When I think of anime-esque visuals, sweeping orchestral music scores, and fantasy-like story lines, one movie comes to mind: Casshern. Based on the 1973 anime, and directed in 2004 by Kazuaki Kiriya, the story is about Tetsuya Azuma, the son of a great scientist, and his reincarnation into a robot suit after he dies in a fifty year long war between two great nations. The story takes place in a battle ravaged, post apocalyptic world where humans have been suffering from postwar illnesses caused by biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons. It’s up to Tetsuya to save the world against a new threat to mankind, the Neo Sapiens, born from the very experiments that were meant to help the human race.
Even though this film is pretty old, it reminds me a lot of what we’re doing with Hideo. Not so much the story line per se, or even the visual aspect, but rather the idea of bringing a fantasy world to life. If you haven’t seen the film before, Casshern has a unique element of the supernatural mixed in with reality of human emotion and fragility. It’s pretty much everything you’d expect from an anime… if it were brought to life. Hideo has, in many ways, captured some of these same elements, just presented in a different form. From the visually engaging special effects and photography, to the music which features a wide range of symphonic and techno-rock genres, it’s a definite watch.
In case you were curious, the music was composed by Sagisu Shiro – the mastermind behind Neon Genesis Evangelion and Bleach.
I remember when you first showed me this trailer in college — nice. In case anyone is wondering, the really cool song used in the second half of the trailer is “Requiem” by The Back Horn: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7mnUsnraN8
I only know because I was wondering myself way back when and went looking for it…