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Kaubôi bibappu: Cowboy Bebop (1998)
An ageless classic of not just Japanese Animation, but media in general
There are many shows or movies that have such a massive fan base and are held as undeniable classics of their genre. Many of which I disagree with. Titanic isn't very interesting to me, nor does beloved anime like My Hero Academia interest me very much either.
However, Cowboy Bebop is very much worthy of its status as a classic of the Anime medium.
Defining what makes this show such a classic is both easy and challenging. On the outset, it's a simple show; two Cowboys (or Bounty Hunters) fly around in the spaceship named 'Bebop' roam the galaxy looking for bounties to catch in hopes of paying for their next meal. There's action, comedy and moments of drama thrown into the mix, shown against Jazz and Blues music. It seems simple.
But if you dive deeper, the show is more complex than that.
Alongside most episodes that are self-contained in nature (described by the show's creator Shinichiro Watanabe as 'short films) are episodes that have an overarching theme running through them; the nature of one's past. Easy to ignore but hard to forget. The three main characters (Cool guy Spike Spiegel, Head of the Bebop and somewhat down to earth Jet Black and Faye Valentine, a girl with a strange and unsure past) all go through their own story arcs and development within themselves.
Let's look at the show more in depth and break it down:
Story: 10/10
Story is the interesting part of the show. For what we get, Cowboy Bebop's story is tightly written and layered in mystery. While the show is largely episodic in nature, we do get small segments of the overarching story woven through it. The main story is told through only 5 episodes; A stand-alone episode and 2 double part episodes. These were probably my favorite parts of the show. But that doesn't mean that the stand-alone episodes outside these 5 are lesser, as they are all entertaining to some degree. Whether it's an episode that's more light-hearted or one that tackles a meaningful theme, every episode of Cowboy Bebop is written extremely well. Every line of dialogue and every solution to their current episode's problem are tight and well worth it.
Art: 10/10
Cowboy Bebop is a beautiful show to look at. Taking inspirations from Film-noir, Sci-Fi and the Western genre, particularly American and European movies and shows from the past, Cowboy Bebop uses a lot of unconventional 'camera' angles that aren't used much in anime (especially modern anime), but are common in Film Noir flicks from the 40s. Harsh lighting with stark contrasts are seen in a lot of dark scenes with angles that highlight scale and importance to certain characters or events.
The designs of the spacecraft and future technology have that old aesthetic from 80s films set in the future where everything looks like it's from the 80s (or 90s in this case) but simply have a small Sci-Fi twist on them. Character designs are distinct and memorable, the colors used are vibrant while managing to look bleak depending on the atmosphere and the intro is one of the most memorable looking intros to any Anime
Sound: 10/10
Jazz and blues are all over the show. From fight scenes, to chase scenes, to space battles, to moments when the characters are just lazing around with nothing to do. Every piece of music fits the scene like a glove. The jazz brings out the film-noir atmosphere, with heavy brass and piano sections sitting alongside the deep expanse of the galaxy, to Spike fighting hand to hand with opponents. The blues brings out the western influences, with slide steel guitar set upon beautiful shots of the baking hot sun on the deserts of Mars and Earth, or to bars where everyone smokes and drinks.
For dialogue, it's interesting to note that this is a show that is widely known for the strength of its English dub. While most shows have dubs that may be considered bad or on par with the Japanese audio, Cowboy Bebop's dub is considered far stronger than its Japanese audio. Every dub voice was picked flawlessly. Steve Blum as Spike is pitch perfect an every one of his lines avoids the typical dub problems of either being too over the top or rushing lines to fit all the words into the frames of dialogue. It feels almost as though the show was written for the dub in mind.
Character: 10/10
This is where the show succeeds the most. I loved every character in Cowboy Bebop. Spike is by far one of the coolest characters ever written. From his carefree attitude, his demeanor, his crooked cigarette and even his Bruce Lee influenced fighting style that is almost like a dance routine, Spike oozes coolness and suave. He's also a fairly sophisticated character, with multiple levels to his personality and with a backstory that explains his dislike for women (though it's in no way a sexist or misogynistic reason).
