wonder exactly what happened in that gap between then and now and the fact that you never see it nor do they ever mention it leaves enough to the imagination that you speculate from then on. Shots that make you think. Just incredible.

Audio

Above all else in this movie I felt as though the lack of music was the most outstanding audio aspect. There WAS music throughout, during intense situation and what not but, as mentioned, it was the lack of music in certain scenes that really allowed them to set in. The sound of an incoming storm, the wind in trees, the clinging of wind chimes as the main protagonist and antagonist face off is something so fascinating, it hits you a fair bit and the use of it throughout the film is absolutely fantastic to say the least. I’m going to place acting in the audio section simply because of the emotion in the actors and actresses voices throughout the movie.

To see a man who has stayed mostly quiet during the film scream in fear, sadness, aggression and frustration is something that, much like those calm yet tension-filled scenes, really hits you and sticks with you afterwards. The fact that I’m actively imagining specific scenes as I’m writing this review is a true testament to that. Clearly these actors were perfect for their roles because their portrayal of such conflicting characters were almost perfect in so many ways and I really couldn’t imagine an American actor play a role this good, whether not I’m bumping it up to be more than it is that’s your job to decide but I have to give credit when credit is due and these actors really made their bones.

Overall

It is simply a fantastic movie that is just lacking certain things, not big things but definitely things that are noticeable and questioned afterwards which leads to the doubting of the movie and everything it has to offer which is terrible but it has to be outlined. Not every movie can be perfect, not every movie is perfect, this movie isn’t perfect but it is a brilliant film full of hard-hitting questions and even harder-hitting actors and actresses.

If you’re more action-inclined than this movie truly isn’t for you at all, thriller fans will enjoy it as well as mystery fans but the true audience for this movie are those who question, have strong moral opinions and ideals, this is what the movie revolves around and thrives on and it will really resonate with you if you work the way it does. Try not to mind the odd pacing and the way it drags on as well as certain little aspects not being outlined, while they may be annoying they are still thought-provoking and, had those little things been worked out, it would have been an absolutely perfect movie. All in all it’s still a great film and one that any Takeshi Miike fan should watch.

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Persona 4: The Ultimax Ultra Suplex Hold hits Japanese PS3’s next summer

Travis Bruno

November 24, 2013

Not only did Atlus drop the announcement that everyone has been waiting for by officially revealing Persona 5, the company had a number of other announcements under their belt, including a release window for the console version of their latest fighting game, Persona 4: The Ultimax Ultra Suplex Hold.

The follow-up to Persona 4 Arena, the review of which an be found here, is a continuation of the first game’s story and includes a number of enhancements, shadow versions of current characters, and three new playable characters. It is worth noting that the game will be released in Japanese arcades sometime this winter so expect additional details as they are made available. For now, check out the latest trailer below.

Persona 5 officially announced for the PlayStation 3

Travis Bruno

November 24, 2013

Many thought that the announcement would come today, but after Atlus announced a chibi dungeon crawler and a dancing game, many Persona fans were growing concerned. However Atlus did not leave fans empty handed as the company has officially announced Persona 5 and it will be released on the PlayStation 3 in the winter of 2014 in Japan.

At the time of the announcement, and the trailer below which you can check out for yourself, we have very few details about the game except for that Katsura Hashino will be directing, Shigenori Soejima will be handling the art, and Shoji Meguro is handling the music. So now that the game has finally been announced, here come’s the wait for details.

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