Anime: Mind Game

edit: I thought I should edit this review slightly, by making it moreproper and readable, taking out more of my laid-back language. Also I decided to cut the spoilers in this review.[br][br]~~~~~~~~~[br][br]Animation, Sound[br]Honestly, I was quite appalled with the quality of the animation. Although this may come from a more conservative, conventional perspective; in my personal opinion, I would say it was badly drawn. Its overly simplistic style, character designs, usage of vivid primary colours make it more of a visual fest. Oddly placed and sudden changes in camera angles, different art mediums (photos, paint, CGs), colour changes, movies. Think of it as some modern art gallery using animation as a medium. It was rather difficult to appreciate this sort of visuality. [br][br]The animation style did remind me of Ren & Stimpy, especially Bjork's video, "I Miss You". Sheep in the Big City, and Cow & Chicken comes to mind. You can say, quirky "western" cartoons with pointless gags meets storyline. [br][br]There were also some really strange musical scenes in Mind Game. This was a more positive factor, since this matched the eccentricity of the movie. The uses of different genres of music complimented the different genres of art - rather, its bizarreness. [br][br]Story, Character[br]It does have some interesting plots and makes a pretty interesting adventure, however I felt the actual climax to the movie was rather mundane and did not match the eccentricity of Mind Game.[br][br]The character portrayal of the male protagonist, Nishi, is almost detestable, to the point of tolerance. The rest of the casts are not exactly fantastic for interests to peak. They lacked foundation and background, and appeared 2D throughout the movie, despite minimal character developments. They did have a certain depth of their own, but I did not find enough of it to say that they were relatable. [br][br]In some ways, the portrayal of their characters depended much on the visuals used, which lacked towards the end of the movie. This probably became more of an anti-climax since this was where much of their character "development" had occurred. And unfortunately, this failed to portray the depth of their "development" and appeared more 2D. [br][br]Mind Game lacked the kind of depth that the otherreviewers talked about. This is my personal opinion, since Ifelt I had to FIND the moral of the story than the issue really beingRAISED or EXPLORED in the movie. This fault however lies more on itsartistic portrayal of the characters as opposed to the actualstoryline. Its almost child-like cartoon style of art seems to appealmore to kids than older audiences.[br][br]Enjoyment, Value[br]Bizarre. Psychedelic. Weird. My limited vocabulary fails to describewhat I really think about this movie. I was initially disappointed withthe introduction of the movie. The odd mishmash fragments of scenes,memories, stories, and somewhat "artistic" badly drawn animation arenot what you would usually expect from a Japanese animation. Although I did reconsider certain aspects of the overall movie, I guess you have to think "out of the box" for this kind of movie?[br][br]After all, I did watch the movie, so I can't totally despise it. It may have been the gags, or the visual fest, or its own individuality and uniqueness. However, only on that basis, would I recommend watching Mind Game. [br][br]

I kind of fell in love with Mind Game in the first few minutes. It had a remarkably unique visual style, the most notable aspect of which, if you're used to 4C work (if you're not, everything will look pretty unique) is that in some scenes, real people are photoshopped into the characters. It's certainly an interesting contrast when looking at their minimalist, drawn faces in one shot, then hit over the head with a much more complex, photorealistic face in the next. These faces stick with you for the rest of the movie even if they're used sparsely, as they are the reality that the drawn characters are trying to represent. It lends a little bit of the grounded feel of live action material that's not present in Animation; like the characters COULD almost be real. If you've read the plot summary and considered the title though, you'll probably come to the (correct) conclusion that Mind Game tries to steer very clear of reality.

I wasn't feeling the movie past the first half or so though. The first half has a cohesive, if a little wacky, story to tell. Nishi meets up with an old flame who is getting married soon. After an unfortunate and violent encounter with some mobsters, he finds himself with said old flame and her sister. Happy as that makes him, he's not exactly at a top pick date spot with the two girls; they're inside a whale. At this point, the plot is stopped at a stand still. The rest of the film contains all the straight forward messages, the "point," but it sure takes its time getting there. For the most part, the second half of the film not only feels disconnected from the first half, which thirsts for a conclusion that we never get to see, it's also not all that engaging.