Jet Black is Spike's crewmate, though he is actually the Captain of their ship 'Bebop'. If Spike is the mysterious cowboy with a troubled past, Jet is the straight man. He tries on occasion to knock sense into Spike, though it mostly falls on deaf ears. He usually tries his best to trust people, though if they can't pay debts back, that trust only goes so far.
Faye Valentine is the lead female character. Her past is the most interesting off all, one that I don't wish to ever spoil for anyone. She dresses lightly in a way that could be considered objectifying, but she dresses this way to get what she wants. It's easy to have a main female character be the center of the two male character's affections as a love interest, but Cowboy Bebop never goes there. In fact, Jet and Spike usually can't stand her most of the time. Faye is allowed to stand on her own.
There're other characters in Cowboy Bebop too, but are best left to discovering yourself for the first time.
Enjoyment and Overall score: 10/10
Every minute of every episode in Cowboy Bebop is enjoyable, crafted beautifully by people who love what they do and understand how to make a multi layered show that seems to be simplistic at first look.
A true masterpiece of Anime
The Shadow (1994)
Who knows what Magic lurks in this underrated Classic?
From his inception as a mysterious Radio Narrator, to his adaption into the Pulps in the early 30s, to his own Radio show, not to mention countless comics and live action attempts (one of which was amazing, more on that later), the Shadow has waged his war on crime by lurking in the Shadows. For decades, The Shadow had remained a cult hero. Once extremely popular (arguably more popular in his prime than Batman was in his), he fell in obscurity as the Pulps lost popularity due to Comics and Radio gave way to TV, not to mention a lack of a long running Comic series.
In 1994, another (and sadly, what seems like the last) adaption for the big screen was released, starring big names such as Alec Baldwin, Ian McKellen and Tim Curry. Unfortunately, the movie was a massive bomb, only grossing $8 million more than it's production budget and critics not liking it. From what I saw, I didn't see why. The Shadow is probably the best Comic Book adaption of the 1990s, next to Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (which was also a financial failure, weirdly enough).
Alec Baldwin portrays Lamont Cranston, who at the start of the movie is a corrupt drug lord living in Tibet. He's soon kidnapped by a Monk and forcefully rehabilitated to be reverted back to good and is taught how to 'Cloud the minds of men'. Cut to Seven years later, and Lamont (now as the Vigilante The Shadow) saves a man from dying on a bridge. He recruits him into his group of 'Agents', all working for him in separate sections and specialties.
From there, we find out that a man by the name of Shiwan Khan, the last descendant of Genghis Khan and the Shadow's long running villain in the Pulps, has returned to New York City and hypnotizes various people to help him craft a nuclear bomb, to 'Finish what Genghis Khan started'.
Alec Baldwin is an inspired choice for the title role. His manages to play the tortured hero really well, but at the same he plays it with a slight cheesiness and camp factor. The fact that this version of the character was once a criminal himself and he is trying to make up for it adds drama and drive in the way that
a lot of Superhero movies lack. The Shadow knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men. He's been there, and he's felt it. The movie also does a good job showing why just the Red scarf around the lower part of his face is such a good disguise as well, he can physically make his face look different, which keys into his clouding men's minds aspect.
John Lone as Shiwan Khan is quite a compelling Villain, even if he is slightly cliche and not overly unique. He has seen Lamont's past as a criminal and has studied his past actions. He's inspired by Lamont's actions and tries to turn him evil again. A lot of movies have the hero and the Villain connected in different ways, but I've never seen it done like this before.
Penelope Ann Miller as Margo Lane is another great choice. Even though I'll always prefer Agnes Moorehead' Radio portrayal as Lamont's female companion, and even Veda Ann Borg' slightly different version from the exceptional 1940 Serial, Ann Miller's portrayal is still really great. With an added ability of Telepathy and not a single case of her being a typical Damsel in distress (instead she comes to save Lamont a few times), she is really different from most female leads and love interests at the time.
