KARAS: THE PROPHECY (2005)

I know that I shouldn’t be doing this but I can’t help myself. I really need to go and eat, and I’m only 56 minutes into the film but I absolutely have to start writing this review (you’re going to have to wait a little, stomach). The reason for my impatience is that I am currently watching Karas – The Prophecy, and to put it simply: it’s Bl**dy marvellous! No, I must eat, then finish the film. Right, back in a bit........

All finished. And let me tell you: that fish pie I had was lovely. However, now it’s time to get serious, as this film deserves nothing less.
In this vision of Tokyo, humans and demons coexist in parallel dimensions and keeping the balance between these two forces is the responsibility of the Karas. But in this chapter of Tokyo’s life, the Karas’ job has become vastly more difficult with the emergence of Mikura. These Mikura are demons that have taken physical form by merging with machines to become, for the want of a better term, cyber-demons. They exist in the human dimension looking like any other regular city goer, but they transform into powerful destructive forces and reek havoc throughout the real world. This destruction is not random however, and is being orchestrated by a being called Ekou. He is a powerful megalomaniac that has some issues with humans and wants to destroy everything. So the Karas, along with the mysterious Yurine (his guide I suppose you’d call her) have to stop all the evil doers whilst trying to not get caught up in the affairs of the humans. They aren’t alone however. There is another hero to throw into the mix: Nue. Nue is a demon but, for reasons at this point known only to himself, helps out the humans where he can. With the aid of his trusty gold pistols he dishes out his own brand of arse kicking and does a mighty fine job of it too. So what part do the humans play in all of this? Well apart from a number of them having all of their bodily fluids removed, the main protagonists are a couple of police officers from the ‘Intervention Department’ of the Shinjuku Police. This unit was specifically set up to investigate the strange occurrences that have started happening more and more frequently that couldn’t be solved by the normal police force. These two guys have obvious comparisons to Mulder and Scully of X Files fame, as one is a firm believer of the supernatural and the other has been assigned to keep an eye on him as he is an out and out sceptic.

That’s enough of the story, I have to get on with the rest of the critique. Firstly, and most strikingly, are the visuals. There is a fad at the moment to mix CGI with more traditional animation, and I can say, with absolutely no doubt in my mind, that this film uses this technique better than any other animation I have ever seen. I can’t put in words how good everything looks, you have to see it for yourselves. The whole mood of the film is dark and the backgrounds and lighting reflects that, but in the scenes where the Karas transform, you are treated to what seems to be a blinding use of colour and light. The fight scenes are incredibly stylish and I watched a couple of them a number of times. Not since The Matrix have I been so pumped by an action scene. It’s fantastic. Next I have to talk about the sound track. My DTS setup got up and thanked me after I’d finished watching the film. Ok, it didn’t, but you get the picture. The music is perfectly placed and the sound effects lift this film from great to brilliant. The audio visual experience of this animation is, in this reviewer’s opinion, second to none. I should also mention the voice acting. Thank the movie-gods that they actually used talent. I watched the English language version of the film and I wasn’t disappointed by the dubbing. Quite often what could be a really good film can only be enjoyed in the original language as the English cast sounds appalling. I realise that a lot of you out there will be thinking that to really capture the spirit of the film it should be watched in its original context and that you should read the subtitles. I’ll be honest, I’m sitting firmly on that side of the fence 9 times out of 10. However, when the actors are as good as these, I have no problems watching the dubbed version, especially in this case where I had trouble blinking, never mind reading the subtitles. But I did, at some points have to. There where occasions when the title of a building would pop up on screen in Japanese and I would have to switch on the text to find out what it said. The reason I’m mentioning this is due to something that troubled me greatly during one section where I had the words appearing. There was a character who was talking English but is absolutely impossible to understand, so I switched on the visual aid and the following happened: a character in the scene said “Mister” but the subtitle said “Brother”. Can you see where I’m going with this? It’s only one word but it makes a whole lot of difference to the story. After my findings I checked out an earlier segment complete with subtitles, and this also had some odd differences between the spoken word and the on screen text. Why is this different? I don’t know. I’m thinking that the next time I watch the film (which won’t be too long I can assure you) I’ll leave it in Japanese and see if the story is any different. One final word: Do you know what the most exciting thing about all of this is? There’s a second film on its way (Karas: The Revelation). I think I may wet myself.
This two disk presentation has a good number of special features to keep fans happy after the film has finished. Along with the outstanding DTS track version of the presentation on disk 2 (which I have seen done on a number of Manga titles of late), there are also quite a few Manga trailers for other movies. Disk 1, however, has the bulk of the special features and there are quite a lot to keep you satisfied. Firstly there are the obligatory ‘Original trailers and TV spots’. Nothing new there then. Then we get more interesting with the ‘Concept Animations'. This section shows a number of scenes throughout the film and shows how the CGI was built up, firstly as wire frames, then plumped without all the razzle-dazzle of the effects and then the final version. Next on the list is the ‘Behind the Scenes’ that shows you exactly what you would expect: animators hard at work, press interviews etc. Nice to look at but not especially original. I liked the next feature which was a look at how the sound effects in the film were put together. There are meetings in sound studios where the crew get together to discuss the fact that an explosion was too loud, or explaining how and why the sound of a swinging sword is so important. Finally there are the interviews with the original Japanese voice actors. Had we been sent an original copy of the box set and not a screener copy, I could also have told you about the Dark Horse comic that is included in the general release of the DVD, and told you how nice the artwork is on the box. But we didn’t, so I can’t.