Casshern - The Guardian Spirit of Humanity

When it comes to visual storytelling (among other things) the Japanese have got style. Casshern (2004) is a live action retelling of an anime (big surprise) originally released in 1973.

Basic Premise:

In a near-future dystopia, the world has been torn ragged by war. For some reason, the Japanese are living in Russia, and have just finished a major battle with Europa, who fought them with a massive robotic army, which now lies dormant. They are still battling with the denizens of Zone 7, which at the outset of the movie is shrouded in mystery, however these people are thought to be freaks and outcasts. The Zone 7ers are later revealed to be the "original humans" and the only ones who possess "neo cells" which can alleviate the spread of radiation-based sickness which is slowly killing the Japanese Russians. These "neo cells" sound a lot like stem cells, with profound regenerative abilities and can differentiate into any body part you like. The ruling council, influenced by the military, reluctantly overcome their prejudices and agree to allow research on neo cells from Zone 7, as they are in desperate need of replacement body parts. The movie becomes unintentionally funny at this point, especially when one considers recent advances in stem cell research, because the science is still back in 1973 and goes to LegoLand in a big way when the cultured body parts are shown. Anyway, the son of the lead scientist had gone to the front lines and died while the organ culture systems were being set up, and his body had just been returned to his father in a casket, followed by his largely unseen ghost. The presence of Tetsuya's ghost acts as a catalysts for some sort of weird techno lightning strike, and the body parts in the culture tanks suddenly pull together into Frankensteiny people covered in grey goop who get up and walk out of the tanks. The army freaks out and decides to get rid of these newly born "Neosapiens", and forces them to flee towards the Zone 7 border. Tetsuya's body is dunked in the neo cell tank by his father, which resurrects him, but of course, the process gives him superpowers. The Neosapiens don't handle rejection well, and revive the robot army of Europa to exact revenge. Tetsuya stands between them and the annihilation of the human race. Mayhem ensues.

The not so good:

The opening of the movie is rather ponderous, and the story is a bit clichéd. However, considering when it was written, that's forgivable. If I had a deeper understanding and appreciation of Japanese culture and symbolism, I would probably find a lot of hidden meaning in the opening sequences. But I rented the movie because I wanted a slick action film and wasn't really in the mood to look or think very hard. At certain points in the movie, it seemed that having the story make sense was not important – like the stuff with the stop-motion little guy in heaven. I didn't get that at all.

The really good:

The colour and costumes are fantastic. The European robot army brought back fond memories of Terminator, and the voices of the actors are wonderfully reminiscent of anime voice acting. So are the poses taken on by the actors during the endless dramatic sequences and during the fight scenes. When they story moves, it moves fast, and the viewer is treated to a plethora of how-many-cool-images-can-we-stuff-into-a-two-second-interval of artistic eye candy sequences worthy of some of the best mecha anime around. There are a lot of explosions, some katanas, funky spaceships and motorbikes, and the soundtrack kicks butt. On the DVD case, the movie is compared to The Matrix, but I don't agree, aside from some of the robots having red bug-eyes. I'd say it's more like Flash Gordon, and some of the shots of Tetsuya jumping up into the sky during an attack reminded me of Bleach, and the gratuitous techno stuff was a teensy bit like Hellsing or Tank Police. Some of the soundtrack is exactly the same as Bleach and the non-speaking guy is rather Wonderwice-esque. And in case you're wondering about half-way through the movie, the ending does come together nicely and make a lot of sense.

Overall:

Definitely worth watching, but maybe rent it first instead of buying it right away.

Hellsing Ultimate Review

Warning: Some spoilage. Take home message: Hellsing Ultimate is definitely worth your time if you'd rather watch it instead of reading this.

Hellsing Ultimate is the second anime adaptation of the manga by Kouta Hirano. It is reportedly follows the plot of the original manga more closely, and the artistic style is supposed to be similar, with critics especially noting the heavy brushstrokes. I personally prefer the new series (currently finished up to episode 3), as there is more anime-esque humour in it, and the story is easier to follow. Be warned, however, this show is not for the weak of stomach. It's unapologetically gory and truly demonic, but there is still much to enjoy, as Hellsing is ridiculously slick and the music is excellent.

The first anime series, called simply "Hellsing", consists of 13 episodes that describe the adventures of a young British police woman, Victoria Seras, who is sent with her team to clear out a nest of ghouls and their controlling vampire. Unknown to the local police, there is no way they can win the battle, and all but Victoria are converted to ghouls. She is "saved" by the vampire hitman "Alucard" (Dracula spelled backwards), who shoots the vampire through Victoria's chest. Victoria is not finished with this world, however, and chooses to follow Alucard as a servant vampire. She doesn't realise what she's in for, and resists drinking blood and other demonic behaviours for quite some time, much to Alucard's dismay. When she does snap and give in to her demon side, she is often horrified at her new abilities and inclinations.

Alucard is "owned" by the Hellsing Organisation, and takes orders from them. How this came to be is not addressed in the original series, but in the remake, it is revealed that he was once Count Dracula, who was defeated by Abraham Van Helsing, and is now slave to the Hellsing clan. (It is speculated that the misspelling of the manga title was deliberate.) You'd think that Alucard would resent his current station, however he gets a kick out of the attitude of Integra Hellsing, his commanding officer, and he clearly enjoys his work. The artists of both anime series make no attempts to conceal or soften his demonic behaviour, even where his protégé Victoria is concerned. He is one slick, gun-toting monster, who constantly changes his hair length and eyeball size/number.

The Hellsing Organisation is an ordained group of Protestant knights who have been fighting vampires covertly for hundreds of years. The current leader is Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing, who inherited her knighthood from her father at the age of 12, bypassing her uncle, who was willing to kill her for it. It was her attempted murder, and the blood from a gunshot wound, that woke Alucard in the first place, as he had been kept in the Hellsing Family's basement as a corpse since his defeat. In the first anime, Integra is consistently a woman of steel, whereas in the second, she seems inexplicably hopeful that Alucard will somehow attain compassionate inclinations towards humans, and is bewilderingly surprised when she sees what her own vampires can do. She also displays vacillating softness towards Victoria, who is in all aspects, a soldier and a pawn.

The main story arc follows the appearance of a new type of artificial vampire. These creatures are made by implanting dead humans with a special kind of microchip that records telemetry and sends it back to a home base. The ancestral home of the Hellsing Family is attacked by these, wiping out nearly the whole army, leaving only Victoria, Alucard, and Walter – the Butler and former Hellsing Trashman (now Alucard's post). Walter is still a badass himself, whose favoured weapon is a collection of microfilaments that can slice through metal. Not surprisingly, Alucard and Walter get on very well.

As the story unfolds, it is revealed that the microchips are part of a project initiated by the still functional Third Reich, and it is hinted that they are interested in Alucard as a potential template for the ultimate human race. Some apparent bias seeps into the story, when a representative of the unacknowledged "Iscariot Organisation" of the Vatican (Section XIII) mentions that they have been funding the "Millennium Project." This part of the story had been greatly toned down in the original series.

So if you choose to watch it, I'd say watch Hellsing first, to get the gist of it (since otherwise you'll have to wait for the remaining episodes), and then sit back to really enjoy Hellsing Ultimate. I wouldn't watch them the other way around, since the presentation of Hellsing may prove unsatisfying.

Hellsing Ultimate gets a full 10/10 stars.