The Shadow doesn't take itself overly seriously, and decides to be lighthearted in a lot of ways. This isn't The Dark Knight, where it tries to take it'self so unbelievably serious that it becomes boring. it knows it's source material and the type of film, and has fun with it. it's also noted that this version of the character is really a mixture of the Radio version (able to turn invisible, he is actually Lamont Cranston as opposed to the Pulps version where he is former WWI pilot Kent Allard who only pretends to be Lamont Cranston, Margo Lane is in it from the start) and the pulps version (outfit, twin guns, tone and his agents).
If there's any problems I have with the movie, it's 2 things. Some of the writing and acting don't really hold up and distracts from the movie, and Tim Curry is someone I can never take seriously in a movie, and not really in a good way either.
Overall, The Shadow is the best live action Super Hero Movie of the 90s, and one of my new favorites.
D.O.A. (1949)
A gripping Murder Mystery, told by a Dead man
The Film-Noir genre is one that I've never explored. Using my Amazon Prime account, I found 'D.O.A.' available for free to watch, and after a long, busy shift at work, I decided to spend the Next Hour and Half watching the movie, and I'm glad I did
Frank Bigelow (played flawlessly by Edmond O'Brien) staggers into a Police Station to report a murder. When asked who was murdered, he simply replies with 'I was'. At first, they brush it off as nonsense, but after pleading to hear him out, the Police department sit down to hear his tale.
Rather than being portrayed in the present, the whole movie's events are told through the point of view of Frank, right from the setting up of his character, until he solves his own Murder. The whole movie is expertly made, as all through the movie, there's nothing that gives the Murder's identity away, leaving the audience just as clueless as Bigelow.
Edmond O'Brien is an inspired choice to play Frank. A somewhat relatable character, you start to panic and be just as desperate for answers as he is. The rest of the cast also play extremely well thought out and well acted roles that really add to the story. Not a single character detracts from the experience
I was on the edge of my seat though out the whole thing. With the clock ticking down and Frank's condition getting worse by the minute, his patience and mental starts to go as well.
Overall, D.O.A. is a murder mystery with a great twist. Instead of a detective trying to solve someone else's murder, it's instead a dying man trying to solve his own Murder before it's too late. It's definitely worth watching, and as it's been in the Public Domain for a while, it's very easy to track down to watch
9/10
Koe no katachi (2016)
Your past actions don't define your entire life
I watched this movie only yesterday, and I was really entertained by the whole movie. But it wasn't until today that I realized just how much I loved it. Various scenes went around in my head and the messages of the movie were made clear in my mind.
Is this the greatest movie ever made? No. Is it one of my personal favorite movies of all time? Without a doubt, the answer is yes.
From a story point of view, Koe no Katachi is a very unique movie. To my knowledge, there has never been an animated movie based around a Deaf character in any shape or form, and if there were, the deafness is usually used as a comedic tool. This movie takes the concept of a deaf girl and uses it as an aid for emotion. This is a redemption story, about a man who tries to redeem himself not for anyone else in particular, but instead for himself and the girl, as he realizes that what he did all those years ago was wrong and he needs to put them right
As this is an Anime movie, Art is very important to get right. This movie has an believably beautiful, yet simplistic art style. For me, it fits somewhere between the shade and detail heavy (yet somewhow still simplistic) Kimi No Na Wa and the simple shade light style of Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo. It's very pleasing to the eyes and heavily relies on a lot of light shades of colour, which contrasts very nicely with any shading it might use
Soundwise, the movie uses a lot of pleasing piano melodies that accentuate the raw emotional parts of certain scenes and really draws you in. The use of the Who's 'My Generation' at the start isn't something that I expected in this kind of film (usually it's a J-Rock or J-Pop song), but it fits with the part it's used in. The neding some also has beautiful lyrics that sum up the messages in the movie
The characters in this film all have defining traits that make them stand out. The main character's redemption completely changes his character, to the point where he changes for the better, while still containing elements of his personality of his younger self. The deaf girl is a beautiful character who only wants people to understand what she's been through and to always show a smile and always look on the bright side. She is without a doubt my favorite character in the movie, as her determination to put things right even if they aren't her fault really spoke to me and I really wanted her to be happy. Plus I thought she was just really adorable and by the end I just really wanted to reach out and give her a big hug and let her know everything is OK. i won't talk about the other characters as it would spoil key points, but they are all vital to the development of the 2 main characters and all have defining traits.
