In the year 2005, on a tiny volcanic island, designated simply 8JO, located 1,000 miles from the Asian coast, the Cybotech Corporation built the world’s first fully self-contained industrial complex. Its purpose: to manufacture the most advanced robots ever known. At the heart of this complex, a computer… more advanced, more powerful than any other that came before, the Kyron 5.
Where do I start with this movie? It feels as if Gunhed is stalking me for a few good years now. Every now and then, I stumble upon some piece of trivia connected with it. I gave it a try back in 2016 and reviewed it, but it just stuck my mind for good. Cue 2020, I decided to revisit Gunhed and gather everything I know about it into one coherent whole. So, let’s do a deep dive into the story behind a cyberpunk spectacle that no one really talks about today.
The story begins with our beloved King of the Monsters, Godzilla. Back in 1984, Toho Studios tried to resurrect the franchise after 10 years of hiatus. As a result, they produced a film called The Return of Godzilla (original title: Gojira 1984). The movie became a domestic success, with good reviews from the critics and decent box office results (though, the same cannot be said about the American cut of the film which was released a year later). Toho wanted to continue the rebooted series, but it was difficult for them to find any great ideas for the follow-up. In consequence, they decided to hold a script competition across Japan in order to harvest fresh ideas about a new Godzilla movie. (Note: similar contest was done prior to Terror of Mechagodzilla movie in 1975).
An early draft written by a Shinichiro Kobayashi was given the first place, and Toho greenlit the second Godzilla Heisei film: Godzilla vs. Biollante. Nevertheless, there was a second submission which gained the producers attention. A script prepared by an American citizen James Bannon focused on Godzilla facing off against a super computer which declared war on the King. Short synopsis from Toho Kingdom site reads as follows: “In the near future, Godzilla goes up against an incredibly advanced computer system, which deploys its own defenses to stop the creature. Godzilla now must confront enormous mechanized machines in order to reach the central computer” (source).
For some reason, Toho really liked the premise, so they decided to make a science fiction flick out of it, but it was not to feature Godzilla. They brought in a young director Masato Harada and, I suspect, the project meeting must have looked more or less like this.
Toho Studios: “Hey, so we want you to make a new Godzilla film in which he fights a computer, but the catch is that we don’t want any Godzilla. We only want to have a top-of-the-line super computer that wants to destroy mankind. Are you in?” After a brief pause, Masato Harada responded , “I’m your huckleberry!”
Consequently, the director heavily reworked James Bannon’s script, turning it into a futuristic tale about robot wars. The title of the film Gunhed (an abbreviation of Gun UNit of Heavy Eliminate Device). With the whopping budget of 1,5 billion yen (actually, such big companies as Sunrise, Bandai, Kadokawa, and IMAGICA joined the production; the budget for Godzilla vs. Biollante was two times smaller), the filming began in 1989 and the film was released in Japan on July 22, the same year.
The story of the film goes like this: In the early 2000s, a highly advanced A. I. system was built on a remote Asian island 8JO. The super computer known as Kyron 5 was autonomously running the island for 20 years until it reached a conclusion that humanity is irrelevant, so it started a war. Humans send special Gunhed battalions in order to stop Kyron 5. The battalion was defeated, whereas the computer shut itself off…
13 years later, a group of scavengers arrives at the forgotten island, looking for old computer chips which became a valuable commodity in the 2030s. However, the facility has a set of automated defences which eliminate the scavengers one by one. A guy called Brooklyn (Masahiro Takashima) accidentally finds another survivor, a Texas Air Ranger Sgt. Nim (played by American actress Brenda Bakke). It turns out that a bio-droid went rogue and stole a vial with powerful energy material known as Texmexium. The protagonists, together with two surviving children of the original residents of 8JO, discover that Kyron 5 attempts to reactivate itself and use Texmexium for global domination. Determined to stop Kyron 5, Brooklyn rebuilds an old Gunhed unit (voice of Randy Reyes).
Indeed, the synopsis for this film is long and a bit confusing. From the very beginning of the film a lot of information is thrown at the viewers, so one has to really pay attention to what happens on the screen. However, incoherent dialogue, shoddy editing, and disjointed sequence of events really put you out of the viewing experience.
For instance, see the screenshot presented below. The characters are in one location and we get a transition to exactly the same location…
In addition, when there are action scenes, it is hard to make out the geography of the scene where the characters are positioned against each other.
As for the dialogue… let me just say that the dire George Lucas’ sand monologues are Oscar worthy when compared with the stuff that the protagonists of Gunhed say. Even though there are two separate language audio tracks for Gunhed, none of these are remotely good. In the English track, we have the same obnoxious over-the-top voice acting from early Godzilla releases. In the Japanese track, on the other hand, characters speak very silently and they frequently throw clichés about courage and getting a grip. Interestingly, the voices of Brenda Bakke and Randy Reyes are the only ones unaltered in both language versions.
