220https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/5373915565883f8e7ec58.jpg The ticket kiosk at my local theater ran out of paper so an employee from the concessions counter printed off a previous customers receipt and drew me a ticket on the backside of it. Thank you Sophia. I know if anyones got me its you. I had no idea until the opening credits rolled that this was directed by Yko Kuno. It was also directed by Nobuhiro Yamashita who wait why do I know that name LINDA LINDA LINDAhttps://youtu.be/R5cgwB47f7I?si=CuuhgxuXJuuNG0H8??? https://youtu.be/R5cgwB47f7I?si=CuuhgxuXJuuNG0H8 Small world huh? As fate would have it Kuno and Yamashita collaborated together in 2019 to create the music video for the annual Higashi Asia Buka Toshihttps://youtu.be/HLcQVbMfAg?si=OhBBKkpZ5r7jlbVO event. I suppose their sensibilities clicked because here they are collaborating again only this time on a feature length adaptation. https://youtu.be/HLcQVbMfAg?si=OhBBKkpZ5r7jlbVO The presence of Yamashita certainly explains the camerawork in Anzu. At various points it pans with the vivacity of a liveaction film a quality that makes discerning how exactly each background or layout came to be difficult. Its certainly familiar ground for both directors however as Kuno has throughout her career worked with rotoscope her most notable credit being the rotoscope animation director on Shunji Iwais 2015 romp The Case of Hana Alice which is probably the best looking rotoscoped anime weve got. Flowers of Evil fans may respectfully disagree. https://youtu.be/KkIGY02WLK4?si=rSW1b4q055wHfhkB The acting in Anzu is noticeably lifelike and complex. The manner in which characters walk the way they are layered in some group shots the bagginess of their clothes and limbsthese are all things that will make you squint your eyes and think Yeah that is definitely rotoscoped but the magic trick here is Kuno and teams hybrid approach to rotoscope and traditional animation. Squint your eyes a bit harder and soon youll note how frames are modulated to fit a more limited rhythm of movement if that word can be trusted. It is such a unique approach that it becomes hard to imagine anybody else creating this film. Every aesthetic choice seems to derive specifically from its head creatives Kuno also provided the character designs. According to AniLists current staff listings there were two animation directors and seven assistant animation directors. Thats simply put a LOT and it shows in the end product. The film looks superb. 220https://theprojector.sg/static/1423b191c25294a2b7f4dad5df88ec53/59a59/aze066v100412.jpg The most surprising element of Anzu is not its visuals however unique they are but its sound design. The voice actors are all comprised of liveaction stars. This isnt something new in and of itself Hideaki Anno and other GAINAX staffers for a short time turned nonanime voice acting into a stylistic choice for Kare Kano https://youtu.be/jaun23dhOBU?si=9tVZNs2jILEs3Cand FLCLhttps://youtu.be/xO5hSrlhYf0?si=4ZfXjC0tVEFBjnDZ but what is unique is their method of recording. I have no idea if what Im saying makes any sense but the voices seem to jut out in the midrange. Theres a presence to them that although fitting for a film attempting to evoke a concrete corporeality in its world still required a lot of getting used to. Still it is a deliberate creative choice. The films sound designer Masumi Takano is not an anime sound designer by trade. Hes partially a liveaction sound designer hence his fixation on the tangible depth of space within the film but more truthfully his professional credits derive mainly from experimental animated short films outside of the anime industry. This is a common trend in Anzus staff. Many of them arent really anime creators. Most of them have been involved to varying degrees with commercial anime production to be sure one must never forget Kunos standout animation on Beastarshttps://www.sakugabooru.com/post/show/254951 itself an outlier in its use of colored pencils but this is a carefully assembled team of creatives usually found outside of animes corporate structure now given undue liberty on a feature film. The result is that there is nothing else from anime this decade that looks and sounds like Ghost Cat Anzu. It is wholly original compared to its contemporaries. I dont care what the top review on LetterBoxd says about people comparing this to Spirited Awayhttps://anilist.co/anime/199/SentoChihironoKamikakushi/. This is a one of a kind project. It is everything that Yko Kuno has deserved since her college graduation project Airy Mehttps://youtu.be/7DkPNgpdhZA?si=JKqPvIsSTiEXPhkE broke waves back in 2013. https://youtu.be/TVzRHasbG4s?si=BLzLu43zVSerPrRm If these creatives are not given carte blanche in the future then I will be devastated. There was only me and one other person in the theater for the 7:30PM Anzu showing tonight. There should have been more. There ought to be more this week. At the very least it needs to be more than what InuOhhttps://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl3032777473/ got. What is arguably the best anime film of this decade saw only me my sister and one other person in the theater back in 2022. This is a call to action: Please go see GKids film showings that are not just Ghibli related. They are the only company handling ambitious anime film distribution in America. If you want more films like Look Backhttps://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt31711040/?ref=boser1 then please support these releases Nobody else will gamble on them Its either we take a golden goose or we allow all of these original titles die on your choice of awfully managed anime streaming services like CrunchyRoll. Weve seen recently how limited their attempts at distribution have been with Kizumonogatarihttps://www.crunchyroll.com/news/announcements/2024/8/14/kizumonogatarikoyomivampanimefilmunitedstatescanadamexicoaustraliatickets?srsltid=AfmBOorVYcgSZ9In9JtoMgHbyW8JKiEpFSg0RDw5zl7mYmAWIIYr6Fi so this is your chance Give them a much needed wake up call If Naoko Yamadas Kimi no Irohttps://youtu.be/EgBRETgl6hY?si=fYfmg9nRf7QwZAr does not sell out at my local theater this upcoming January I will riot. Mark my words. https://youtu.be/EgBRETgl6hY?si=fYfmg9nRf7QwZAr But first Go watch Ghost Cat Anzu. Ive deliberately avoided saying anything about the films plot and themes so that people may experience it blind. Its a lovely little film about a family comprised of weirdos on the fringes of society not unlike the people who created it. I promise you it may not change your life but it is worth interrupting your day for. There are not five movies released every week that are worth interrupting your day for. On a side note: this film isnt Spirited Away. Its Jarinko Chiehttps://anilist.co/anime/3946/JarinkoChie/. Go watch that preGhibli Isao Takahata film please. Its really good and also follows a young snarky girl with a deadbeat father an absent mother and a strange bipedal cat. Maybe go see Pom Pokohttps://anilist.co/anime/1030/HeiseiTanukiGassenPonpoko/ and Princess Kaguyahttps://anilist.co/anime/16664/KaguyahimenoMonogatari/ in theaters next week too. Show the nonMiyazaki Ghibli films the love and respect they deserve. 220https://platform.polygon.com/wpcontent/uploads/sites/2/2024/11/Untitled1.3.1.png?quality=90strip=allcrop=00100100