Comments on: This week in Netflix

By: Summer

Summer — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 20:18:22 +0000

That’s actually an old movie–it’s just being released on DVD for the first time in the U.S. It originally came out in 1991.

By: Ethan Kaye

Ethan Kaye — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:34:44 +0000

Gotham Knight was Japanese animation but US writers (maybe British, I’m not 100% who though). I felt kind of ripped-off by it, considering I spent full price on it at Circuit City. I just didn’t like it and that the segments should have been longer.

By: Hardtravelinghero

Hardtravelinghero — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 21:59:09 +0000

Really, how DOES the bomb explain hentai penis demons?

Is it because the nation was atomically raped? What? WHAT the F***?!

PS: Anime has gotten repetitive and boring for me as well. I haven’t liked anything since… probably Cowboy Bebop and FLCL. The last movie I liked was probably Princess Mononoke. There were a few I watched such as Paprika and Steamboy for the visual style, but they just sort of let me down. I’m not sure why. I’m sticking with the few shows I like, and Berserk, though I may be forgetting one or two series I liked, and Vampire Hunter D (80s), Akira, The Animatrix, and Ghost in the Shell for movies. Again, there may be one or two I liked that I am forgetting. I haven’t seen Spriggan in a long time. That might go up there. Batman: Gotham Knight didn’t do much for me, but that may be the writing more than the style. Mostly written by American and maybe a few Brit writers from what I recall of the credits.

By: Ethan Kaye

Ethan Kaye — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 16:14:12 +0000

You know, I was going to mention the link between WWII and the current state of Japanese film, but I felt the article was going a little long so I didn’t. That cataclysm has been echoing through the national consciousness pretty steadily since the end of the war. I think what has been produced, strangely enough, is a reflection of what actually ended up happening with Japanese culture: it went all techno-crazy. In real-life, the Japanese became an highly industrious, gadget-heavy, country of the future after the war, while in anime the Japanese have become police-heavy, militaristic, and, again, techno-crazy. Plus demons everywhere, which is a tiny link to the past. But using the same ideas over and over again and just rearranging them in a new sense isn’t progress. It’s photocopying (as you can tell by the art), which is why a lot of stylized art is dull after a short while (think ancient Egypt). I think that the real triumphs in Japanese culture are the pieces that transcend the prevailing genres because, really, there’s just so much out there that it’s white noise at this point.

By: Joe - Foreign Film Reviewer

Joe - Foreign Film Reviewer — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 14:03:16 +0000

Yeah, I totally see what you mean about Japan’s preoccupation with destroying Tokyo in any number of ways, and fascination with monsters (guys in rubber suits) and/or giant household insects running amok.

Much of that annihilation anxiety/fascination came about after World War 2. Remember: Japan still holds the record as the ONLY country in the world that has ever had a nuclear weapon used against them. That has psychologically affected (or some could argue, damaged) that nation forever.

Artistic expression has always commonly been an outlet in response to traumatic events. Shortly after the bombs were dropped, many artists/writers obviously became obsessed with this world-changing chapter in history.

Watching Tokyo getting blown up/melted/eaten in a fictional setting, such as a movie or cartoon, are ways to process that event from a “safe” distance. Even though it happened way back in 1945, the effects of an atomic bomb last for a VERY LONG time. But even if modern anime and sick horror movies aren’t directly related to the bombing, they’re inspired by earlier successful works or major events that were.

So until Nagasaki and Hiroshima stop glowing in the dark, we’re likely to see more tentacle monsters and giant robots at a store near you.

By: Ethan Kaye

Ethan Kaye — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 13:51:09 +0000

I have often maintained that the Japanese, as a society not individuals, are insane. Every week
I read another netflix description that is as loony as this one is. And every week I say to myself, “No, it’s not bad enough to say something”.

By: Hardtravelinghero

Hardtravelinghero — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 04:05:18 +0000

Fucking brilliant, E. You should introduce yourself as E and then say, “Like the drug. One taste of me gets you all horny.” They’ll love that in Japan.

Now I’m going to forward this to my girlfriend because we’ve been talking about the unique perverseties of the Japanese people of late.