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 I started watching Japanese Anime waaaay back when , with the televised import of Marine Boy , Prince Planet and Tobor, The 8th Man . Anime has come quite a distance from those first humble Americanized serializations , but the constant thruout that time has always been quality . Compared to most of the american cartoon fare present during those early days of Speed Racer , Spaceship Yamato and Astro Boy kids were getting some pretty amazing samples of the Japanese take on cartoon adventures . During the early 1980's the Japanese Animation scene really began to erupt throughout the United States , spurred on by the visionaries at Harmony Gold when they introduced the Macross saga under the guise of Robotech . The world of Giant Robots , spearheaded by Johnny Socko so long ago , flowered and the wondrous and awesome power of Mecha became a nation wide obsession .   Japanese animation however was not the only place to find robots , they had long been part of the comic book scene in Japan , and one title in particular created such a stir , it was destined for greatness . That book was the brainchild of an imaginative comic genius by the name of Masamune Shirow , and it was his debut series ; A P P L E S E E D . This feature is not about the comic Appleseed , which is of such a rich and vibrant nature that it would be difficult to condense in the few paragraphs here , but the 2004 3D live Anime Feature Film Appleseed , that while not a strict telling of Masamune's tale of humans and cyborgs in a post apocalyptic future , nevertheless remains faithful to the concept and ideas behind it . It does it in a typically Japanese groundbreaking fashion .  Take away all the allegory and political and social commentary and Appleseed boils down to a 21st century vision of the Beauty and the Beast tale . Underneath all the substance that makes film critics giddy with delight is a basic formula of pretty girls and metal monsters , and that pretty much sums up the genre of Masamune , Girls and Robots . There are plenty of male characters running around in Appleseed , but it's the gals that steal the show , from the hyper feminine Hitomi to the stoic Prime Minister Athena , and rounding out the babefest is the star , of course, Deunan Knute . Like its predecessor Final Fantasy : The Spirits Within , Appleseed is completely computer generated , but rather than attempting to portray realistic human beings Appleseed uses the 3D imagery to reproduce the look of traditional anime and it does so exquisitely . The ultra realistic tech that is possible with computer generated graphics combined with the ultra stylized people of japanese art comes together in a way never before possible and the illusion is breathtaking and awe-inspiring . By utilizing motion capture and the depth of 3D models the rendering of hard edged cartoon anime comes across quite believably and naturally and despite that rather odd Japanese stylization when it comes to people the effect is not so much " cartoon " but idealism that is beautiful to behold .  With computers giving filmmakers the ability to take their visions and put them on the screen as never before , the film audience has become increasingly jaded to what is now possible . We demand to see things that are impossible and Appleseed delivers that in spades . The filmakers are pretty sneaky about it though . They start slowly and simply continue to build up the imagery in richness and detail throughout the play of the film , until the finale when the screen is filled with a senses stunning climax that makes your toes curl up and withdraw inside your feet . This is not your daddy's cartoon . And despite the amazing work of Pixar on their film " The Incredibles " , compared to Appleseed it looks like " The So-Whats " .  Take away the amazing renders of the Mecha , the richness and depth of the backgrounds , the marvels of 3 dimensional modelling on figures and Applessed is at its core a love story between the heroine Deunan and her fellow soldier/turned cyborg Briareos . We are given glimpses of the former human incarnation of Briareos , prior to his transformation to half-man/half-machine and while Deunan and we see that who he was and what he has become are essentially unchanged , Briareos sees himself quite differently . This little backstory subplot adds a great deal to the events of the picture and take it far away from what one might consider " Saturday Morning Kids Fare " . Animation has certainly come a long way . Interested in more Appleseed? Click the following link to check out the Action Figures based on the characters as they appear in the film ! | Seven Samurai | Appleseed | A.F.M.'s Storm Cloud | Storm Cloud 1.5 | | Matinee at the Bijou | It Came From Holly( LONG )wood! | The Boob Tube | Galaxy International | Synn's Silva Screen | UltraViolet | King Kong | Hollywood Is Foo | | Return Home | Updates | The Archive | Gorby Site Map | Geeb-O-Rama's Model Workshop | Geeb's Toy Box | Geeb-O-Rama Goodies | Movie Madness | World Of The Bizarre | Cool Beans | |
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