Having said all this, what are the redeeming factors of Gunhed? Certainly, the movie has magnificent cyberpunk atmosphere which was made possible thanks to top notch miniature work, production design (helmed by Fumio Ogawa), amazing practical effects (directed by a Godzilla veteran, Koichi Kawakita), and unique music score (composed by Toshiyuki Honda and Takayuki Baba). The team behind Gunhed actually built a human sized mock up of the titular robot for the fight scenes.
Indeed, the production designer and special effects supervisor gave their very best in the process of making this movie. However, it seems that the director, Masao Harada, as well as the editor, Yoshitami Kuroiwa, totally gave up, having been overwhelmed by the magnitude of this cyberpunk project.
Instead of an epic Godzilla movie, what we have today is a mess of a movie. If you look close enough into the abyss of Gunhed, you will see the footmarks of Alien, Blade Runner, and The Terminator. Basically, the plotline of this movie is Ripley and Hicks from Aliens trying to stop Skynet from The Terminator. I think that the best way to describe this film is to call it a compilation of live-action cutscenes from a cancelled PS1 game. They don’t work well together at all, but they please the eye.
Although, it’s been over 30 years since the release of this picture, Gunhed still enjoys a cult following in its homeland. We, Western disbelievers, have only DVD release to fall back on, whereas the Japanese enjoy the film in HD and also read a manga series. Interestingly, one of my favourite J-singers, Mariko Nagai, actually sang a theme song (Time ~ Song for Gunhed) for the movie, which is featured halfway through the end credits of the Japanese version. Thankfully, you can find full Music Video on YouTube.
All things considered, this was my retrospective look at the Gunhed movie. My mission is now completed and I hope that a giant robot will leave me alone now. Have you seen Gunhed? If so, please share your thoughts in the comments. As always, thank you for reading.
Patlabor: The Movie 2; or, Tinker, Tailor, Ingram, Spy The line that separates a just war from an unjust peace isn't very clear. Ever since hypocrites have made peace their just cause, we've lost faith in that peace. Just as wars give rise to peace, peace also gives rise to war. An empty, hollow "peace" that only defines itself as "not war" will eventually be replaced by something that is a state of war in all but name. After the successful Patlabor: The Movie (1989) andPatlabor: The New Files OVA (1990-1992), Headgear decided to put the franchise to a rest with Patlabor 2: The Movie (1993) directed by the famous Mamoru Oshii. In contrast to the previous entries, the final chapter of the Patlabor series feels like an espionage thriller with philosophical ponderings about life known from Ghost in the Shell (1995). However, first and foremost, this anime feature is Oshii’s personal protest against Japanese politics.
Language: JapaneseOriginal Title: 機動警察パトレイバー2 the Movie Runtime: 108 min
Synopsis Three years after the events from the first movie, we see that the members of SV2 Section 2 have gone their separate ways. Noa and Shinohara are now Labor testers, whereas Ota has become an instructor at the police academy, and Shinshi has been transferred to Tokyo MPD. The only people who stayed in SV2 are Hiromi Yamazaki as well as Captain Goto and Captain Nagumo. All of a sudden, the Yokohama Bay Bridge is destroyed by a military missile. This event sets into motion a domino effect which leads to a growing conflict between the Japanese government and JSDF forces. Goto and Nagumo believe that a person responsible for all this is a former UN soldier, Tsuge, who wants to stage a fake coup d’état.
All the good things… I have to admit that I loathed reviewing this particular film because I had a really hard time understanding what exactly Mamoru Oshii tried to get across with this story. Only after rewatching the film three more times, reading a couple of online essays, and consulting fellow Patlabor fans, Oshii’s intentions became clearer to me.
Patlabor 2: The Movie, contrary to the first theatrical movie, is not an adventure story with comedy elements, but an evaluation of Japan’s participation in the Cold War. When America and the Soviet Union were putting missiles against each other and stealing vital information, Japan claimed that it was neither participating nor taking sides in the conflict. Oshii puts to the test this illusion of a peaceful nation in Patlabor 2. What is more, the existence and purpose of the Japan Self-Defense Forces seem problematic to the director. The opening sequence of the movie serves as a reference to the Cambodian incident, in the course of which two JSDF officers lost their lives. In other words, Patlabor 2 is not a story about clumsy policemen and an optimistic future, but it is about the hypocrisy of politicians who create “unjust peace.”
