by Chris MaGeeOne of my very favorite animated films of all time is Masaaki Yuasa's mind-scrambling 2004 journey into the after life and beyond "Mind Game". I just don't understand that with the fever that people have for innovative anime from Japan why Yuasa's film hasn't made it to DVD while Satoshi Kon's, Michael Arias', and Makoto Shinkai's films have. It can't be the fact that people would view the 45-year-old animator as a one hot wonder. Yuasa has been kicking around the animation scene since the early 90's and has helmed animated TV series like 2006's "Kemonozume" and 2008's "Kaiba", both of which showcased his jaw-dropping animation skills and inspired storytelling.
Well, here's hoping that the third time's the charm as Yuasa is prepping his latest animated series for its run on Fuji TV on April 22nd. Titled "Yojohan Shinwa Taikei" the series is based on Morimi Tomohiko's novel of the same name that chronicles the life of a 3rd year Kyoto University student. The official site for "Yojohan Shinwa Taikei" has been updated with a trailer and once again Yuasa amazes with his collage of styles, from photocopied backgrounds to delicate character design (courtesy of Yusuke Nakamura). You can check out the full trailer below after which you'll be as confused as we are as to why Yuasa's work isn't more accessible here in North America.
Thanks to Wildgrounds for pointing the way to this.
I'm sure I read somewhere that Masaaki Yuasa and Studio 4C didn't release Mind Game outside of Japan due to widespread illegal filesharing of copies of the movie in the west. I think this is also the reason that the amazing Genius Party and Genius Party Beyond animation compilations are unavailable on DVD in the west.
ReplyDeleteGreat pity!
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