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Copyright © Fujishima Kousuke, Kodansha, TBS, Bandai Visual, Toei, Studio DEEN
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by Ivevei Upatkoon
It all begins when the Bokutou police are called in to tow away an
abandoned car. It's just another routine job for Yoriko and Aoi, until they
lift up the trunk and find a boggling collection of automatic weapons. It
raises more than a fuss at headquarters, but when the traffic light system
goes haywire the very day Natsumi and Miyuki return to duty from their
temporary transfers, the station is suddenly saddled with something much
more complicated.
With everyone working around the clock to crack the weapons smuggling case,
Natsumi has hardly enough time to recover from her hangover before she and
Miyuki are called in to bust a shipment in a nicely choreographed covert ops
sequence. In addition to guns, they also find a briefcase with a single MO
disc. All attempts to access it yield only a single map of Tokyo, even
though the size of the data file leaves no doubts that there is something
else hidden within. At this point the higher-ups step in, and before anyone
can even begin to put the pieces together, the Chief is placed under
custody to seal his lips on what mysterious information he possesses about
the whole case. That leaves the rest of the station to fend for themselves
as the situation quickly escalates out of control.
You will be forgiven if you think this sounds more like PATLABOR THE MOVIE
than TAIHO SHICHAUZO. And for the most part, you would be right; it is an
unapologetically somber, serious presentation that hardly tries to
reproduce the light atmosphere of the original OVAs or TV series. In that
sense, it follows in the footsteps of PATLABOR, also another far cry from
its OVA predecessor, except that there are no veiled attacks on the
Japanese right wing.
Some theatrical releases, like DRAGONBALL and SLAYERS, are simply higher
budget copies of their TV brethren. One comes to expect this, because it
makes little sense to spoiled a well-proven formula unless you are aiming
for a significantly different audience. So it was with pleasant surprise
that I first read a teaser for TAIHO SHICHAUZO THE MOVIE. Fans of the
original may be disappointed to hear that it has a very different feel, and
I agree that that had a charm of its own, but in this case reworking the
concept has resulted in a decidedly superior production for theater.
The first thing the viewer will notice is the highly detailed backgrounds
modeled after
actual locations in Tokyo. The character designs have also been brushed up
in favor of a mature (realistic would be an exaggeration) look which,
thankfully, make Natsumi and Miyuki in particular look less like children
and more like the competent officers they are in this film. Only one scene
actually takes place at night, but due to the plot and the nature of the
coloring the movie tends to feel quite dark for a significant portion.
Lest the above makes TAIHO sound as humorless as
GHOST IN THE SHELL, I will
declare now that it is, when all is said and done, an action flick, and a
pretty darn good one at that. The story is serious, but luckily the
director has not forgotten that TAIHO SHICHAUZO is about fun, not political
or societal commentary, and just as things are getting slow and cumbersome,
it all kicks into high gear.
There are several action sequences scattered throughout, as well as long
stretches when your mind begins to wander a little, but it is the climax
that really gives it a real oomph. Without spoiling too much, I can only
say that the creators very conveniently ignored the constraints of physics
and human physiology at all the right places. I found myself grinning
throughout. There was even a smidgen of slapstick humor thrown in that
worked extremely well. The art and animation, while showing the strains of
cost-cutting, were still highly consistent and more than adequate to the task.
The only complaint I have, aside from slightly uneven pacing in the middle,
is that the anticlimax is quite dissatisfying. Granted the high tension
right before makes it difficult to follow through the conclusion without it
being a letdown, but still I would have hoped for something with a little
more impact.
It has been a while since I had so much fun watching action anime, and so I
unreservedly recommend TAIHO SHICHAUZO THE MOVIE. They say that the middle
road is not given to producing good material, probably because it takes the
safe, well-trodden path. Sometimes, though, it works very well. TAIHO does
not try to sell itself on a complex plot, nor does it churn out the
no-brainer formulait just tells a decent, intelligent story with the
right amount of service thrown in. It's not going to win any awards, but
it's good entertainment. We need more anime like
this.
Produced by: TBS, Bandai Visual, Toei, Studio DEEN
Theatrical Release (100 mins)
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