Format/Subtitles: .avi / soft English .srt subtitles
Directors:
Rintaro
Yoshiaki Kawajiri
Katsuhiro Ôtomo
Year of release: 1989
Wikipedia
Neo Tokyo is a triple feature from three distinct directors. For anyone that's into anime this will probably be an enjoyable 50 minute ride. For those who are into a little more experimental or different anime they will certainly enjoy it. And who would not enjoy anything that Katsuhiro Otomo ever did? Yes, I'm a fan. :P
You can read the story synopsis on Wikipedia so I won't really bother with the details of the plot and I'll just describe my enjoyments/nonenjoyments of this triple feature. The running theme of all three movies is that our protagonist (different in each story) by accident or on purpose discovers something fantastic and supernatural and he decides to explore this. The first part is perhaps the most surreal one and it ties (more like stitches) the plot of the whole thing into one place giving it some kind of opening and closure.
A girl plays hide and seek with cat only to discover this strange world which is basically your old school metaphor of: jobs consume people and turn them into puppets in Japan. Very punk and I especially liked the train station scene where a bunch of skeletons are desperately trying to hold onto their hooks while the train mercilessly drags them forward. The art of it is also very distinct here compared to the other two. It has a very European look (to me) and the characters seem very childish in comparison to the background environments.
The second feature is about a journalist who is doing a story about an undefeated racer who races in this death sport that is some mixture of nascar and formula 1. This segment is probably the most dark of the three and the most atmospheric in general. Most of the plot is narrated through telling and not through showing so it took me two views to understand most of it so don't get annoyed if you don't get it. Just watch it once more and you'll probably get most of it. The whole setting of it reeks of film noir cinema interplay between light and dark. The general art of this short is so reminiscent of Katsuhiro's style that I thought he directed this but it turns out Katsuhiro only did the third (and the longest I think) part.
The last kept reminding me that I need to play System Shock 2 or Bioshock. The story is placed in a industrial city deep in the amazon forest. The inhabitants are only robots who are supposed to mine some material there. Of course something went wrong and they sent someone to shut the city down. As expected the whole thing is drawn and visualized beautifully reminding me much of Akira's landscapes and towering buildings. Lot's of pipes, cables and robots swarming around which is just what I enjoy and Katshiro apparently as well. The main problem that I had with this story is perhaps its childish approach (or maybe I just expected another Akira out of this one). A minor nuisance anyway.
Just like Robot Carnival this is something really nice and overlooked (I never see any discussions about this anime) by everyone. It does not deliver a complex and deep story but it has its unique and interesting appeal which is not to be missed if you like anime. I don't really know what to say; just get this already. :P
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Posts
This is a great little film. All of the segments are perfect.
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