Oshii’s thoughtful statements uttered through the characters of Goto, Nagumo, Aragaki, and Tsuge are indeed intriguing, but they consequently slow the picture down. The director stated that a lot of action waters down the ideas conveyed in scenes, so he opted for the usage of long shots. As a result, we get a very serious and long winded movie with characters constantly talking and often doing nothing more than just sitting. These cold espionage vibes may be good for an adaptation of John Le Carre’s novel, but they do not work that well in the Patlabor world.
Interestingly, the premise of the story (former mentor of an SV2 officer trying to overthrow the government) greatly resembles the finale of Patlabor: Early Days OVA. Mamoru Oshii himself actually predicted in The Making of Patlabor 2 (1994) documentary when he stated: “So, in the third one, we’ll make an involved story and create a non Patlabor movie.” He also added that he could continue making new Patlabor stories if there were new characters and a somewhat different world (indeed, that’s what happened with The Next Generation: Patlabor (2014) drama series).
Speaking about performances, the characters of Noa and Shinohara are a bit sidelined in this film, so do not get to her a lot from Miina Tominaga and Toshio Furukawa, respectively. However, Ryuusuke Oobayashi as Goto and Yoshiko Sakakibara as Shinobu are pushed to the foreground in this picture. I could listen to their voices all day long. There is also a great supporting part done by Naoto Takenaka.
Recommendations All things considered, Patlabor 2: The Movie is a classic anime feature. Even though the first movie is my favourite theatrical film, I shall always regard the sequel as the final chapter of the wonderful science-fiction franchise. If you love the characters of Goto and Shinobu as much as I do, then check it out.
Overall score: 7/10
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Mixed Doubles; or, The Winner Takes It All Don't act spoiled! What you feel doesn't matter. You should shine! Don't run away! One step in front! Tough days at work? Strained relations with other people? Don’t you just want to unwind yourself and forget about everything? Then, take that table tennis racket and join the ping pong competition together with the legendary Gakki and Eita in the movie Mixed Doubles.
Language: JapaneseOriginal Title: ミックス。Runtime: 114 min
Synopsis Tamako Tomita (Yui Aragaki) was forced by her mother (Yoko Maki) to practice table tennis and participate in many championships since childhood. After her mother’s passing, Tamako moves to a city and tries to live an ordinary life. She gets a job in a corporation and meets a nice boyfriend, Ejima (Koji Seto), who is a company’s representative at table tennis tournaments. It turns out that Ejima cheats on Tamako with a table tennis partner, Airi (Mei Nagano). Tamako quits the job and returns heartbroken to her hometown. Her father (Fumiyo Kohinata) encourages her to start giving lessons at a table tennis club which was run by her late mother. Tamako gives it a try and she meets Hisashi Hagiwara (Eita), a former boxer who tries to win back the favours of his family. In order to help promote the club and settle the score with her ex-boyfriend, Tamako decides to take part in a mixed doubles table tennis tournament.
Never Giving Up
Mixed Doubles (original title Mikkusu) is a 2017 Japanese production directed by Junichi Ishikawa (who is perhaps best known for his work Legal High drama). I had completely no idea about the existence of this movie until I accidentally saw a poster online featuring Yui Aragaki and Eita! I was all the more surprised when it turned out that apart from the great leads there is also an ensemble cast composed out of many recognisable J-movie/drama actors and actresses.
The movie is a well made mixture of light-hearted rom-com and sports drama. Thankfully, the script is not too cheesy and clichéd (however, who in the right state of mind would cheat on Gakki?). In addition, the overall tone of the film is very earnest and warm. It is a sweet story about finding self-confidence and love akin to Shinobu Yaguchi’s Wood Job! (2014).
Of course, Mixed Doubles would not be so enjoyable without stellar performances. Gakki and Eita have perfect chemistry on the screen and I wish we could get more movies with them. Furthermore, I loved Ryoko Hirouse’s appearance as a rebel hillbilly, Yayoi. Nevertheless, I completely lost it when I saw Kenichi Endo, Fumiyo Kohinata, Yu Aoi, and Mei Nagano in supporting roles (plus cameos from Kotaro Yoshida, Anne Nakamura, and Katsuhisa Namase). Also, am I the only one who thinks that the appearance of Yoko Maki was an in-joke reference to Saikou no Rikon fans? Yoko appeared in only two scenes, but she totally rocked as a crazy mom obsessed with table tennis. The cast of this movie is so perfect!
Recommendations To conclude, Mixed Doubles may not be a zany comedy like Fumihiko Sori’s Ping Pong (2002), but it is a heart-warming flick which will definitely make you feel good. Go ahead and watch it with your family if you can. Even though I suck at table tennis, I wholeheartedly recommend Mixed Doubles.
