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Reviews
Kôkaku kidôtai (1995)
A must see sci-fi masterpiece
Let me begin saying that I can't give it a 10/10 because I don't believe in perfection, but this is a movie you just have to see. Even if you're not into japanese animation you just have to watch this movie. Even if you're not into science fiction/cyberpunk you just have to watch this movie. You should actually watch it more than once to understand it fully.
It is japanese animation from a manga, just don't let prejudice prevail and watch the friggin movie.
Let me explain my vote:
Direction. Vote 9/10. Mamoru Oshii chose a very slow paced narration, very different from the manga. The atmosphere is heavy and dull, very not anime-like.
Screenplay. Vote 9/10. Kazunori Ito picked a narrative arc from the Masamune Shirow original manga and adapted to a more serious tone. All the comical relief and fan service disappeared. They went deeper into the character's psyche and posed some ethic and philosophical questions.
Mecha design. Vote 9/10. Shirow is very famous for his mechanical designs but Shoji Kawamori took them and made them more realistic and "adult". They fit perfectly with the rest of the more mature aspects of the movie
Art and Animation. Vote 9/10. The color palette is very dull, many scenes are dark, the backgrounds are aged and dirty. Just a thing of beauty. Animations are still good after 24 years. Not ultra spectacular for today standards but still very good (keep in mind at that time they still handpainted every cell).
Music. Vote 9/10. Very unique but somehow it blends very well with the movie
Please watch this movie, especially if you've seen the hollywood transposition and you feel it could have been deeper.
Weekend Box Office: February 15 to 17 (2019)
Faithful manga adaptation
I've been waiting for a hollywood transposition since the late 90's. The movie is faithful to the first narration arc of the original manga by Yukito Kishiro but the story is not overcomplicated or convoluted, so you don't need to read the original material to follow the movie. I honestly didn't expect such a high budget production, really glad I was wrong. My personal vote would be an 8/10 (just seeing the city brought to life has been amazing) but I really loved the manga and I understand that for the majority of people this would be just a 2hours+ action flick with a little of sci-fi elements, so a 7/10 should be fair.