ROUJIN Z (1991): Roujin Z is an underrated little film
with quite the pedigree. It was directed by Hiroyuki Kitakubo (Robot Carnival, Blood: The Last Vampire) and written by Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira) which is a formidable team-up indeed.
Japan has a problem with a significant portion of the population being elderly
and this film takes a satirical look at the issue. Scientists build a machine
called Z-001, which is a fully autonomous robotic encasement that can take care
of an invalid senior citizen without any outside help. They test it on a cute
little old man named Kiyuro Takazawa; unfortunately he doesn’t take kindly to
being stuck in a robotic butt-wiping mecha suit and explosive high jinx ensue. The
animation is top-notch and it’s also hilarious to boot. Side note: I saw this
for the first time way back in the day when the Sci-Fi channel used to have
Anime Saturday.
PORCO ROSSO (1992): Another
best of list, another Hayao Miyazaki film. Do you like awesome high-flying
plane acrobatics? Do you like talking pigs with cool mustaches?! Porco Rosso has all of these things and
more! Besides the whole “WWI ace pilot that has been cursed to live his life as
an anthropomorphic pig” angle, the film is set in a realistic time period with
lots of attention to detail from that era. The plane mechanics and battles are
gorgeously realized and flying enthusiasts will be in heaven. As is always the
case with Miyazaki movies, the production value is high and the story is
whimsical. For some reason, this film doesn’t register on many Miyazaki film
fan’s radars but it’s one of his better efforts.
NINJA SCROLL (1993): Ninja Scroll is one of those anime films
you can use to hook people into the fandom. “Oh, you don’t like anime? Borrow
this flick, man. It has ninjas and boobs and stuff.” While it does have plenty
of ninjas and boobs, it also has slick character designs, incredible fight
choreography, amazing animation, a great musical score and a thrilling story. Brought
to you by Madhouse and directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri (who also made one of my
favorite films, Wicked City), Ninja Scroll is a beautiful and bloody
sex-filled experience that has become an iconic classic. My little
thirteen-year-old mind was blown the first time I saw it and it definitely left
a lasting impression on me.
STREET FIGHTER 2: THE
ANIMATED MOVIE (1994): We all know about the abomination that is the
live-action version of Street Fighter
(thanks for nothing, Jean-Claude Van Damme) but did you know there is a Street Fighter film that is actually
good?! Street Fighter 2: The Animated
Movie is a faithful adaptation of the beloved fighting game franchise and
just a pretty awesome movie in general. It’s worth the price of entry alone for
the kick ass fight between Vega and half-naked, out-of-the-shower Chun-Li. This
film had an interesting release history in the US; it was edited for nudity and
cursing and given a crappy nu-metal soundtrack to replace the superior original
score. It wasn’t until 2006 that we finally got a fully unrated version.
GHOST IN THE SHELL
(1995): This film isn’t just the best of the ‘90s; it’s one of the greatest
anime films ever made. It transcends being just an animated film and crosses
over into being a genre defining event. In my opinion, this film and Blade Runner are tied for being the best
cyber-punk film of all time. Ghost in the
Shell was directed by Mamoru Oshii (Patlabor,
Jin-Roh) and based on the prolific
manga by Masamune Shirow. The story concerns the investigation of a mysterious
hacker by a beautiful female cyborg named Motoko Kusanagi. There is a lot of
deep symbolism in this film if you care to look for it but if that’s not your
bag, it is still visually appealing and dynamic. Kenji Kawai’s haunting and
ethereal score takes the film to the next level and the somber color pallet of
the film adds to the melancholy feel.
MACROSS PLUS (1995): I’m
cheating with this film a bit as Macross
Plus was originally released as a four-part OVA (Original Video Animation)
and then recut into a feature length film. I prefer the OVA series version as
it is paced much better and fills in more of the plot than the movie version. This
movie can be seen as a bit of a Japanese version of Top Gun; you have two rival pilots pitted against each other, the
rash bad-boy Isamu Dyson and the reserved and stoic Guld Bowman. There is also
a love triangle, and a side plot involving a pop-singer hologram named Sharon
Apple who becomes self-aware, which actually isn’t that strange in the world of
Macross. The animation is a mix of CGI and traditional animation and it has
aged pretty well considering when it was made. The aircraft flight sequences
are some of the most exhilarating ever animated and the orchestral-techno pop
soundtrack by Yoko Kanno is out of this world.
MEMORIES (1995): I
always enjoy film anthologies because you get some many different styles and
stories in one place. In Memories you
get three different vignettes based on manga stories from Akira author, Katsuhiro
Otomo. All three parts have different art styles and directors with animation
produced from different companies. Some of the stories are sad and some are
more thoughtful; all of them are excellent. My personal favorite is the third
short, Cannon Fodder, as it has the
craziest look and musical score (with a neat one-take shot effect). It’s fun to see how varied all the different
animation studios really are.
THE END OF EVANGELION
(1997): When Neon Genesis Evangelion
ended; there were many fans who were not satisfied with the somewhat ambiguous
nature of the last two episodes. Series creator, Hideaki Anno, decided to
remake the controversial episodes as a feature length film, but interestingly enough
the fans didn’t quite get what they were expecting. I fully believe that The End of Evangelion was Anno’s middle
finger salute to annoying fanboys everywhere. You know the ones, those entitled
whiners who demand that a creator make art that conforms to their expectations. Anno took everything
beloved about Evangelion and
decimated it in this film.
He destroys everything in a glorious and batshit insane
fashion; the last thirty minutes of this film have to be seen to believed. What
makes it even better are the insanely high production values; you get to see
your dreams being crushed with smooth animation and epic set-pieces. I am one
of the few people who adored the original ending to the TV series, but I love
this version too because Anno wrestles his vision back from the greasy mitts of
fanboys, stomps all over it and throws in back in their face. You've got to
respect that, if anything else.
PERFECT BLUE (1997): Satoshi
Kon essentially made an animated David Lynch film with his mind-bending
thriller, Perfect Blue. The plot
centers on pop-star turned actress Mima Kirigoe and her increasingly bizarre
interactions with a crazy stalker. There are some nods to Hitchcock in some
scenes and everything becomes more surrealistic the farther you go. Since it’s
animated they can go farther than you can in a live-action film which adds to
the nightmarish atmosphere in the movie. These types of films are what make
Japanese animation so special; they use the medium for all different genres of
film, not just stuff aimed at children.
PRINCESS MONONOKE
(1997): One of Hayao Miyazaki’s darkest films, Princess Mononoke is a tour-de-force. It is unlike any other movie
in Miyazaki’s filmography and is actually quite gruesome in parts. The titular
character, Mononoke herself, is a wild-card; raised by wolves and with a fiery
hatred for her own kind. It takes place in a mystical forest where the animals
can speak and there are forest gods roaming around. Studio Ghibli provides
their usual sumptuous animation and the character designs are simultaneously beautiful
and terrifying. Princess Mononoke was
the highest grossing film in Japan in 1997 and with good reason. It’s a
refreshing change of pace from Miyazaki’s other, cutesier works.
-Michelle Kisner
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