Forum - View topicREVIEW: Sky Crawlers
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JC90
Posts: 18 Location: Oh, just here and there.... |
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Wow. This review (at least concerning the themes) was a little on the depressive and cynical side. As someone who just can't figure out what to do with her life, this looks to be a particularly eye-opening film.
Last edited by JC90 on Tue Dec 23, 2008 1:14 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Mohawk52
 Posts: 8202 Location: England, UK |
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It appears that those you have pointed toward, as ones who won't get it, will not simply because they are it. Your analysis of this film reminded me more of //.hack.sign where we only saw the true characters, through their chosen avatars in a MMORPG. It's like one watching Big Brother, a UK based reallity TV show where one watches people sitting on a settee in a room doing nothing, and when they switch off their TV, what do they see in the reflection on the blackened screen? Themselves sitting on a settee in a room doing nothing.
Mirror, mirror on the wall, be as truthful as you can be. For my life I can not recall, who is this person that I see? |
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GATSU
Posts: 15306 |
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Duel:
So does that mean this is the Japanese equivalent of Wall-E? 
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DavidShallcross
 Posts: 1008 |
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Almost any movie is a collaboration. In this case, the writer of the original novels, the screenwriter, the director, and the viewer all contribute. And they all may have different ideas as to what the film is about. Sevakis's analysis is ingenious. I tend to think that the film only became "about otaku" when he saw it. Not that that makes this a bad review.
Now, on to showing how Last Year at Marienbad is really an affectionate criticism of the French telephone system. |
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dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
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Oh, I can see why you would do the review with an emphasis on analysis. Sorry about doubting your word. |
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reanimator
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Still, you gotta give the director a credit for bringing out the subject of current status of Anime and fans. Just because Oshii didn't make anything creative from your point of view, it doesn't mean he can't express his concerns. Honestly I don't know what constitutes as creativity in your term. Isn't creativity comes from inspiration of everyday events and trying to make something different? One thing I've noticed on Anime nowadays is that creators of animation and comic in Japan seem to have very limited scope of external stimulus that can inspire them to do something different. You're fully aware that most of Japanes animation always revolve around their comic book counterparts. Most of their comic books themselves always revolve around fantasy based from their limited immediate surroundings and culture. They don't seem to look for any growth or changes. Why should animation be bound to such limited view? I hate to admit this. Japanese fans, especially Otakus, reinforces this lack of originality through their purchase of useless merchandises and wasting their time making escapist amateur fantasy out of their favorite fantasy characters. And so many potential young creators of these entertainment media are so engrossed with copying some popular artists' style that they forget to look outside for inspiration. This is why companies are taking advantage of the situation. It's easy money. No matter what kind of repackaged product they make, they will have hapless fans who'll buy their products for high price. So should we blame companies for being their business conduct? No, fans became a part of the problem by not doing anything. |
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omoikane
Posts: 494 |
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You're critical of Oshii more than the film, IMO. Just a couple things people teased out already: 1. Having seen some of the notes Oshii gave for this movie, I have to say it really does color the way you interpret this work. Yet, Oshii is clearly smart enough (or should we credit it to the original creator, Hiroshi Mori) to make the film work beyond that cultural context as pinned by this review. To that extent I think most people would be better off read that stuff AFTER they saw the film. This review goes a little too far to be helpful, but that's okay. 2. I find it odd that someone compare Cannon Fodder w/ Sky Cralwers and say CF is better when I think it would do no one any service if Sky Crawler took the same route (it's bad for trying to be original?). The two may have some similar themes, but they are executed in very different fashion. For one, the friction between character and society is just the backdrop for Sky Crawlers, where as in CF society itself was the main focus. They are really two different stories at the end. 3. Personally, to take Sevakis's (or rather, Oshii's) route out is selling yourself and the film short. Inquisitive minds should make their own judgment for a well-layered work such as The Sky Crawlers. Because there is more than interpretation to this film. There's more to it than comparing it to the hikkikomori or whatever is on Japan's attention-deficit mainstream media's weekly menu. There is plenty in the States to find parallels with. And a good movie has to be able to connect to its audience across that sort of boundaries. I think inadvertently the best thing Sevakis did in the review is to compare it with The Wrestler. If an audience can understand the latter, then Sky Crawlers is not going to be inaccessible. |
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Veers
 Posts: 1197 Location: Texas |
