I don’t identify as an anime fan. Not because I’d be ashamed to, but because I don’t want to steal that valor. Real anime fans contain volumes of cultural knowledge that I lack. I don’t think I’m a tourist, but maybe a vacationer. At most a dabbler, a casual partaker, an occasional appreciator. But I love the artform of animation, so some of that stuff hits the spot.
Recently I made the connection that a bunch of the ones I’d enjoyed were directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri: WICKED CITY, NINJA SCROLL, VAMPIRE HUNTER D: BLOODLUST, THE ANIMATRIX and HIGHLANDER: THE SEARCH FOR VENGEANCE. (I also reviewed AZUMI 2: DEATH OR LOVE, a live action movie he wrote.) I like his outlandish characters, his wildly exaggerated violence, and his general approach of style and energy taking precedence over all else. So I remembered the name when I came across a blu-ray called GOKU MIDNIGHT EYE. It’s directed by Kawajiri and written by/based on a manga by Buichi Terasawa, who created another one I really dug called SPACE ADVENTURE COBRA. I’m glad I paid attention, because this is a really good one. (read the rest of this shit…)
