zenamako

This mix of sex, vampires and martial arts seems like it will be a decent (if clichéd) vampire pic until the appearance of the first "wire-fu" sequence. Some fairly steamy sex and a scene in which a nude girl is bound and murdered establish an adult tone that is ruined when characters suddenly begin to fight like they're in The Matrix or Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. It's as if the director (who also did Shinobi: Heart Under Blade) really wanted to make a martial arts flick with plenty of sword fights, but since he had Aya Sugimoto (star of the erotic Flower & Snake films), he was obliged to throw in some gratuitous T&A. The script is extremely predictable, and the characters (with the exception of Sugimoto's young female servant) are unlikeable and keep spouting the same tired lines about how miserable it is to have eternal life. There are also some dodgy computer effects - when a character gets hit by a car and tossed into the air, you'll definitely laugh (the CG effect was like something out of Shaolin Soccer). The are some good points: the movie is well-lensed (Sugimoto usually picks projects that at least have good production values) and the wire work isn't bad, if that's your thing. I wouldn't be surprised if this gets fast-tracked for a North American release, since it's the kind of thing that seems to sell over here.

Great characters and kinetic action sequences make up for a ludicrous story in the classic OVA series Fight! Iczer-One. A race of alien lesbians has come to conquer Earth, and all that stand in their way are the elfin warrior Iczer-One and her schoolgirl partner, Nagisa. Iczer-One's evil sister, Iczer-Two, steals all of the scenes she's in.

In this series, the giant robots are powered by young girls who must enter the cockpits nude. Director Hirano used this idea again when he made the Rayearth OVAs.

Followed by the much cuter Adventure! Iczer-3 and Iczelion. The first series had a darker edge to it.

Yasuharu Hasebe (Black Tight Killers) took over for director Shunya Ito for this, the last Female Convict Scorpion picture starring Meiko Kaji (Lady Snowblood). The film opens with Nami Matsushima (a.k.a. Matsu, a.k.a. Scorpion) once again on the lam. The police track her down at a wedding, but she manages to escape. Badly injured, she is saved by a man who works in a strip joint and holds a grudge against the police for torturing him. Can the Scorpion trust a man again? Should she?

One of the reasons Kaji decided to stop doing the Scorpion pictures is that Toei kept slashing the budget with each new installment. This film is smaller in scale and more straightforward than the first three chapters. It is easily the least of the four Scorpion films featuring Meiko Kaji; however, it is still engrossing whenever she is on the screen.

This film is not live-action, nor is it a short. What it is is the quintessential Mamoru Oshii (Ghost in the Shell) film, a haunting, ethereal drama more concerned with imagery and mood than with plot or characterization. A young girl (lavishly designed by animator-turned-fine artist Yoshitaka Amano) wanders the desolate streets of a dark, nightmarish world; her fragile faith rests in the form of a gigantic egg, which she hopes to protect. Eventually, she meets an enigmatic stranger bearing a crucifix and a decidedly pragmatic worldview ("You have to break an egg if you are to know what's inside," he tells her). This is Oshii at his most obtuse, and even he claims to not know the true meaning of this film. The film is a pure work of art, however, free from all commercial baggage. For this reason, it should be viewed by everyone with a genuine interest in the art of animation. Note: Beware the Roger Corman film "In the Aftermath," which takes some footage from this film and places it in a different context.

Windaria: Legend of Fabulous Battle is a classic anime movie from the mid-80s--a deeply moving tragedy with gorgeous character designs by Inomata Mutsumi (Leda: Fantastic Adventure of Yohko) and one of the most effective musical scores of any anime film. Note, however, that the U.S. "adaptation" bears no resemblance to the original Japanese movie apart from the visuals; the script was completely rewritten from scratch by Carl Macek back when he worked for Harmony Gold. Even the soundtrack was altered, and yes, scenes were cut (ironically, the movie's closing ballad appears on the American "Best of Anime" CD, but not in the U.S. release of the movie). I would definitely recommend this film to anyone who enjoys epic dramas or animated films, but make sure you get the original Japanese version.