The second half is liberally sprinkled with long, surreal scenes. Before these scenes you're told what's going on. The characters are frolicking like children, for instance. The scene that follows has the sole purpose of inducing in the viewer the feelings of the characters. They're like short, surreal music videos. In this particular scene, the characters engage in synchronized swimming and dance around on what appears to be a distorted combination of a disco floor and piano keys. These scenes differ greatly from one another, visually and musically. Rightfully so because they all convey very different emotions. Most people will probably find that they enjoy some, while others don't resonate. Beautiful as most of them are, they do put a stop to all plot movement, and the ones that don't strike you can easily leave you spaced out for the entire, rather long duration of the scene.

The music used in Mind Game is very much tailored to each scene. The tracks vary greatly, and there isn't much of a common thread that connects the pieces. The music fits in perfectly, mood wise. The constant musical ADD, going from whimsical orchestral piece, to jungle beats, to what I can only describe as French Doo-wop may seem disjointed in any regular film, but the scenes themselves often give off that disjointed vibe, and you would expect the music to follow.

The ending of Mind Game seems to hold the real message of the film. People's lives have so many details, so many memorable moments, emotional events, and relationships that not only move the people in question, but also shape their very being. Graceful and touching as I found this observation to be, the rest of the film has trouble leading up to the "point" of the film. The final scenes that illustrate this point don't feel like a natural progression from the rest of the film. It doesn't connect with the rest of the film at all; it's far too sudden and out of the blue. Cat Soup was one giant mesh of surreal scenes, each had something to say, much like Mind Game. But in Cat Soup there is a core, overarching message about death and the passage of time that really ties into the central plot of the movie. Mind Game certainly has a lot to say, from blatant self-help blurbs that Nishi delivers to more subtle messages delivered through flashbacks. It just fumbles around everything it wants to say, and never generates a focus.

Mind Game seems like a typical "alternative" film. The kind that people either love or hate, depending on whether they felt it or not. Many scenes in Mind Game held some emotional impact for me. I should be in the category of people who felt it. It was too much like a collection of vignettes to have any last impact, and I really can't say I love it. I certainly don't hate it either. If it was just the story telling beginning and the thesis like ending, sans the wacky middle, it would be a memorable, albeit formulaic short art house film.

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The setting of the mind
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The last couple of series that I watched failed to catch my attention completely, they left me extremely bored. They were supposed to be good series, according to the ratings and reviews. Comedy and drama. Average anime just doesn't seem to interest me anymore. That was the perfect time to start watching Mind Game.

The beginning of Mind Game is nothing ordinary; lots of seemingly senseless scenes chained one after the other at a very fast speed. Some of them are almost shocking. Some of them are very badly drawn with bright primary colours and edgy hard lines. Some of them emit a dark and muddy atmosphere. None of them seem related, yet.

"Now you're on a super express to hell with the tickets to come back."
So there I was, my attention was caught, I was ready for anything, throw it all at me, I am set for the voyage. Bring it on!

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The mind is best described as...
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Obscure, colourful, pitiful, hilarious m.a.d.n.e.s.s. It's disgusting and repulsive to the point of being delightful and attractive.
You don't want to know the story in advance but yes, there is a straightforward story. That story is serious at its core, it's not really comedic. An adventure, with action, drama, a bit of romance and of course, dementia.

The way characters handle the events, however, and the way they percieve things, what happens in their mind, is often very funny. Not that the characters are particularly stupid or funny themselves. They're realistic and express strong and believable feelings. Maybe the fact that in some scenes these characters have real pictures as their face instead of drawings, made me feel that, long before the end of the movie, they weren't just animated characters anymore, they were just people I could cross on the street tomorrow morning if I was unlucky enough.

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The output of the mind
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"But boy we're in some mess! It's surreal!"
The drawings don't look bad, they look deformed. And they are meant to look that way. You can sense the art behind them. Would it have been better with usual anime character designs? I'm not so sure about it. I think the atmospheres created in Mind Game would be very hard to render in full-quality great looking anime. Characters in some scenes would look wrong, not to par with the rest. The art is half-abstract and makes our imagination work.

The animation itself is great, there is alot of movement. Some scenes almost scared me, excited me and made my heart beat faster. There are some very detailed and beautiful backgrounds too. Some 3D, some real video and photomontage too.

