Forum - View topicREVIEW: Genocidal Organ
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Ajc228
Posts: 265 |
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I know Manglobe went bankrupt during the production of this feature but holy Christ the animation in this film was wildly inconsistent. You would get a few great sequences here and there but lots of still shots, off model characters. I was very disappointed.
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Shiroi Hane
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 7584 Location: Wales |
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This the one Project Itou film I've seen, but it was honestly so unmemorable that after the synopsis I still had to look at the other two to confirm I was thinking of the right one. Really the only thing I took away is that misusing grammar can be really dangerous.
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zawa113
 Posts: 7358 |
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As curious as I might be on this film, you'll have to forgive me for not chomping at the bit after how god-awful the first two films were. Maybe if it ever drops on Netflix or something. Glad to hear this one's better than the first two, but being "better than the first two Itoh films" isn't a very high bar to aspire to.
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John Thacker
Posts: 1009 |
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Eh, Project Itoh's works tend to be pretty pessimistic and dystopian, so like the others it doesn't really dwell on the world's greatest force for massively reducing poverty, famine, and disease, especially in the last twenty-five years as extreme poverty has massively declined along with liberalization. "Global capitalism" and the spread of it is a moral force for good, though we do all contribute to it in minor ways, even if there are those like President Trump that oppose and blame it for ills. |
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donhumberto
Posts: 824 |
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Glad to see this masterpiece of a film getting a review at last (and a positive one at that)
I just don't get the lukewarm/negative response it's getting from the comments here. I swear, my disconnect with the anime fandom is growing bigger and bigger at the speed of the light... I must be getting old. As a matter of fact I was discussing with a friend the other day about how if Ghost in the Shell (the most obvious comparison to this film, although it also reminded me heavily of Monster) and Akira (hell, even Cowboy Bebop) had come last year instead of 30-20 years ago they wouldn't be nearly as succesful and highly regarded as they are nowadays. It's so frustrating to see the project Itoh films (specially Harmony and Genocidal Organ) being pretty much ignored or trashed by most anime fans... oh, well. I just hope that after Nick's positive review more people are willing to give this film a try. It truly is one of the most beautiful, thought-provoking and kickass films I've seen this decade, anime or otherwise |
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MarshalBanana
 Posts: 5520 |
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Kicksville
 Posts: 1256 |
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This is probably the most on its face coherent and consistent of the Project Itoh films, but ultimately left me cold since, at the end of the day, the philosophizing it does feels like shallow baby stuff. The aforementioned issues with character writing certainly don't help, with sequences where someone is, for some reason, painstakingly reading their B- college essay at people. This is based on Itoh's first novel, I believe? It sure seems like it.
On that note, I almost think maybe I'm being too hard on it - it's got some well executed suspense segments and I'd even still say it's more or less worth seeing - but, well, it feels like one of those things that does not stick it quite as well as it seems to think. Also Patlabor 2 did it better. |
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relyat08
 Posts: 4125 Location: Northern Virginia |
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Yeah, this film wasn't actually very good, in my opinion. Most of its philosophy was pretty juvenile stuff that also felt extremely ham-fisted into the story.
The plot itself was also quite weak, admittedly with some really silly moments, like the fish thing, but was mostly just poorly thought out. I would say Empire of Corpses was the best film of the three in terms of entertainment, with this being in second place, but none of these movies were good, unfortunately. Shukou Murase's direction was pretty solid stuff though, and his aesthetic sense is always fascinating. |
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tailor31415
Posts: 36 |
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Actually just watched this last night, so this is great timing. I agree the pacing was a bit off, but that's pretty typical of novel adaptations imo. I was impressed with the animation and the dub though. It was definitely a thought-provoking watch in today's world.
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DangerMouse
Posts: 3995 |
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Yeah, I really liked this movie. I seem to really like most of Shukou Murase's work and style too which likely put me in a rather positive mindset pretty much the entire way through toward bringing less attention to any pacing issues for me. |
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zrnzle500
 Posts: 3768 |
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I saw this when it was shown in theaters back in July of last year. Overall, I'd say I was more positive on the movie. I thought it had some interesting things to say about the surveillance state and the global order and the plot was fairly compelling. While it wasn't the best animated movie I saw last year, it did have some good scenes in that regard. I haven't seen the first two films so I can't speak to their quality.
That being said, I wouldn't put in my top 5 anime movies that I saw last year. Most of the rest of the movies I saw had more impressive visual execution, and ultimately left a bigger impression on me. |
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KitKat1721
 Posts: 975 |
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Just re-watched this a couple weeks ago, and while I don't think any of the Project Itoh films stand out as favorites for me personally (although I did like this one the most) I could not agree more on the dub - really enjoyed it and was a more immersive experience for me.
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GeorgeC
Posts: 795 |
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Personally, I thought Empire of Corpses was fine.
Outstanding? Nah. Awful? It's still nowhere near as bad the Star Wars I watched this past December! That experience was just stupid! I still haven't watched the other two Project Itoh films but I have them... I have to agree with some of the older fans (of which I am one). There's a HUGE disconnect between expectations of some people and what I know I enjoy. But, then again, I DON'T like half the anime being produced today, either. I would characterize myself as far away from Shonen Jump (Bleach, Naruto) and Dragonball Z as possible. To this day, I still don't understand why more of the big robot show franchises and Lupin III aren't more popular in the West. It's amazing to me -- they're still 20 times more entertaining for me than Bleach, Naruto, or Dragonball Z ever were! I've never completely understood the fascination with cutesy anime, either. I could understand the attraction to Sailor Moon some people had, yes, but not the attraction to anime spun off from dating sims and most visual novels aside from the Type-Moon franchises. Definitely not a fan of tentacle/rape porn, either... Overfiend pretty much defined what I DON'T want to watch (aside from yaoi anime) years ago! BUT I won't knock people who enjoy that other stuff, either. I simply don't care to get into the argument of "my likes are BETTER than yours or you suck because you don't like what I like." That's always been stupid in my opinion. I lived through the Sega/Nintendo Console wars! |
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Punch Drunk Marc
Posts: 1751 |
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The only one of the project itoh films I have seen is Harmony and I thought that was boring, pretentious garbage. I will probably check this one out though based on the review.
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russ869
Posts: 435 |
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I highly recommend the novels for Genocidal Organ and Harmony. I would put them on about the same level in novel form, although I personally think Harmony has a better film adaptation. It's interesting how all of the Project Itoh films seem pretty divisive, with most people calling them either entertaining and thought-provoking or boring and pretentious.
I would place the works of Project Itoh firmly in the genre of literature I like to call "pessimist poetry" (see Chuck Palahniuk, etc.). First person narratives told from the perspective of a sociopathic maniac with endless internal monologues about how much they hate modern society. Since I'm a huge fan of these type of books, I'm definitely in the camp that considers these great movies. Although Empire of Corpses might need a rewatch from me before I completely decide on it, since it was very different from my initial expectations and doesn't quite fit this mold.
There's no way this is true. Wit Studio's animation on Empire or Corpses was a lot better in my opinion. Although some of that is just subjective appreciation of a different style. I agree with Ajc228 that the animation in Genocidal Organ seemed very inconsistent.
Too bad they couldn't have released this film first like they originally intended. |
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