Annual attempt at Fantasia reviews

[petronia]

smurfmatic actually filmed and youtubed the opening speeches by the festival organizers and the director:

Tekkon Kinkreet (trailer): freely adapted from Black and White by Taiyo Matsumoto (also the author of Ping Pong). I haven't read the manga but the script is well above par for an anime feature film adaptation. It's already had successful theatre runs in Japan and France and is opening in the US in a couple of weeks. According to the director exit surveys indicate the movie is most popular with university-age young women. As this demographic forms the majority of my flist and demonstrates sizeable overlap with aficionados of both yakuza flicks and 男の子の純愛物語 (à la Ping Pong [1]), I reckon you should all go see it when it comes out. XD

The big buzz is that this is the first major Japanese animated feature to be directed by an American (Michael Arias, who also worked on The Animatrix), but in the end probably what matters more is that it was directed by a Troo Fan. In the Q&A the director talked about the software he developed to give computer animation the warmth and vibrancy of hand-painted cels (something about how no two batches of paint are ever exactly the same), and how he would make demos out of Tekkon Kinkreet because he loved the manga, which eventually led to meetings with Taiyo Matsumoto and a proper go-ahead. It really looks the labour of love it is; both the still and animation work are gorgeous throughout. The soundtrack - by Plaid, of all people - is also lovely, and very much in their usual style (director: "I figured if all else failed, I'd still get my own Plaid album out of the project").

The main characters are children but the film is not-for-kids as there's quite a bit of blood and brutality and psychological horror (City of God was cited as an influence, and Francis Bacon - the painter not the writer). Despite this there's something Miyazaki-esque about it: sense of innocence and aerial freedom, organic urban landscapes, kindness and community found where least expected.


[1] Or GetBackers - a certain disconcerting resemblance, there.

Comments

[vonbrigthi.livejournal.com]

I am dying trying to find a theatre that will be playing Tekkon (I mean, obviously there must be, they're just hiding from me). I adored the comics (er, as you've seen me post 29301890 times on my journal XD) and have been watching this project since it first got started by an entirely different director (and in 3D animation, with Yoko Kanno music!) 5 or so years ago.

Anyways wheeeeeee I'm glad it's good and I will um start haunting movie theatres.

[petronia.livejournal.com]

Actually I didn't! XD Like I know I've seen people post about it but it never really registered ahaha. I recognized Taiyo Matsumoto's art when I saw the trailer but that was about it. Should probably read the manga, huh.

Hope you like it - well, I'm pretty sure you'll like it. XD

[vonbrigthi.livejournal.com]

Well you know, they did just release the omnibus edition, and I think Viz is reprinting their translation finally too. :>

It's got Suzuki and Kimura in it, yessss, I think I will like it. X3

[marej.livejournal.com]

hey wait, Black and White is by the same dude who wrote Blue Spring manga, right? gaaaah I tried reading it, and the plot was v. interesting but boy did i hate the art. (this is where i admit that i'm a fool who needs for art to be puuurrrrty to like it, btw).

[petronia.livejournal.com]

Ha, same here - in that I never tried to read Matsumoto but really ought to, this is like the third brillant film based on his manga already? Anyhow nowadays I like my art to be individualistic more than anything else. XD I thought it worked impressively well given it must've been tough as heck to animate that style.

[pere-chan.livejournal.com]

*frantically searches London listings*

When I went to the MoMA in NY they had ads out on this, and I really really wanted to see it. But it hasn't shown here at all! ;_;

Francis Bacon was an influence? *tears of joy*

[petronia.livejournal.com]

And fairly obviously too. XD It niggled at me from the back of my head until the director said it. He also mentioned a Dutch illustrator... whose name I don't quite remember.

[smurfmatic.livejournal.com]

I didn't catch it either, but check this out:

[redplasticglass.livejournal.com]

<3

The manga is amazing. Euro style art, beautiful story. T_T I really really want to see it, even though the reviews I saw said it wasn't exactly the most successful adaptation. (Can never really trust reviewers. Boo.)

[petronia.livejournal.com]

I kind of got the impression they repurposed the story? XD Ripped out all the side plots and such. But speaking as someone who didn't read the original I thought the result stood up for itself pretty well.

[lacewood]

Oh wow, I've never heard of the manga/mangaka, but the trailer looks gorgeous and AWESOME.