The sound and music cover a wiiiiide range of frequencies and styles. From little comedic pops and bongs, to lush haunting pads, subsonic growls and roaring motors. From jazz to techno music, bar atmospheres and piano classics. The diversity is amazing, yet almost unnoticeable because of the craziness of what's going on, anything fits, everything fits, nothing could possibly feel wrong.

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The mind is not perfect
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In the second half of the movie, a few semi-long transitional not-so-interesting scenes make their way on the screen. Colourful "happy" stuff. It almost made my attention slip. Craziness is fine as long as it still makes sense, and there was a bit too much there, in my opinion.
I think there are good chances I'll watch this again, I really loved the whole movie, especially in the beginning. I might skip some longer parts in the second half on an eventual re-watch.

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Not everybody shares the mind
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I would not recommend this movie to anyone under 18 years old. Not really only because of the nudity, sex (too abstract to be hentai) and violence that it does contain, but also because of its complexity. I don't doubt that anybody over 14 can understand most of what happens in this movie, but they would not interpret it the same way, and it might often whip up disagreeable thought like "That makes no sense." ; "That was totally random." or "Quit wasting my time and get to the point."

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If you are still hesitating, just watch it and make your own opinion of it.
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(Writers note: If you read this review, RATE this review. Authors thrive on feedback, whether it be a simple happy face, or an in-depth critique.)

I expect this review is gonna be rated very poorly. Why? Because I'm giving it all tens. I've been told time and time again not to ever ever EVER give a series all tens, because... I dunno. It's not kosher or something. Well, all of you "no all tens!" people can go hump an oak. When you cannot come up with a single way in which to improve a movie or series, if that movie or series has changed your life, and left your mind reeling for days and days... when you feel like running up to people on the street just to tell them how wonderful it was to watch... you've got an all tens series on your hands. It's kind of sad, to think that all I have to do is put in a nine for Value, or Sound, or Story, and I won't get the eventual outpouring of "OMFG YOU GAVE A MOVIE ALL TENS YOU ARE ALL TENS NOOB OMFG!". Well, I'll just have to live with it.

Summary/Outline: A man, his friend, and her sister plod through surreal encounters encompassing everything it means to be human. From being chased by Yakuza, to a chance meeting with God at the edge of the Abyss, to a quiet existence with an old man inside the belly of a giant whale. Interspersed with flashes of wit, insight, and surreal representations of life in ways that have never occured to us, is a burgeoning love story between the man and his lifelong female friend. One hour and forty minutes of "what will they throw at us next?"

Technical aspects: You may be wondering why the plethora of 10s. That's because everything in Mind Game is so original, I couldn't possibly give it a rating any lower. The animation is unlike anything I've ever seen. The music is inspired, reminding me of the types of random but perfect choices Tarantino makes for his films. The characters are... well... you have to see for yourself. Same for the storyline, if you can call it that.

This review suffers from the same problem I had with Kino No Tabi, but for a different reason. I couldn't give away the plot if I tried. It's too complicated. I could watch this movie a dozen times and come away with something different every time. A new feeling, a new revelation, a new way of seeing the world, a new thought I'd never had before. Take Requiem for a Dream, What Dreams May Come, and Paranoia Agent, drop them into a paint mixer and shake them up... and you wouldn't even come close to what this film achieves. It's like an E.E Cummings poem brought to life and animated.

Entire plot points are dropped on a whim, to give us random yet perfect shots of life and art, in slow motion, or in tiny one second blips. I could describe the plot, but it wouldn't give you any idea of what this movie is really like.

Some minor plot spoilers in the next few paragraphs. Since the feel of the movie is what matters and not the plot, don't assume that I'm ruining the experience by mentioning some plot points. What happens in Mind Game is far less important than HOW it happens. If you want to play it safe, skip down until you see more bold and italic text.


Nishi is in love with his long time friend Myon. Though he knows the feelings are mutual, he has never had the courage to take things to the next level. This all becomes moot when he is shot in the head by a deranged soccer player who attempts to rape her to get back at her father for stealing his tickets to a soccer game. However, God, shown in every changing deranged forms ("You don't know what I should look like"), allows Nishi to return to Earth and relive those final moments.

This time, he takes the gun from the soccer player and kills him. He then steals the soccer player's friend's car, along with Myon and her sister. They are chased by Yakuza, who mourn the loss of such a great soccer player, are shot at, accidently fly off a bridge, and into the mouth of a giant whale.

