There's a lot of sex, half of which is just fetishized rape. It can be used as driving plot points, fine, but you can feel the drool from the writers and animators who made sure you could see the victim being assaulted from every angle imaginable. I found it ironic that out of at least a dozen sexual encounters, the only one that DIDN'T end with someone being injured or almost murdered was also the SHORTEST scene. Not just sex scene-- the shortest scene in the entire movie was of two people making love without killing or raping each other.
Where the fetishization comes in is with the main female protagonist, Makie. Her character is graphically sexually assaulted on not one, not two, but FOUR separate occasions. And I guess they told the voice actor she was in a porn, because those are the vocal sounds she decided to make while being violated, and at one point, tortured. It's not much better for the men, but at least they put up a fight and sounded distressed.
The plot was one of the most inane things I've seen in a long time, let alone in a sci-fi anime film. Taki is sent to protect a two-hundred-year-old diplomat, Giuseppe, alongside his partner from the Dark World, Makie. The movie mainly takes place over the course of one night. Upon arrival, Giuseppe immediately gropes Makie and constantly tries to coerce her into bed with him. He sucks.
At the end, it's revealed that Taki wasn't sent to protect Giuseppe, but Giuseppe was sent to protect Taki and Makie. Apparently, their DNA is a perfect match for a human and Dark Worldian to make a baby as a symbol of a unified future. Their plan was to essentially breed them without their knowledge. This makes no sense.
If Giuseppe is supposed to be protecting Taki and Makie, he does a poor job at it to say the best.
1. When they first get attacked in a hotel, instead of saving Makie from being sexually assaulted from an ex-lover, he literally hides in the bathroom and lets it happen.
2. After the hotel, it turns out not only did he hide, he ran away. He flat out abandons the two people he was sent to protect. And where does he go to? A brothel. Where the prostitute tries to kill him.
3. Once Giuseppe recovers in a specialized hospital, he learns that Makie was captured by the Dark World and is being gang raped as punishment for her betrayal of their kind. When Taki decides to rescue her, Giuseppe tells him NOT TO. The same guy who is supposed to be keeping these two people safe is actively insisting Makie be left alone where she will inevitably be put to death after being tortured in every orifice available (yes, literally).
4. Taki saves Makie, and is then promptly fired for "going against orders." Makie is also fired for some reason... Giuseppe allows this to happen, and then hides in his car so he can sneak away with them. They get attacked again, and Giuseppe FINALLY fights to defend them. After which, he reveals the plan that he and the ENTIRE GOVERNMENT agreed upon. The same government that fired Taki and Makie and told them to get lost, and go away where no one would be nearby to protect them. It's pointless, it's stupid, but it's at least mind numbing enough that I was void of anger by the end of everything.
There was one part of the movie where I laughed out loud, and it was not a funny scene. Giuseppe goes tete-a-tete with the main villain, tossing in a couple of epic lines about their past, and how it's all coming to an end. Five seconds later, Giuseppe is defeated. It happens so fast that even the villain makes a comment about it. Then Taki comes running out, and it takes another ten seconds before he is also restrained and down. But of course, Giuseppe somehow survives, and Makie (who was twiddling her thumbs this whole time) finally joins them and helps out.
This movie is a time vampire. But if you're in need of a good laugh, look up the climactic fight scene. That part alone was worth the pain.
Where the fetishization comes in is with the main female protagonist, Makie. Her character is graphically sexually assaulted on not one, not two, but FOUR separate occasions. And I guess they told the voice actor she was in a porn, because those are the vocal sounds she decided to make while being violated, and at one point, tortured. It's not much better for the men, but at least they put up a fight and sounded distressed.
The plot was one of the most inane things I've seen in a long time, let alone in a sci-fi anime film. Taki is sent to protect a two-hundred-year-old diplomat, Giuseppe, alongside his partner from the Dark World, Makie. The movie mainly takes place over the course of one night. Upon arrival, Giuseppe immediately gropes Makie and constantly tries to coerce her into bed with him. He sucks.
At the end, it's revealed that Taki wasn't sent to protect Giuseppe, but Giuseppe was sent to protect Taki and Makie. Apparently, their DNA is a perfect match for a human and Dark Worldian to make a baby as a symbol of a unified future. Their plan was to essentially breed them without their knowledge. This makes no sense.
If Giuseppe is supposed to be protecting Taki and Makie, he does a poor job at it to say the best.
1. When they first get attacked in a hotel, instead of saving Makie from being sexually assaulted from an ex-lover, he literally hides in the bathroom and lets it happen.
2. After the hotel, it turns out not only did he hide, he ran away. He flat out abandons the two people he was sent to protect. And where does he go to? A brothel. Where the prostitute tries to kill him.
3. Once Giuseppe recovers in a specialized hospital, he learns that Makie was captured by the Dark World and is being gang raped as punishment for her betrayal of their kind. When Taki decides to rescue her, Giuseppe tells him NOT TO. The same guy who is supposed to be keeping these two people safe is actively insisting Makie be left alone where she will inevitably be put to death after being tortured in every orifice available (yes, literally).
4. Taki saves Makie, and is then promptly fired for "going against orders." Makie is also fired for some reason... Giuseppe allows this to happen, and then hides in his car so he can sneak away with them. They get attacked again, and Giuseppe FINALLY fights to defend them. After which, he reveals the plan that he and the ENTIRE GOVERNMENT agreed upon. The same government that fired Taki and Makie and told them to get lost, and go away where no one would be nearby to protect them. It's pointless, it's stupid, but it's at least mind numbing enough that I was void of anger by the end of everything.
There was one part of the movie where I laughed out loud, and it was not a funny scene. Giuseppe goes tete-a-tete with the main villain, tossing in a couple of epic lines about their past, and how it's all coming to an end. Five seconds later, Giuseppe is defeated. It happens so fast that even the villain makes a comment about it. Then Taki comes running out, and it takes another ten seconds before he is also restrained and down. But of course, Giuseppe somehow survives, and Makie (who was twiddling her thumbs this whole time) finally joins them and helps out.
This movie is a time vampire. But if you're in need of a good laugh, look up the climactic fight scene. That part alone was worth the pain.