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Mojokc
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Posted: February 19, 2009 at 12:00am
Where to start with this movie? Well, for starters, this is one of the best animes that I've ever seen.
The storyline follows our two main characters, who wake up on Earth with no memories, no clothing and no clue as to even their names. They give a small round of chit chat and give each other names (Retro and Pandy. Check out the cover and its pretty obvious how they devised such names). Well, when you wake up naked, clueless to your past and with a person you don't know, what's the first thing you do? Why, go on a crime spree for clothes and food, of course. Well, said crime spree lands our two new friends into Dead Leaves Jail, which is actually a high-tech prison facility / genetic experiment lab on the moon. From there on, the storyline goes on to show their new lives in prison, resulting in a hasty spur of the moment jail break attempt which leads to chaos in all its glory . Every single prisoner in the facility is a genetic freak, and they make no bones about showing you the absolute absurdity that Japanese animation is famous for. The only part of the movie that really lets down on the action (though not by much) is the love scene between Retro and Pandy. The rest I'll leave for you to watch, seeing as I don't want to spoil this fun ride for anyone.
This anime grabs you from the get go and never lets your ass go for the entire 52 minute ride. The action is fast-paced and non-stop throughout the entire film. To sum up the action sequences, they basically entitle a ton of gun-play, a few bits of martial arts and a ton of colorful explosions: basically, your run-of-the-mill action movie, just pumped on steroids and then injected with a healthy dose of speed. The animators must have wanted to see what kind of sick, twisted mind-fuck they could get away with by throwing in a ton of epilepsy-inducing visuals, a cast of bizarre prisoners, and a storyline that's pretty far out there. Don't get me wrong: these may sound like negative features, but they are in fact done with a style that leaves you in a sense of "What the hell just happened and why am I happy?"
If you're looking to give anime a try or even just figured you'd watch one to see what all the hype is about, then I fully recommend Dead Leaves. It's a far cry from the crap they cram down your throats on Cartoon Network, but in a good way. I know that there's quite a few people out there who are like "Fuck anime", and then there's the bad rap that us anime fans get. Sure, there's quite a few of us that live with our parents and work for some local greasy spoon washing dishes for damn near next to free and blowing the entirety of their paychecks on anime, but don't let those few discourage you from giving anime a shot. If you feel compelled to give it a shot thinking that you might enjoy it or even just figure you'll watch it once just for shits and giggles (or to once and for all say "Fuck anime, been there done that"), then give this one a shot as it may surprise you. I give this film a solid 10/10.
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Ginose
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Posted: February 19, 2009 at 10:41pm
Aside from the funtastic drill-penis and all the jokes that came with it, I'm afraid I just didn't get much out of this. Sure, I thought it was an interesting idea, but it just didn't thrill me (or even make me laugh very much) through its length.
An alright anime-film, but nowhere near as special as it was hyped to me...
4/10
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