Inside the whale, they meet a hermit who has lived there in a sort of treehouse for the last 30 years. Time goes by (too much happens for me to even attempt to describe it), and they decide to escape. By this time, love has blossomed, they've all learned some important life lessons, and have decided they want to live outside of the whale. As they attempt to escape, the boat evaporates, and they are forced to run up the incoming waves as the whale drinks from the ocean, in a nearly 15 minute segment that flashes between the surreal, the imaginary, a fantasy demension, ideas of what could have been, the lives of everyone up to this point, and a ton of other things my mind still can't quite comprehend.

An example: We see Nishi climbing the wave. X-ray shot of his foot breaking. Nishi screams in pain. Flash to when he was a child. His mother tells him he needs to drink more milk, or his bones won't get strong. Nishi nods an affirmative, but dumps the milk down the drain when the mother isn't looking. Flash back to Nishi in the whale. Another scream. Flash back again to the mother looking in the sink, saying, "Oh, he dumped it out. I'll have to put it in his food then". Flash forward, his foot reverts to normal. He stops screaming, and continues his climb.

End of minor spoilers. Read on in safety!


Describing that scene is all well and good, but it's nothing compared to viewing the actual event. American cinema has never even come close to achieving what this film does: Surreal, demented, hilarious, saddening, and a flawlessly executed dreamscape that makes us question not only everything we've seen, but everything we know in our own lives.

Saying this movie is not for everyone would be an understatement. When I first tried to watch it, I made it through the first 5 minutes before having to turn it off. It was literally making my head hurt. The opening 5 minutes is a montage of small moments of everyday life, that cover the spectrum of human emotion from A to Zinc. The movie never slows down, never gives you a chance to catch your breath, and would leave Einstein himself breathless and unable to function. In otherwords, it's a lot of fun.

One final note. It may seem like I've spilled the beans on the plot, but the plot isn't the point. Even if it was, I've only told you about 5% of what goes on. Never have I seen a movie cram so much information into such a small time frame and not feel rushed. If this were art, it'd be a Rembrandt. Don't miss it.

This is the best film ever in the world, and space simultaneously with the universe.

The animation:
The drawings are bad in a way that they are not related to anime, and they are pretty simple, but are very artistic/weird. On some occasions the faces of the characters are replaced with a black and white photograph with some effects. Their heads, on this occasions, reseambles those of videogames like dreamcast's Shenmue. Kind of weird way of visually presenting a movie but really amazing.
The animations are very fluid, very well done also. Especially on the scenes that really matter, the "action"-scenes - if you can call them that.

The Sound:

I loved the sound. It has a lot of different music styles. Mainly it's very jazzy, it even has a solo drum that lasts like 5 or 6 minutes.It also has some beautiful more slow tunes.
Overall it's very well placed. It's fast when it has to be, weird when it should be weird - which is alsmost everytime. It adds very much to the anime. Really a remarkble point.
The voice acting was also pretty good, i think they fit the characters real well. Since it deals with certain stereotypes.


The story:
It's set on the present time.
A guy likes a girl since kindergarden, but never had the guts to ask her out, is suddenlly involved in a weird situation that changes his way of dealing with life.

This anime is actually about ways of facing life. The philosophy that is presented here is nothing really new, but it's showed remarkably well and differently.

The story is good, but it could be better, since it isn't much original.They just take on done parts from another places and stick them together on a way you don't expect.


The Character:
They are cool, they aren't anything outstanding. Although they are very "real" characters.Everyone has their own type of personality which is well defined. They are somewhat developed, since this is a movie you can't expect that much of a deep development. But you get to see some childhood moments to add more background to them.

Value:

It has value, everything that moves with you has value.
It's something that makes you think about life, and it's pretty original - only this makes it really valuable.
I'll definetly rewatch it with my anikis.But i don't intend to rewatch it as many times as i did with ghost in the shell.

Enjoyment:

Outstanding. i really liked the time i spent with this one, i was always with a smile in my face, not because it had comic parts, but from contentement with the portrait of the world and the whole aspect of it. This isn't a real schizo kind of anime that you don't understand a thing about whats going on. It has certain aspects of it but overall you'll get along with the scenes and story that are presented here pretty well.