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REVIEW: Human Lost BR/DVD




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Gina Szanboti



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 11286
PostPosted: Sun Oct 25, 2020 6:45 pm Reply with quote
What I had to say back in Sept. when I watched it:

Oh lord, Tow Ubukata strikes again. ::headdesk::

This is supposedly based on Osamu Dazai's "No Longer Human" novel, for certain values of "based on" I guess. There are some oblique nods to the story, like the protagonist's inability to smile properly and a sorta-failed double-suicide, and title drops about being no longer human and nonsense about what it means to be human, but beyond that, there's not a trace to be found of Dazai's work, so if that's what you're looking for, keep looking.

The storyline is a mess, the technobabble is thick enough to cut with a knife, and once you do, there's nothing under the surface. It's a dystopian reworking of Ghost in the Shell, Psycho-Pass (I guess ruining that franchise once just wasn't enough to satisfy Ubukata's thirst for destruction) and maybe some Devilman Crybaby, with the perfect system being health and longevity rather than crime, ruled by a bunch of elders in their own personal floating palanquins instead of brains in jars (that might've just been holograms because later it seemed like their actual bodies were all stored in some sort of crypts). Lots of people not dying when they are killed, lots of stabbiness with sci-fi chainsaws and tentacles, and a bunch of Boston Dynamics Big Dogs running around all over, which was really the only cool part of the whole thing. Very Happy

Ok, Takahiro Sakurai as spoiler[the kind-of Big Bad] was cool too, since that character was a total bishounen, even at 120 years old, especially once his glasses got lost and he apparently didn't need them anymore anyway. Smile

On top of all that, there were the usual problems with so many Funi projects, where the sound levels suddenly go from "gotta jack it to the max" to hear people talking, to "gah! my speakers! my ears! my neighbors' ears!" levels for the asplosions and swelling music. If you watch this, keep your finger on the audio slider throughout! [dunno if this is fixed on the BD]

But my recommendation is don't watch this. [I gave it a So-So rating]
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Joined: 03 Nov 2003
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Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Sun Oct 25, 2020 7:27 pm Reply with quote
Gina Szanboti wrote:
On top of all that, there were the usual problems with so many Funi projects, where the sound levels suddenly go from "gotta jack it to the max" to hear people talking, to "gah! my speakers! my ears! my neighbors' ears!" levels for the asplosions and swelling music. If you watch this, keep your finger on the audio slider throughout! [dunno if this is fixed on the BD]

I did not notice this in watching the BD, but I am also not super-sensitive to such things.
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ThatMoonGuy



Joined: 13 Oct 2017
Posts: 364
PostPosted: Sun Oct 25, 2020 8:58 pm Reply with quote
You know, there's a lot of interesting space that could be covered by transporting Ningen Shikkaku to a futuristic setting. You could make a pretty interesting analysis on alienation, disconnection and identity loss in the context of a technologically advanced work. But this makes it sound like it isn't the direction the movie goes.

It's a shame because I actually rather like Mardock Scramble but most of his work on anime has been pretty questionable.
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