Neo Tokyo (1987)

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nTitle: Neo Tokyo (1987)

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nDirectors: Rintaro, Yoshiaki Kawajiri, Katsuhiro Otomo

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nI’ve been doing some catching up with old anime movies Inhaven’t seen, because let’s face it, there’s so much cool stuff out there tonsee that sometimes movies just slip through the cracks. Just when you thinknyou’ve seen it all, boom, there’s universes within universes to explore. Casenin point: Japanese animation. As I mentioned on my review for Robot Carnival (1987),nJapanese animators love to do anthology films because it gives them a chance tonexpose their talent to the world. I’ve come to really enjoy a lot of thesenJapanese animation anthologies…here’s another one I think you guys will dig.nIt’s called Neo Tokyo (1987) and it includes the work of some truly awesomenanimators! Let’s see, first we have Rintaro, the director behind The Dagger ofnKamui (1985), Metropolis (2001) and X (1996). He directed the segment entitled ‘Labyrinth,nLabyrinthos’. Yoshiaki Kawajiri the director behind Ninja Scroll (1993),nVampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (2000), Highlander: The Search for Vengeance (2007)nand The Animatrix (2003) directed the short entitled ‘The Running Man’. Andnfinally we have anime legend Katsuhiro Otomo, the mastermind behind Akiran(1988), Steamboy (2004) and one of the shorts on Robot Carnival (1987). Hendirected the short entitled ‘Construction Cancellation Order’. So we have threenmasters of Japanese Animation working on this anthology, how did it turn out?

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nWowzers is all I can say about this one. I mean, consideringnthis was released the same year as Robot Carnival, the animation on Neo Tokyonis far superior in my book. I don’t know what it is; it just looks better, morenmodern somehow. Robot Carnival, though released on the same year, had an oldnschool feel to it, even though it was about robots. I guess it just shows whatna unique touch a director can give to their films. Without that vision, thatnidea, that feeling that a director wants to convey, a movie just isn’t thensame. If you have an uninspired director behind the camera, then the film willnbe equally uninspiring. Which was not the case with Neo Tokyo, it’s quitenevident from the first frames that we have a skilled and talented group ofndirectors gathered for this anthology, each with their unique and voice.

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nFirst up we have the short entitled ‘The Running Man’ whichnis just an amazing short. It grabbed me from the first images and didn’t let mengo. The control over sight and sound is so superior here…I mean, the visuals gonso well with the sound, they create an otherworldly landscape of nightmares,nand futuristic speed racing. Imagine mixing the world of Blade Runner (1982), withnits neon lights and dark city landscapes and mix it with the podracing scenesnfrom The Phantom Menace (1999) and you’ll get an idea of what to expect. Nownmix in some ghosts…and you have your first ghost filled speed racing movie,nwith mind meld included in there for good measure. First off, stylisticallynspeaking, this short is mind blowingly cool. The visuals will capture you, Inmean, these race cars are so freaking cool looking! I want to drive one ofnthese things! Second, it’s so much like Blade Runner, right down to having andetective investigating the whole thing. And a short film that appears to existnwithin Blade Runner is cool for me any day of the week. And third, it’s bat shitninsane. I mean, what the hell? I had to watch this one a couple of times tonfully understand it, but from what I could grasp, it was about this dude whoncontrols the driver of a racing car with the power of his mind? The ghostsnfigure into the story somehow? Freaking crazy! Still, this is exactly what Inenjoyed so much about the shorts presented on Neo Tokyo, they challenge yournmind. And speaking of mind bending stories…

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nThen we get Rintaro’s collaboration to this anthology, anstory entitled ‘Labyrinth, Labyrinthos’ a.k.a. ‘The Labyrinth Story’. Andnhere’s where this anthology dives deeply into the surreal and dreamlike. Sonfar, this is the most surreal anime short film I’ve seen. It is as if we werenwatching everything from the point of view of a child. We follow the child asnhe is playing inside his house….things are show from such strange angles thatnthey seem different. It reminded of feelings I had when I was a child. You knownhow when you are a child, simple things can seem scary? This short harkens backnto that, to when a childs imagination could transport him to a whole othernworld entirely. Mirrors are suddenly doors that can take us to anotherndimension filled with images that seem to make sense, yet they do at the samentime when we look at the in a symbolic sort of way. You see all these crazynimages which end up making sense when compared to your wildest craziest dreams.nFeels like being a kid and seeing the world through eyes that get frightenedneasily. This short just blew me away as well. To me it felt like I was watchingnthe film of a very distinctive filmmaker, one with a clear vision of what henwanted to convey; that weird, frightening, yet wonderful way in which a childnlooks at the world. This short was so amazing…obviously a master filmmaker atnwork here. One of the best things I can say about it is that it was an exercisenin atmosphere, some scenes are spooky, they seem to come out of an oldnfashioned horror film. This short was one of the highlights of the anthology.

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nFinally, we move on to Katushiro Otomo’s ‘ConstructionnCancellation Order‘ which is all about this representative of an importantndevelopment company who due to a change in government is now responsible fornoverseeing the cancellation of a construction project. The cancellation of thisnProject 444 presents its own set of challenges. First off, this developmentncompany was building a huge city in the middle of a dense jungle, so we have anfuturistic city in ruins, being overtaken by nature. Second, the whole projectnwas being constructed entirely by robots, with one robot overseeing everything.nThe problem is that the robots won’t stop working, since that’s all they werenprogrammed to do and their one human supervisor has gone missing, they won’tnfollow any other order! So it becomes this gargantuan task to stop them. Again,nsame as in Robot Carnival (1987) the theme of man vs. machine pops up, but whonwill win? To me this short is amazing because of its design. You can seenglimpses of the complex city designs that Otomo later uses in Akira (1988),nalso, it ends similar to Akira’s because it has its protagonist going upnagainst a gigantic tentacled creature. While I enjoyed this short, I wasndisappointed with its ending, which feels unfinished. Just when you thinknyou’re going to see this whole Man vs. Machine theme taken to its limits, poof,nit’s fade to black and the short ends. What happened here? Did they purposelynleave the audience hanging, or did something happen behind the scenes of thenmaking of this short that didn’t allow them to follow through to the end?nWhatever the case, the short is still amazing, and well worth watching. But ifnyou ask me, the other two shorts are superior.  

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nAfter, Construction Cancellation Order, the anthology closesnby going back to Rintaro’s Labyrinth Labyrintho’s and its back to surrealnterritory with the child still living out one of his horrible nightmares whichninvolves circus clowns and black slimy monsters surrounding the child and hisnfat cat. But no worries, somehow, it all ends on a happy note and same as RobotnCarnival, the short ends in a parade of fireworks, clowns and music, which broughtnto mind the final scenes in Federico Fellini’s 8 ½ (1963), which ends in ansimilar fashion. When the film ends, it feels like those last minutes in ancircus, where all the characters from the circus reappear to say goodbye to us.nThe film dazzled and amazed us and it is now ending with some eye candy so you cannleave happy. I know I did! Though this anthology film is short in running timen(only 50 minutes long) its amazing every step of the way and well worthnincluding in your anime/animation collection.

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