I’ve been hearing a lot about this anime for a while now. Even though I’m not really an anime guy, I figured I would check it out, mostly because it’s supposed to be pretty messed up. And well… it kinda is… but that doesn’t mean it works. Not by a long shot.
Midori is a little girl whose mother dies. Afterwards, she wanders the streets alone when she is abducted by a freakish lot of carnies who subject her to all sorts of torment, degradation, and abuse. (These guys really know how to put the “freak” in “freak show”, if you know what I mean.) When a dwarf magician joins the show, he shows Midori kindness, and eventually, they get married. However, he soon proves to be just as vile as the other sideshow degenerates.
Like I said, I’m not really an anime guy or anything, but I have to say this flick features some of the worst animation I’ve ever seen. It makes Ralph Bakshi’s shit look like Pixar in comparison. Imagine if Tod Browning and Roger Watkins made a movie with sub-Speed Racer animation and that might come close to painting the picture. There is some memorable weirdness and depravity here, like eyeball licking, dog smooshing, and exploding bodies. I have to say there wasn’t as much craziness as I was expecting, given the film’s reputation.
Most of the time, the so-called animation is just a collection of still drawings. When something actually does move, it’s not for very long. I guess they thought if the subject matter was lurid enough, they could get away with having shoddy animation. That might’ve sounded good in principle, but I can only imagine how effective this all would’ve been if the animation wasn’t so piss poor. Or if the ending didn’t completely shit the bed. Maybe someday someone will make a live-action version of it. Now THAT would be something.
No comments:
Post a Comment