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This is not a problem unique to anime. It may be a prevalent issue with anime at this time, but it's not unique to anime. Every creative medium runs into this kind of "problem"; music, anime, comic books, video games, novels, movies, etc. Or, rather, the real issue is that as the audience of these art forms become more and more knowledgeable about the form, the audience perceives what is natural (the limits of or seeming lack of creativity, emergence of patterns, predictability, references, etc.) as a problem. Look at hundreds of years of European and American literature--the reuse of basic storylines, character types, and settings is rampant, but people keep on writing and reading novels. (Note: I don't think comparing anime to literature is like oranges to oranges, but it's similar enough to make a point.) I'll use Azumanga Daioh as an example here. It was one of the first, if not the first, slice of life comedy anime I saw. I loved it (and still do; simply recalling various scenes/jokes can make me grin) but can't deny that its characters are archetypal and its format is one seen many places. But to me, it was all new when I saw it. And for a while I enjoyed watching similar shows for the style of humor. I still enjoy slice of life shows, but when New Anime About A Bunch of High School Girls shows up on radar, I don't care nearly as much anymore. Now, I'm not sure which is "worse"--avoiding new anime because it's just going to rehash what I've seen in a dozen other shows (some of which I am favorably biased towards, and will therefore probably consider better than said new show even if said new show is good), or being content with revisiting "old favorites" (like rewatching AzuDai, again) and not checking out the newer stuff--but either way, that's how my attitude towards anime is becoming lately. I'm sure that there are people out there in a position similar to the one I was in a few years ago who are watching shows I am intentionally avoiding (or ones I watched that didn't meet my expectations) and are enjoying them as their own AzuDais, so to speak. And I think that's something people overlook when they talk about a show being a rehash. But I guess that's what the anime industry depends on? I'm no insider so I don't know whether they depend on the existing fanbase buying recycled content or if they depend on new people enjoying it and buying it because it's new to them. Or maybe it depends on people like me who don't buy lots of manga/DVDs, but are suckers enough to buy plastic women that look cute in glass cases. |
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mangaka-chan
 Posts: 283 |
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Interesting review. I saw posters for the movie all over the place when I was in Japan this summer, but had no idea what the movie was about, and since I hadn't heard about it in the states yet, had no idea who was behind it.
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bob_loblaw
Posts: 229 Location: Tanning in Hell |
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It's been well over a week since I've seen the film, and I still want to know more about this world of Kildren and this "corporate war" between Lautern and Rostock. Are all the Rostock pilots and command staff Japanese? Do the Rostock pilots speak English during sorties because of their European "fans"?
These were just some of the questions I was left with, upon the film's conclusion and its end-credit epilogue. I hope the original novel is translated into English someday, so I can find out. But I'm not holding much hope due to the burgeoning recession were in. *sigh* That aside, the film's visuals were stunning. And the score was one of my favorite entries from Kenji Kawai. I may pass on the DVD and instead make this one of my [distant future] Blu-Ray purchases. The desire to see the film again is very strong. |
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omoikane
Posts: 494 |
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The original series of book takes place in Japan, so this adaptation had the liberty of moving everything to Europe(?). That one difference in language is one that didn't exist AFAIK; I didn't read the books myself so I can't say for sure. I think there is a series of special features for the making of Sky Crawlers and that might answer some of your questions. Hopefully they will get released too in a North American home video release... |
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vashfanatic
 Posts: 3489 Location: Back stateside |
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Two thoughts:
!) It's rather easy to target anime for how many of its series reak of repetitiveness and lack of originality, but as someone who watches articles for upcoming American movies, the two words you hear the most are "sequel" and "remake." Companies produce what sells, and unfortunately what sells (they presume) is the same stuff that sold last time: giant robots, harems, slice-of-life high school girl shows, dripping blobs of shoujo bubbles. And so long as we watch that rather than anything innovative, they'll keep making spinoffs and sequels and clones. 2) As someone who's been-there-done-that, I know the temptation towards avoiding stressful issues and holing yourself up with whatever you love is strong (this was more than anime in my case, but it was still a part of it). I haven't seen this movie, so I don't know what his final message is; I worry it might be a "suck it up and get over it" one, which ignores any real psychological issues people who turn hikkikomori face. Japan's way behind America on acceptance of people seeking counseling and (if necessary) medication. The cycle has to be broken, true, but just scolding the person with issues doesn't work. |
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C.E.
Posts: 1 |
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This seems a rather close minded approach to a somewhat legitimate complaint; while I don't find analysis a total negative here, I do agree that some of the wistful ruminations could be cut from the review and some of the pretentious undertones could use a little grounding. Does this make me some kind of mass-produced entertainment peon incapable of sitting through a good showing of 8½ or The Seventh Seal? Of course not; one can approach a review in several different ways looking for different things regardless of tastes. This was both a thoughtful and enjoyable review- I'm disappointed that you felt the need to justify it on the snarky defensive. |
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britannicamoore
 Posts: 2618 Location: Out. |
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Are you saying that the people who are fans who shelter themselves in anime are afraid to grow up? My reading comprehension has been off. Is it because "we" (i use that term loosely) are not leaving anime behind or because "we" are too into it?
As for the repackaging or the same thing, I see that a lot and can agree in both anime and out. Originality seemed to have died a long time ago (but the biggest slice of originality i'm looking forward too is the Watchman) Regardless though, I want to see the film. I was going into it blind before but this gives me a better idea of what to expect. And please let me know if I was off with what I thought you said. |
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor
 Posts: 7912 Location: Anime News Network Technodrome |
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Wow, you are trying way, way too hard. |
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