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Masaaki Yuasa and Kaiba

Posted by Joel Mon, 09 Jun 2008 09:09:00 GMT

So, I've actually watched a few anime series lately. Aside for the excellent Miyazaki films, and the mainstream Death Note, I haven't watched much anime since sophomore year of college, having become disenfranchised with the direction anime was going, and perhaps just growing out of it. However, I still have a fascination with the work of some of these imaginative Japanese artists.

The one that stands out for me is Masaaki Yuasa. I was first exposed to him by my friend Justin who gave me a copy of Mind Game. I felt like this movie was one of the most impactful movies I'd ever seen, despite its goofy title. It was at once hilarious, horrifying, and life-affirming. The climactic scene is so powerful it still stands as a significant metaphor in my mind for fighting against the inevitable.

I watched another movie of his, the purely surrealist and mostly dialogue-free Cat Soup. You can watch this one on Google video, if you're curious.

Somewhere along the line I realized he was making new TV shows. I watched Kemonozume, his most recent completed show. While the premise was excellent and there were some great moments, ultimately, this series had a tacked-on ending I didn't really like.

The newest show, Kaiba, is incredible. It asks a lot of questions about the nature of memories and the soul. It takes place in a sci-fi universe where memories can be traded or removed, and where you can have your memories transferred from body to body. All of it is woven around a love story with engaging characters. Figuring out the nature of the universe has been very entertaining for me, as Masaaki likes to challenge his audience. The best part is, unlike, say, Evangelion, it doesn't seem to be a bunch of thrown-together randomness which is ultimately impossible to solve, but is rather a very cohesive universe. If you're into arty, thinking stuff, you'd probably really like it.