rodneyn05

It took me an episode or two to realise this show is an allegory for whaling, and how the whaling crew and ships are doing the world a favour by ridding it of those dangerous, yet supposedly tasty, whales.

Whilst the animation is very good and the voice acting well done, sadly the story leaves a lot to be desired. The show portrays the draking (whaling) ship as being on the side of good, even going so far to ensure the audience is aware that the whole dragon (whale) is used. Even parts of the dragon (whale) brain is used for traditional medicine. So it has to be good, right? No. It's not.

The show has other issues as well, which are typical of Japanese culture. At no stage do we see any of the men do laundry, the men are somewhat sleazy, and they even visit a brothel, with, what one can only guess is an under age girl, hence why she isn't "available". This doesn't stop one of the non main characters from attempting to, uh, "have her".

There's also the graphic hunting and slaughtering of the dragons, which is shown in all its glory (or should that be gory?). As a general rule, this would not bother me at all, however, if you've seen any actual whaling footage, then you'll notice it's virtually identical.

I appreciate this isn't real, it's a cartoon, and if Japan had banned whaling, then this would be a different review, but they haven't, and it's not.

As for the story, it doesn't really go anywhere. It's like watching an animated documentary by some really boring people about some really boring people.

If you want to watch it, I can't (and won't) stop you, but you should know it's not very good, and for once, most of the other reviews are in the right.

I saw a short of this on Youtube, and it got me interested in watching this short movie. At around 30 minutes, it's a quick watch that can be completed almost anywhere.

What transpires is a typical 'time loop' scenario where one person is stuck in a repeating event, trying to escape. We learn that Carter is repeatedly killed by Officer Merk, through various means. Carter does his best to avoid certain death, but it continually occurs.

The movie is meant to highlight the issues that black Americans face when interacting with law enforcement and the inequities that are often shown in the media, and more than likely do occur. The advent of social media, cameras in phones and high speed internet means information is disseminated around the world almost immediately.

Some reviewers here complain about the preachy message, or how this has been done before, with more nuance, etc. Wait till you get older and realise that almost everything has been done before, and quite often better. It doesn't mean people should stop trying, and it doesn't meant that certain messages shouldn't be preached. Some issues are important, and people, irrespective of who they are (within reason), should be treated with respect and dignity.

I honestly found this funny at times, especially Carter's reaction each time he woke up. Behind that though, you realise there is quite a bit of pain, knowing that each time he did wake up, it was all because someone had shot/killed him again.

We also learn that Carter had tried quite a few different tactics to stay alive, including engaging Officer Merk in polite conversation, with the same outcome each time. I won't spoil the ending, but it certainly wasn't quite what I was expecting.

Given the absolute drivel that Hollywood and their ilk have been peddling for a while now, this short movie is better than expected and is well worth the watch.