Right just now, I'm re-acquainting myself with one of Japanese manga, (comic book) creator Masamune Shirow's. franchise creations -- Appleseed (published 1985-1989). It was his earlier, reputation-making series, and paved the way for his best-known manga: Ghost in the Shell (published 1989-1990). Ghost in the Shell led to an outstanding 1995 theatrical film anime of the same name, and then, anime TV series, video games, film sequels, and more manga -- it's what you'd call a multimedia franchise.
Appleseed has likewise spawned film, TV, and video game versions. I've been watching the films. Actually, I'm fairly mesmerized by the middle, 2004 film, simply titled, Appleseed. It's 2007 sequel, Appleseed Ex Machina, is visually stunning, but narratively weak. The first feature-length Appleseed, in 1988 was a so-called OVA (original video animation) -- story's strong, but the rough 1980s animation takes getting used to.
Appleseed takes place in a post-apocalyptic 22nd Century Earth. The main characters are Deunan Knute and Briareos Hecatonchires; life long friends, and lovers, who work together in an elite SWAT team in the city-state of Olympus. A Shirow signature plot element is the close integration into everyday life of artificial intelligence, and cybernetic modification. Deunan's "man," Briareos has survived catastrophic injury as a human intelligence in a machine body -- this has not reduced Deunan's feelings for the big lug in the slightest.
I started watching all three Appleseed films on the HP Pavilion, but then the AC adapter broke. I'm now watching a version of the 2004 film, which plays well on my weaker Acer One. I'll probably have something to add when I'm done, but, so far, this middle child in the film portion of the franchise is nicely balanced. The story is well told, and the CGI is not too perfect. The direction is so good -- the 2004 film pulls me in with a perfect opening scene of Deunan in city ruins, fighting for her life against insurmountable odds -- damn she's good at it! Very entertaining. Highly recommended.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)