csi_yellowknife

Sick of stereotypical anime? No need for big robots, big chests, lots of yelling and immature humor? Check out Haibane Renmei. In my opinion, it's in a class by itself.

HR begins with a young girl 'hatching' from a cocoon, unable to remember her name, her life, or anything else. She is greeted by 5 other females (looking to be between 10 and 25) who have wings and a halo. She is given a name, based on her dream in the cocoon (Rakka, which means "falling), as are the others. Soon she grows wings and is given a halo as well. The winged creatures are called "Haibane."

The first 5 or so episodes are intentionally slow going, as we are given a view of Rakka's adjustment to life as a Haibane. However, as slow going as they are, the episodes are very engaging. By episode 6, Rakka suffers a major loss, as she spends the rest of the series dealing with the loss and trying to answer the question: What are the Haibane?

This series was created by the same person who created Serial Experiments: Lain. Rakka even looks a little like Lain. However, HR is a bit more straight-forward than Lain. It is an especally quiet series, the use of classical and baroque music add to the feel of the show. We're told a little about the Haibane, the rules they must follow, and the world they live in.

The animation is intentionally not very flashy, however it is detailed and quite immaculate. We get the feeling that the Haibane live in a quaint little town which hasn't changed much over the years. The show is much the same in its feel of timelessness. It could take place now, 100 years ago, or even 100 years from now.

In short, this is a show to show off to non-anime fans who have stereotyped all of it as either Pokemon or porn. Hopefully, this is the beginning of a trend...

I'll admit my biases up front: I loved the animated series "Boogiepop Phantom." It's mix of time shifted story telling, characters over action, and weirdness won me over. When I saw the Live-Action Boogiepop movie on Ebay (with English subtitles!) I jumped at the chance.

For the most part, "Boogiepop and Others" takes place before the anime series. If you left BPP confused, there are a few more things we learn here: Boogiepop's origins (and her relationship with Toka), more about Saotome and the Manticore, Suema and Nagi's relationship, Echos' quest...and possibly the most intriguing questions: How Nagi knows what is going on, and what happened on the night the column of light appeared. A few more characters appear this time, including Takeda (Toka's boyfriend who is given a one line reference in the animated series), Kei, Naoko, and we learn more about Yurihara.

As the story goes, it is much like Boogiepop Phantom, but a little more easy to figure out. It is still told from the viewpoints of minor characters' interactions with the major characters, so we see some scenes a few times. Things slowly start to make sense and by the end, we have a good idea of what all is going on. The production values aren't Summer-Hollywood by any means, but for the most part they make due - although there is a scene of Boogiepop in the air that is a little laughable. The acting is a bit varies, with Echos, Toka and Nagi probably being the strongest and Saotome probably the weakest.

So, if you're a fan of BPP and want to learn more about the backstory, seek this out. Or, if you want a little Sci-Fi/horror film high on plot and story (if a little weak on production), go for it. I'd rate it a PG-13 leaning R...little language, no nudity and almost zero "mature themes," and a fair amount of blood, killing, and violence.

This is one of those movies that is more interesting to watch than to listen to. The lead character wanders through life asleep, at first not aware he is sleeping. Then, as the movie progresses, he realizes that he cannot wake up. During the movie, he wanders into people who speak their philosophies to him. At certain points, he wakes up in bed unable to read his clock or turn off the lights -- signs he is really dreaming.

The movie is rotoscoped: there is a live action film taking place but we are seeing artists' rendition of the movie. This is the highlight of the movie...even if they seem to get a little too clever for their own good. The lead character (Wiley) changes shape and hue as do the people he comes across. At this point, most every scene in the film is suitable for framing.

However, what doesn't work as well are the long scenes of philosophy and "ironic" scenes of violence. Time after time, we are presented with people spouting out pop-philosophy. At best, the ideas presented are worthy of a second thought (How much of our lives are on auto-pilot, and why are we content sleep walking through real life while trying to attain more realisitic dreams?). At worst, this is what represents the worst about pop-philosophy: say something that sounds deep on the surface to get people impressed with your mind. The movie provides no one to counter the people giving their opinions; it just allows them to speak their contradictaroy minds with no one to call their bluff. In addition, one of the features on the disc is a running text commentary. This again is a mixed blessing: it gives us a list of who is who on the movie and explains the thinking of the director. However, it gets too cute with itself telling us to think about the ironies of two people gunning themselves down, or the 'irony' of a man setting himself on fire with gasoline while in Texas (with all of it's oil, get it?)

But overall, this is worth a rental. You'll have to sit through a lot of people who like to hear themselves speak, but there's enough to the movie to recommend it.