This was one of the most enjoyable movies that I had ever seen. The amount of thought that went into writing every word was evident. Every second of this movie was top quality and I couldn't pick a single flaw at any point in the film. There were just so many messages in the film, but I think that main one was basically; No matter what you've done in your past, if you've ever bullied anyone or picked on anyone, if you've done harm to others, it is never too late to redeem yourselves. Even if it's just for yourself so you aren't haunted by your past, or if you want to put things right with someone who deserves all the best or didn't deserve hate in the past. The important thing to remember is if you really try, you can create good deeds from bad memories.
Getting into Anime really has been on of the best things I've ever done. The quality of the stories, the emotional values and the effect it has you is like nothing I've ever witnessed before.
Kimi no na wa. (2016)
Might be the greatest film I've ever seen
(this is my review originally from myanimelist.com)
Having never really seen any Anime before watching this movie (except from Pokemon and Dinosaur King when I younger), I didn't really have any expectations going into this. My family have a subscription to Amazon prime, and 'Your Name' was on there for free. Expecting at least a decent watch, what i saw instead was a Masterpiece in cinema, that I'll no doubt continue to love more and more as the years go on as I re-watch it.
Story:
The story starts out as a typical 'Slice of Life' kind of thing, except the main 2 characters from separate areas of Japan start swapping bodies with each other. Anyone who sees a DVD or Blu-ray of this movie knows this. But, something unexpected happens which tips the story on it's head and drives up the suspense and mystery. Don't read up anything about the plot. It leaves a lot of questioning and wonder which makes for an engrossing plot leaves you wanting more.
Art:
The art style is among the most beautiful I've ever seen. As an artist myself, I love seeing beautiful art, no matter what the medium is. The colors are vibrant, there is a lot of contrast in light and dark shades, the light sources are very realistic, which makes everything shine and glisten. The character designs are among the best I've ever seen, as they are simplistic, yet still contain plenty of detail so the viewer is never left wondering what a certain object is. The animation is very fluid, but can also become very rigid when it needs to.
Characters:
This is probably my favorite aspect of 'Your Name'. I fell in love and related with the characters so much and if anything tense or bad happened to them, I felt their pain and wanted nothing more than to see them pull through and come out the other end fine. Never in any kind of movie (live action, animated) have I ever felt this way about any of the characters, and that really says a lot of about the writing and voice acting. These aren't even physical people on the screen, and I'm getting worked up about them like I've known them for years
Sound:
I've been listening to the music quite a lot recently, and it's really beautiful. Mesmerizing piano melodies, soulful string sections, with even some playful chords and melodies to match the more lighthearted and playful parts of the movie. It even has 2 original J-Pop songs that I've been really enjoying as of recently.
Enjoyment:
As you can probably already tell, I'm in love with this movie. I've never loved a movie's characters and plot as much as this. The plot takes many twists and turns, but never strays away from the true message of the film, and keeps you on your toes and keeps you hooked and in love with the whole package
Overall:
This movie is a true masterpiece of cinema and rightfully deserves all the awards it's received. This is a movie that has nothing wrong with it. No flaws or things I wish they'd done differently or better. I'm looking forward to more re-watches of the movie.
10/10
Batman (1989)
THE Batman Movie To See
What can i say about this movie. Batman From 1989 is the best batman movie in my opinion.
The plot is that the police are constantly getting random attacks on thugs. Witnesses say that the attacker looks like a big bat. Meanwhile, A thug called Jack Napier (Jack Nicholson) breaks into the axis chemical plant and accidentally falls into a vat of toxic waste and becomes the joker. He then starts to terrorize the citizens of Gotham. batman (Michael Keaton) then has to stop him before its too late.
Everything about the movie is just so brilliant. Michael Keaton plays a super job at playing Batman. But Jack Nicholson steals the show. his role as the joker is flawless. The music is so good I bought the soundtrack which i am listening to as i am writing this review. The storyline is really good as it is basic but they cram a lot into the movie 9/10