Overall score: 8/10
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Mirai Sentai Timeranger; or, Back to the Future Even if we can’t change our future, we can still change our tomorrow! Mirai Sentai Timeranger [Future Squadron Timeranger] is one of the first shows that were recommended to me at the beginning of my Super Sentai journey. With breaks, it took me about a year to check out all 51 episodes of the series. To be honest, I do not regret any minute of this long journey. Timeranger is undoubtedly one of the most gripping Super Sentai seasons out there.
Release Info
Developed by: Yasuko KobayashiStarring: Masaru Nagai, Mika Katsumura, Yuji Kido, Masahiro Kuranuki, Shuhei Izumi, Shinji Kasahara
Language: JapaneseOriginal Title: 未来戦隊タイムレンジャー No. of eps.: 51
Synopsis It’s the year 3000. With the boost of technology, time travel has become possible, but due to an increase of crimes which created paradoxes, the Time Protection Agency was developed. Their aim is to prevent time-related crimes and arrest the criminals. However, a group of gangsters known as the Londerz Family: Dolnero (Ryuzaburo Otomo), Gien (Koji Tobe), and Lila (Asami Kuru) escape from the confinement facility together with dozens of other prisoners locked in suspended animation. They jump in time to the year 2000. Four young Time Agency cadets: Yuuri (Mika Katsumura), Ayase (Yuji Kido), Sion (Masahiro Kuranuki), and Domon (Shuhei Izumi) follow in hot pursuit. They barely survive the landing and, after being betrayed, their Chrono Ship self-destructs. Stranded in 2000, the cadets are aided by a local guy Tatsuya (Masaru Nagai) who coincidentally looks like their Captain from the future. With the help of Navigator Robo Tac (Yusuke Numata) and Chrono Changer braces, the team transforms into Timerangers. Their aim is to arrest the Londerz Family and prevent history from being altered.
Time After Time Mirai Sentai Timeranger was developed by anime/Tokusatsu veteran screenwriter Yasuko Kobayashi (who also helmed Seijuu Sentai Gingaman in 1998). Evidently, Timeranger puts a lot of emphasis on a serious tone and action. Even though things may seem to be light-hearted at certain moments, the story actually has a lot of depth and Timerangers (as well as the villains) have marvellous story arcs throughout the series.
Right from the very first episode, the viewers are kept on the edge of their seats and the show just keeps getting better with each consecutive episode. Thankfully, the idea of “time travel” is not used here as a plot armour (contrary to Avengers: Endgame (2019)). Timerangers can’t just go back in time and undo their failures. In fact, the story of the series is not so much about changing time but changing possible dimensions (which is explained in the finale and ties in to Tatsuya’s saying about changing one's own tomorrow).
The rangers themselves are simply wonderful. I love them all! Throughout the series, each and every one of them faces their own demons, even the Navigator Robot Tac has an entire episode devoted just to him. If I were to pick a favourite ranger, I’d go for Domon (TimeYellow) and Naoto (TimeFire- yes, the sixth ranger joins the team and he is such a badass!) In addition, the villains appear to be painfully predictable at first glance, but their motivations change and they become extremely complex characters (I’m looking at you, Gien!)
Being a kid at primary school, I remember seeing bits and pieces of the American adaptation, Power Rangers: Time Force, on television. Well, I’m glad that I finally managed to check out the original show in its unaltered form. The story is excellent and the pacing just perfect (one can feel that all hell breaks loose onwards episode 42).
Speaking about performances, all the actors playing the rangers were great in their roles. I also enjoyed the voice performances of Koji Tobe, Ryuzaburo Otomo, and Yusuke Numata as Gien, Dolnero, and Tac, respectively. Also, Asami Kuru was hilarious as Lila.
With regard to trivia, there is not much of these about Timeranger. Allegedly, the production was riddled with problems and there was some drama on the set, but I treat these revelations merely as unconfirmed rumours. From other information, this is the first series which used only a female singer for the opening theme song ("JIKŪ ~Mirai Sentai Timeranger~" by Kumi Sasaki). Many fans dislike the intro, but I love it. In addition, the ending theme “Toki No Kanata E” by NAT’S is absolutely outstanding. Interestingly, Timeranger is the last series since Carranger that has been shot with the usage of digital D-2 cassettes, not proper film (hence, the picture has visible quality loss).
Recommendations I recommend Mirai Sentai Timeranger to anyone who wants to experience a well-made Super Sentai series. If you live in the West, try to grab a Shout! Factory DVD release. This is science fiction at its best. Grasp the Infinite Future!
Overall Score: 10/10
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