Michael Scott

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Mind Game


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Movie: :4stars:
Video: :4stars:
Audio: :4.5stars:
Extras: :2.5stars:
Final Score: :4stars:



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Movie

Being an anime nut ever since the 90s, I’ve been a huge supporter of all variations of the art form, and if you’re an anime fan in the last 15 years or so, you’ve heard of Masaaki Yuasa’s Devilman Crybaby, or the kick-start program that was Kick-Heart, but it’s not many people that have heard of the movie that put him on the map. Mind Game was a surreal animated film that he made in 2004, and has been distributed through Japan, most of Europe, and a UK release that was barely able to get into production thanks to Kick starter once again. However, I had given up hope that we would EVER see the film that made him famous over in the United States until I saw the upcoming press release on Shout Factory’s site. At that point I was about as giddy as a schoolgirl, being that I had always ALWAYS wanted to see the strange film, but had never gotten up the money or the time to get one of the import discs that was released a few years back.

I still can’t get over the fact that one of the most popular and prized anime titles of 2018 is 2004’s Mind Game, especially considering how many people were shocked at how bizarre and “mind blown” (heh heh) they were over Devilman Crybaby. Mind Game is NOT your typical animated film, and it would be one of those films that most people would cry out about “style over substance”. However, in this case, Mind Game is a case of style IS the substance. A surreal adventure/parable/romance/coming of age story, it tugs at the heartstrings ever so gently, but also is one that is so visually fascinating that it becomes blatantly clear that his is Masaaki Yuasa’s visual poetry at work. The narrative structure is odd and disjointed, the animation style all over the place, but at the end of the day, this is a a story of hope and extreme beauty midst the trappings of our own insecurities.

The plot of the film is about as surreal as his art style, and extremely fluid and disjointed at the same time. It revolves around a jilted young man by the name of Nishi (Koji Imada) who finds out that the girl he never made a move on (Myon, his abundantly busted childhood friend) is going to get married soon. Frustrated and going over the missteps in his life, Nishi and Myon are sharing a bite to eat at their family restaurant when a pair of Yakuza thugs come in and start tearing up the place. While Myon is on the verge of getting assaulted, Nishi huddles in the corner only to catch a bullet by one of the more vicious thugs. Getting sent to he afterlife he confronts god with his desire to get back to earth and make things right, only to have the deity take pity on his tenacity and lets him re-do the moment just before he dies.
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Coming to right at the moment before he gets shot, Nishi is able to turn the tables on the two bad guys, and escapes out into the night with one of their cars. A high speed chase ensues as he, Myon (Sayaka Maeda), and Myon’s very UN busty sister Yang (Seiko Takuma) try to outrun the gangsters, but in a twist of fate the trio get run off of a bridge and are swallowed by a gigantic whale (yes, full on Jonah and the whale going on). There they run into an old man who has spent the better part of 30 years making a life in the belly of the whale, unable to escape from his prison.

This might seem like a bizarre thing, but this is just the tip of the iceberg and probably one of the more sane parts of the movie. The second half of the film revolves around the 4 people learning how to live in peace in the whale, and actually finding a source of centering in all of the craziness of the world. As I said earlier, this is all visual poetry for Masaakie Yuasa, and everything that goes on down there is an expression of his views on making the most of life. Yang coming to grips with her own nature, Myon and Nishi finding solace in each other, and Nishi himself finding out what matters in life are just a narrative expression of Yuasa’s visual art.

The artwork itself really IS a good majority of the narrative, and works as a stunning tapestry of how different styles of art can blend together so seamlessly. The story is not the only thing that is disjointed yet fluid either. Yuasa shifts from a half dozen or so styles of anime at the drop of a hat, literally changing from scene to scene, including using live action faces upon animated bodies at times. It’s almost like watching a liquid form of a Picasso painting, with differing styles coming together under one room and creating a sense of wonder that is hard to deny. That’s not to say that there aren’t some flaws with this. The storyline is NOT going to be your typical three act narrative, and as such some people may not be able to keep up with it. The film is more a movie that is meant to be EXPERIENCED and felt rather than understood from a writing perspective. The plot works, but it takes a lot of effort and focus to maintain and equilibrium in the 1 hour and 43 minute film.




Rating:

Not Rated by the MPAA




Video: :4stars:
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Masaaki Yuasa’s amazing artwork is given a great looking encode on Blu-ray, as he blends rotoscoping, pencil drawn art, watercolors, CGI, live action and paper animation and several others into an amazing collection of on screen beauty. The colors range from bright primaries to soft pastels, and differing shades of neon colored shades to boot. The detail isn’t meant to be SUPER sharp, as the animation can go from incredibly done to crude style that just don’t give of that much detail. Still, you can see all the lines and shading and pencil marks show up quite well for the most part. Black levels are good, but there are some issues with banding in the darkness (a big one is Nishi hanging from the bridge, or underwater as he goes to the “fun place”). It’s not enough to be on par with a Warner Brothers DC animated film, but enough that it does get very noticeable without looking for it even. It’s still a very solid transfer that looks great on Blu-ray.







Audio: :4.5stars:
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The 5.1 DTS-HD MA Japanese track (there is no English dub or 2.0 track here) is quite fetching as well, capturing the confined status of the crew in their under water lair, or the wild and crazy hijinks of trying to escape from the whale’s mouth in a finale of sheer sonic delight. Vocals are always crisp and clear, but I did notice a few times that I had to pump the volumes when Nishi would start muttering to himself. Surrounds are wildly active with the drip drip drip noises of the whale’s belly, as well as the creaking and groaning of the wooden sub boards that make up the old man’s hideaway home. The car chase is wild and kinetic, and the front sound stage is AMAZINGLY nuanced. Listen to the little beeps and chirps up front as the story goes to the outside world, or the little drops of rain as Nishi listens to Myons story for the first few minutes of the film. LFE is powerful and punchy, judiciously used for the more action oriented spots, but can relax and slide into the background for more introspective moments.


.




Extras: :2.5stars:
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• Feature Length Animatic
• Scenes with Director Commentary
• Production Artwork Gallery
• Trailer







Final Score: :4stars:



This has been the day for reviewing trippy films hasn’t it? First it was David Lynch’s Wild at Heart and now Masaaki Yuasa’s Mind Game (which really IS a mind game if you think about it). I really do enjoy Mind Game as a wonderful piece of visual art, but it is most definitely a strange film. Yuasa seamlessly blends incoherent storytelling, absurd violence and implied sexuality (definitely NOT a children’s movie), and lovely artwork into a fascinating project that literally put him on the map in 2004. Shout Factory’s Blu-ray is excellent across the board, with good video, good audio and a very solid array of limited extras as well. Mind Game will not be for everyone, but any anime fan who considers himself an anime fan at least owes it to himself to check the film out. Recommended.



Technical Specifications:

Starring: Koji Imada, Sayaka Maeda, Takashi Fujii
Directed by: Masaaki Yuasa, Koji Morimoto
Written by: Masaaki Yuasa (Screenplay), Robin Nishi (Comic)
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 AVC
Audio: Japanese : DTS-HD MA 5.1
Subtitles: English, French
Studio: Shout Factory
Rated: NR
Runtime: 104 Minutes
DVD Release Date: August 28th 2018







Recommendation: Recommended

 
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tripplej

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Thanks for the review. I will check it out.
 
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